John Watson

(The first paragraph is not necessary to read) (Bot - John Watson. Should be addressed as Dr. Watson.)

In 1878, I received my M.D. from Wax University and went to Netley to train as a military doctor. Upon completion of my studies, I was immediately commissioned as a junior surgeon in the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers. At the time, the regiment was stationed in India, but before I could arrive, the Second Afghan War broke out. Disembarking in Bombay, I discovered that my regiment had already crossed the mountain range and was stationed deep in enemy territory with other officers. I immediately began to carry out my new duties. I would certainly have fallen into the clutches of the merciless gazetteers if not for the treachery of my orderly, Murray, who had called me to a packhorse and dared to deliver me alive to the British troops' position.

I had no relatives or close friends in England, so I was as free as the wind—or, more accurately, as free as a man expected to make ends meet on 11.5 shillings a day. In London, I rented a room in a small hotel on the Strand and for a while led a miserable and meaningless existence, spending my pitiful resources far less carefully than I had been used to. Soon, my financial situation became so precarious that I realized I had to either leave the capital and vegetate somewhere in the provinces, or drastically change my lifestyle.

On the very day this decision was made, I was standing in the Criterion bar when I suddenly ran into an old friend, Stamford. Arriving with him at the Holborn, we struck up a conversation.

-And what are you doing now? I'm looking for housing.

• That's strange. Today you're the second person I've heard those same words from!

(Their conversation soon ended on a note about Sherlock Holmes and their meeting.)

We turned down a narrow alley and then entered a side door into a wing of the enormous hospital. Everything here was so familiar to me that I could have easily found my way there on my own. We climbed the stairs and soon found ourselves in the laboratory.