LIVERPOOL PIER – JANUARY 1896
The RMS Umbria docked in Liverpool. Its six day voyage from New York a remarkably uneventful one. But that didn't stop the passengers from making their way down the gangway in some haste. All were eager to disembark.
The air of unease was caused by a man they all made certain to give a wide berth as they passed him, while making sure to keep their heads down so as to avoid eye contact with him. There was something about him that left everyone feeling apprehensive.
He was reasonably tall, of solid build and possessed an uncommonly unremarkable face. Its features made up of a rounded cheeks, full moustache, and thick eyebrows. But it wasn't the way he looked that had the passengers on edge, but rather how he looked at them.
As one passenger would later note, "He looked at us as one would imagine a slaughterman sizes up the unfortunate beast he was about to dismember."
If the gentleman himself was concerned he showed no sign of it as he made his way along the pier with an air of supreme confidence.
Under his arm he carried a newspaper dated several months before. Its front page headline announced:
'Famed Detective Marries'
The detective renowned for his disdain of sentiment has himself become the unwitting victim of it...
The article had been studiously read and re-read before and during the sea voyage. The man, like many around the world had read of the exploits of this particular detective, and his deductive abilities. But this man was more curious than most by the latest developments, and he was most eager to discover just how far off his game cousin Sherlock really was.