Written for the LiveJournal community Watsons_Woes for their July Writing Prompts challenge. The prompt for day 2 was Use at least two of the following words: abdicate, automaton, allele, Zarathustra, zither.
Yes, I checked the OED to find out which words were plausible for Victorian England (because I'm a librarian like that), and since Zarathustra inevitably makes me think of the musical piece, this is what came out. For historical accuracy, Also Sprach Zarathustra premiered in Germany in 1896, so timeline-wise this is probably 1897 or 1898.
_Thus Spake_
Holmes had been in a melancholy, introspective mood ever since we finished the case I privately called the Adventure of the Avenging Automaton. The world may never be prepared to know all that we saw, and it seemed that Holmes could think of nothing else. Even the newspapers did not interest him.
Thus I was the first to see the advertisement for the London premiere performance of Also sprach Zarathustra. Knowing Holmes' taste for German music, I thought a concert might be just the thing and obtained the last pair of tickets for the performance.
.
At midday I mentioned casually that he ought to change and freshen up, for we had an appointment that afternoon at St. James' Hall. Some of the life returned to his eyes and ten minutes later found him shaved and dressed, so we embarked.
I quite enjoyed the first movement of the new piece, but the rest left me feeling perplexed. Holmes, however, was enraptured and I felt a smug satisfaction when he murmured during the applause, "Splendid idea, Watson."