Prompt from Domina Temporis: Vatican Cameos.
"Whatever did happen to your case about the Vatican cameos, Holmes?" I asked one rainy afternoon. I had just finished writing up the case that I later called The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Holmes was sitting on the floor, his casebooks spread out around him as he searched for some obscure detail relevant to his latest monograph. The two occurrences together reminded me of the mention Holmes had made to a case about Vatican cameos, one which was entirely unfamiliar to me. Admittedly, after my marriage I had been less available to accompany Holmes on his cases, but I had presumed we had not grown so far apart I would fail to notice him leaving the country.
Holmes glanced at me and laughed, answering the question I was thinking instead of what I had asked in that manner so characteristic of him. "No, Watson, I know very well you would have accompanied me if I had asked. When I left for the Vatican, you were away for your brother's wedding, and I was back again before you returned. The case, though quite peculiar in some aspects, was brief."
I put aside my feelings of content at Holmes' affirmation of our friendship and leaned forward, asking, "Are you able to share it? As I've heard nothing of it, I assume it was of the utmost secrecy."
"At the time, yes, though less so now, yet still enough to not be published." Holmes pushed his books aside, turning to face me fully. "May I trust your discretion, Watson?"
"Of course," I vowed. "I will not even take notes."
"Very well. It started like this…"