Sherlock Holmes And The Paradise Horror

by GWBear

In 1920, Dr. John Watson breaks his long silence on the darkest, most difficult case - actually a series of related cases which Holmes pursued for many months - that Sherlock Holmes ever worked on. Holmes believes it's his greatest failure, but Watson thinks very differently. He believes the cases showed Holmes at his very best.

18. Chapter 17:Words of Warning and Caution

Chapter 17: Words of Warning and Caution

Part 3.

John Watson's Notes.

Up to this point in my narrative, I have related a series of cases that, although unusually dark and complex, are not controversial in any way. Unfortunately, there are numerous elements in the narrative moving forward that are not only highly disturbing, but also exceedingly delicate. They describe events and circumstances that many might well wish to keep secret, not only in current times, but also well into the future. I wrote earlier of my wish to keep this document entirely hidden until at least 1970, and perhaps long after that. My reason is that decisions were made by powerful people, using their best intentions and wisest judgement, which may not sit well with the average reader. Certainly, at the time, those decisions did not sit well with me – or with Sherlock Holmes. Whether or not, the choices made, the values displayed, and the morality and ethics involved, were justified and appropriate, can only be determined by the passage of time and the judgement of history.

I do not know what global events will occur between now (currently early 1921) and 1970. I suspect the world will have changed in ways that I can't even imagine, and possibly not for the best. I don't doubt that new technologies will emerge that would stagger the minds of anyone living today, as even the last decade has brought forward wonders both delightful, and dark, that would have seemed most unlikely in 1900. After the terrible obscenity of the Great War, I can only hope like so many others, that the conflict we endured was truly "the war to end all wars." Still, I am an old man who has seen much, perhaps too much. My long experience has left me far less naïve than most. It's possible that the war we just endured was not only not the last war, but might in fact be the look of all major wars to come, complete with ever more terrible weapons and creative ways to use them. Much as I strongly disagreed with most of the decisions made by high officials in the British government relating to the numerous cases outlined in this narrative, especially at the time those decisions were made, the global events which occurred just a few years later, tend to cast those decisions in what might be seen as a different light. When I consider the feckless, selfish idiocy demonstrated by so many leaders in countries across Europe, all of which led us like sheep to the slaughter of war unprecedented and unimaginable, I grudgingly, even bitterly concede that there might be some validity in the thought processes used, and the decisions made, by the British government regarding these cases.

Were they right after all? Were the ghastly decisions made, however repellent they might seem to be, morally justified in some way? I was once utterly convinced they were not: that certain things must never be done; certain lines must never be crossed. Now… after the war, the heinous price paid, that we all paid, I am no longer so sure. Even as I admit my tentative uncertainty, I hate myself for it.

Is it even remotely possible that Mycroft Holmes, and several other highly placed decision makers, were right?

I don't know, and likely never will. It's one of the reasons I leave this document to the judgement of far history. Time, distance, and world events might lend a clarity and understanding that I/we entirely lack today. Will future men possess a higher, finer, moral sensibility, or will they tragically be made of coarser, more brutal stuff than we who were born and bred in the time of Queen Victoria? I truly hope for their greater understanding. As the author, I can only be an honest historian, relate the events as I witnessed them close at hand, and leave the final verdict to others.

It is my wish that this document not be destroyed, and that it is passed on to people in sufficiently high places for them to ponder and consider for any lessons they may find useful. It's completely possible that by 1970, the full story of what I now call "The Paradise Horror" will be widely known, at least in government circles. It's also possible that a far more convenient and sanitized version of the events herein will become the "official truth." Please know that what I have described in these pages is the truth – both complete and impartial – as I can make it. I have no axe to grind, no vendetta or agenda. Indeed, most of the men in this narrative, including members of the British government, are/were men who were known to me. Some I consider to be friends. I offer this in the context of truth and full disclosure, nothing more, if for no other reason than my conscience will allow no other choice.

Deliberate Obscurity

There are several other critical elements that will become very noticeable as the narrative proceeds from this point forward. I have been honest in the past about changing names and places to protect innocent victims, or the privacy and sensibilities of the subjects of the case under discussion. I do so again in this document for very different reasons – even being mindful of the need to be as historically honest and forthcoming as possible.

As events unfolded in the months and years that Holmes and I investigated these cases, the data that emerged, the details finally uncovered, contain key elements of an extraordinary and dangerous nature. Events transpired to provide Holmes and I complete, thorough, and entirely detailed scientific descriptions of all the chemical and medical processes used to create the deadly poisons we were investigating. This included the rare tropical plants used, their descriptions, where they could be found, how to harvest them, and how to distill and concentrate the deadly compounds they contained. Extensive descriptions of the isolated native tribes who used these plants in their daily lives, and for their sacred rituals, were also discovered.

I do not know if the plants, the poisons, the incredible leaps of scientific skill, or the locations of the tribes, and the finer nuances of their identities will be known by 1970, or later. What I have decided is that due to the astonishing lethality of the compounds created by the perpetrators of the crimes we investigated, any and all identifiers will be deliberately obscured. I will use stand-in names for both plants and the toxins they contain, as well as the tribes that use them.

As a writer, I well know that all such obscurity will lead to a level of contrived awkwardness in the narrative, especially for those who wish for every detail. I do not apologize. I can not and will not be a party to any form of disclosure which will help someone else to recreate the "recipes" found in the lab notes and "cookbooks" of the culprits involved. This is one detail that Holmes and I entirely agree on. Any and all knowledge we possess about the plants, poisons, methods of derivation, and all manufacturing processes, will die with us. If these terrible, obscene medical marvels eventually emerge, it will not be by any information Holmes or I will disclose. I leave assurances to both my future literary executors, government officials, and all other possible future readers that no notes, however tentative, will be found among my papers, or those of my friend Sherlock Holmes, to cast additional light on the sources, locations, or native people involved.

John H. Watson

29th of January, 1921