Seance for a Vampire

York beginning in January 1880. “I trust you will come to see me,” he said. Still later, in a note from a hotel in Union Square, Manhattan, he wrote, “Your latest letter indicates you will pass through New York on your way West after your graduation. I hope you will come to see my Malvolio in Twelfth Night. I am arranging for a pair of tickets for you for the evening performance, Friday, July 2. by the way, my stage name is William Escott, a private joke which I will explain when, at last, we meet. Holmes.”

An evening at the theatre was something that I infrequently appreciated, but I looked forward to the production of Twelfth Night with the anticipation of seeing Mr Holmes as a performer prior to meeting him, at last, in person. My eagerness was increased when I decided to make a test of Mr Holmes’s abilities as a detective by the device of inviting a young acquaintance of mine to attend the theatre with me.

I chose as my companion Mr Wilson Hargreave, himself a detective with the New York Police Department.

Just as I gave Holmes no clue that my companion would be a detective, neither did I let Hargreave know the real identity or the real profession of the man we were to greet backstage.

It would be, I expected, a delightful evening of discovery for all.