Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. John Watson, are no strangers to danger-but a visitor's claim that they are to be the targets of an assassin is unsettling. Moreover, the man says he has created a time machine that has whisked him away to the future. Astonishing! The idea is so outlandish that the great detective considers tossing the man out on the street. But there's more. The assassin will also shoot Queen Victoria's son, the crown prince, when he steps off a train to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Moreover, the stranger can prove his odd assertion. He returns with pictorial evidence, a "moving picture" (a pad of sequential photos) that shows the violent deaths of Holmes and Watson over and over again in grotesque detail. With these horrible images seared into their brains, the two sleuths must begin a deadly race against the clock. And if they lose, the price will be more than their lives. Their failure might actually cause the empire to fall. Clearly, it will take every iota of the famous inquiry agent's prodigious mental powers to puzzle out an event that hasn't happened. Holmes turns to his brother for help, only to learn that Mycroft Holmes might actually be behind this dastardly plot. Is it possible that Holmes's own brother is a traitor to the realm? Mycroft has all the resources of the British Empire at his disposal, while Holmes has only Watson and his merry band of Irregulars, street urchins he's trained to work as spies. How can Holmes possibly hope to thwart his brother's superior resources? He can and he must. Sherlock Holmes and Watson must pit themselves against a foe that all men fear…Father Time.
