Today's tale begins one awful night in the fall of 1899, on the outskirts of London. On a vast, desolate meadow in the dead of night, a series of bonfires was blazing, surrounded by the silhouettes of armed men. Some men were shoveling what seemed to be piles of paper into the flames, and others stood about with revolvers at their sides. At the gateway of the meadow, Holmes and Watson stood observing the strange ceremony, which was carried out by the Bank of England to destroy old currency. Suddenly, gunshots rings out, as a driver shoots the guards and rides off with the wagon of banknotes!