London, February 1896. A bright crisp day is the first hint of the spring to come, a welcome intrusion into the winter gloom of the great industrial city. But as Watson welcomes the sun and tries to cheer up a restless Holmes, there is an urgent knocking at the door of 221B Baker Street. A moment later, a large man bursts into the living quarters of the famous pair. Alfred Bullimore is a very skilled but also an extremely frightened golfer and he brings with him one of the strangest cases ever to be recorded in Dr. Watson's assiduous notes.