Mr. Wilson was assigned the task of copying out the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z in pen and ink for four hours a day. He cannot leave the office during his work time, or he will lose the job. This pointless task is appealing to him because the pay is high, and the work is easy. The pay helps supplement his income as the owner of a pawnshop, a business which has not been very successful.

Mr. Wilson comes to Sherlock Holmes because he is angered that the job is suddenly ended without warning. He wants Holmes to investigate because he thinks he has been the victim of a practical joke. Part of what motivates him to believe he has been duped is the unusual way he was hired for the job. The advertisement for the position asked for someone with red hair. Wilson was hired on the basis of his having the most flaming red hair of all the applicants. It was explained to him that the position was funded by an eccentric rich man who had red hair himself.

Jabez Wilson does not question the bizarre way he was hired or the bizarre content of the job itself until after he is fired. Holmes, of course, is fired up with curiosity about this strange series of events and agrees to investigate further.