Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 57 Adventure History 16
"Now," said Holmes, "we must bring all cases together for this one case. Bring me the K-section of the Encyclopedia Americana, and let us think about it. First, we may assume— Colonel Openshaw left America for a reason; he would not automatically give up the beauty of Florida to live in a lonely country town in England. He made the choice because he was afraid of certain people, certain things. He was afraid What? We can only infer from those terrible letters. Did you notice the postmarks on those letters?"

"The first is from Pondicherry, the second and third are from Dundee and London respectively."

"Sent from the East End, what conclusions can you draw from that?"

"Those places are seaports, and the writer is on board."

"Yes, we have a clue. It is probable—the writer was on the same boat. Secondly, as far as Pondicherry was concerned, seven weeks had passed between the receipt of the threatening letter and the accident; as for Dundee , it is only three or four days. What does this indicate?"

"The former has a longer journey."

But you know, letters have to travel a long distance? "

"I don't quite understand that."

"At least we can assume that the man or the gang was in a sailboat. Those very strange-looking signals were sent before they set out. You see, after the signal from Dundee, things followed It happened, how quickly. If they had come from Pondicherry by steamer, they would have arrived at the same time as the letter. However, it turns out that it happened seven weeks later. I think this shows that the letter came by ship, and the writer came by ship."

"very possible."

"It's not just a possibility, it's probably the case. Now you should understand the urgency of this matter. Why did I ask Little Openshaw to be vigilant. The sender's journey is over, and disaster will follow. But this time it's from London, so we can't lose a moment."

"My God! What does this merciless persecution mean?" I exclaimed.

"The documents that Openshaw brought were clearly life-and-death to the people in the sailboat. I think it's pretty clear that they're definitely not alone, and that the death of two people in succession has fooled everyone in the coroner's jury? So There must be accomplices here, and they are brave and resourceful people. No matter where the document is hidden, they will get it. Therefore, it can be seen from this that KKK is by no means an abbreviation of a person, but a symbol of a certain group. "

"What kind of group is this going to be?"

Holmes leaned forward and said in a low voice: "Have you ever heard of the Ku Klux Klan?"

"never heard of that."

"Look here," said Holmes, opening the book on his knee, leafing through it, and then read:

"Coyo? Lukes? Curran, is a name. It comes from the imagination of her voice like a wrenching iron. It was a terrible secret formed by Confederate soldiers from the southern states after the Civil War The group has branches all over the country. Among them, Tennessee, Louisiana, Carolina, Georgia, Florida and other states are more noticeable. Its power mainly uses terrorist means to deal with black voters, and will murder or expel those who oppose their political views , so as to achieve their political goals. When they are about to commit atrocities, they usually send some strange but recognizable objects to the hostile people as a warning, for example, a small leafy oak leaf, a few pieces of watermelon or a few orange pips. Those who have been warned may publicly renounce their views, or flee abroad. If this is ignored, they are bound to be killed, often in strange and unexpected ways. The group was so well organized, and so systematic in its methods, that in those cases no one who opposed it was ever spared, and no perpetrator was ever traced. Therefore, although the U.S. government and the upper class of the South made many efforts to stop it, they never succeeded. Within a few years, this organization grew and spread everywhere. In [-], the Ku Klux Klan movement suddenly collapsed , although similar atrocities have occurred from time to time since then.”

Putting down the book in his hand, Holmes said: "You must be able to see that the downfall of the group coincided with Openshaw's exit from the United States with the papers. The two events are most likely to be causal. No wonder there are always some nemesis pursuing Openshaw and his family. You must be able to understand. This record and diary have been implicated by some of the leading figures in the American South. Besides, if these things are not recovered, I am afraid that many people will have a hypnotism because of it. Can't sleep well."

"So, the page we saw..."

"Just as we thought. If I remember correctly, it said 'Send orange pits to A, B, and C.' That meant sending them a warning. Then, it read A, B, cleared , or has gone abroad; and finally said to have visited C; I fear this will have ominous consequences for C. Well, doctor, I think we can bring light to this dark place, and I believe that, in the same time, little It is Openshaw's only chance to do as I say. Tonight, there is nothing more to say or do. Pass me the violin, and forget for a while the nasty weather and the misfortunes of your friends."

When I went downstairs in the morning, Holmes was already eating breakfast.

"Excuse me, I didn't wait for you," he said. "I may have been busy with yesterday's case all day."

"How do you plan to do it?"

"That determines the outcome of my preliminary inquiries. In short, I may have to go to Horsham."

"Aren't you going there first?"

"No. I must start in the city."

While waiting for my coffee, I picked up the newspaper and browsed.A title that shocked me with a cold war.

"Holmes, you are late!" I cried.

"what happened?"

The name of Openshaw and "The Tragedy at Waterloo Bridge," which was brought to my attention, read as follows:

Between [-]:[-] and [-]:[-] last night, Police Sergeant Cook was on duty near Waterloo Bridge when he heard someone falling into the water and calling for help.It was extremely dark that night, and it was violently stormy, so although several passers-by rescued them, they were unable to save them.With the assistance of the water police, one body was finally recovered.It was identified as a young gentleman, who was known to be John Openshaw, who lived near Horsham.It is speculated that he may have lost his footing in haste to catch the last train from Waterloo station.The body showed no signs of violence.Undoubtedly, the death of the deceased was accidental.This incident was sufficient to call the attention of the relevant authorities to the situation in the London docks.

We sat opposite each other in silence, and Holmes looked more dejected and shocked than I had ever seen. "It hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "I say that in a slightly mean-spirited way, but it really hurts my pride. Now it's my business." , if God grants me health, I will definitely eradicate these gangsters with my own hands. He came to ask me for advice. But I sent him back to die——!" He jumped up from his chair and walked around the room emotionally. He paced back and forth; his sunken cheeks were flushed, his long, thin hands clenched and loosened nervously.

He cried: "These fellows are treacherous. They tricked him into thither! The embankment is not on the direct line to the station! Let's see who wins. I'm going out now."

"Go to the police?"

"No, first I have to make a good net to catch the flies."

This whole day, due to being busy, I came back very late.But Holmes did not enter wearily until nearly ten o'clock, ran to the cupboard, tore a piece of bread, and devoured it.

"You're hungry." I said.

"Very hungry. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"Didn't eat anything?"

"No time to eat."

"How's it going?"

"is acceptable."

"Do you have any clues?"

"They're in my hands. It's time to avenge little Openshaw."

He took an orange, squeezed the core out of it, put it on the table, picked out five of them, and put them in an envelope.On the reverse side of the flap, he wrote: "SH to JO"

[Note:
Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes) means John Openshaw (John Openshaw). 】"United States, Savannah, Georgia, the sailing ship 'Lone Star', received by Captain James Calhoun" and other words.

"This letter is waiting for him when he sails into port," he said. "It will make him restless. He will also find it a portent of his death."

"Who is Captain Calhoun?"

"The leader of that gang, I have to deal with a few other people, but I need to deal with him first."

"So, how did you find out?"

He took out a large sheet of paper with dates and names on it from his pocket.

"It took me a whole day to go through the registers and files of old papers of the Lloyd's Register of Ships. And the condition of every ship which called here in January and February [-] after departure. One of the ships called 'Lone Star' caught my attention. Because the ship number was registered in London for customs clearance, but it was named after a state in the United States."

"It's Texas."

"Which state it was, I still don't know, but it's definitely an American ship."

"What about the future?"

"I looked again at Dundee's records. My theory was confirmed when I saw the arrival of the Lone Star in January [-]. Then, I made further inquiries about the Inquired about the situation of the ship."

"How is the result?"

"The Lone Star was here last week, and was informed that the ship had sailed away. As the wind was blowing to the east, I guessed that the ship was now past Goodwins, not far from the Isle of Wight."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get him. As far as I know, his other two accomplices on that boat were Americans, and the rest were Finns and Germans. The three of them disembarked together last night, waiting for their The mail ship had delivered the letter by the time the sailboat reached Savannah; and the police at Savannah had also received my telegram to them that I was looking for the three persons accused of committing crimes. Murder."

However, a wise man is bound to miss something.We waited a long time without hearing from the Lone Star of Savannah, because of the relentless winds that blew that autumn.We finally learned that a fragment of the mizzenmast had been seen floating in the rough Atlantic waves with the letters LS, short for Lone Star, engraved on it.That's all that's known about the ship's fate.And the murderers who murdered Little Openshaw were doomed never to receive those five orange pits, or they would know that there was another person in this world who was as cunning and determined as they were, and they were being hunted by this person !

(End of this chapter)