Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 138 Uncanny Valley (16)
"Here we come," replied McMurdo slowly, "Purdy Edward is here. I am Purdy Edward!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole room immediately became dead silent as if it had been hollowed out.The kettle on the stove suddenly made a sharp sound of steam, and all seven pale faces were raised to the person who was watching them, almost frozen there in fright.At the same moment there was a sudden crash of glass, shining rifle-barrels protruded from every window, and all the curtains were drawn.

Seeing this, McGinty let out a growl like a wounded bear, and he roared towards the half-open door.Yet there was a revolver waiting, and behind it the piercing blue eyes of Marvin, the mine police captain.McGinty had to fall back into the chair again.

"Mr. Congressman, you'll be safe sitting there," said the man they knew only as McMurdo, "and you, Baldwin, you'd better let go of your gun if you want to live. Take it out, or don't blame me." . . . that's about the same. Forty armed men have surrounded the house, and count your chances of getting out. Marvin, drop their guns!"

Under the awe of so many spears, there was no possibility of resistance, so the seven people were all disarmed, and could only stay around the table sullenly, terrified, and at a loss.

"Before parting, I want to say a few words," began their trapper. "We may not see each other again except in court. I want you to review some things. Now, you know who I am." Well, it's finally time for the showdown, and I'm Purdy Edward of Pinkerton. Sent to take down your outlaw gang. It's a difficult and dangerous game, and no one, not even my closest Knowing about this mission, the only ones who know about it are Captain Marvin and my employer. Thank God, it's finally over for tonight, I won!"

Seven pale and stiff faces turned to him together, their eyes filled with infinite hatred, and he could completely read the threats in them.

"Perhaps you think the game isn't over yet. Well, we're left to our own destiny. However, I don't think most of you will get another chance. Besides you, there are more than sixty people who were killed tonight. To be honest, when I was assigned this task, I didn't believe that there was an organization like yours at all, and even thought it was just nonsense in the newspapers. Then I decided to find out. I was told that it had something to do with the Freedmen's Chapter, So I went to Chicago and joined the Society, and I was even more convinced at the time that it was just a fiction, because the organization there did not do any bad things at all, but always did good things.

"However, I still had to perform a mission, so I came to this coal mine valley. When I got here, I realized that I was wrong. This is not a story in a novel. So I decided to stay and find out. I never killed in Chicago. Man, I've never minted counterfeit money in my life, and the money I give you is real, but it's all worth it. Because I know how to get into your core, I pretend to be a fugitive. It really helps me I successfully joined the meeting.

"Not only have I joined your diabolical organization, I've become a core member. Maybe people will think I'm as bad as you, but let them say, I got you anyway. What's the truth? Go beat the boss with you I didn't have time to warn him that night at Stanger, but, Baldwin, I stopped you in time, or you'd beat him to death. I also suggested some things to gain your confidence, but those things I can pre-empt Take precautions. But I can't save the lives of Dunn and Menzies because there is no clear information in advance. But I will definitely let those murderers who killed them go to the gallows. Also, I also forewarned Chester Weir Cox family, so they were already in hiding when we went to bomb his house. However, there are too many crimes that I can't stop at all. However, if you can recall, how many times your target person changed back to or when you went to track them down, they were elsewhere; or when you waited for him to come out, he didn't show up at all. I did it all."

"You bloody spy!" McGinty squeezed out a sentence between clenched teeth.

"I say, John McGinty, if it will relieve your chagrin, curse it as you please. You are the sworn enemy of God and the inhabitants of these lands, and someone must come to rescue the men and women who are struggling under your clutches." .There is only one way to do this. Fortunately, I did it. Although you call me a spy, I believe that many people will think that I am the savior who went to hell to save them. I survived for three months time, but I wouldn't want to go through the same three months again, even if the treasury in Washington was given to me. I have every human profile, secret, and crime I need to own. If it weren't for the fact that something about my secret identity was about to be Debunk, then maybe I'll stick around a little longer. A letter accidentally sent to town will alert you, so I'll have to act as soon as possible.

"Well, I won't say much else. But I can tell you that even at the end of my life, I think that if I think about everything I have done in this valley, I will die with peace of mind. Well, Marvin, no more Delaying you, take them away, and let it be over."

A few more words are needed at this point.Scanlon was instructed to deliver a sealed note to Miss Etty Schefter's, a task he accepted with a wink of understanding.In the early morning of the next day, a beautiful woman and a man who was tightly covered in clothes and hats boarded a special train dispatched by the railway company together, and then left this dangerous place without stopping.This is the last time Edie and her lover are seen in Uncanny Valley.Ten days later they were married in Chicago, old Jacob Schefter was a witness to the wedding.

Trials of the Vampire Party were later held far away from the local area to avoid threats and pressure from the arrested congregation on the law enforcement officers.The remnants struggled desperately, but to no avail--they spent money like water--the money that was extorted from everywhere in the hope of saving their accomplices was always in vain.Because the testimony is too objective, clear, and well-founded.The witnesses had such complete knowledge of the life, organization, and details of the crimes of every individual in the congregation that the defense was completely powerless.After so many years, the Vampire Party was finally broken and disbanded.Since then, there has been no cloud of sorrow in the valley.

McGinty died on the gallows. Before his execution, he kept crying and begging, but it was in vain.His main accomplices, the eight chief offenders, also suffered the same fate, and more than 50 other accomplices were sentenced to varying degrees of prison terms.Purdy Edward's job was finally over.

However, as he predicted, the game wasn't really over.Round after round of contests still ensued.First, Ted Baldwin escaped hanging, then the Willaby Brothers, and several of the Society's notoriously fierce men escaped execution, only to be imprisoned for ten years.The day they were free again—Edward knew it—that would be the end of his peaceful life.This group of people had sworn to use his blood to avenge their accomplices.He knows them, and these people will do it with all their might!
He was tracked down in Chicago and almost got them twice.There is no doubt that a more brutal third time will not be far away.In desperation, he was forced to leave Chicago, change his name and move to California.His wife Etie was later buried there, which almost extinguished the fire of his life.After another narrow escape, he once again went to an inaccessible canyon under the pseudonym Douglas, and partnered with an Englishman named Buck to run a mine and made a fortune.At last, when he felt that the hounds had smelled him again, he gave up everything and moved to England, and married a rich lady again under the name of John Douglas, and lived in Sousse. Five years had passed as a squire in Cox County.And even this secluded life was eventually forced to end in the strange case we told about earlier.ending
After the police interrogation, John Douglas' case was transferred to a higher court.In the end, the Quarter Court (a court that sits four times a year in the UK——Translator's Note) acquitted him of killing in self-defense and sentenced him to release.

"Do everything possible to help him leave England," Holmes wrote to Douglas' wife. "There are dangers here, even more dangerous than those he has encountered before. Your husband will hardly find a place in England."

Two months later, the case has gradually faded from our memory.However, one morning, a short note mysteriously entered our mailbox. "God! Mr. Holmes, God!" There were only these words on the strange letter, which had neither signature nor address.I laughed at this strange letter, but Holmes looked unusually dignified.

"Terrible, Watson," said he.Then he sat there frowning.

In the middle of the night, the landlady came up to report that a gentleman wanted to see Holmes, and it was very urgent.Presently our friend at Birlstone Park, Cyril Barker, entered, looking melancholy and haggard.

"I have bad news—very bad news for you, Mr. Holmes," said he.

"I am worried about it," said Holmes.

"Didn't you get the telegram?"

"Just got a note."

"Poor Douglas. His real name, they tell me, is Edward. But to me he will always be Jack Douglas of Benito Canyon. They went to South Africa three weeks ago on the 'Palmyra' .”

"I know."

"The ship arrived in Cape Town last night. I had this telegram from Mrs. Douglas this morning:

Jack is lost in a typhoon near St. Helena.No one saw how the accident happened.

Ivy Douglas
"Hey! Is that really the case?" Holmes thought deeply. "Well, it is undoubtedly a good show controlled by someone behind the scenes."

"You mean, it wasn't an accident?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then he was murdered?"

"That's right!"

"That's what I thought too. Those damn bloodsuckers, that damn den of vengeance..."

"No, no, my dear sir," said Holmes, "there is another mastermind here. It is by no means a case which can be done with a sawed-off shotgun or a revolver. You may well regard it as a crime." Homemade. I think it's Moriarty's work, I know that. The crime was directed in London, not in America."

"But what's the motive?"

"Because the murderer is a person who cannot accept failure. His special feature is that no matter what he does, he has a very strong goal. He can only succeed and never fail. A very smart head and a large group decided to Destroying a person is like smashing a small walnut with a sledgehammer, and it would be ridiculous to use too much force. However, as long as the walnut is crushed, it will be fine."

"How did this person get involved?"

"All I can say is that the first time we heard about his involvement, it was from one of his aides. It seemed the Americans were going to win, so asked his advisers to tell them what to do. Like all those who were going to Like people who commit crimes in foreign countries, if they want to commit crimes in England, they must cooperate with this big criminal group. From that moment, their target person is doomed. First, they used their own methods to find out the target. Then he was instructed exactly how to do it; finally, when he was reported that his men had missed, he decided to do it himself. You must have heard that I warned him at Birlstone Park that the dangers of the future would be greater than those of the past. It's even bigger, isn't it?"

Buck beat his own head repeatedly with clenched fists, venting his helpless rage. "Can we just swallow our anger? Is there no one who can fight against this devil?"

"No, I didn't say that," said Holmes, his eyes seeming to be looking far into the future. "I don't think he really can't be beaten, but you must give me time—you must give me time!"

For a moment, no one said a word, but Holmes's piercing eyes seemed to speak, all the way through the dark clouds that seemed to hang over his eyes.

(End of this chapter)