I dug out the notes and records of Sherlock Holmes' detective cases from 1882 to 1890. I just glanced at them briefly and found that among the vast amounts of materials I had accumulated, there were so many bizarre and interesting ones that I really didn't know which one to choose.

Many of these cases have already become household names through media publicity, but some cases have not fully demonstrated my friend's ability to solve crimes. In fact, what those newspapers most want to report are cases that reflect my friend's outstanding talents. There are also cases that make

He was unable to demonstrate his expertise in analysis, as in some stories, there was often no follow-up. In some cases, he only understood a certain link in it, and made assumptions about the plot out of speculation or subjective assumptions.

The analysis made is not based on the meticulous logical argument that my friend values ​​most. Among the last type of cases mentioned above, I think there is a case of five orange seeds that is worth mentioning.

Although some of the truth about this case is still unknown and may always remain a secret, the plot of this case is particularly bizarre and the ending is even more unexpected.

In 1887, we had a series of cases, both interesting and ordinary, in our hands, and I have kept the records of these cases. Throughout the year's records, the cases recorded have corresponding titles: "Pa.

"Radore Tower Case", "Professional Beggars Gang Case", this professional beggars gang owns a particularly luxurious club, which is located in the basement of a furniture store warehouse. In addition, there is also the "Crash of the American Sailing Ship 'Sophie Anderson'"

"The Case of the Truth", "The Case of Grace Peterson on the Island of Ufa", "The Camberwell Poisoning Case", etc. Remember that in the last case, when Sherlock Holmes wound up the dead man's watch

, unexpectedly found that the watch had been wound two hours ago, and then naturally confirmed the fact that the deceased had gone to bed during that time, and this reasoning was key to uncovering the mystery of the entire case.

I may give a general introduction to the above cases in the future, but the one I want to introduce most now is the case I am writing about now. This is probably the most bizarre case among all the bizarre cases I have ever come into contact with.

.

It was late September, the time of the autumnal equinox. The storm was extremely violent that day. The roar of the wind could be heard outside all day long, and the large raindrops pounded on the windows violently. Even we who were hidden deep in the great city of London

, and at this time, they were no longer in the mood to work. Everyone was deeply impressed by the power of nature. It was like an untamed beast in a cage, roaring at humans inside the fence. The night gradually came, and the storm followed.

The strong wind outside the house became more fierce, sometimes roaring, sometimes whispering, making sounds like the cry of a baby coming from the fireplace chimney. At this time, Holmes was sitting in the corner of the fireplace, compiling the index of criminal records with a depressed mood.

I happened to be sitting in the other corner of the fireplace, reading a wonderful novel about the ocean written by Clark Russell. Because my wife went back to visit her parents, I was able to become a frequent visitor here and temporarily stay in my house.

My friend is here. The wind outside the window is getting more and more unbridled, and the rain has gradually turned from pouring to violently hitting the city like waves. This is very harmonious with the theme of the novel in my hand. "Hi!" I looked up at my companion.

, asked him: "The doorbell really rang. Which guest will come tonight? Could it be one of your friends?"

"Friend? Aren't you the only friend?" he replied, "I am not too enthusiastic about guests' visits."

"That should be a client, right?"

"If it was the client, it must be a very serious case, otherwise he would not have come out under such harsh conditions, but I feel that the person who came here should be the landlady's best friend."

But this time Holmes didn't guess correctly, because soon there was a sound of footsteps from the corridor, and then there was a knock on our door. He first reached out and moved the lamp next to him to where the guests would sit.

Next to the empty chair, he said: "Please come in!"

At this time, a young man about 20 years old came in from the door. Judging from his clothes, he was relatively well-dressed, neatly dressed, elegant, and very well-educated. The umbrella in his hand was dripping water, and there was still water on his body.

Wearing a shiny long raincoat, he left traces of the wind and rain on his body. After entering the house, he looked around anxiously under the lamp. Only then did I notice that his face was pale and his eyes were

It was hanging down, obviously oppressed by some trouble.

"I think I should say sorry to you first." He said as he put on a pair of gold pince-nez. "I hope I didn't disturb you! I brought the mud and water brought by the storm outside to you.

It’s all dirty in my house, which really makes me feel uneasy!”

"Give me your hat and umbrella!" said Holmes. "I will hang them on the hook and dry them quickly. I guess you come from the southwest!"

"Yes, from Horsham."

"The mixture of clay and chalk stuck to the toes of your shoes tells me where you come from."

"I am specifically asking you for advice on some issues."

"no problem."

"And I hope to get your help!"

"Then I don't know if I can help."

"Mr. Holmes, I have long admired your name! Major Prendergast once told me about your rescue of him from the Tankerville Club scandal."

"Oh! Yes. Someone framed him for using fake cards to defraud."

"He told me that there is no problem that can defeat you."

"He's been rewarded."

"He also said you were invincible."

"No, I have also failed 4 times - 3 times at the hands of several men and once at the hands of a woman."

"However, this is nothing compared to the many victories you have achieved!"

"Yes, in the usual sense, I am quite successful."

"Then, I believe you can successfully help me solve this case."

"Please move your chair closer to this side and introduce some of the circumstances of your case first!"

"This case is absolutely extraordinary."

"Any case that comes to me should be extraordinary. My place has become the Supreme Court of Appeal."

"However, sir, I would like to ask, among the cases you have experienced, have you ever heard of anything more mysterious and incredible than the series of stories that happened in my family?"

"Hearing what you said has aroused my interest in this case." Holmes said, "Please introduce some key plots to us first, and then I will ask what I think are the more critical details.

Come out and ask you."

The young man moved the chair under him forward and moved his wet feet closer to the fire.

He introduced: My name is John Openshaw. According to my opinion, this terrible case belongs to the legacy of the previous generation, and I myself have nothing to do with it. In order to let you better understand this incident,

It is necessary for me to tell the story of this case from the beginning. You must know that my grandfather had two sons, one was my uncle Elias, and the other was my father Joseph. My father himself was in Conventry.

He opened a small factory. Due to the invention and appearance of bicycles, he expanded the business scope of the factory during that period and obtained the patent for Openshaw's puncture-proof tires, so the business was so good that he later sold the factory.

, I can still live a prosperous old age with this large amount of money.

Let’s talk about my uncle Elias. He immigrated to the United States when he was young and became a plantation owner in Florida. I heard that he was very good at business. During the American Civil War, he first fought with Jackson and later joined Hood.

flag and was promoted to colonel. After the defeat of the Southern rebel commander Robert E. Lee, he returned to his plantation and lived there for another three or four years. Around 1869 or 1870, he returned to Europe

, and purchased a small piece of property near Horsham, Sussex. While in the United States, he made a lot of money, but he hated black people and opposed the Republican Party's policy of giving black people the right to vote.

, so he left the United States and returned to the United Kingdom. He was a withdrawn person with a weird temper. He was prone to anger and liked to use foul language. During the long time he lived in Horsham, he was rarely seen.

He rarely goes out and even goes to town. His home has a garden and two or three fields around his house where he can exercise, but he is often not seen out of the house for weeks. He doesn't like it.

He doesn't have any friends, not even his own brothers. He likes to drink brandy at home and often gets himself drunk. He also likes to smoke, and smokes very hard.

Although he liked me more, he didn't care much about me. The first time he saw me was in 1878, when I was only about 10 years old. And he had been back to China for eight or nine years. After his repeated visits,

Upon request, my father let me live with my uncle, and he loved me in his own way. When he was not drunk, he would play Dou Shuanglu (also known as the Shiwuzi game) with me.

It is a game in which each side has fifteen chess pieces and rolls dice to determine the number of chess blocks), chess and other games; he also entrusted me with managing the servants and some business matters, so when I grew up

When I was 16 years old, I had become a little housekeeper without realizing it. All the keys in the house were under my control. As long as I wanted to go, there was no place I couldn't go, and I could do anything I wanted to do, as long as I didn't

Disturbing my uncle's peaceful life. But there is one exception. Among the many rooms in the attic, there is a room where debris is stored. The door is always locked. Even I can't go in, let alone anyone else. Out of

Driven by curiosity, I once lay outside the door and peeked into the house through the keyhole. But in my eyes, what I saw was just a lot of old boxes and large and small luggage that are usually found in some places.

Other than that, no abnormalities were found at all.

One day in March 1883, there was a letter from abroad placed in front of the colonel's dinner plate, but this letter was extraordinary for him. You must know that he did not have a single friend, and he usually had no friends.

It was paid in cash. 'It's from India!' he said in surprise as he picked up the letter, 'Pondicherry postmark! What's going on?' He hurriedly opened the envelope, and suddenly there were five

The shriveled orange core fell out of it and landed on the plate. I just wanted to laugh, but as soon as I raised my eyes, I was frightened by his expression, and the smile was immediately wiped from my mouth.

.I saw his eyes wide open, his mouth wide open, his whole face seemed to be covered with a layer of deathly ashes, staring intently at the envelope in his hand, his hands trembling. 'K.K.K!' he screamed.

, and then shouted: 'Oh, God, my God, there is no escape from sin!'

I shouted: 'Uncle, what happened?'

'Death is coming!' he said as he stood up from the table and returned to his room in a panic, leaving only me there who was terrified. I picked up the envelope and found that there was something wrong with it.

On the inner layer of the lid that covers the envelope, that is, at the top of the part where the glue is applied, there are three letters K scrawled in red ink. In addition to these are the five shriveled orange cores. Why did he do that?

Are you so scared? I left the dining table and was about to go upstairs when I found him walking downstairs with a rusty key in one hand - obviously it should be reserved for the room upstairs, and the other

In his only hand was a small brass box that looked like a money box.

'They can do whatever they like, but I'm going to win over them,' he said angrily. 'Tell Mary to light a fire in the fireplace in my room today, and have someone bring in the Ford of Horsham.

Invite lawyer Mu!”

I did everything, and when the lawyer came, he called me into his room. There was a bright fire in the room, and in the grate of the fireplace there was a pile of ashes of black fluffy paper that had just been burned.

The lid of the brass box was open and put aside. There was nothing inside. But when I took a look at the box, I couldn't help but be shocked, because right on the lid of the box, I saw what I had written on the envelope that morning.

The same 3 K letters I saw.

'John, I wish you...' said my uncle, 'to be my witness, and I will leave my estate, with all that is in it, good and bad, to my brother -

That is your father. There is no doubt that you will inherit these things from your father in the future, and it would be best if you can enjoy them safely. However, if you find it difficult to do this, then

Okay, child, just listen to my advice and leave it to your enemies! I'm sorry for leaving such a good and bad thing to you! But who can tell what will happen in the future?

Just follow Attorney Fordham's instructions and sign your name on the will!'

Following the lawyer's instructions, I signed the will, and then the lawyer took the will away. As you can imagine, this strange thing left a deep impression on my heart. I thought about it over and over again, and always came to the conclusion that

I couldn't unravel the mystery. But I couldn't get rid of the vague fear that this incident left me. Although nothing happened in our lives later, as the days passed, my uneasiness

The feeling gradually disappeared, but I can still see that since then, my uncle's behavior has become more weird. He drinks more than before, and is even less willing to go out. He will not go to any social places.

. Most of the time, he spent in his own room, and often locked his door from the inside. However, sometimes he would suddenly rush out of the room like a drunken maniac, holding in his hand

He took a revolver and ran wildly in the garden, yelling and shouting. He was not afraid of anyone, not even ghosts, and don't try to imprison him like a sheep. After the madness, he would

He hurried back to the room in a panic, locked the door again, and bolted the door, as if his heart had been completely penetrated by fear and could no longer endure the pretense. At this time, I noticed that there was always a look on his face.

My face was dripping with sweat, as if I had just washed my face, even in the cold winter.

"Oh, Mr. Holmes, I'd better tell you the end of this matter. I can't bear with you anymore and let you listen endlessly. One night, he had another attack as usual and suddenly ran out.

But this time he never came back. We finally found him in a green cesspool at the end of the garden. At that time, he was lying face down in it. There was no sign of violence at the scene, and the man

The water in the pit was only two feet deep. Therefore, the jury later concluded the case as 'suicide' based on his past weird behavior. However, based on what I have always known about him, he actually

He was very afraid of death and never believed that he would run out and commit suicide. But although I have always had doubts about this, it is now a thing of the past. Later, my father inherited his property and his deposits of about 14,000 pounds in the bank.

.”

"Please wait a moment!" interposed Holmes, "I think your case will be the most bizarre one that I have ever encountered. Please tell me the date when your uncle received the letter and what he was convicted of.

Date of suicide.”

"The date of receipt of the letter was March 10, 1883. The day of his suicide was May 2, seven weeks later."

"Thank you! Please continue."

After my father inherited the Horsham property, at my suggestion, he made a thorough inspection of the attic that had been locked for many years. In that house we saw that although everything inside had been destroyed

, but the brass box is still there! There is a label with three capital letters "K.K.K." on the inside of the lid, and the words "Letter, Memo, Receipt and a Record" are also written below. We judge that

: This should represent the nature of the documents destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. There was nothing very important in the attic, except for many scattered documents and notebooks recording my uncle's life in America. Among these scattered

Among the documents, some are about the situation during the war and his description of the honors he received as a heroic soldier for his loyalty to duty; others are mostly political-related records about the reconstruction period of the southern states after the war. It is obvious that he was an active participant in opposing the Northern War.

of plundering politicians.

Alas, my father moved to Horsham in early 1884, and everything went well until January 1885. On the fourth day just after New Year's Day, our family was eating together around the table.

During breakfast, I suddenly heard my father yelling, and saw a just-opened letter in one of his hands, while five shriveled orange cores were lying on the open palm of his other hand.

Normally, he always thinks that the stories I told about my uncle are too unbelievable and laughs at me for it. But when he experienced such a thing personally, he was already panicked and lost his mind.

'Oh, what's going on, John?' he asked stutteringly.

At this time, my heart felt like lead, extremely heavy. 'This is K.K.K...' I said.

He looked inside the envelope: 'Yes,' he cried, 'those are the letters. And what is written here?'

‘Place the document on the sundial.’ I read from behind him, looking over his shoulder at the words on the envelope.

'What document? What sundial?' he asked again.

'It must be the sundial in the garden, because there is nothing else,' I said. 'As for the documents, they must be those that have been destroyed.'

'Screw it!' he encouraged himself and said. 'We live in a civilized society, how can we let such stupid things happen! Where did this letter come from?'

'From Dundee,' I replied after looking at the postmark.

'It's just a ridiculous joke,' he said. 'What do I have to do with sundials and documents? I won't pay attention to such nonsense.'

‘If it were me, I would call the police right away.’ I said.

'They will laugh at my pain, so I won't go!'

'Then let me call the police?'

'No, you can't go either, I don't like bothering myself with such ridiculous things!'

I knew he was very stubborn, and it was useless to argue with him any more, so I had to walk away. But I still felt very uneasy, and there was an ominous omen of imminent disaster.

On the third day after receiving the letter, my father went out to visit his good friend, Major Freebody, who is now the commander of a fort on Mount Potsdam. I was very happy that he could go out to visit his old friend, because I

I thought that by leaving home, he could avoid the danger that was about to befall him! However, my idea was wrong. The day after he left home, a telegram from the major came, asking me to rush there immediately.

Where did he go, because there were many mines near our place, and someone found that my father had fallen into a deep chalk mine. His skull was shattered, and he was no longer alive. When he hurried over, he could no longer find his whereabouts.

He did not wake up. Judging from the situation at the time, it was obvious that he should have returned from Fairham's house before dusk that day. Because he was relatively unfamiliar with country roads and there was no shelter around the mine, the coroner did not hesitate.

I came to the conclusion that death was caused by accident. I checked all the details related to his death very carefully, but I did not find any suspicion of murder. There was no sign of violence at the scene of the incident, and there were no other strangers.

There were no footprints, no signs of robbery, and no record of the appearance of strangers. But I don’t say you can guess it. I felt very uneasy. Someone must have secretly planned this incident and performed some kind of ulterior act on him.

conspiracy.

You may be wondering that I did not sell it under a cloud that I inherited. My answer is: I feel confident that disaster would threaten us just as much whether we were in the house or not.

.Because to a certain extent, our family's disaster has been doomed by some kind of accident that my uncle experienced during his lifetime.

My father's misfortune occurred in January 1885, and now it has been two years and eight months. During this period, my life in Horsham was relatively happy. I even thought that disaster would never happen again.

It has come to my family, and it has become a thing of the past along with the previous generation. Who knows, my self-comfort is a bit premature. Yesterday morning, just like what my father experienced, disaster once again befell my family.

The young man took out a crumpled envelope from the pocket of his vest, walked to the table, and five shriveled orange cores were shaken out.

"This is the envelope," he went on. "It's postmarked East End of London, and it contains the same words as the letter my father received - K.K.K... followed by 'Place the document on the sundial'.

'."

"Did you take any steps?" asked Holmes.

"No."

"No?"

"To be honest." He buried his head and covered his face with a pair of skinny and pale hands, "I feel helpless about this. I feel like a poor rabbit with a poisonous snake crawling towards me right now.

Likewise, I feel as if I am being controlled by a huge and invisible force, and this force cannot be guarded against by all foreseeable and preventive measures."

"Hi! Hi!" cried Holmes, "you must take some measures, sir. Otherwise you will be hopeless! There is no other better way to save you than to cheer yourself up.

.There is no time to sigh now!”

"I've already called the police."

"oh!"

"But they just laughed at my story and let it go. I think those police officers may have formed an unchanging opinion and concluded that those letters were pure hoaxes. As the coroner said, my two

The death of a loved one is purely accidental and has nothing to do with those so-called precursors."

Holmes excitedly waved his clenched fists and shouted: "These idiots are so stupid that it is unimaginable!"

"But fortunately, they promised to send a policeman to stay in the house with me."

"Then did he come out with you tonight?"

"No, he was ordered to stay only in the house."

Holmes waved his fist in anger again.

"Then why did you come to me?" he cried, "and why didn't you come to me in the first place?"

"I didn't know you before! It was only today, after I told Major Prendergast about my current predicament, that he persuaded me to come to you."

"It's been two full days since you received the letter. In fact, we should have taken action before then. If I'm not wrong, I'm afraid there is no more information besides the plots that have been provided to me.

That’s evidence! In other words, there are no more useful details that can enlighten us, right?”

"Oh, there's one more." John Openshaw said. After rummaging in his coat pocket for a long time, he took out a piece of faded blue paper and spread it out on the table.

"In my impression..." he said, "when my uncle burned those documents, I found that the edges of some small unburned documents had a special color, which seemed to be this color. Later I found it in my

This piece of paper was found on the floor in my uncle's house. I prefer to believe that it was accidentally slipped out of a pile of papers and thus saved from being burned. But I don't think it would be of much use to us.

Since it only mentioned orange pits, I guessed it was just a page from a private diary, and from the handwriting, it was clearly my uncle's."

Holmes moved the position of the lamp, and then we both bent down to look at the paper. One side of the paper was jagged, and it looked like it had been torn from a book. At the top was written "March 1869"

, the following record is a bit difficult to understand. Here is its specific content:

4th: Hudson comes with the same old political views.

7th: Deliver orange pips to Macaulay, Paramore and John Swain of St. Augustine.

9th: Macaulay has been eliminated.

10th: John Swain has been eliminated.

12th: Visited Parramore, everything went well.

"Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it to his visitor. "Now you cannot delay any longer, and you may not even have time to discuss what you have just told me.

You have to go home immediately and set off immediately!"

"Then what should I do?"

"There is only one thing to do, and it must be done immediately without any delay. You must put the piece of paper you just took out into the brass box you said. Also put in a note.

, make it clear here that this is the only piece of paper left, all the other documents have been burned by your uncle, your wording must make them completely believe you, and then you must immediately

The brass box is placed on the sundial mentioned on the envelope. Do you understand?"

"understood."

"For now, let's put aside the issue of revenge. I think in the end this can all be resolved through law. Since they have already made a plan, we should take corresponding measures. The first thing to consider now is how to eliminate the evil under our noses.

danger, and then it’s time to reveal the secrets of the crime and severely punish these criminals.”

"Thank you so much!" the young man said as he stood up and put on his raincoat. "You saved me and gave me hope in life again. I will definitely do what you said."

"You must race against time to do these things, and at the same time, you must protect yourself first, because according to my judgment, it is obvious that you are now facing many threats and your life is in danger at all times. How do you plan to go back?

Woolen cloth?"

"Take the train back from Waterloo Station."

"It's not yet 9 o'clock, and there are still a lot of people on the street, so I think nothing will happen to you. However, you'd better be more careful."

"I'm carrying a gun!"

"Then I can rest assured. I will start working on your case immediately tomorrow."

"Then shall I wait for you at Horsham, or..."

"No, the answer to your case should be in London. I will look for clues to this case."

"Well, I will come back to visit you in a day or two and report to you the progress of the copper box and documents. I will do exactly what you asked!" Then he said goodbye to us. The door was still there.

It was the strong wind that was raging, and the pouring rain kept falling, banging on the windows. This bizarre and dangerous story that accompanied the storm was like a fallen leaf that was blown away in the strong wind and fell on us, and then

Then he was swept away by the storm.

Holmes' head tilted forward slightly, his eyes fixed on the red flame in the fireplace. After a moment of silence, he lit the pipe in his hand, leaned on the chair, and quietly watched the rising flames.

Blue smoke rings floated to the ceiling one after another.

"Watson, I think this may be the most bizarre of all the cases we have ever encountered." He finally made a judgment on the case.

"Apart from the 'Four Signatures' case, this should be it."

"Well, yes. That's probably all except that case. But in my opinion, this John Openshaw may be in greater danger than Sholto."

"But do you have a clear judgment about this danger now?" I asked.

"There can be no doubt as to the nature of the danger," he answered.

"Then what's going on? Who is this K.K.K.? Why does he keep pestering this poor family?"

Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes, put his arms on the armrests of his chair, clasped his hands, and said: "For a relatively good reasoner, as long as someone points out a certain aspect of the facts to him, he will

It is possible to deduce not only the cause of this fact from here to there, but also the consequences that will result. Just like Cuvier, he was able to accurately depict a complete animal from just one bone just by meditating.

Animals. An observant person, since he is fully aware of one part of a series of events, should be able to accurately explain the cause and effect of the entire event. We currently do not have enough evidence to know the result. The problem is often that we need

Problems can only be solved through research. People who want to solve problems by intuition will not succeed. However, to ensure that this kind of knowledge reaches a superb level, the reasoner also needs to be good at using all the information he has. This is what you

It is definitely clearer. Doing this industry means that you have to be familiar with all knowledge. And if you can really achieve this, even if there are free education and encyclopedias, it may not be possible. For a person, all knowledge is

It is not impossible for him to master all the knowledge that is helpful for his work. I have been working hard in this direction myself. If I remember it accurately, when we first met, you seemed to have done a good job in

I spoke out about my shortcomings."

"Yes." I replied and couldn't help laughing. I continued: "That is a very interesting record sheet. I still remember it: philosophy, astronomy, politics, got zero points; botany, not sure

Well; geology, if it is limited to the area within 80 kilometers of London, you have a very in-depth study; chemistry, it is more unique; anatomy lacks systematicity; as for thrillers and crime records, it is definitely useless.

You are comparable to other people; you are a violinist, a boxer, a fencer, a lawyer; but you are also a victim of cocaine and tobacco. I think that is the main point of my analysis."

When he heard the last item, Holmes couldn't help but smile mischievously. "Well!" he said, still as the old saying goes, a person's mind is like a small attic, and he should make enough reserves here to solve his problems.

All possible needs. As for the rest, you can put it in his library and take it as you need it. For the case we are taking on tonight, it seems that it is necessary for us to gather all our information together.

Sorry, could you please hand me the K-word section of the American Encyclopedia on the bookshelf next to you? OK, thank you! Let’s analyze the current situation and see what results we can deduce from it.

First, we might as well start with a relatively well-founded hypothesis - the reason why Colonel Openshaw left the United States should be due to some external factors. You know, people of his age are already used to all kinds of things.

How could he be willing to change his life so easily? Besides, Florida is a place with a pleasant climate. He would definitely not be so willing to give up and return to the British countryside to live a solitary life. He is surprisingly fond of living alone in the UK.

It hints to us that there is a possibility in his heart that there are people and things that scare him. Therefore, we can make an assumption that is helpful to us. He may be helpless because he is afraid of someone or something.

left the United States out of fear.

"As for what he is afraid of, we can only make inferences based on a few mysterious letters that he and his heirs received. I wonder if you noticed the postmarks of those letters?"

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

"What can you deduce from this letter from the East End of London?"

"They are all seaports. The person who wrote the letter should be on the ship."

"Very good, we have the first clue. Obviously, it is possible - it is especially likely that the person who wrote the letter must have been on a boat at that time. Then we will analyze the second point. According to Pondicherry

As far as the address is concerned, seven weeks have passed from the time the threatening letter was received to the time of the incident; as for Dundee, only three or four days have passed, so what does this mean?"

"It shows that the former has a long way to go."

"But letters also have to travel a long distance?"

"Then I don't understand a little bit."

"I think it can be at least assumed that that person or group of people was on a sailing ship, which means that their seemingly strange warnings or signals were always sent before they set off to commit the crime. You see, the signal was sent from Dundee

After arriving, things happened immediately, you see how fast. If they set out from Pondicherry and came by ship, they could arrive with the letter. But in fact, the time of the incident was 7

Weeks later. Based on this, I judge that the seven-week period indicates that the letter came by cruise ship and the person who wrote the letter came by sailing ship, so there was this time difference."

"It's very possible."

"Not only is it possible, I am convinced that it should basically be the case. Judging from the current situation, it is even more obvious that this new case is more urgent. This is why I have repeatedly reminded Little Openshaw to be careful. Disasters often occur in the mail.

It happened after the letterman finished his journey. And this time he came from London, so we can't tolerate any delay."

"Oh, God!" I couldn't help shouting. "What does this mean? This is simply a cruel massacre!"

"The document that Openshaw was carrying was obviously something related to the life or death of a person or a group of people on the sailing ship. In my opinion, the facts of the case are now obvious. They were probably several people, and they were very brave.

.Because it is difficult for one person to kill two lives in a row, not to mention the method he used was not even noticed by the coroner's jury. They will not give up until they get the documents, no matter whose hands the documents are hidden in.

So, you should have discovered by now that K.K.K. is not just the abbreviation of a person’s name, but the symbol of a gang.”

"What kind of gang sign is that?"

"Have you not..." Holmes said half a sentence, then leaned forward and lowered his voice: "Have you not heard of the Ku Klux Klan before?"

"No."

Holmes put the book on his knees and turned through the pages. "Look here!" Then he read:

"The KKK was the name of a gang, and it came from the imaginary sound that sounded like the trigger of a gun. This terrible secret gang was the leader of the Civil War.

Later, they were composed of the remaining federal soldiers from the southern states. They quickly established branches all over the country. Among them, the branches in Tennessee, Louisiana, Carolina, Georgia and Florida attracted more attention. Gradually, this group

In order to achieve their political goals, the forces have focused on terrorizing black voters and even murdering or expelling people who disagree with them from abroad. When they are about to resort to violent measures, they often resort to violence to those they target.

People send things with weird shapes but that everyone can recognize, such as an oak branch with leaves, a few watermelon seeds or a few orange cores, as a warning. After receiving the warning, the targeted person may publicly declare that he is not interested.

If you continue to insist on your original views, or flee abroad, you will definitely be assassinated if you ignore it, and often do it in a particularly weird and unexpected way. This secret gang is very well-organized, and they take

Their methods were also specially planned in advance, so in all the recorded cases, no one who was hostile to them was spared, and so far none of the cases has been cracked. Although the U.S. government and the upper class society in the South have been trying to

They tried their best to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, but their power has still spread wantonly in recent years. In 1869, the Ku Klux Klan organization was disbanded, although such atrocities continued to occur after that."

Putting down the book in his hand, Holmes said: "I think you can definitely see that the sudden disbandment of the secret gang and Openshaw's escape from the United States with the documents happened together. There is an inseparable connection between the two things. No wonder

There are some sworn enemies who have been stalking Openshaw and his family. This document involves information about some of the leading figures in the American South, which you must understand! There are also many people who must find these things before they can sleep.

Sleep peacefully.”

"In this case, then the page we read..."

"As we expected, if my memory is still accurate, it should say 'Give the orange core to A, B and C.' That is to say, give them a warning from the gang. It then goes on to write:

A and B have been eliminated, or have gone abroad, and finally they said they visited C. I'm afraid this visit will not be a good thing. Hi, doctor, I think we may be able to bring a glimmer of light to this dark world! I'm sure

, at this critical moment, little Openshaw had no choice but to do as I said. This was his only chance to survive. That's all for tonight. Please pass me the violin and let us forget about it for a while.

The abominable weather, and of course the misfortune of our compatriots."

In the morning, the wind and rain had stopped, and there was still a layer of hazy clouds over the city. The sun had already come out, shining softly through this layer of clouds. When I went downstairs, I found that Holmes was already having breakfast.

.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't wait for you to have dinner with me!" he said, "because according to my judgment, I may have to be busy all day today on Little Openshaw's case."

"How are you going to get started?" I asked.

"This may mainly depend on the results of my preliminary investigation. No matter what, I guess I have to go to Horsham."

"Don't you go there first?"

"No, I have to start in the city. Just ring the bell and the maid will bring you coffee."

While waiting for coffee, I picked up the newspaper on the table, opened it and glanced at it. A news headline caught my eye, and I couldn't help but feel a shiver in my heart.

"Holmes!" I cried, "you are too late!"

"Ah!" He quickly put down the cup and replied: "I was worried! What's wrong?" Although he said this calmly, it was obvious that I could see the tension in his heart. It attracted me right now.

It was Openshaw's name and the title "Tragedy at Waterloo Bridge." The news report read as follows:

Around 9 to 10 o'clock last night, near Waterloo Bridge, Sergeant Cook of the 8th Team was on duty when suddenly there was a cry for help and the sound of falling into the water. It was dark that night, and there was a violent storm, so although there were several people on the way

They extended a helping hand, but still could not rescue the man. An alarm was immediately raised, and with the cooperation of the police on the water, a body was recovered. The body was confirmed to be a young gentleman. According to the envelope taken out of his pocket, it was learned that this person was a young gentleman.

The man's name was John Openshaw, who lived near Horsham. It was inferred that he was probably busy catching the last train from Waterloo station and it was too dark. He accidentally stepped on a small ship pier while getting lost.

He slipped from the edge and fell into the water. Judging from the body, there was no sign of violence. There is no doubt that the deceased should have met with misfortune due to an accident. This incident also aroused the need for the local municipal council to strengthen the supervision of riverside piers, etc.

After a few minutes of silence, Holmes looked lost and shocked. This was the first time I had seen him.

"This incident has greatly injured my self-esteem, Watson!" he finally said, "although this sentiment is relatively narrow, it does hurt my self-esteem. From now on, it is my personal matter.

.As long as God gives me enough time, I will definitely catch these bad guys with my own hands during my lifetime. He came to me for help, but I asked him to die on his own initiative..." As he said this, he stood up from the chair.

, walking back and forth in the room, too excited to calm down. His long and thin hands were so nervous that they clasped and unclenched for a while, and a trace of flush appeared on his sunken cheeks. Finally, he shouted:

"These bad guys are so treacherous. How did they trick him there? The pier is not on the way to the station at all! In order to achieve their goals, they actually didn't even let the weather go like this.

.Not to mention there were so many people on the bridge at that time? Well, Watson, we have to see who can have the last laugh! I have to leave now!"

"Go to the police?"

"No, I am the policeman myself this time. I can catch these flies after I weave the net, but now I have to weave the net first."

Because I was busy with my medical work, I stayed idle all day, and did not return to Baker Street until very late. At this time, Holmes had not come back. It was almost 10 o'clock when I saw that his face was pale and he looked pale.

He walked in looking very tired. He walked quickly to the cupboard, picked up a large piece of bread and ate it. Then he drank a large glass of water before swallowing the bread.

"You are very hungry!" I said.

"Yeah, I'm starving to death! I never thought of eating. I haven't eaten anything since I ate in the morning."

"Nothing to eat?"

"Yes, because there is no time to think about this."

"How's the situation?"

"fine."

"Did you find any clues?"

"They can't escape my grasp. Little Openshaw's revenge will definitely be avenged. Hum, Watson, let us treat him as he was treated. I have already considered this carefully.

of!"

"you mean?"

He took out an orange from the cupboard, broke it into several pieces, then took out the orange cores and placed them on the table. Then he selected 5 of them and put them into an envelope. In the envelope

On the reverse side of the envelope, he wrote "S.H. for J.O." (that is, Sherlock Holmes for John Openshaw). Finally, he sealed the envelope.

On the outside of the envelope, write "Captain James Calhoun, Captain James Calhoun, barque Lone Star, Savannah, Georgia, United States."

"This letter will arrive when he comes into port," he said with a proud smile. "He will stay up all night because of this letter and regard it as a harbinger of his death, just like Openshaw.

It's the same situation they've been through."

"Who is Captain Calhoun?"

"The boss of that gang of bad guys. I will also tease a few other people, but I will tease him first."

"Then how did you find out?"

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

"I spent a whole day going through the Lloyd's Register and old documents." He said, "I made a complete list of all the ships that called at Pondicherry Port in January and February 1883.

Subsequent voyages were followed up and investigated. According to the registration status, a total of 36 relatively large cargo ships stopped there during these two months. I noticed at that time that one of them was called the 'Lone Star'.

, because although the ship was registered to London Customs, it was named after a state in the United States."

“Texas, I guess!”

"I'm not sure which state it is from, and I'm not sure, but I'm sure it's an American ship."

"What happened next?"

"I looked through the Dundee archives again. When I saw the record of the three-masted ship 'Lone Star' arriving there in January 1885, I knew that this was close to what I had guessed, so

I immediately conducted an investigation on the ship anchored in the Port of London."

"What's the result?"

"The 'Lone Star' arrived here just last week. I ran to the Albert Dock and after inquiries, it was found that the ship had taken advantage of the early tide this morning and returned to Savannah.

I sent a telegram to Gravesend and found out that the ship had just passed there. Since the wind was from the west, I concluded that the ship had passed Goodwins and was on the Isle of Wight.

nearby."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"I'm going to arrest him! And his two accomplices. As far as I know, they were the only Americans on the ship, and the rest were Finns and Germans. I also heard that the person in charge was responsible for them at the time.

The dock worker who loaded the goods said that the three of them had gone ashore last night. The mail ship took my letter there immediately after their sailing ship arrived in Savannah.

The telegram has been notified to the police in Savannah, indicating that the three of them are wanted for murder."

However, God is not as good as God, and no matter how careful the plan is, there will still be loopholes. The murderers of John Openshaw may never receive those orange pips, although those orange pips can

Let them know that in this world, there are people who are just as cunning but very persistent as they are, chasing them. During the autumnal equinox that year, the storm blew longer and stronger than usual. After we waited for a long time, we didn’t get Sasha.

In the case of the news about the Varner "Lone Star", I finally heard the news: somewhere in the distant Atlantic Ocean, during a low tide, someone discovered a broken stern post, and it was actually engraved with "L.S.

"The two-letter mark is the last we know about the fate of the Lone Star."

【Legal Commentary】

The Ku Klux Klan is a well-known organized criminal group in many novels and movies. So how does our country’s law stipulate joint crimes like theirs? According to whether there is an organized form, joint crimes can be divided into general joint crimes and special crimes.

Joint crime. General joint crime, referred to as general accomplice, also known as non-group accomplice, refers to a joint crime without a special organizational form. For this form of joint crime, the joint offenders generally commit a specific crime.

As for temporary combination, once a specific crime is completed, the criminal alliance ceases to exist. A general joint crime can be a joint crime with prior conspiracy or a joint crime without prior conspiracy; it can also be a simple joint crime

, it can also be a complex joint crime. Special joint crime, also known as organized joint crime, is generally called a criminal group.

According to Paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Criminal Law, a criminal group refers to a relatively fixed criminal organization formed by more than three people to jointly commit crimes. Specifically, to identify a criminal group, it must have the following four characteristics at the same time: (1

) must be more than 3 people. This is the prescriptive characteristic of the main body of a criminal group. (2) It has a certain degree of organization. The so-called organization mainly means that the members are relatively fixed and there is an internal relationship between the leader and the led.

.There are ringleaders, backbone members, and general members. Criminals are connected together through written or unwritten rules. Organization is the most essential feature of a criminal group. (3) The ability to carry out something or something.

The purpose of several crimes. This feature is the fundamental sign of criminal groups and backward organizations based on low-level tastes or feudal customs. (4) It has a certain degree of stability. That is, the co-criminals are aiming to commit crimes over a long period of time.
Chapter completed!