Читать книгу A Study in Sherlock - Raymond G. Farney - Страница 13

The Five Orange Pips

 Publication & Dates:Strand, November. 1891The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. (5th story) 1905Illustrations: Sidney Paget (6)Conan Doyle’s 7th storyHolmes’ 13th case

 Story Introduction:When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years ’82 and ’90 I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features, that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable in its details and so startling in its results, that I am tempted to give some account of it, in spite of the fact that there are points in connection with it which never have been, and probably never will be, entirely cleared up.The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less your interest, of which I retain the records. Among my headings under these twelve months, I find an account of the adventure of the Paradol chamber, of the amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the British barque Sophy Anderson, of the singular adventures of the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes was able by winding up the dead man’s watch, to prove that it had been wound up two hours ago, and that therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time—a deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of them present such singular features as the strange train of circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe.It was in the latter days of September and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows so that even here in the heart of great hand-made London we were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life, and to recognize the presence of those great elements forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilization, like an untamed beast in a cage. As evening drew in the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, whilst I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-stories, until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, and a splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.“Why,” glancing at my companion, “that was surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours perhaps?”“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not encourage visitors.”“A client, then?”“If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out on such a day, at such an hour. But I take it that it is more likely to be some crony of the landlady’s.”Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came a step in the passage, and a tapping at the door. He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. “Come in!” said he.* A Holmes failure. Young John Openshaw was murdered before Holmes could do anything.Case Information

 Date:1887 Latter days of September, afternoon

 Duration:2 Days

 Crime:Murder.

 Client:John Openshaw, son. “I have come for advice.”— “”That is easily got.”— “”And help.”— “”That is not always so easy.”

 Victims:1st Elias Openshaw, uncle. Former member of the Ku Klux Klan. Found face downwards, in a little green-scrummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. Ruled a suicide.Young man became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done very well. He fought in Jackson’s army, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. “About 1869 or 1870 he came back to Europe, and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when angry, and of a most retiring disposition. He drank a great deal of brandy, and smoked very heavily, but he would see no society, and did not want any friends, even his own brother.” His estate of some fourteen thousand pounds lay in his credit at the bank.2nd Joseph Openshaw, father. Died from falling over a deep chalk-pit which abound the neighbourhood near Fareham, while returning in the evening to Major Freebody’s home. Ruled, death from accidental causes.Patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable bicycle tire. Had a small factory in Coventry.3rd John Openshaw, son. He had missed his path, and walked over the edge of one of the small landing places for river steamboats. The deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident.“a young man, some two-and-twenty at the outside, well groomed and trimly clad, with something of refinement and delicacy in his bearing.”

 Crime Scene:1st, Horsham, home of the Openshaws, near Elias’ home. Where Elias was murdered.2nd, near Fareham, where Joseph was murdered, near the home of Major Prendergast, Joseph’s friend.3rd, the embankment near Waterloo Bridge, where John was murdered.

 Criminal:Captain James Calhoun, of the barque Lone Star, Savannah, Georgia. Leader of the gang. “he had two mates.”

 Punishment:None, returning to Savannah, the Lone Star was struck in a very severe equinoctial gale and was lost at sea with no survivors.

 Official Police:Police-constable Cook, of the H division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge“by the aid of the water police, the body (John) was eventually recovered.”Police in Savannah, USA.

 Characters:No Others.

 Others Mentioned:Major Prendergast recommended Holmes to John Openshaw. Holmes had cleared him in the Tankerville Club Scandal. He was wrongly accused of cheating at cards.Ku Klux Klan (KKK) over whose papers the Openshaws were murdered.Mary, Elias’s housekeeper.Mr. Fordham, Horsham lawyer. Drew up Elias’s will.Major Freebody, an old friend who Joseph was visiting when he died.Hudson, Mc Cauley, Paramore, John Swain, names mentioned in the note.Finns and Germans. The rest of the crew aboard the Lone Star, heading for Savannah.Two mates, accomplices of Captain James Calhoun, all native-born Americans.

 Locations:Baker Street.

 Locations Mentioned:Coventry, location of Joseph Openshaw’s small factory.USA, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Texas.Pondicherry India, postmark of 1st letter received by Elias.Dundee, postmark of 2nd letter received by Joseph.London—eastern division, postmark of 3rd letter received by John.Lloyd’s, where Holmes spent time going over registries and files of old papers of ships that had been to Pondicherry and Dundee.Goodwins and the Isle of Wight. Locations the Long Star passed sailing from Albert Dock to Savannah.Savannah, where Captain Calhoun’s ship the Lone Star was heading.

 Evidence & Clues:“Did you remark the postmarks of these letters?” “The first from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the third from London.” “They are all sea-ports.”A sheet of paper John had found in the room that matched unburned pieces found among ashes of papers his uncle had burned. “Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from a book. It was headed, ‘March 1869,’ and beneath were the following enigmatical notices:“4th, Hudson came. Same old platform“7th, Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and John Swain of St Augustine.“9th, McCauley cleared.“10th, John Swain cleared.“12th, Visited Paramore. All well.”

 Motive:To retrieve KKK papers taken from the organization by Elias Openshaw before leaving Florida to return to England.

 Timeline:1869 or 1870 Elias Openshaw returns to England.1878, John Openshaw at 12 years old first meets his uncle Elias.March 10, 1883, Elias Openshaw receives the 1st letter containing the five orange pips, and KKK letters, with a Pondicherry India postmark.May 2nd night, 1883, seven weeks after receiving the letter Elias Openshaw dies.Beginning 1884, John’s father Joseph comes to live at Horsham, Elias’ home.January 4th 1885, Joseph Openshaw receives the 2nd letter, containing the five orange pips, and KKK letters, with a Dundee postmark.January 7th 1885, Joseph Openshaw leaves to visit an old friend, Major Portsdown.January 9th 1885, three or four days after receiving the letter, Joseph Openshaw dies.September morning, latter days of 1887 (two years, eight months after Joseph’s death) John Openshaw receives the 3rd letter containing the five orange pips, and KKK letters, with a London-eastern division postmark.1st Day Thursday, September 29thThe following day after receiving the letter, John Openshaw speaks to Major Prendergast, who advises him to go to Holmes.Evening, John Openshaw comes to Baker St. to speak with Holmes.“It is not yet 9:00 p.m.” Holmes tells John Openshaw he’ll set to work on the case tomorrow. John leaves Baker St. for Waterloo Station and a train to Horsham. Holmes and Watson sit discussing and analyzing information they have.Between 9:00 & 10:00 p.m., John Openshaw is murdered; Police-constable Cook, of the H division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, hears a cry for help and a splash in the water.2nd Day Friday, September 30thMorning, Holmes is up early having breakfast when Watson comes in. Holmes has a busy day in the city and out to Horsham later, looking into the case. As he is finishing Watson opens the newspaper and sees the article about John’s death. Holmes, depressed and shaken, leaves.All day, Watson “was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in the evening before returning to Baker Street.”Nearly 10:00 p.m. before Holmes returns to Baker St. looking pale and worn, after being out. He tells Watson, “I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not long remain unavenged.” Captain Calhoun and his two accomplices sail for Savannah before Holmes reaches them. Holmes sends a cable to inform the police in Savannah about their arrival.Waiting long for a reply. It came. The Lone Star never made port; it was lost in the storm, with all hands lost.Captain James Calhoun, and the barque Lone StarPorts and dates where Lone Star put into, and where the letters were mailed fromPondicherry in January or February 1883Dundee in January 1885Albert Dock, London, arrived last week. September 1887.Left by the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah.

 Story Conclusion:“There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for news of the Lone Star of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic, a shattered sternpost of a boat was seen swinging in the trough of a wave, with the letters L.S. carved upon it, and that is all which we shall ever know of the fate of the Lone Star.”

 Weather:DAY 1, * The equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had screamed and the wind had beaten against the windows.As evening drew in the storm grew higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the chimney.DAY 2, * It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a subdued brightness.

 Payment:None.

 Quote:“Put the papers on the sun-dial.”Holmes“I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a woman.”“It is true that I have been generally successful.”“I am the last court of appeals.”“We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and shaken than I had ever see him.”“That was surely the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours perhaps?” “Except for yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not encourage visitors.”“It’s not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this, I have endeavored in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits in a very precise fashion.”“Yes, yes,” I answered, laughing. “It was a singular document. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards to the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry eccentric, astronomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the main points of my analysis.”Holmes grinned at the last item. “Well,” he said, “I say now, as I said then, that a man should keep his little brain- attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get to it if he wants it.”“Tut tut,” cried Sherlock Holmes. “You must act, man, or you are lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for despair.”We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and shaken than I had ever seen him. “That hurts my pride, Watson,” he said at last. “It’s a petty feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal matter with me now, and, if god sends me health, I still set my hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that I should send him away to his death—!”“I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not long remain unavenged.”Crime and DeductionSherlock Holmes closed his eyes, and placed his elbows upon the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. “The ideal reasoner,” he remarked, “would when he has once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it, but also all the results which would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents, should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after. We have not yet grasped the result which the reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to utilize all the facts which have come to his knowledge, and this in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and encyclopedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have endeavored in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits in a very precise fashion.”“I said then, that a man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest can be put away in the lumber room of his library, where he can get to it if he wants it.”“As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both before and after.”