บทที่ 3.3 K.K.K.
Sherlock Holmes sat silently, and watched the fire.
Then he said to me, 'John Openshaw is in real danger.
Why did his Uncle Elias have to leave America? Because
he had enemies. When he came back to England he
was afraid. That's why he lived a lonely life and locked
all his doors so carefully. Now where did those letters
come from? Did you see?'
'The first from Pondicherry in India, the second
from Dundee in Scotland and the third from East
London,' I answered.
'Does that tell you anything?' asked Holmes.
(คำใต้รปหน้า35 Sherlock Holmes sat silently, and watched the fire.)
'They're all sea ports. The writer was on a ship when
he wrote the letters,' I replied. I was pleased with my
answer.
'Very good, Watson,' said Holmes. 'Somebody sent
some pips from India, and arrived seven weeks later to
kill Uncle Elias. Then he sent some pips from Scotland
and arrived three days later to kill John's father. Do
you see why I'm worried now? He has sent pips to
John from Londonl John's enemy is in London
already!'
'Good God, Holmes!' I cried. 'Who is this man?'
'More than one man, I think. They belong to the Ku
Klux Klan. That explains the "K.K.K.". Haven't you
ever heard of it? It's a very secret group of Americans
from the South. They wanted to stop equality for black
people and to kill anyone who didn't agree with them.
The police couldn't stop them. But in 1869 Uncle Elias,
who belonged to this secret group, suddenly left
America with all their papers, and so the group could
not go on. Of course the group wanted to get the
papers back. You remember the half-burnt paper?
That was Uncle Elias's American diary. While he was
working for the K.K.K., he sent the pips to frighten
those three men. Two left the country, but one didn't,
so the K.K.K. "finished business with him", or killed
him. The K.K.K. always worked like that.'
'Well, I hope they won't kill young Openshaw,' I
said.
บทที่ 3.4 The Last Deaths
But they did. The next morning we read in the
newspaper that John Openshaw was dead. A policeman
found him in the river near Waterloo station. The
police said it was an accident, but Holmes was very
angry about it.
'He came to me for help and those men murdered
him! I'm going to find them, if it's the last thing I do!'
he said to me, and he hurried out of the house.
In the evening, when he came back to Baker Street,
he was tired, but pleased. 'Watson!' he said, 'I know
the names of Openshaw's enemies! And now I'm going
to send them a surprise! This will frighten them!' He
(คำใตรูปหน้า37 We read in the newspaper that John Openshaw was dead. )
took five pips from an orange and put them in an
envelope. On it he wrote 'S.H. for J.C.'
'I'm sending the pips, not from the K.K.K., but from
me, Sherlock Holmes, to Captain James Calhoun. His
ship is called the Star. He and his men are sailing back
to Georgia, USA, now.'
'How did you find him, Holmes?' I asked.
'Ship's papers,' he said. 'I've looked at hundreds of
them today. Only one ship, the Star, was in the three
ports at the right times, and this morning the Star left
London to sail back to Georgia. I found out that the
captain and two of his men, all Americans, weren't on
the ship last night, so I'm sure they killed poor John
Openshaw. When they arrive in America, they'll get
the pips and then the police will catch them!'
Sherlock Holmes is a very clever detective, but he
can do nothing about the weather. The winter storms
at sea that year were worse than ever, and so the Star
never arrived in Georgia, and nobody saw the captain
or his men again. The murderers of John Openshaw
did not get the pips, but, in the end, death came to
them.