[Shen Xia] Britannia Rose

"My father didn't care much about me and my brother. He was very busy with business and traveled a lot. But I knew he liked me because after moving to the UK he had a lot more time and on the afternoons when he didn't drink, he He will play chess with me, Dou Shuanglu. And he intends to cultivate my management skills. He let me keep the keys of the house, and I can go to any room, but the premise is that he can’t disturb his rest. Sounds good, yes Is it? But then I found out that one room in the house my father bought was locked all the year round, and even I didn’t have the key to that door, and my father strictly prohibited anyone from approaching that door. I used to be curious, from the keyhole to Peeping inside the house, the house is very dark, and by the light of the flashlight, I vaguely saw some sundries and books on the cabinet, and on the desk, there was a not-so-large safe.”

"Are you sure it's a safe?"

"Yes," John continued tremblingly with pain on his face, "after a few years, there was an additional mail in the perennially deserted mailbox of the manor, it was a letter with a foreign stamp on it, you know My father has very few friends. At first I thought it was his business partner in the United States, but my father opened the letter suspiciously. I saw five shriveled orange cores falling out of the envelope... I couldn't help laughing, thinking who it was A prank letter sent to us, but when I saw my father's face, I was stunned... Father seemed to have been drained of strength, his face was ashen, his eyes were staring, red and bloodshot, very scary .”

"Sorry, five orange pits?" Isabella asked with a frown.

"Five, it's five. I asked my father what's the matter, but he ignored me, just holding his head and saying KKK in extreme horror! After so many years, there is no escape from sin!"

Sherlock became interested, and he asked with burning eyes: "KKK? What is this?"

"I don't know!" John said in panic. "My father just muttered death! Death! Then he hurried upstairs, and I picked up the letter that made my father's face change. Three crooked words were written in red ink—K.KK. Then he took a key and held the mysterious safe in his other hand, walked down the stairs, and told me that they could do whatever they liked, and he Wouldn't surrender to them. Then he told me to go and light the fire in the room, and send for Mr. Fordham, Horsham."

"No offense, your father hired a lawyer, does he want to make a will?" Isabella was fascinated.

"Yes...he left most of his property to my brother and me, and he explained a lot of things. I always feel a little strange. It's like...uh, last words. Then I signed the will. Father put that The mysterious safe was opened, and there were some documents and photos inside. He threw those things into the fire... I saw that the cover of the document was also written KKK in blood-red paint. After that, our life gradually returned to calm... But You know, it's impossible for such strange things to have no effect on me. The quiet days gradually passed, and my father began to drink heavily. He was rarely sober. lock, as if he was afraid of someone. And sometimes he rushed out of the house holding a gun and yelled into the air that no one could threaten him! After venting, he hurriedly hid in his secret room like a frightened bird, inserted Bar the door. My brother and I lived in fear all that time."

"KKK, what the hell is this?" Isabella subconsciously bit her lower lip and said to herself.

"...then my fears finally came true. My father got drunk one night and ran out again, but this time he was gone for good...he fell face down Falling into a green cesspool not more than two feet deep at one end of the garden. There was no sign of violence around, and it all seemed like an accident. Given some of his previous grotesque behavior, this The case was quickly classified as an accident."

"How long has it been since you received the letter and your father's accident?" Sherlock asked.

"About three weeks," John replied uncertainly.

"Oh, can you tell me in detail...the scene of your father's death?" Sherlock asked closely. Hearing such straightforward words, Isabella gave him a dissatisfied look, and Sherlock said nothing wrong. guilt.

"Uh...it's been too long, but I still have the jury records here, if you want to see it." John took out his mobile phone.

"Oh, thank you." Sherlock took the phone without seeing anything, and read the picture file carefully.

"After my father passed away, my brother and I cleaned the house, focusing on cleaning the locked room. The safe was still there, but it was empty. Most of the things on the bookcase were missing, and only some guns remained. Books on weapons and military industry, as well as some medical and linguistic journals."

"Your father was a businessman, wasn't he?" asked Isabella.

"Yes."

"But he has a collection of books that don't match his identity... and he is very busy with work and often travels. Of course, it is impossible to go out to buy goods. I would like to ask, how was the revenue of the supermarket run by your father? In the United States Which city?" Isabella saw the problem.

"Seattle." Sherlock said firmly, "John, the screen saver of your mobile phone is standing on the second floor of the supermarket to capture the dusk, right? The pixels are too poor, and the photography technology is not very good."

"Uh, yes. I have a nostalgic feeling for that supermarket. After all, I spent my childhood there." John Openshaw drank the wine in his glass.

"Hmm..." Isabella got up and looked at the photo next to Sherlock. "Judging from the reflection in the glass, this supermarket is not big and the surrounding area is rather desolate. I'm a little worried about its revenue."

"In fact, in the few years since the store was opened, it has been tepid, and the customers who come here are always those from the town," John continued, "It was three or four years ago, and I remember it clearly, it was after New Year's Day In the first three days, my brother was eating breakfast at home, he suddenly screamed, I saw five orange cores on the dining table... I was shocked, the nightmare from many years ago came to us again, my brother was shocked, He looked at the inside of the envelope, and sure enough, it was KKK again. Only this time they wrote a sentence in the letter - put the document on the sundial."

"A sundial?"

"I guess it's the one in the garden. This time the letter came from Dundee. I'm not sure if the documents mentioned in the letter are the ones my father burned before his death... I persuaded my brother to go to the police, but he was very stubborn. At that time, he had a strong figure and a tall physique. No one could beat him. He was quite confident. I was very worried. Sure enough, on the third day after receiving the letter, my brother went to Coventry to transport timber. On the return journey There was a car accident on the road, and there was still no clue at the scene. There was no vehicle involved in the accident, no violence, and even when my brother was in an accident, there was no second person on the entire road. In this regard, the coroner gave a conclusion of accidental death. They I thought it was a rainy day and the road was slippery, my brother made a sharp turn and the vehicle overturned, and the logs pressed my brother under it, suffocating him to death."

"Oh..." Sherlock tapped the counter with his middle finger, and Isabella found that if the frequency of his tapping was placed on the violin, it happened to be Deldera's commemorative song.

"And now, bad luck is my turn." John was shaking his teeth in horror.

The author has something to say:

Adapted from Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" Five Orange Pit

It's a case I liked very much when I was a child, and it has a bit of mystery

Some changes in the middle details

I don't know if anyone guessed the ending hahaha