The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes The Five Orange Pips Summary

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The Five Orange Pips Summary

Watson is looking through his records of Holmes's cases between 1882 and 1890 in search of mysteries that are (a) not already known through the press, (b) show off Holmes's great mind, and (c) have, in fact, been solved.
He finds one from 1887, which was solved only according to Holmes's logic, and has never been definitivelyproven.
Watson sets the scene for this case: it's a dark and stormy night in September…
Watson's wife is visiting her mom, so Watson is staying with Holmes for a few days.
The doorbell rings unexpectedly. A man comes in. He's young, maybe 22, and well-dressed. He looks anxious.
He apologizes for disturbing Holmes, and asks for advice in relation to a series of weird things that have recentlyhappened to his family.
The young man's name is John Openshaw. His grandfather had two sons: Openshaw's uncle Elias, and the young man's father Joseph.
Joseph starts a bicycle factory in Coventry.
Elias, on the other hand, goes to the States and becomes a planter in Florida.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Elias joins the southern army and becomes a colonel. When the Confederacysurrenders, Elias goes back to his plantation in Florida.
Around 1869 or '70, Elias returns to England and settles in Sussex, a rural county in England.
He leaves the States even though he's been hugely financially successful there (says Openshaw) because he's a giant racist and can't stand that the Republican government (remember, the party of Lincoln) has given African-Americans the right to vote ("thefranchise," Orange.36).
Elias is pretty much a jerk all around, in fact: he hates everybody, never goes into town, and drinks a lot.
But he does like one person: young Openshaw. Elias begs his brother Joseph to let Openshaw live with him, and is kind to him (when he's sober, which sounds a little ominous to us).
Elias lets Openshaw represent him to the servants and shopkeepers and so on.Openshaw has complete control of the house, as long as he doesn't bug Uncle Elias when he's tucked away in his room.
The one thing in the house to which Openshaw does not have access is a "lumber-room" in the attic, which is locked.
In March 1883, Openshaw's uncle gets a letter with a Pondicherry, India (now known as Puducherry) postmark, out of which falls five orange pips. The envelope is markedwith three Ks. Openshaw laughs at this weirdness, but Elias is obviously totally freaked.
Elias yells, "K.K.K.! My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!" (Orange.38). When Openshaw asks what's up, his uncle just says, "Death," and goes to his room. Openshaw has no clue what's going on.
Elias comes back down the stairs carrying an old rusty key (to that mysterious room in the attic?) and a smallbrass box. He tells Openshaw to send for a lawyer from the nearby town.
When Openshaw comes back with the lawyer, he finds Uncle Elias in his room with a big pile of ashes in the fireplace and the brass box open and empty next to him. On the lid is printed K.K.K.
Elias asks Openshaw to witness his will. The will is this: all of Elias's wealth will go to his brother Joseph, who will probably thenleave it to Openshaw.
Elias apologizes, weirdly, for leaving Openshaw his fortune, because he isn't sure if the man will be able to enjoy the wealth.
After that meeting, Elias's behavior gets really extreme. He drinks even more. Sometimes he screams that he's not afraid and runs around with a gun in his hand. Other times, he locks his door and stays in his room, terrified.
One night, Eliasruns out of his room in a drunken fit, only to wind up dead the next morning, drowned in a small pool at the foot of the garden. His death is ruled a suicide, but Openshaw doesn't think it can be, given how frightened Elias was of death after getting that letter.
This happens on May 2, 1883, seven weeks after he received the five orange pips (on March 10, 1883).
So Openshaw's father Joseph...