FullBladder
12-15-2011, 02:32 PM
Here's a fun mystery for you all to ponder on!
Sherlock Holmes received an urgent telegram from a frightened client named Stewart Copper. Mr. Copper felt certain that his life was in danger. Holmes and Watson hurried to his mansion only to find that they were too late. The man had been stabbed to death a short while before they arrived. The papers on his desk rustled from the breeze coming in through the open window. “I found him lying there,” said the landlady, dark bags under her eyes and cold hands clasped. “Before he died he muttered something about a secret society and quoted the number 80.” “Damned strange thing to say, Holmes,” said Watson. “Did he say anything else?” Holmes asked the landlady. “I asked him who had done this terrible thing to him, but he just repeated ‘80’…” she answered. “Do you know what this number might mean to him?” Holmes asked. “All I know, sir, is that his estranged daughter, Emily, was born in ‘80. They don’t speak much since he had an affair and her mother divorced him.” Holmes thanked the landlady for her help and discharged her. He looked through the room, moving books and peering behind paintings. Behind a large painting of Mr. Copper and three other men sitting around a table, Sherlock Holmes found a safe, still locked. “Watson,” Holmes called to his assistant, “please carefully look through Mr. Copper’s pockets. Search for a key – it is sure to be close to his person.” Watson did as he was told and soon found a fancy gold watch in Mr. Copper’s inner jacket pocket. He opened it and out fell a key which he handed to Holmes. Out of the safe, Sherlock Holmes pulled a will. He skimmed through the will and stated, “Seems his mistress had a daughter as well and that she would be getting quite a bit more of his fortune than his own daughter.” He peered again into the safe and out from under a pile of papers he pulled a large intricately-carved copper coin with a seven-pointed star carved in the middle and “Seventy Three” written beneath it. “How peculiar…” he said to himself. On Mr. Copper’s desk, Watson noticed a blood-spattered blank piece of paper folded as if it had been in an envelope. He handed it to Holmes who looked at it under the light; there was a watermark of a seven pointed star in the left corner. Holmes pondered for a moment. He went back over to the safe and closed it, then pulled the painting over it, this time taking a closer look at the image. The four men in the painting each had something peering out of their breast pockets – what appeared to be a large coin, each of a different metal, with the image of a partial seven-pointed star visible above the pocket edge. Holmes went over to Mr. Copper’s desk again and looked through the drawers. He found a stack of old letters underneath a pile of books. Although there was nothing incriminating in the letters, the interesting thing was in how they were each signed “Sincerely, Mr. Bronze, Mr. Gold, and Mr. Silver”. He pulled each of the letters to the light to find a watermark of a seven pointed star in the right corner.
The Mistress
The Mistress’s Daughter
Mr. Gold
Mr. Silver
Mr. Bronze
The Landlady
Emily
Ex-Wife
Who killed Mr. Copper?
Sherlock Holmes received an urgent telegram from a frightened client named Stewart Copper. Mr. Copper felt certain that his life was in danger. Holmes and Watson hurried to his mansion only to find that they were too late. The man had been stabbed to death a short while before they arrived. The papers on his desk rustled from the breeze coming in through the open window. “I found him lying there,” said the landlady, dark bags under her eyes and cold hands clasped. “Before he died he muttered something about a secret society and quoted the number 80.” “Damned strange thing to say, Holmes,” said Watson. “Did he say anything else?” Holmes asked the landlady. “I asked him who had done this terrible thing to him, but he just repeated ‘80’…” she answered. “Do you know what this number might mean to him?” Holmes asked. “All I know, sir, is that his estranged daughter, Emily, was born in ‘80. They don’t speak much since he had an affair and her mother divorced him.” Holmes thanked the landlady for her help and discharged her. He looked through the room, moving books and peering behind paintings. Behind a large painting of Mr. Copper and three other men sitting around a table, Sherlock Holmes found a safe, still locked. “Watson,” Holmes called to his assistant, “please carefully look through Mr. Copper’s pockets. Search for a key – it is sure to be close to his person.” Watson did as he was told and soon found a fancy gold watch in Mr. Copper’s inner jacket pocket. He opened it and out fell a key which he handed to Holmes. Out of the safe, Sherlock Holmes pulled a will. He skimmed through the will and stated, “Seems his mistress had a daughter as well and that she would be getting quite a bit more of his fortune than his own daughter.” He peered again into the safe and out from under a pile of papers he pulled a large intricately-carved copper coin with a seven-pointed star carved in the middle and “Seventy Three” written beneath it. “How peculiar…” he said to himself. On Mr. Copper’s desk, Watson noticed a blood-spattered blank piece of paper folded as if it had been in an envelope. He handed it to Holmes who looked at it under the light; there was a watermark of a seven pointed star in the left corner. Holmes pondered for a moment. He went back over to the safe and closed it, then pulled the painting over it, this time taking a closer look at the image. The four men in the painting each had something peering out of their breast pockets – what appeared to be a large coin, each of a different metal, with the image of a partial seven-pointed star visible above the pocket edge. Holmes went over to Mr. Copper’s desk again and looked through the drawers. He found a stack of old letters underneath a pile of books. Although there was nothing incriminating in the letters, the interesting thing was in how they were each signed “Sincerely, Mr. Bronze, Mr. Gold, and Mr. Silver”. He pulled each of the letters to the light to find a watermark of a seven pointed star in the right corner.
The Mistress
The Mistress’s Daughter
Mr. Gold
Mr. Silver
Mr. Bronze
The Landlady
Emily
Ex-Wife
Who killed Mr. Copper?