The Case of the Black Group
Chapter 1: Inspector Lestrade brings the case
The many adventures that me and my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, encountered for several years will always be printed in my head. One particular case that I can remember was the one of the Case of the Black Group. This particular case had me eager to discover the nature of such acts that had occured. If I recall well, this case was as early as 1882. That year, Inspector Lestrade had visited us various different times, and Holmes had assisted to many cases. It was a 20th of March when this case came to hand. Lestrade had arrived in the early afternoon, having the mood of a worried man. Mrs. Hudson had led him in and Holmes and I had received him. Holmes was always paying attention to the words of the inspector, and this time was no different. I was seldom paying attention, but this time I was.
"Ah, Lestrade!" had said Holmes when he saw Lestrade sitting in the living room. "Tell me, my good inspecotr, what brings you today here?"
"A case of pure evil." said Lestrade with a scared tone.
"Tell me, inspector, what this evil may be."
"It all started as a simple bank robbery. I thought it was nothing serious, well, not as serious as it actually is. The robbery had been done at night. Nobody knows how the thief mannaged to do it, but there was no forced entrance nor any sign of having a different way in. The next morning the vault was found open and several thousands were missing. As I remember they were 50.000 pounds. This occured three weeks ago. A week later a new bank was robbed, the same conditions. We then set our heads in catching this thief."
"How much money was stolen the second time?" interrupted my friend.
"20.000 pounds."
"Ah, this time they went for less. But it would have been too much to have stolen the same quantity, but still I think this criminal is an ambitious one. Please continue."
"Well, with the 70 thousands stolen and no idea of how the criminal had done it we set an investigation which didn't give us many results. I first thought it was only robbery, but then it escalated to murder. Last week a man was found dead with a knife wound on the back of his head. This man was found floating in a river, completely clotheless. But there was a curiosity in this man. On his chest there was a circle with the letter B painted with the victim's blood."
"The Black Group symbol." I said.
"Excuse me?" said Lestrade.
"The Black Group symbol. I read about it once. It's a group of people dedicated into illegal activities, most notably murder. Whenever they commit a crime they leave their mark. No one from the group has ever been identified. Inspector, in the banks was the same mark? Maybe painted in the wall, or on the floor?"
"I'm sorry, but not that we have known of."
"Ha!" laughed Holmes, "Excuse my rudeness, but there might in fact be one and your people have missed it, Lestrade."
"There's the possibility." Lestrade said, insulted.
"Inspector, have you ever heard before about the group?" I asked.
"I think I once heard somebody mention it, but I didn't pay much atenttion to it."
"It would be curious that a police officer wouldn't have heard about it, but the group stopped its activities about ten or so years ago. That's why I think you haven't heard of them. But its strange that they would want to restart their activities after so much time."
"That," said Lestrade, "taking in consideration that is really the Black Group. Maybe somebody is just trying to get everybody scared and to make us think they're back. And besides, maybe the bank robbery and the murder aren't connected at all."
"Inspector," said Holmes, "I believe that they are. Thanks to what my colleague has said, I think it is this group. Now, Lestrade, I'll help you catch these people. But to do so, I would like to visit the bank and inspect myself to see if there's any type of symbol there."