Dear Detectives,
With The Calamity at Callamis under wraps, Finlay Brown and the residents of Moonzie can finally rest at ease knowing what happened to Simon Lindsey and Doyle Harris — not to mention, Kidd's treasure...
As per usual, we'll be in touch with a new case posthaste, but in the meantime, don't forget to review Holmes' breakdown of this haunting incident. Did you manage to determine the source of the "haunting"?
Cheers to a prosperous Spring,
The Dear Holmes Team
——
5 June, 1901
Dear Angus,
As you know, I have been following your investigation from the start and making notes along the way. I can understand why you might have felt the need to call for assistance with this case– Not only because murder is rare in your idyllic hamlet, but also because of the unusual amount of individuals involved in these events. I applaud your efforts, and though a part of me suspects you have already arrived at the same conclusions, I shall regale you with my deductions as they occurred to me. Let us review.
On first reading your letter of May the 31st, it was plain to see that something strange, likely criminal, was underway. In either or both cases, this combination of missing men, tales of treasure, and a pool of blood, was undoubtedly worthy of investigation.
The haunting, I initially dismissed, for I was certain its explanation would rise before us as we investigated the other, more Earthly matters at hand. Namely, the wellbeing and whereabouts of Simon Lindsey and his friend. I considered several possibilities as I learned of Oliver Lindsey’s death, and Simon and company’s subsequent arrival to Callamis; unfortunately, none were innocent. Simon and his pal, Doyle, might have harmed someone in their hunt for valuables, in which case, it would not be unexpected for them to suddenly abscond. On the other hand, the blood may have been indicative of a struggle that led to one or both of them being injured– or killed– by a yet unknown assailant. We would also be foolish to dismiss the possibility of a struggle between Lindsey and Harris themselves, especially when taking into account their mutual interest in the treasure, however, there was more reason to believe they were friendly than not. And evidence was scant.
Further complicating these theories was also the odd chamber you discovered at Callamis, which you described as “fly-ridden” and soiled with “human filth”. Somebody might have been secretly occupying Callamis, I considered, and perhaps a fight ensued when their presence was discovered. Or, this person might have lured the two soldiers there and attacked them. Alternatively, were Lindsey and Harris holding somebody against their will?
I determined to concentrate my efforts, first, on the individuals surrounding Callamis, and their potential involvement with this case. The first and easiest candidate to dispense with was Archibald Frasier, the solicitor. He stood to lose an impressive commission, should his client vanish or cease to live; the fact that he had had keys to the estate, for a brief moment, compelled me to wonder if he sought Kidd’s treasure himself. Still, Frasier would not have so profoundly involved himself in these affairs were he responsible for anything nefarious, and indeed it was he who begged you to investigate Callamis.
Lorna MacLeod was perhaps more suspicious than the solicitor, but not a great cause for alarm. After all, one could say that she coaxed Simon Lindsey out of South Africa and to Callamis, but much like Frasier, she stood more to gain from a healthy client than not. Perhaps she was someone to scrutinise with regard to the haunting, if anything, for she might have devised it as a means of creating demand for her own services. But there was nothing in your earliest letter supporting this theory. To my chagrin, the other individuals you had named were not as easy to disregard. Any nearby crofter might have been compelled to act against Lindsey, not to mention Rory Kavanagh, who you encountered at the property with Frasier.
Your following letter of June the 2nd introduced the nephew, Finlay Brown, who might have been motivated to eliminate Lindsey and take the property for himself. Yet, his presence would have surely been noted by someone in such a small community as Moonzie. It was difficult to believe he had personally played a part in the ongoings at Callamis, although he could have conceivably arranged for somebody– for example, Rory Kavanagh– to harm his cousin and the friend. He could have also paid off the friend, Harris, to betray Lindsey. But the evidence you gathered suggested that Brown was, like Frasier, neither to be blamed for the missing men nor the so-called haunting.
My attention was instead drawn to another person who continued to appear in your reports. Rory Kavanagh. The fact that Rory appeared to be keeping watch of Callamis had me harken to the old saw about a criminal returning to the site of his crime. And as Miss Maria Carroway confided to you, Duncan and Rory had recently become chums over their similar ambitions— Rory to keep his croft, and Duncan to regain the land sold from under him by Oliver Lindsey. Of course, Duncan Ferguson eventually confessed that he and Rory were meddling with the property to delay a sale; and that they had been the two figures you saw from the window at Callamis. You yourself noted evidence of this in your first letter: footprints around the estate and a tin can tied with string, which we now know was not a child’s toy. The footprints demonstrate that others were entering and leaving, not through the gate, but surreptitiously from the forest. And then there is the tin can with string. It has me recall one Madame Yolanda, a supposed medium who tricked people into believing spirits were present by various means. One such trick involved releasing a rat with a tin can tied to its tail, and in fact, Miss Carroway reported seeing Rory and Duncan carrying trash and small animals in cages– cans and rats. Nevertheless, a desire to preserve their crofts does not preclude either of them from being party to a greater crime. In fact, what better way to blind us from their true crime than by graciously admitting to one more benign?
I will confess, the two had me guessing for a time; until your final missive illuminated every detail of this sordid plot. Let me now expound upon the events that ultimately led me to deduce that this has been a case of mistaken identities, and murders, involving Simon and Doyle, and Fiona and Lorna MacLeod.
The will of the deceased Oliver Lindsey required the family Bible, holding a cryptic promise of treasure, be sent to Simon in hopes of luring him home. This plan succeeded, as Simon indeed changed his mind after receiving the Bible from Frasier. However, wary and understandably fearful of the townsfolk, Simon towed along a friend, likely offering him a share in Kidd’s treasure. Sadly, Simon made a poor choice in acquaintance.
As their searches of the property progressed, frustrations were no doubt escalating, and I suspect Doyle began to fear he might be cut out of his share. It was then that he managed to lock Simon in the cellar ice room and attempt to locate the treasure and abscond with it himself. The keech that you discovered, and the reports of a haunting, were signs of Simon’s presence in the cellar, and of his cries for help at night. The rumours of a haunting began to spread and with it, Doyle’s anxiety grew. He feared this caterwauling would draw attention and result in his arrest.
At some point on May the 30th, Doyle Harris killed Simon for the treasure, or at least the hope of it, and assumed his identity. He discreetly buried the body in Pitmedden Forest the following morning, if not that same evening, and kept away from the property until he could return in the dead of night on the 31st– something which Ferguson witnessed. From there on, the man devoted all his attention to the hunt for treasure. Having learned from Simon, or a crofter, that Lorna MacLeod previously worked at the property, he knew to enlist her help in the hunt. Then matters grew more complicated.
As nobody in Moonzie had seen Simon Lindsey for at least twenty years, Harris’s disguise was a success. But it was this success that became his downfall, for when Harris approached the MacLeods as Lindsey, it reinvigorated a hatred for his friend, whose family was– in their eyes– to blame for Lorna’s delicate state. Fiona MacLeod would have you believe they refused to help Doyle (or Simon), but indeed they did. During your second visit to the MacLeods, Fiona noted that they had been visited by Simon, though she insisted no help was offered. The former fact was later corroborated by Ferguson, when he revealed having seen the trio talking outside of the MacLeods’ tenement on June the 1st; the latter fact was disproved when he saw the lot of them later approaching Callamis. More curious still was the fact the MacLeods left the property alone, and in such a quiet rush, even later that evening. I posit that they led Harris (to them, Lindsey,) to the hearth, likely pointing out the carving the Professor had noted, and as Doyle was distracted by Lorna and the hearth, Fiona made the cut. They then disposed of the body near the old kirk in the late hours of the night, before it was discovered by Miss Carroway on the morning of the 2nd. Your instincts proved sound when you returned to the MacLeods and observed the two women butchering a lamb in much the same manner.
Now, how best to proceed? It is evident, from your discoveries on June the 3rd, that Captain William Kidd’s treasure was discovered in the hearth at Callamis. In light of the MacLeods sudden plans to acquire a smart cottage, and their newly “tidy” home– which boasted a new trunk, full of something that appeared to glimmer in the light– I would wager that the treasure is in their possession. I have thus informed an associate of mine at Scotland Yard of the circumstances at Moonzie, so that they may help ensure the MacLeods do not escape your grasp. You would do best to call on their home without delay too. I fear news of the mistaken identities will cause them to realise their own mistake, and compel them to flee with even greater haste. Not to mention, it is imperative they be prevented from hiding this treasure again for their own gain. Knowing of his cousin and uncle’s deaths, and the ordeals that will now be associated with Callamis, Finlay Brown will surely appreciate its return.
The Lindsey family was despised in Moonzie, and they likely see this as Simon and his murdering pal getting their dues. In their minds, the MacLeods executed a murderer. This is to say, the decision to punish Lorna and Fiona MacLeod will not be received so eagerly by the community. Still I urge you to ensure they are brought before justice.
Best of luck as you grapple with a dilemma not unknown to me– conscience versus duty. For my part, I have not yet told Watson I have completed my treatise. Some time ago, I learned that the surest way to keep the good doctor from cluttering my mind is to suggest he needs a fishing holiday. I intend to take full advantage of his absence.
My best regards,
