                    Valley of Fearˇˇ
   
    Holmes was ready for breakfast. MacDonald, the most famous policeman in Scotland at that time came in and said anxiously, "Mr. Douglas was killed at the Manor of Birlstone." Holmes appeared calm at the news, for it had been released to him secretly at an earlier time by a rebel of a reactionary gang. This murder was evidently correlated with the gang. 
    Several years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas moved into the manor embraced by a river. They had been living a peaceful life. Mr. Douglas had a friend named Barker, who would live with them for some time. MacDonald remarked, "Barker happened to be there as the murder occurred. It was he who called the police." 
    The head of the dead man was shot into pieces. A card, said V. V. 341, was placed beside him. There was a noticeable mark carved in his right arm. On the windowsill, there were some blood prints left from the bottoms of somebody's boots. What was the strangest, all the rings but the one for wedding were on the fingers of the dead man. 
 