Chapter 40 Section VII

Longfellow, Lowell, Fields, and Nicholas Ray sat at the polished table while Holmes circled them, explaining something. "My thoughts come very quickly, and it's almost too late to control them. Listen to me and explain all the reasons first, and then you can freely express your opinions of agreement or disapproval." His words were mainly aimed at Lowell, and everyone knew that I knew it, but Lowell didn't hear it. "I believe Dante has been telling us his true feelings. He was trembling and restless as he prepared to go to hell, and he described his state of mind as being alone. My dear Longfellow, you How was it translated?"

"'And I alone was preparing myself to support the two struggles of journey and mercy, which my infallible memory will narrate.'" "Exactly!" said Holmes proudly. "This is a war the poet wages on two fronts. First, the physical toil of descending to the bottom through the circles of hell, and second, the poet's Remembering the mental challenge of translating what you see into poetry." "Dear Longfellow, Dante was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat in war," said Holmes. "At his twenty-five years, the age of many of our Northern troops in the Civil War, he and Guild The lf party fought side by side in Campaldino, and in the same year participated in the battle of the castle of Caprona. In "Inferno", Dante uses his experiences to describe the various horrible tortures in hell. Finally, Dante's exile was not caused by his opponents, the Khibelline party, but because of internal divisions in the Guelph party."

"The aftermath of the Florentine Civil War inspired his vision of hell, his quest for salvation," Holmes said, "and how Satan took up arms against God, and how the greatest angel ever He came out of heaven and became the source of all evil since Adam. Satan, who was expelled from heaven, was demoted to the world. His body fell to the ground and hit a deep pit, which is the hell explored by Dante. So it was war that created Satan. It is war that creates hell. I thought the events before us irresistibly pointed to the assumption that our murderer was a veteran of the Civil War."

"A soldier! A justice of our state's Supreme Court, a well-known Unitarian minister, a wealthy businessman," said Lowell, "the vengeance of a defeated Confederate soldier upon us Northerners!" "Dante was not rigidly loyal to this or that political faction," Longfellow said. "He, like some veteran of the federal government, hated most likely those who shared his views but did not do their best. The man who is responsible is the traitor. Remember, every murder shows that our Satan is quite familiar with the situation in Boston, to the extent that it is natural."

"That's right," said Holmes impatiently. "That's why I think the murderer was not just a soldier but a big Northern soldier. Think of our soldiers who still wear their Army uniforms in the streets, Haunts the fairs. I am often puzzled by these wonderful eccentrics: Haven't they returned home, why haven't they taken off their uniforms? Who is he fighting for now?" "The question is does this fit with what we know about the killer, Wendell?" Fields urged. "Quite a fit. I started with the Jannison murder. It just occurred to me from this new angle that the murder weapon may have been used before."

Lei nodded and said, "A military saber." "Correct!" said Holmes, "that kind of blade that fits over the wound. Who, then, was trained to use a saber? Trained or stationed there, and thus familiar with it! Besides, the deadly screwworms that feasted on Judge Healy's body might have been brought back as souvenirs by a soldier from the Great Swamp in the South." "Sometimes the maggots are harmless to a wounded soldier," Ray said, "but other times they're enough to ruin a person and leave doctors helpless." "These are the screwworms, but the army doctors couldn't figure out what insect family they belonged to. Someone familiar with their danger to the wounded brought some back from the south and put them on Healy," Holmes went on. "Well, we've repeatedly been amazed at how strong Satan was enough to drag the big Judge Healy to the river, and we also know how easily Satan overpowered the Reverend Talbot and cut the stout Janison with ease. It was broken into pieces, but how many wounded comrades a soldier has to carry away from the battlefield without hesitation!"

"You may have found our opener, Holmes!" cried Lowell. Holmes went on: "All the murders were committed by a man who knew how to siege and kill." "But why would a Yankee pick one of his own? Why would he target a Bostonian?" Fields asked, feeling the need to ask a little question. "We are victors, victors on the side of justice. " "This war is not like any other war since the Revolutionary War, and people are confused," said Nicholas Ray. Longfellow added: "It's not like our country fights Indians or Mexicans, which are nothing more than conquest. Soldiers who like to think why they fight are taught that it's for the glory of the federal government, for the glory of the federal government. Liberate the enslaved races, in order to restore the inherent order of the world. But what do these soldiers do when they return home? Those upstarts who made a fortune from selling guns and uniforms are riding through the city in four-wheeled carriages, in Beacon Hill Splurge and enjoy in the high-rise buildings shaded by Oak Park."

"Dante, exiled from his homeland," said Lowell, "relocated the people of his own city, and even his own family, to Hell. Poetry to praise their virtues, blood-stained uniforms. Like Dante, they are driven out of their previous lives, and they have become a group of people who can only rely on themselves. Think of the murders following the war as soon as it is over. It's only been a few months! Yes, gentlemen, it seems clear already."