Mairiuna, I have a great Sherlock Holmes detective story to share with you today!
To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Sir Conan Doyle’s birth, (1859-1930), the small island of Alderney, a bailiwick of Guernsey, issued a mystery set of 6 postage stamps beautifully illustrated by Keith Robinson.
The mystery case, written by Keith Robinson, starts with the theft of an Alderney bull, a breed of livestock much valued in the 19th century for the quantity and richness of milk produced by the cows.
“Sir, a great injustice is about to be done. My name is Alice West. Two nights ago my Father’s prize Alderney Bull was stolen. The police suspect that it was smuggled to an American buyer; a lucrative trade, for the breed is highly prized in New England.
Even now, the police are preparing to arrest our herdsman, Thomas Vine, when he brings the cows down to Marais square for watering.
Mr Holmes, I beg of you; I have known Thomas since we were children and I swear he could never have done such a thing.”
“The bewildered looking herdsman is arrested, shown in the second image, whilst Holmes studies a scrap of paper containing a coded message found in the herdsman’s jacket.
In the third stamp Holmes studies the scene at the old harbour and then visits Alice’s father, shown in the fourth image. The fifth stamp depicts Holmes and Watson observing a half-built lighthouse in the middle of the night where they witness what Holmes believes is a signal.
The final image shows the police restraining a man, whom Holmes had concluded was guilty of the Alderney bull theft.”
Source: www.trussel.com
To all budding detectives: can you use your powers of deduction to work out “whodunnit”? Suspense…let’s open the Sherlock Holmes Mystery Pack.
By reading the story, studying the pictures and scouring the stamps for clues, you should crack the secret code in Sherlock Holmes curious case of the Alderney bull and beat Holmes to work out “whodunnit”!
I’ll give you an hint…Follow the instructions on how to use the special lenses included, then turn the mystery pack upside down to find out how the story ends. ;-)Have fun!Talk soon,Janice
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