PartI. Holmes and Watson Saturday morning. September 22, 2001. London
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PartI. Holmes and Watson Saturday morning. September 22, 2001. London
That damp and misty September morning my good fellow and neighbour-tenant Mr. Sherlock Romero Holmes was particularly taciturn. We had scarcely exchanged a few words during the breakfast, set by Mrs. Hudson with her usual prim and proper punctuality at 8.45 sharp. In the recent years, we both got used to have our breakfast late in the morning. Overcharged with work, often we had to sit up well past midnight, and the disgusting climate and polluted streets of London in the beginning of the third millennium were hardly encouraging to have an early walk or a picnic. I do not want to sound grumpy, but the last century took its heavy toll on London, the same way however as on the other world capitals.
After the breakfast, yet for a good half an hour, Holmes was studying a whole pile of newspapers, puffing on his favourite cherry-tree pipe. I leafed swiftly through my morning issue of “Daily Telegraph”, scanning headlines superficially, garish, as usual, and discouraging from reading, and stopped for a while in the section of puzzles, cross-words and chess problems. Reading newspapers has long ago become an empty and bothersome habit of mine, nothing but a traditional morning rite, inherited by some accident from our idealistic ancestors, who once had naively believed in its exclusive usefulness. So much the more astonishing was the rapt attention of Holmes studying newspapers lying before him. At last, he leant back in his armchair and, blowing the rings of bluish smoke from his pipe, got lost in that state of aloof pensiveness and semi-consciousness, which always accompanied his incredible, almost Socratic, concentration of thought. I hated to interrupt him, but my curiosity won after all and I couldn’t help asking him:
– You’ve found something interesting in the press today, dear Holmes, haven’t you?
– It all depends on a reader, old chap Watson, - he answered enigmatically, looking at me askance and became lost in his thoughts again.
Frankly speaking, I was impatient to know Holmes’s opinion about some notorious event, but I did not dare to ask him to the point. I was sure, that his outstanding analytical mind could not pass by the puzzle, stirring up the attention of all inhabitants of our planet for good couple of weeks. However, I also knew very well, that Holmes didn’t like to dwell on subjects beyond his jurisdiction or to talk about the crimes not yet revealed by him.
– We almost haven’t seen each other for the whole month, and meanwhile so many curious things had happened in the world, - carefully I tried again to start conversation, - and, by the way, today’s Saturday and I have nothing to do at the editorial office.
– Oh, Watson, why do you like so much to beat around the bush? You’d better to ask straight, you know, - answered Holmes, a little bit irritated, like having guessed about my thoughts.
The beginning turned out to be rather discouraging, but it was too late to retreat.
– You’ve caught it right, as usual, Sherlock, I’m greatly interested in your opinion about the latest terrorist acts in the USA. This is a crime of the century, isn’t it?! Thousands of victims, unheard-of destructions, tremendous insolence and coordination of criminal actions in plain view of the whole world, and at the same time - complete confusion of the government, lack of any clear trails that could facilitate the catch and indictment of the culprits. I’m sure it’s a hard nut to crack for the FBI gentlemen! It looks like this riddle was created for you, dear Holmes. Who else but you might be able to unravel this mysterious conspiracy! - I was trying to flatter my friend, and thus make him eager to talk. His answer, however, stunned me.
– You’re wrong, Watson, - every schoolboy or apprentice is equal to the revealing of this crime; I have nothing to investigate in it. The FBI gentlemen, I have no doubts, are very well informed about the authors of this outrage.
– Well, I beg your pardon, Holmes, why don’t they arrest the criminals then?
– Let’s only wait, and they certainly will do it… and almost for sure the arrested ones will have no connection with the events on the September 11.
My bewilderment hung heavily in absolute silence of the living room furnished humbly with antique items. One could not hear but the hollow ticking of Miller’s clock; the clock showed nine past ten already. Holmes has found it necessary to explain himself.
– I hope, Watson, you don’t take seriously the version about the involvement of Muslims in that act of aggression?
– To tell you the truth, I don’t know what to think. All newspapers and TV channels are trumpeting about Osama (Usamah) Bin Ladin and terrorists directed by him. They blow up anti-Arab hysteria with all their might. On the other side, so many people still remember very well, that in 1995, after the explosion of the FBI building in Oklahoma, in spite of the similar hysterical reaction of American mass media, the complete non-involvement of “persons of Arab nationality” in that tragedy was finally proven. And add to this that since 1979 and up to now, the CIA itself has been “cultivating” the talibs and Bin Ladin, who could be used in these events by someone secretly, to my mind. Therefore, I find it difficult to make a clear version of the events.
– So let me congratulate you, old fellow. The Independence of mind, caution and ability not to draw hasty conclusions based on guesswork and information from unverified sources - these are wonderful qualities of a remarkable analyst. And it’s a pity that they’ve gone out of style so much time yet, at least in political and journalistic circles.
– But what’s your version, Holmes? Wouldn’t you state it seriously, that American intelligent services themselves organized those abductions and explosions?
– Who knows, who knows… - said my friend and became silent again, absorbed in his own profound speculations.
I knew Holmes for many years, and have learnt to respect his keen analytical mind, decisive, strong-willed character, and irreproachable decency. Moreover, my admiration of this man was so great that I didn’t even try to hide it away under a cold mask of conventional neighbourliness or slightly coarse camaraderie. Gradually, he had also become imbued with real sympathy for me, managing to estimate properly my tact and warm friendliness, and so paid me back with his complete frankness. I can’t remember him trying to conceal anything from me, whatever it was, save being compelled by requirements of professional ethics or punctiliousness with respect to private secrets of his clients, who trusted him. However, that was certainly not the case of this kind, and Holmes’s hesitations surprised me a great deal. I was patiently waiting for some explanation from him, but he remained silent.
– My dear Watson, - he said at last, - don’t you think, that certain things in life are not worth learning? Was not it you, who once quoted for me some astonishing saying of the Great Russian poet Pushkin: «A fiction that elevates my soul is dearer to me than a host of base and despicable truths”.
Of course, this remark of my friend only warmed up my curiosity even more, and I hurried up to assure him that though certain circumstances, under which an element of intellectual chastity, verbal restraint and mystery could contribute to smoother relations within society and help avoid unnecessary friction, probably existed indeed, - this case was definitely not of that kind. After all, in national culture of Russians the concepts of truth, right, justice and fairness are intertwined so closely, that they all have the same root and have become the basis of Russian world outlook, under the name of Orthodoxy [8]. Some time ago, it was all the same for us, Englishmen, the heirs of freedom-loving Celts. Unfortunately then the words have gradually lost their original sense, and the phonetics of such professional term as «jurist» started to remind suspiciously that of «journalist» and «jeweller» carrying an obviously negative cultural reference, if not something worse. I dared to remind Holmes of an old adage that “the truth alone could set one free” [9] and expressed confidence that even a bitter truth was still better than a sweet lie. And all the more in regard to the events of such outstanding importance, as the events of September 11, which had stirred up all the mankind and perhaps were threatening it with an even more terrifying tragedy. I also reminded him of the spilled blood of innocent victims crying, so to say, for retaliation.
It seemed like my arguments have persuaded Holmes, because he appealed to me again, as if having shaken off the remains of his doubts, with his confident and nice smile inherent only in people, whose sense of their own rightness is based not on their conceit or impudence, but on the profound knowledge of the subject and absolute sincerity:
– That’s good, Watson. Then let’s make an attempt to get closer to the circumstances of this case together, trying not to hurry, or get excited, or become flustered facing possible obstacles to it. Only logic can help us here, and impartial analysis, based upon the methodology I’ve learnt recently from my friends from Russia.
– Of course! - I answered, paying little attention to the last words of Holmes, what wasn’t right, as it appeared soon. - Let this analysis be one more proof of the effectiveness of your great-grandfather’s almighty deductive method, the legend of Scotland-Yard!
– That’s good that you remember about it. My great-grandfather was really an outstanding thinker for his time, and it is due to him that I am what I am now. Our family archives contain not only his personal notes, but also the memoirs of his closest friend Dr. Watson. And I can assure you that reading them is still a very instructive study today. But, nevertheless, it should be noticed, that a century ago Sherlock Holmes has made one great mistake, which cost us all too dearly: while he was chasing small criminal fishes of East-End in London suburbs, the real criminals of City managed to weave the huge web entangling almost the whole world by now.
Unfortunately, those years even that people who were aware of this problem, couldn’t see how serious it was, and treated it with carefree humour. Examples aren’t hard to find. My great-grandfather’s friend and biographer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in a mood of playing a joke, has chosen twelve addresses of the most prominent London bankers with a reputation of honest and law-abiding people and sent to each of them such a telegram: “Everything is revealed. Hide away”. The other day all of them left London. Having done this, all of them admitted criminal and anti-social character of their activity, but really the matter was much more serious…
Former financial swindlers, counterfeiters and embezzlers of public funds succeeded gradually to pin down the government, university professorship, science, to gain total control of mass-media, to subdue the police, armies and intelligence of Eastern Europe and North America countries, and to begin systematic robbery and extermination of population in all other countries of the world. These unhappy states are called the countries of “the third world” on thieves’ slang. It is almost hopeless in our days to struggle with this criminals, up-to-date high developed and armed to their teeth, and not only hopeless, but sometimes illegal, because they themselves have created law systems for their own defence.
– I’m ready to agree with you, Holmes, but let me see, how did they manage to do that?
– Three main points were substantial here: firstly, universal concentration on realization of petty self-seeking interests, and, as a result, couldn’t-care-less attitude to the problems of social and global scale; then, the foundation of wide international net of secret organizations, and, lastly, creating of central banks and concomitant capture of monopoly on printing money, which means making value almost of the air - it can be deservedly considered the most amazing act of black magic in the history. The specific mechanisms of making this plan true you, Watson, will never be able to understand, until you thoroughly study the Yahoo theories of our great compatriot Jonathan Swift [10], and also Russian branch of very ancient tradition of establishing humaneness on the Earth. Now it’s not my task to introduce you to the entire course of so-called “higher” sociology, “higher” economy and of politics for the “select people”, because it would take years and years of intense teacher’s work, though in normal society they should be an integral part of compulsory education. So let’s limit to mere certification of this sorrowful fact, and start to analyse the problem interesting for us.
So, old fellow, what is necessary for an individual, mistakenly attributed to “Homo Sapiens” kind, hominid family, for committing a crime, is an obligatory combination of three factors in the character of a potential criminal: 1) a motive of the crime, 2) physical and technical ability to carry it out, 3) absence of moral barriers and fear of punishment, and in some cases - society itself doesn’t leave any choice for the person, and this is what European and American analysts aren’t likely to remember, while in the past the analysts of so-called “socialistic camp” countries were overemphasizing it.
The researchers-criminalists revealed the statistics, which was interpreted by their biologists-consultants this way: the kind of “Homo Sapiens” is not homogeneous, but consists of four subspecies, two of that predatory and much more predisposed to anti-social behaviour including committing crimes, than others. Believe me, Watson, all these theories are very curious, but minding to save the time we won’t focus our attention on them now. The analysis of three aforementioned facts will be sufficient. And now you yourself try to consider if the supposed “Arabian terrorists” deal with these components.
I appreciated Holmes’s fine manoeuvre. Actually, I was acquainted with “Arabian terrorists” not through hearsay. May be my life, like that of anyone else, was mostly predestined by life and activity of my ancestors, or, as it is called now, - family aggregors. There were no doubts, that my great-grandfather, Sir John Henry Watson, was the aggregor leader in our family; he was an officer of military medicine service, retired afterwards, the participant of the second Afghan campaign, the true friend and associate of a worldly-known detective of the past century, Sherlock Holmes. So unsurprisingly I’ve got good medical education, as many male members of our family, and had a successful practice in the navy-base hospital of Portsmouth during two years. When Russian troops invaded Afghanistan in the end of 1979, many of my Portsmouth friends paid their attention to the “chance” coincidence of that date with the hundredth anniversary of our unsuccessful second military campaign in Afghanistan. And though my great-grandfather’s involving into the hostilities wasn’t marked with any heroic deeds, he himself claimed that this involving predetermined all his further life. Therefore, when I was offered to work in the international organization “Doctors without borders”, I said to me - “that’s your fate!” and agreed without hesitating. All the more I wasn’t surprised, when this fate has thrown me firstly to the Pakistan camp of Afghan refugees, and then - to enigmatic and at the same time dangerous Afghanistan. And yet very soon in this far from romance place I got rid of many delusions of my youth and got acquainted with the warriors of Islam (“Arabian [11] terrorists” after September 11), this time not by family legends only. But there, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, I was to deal not only with warriors of Islam, but with wounded Russian prisoners of war too. At first they considered me to be a Mi-6 agent, and kept silent in my presence, but soon, making sure that I didn’t know Russian language, started to discuss ardently something between each other even in my presence. Trying to understand the true causes of this war, which, as I thought, had much in common with that of my great-grandfather, I started learning Russian language, hoping, that Russians, discussing their problems, will help me to comprehend correctly the current events. Having made sure, that I wasn’t trying to ferret out their “military secrets”, they became imbued with sympathies and were willing to help me in learning language, together with answering my strange, to their mind, questions. From these conversations with Russians I got to know that this war was incomprehensible not only for persons like me - those, who didn’t take part in operations directly - but even to direct executors. And the longer lasted this bloody mess, the more I guessed that everyone drawn into it was only tool in some mighty hands making big policy on the blood. As a result, when the term of my three-year contract was up, I returned to England, feeling the same bitterness and disappointment as my great-grandfather hundred years before. The circle locked. Desiring not to tempt the fate any more, I decided to deceive it. First, I gave up my medical practice, by which I was earning my living, and appealed to the old passion of me as a student - chess, supposing that this wonderful ancient game would give me an opportunity to hide from social problems of decaying western civilization. I came to this sorrowful conclusion yet in Afghanistan, considering even then, that the world was on the brink of the World War III - war between East and West, between Christian and Muslim civilizations. But I still needed money for living. For the beginning my friends helped me to get a job in the editorial of “Chess Monthly” magazine, and when I was a made man, I began to contribute to “British Chess Magazine” too. Two latest years I have been spending almost all my spare time in the weekly internet-publication “The Week in Chess”, or, as all of us called it, - TWIC.
Recollections of the past let sometimes find a definite answer to the posed question, but this time I felt that I wasn’t supposed to answer. Moreover, I was sure, that Holmes was ready to develop a theme of “Arabian terrorists” involvement in the events of September 11.
– I find it difficult to say something about that, my dear friend. Don’t forget, that I’m just a modest observer of needless chess literary trash.
– Well, I’m ready to help you, Watson, - Holmes admitted the game. - The first point is motive of the crime. For the first look, it seems undisputable, that “Arabian terrorists” have it, but it’s only for the first and the most superficial look. Americans have enough of hostiles all over the world: their embassies already long ago have turned to tiny military bases almost in every country of the world. The official reason sounds like that: “The USA is disliked for their defence of human rights, ideals of democracy and individual liberty”, and is such absurd as any other American propaganda. Thus, “everybody can offend Americans” in theory, it doesn’t matter - whether it would be Philippine or Macedonian, and there’s no reason to set apart some religious or ethnic group in this case. On the contrary, if there’s someone who can feel thankful to USA, it will only be representatives of Islamic extremist movements, for example - Abraham Lincoln’s Brigade, Liberation Army of Kosovo, Afghan talibs or Chechen rebels. And fairy stories about Bin Ladin declaring war to all Americans and distorting their own 175-year-ago slogan: “Good American - is dead American” are good enough only for powdering brains of the most intellectually degenerated strata of population. By the way, about half a year ago three UN representatives were arraigned for sending threatening faxes to American embassies on behalf of above-mentioned Bin Ladin. Obviously, it was at a profit to somebody to create and maintain this image of him as some malicious genius-resembling professor Moriarty, for having an opportunity to ascribe his or her own dirty affairs to him.
Point two concerns the technical possibility to commit the crime. And that we should turn down at once, when dealing with such brilliantly organized malice as attack on Pentagon in Washington and World Trading Centre in New York.
– Why? -I asked mostly for holding up the conversation, than trying to controvert.
– Oh, it’s very simple, my friend: because it is completely impossible to manage the operation of such large scale from some tent or cave in Afghanistan, as impudent newsmen and obtuse TV-men are trying to assure us, and all the more having on the tail half of planet’s intelligence. Compare the events in USA with terrorist attacks of Palestinian fanatics in Israel during the latest Intifada - the most they could do in this unequal struggle with aggressor was to blow up the knapsacks, full of screws, on their backs or to drive the bus right into the crowd of people waiting at the bus-station. But this concerns the problem of “lack of behaviour alternative” for actual criminals, which some analysts-criminalists don’t notice at all and others overemphasize, as I’ve said earlier.
– Yes, all this is simply terrible, dear Holmes, and I have to agree with you completely. The difference in the quality of organization is too obvious.
– So, we have only point three left: absence of moral barriers and fear of punishment. When it is a question of suggested “kamikaze” attacks, mentioning about fear seems to be irrelevant. And by the way, journalists borrowed this word from Japanese language, but not from Arabian, and it unintentionally addresses our memory to the events, which took place sixty years ago in Pearl Harbor. Nevertheless, President Bush in his earliest public speeches on Tuesday and Wednesday called these attacks “cowardly acts” and I’d like you, Watson, to remember these words clearly, for we will return to them a little bit later.
To speak about moral barriers, - by the moment, in the whole World History it was the Administration of the United States who has been demonstrating systematically their absolute absence. It is sufficient to remember the barbarian “carpet” bombings of German cities during World War II, aimed only against civilian population and taken hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, or atomic bombs, thrown down to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which also were not military objects, or testing of chemical kinds of weapon in Vietnam and incinerating the whole villages together with all their inhabitants with napalm there, or using the prohibited kinds of weapon containing depleted uranium in Iraq and Yugoslavia, and so on. To charge some mythical “Islamic terrorists” of contempt to human lives in this case means shifting the blame where it doesn’t belong. I read Koran and came to the conclusion that Islam based on Koran is one of the most peace-loving and humane teachings. And all the same, the History shows that in every time and almost in every national society acts the same international power, which carry on its dirty affairs standing under someone else’s banners, hiding under someone else’s slogans. Thus the historically real Islam is not insured from this power penetrating into the guidance of rather well meaning public movements with a purpose to distort them in its own interests.
But the illiterate newsboys and Western governments brought up by them are not able to distinguish Islam based on Koran from Islam-the-result-of-history, as well as they are entirely unaware of the difference between the real teaching of Christ and actual Christianity.
– I know I can trust you, Holmes. I’m ready to agree that the official version of the events, which recently took place, developing by mass media, doesn’t stand up to any criticism, but who is to blame in that case? Don’t you reject the very fact of the attack?
At this moment Holmes made one of those theatrical pauses which he loved as much as his genius great-grandfather, and, like looking forward to the effect of his words, answered quietly, but clearly:
– I do.
I must confess that if my friend’s goal was to embarrass me with unexpectedness and obvious absurdity of his declaration and throw me off the thoughtless speculation on prototype and, by doing that, to make me think by myself, he was entirely successful.
– But you must be kidding, Holmes? - I could find nothing better to say. The expression of my face apparently attested such great confusion, that my companion hurried to help me.
– Don’t worry, Watson, I didn’t go mad and don’t try to play a trick on you. I understand that it’s not easy for you to follow my thought because of lack of information at your hand and absence of the habit to systematize and analyse it.
– I beg your pardon, Holmes, but we saw it all with our own eyes… The airplanes, passengers-hostages, blasts, fires, collapsing of buildings, piles, thousands of victims… What can be more real than this?
– Well, Godzilla [12], for example, or tyrannosaurus Rex! - Contagiously laughed Holmes, letting out thick puff of smoke and coughing.
– It is a hoax of yours, I think!
– No, no, old fellow, I’m speaking rather seriously.
– Well, but what reasons do you have to make such conclusion?
– There they are, - said Holmes and pointed to the desk with pile of newspapers on it, which I didn’t notice yesterday evening.
I could never suggest such turn in our conversation.
– But you have just sworn at all those newsmen, and, to my mind, you were absolutely right!
– Ah, my good fellow, you belong to that charming type of people whose honesty borders on the simplicity which sometimes is worse than robbery, and whose trusting nature and openness of character often look like shallowness and stupidity. I tell this not intending to offend you, on the contrary, accept it as a compliment. Your antipodes - they are the scourge of our time: impertinent, superficial, unscrupulous, whose pedantic talkative briskness is often mistaken for erudition and fine intellect. But excuse me; I’ve digressed from our theme. So, Watson, let you see, that my words aren’t controversial anyway. The point is that you, like the most part of contemporary educated Americans and Europeans, have long ago reconciled to mass media venality as to inevitable evil; you don’t even suspect that those mass media can have some other functions besides systematic duping of our unhappy compatriots.
– But, I beg your pardon, Holmes, what another functions can they have?
– For example, informative. Yes, yes, Watson, don’t you be surprised, mass media can be useful for distributing an aim, meaning - administratively significant, information, whether you see it paradoxical or not!
– Nice paradox!
– But not anyone can extract and absorb it on the background of “interference” - noise for the crowd - but only those whom this information is addressed to, and those who know exactly what and where to seek.
– Don’t you mean enciphered messages among classified ads?
– And them too. Anyway, don’t think that they should be necessarily enciphered. It is enough to use some key words or numbers for attracting addressee’s attention and to entwine the pattern of standard recognizable images to the text. The rest can be compensated by play on words, some allegories - in other words, by consecutive constructing of all those things in the articles, which are called an underlying theme among cinema and theatre directors or the second sense (or implication) by some art critics, i.e. meaning that can’t be absorbed from the first shallow look. I can assure you, Watson, that when you have a skill of creating and reading the implication of some texts, the effect can be tremendous.
– I can tell you, Holmes, I understand you as little as before.
– Well, I’ll try to explain myself. Haven’t you paid enough attention to the leapfrog game with the number 11 in the context of events we are trying to entangle?
– Of course, I have! There were so much told about it lately; and indeed it seems rather strange: the attack took place on the 11th day of the 9th month; this was the 254th day in a year; the sum of 2+5+4 is 11 too; and exactly 111 days remain to the end of the year; the first ram of the northern tower of WTC (World Trade Centre) was made by the hijacked passenger airliner, flight 11 of American Airlines. On its board that time there were 92 persons, i.e. again 9+2=11, including 2 pilots, 9 crewmembers and 81 passengers. At last, the New York Trading Centre buildings themselves, huge 111-stored towers, represent the largest in the world number 11, with the altitude of 411m.
– Brilliantly, Watson! Add to this that in the second airplane, belonging to the company United Airlines, ramming the southern tower, there were 56 passengers, which again gives us 5+6=11. From papers and television it is also known that unhappy victims of those monstrous crimes of September 11 were trying to reach the emergency line by their mobile phones, and surprisingly its telephone number is 911 - the same combination of number with the same sum - 11. Doesn’t it put you on your guard, Watson?
– Surely, all these coincidences are extremely strange, and they gave me a very strong, I even can say, mystical impression. The feeling is like that - either it is an inscrutable Providence of Lord, or the tricks of someone’s mind unexampled in its devilish perversity, some criminal genius not having any analogues in History, who dared to challenge Providence itself, he who excels even above-mentioned professor Moriarty in his haughty arrogance!
– Well, Watson, old chap, you went a little bit too far in appreciating him; classics of criminal genre shouldn’t be offended! Of course, all these cabbalistic stuff have a captivating effect on many people (that’s what they’re done for), but there’s nothing especially sophisticated in them - usual arithmetic mischief.
– Fine mischief - so many people perished! - I couldn’t help saying, - but who, to your opinion, Holmes, can hide behind these horrible crimes?
– We’ll return to the real quantity of victims, and now, Watson, I’d like you to pay your attention to the opinion of my old Oxford friend Shlomo bin Ami, who was the Minister of Domestic Security not so long ago, very clever and rather well-versed person. So, in one of his recent interviews he said, that organization of acts of terrorism in USA is so impressive that it is of no doubt Terrorist International who stands behind this all.
– Perhaps, he meant a group of extremist Muslim organizations. What’s special here, dear Holmes, doesn’t everyone speak of it now?
– I have no doubts that not you alone understood him this way. But meanwhile he should be well informed about complete absence of reliable sources of finances and any coordination even between a few pro-Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad or NFOP, which operate on very limited territory. And any suggestions of their contacts with Sendero Luminoso or Aum Senrike seem to absolute nonsense.
Besides, it’ll be useful to remember that Koran doesn’t give any ready-to-be-used global sociologic doctrine, like that which is constantly declared in Western civilization at least during two latest centuries: from Kipling’s “white man’s mission” to “all world is a chess board” by Zbignev Brzezinski. And by the way for almost 150 years a very good organized and abundantly fed international net of terrorist organizations representing hundreds of countries works on our planet, and the name of International constantly belongs to it.
– I beg your pardon, Holmes; don’t you mean Trotskyites? But it’s simply ridiculous! Trotsky has died 60 years ago. Marxism is almost forgotten! -I exclaimed unintentionally, and regretted about the sharpness of my declaration at once. In answer my friend arched his bushy eyebrows in hardly noticeable astonishment and gazed at me.
– Do you really think so, Watson?
I felt rather awkward. I knew Sherlock Holmes good enough for not suspecting him of superficiality and shallowness, but too absurd seemed this version of his - some anonymous groups of crazy Marxists, living on the ideas hopelessly old-fashioned even before the moment of their birth, are involved in the crime of our century! But nevertheless, I hurried up to smooth out my indiscretion.
– I’m sorry, my dear friend, but things that you say are so extraordinary… I beg you, continue your thought.
– I didn’t get offended at all, Watson. I can understand your amazement very well, and assure you: what you will hear now will stun you still more.
– I promise not to interrupt you any more.
– You must know, Watson, that Communistic International I was founded in our city with direct participation of Karl Marx in 1864. Theoretically the aim of its foundation was to coordinate the subversive terrorist activity all over Europe, but taking into account Karl’s contentious and ambitious character and lack of any organizer’s talent, the effectiveness of those Carbonari work wasn’t great. Very soon his personal conflict with Bakunin, who openly despised that petty bearded bourgeois, schemer and descendant of rabbis, lead to the split of organization and because the most part of it was not on the Marx’s side, he decided to disband it for good.
After the death of “the leader of world proletariat” his faithful comrade in arms, Friedrich Engels, has founded Comintern II in 1889, which consisted only of Marxist groups, though hiding under social-democratic facades. And those conspirators mostly went in for petty terrorism, domestic internecine quarrelling, sectarian squabbles and fights for party cash which was enlarged, as you can guess, Watson, not on the expense of worker’s pence, centimes, pfennings and kopecks, and not for the donations for widows and orphans. Because of internal contradictions and partly thanks to my great-grandfather International II has almost finally split up by the beginning of World War I, and hardly it could leave more strong trace in a History than its predecessor, if it was not for the tiny Russian party RSDRP (Social-Democratic Working Party of Russia), or more exactly, its most urgent flank headed by capacious and creative Marxist, Ulyanov, who got into History under the name of Lenin. I won’t bore you describing the backstage underlying basis of all tragic events in Russia and the rest part of the world at the beginning of the 20th century, Watson; I’ll only tell you, that Trotskyites came to rule under the banners of bolshevism, popular among Russian workers, and created International III anew, which was disbanded by the personal directions of the real Bolshevik, Stalin, after Teheran conference in 1943.
It seemed that the world bourgeoisie would have felt rejoice, having got rid of “the phantom of communism” [13] which Marx let wander Europe, but it was not to be. The campaign against yahoo-cosmopolites without kith or kin begun in the Soviet Union by Stalin made their Northern American patrons to re-create Communistic International, which this time got a name of Socialistic, for not waking associations with horrors of “communistic” revolution and bolshevism’s power in the minds of common people. It happened in 1951 in London; I ask you to remember this date, Watson. It was International IV that was to stop spreading the ideas of Bolshevism-Stalinism over Europe, the ideas which common people in European countries can’t set apart from Marxism-Trotskyism.
– Excuse me, Holmes, but I can’t catch it quite well: don’t you want to say, that International IV was founded in 1951 by the governments of capitalist countries led by USA?
– Yes, you understood me correctly, Watson. Those, who are looking forward to the world dominance during four latest thousands of years, needed to fill out the ideological vacuum in Europe, which appeared after ruining of Hitler’s national-socialism, for keeping the political control on the masses and saving the illusion of pluralistic pattern of governing. Notice, that this new-born organization wasn’t fictitious: such remarkable parties-lodges of European political arena as English Labourites, French Socialists, German Social-Democrats, and since 1974 - PSOE, Spanish working socialists, were its members. By the way, the social-terrorist party of Salvador Allende, smashed by General Pinochet during the putsch, was either. Strange coincidence - the putsch by Pinochet began that very date - September 11, 1973. I can add that Pinochet’s arrest in England, the trial after it - this all is peculiar revenge to bourgeois democrats from Marxists-Trotskyites, whose positions in the world became firmly established recently. The consequence of the latest International is seen also by its considerable information net spreading all over the world. It is headed by one of the leading American editions The New York Times, with which such papers as “Le Monde”, “The Washington Post”, “El Pais”, “ La Repubblica ” and many others, it’s hard to count them all, are unite. The leading TV companies of the world belong to this global information net too. The headquarters of the organization is located still in London, as 137 years ago. The sum of numbers is again 11, as you can see.
– But why do we know nothing about it then? I can’t remember any publications of any Congresses of so mighty organization in the press. And it must have celebrated its 50th anniversary, mustn’t it!
– But it has done so, old fellow Watson: in plain view of the whole world, with fire-works, crackers, and plenty of smoke! And furthermore, doing so, it gave the funeral repast in memory of fallen Chilean comrades (don’t forget that the buildings of WTC were constructed in 1972 and 1973!); also it earned quite a lot, organizing the banquet, and also got much political dividends for their open and concealed supporters. Isn’t it enough for you?
– Don’t you want to say, Holmes, that it was Tony Blair… who exploded those towers of WTC?
– Don’t bring my words to absurd, Watson, but believe me - our own Prime minister is closer to that criminal show than any Bin Ladin.
– It is a very severe statement, Holmes, and I hope you have more weighty proofs of its thoroughness than yet cited deductions?
– Of course, my friend, naturally… and not a few…
Holmes rose and, having approached to an old mahogany desk, took a batch of papers from the upper shelf. While he was slowly leafing through them, they seemed to me to be printed copies of some letters and newspaper articles. At last he’s found what he needed and, approaching to me, he gave me several sheets of paper:” Here, look at that, Watson, at least.” I thanked him and started reading with interest. The first was the copy of the article written by someone named John Kifner from “The New York Times”, and it was titled as flowery and ineptly as Yankee always do: “American Flight 11: A Plane Left Boston and Skimmed Over River and Mountain in a Deadly Detour”. Probably, it was in the author’s purposes that a reader, getting tired of reading a title, will have no desire to penetrate further into his rubbish.
– Notice the date, Watson, - advised Holmes.
– September 13, 2001, - I read, - And why? You may know that I’m not a superstitious person, my dear Holmes.
– You’re not, but you mustn’t forget, that numbers have special, magical importance for those gentlemen, and the number 13 is the most favourable for them. Have you never encountered any people of this kind?
– Frankly speaking, no… never… but, wait, I’ve just remembered! I knew one guy, who always cried that number 13 was lucky for him. But you hardly know him.
– You see, Watson, it isn’t as simple. Don’t forget, that this paper is a propaganda flagship of International IV. Read attentively.
I started reading. The article was not large, but exceptionally incoherent. There was a feeling, that the author was trying to say something to his reader, but either he was lacking of expressional means, or he tried to say something that he hadn’t right to say for some reasons, and that’s why some extracts seemed to have no sense at all. If it weren’t for Holmes’s persistence, I would never pay much attention to this article. There was adduced the statistics on the flight AA11, which I’ve already learnt from other sources: two pilots, nine flight attendants and 81 passengers - may be, too many stewardesses, but the plane wasn’t little also - Boeing-767. The following passage seemed to me rather strange:
“A seemingly everyday mixture: a television producer, some businessmen, a retired ballet dancer, an actress and photographer, a young man who made a success in the new technology economy”.
Frankly speaking, the contingent of passengers cited in the article - a producer, a ballet dancer, an actress, photographer and a successful expert in “new technology” - in spite of author’s conviction, didn’t seemed to me so typical for a regular flight: to my mind, TV-producers prefer to fly on their own planes. But, from the other side, it is a question of the flight Boston - Los-Angeles, - and God only knows, who is used to take it there.
Further Mr. Kifner for some reason or other considered it necessary to time thoroughly the whole way of the plane from the moment of its takeoff until, so to say, its “arrival to the destination”, with lots and lots of numerical statistics - as if he was talking about the race of Tour de France but not about tragic death of thousands of people. Quite unusual also looked the instrument of the crime - by author’s version - knives and box cutters hidden among shaving things - what could box cutters be, I had no suggestions. The main source of information for Mr. Kifner’s writings turned out to be “The Christian Science Monitor” paper that somehow knew all the details of malicious crime better than anyone else. The following paragraph referring to this paper attracted my attention; there it was explained what the devilish guile used the hijackers to persuade the pilots to hand them over the steering of the “live torpedo”:
“Don’t do anything foolish; you won’t be hurt”, the newspaper reported that the hijackers said, quoting air controllers: “We have more planes. We have other planes”.
If I were the pilot of one of those planes, terrorist’s mentioning of some “more planes” wouldn’t have calmed me down but rather made me become alert and think twice before let the group of maniacs to steer the plane. But if this phrase turned out to be heard “accidentally” by the air controllers and immediately broadcasted all over the world, it would be quite logical to suggest that the meaning attached to it by the “forth power” was addressed not to the pilots dead by that time but to someone else. But whom it was addressed to? There was no answer in the article.
I went on reading. The author apparently wasn’t satisfied by achieved dramatic effect and decided to develop the passengers theme. The actress and photographer turned out to be the same person - 53 years old widow of Anthony Perkins, an actor famous by his role in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psychosis”. Indeed, inscrutable are the God’s ways! That’s one more example how Fortune can play with man, if not to suggest that someone was born particularly to help it and “make the fairy-tale truth”. And bad is this fairy-tale. David Angell, producer of the television comedy “Frasier”, with his wife Linn; retired ballet-dancer named Sonya Puopolo; businessmen, experts in software and hardware - Daniel Levin and Robert Hayes: piling up of surnames, numbers, and incomprehensible associations. At last the scribbler decided to bang the door and made two most obvious blunders: firstly, he mistakenly indicated the altitude of plane’s location before clashing the building of WTC - 900 f., while the attack took place higher than 90th floor of 411-stored building, that means not under the level of 1100 feet; and then he failed to indicate correctly the time of the first “ram” - 8.48 instead of 8.45.
– Well, what can you say, Watson? - I heard slightly coarse voice of my friend.
– Much is strange about it, many inexact and obviously mistaken facts, the style is disgusting; I’d fired out such journalist.
– Don’t hurry making conclusions, old friend, the article was written by one of the most respectable and professional reporters of the flagship of international journalism, and was copied, with all its obvious mistakes, by many periodicals with million circulations all over the world. Something might escape your notice.
– That could happen, Holmes, it was rather hard for me to penetrate into this rubbish.
– Now, please, read this, Watson. It is from the same issue of “The New York Times” of September 13. And one more article by the same author, William Glaberson, published the day before.
I followed humbly my friend’s advice. I can’t say that Mr. Glaberson made an impression of more talented writer on me, than his colleague, Mr. Kifner. The same torn, incoherent rendering the facts, formal style, no consistency in argumentation again. Nevertheless, I tried to be attentive to the maximum, for not to lose something important. And I seemed to be successful this time. Having finished reading, I looked at Holmes in silence - and he caught the change of my mood at once.
– I see, Watson, you’re almost ready to agree with me, while I even didn’t reveal any information from the documents I have at my hand. I could show you plenty of curious materials from English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Russian newspapers. I have friends in every country of the world, and they like to let me know everything about the latest events. Apparently, I have my reputation first of all due to my great relative.
– Let me ask you, Holmes, when and how did you manage to get to the truth in this affair?
– I can confess, Watson, that at the beginning I was full of doubts, like you’re now: it was clear, that behind the action of such large scale there stand some extraordinarily mighty organizations, possessing power, money, armed with all new technologies, but what organizations exactly it were - that was the question. The first doubts arose within me yet on Tuesday while watching the broadcast from Manhattan: have you noticed the showy manoeuvre made by the pilot of the second airliner Boeing-767, flight UA175, before starting the ram of the southern tower? The U-turn like that meant the highest qualification of ace, unattainable for terrorists, even having taken a couple of lessons on the trainer for steering such kind of planes. It’s clear, that an amateur-neophyte isn’t able to make such manoeuvre, and in addition, with the speed of more than 500 km/h, to strike the building 60 m wide in its exact centre, while the wingspan of the plane is a little more than 47m. It’s understandable for any driver who tries to get into narrow gates at high speed for the first time in his life. But really that’s not the point, Watson. It was made with the aesthetic perfection of choreography, yes, yes, that’s what it was - the aesthetic perfection of choreography! The hand of experienced script-writer, operator and director was felt - the hand of people who knew beforehand, that scenes shot by them would then be shown million times before the audience of milliards viewers! And then - all those Hollywood-like repeats from all points and for every taste, almost at once, with panorama views, with dramatic effects - like that with anonymous witness, scared, jumping back from the explosion, but always not in slowed reproduction and not too close, for not letting to make out some inconvenient details. Strange also seemed the fact, that the very moment of the first ram happened to be shot, but that’s not the point. Also I was slightly puzzled by absence of rescue helicopters: for WTC buildings stood for an hour or so before collapsing, and during this time it was really possible to carry the operation of rescuing those poor ones on upper floors. Apparently, it was necessary to someone that as less direct witnesses of events inside the buildings as possible would survive.
Gradually, first information about the number of victims began to appear; but not at once, because for some unclear reasons it was classified at the beginning (and it was in the country which lays claim to be a champion in democracy and freedom of speech!), as well as the lists of passengers in hijacked planes, which was entirely ridiculous. References to heightened delicacy of American mass media towards the tragedy of unparalleled scale for USA can hardly deceive anyone. Everyone knows how much Yankee like to relish every dirt, meanness, pettiness, murder, suffering and blood. Whoever but Americans themselves invented “TV-wars” in live broadcastings by CNN with super-contemporary kinds of weapon, different purposeful and “intelligent” torpedo and bomb strikes? And what’s interesting, Watson: in both buildings of WTC there were 50 thousands of working people, not including tourists; according to the words of witnesses, only few people managed to leave them after the blows and before collapse. By the first, preliminary calculations, the number of victims might be close to dozens of thousands, but what appeared in the end? As my great-grandfather used to say, it’s very hard to catch a dark cat in a dark room, especially, if it’s not there!
– I agree with you completely, Holmes, this circumstance seemed to me suspicious too. By the week it was found only nearly two hundred bodies of perished people or parts of them, and only 30-40 were identified, which of course is considerably less than the most “optimistic” prognoses. By the way, representatives of the press and any other curious people were forbidden to enter the morgues for counting the remains - according to the official version, “for not get people hurt”. Now, however, the journalists invented new category - “people, disappeared without a trace” - and number of them rises day by day. It looks like WTC employed only homeless tramps that weren’t even missed during the first days.
– Watson, I ask you to pay your special attention to the concrete numbers of “disappeared without a trace”: in ten days after the catastrophe there was “5422 exactly” of them. Frankly speaking, I must confess, I was expecting for something like that: the sum of the numbers is 13, addition of the first two components gives us nine, and 11 is present too. Phantasmagoria goes on!
– Surprising! But tell me, Holmes, when did your suspicions develop into confidence?
– After it turned out that quantity of victims was several times less comparing with what was expected, it was quite logical to suggest that the quantity of office workers in the buildings that day was considerably less than usual. Rejecting the possibility of fortunate occasion we may consider that it was known about the preparing attacks beforehand. I came to this very conclusion. Taking it as a working version, I needed to find possible motifs of organizers and participants of the crime. Soon I already had these facts. Americans themselves immediately went in for studying “short sales” of shares, that is - selling the shares to third persons in order to buy them afterwards, when quotations would fall, - particularly with the participation of the companies immediately suffered from assault. Richard Crossly, analyst of the broker’s firm “Teather amp; Greenwood”, established: such sales took place indeed during the period directly foregoing the “black Tuesday”, and their quantity was dozens times more than usual. Now even American Financial Services Authority and competent financial organs of Japan, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy take part in the investigation. If the information given by Crossly is officially proved, I won’t be surprised at all. However, taking into account the colossal, almost global political interests involving this affair, it may never happen. Too serious powers are interested in replacing the truth about the tragedy in people’s minds by the official myth. But for us the most interesting detail is that the main lessee of WTC offices was Morgan Stanley Company, which had occupied 30 floors in both buildings. Famous are its connections with International: G. Morgan’s companies were financing yet Leo Trotsky with his terrorist command during the period of preparing to Revolution of 1917 in Russia.
Nevertheless, Watson, in spite of existence of obvious and incontestable economic goals, they are put on the back burner comparing with really grandiose geopolitical prospects, which became opened for definite interested circles in USA thanks to this “little man, who is always blamed”. To obtain such threatening and indistinctly localized enemy like “international terrorism” with distinct Muslim touch not excluding cooperating with any other “criminal nations and states” and “enemies of American people” - that was the dream of American internationalists since USSR collapse. Now this dream has come true, and we’re on the threshold of one more world war of “good against evil”; i.e. USA on one side - always persecuted people-martyr, sufferer and victim of unparalleled terrorist holocaust in New York and Washington, and on the other side, evil power, represented first of all by Bin Ladin, criminal genius, and then - Muslim fundamentalists, other Muslims, Arabs, and at last other individuals, groups and countries which potentially “sympathize with terrorists”.
– And Bush, what about him, he made an impression of a man sincerely stunned by what has happened; is it possible, that he takes the side of conspirators too?
– Bush’s reaction is quite understandable: he has found himself in husband’s role in that tragic situation which husband is usually last person to know. There’s no doubts, that he was perfectly right taking now famous terrorists phrase “Don’t do anything foolish; you won’t be hurt” as though it refers to himself - it’s not for nothing, that he hurried to hide out on the military base of Louisiana. Perhaps, he found out very soon whose handiwork it was, and even had enough courage to characterize the assault as “cowardly act”. But for many people it was not tragic, but rather amusing to observe the head of superpower state running as a hare from someone he didn’t even know, and in addition calling those incognitos “cowardly persons”. His tears on press conference were also quite ingenious and revealed his serious anxiety with problems of his own safety. Just in case, on the 12th he was repeatedly intimidated in the press by remembering the fate of Kennedy and Reagan, presidents “loved by all Americans”. I had the copy of John Karlin’s article from the Trotskyites newspaper “El Pais”, eloquently titled “The wounded American”. However, by the moment he seems to have come to his senses completely, and judging by his speech in the Congress on the September 20 (which reminded very much of Adolph Hitler’s speech in Nuremberg on the September 11, 1935) he has adjusted to his new role and new tasks rather well. How do you think, Watson, what can the following phrase mean, which Congress applauded on its feet: “Today everyone must make his choice for himself - either he’s with America, or with terrorists!”
– It’s hard for me to answer, Holmes.
– This is a password of its kind, famous to the entire world in the beginning of 20th century as Trotskyites slogan: “Whoever is not with me is against me!” [14] And if I’m not mistaken, they borrowed it from the Bible.
– And what’s the explanation, dear Holmes? Can it be the proof of USA president’s personal fidelity to Trotskyites?
– Oh, not so straightforward, Watson. Bush may not even understand it, but his speechwriters, probably, swear in their loyalty to IV International this way.
– Just two more questions, my dear Holmes, if you don’t mind, of course.
– You’re welcome, Watson.
– There was a word in the articles from “The New York Times” which you kindly offered to my attention, it was repeated several times and remained incomprehensible for me.
Holmes willingly took in his hands the same pile of newspapers that I’ve already read.
– Apparently, you mean the second upper paragraph from Mr. Kifner’s article about AA11 flight? - And he started to read:
“Capt. John Ogonowsky was at controls, a 50-year-old veteran pilot who lived on a farm north of the city and was looking forward to a family picnic on the weekend”.
– Yes, that’s what I mean! But how did you guess?
– Well, it wasn’t too hard, Watson; and did you appreciate humour dealing with pilot’s name and age?
– Of course, I could do nothing but notice all these things, especially after your tales about IV International and the year of its foundation. Articles of Mr. Glaberson are plenty of such references too. I even remember the name and characteristics of the second pilot from UA175 flight that rammed the southern tower: “Victor J. Saracini, 50, an experienced pilot who had been a Navy flier, was at controls”. One more “experienced pilot, 50-years-old”! And his flight lasted for 50 minutes exactly!
– Wonderful, Watson, you have excellent memory and your keenness of observation is worth envying!
– That is due to you, Holmes.
– A couple of 50-years-old American civilian airlines veterans - it does impress really; they like black humour, these Misters-internationalists which sometimes can’t be distinguished from internazis. The first - John Ogonowsky - I wonder, if his family name was mentioned in Russian press, how they be satisfied! And the other - the victor of Saracens, and for not doubting whom exactly it is they added “J” in the middle, incontestably pointing to jurists and journalists.
– Don’t’ you consider, Holmes, that the planes were empty?
– Sometime we will know it… but be patient, Watson. Anyway, you were interested in the word “picnic”, weren’t you?
– Yes, I met it thrice in these articles and every time it was absolutely irrelevant. I suspected some enciphered sense in it.
– Well done, Watson, I can say! I’m glad, that I wasn’t mistaken about you. Have a look at this, - and with these words Holmes handed me a sheet of paper folded twice, with sizes like newspaper sheet’s.
It was either some plan, or scheme for charade game. I stared for long in silhouettes of pictures and inscriptions, which I couldn’t interpret at once using my poor Russian, until at last I encountered a column of numbers in the right lower corner of the picture, which was printed in very small type and consisted of time of sun rising and sunset, as well as the length of a day. Most probably, I would never pay my attention to them, if it wasn’t for the first number in the column, the fatal number - 8.45 - time of ramming of the first (southern) WTC tower. I looked at Holmes questioningly.
– Yes, Watson, you understood correctly, the time coincided “accidentally” with New York time of the first attack, made by “kamikaze” on Boeing-767 with 92 passengers on board. And I said “New York time” not by accident, because the next number in the column - 16.37 - too “accidentally” was very similar to first attack time… but in Moscow time zone (it was 16.45 exactly), and since this moment Russian viewers could follow the developing of events in New York and Washington. Without mystics, it is calendar time of sun rising - 8.45 and sunset - 16.37, and the length of a day - 7.52, which refers to January 20 of every year on the latitude of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Saying that, Holmes took a pencil and wrote in sprawling letters on the sheet of paper - 20.01, as they used to mark the date in Russia.
– If take away the dot between the day and the month, what can indicate this combination of numbers, to your opinion, Watson?
– 2001 year! - I forced slowly. - But what this all can mean, dear Holmes? And how did you obtain this strange charade?
– It was sent to me with two similar articles yet in 1994 from Russia. Notice the date when package with charades arrived to London pointed on the seal of London main post office - September 7, 1994, - and try to establish if something special had happened that day in London. In the envelope, besides the rebus in three parts, each having the word “picnic” in its title, and a calendar for 1994, there also was a little note: “Dear Holmes. Knowing your passion for solving the enigmas of the century, we send to you this “rebus of millennium” in three parts. We hope that time will come, and you’ll give your professional interpretation of their purpose. Yours sincerely, the admirers of your talent.” Return address: Russia, 190001, Saint Petersburg, subscriber’s mailbox 911, Pchelovod Victor Vladimirovich. I have been collecting information for seven years, and now I’m ready to give some variants of solution.
Sherlock Holmes unfolded two more copies of strange pictures before me.
– As you can see, Watson, the charade you’re looking at, under the strange title “Post Historical Picnic”, appeared on the third page of Saint-Petersburg newspaper “Chas Pick” №33 (130) on August 17, 1992. But two not less enigmatical rebuses, printed in two more issues of the same newspaper “Chas Pick” on June 24 and August 5, 1991, and entitled “Historical Picnic” and the “Defence Picnic” respectively preceded it.
Watching the strange pictures, I was listening to Holmes, and felt that I’m in for serious and fascinating work. We have never discussed the secret rules of our joint activity. I had no intension to do it now too, because I was always sure that any new case, which my friend investigated, he studied thoroughly by himself. Moreover, I thought that he already knew all the answers for the questions appearing during the investigation, and he needed me only for checking their correctness. But something told me, that this case was special and I should have to do something more important than simply working for a touchstone on which the famous detective is sharpening his mind and craft. As usual, unexpectedly, Holmes interrupted my pondering.
– Dear Watson, can you explain me, why was your attention drawn to the word “picnic” in two articles from “The New York Times” of September 13?
– I thought that this word, from one side, was irrelevant to the context of the articles written by so sorrowful reasons; and, from the other side, somehow elusively conformed them. I suggest that some ambivalence, incomprehensible to me, conceals in this word. Well, and after you have shown me three Russian “picnics” with such strange titles, I have no more doubts, that three-time mentioning of picnic in “The New York Times” is far from being accidental. But what stands behind all this?
Meanwhile Holmes, attentively listening to me, sorted out some notes, picking them from big leather file, where he kept “picnics”.
– Of course, you are right, my dear Watson, the “picnics” in “The New York Times” of September 13 are mentioned three times not by accident. But, to understand their interlinks with Russian “picnics” from “Chas Pick”, I should explain something not only to you, but for the first rate to myself, dealing with what you called “mystics”, when we were discussing strange coincidences connected with 11. Here, - he’s found at last what he needed, - listen, dear Watson, what the most honoured poet and writer in Russia, Alexander Pushkin, says in this connection:
“The human mind, as common people say, is not a prophet, but guesser; it sees the general current of events and can make profound suggestions of it, often proved by time afterwards, but it can’t foresee the chance - which is mighty and immediate tool of Providence ”.
Many western people consider Pushkin an expresser of outlook of Russian people, whose occurrence in the world happened to be their answer to pro-western reforms of their first emperor Peter the Great. It seems to me, that Russian philosopher Berdyaev wrote about it. And you, dear Watson, aren’t you acquainted with his works?
– No, Holmes, I don’t know any works of Berdyaev, but I’ve heard about tender attitude to Pushkin in Russia, tried to read something of him, but, unfortunately, not in the original.
Holmes was obviously waiting for continuing Pushkin theme and so I wasn’t surprised when he asked what exactly I read among Pushkin’s works.
– May be, the novel in verses “Eugene Onegin”, - I was trying with difficulty to remember the impressions this work made on me, and not waiting for Holmes to answer, carried on.
– The narration seemed to me then somehow verbose, and sometimes even boring. Yes, it reminded me of sensational in its time James Joyce’s novel “Ulysses”, which some of our critics of past century were calling an encyclopaedia of western life. But may be the point is in translation - it’s written in verses, all the same.
– Bravo, Watson! They can’t say you’re not observant. The point is that Pushkin has written one very truthful phrase explaining everything, to my mind: “Translators - are false horses of enlightenment”. And one Russian critic even defined the novel in verses, which you considered to be boring, as “encyclopaedia of Russian life”. Don’t you remember an author of translation, Watson?
– Of course, Holmes, I remember his name clearly. My fellow chess-player recommended me to read the best translation made by famous Russian writer and poet Vladimir Nabokov [15], whose parents had emigrated from Russia after Revolution, and who had a great success on the West.
– Perfectly, Watson. It was Nabokov who, after he began to write good poems in English, tried to understand why western reader couldn’t understand Pushkin as good, as Russian readers did. He too, as well as you, thought that only translators are to blame, that they are incapable to express in their native languages an elusive spirit of Pushkin’s poetry, and so he decided to prove that he could do it in the language of great Shakespeare. How he was surprised however when at the end of his translating he exclaimed in despair: “Golden cage remained, but the bird has flied away!” The “flied away bird” of Pushkin is the subject that we will try to understand in outlook of Russians. You may be surprised, Watson, why, investigating causes of New York and Washington tragedy, do I pay so much attention to the “sun of Russian poetry” - so Pushkin was called by Dostoevsky, another Russian writer very popular on the West?
– Yes, indeed, dear Holmes, at the beginning I was rather puzzled by your interest to Pushkin. Knowing you, I supposed that you have thoroughly studied everything connected with works of honoured Russian poet, and also I know that you do nothing without a particular reason. And so I won’t be surprised very much, if Pushkin will at last turn out to be involved in the events of September 11 somehow.
– Yes, Watson, and Pushkin… he is involved too, - Holmes repeated my words thoughtfully. - But now I still can’t explain it to you, Watson. What else have you read of Pushkin?
– Oh, probably nothing, - I started to rummage through the corners of my memory of which I could never complain. - But wait! Yes, yes, I’ve read - of course I’ve read, but in certain sense, under duress.
– Who could make you reading Pushkin, my dear Watson, I wonder?
– Circumstances, Holmes. That’s it - circumstances. You may remember that about ten years ago some Russian theatre with very difficult title, something like “Marinka”, was in London on tour.
– Yes, Watson, I remember it - it was the tour of very famous, since pre-Revolutionary times, Russian “Mariinsky Theatre”, and I still regret, that I hadn’t a chance to present on its performances. But, please, go on, my dear friend, I’m really looking forward to know what circumstances could make you reading Pushkin.
– It was already after my returning from Afghanistan, when I was striving unsuccessfully for the favour of one lady, great music lover. For attracting her attention to myself, I obtained, with great difficulties, two tickets to the first-night of the opera “The Queen of spades”. Knowing that all parts would be sung in Russian, I decided to get acquainted with Pushkin’s story with the same title. The subject then seemed to me mystical and the end of a hero - too sorrowful. I remember exactly, that he has gone mad in the end, and so, when horrors on the stage heated up to the extreme and my companion was waiting for the tragic outcome, I, desiring to demonstrate my knowledge in the sphere where she felt her total superiority, started to calm her, saying that she hadn’t to worry so much - the hero and heroine (unfortunately, I don’t remember their names) would stay alive. How much I was surprised, when the shot, expected by the house, sounded on the stage! My lady didn’t express astonishment; she just understood that her unsuccessful admirer was ignoramus. And when I tried to explain that I have read the story by Pushkin, she, looking at me regretfully, pointed out to the programme which she used as a fan: libretto of the opera was written by brother of Tchaikovsky, the composer, who perhaps knew better than Pushkin how the hero of “Queen of Spades” was to end his life. And it was the end of my attempts to seek the favour of a lady that I called “the queen of spades” in my mind.
– You should think you’re awfully lucky, Watson; and your encounters with the queen of spades are not accidental in any case. Don’t you remember the cause of Hermann’s (this was the name of the main character in the story) tragic end?
– If I’m not mistaken, Watson, he was ruined by his passion to playing cards. Wait a minute, I remembered! Hermann was trying to learn some secret from an old woman - on what card one should put money for breaking the bank.
– Yes, Watson, they played “faro” there, - Holmes started and added as for himself, - very strange title for a card game. Hermann, achieving the secret of three cards while sleeping, wins great sums of money, making stakes firstly on three, then on seven and…
– Ace wins! - I cried out, alike the hero of the story, - but, as I remember, he’s got the queen of spades instead of ace. I begin to understand the roots of your interest to Pushkin. Again number 11, and again tragedy, but by now not of universal scale [16].
– And now look at that, Watson.
Holmes appealed again to the “Post Historical Picnic” and pointed to a piece of text in the left upper corner of a picture, to the right of which there was a female sculpture, and under it - a figure, dealing with ancient Egypt.
– Can you read it, Watson?
– A map of some terrain, - I began, finding words slowly, to translate the title printed with thick letters. Then there was text in smaller type:
“Card game is the second… occupation in our country. The first place… Revolutions. Revolutions… upset the applecart,… game becomes more interesting, because without rules. Passing the time at cards, the most important thing - is to remember which… have left the game. We remind to players and revolution Eram [17], that this card [18] is already beaten”.
That’s approximately what it is, and more perfect translation I could do using the dictionary.
Having finished reading I glanced at Holmes curiously, giving to understand with all my appearance that I comprehended a little in this abracadabra written either as an instruction or some humorous admonition. But whom from and whom to, I wondered?
– I feel the same embarrassment as you, Watson, and don’t wait for any explanations from me. I have a translation of this strange text, but I don’t show it to you, hoping that you will do it better, but only after more close acquaintance with the rebus. By now I only want to draw your attention to plenty of events, seemingly not interlinked in any way, but joint by the words with the root “pic”: “picnics” in “The New York Times”, “picnics” in “Chas Pick”, “Queen of Spades” [19] by Pushkin. Isn’t it too much of “pics”, dear Watson, especially remembering that a “chance” as understood by the author of “Queen of Picks” is a mighty and immediate tool of Providence and its appearance in people’s life can’t be understood without seeing the general current of events?
By now only one thing is clear to me: we should work out the role of numerical measure in the tragic events of “black Tuesday” [20]. I can’t promise an easy work, but I suppose that by joint efforts we’ll be able to achieve a success, if we’re persistent and patient sufficiently. It seems to me that for deciphering the last rebus which as far as I understand deals somehow with the tragedy in New York and Washington, we need to know the purpose of the first and the second “picnics”, and that’s why I’d like you, my friend, to speculate in your spare time on the materials I’ve collected. Here, - he handed his file to me, - besides enigmatic Russian “picnics”, is a selection of different reports from the press of all countries in the world. I think that these materials will help us to understand better the problems waiting to be solved.
Once an office worker in auditing firm “Ernst amp; Young”, where I have been working for the recent years as a consultant, showed me one Russian site in the Internet. Some curious works were found there, and I asked my Russian friends in London to translate some of them. Frankly speaking, they complained the complexity of these texts, especially when it was the question of theology. But two of those works, to my mind, very interesting, are placed in English translation on this site. They were printed and now lay in this file.
I’m sorry, Watson, but today I’m flying off for Zurich on affairs of the firm I’ve just told you. Probably, I will have to visit Spain, there’s not only a centre of our firm there but… also many people who know the history of Trotskyism well. The civil war in Spain is Trotskyites handiwork. It was not by accident, that Spanish judge Garson brought the lawsuit of Pinochet, who upset Marxist-Trotskyite planes in Chile by his putsch. I think that this voyage will take me about two or three weeks, and I hope that when I return, I’ll hear many interesting things from you.
Holmes shook my hand and was about to go, but suddenly stopped, glanced at me strangely and smiling enigmatically asked me:
– I have one more question to you, Watson, as chess-player: what do you really think about all this?
Firstly I was bewildered, thinking, that Holmes again was ironical about my fascination with chess, and I even was going to answer him with one of jokes popular among chess-players. But then, watching his face, I found out, that the eyes of my friend were extremely serious and waited for unusual answer.
– Gambit [21]… may be, - I articulated slowly the first words I’ve remembered, dealing with chess terminology, -… may be, the last gambit, - I added more confidently - yes, the last gambit of the second millennium passing by.
– That’s very interesting solution, perhaps - final, - said Holmes as to himself only.
There was no smile on his face now, and his glance looking somewhere far away seemed to seek the elusive final solution.
– And why, if Dr. Watson is right? - he suddenly addressed a question to someone who was absent among us, and, like summing up the long argument between him and unknown to me third person, finished, - Someone, concerning directly with the questions of global administration, sacrifices much, for having the result which goes much farther than any fantasies of contemporary man.
Holmes’s glance returned to the reality and he smiled to me again with his cunning smile.
– That’s good, Watson. Our new investigation will go under the secret name of “The Last Gambit”. In my notebook computer I’ve collected much information on this case and from this moment the file with my notes on Russian “picnics” will carry the same name - “The Last Gambit”. And I advise you too to collect all your thoughts with regard to “picnics” and the papers I’ve given to you into the separate file.