"Last week he threw a man into the river. I gave the man a lot of money, because we did not want any trouble. This happens all the time. My step-father often has trouble with the police. He has no friends, and sometimes he goes away for many weeks. He likes Indian animals very much. He has a cheetah and a baboon. They are allowed to go where they want to, and the people of the village are very scared of them.

You can see that I and my sister Julia were not happy. Because my step-father scared away all the servants, we did all the work in the house. My sister was thirty when she died, but already her hair was becoming white, just like mine is."

"Is your sister dead?" Holmes asked.

"She died two years ago. That is why I have come to talk to you. My sister and I did not often meet other people. But Julia once went to visit an aunt for Christmas. She met a soldier and he wanted to marry her. Our step-father did not say no, but two weeks before the wedding, a terrible thing happened. My sister, who was my only friend, died."