Section 5, The Five Orange Pips Summary

The story begins with Watson, his wife out of town, staying with Holmes at the apartment on Baker Street. There is a violent storm outside and both men are engaged in their own activities, Watson reading a sailing novel and Holmes cross-indexing his files. Suddenly a young man in his early twenties comes in and asks to speak with Holmes, the two men bid the young man to sit down and tell his story.

He is the son of a Joseph Openeshaw and the nephew of Elias Openshaw. Elias, his uncle, lived for some time in Florida and was a landowner and planter there before the civil war. During the civil war, he fought for the south and left America to return to England several years after the war citing distaste for black people and...