Sherlock Holmes Detective Memoirs (Part 1)

The three-masted galleon "Gloria Scott"

　　One winter dusk, as my friend Sherlock Holmes and I sat on either side of the fireplace, Holmes said, "Watson, I have a few papers here, and I do think it's worth reading." These documents are related to the strange case of the three-masted sailing ship Gloria Scott. The sheriff, Trevor Sr., died of fright after reading these documents. ”

　　Holmes took from the drawer a small round paper cylinder of obscure color, untied the rope strap, and handed me a piece of stone-blue paper, which was a scribbled short, scribbled letter that read:

　　The supply of game for London is going steadily up (it ran). Head keeperHudson, Webelieve, has been now told to reeive all orders for fly-paper and-for-preservation of your hen-pheasant's life.

　　(Literally: The supply of game in London is steadily rising.) We believe that The General Custodian Hudson has now been ordered to accept all orders for sticky fly paper and to save the life of your female pheasant. --Translator)

　　After reading this inexplicable short letter, I looked up and saw Holmes watching my expression, still smiling.

　　"You seem a little confused, don't you?" he said.

　　"I don't see how a short copy like this can scare people to death. In my opinion, its content is nothing more than absurd nonsense. ”

　　"Nice. But in fact, the strong old man, after reading this short letter, was like a target shot by a pistol, and he cried out for his life. ”

　　"You have aroused my curiosity," I said, "but why did you just say that I have a special reason to study this case?" ”

　　"Because this is the first case I have ever undertaken."

　　I had been trying to probe my companion to tell him what had made him decide to turn to detective criminal activity, but he had never been interested in telling. Then he leaned over in an armchair, spread the document on his knees, lit his pipe and smoked it for a while, and flipped the document over and over again.

　　"Never heard me talk about Victor Trevor?" He asked, "He was the only good friend I had met during my two years of college. I was extremely unsociable, Watson, and always liked to stay in the room alone with a sad face and train my own way of thinking, so I rarely interacted with people of the same age. Aside from fencing and boxing, I wasn't very much of sports, and my approach to learning was very different from others. Therefore, we have no need to come and go at all. Trevor was the only person I knew. This was because one morning I went to the chapel and his fierce dog bit my ankle bone, and such an unexpected thing brought us to know each other.

　　"The beginning of the relationship was very plain, but it was unforgettable. I lay in bed for ten days, and Trevor often came to visit me. At first he left after a few minutes of small talk, but soon we talked for an extended period of time. By the end of that semester, we had become friends. He was full of spirits, flesh and blood, full of energy, and in many ways the opposite of me, but we also had some similarities. When I found out that he was just as lost as I was, we became more and more intimate. Later he invited me to his father, who lived in the village of Dunnethorp in Norfolk, and I accepted his invitation to spend a month off.

　　"Old Trevor was a sheriff and a landlord, obviously rich and powerful. The village of Dunnithorpe, on the outskirts of Broad, is a small village north of Langmail. Trevor's mansion is an old-fashioned, large oak-beamed brick house with a passage in front of the door and lush Linden trees. There are many swamps nearby, which are a great place to hunt wild ducks and a great place to fish. There was a small but elaborate library, which I had heard, had been purchased with the house from the original homeowner. In addition, there is a decent cook. Therefore, if a person spends a month off here, if he is still not satisfied, he is an overly picky person.

　　"Old Trevor's wife is dead, and my friend is his only son.

　　"I heard that he used to have a daughter, but on the way to Birmingham, he died of diphtheria. Old Trevor intrigued me very much. He didn't have much knowledge, but he was physically and mentally strong. He knew very little about books, but he had traveled far and wide, seen many worlds, and remembered what he saw and heard. In appearance, he was very strong, with a thick body, a disheveled gray hair, a weathered brown face, a pair of blue eyes, and a sharp eye that was almost murderous. But he was known in the countryside for his kindness and charity, and it was rumored that he was also lenient when the court dealt with the case.

　　"Shortly after I arrived at his house, one evening, after dinner we were sitting together drinking wine, little Trevor suddenly spoke of the habits of observation and reasoning that I had developed. By then I had already summarized it into a method, though I had not yet realized the effect it would play in my lifetime. The old man obviously thought his son was overstating his words and overstating my little carving skills.

　　"'Well, Monsieur Holmes,' he said with great interest, 'I am a wonderful subject, and see if you can deduce something from me.'

　　"'I'm afraid I can't deduce much,' I replied, 'I speculate that you've been worried about someone attacking you over the past year.'"

　　The smile on the corner of the old man's mouth suddenly disappeared, and he was surprised, and his eyes stared at me.

　　"'Ah, indeed,' he said, 'Victor, you know,' said the old man, turning to his son, 'after we drove away the men who had come to the swamp to poach, they swore to kill us, and Mr. Edward Holly was indeed attacked. I've been wary of it ever since, but I wonder how you know about it? ’

　　"'You have a very beautiful cane,' I replied, 'and I can see from the words engraved on the staff that you have been buying it for no more than a year.' But you put a lot of effort into a hole in the head of your cane, poured it with melted lead, and made it into a terrible weapon. I expect that you would never take such precautions without fear of any danger. ’

　　"'What else?' He asked with a smile.

　　"'You used to box a lot when you were young.'"

　　"'That's right, too. How do you know? Is my nose a little crooked? ’

　　"'No,' I said, 'I know it from your ears. Your ears are particularly flat and wide, which is characteristic of boxers. ’

　　"'What else?'

　　"'From the calluses on your hands, you've done a lot of mining work.'"

　　"'I did get rich from the gold mine.'"

　　"'You've been to New Zealand.'"

　　"'That's not bad.'"

　　"'You've been to Japan.'"

　　"'Very true.'"

　　"'You used to be very close to a guy whose initial letter was J. Ａ． But then you tried to forget him completely. ’

　　Then the old Mr. Trevor stood up slowly, rounded his big blue eyes, stared at me with strange and frantic eyes, and then plunged forward, his face crashing into the pile of hard fruit shells on the tablecloth, unconscious.

　　"Watson, you can imagine how shocked my son and I were at that time.

　　However, he did not lose consciousness for a long time, because just as we undid him and poured cold water from the finger wash cup on his face, he took a breath and sat up.

　　"'Ah, children,' he said with a forced smile, 'I hope it doesn't scare you.' My appearance looks strong, but my heart is weak, and it can make me faint without any effort. I don't know how you deduced it, Mr. Holmes, but I think that the detectives who actually exist, whether they are fictional detectives, are like children under you. Sir, you can make it your career for the rest of your life. You can remember what I, a man who has been through the ages, said. ’

　　"Watson, please believe this. At that time, inference was only my hobby, and the first thing that prompted me to think that this hobby could be used as a lifelong profession was his advice and exaggerated evaluation of my ability. At the time, however, I was very disturbed by the sudden illness of my host and could not think of anything else.

　　"'I wish I hadn't said anything that pained you.'" I said.

　　"'Ah, you really touched my sore spot.' But I want to ask, how do you know, how much do you know? Now he said half-jokingly, but there was still a look of horror in his eyes.

　　"'It's very simple,' I said, 'that day we were in the dinghy, and you rolled up your sleeves to catch fish, and I saw you stabbing J. Ａ． The glyphs are still legible, but the strokes have been blurred. The words were stained with ink around them, and it was clear that you had tried to erase them later. It can be seen that these two abbreviations, which you were familiar with, wanted to forget about them later. ’

　　"'Your eyesight is so great!' Relieved, he said, 'This is exactly as you said. But we don't have to talk about it. Of all the ghosts, the ghosts we used to know are the most vicious. Let's go to the marbles room and smoke a cigarette quietly. ’

　　"Since that day, although old Trevor's attitude towards me is still very kind, there are always some doubts in the kindness. Even his son was aware of this.

　　'You can frighten Daddy,' said little Trevor, "and he can no longer figure out what you know and what you don't know."' In my opinion, although the old Trevor did not want to reveal his doubts, the doubts in his heart were very strong, and every move was faintly revealed. I finally became convinced that I had caused him to be upset, so I decided to say goodbye to them. But the day before I left, something small happened that turned out to be very important.

　　"At that time the three of us were sitting in chairs on the garden lawn basking in the sun, enjoying the view of Broad, and a maid came up and said that there was a man outside the door begging to see Mr. Trevor the Elder.

　　"'What's his name?' My host asked.

　　"'He doesn't say.'"

　　"'So, what is he going to do?'

　　"'He said you knew him, he just had to talk to you.'"

　　"'Then bring him here.'" After a while, a thin, withered man walked in, described as obscene, procrastinating, wearing an open jacket with a tarmac stain on the cuffs, and inside was a safflower plaid shirt, cotton pants, and a pair of boots that were worn out. His brown face was thin and cunning, always smiling, revealing a row of untidy yellow teeth. His hands were wrinkled and his fists were half clenched, a gesture that sailors often had. As he walked listlessly across the lawn toward us, I heard a sound similar to a whack in old Trevor's throat, jumping out of his chair and running into the house. In an instant he ran back again, and as he passed me, I smelled a strong smell of brandy.

　　"'Hey, friend,' he said, 'what are you looking for me?'

　　The sailor stood there, his eyes looking at old Trevor with trepidation, still grinning.

　　"'Don't you know me?' The sailor asked.

　　"'Ah, oops, this must be Hudson,' said old Trevor in amazement.

　　"'I am Hedson, sir,' said the sailor, 'hey, more than thirty years have passed since the last time I saw you.' You are now at peace in your home, and I am still living in misery. "Well, you should know that I haven't forgotten the old days,' said old Trevor aloud, walking over to the sailor, whispering a few words, then raising his voice again, 'Please come to the kitchen, eat and drink first, and I'll be sure I can give you a place.'"

　　"'Thank you, sir,' said the sailor, brushing his forehead hair, 'I have just disembarked from an uncertain futures ship with a speed of eight nautical miles, on which I have been working for two years, and I have few men, so I need to rest. I think I'll have to go to Mr. Beddos or come to you. ’

　　"'Ah,' cried old Trevor, 'do you know where Mr. Beddos is?'

　　"'Thank goodness, sir, I know all where my old friend is,'" the man said with a sly smile, and hurriedly followed the maid toward the kitchen. Mr. Trevor the Elder told us vaguely that when he went to the mining, he was in the same boat as this man. He threw us on the lawn and went into the house by himself. It was an hour before we went into the house and found old Trevor drunk and straight on the couch in the dining room. This whole incident left a very bad impression on my mind. Therefore, when I left the village of Dunnithorpe the next day, I did not feel any regret. Because I felt that my staying in his house must be the source of my friend's embarrassment.

　　"All of this happened in the first month of a long holiday. I went back to my London residence and spent seven weeks doing some organic chemistry experiments. However, one day in the middle of autumn, as the holidays were coming to an end, I received a telegram from my friend inviting me back to the village of Dunnithorpe and saying that he was in great need of my advice and assistance. Of course I threw away the other things and immediately rushed back to the north.

　　"He was waiting for me at the station in a two-wheeled carriage, and I could see at a glance that in the past two months he had suffered a lot, had become emaciated, and had lost his usual characteristic character of loud talking and laughing.

　　"'Daddy is in danger,' he said at the first words.

　　"'Impossible!' I shouted, 'What's going on?' ’

　　"'He had a stroke, it was a serious stimulation of the nerves. He has been in danger today, and I don't think he's necessarily alive now. ’

　　"Watson, as you can imagine, how horrified I was to hear this unexpected news.

　　"'What causes it?' I asked.

　　"'Ah, that's the point. Please get in the car and we will talk in detail on the way. Do you remember the guy who came the night before you left? ’

　　"'Of course I remember.'"

　　"'Do you know who we invited into the house that day?'

　　"'I don't know.'

　　"'Holmes, that's a devil,' he cried out.

　　I stared at him in amazement.

　　"'Exactly, he is indeed a devil, and since he came, we have not had a moment of peace, not at all. Since that night Dad hadn't looked up, and now his life was in danger and his heart was broken. It's all because of that damn Hudson. ’

　　"'So, what power does he have?'

　　"'Ah, that's exactly what I'm trying to know.' How could such a kind and generous elderly person as his father fall into the clutches of such a villain! But, Holmes, I'm glad you're here. I have great confidence in your judgment and ability to do things, and I know you can come up with the best way for me. ’

　　"Our carriage galloped along the clean and flat roads of the countryside, and in front of us was a stretch of broad daylight in Broad, hidden in the red glow of the setting sun. Behind a grove of trees on the left,I could already see the chimney and flagpole high above the sheriff's house.

　　"'Dad made this guy a gardener,' said his companion, 'and later the man was so dissatisfied that he was promoted to steward.' The whole family seemed to be completely under his control, and he roamed all day and did whatever he wanted. The maids told my father about his drunkenness and harsh language. Dad raised their salaries in many ways to compensate for the trouble they encountered. This guy used to paddle in small boats and take my dad's best shotgun with him on a safari. And when he did this, there was always a look of sarcasm on his face, a sideways squint, a look of ignorance, and if he were a man my age, I would have knocked him to the ground more than twenty times. I tell you, Holmes, that during this time I had only had to restrain myself, and now I ask myself, if I had not restrained myself, perhaps things would have been better.

　　"'Alas, we are getting worse and worse. Hederson, the beast, grew more and more arrogant, and one day he answered my father in an arrogant and rude manner in front of me, and I grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him out the door. He slipped away without a sound, his blue face and two vicious eyes revealing a look of intimidation. After this, I do not know what representations the poor father had made with this man, but the next day my father came to me and asked me to apologize to Hudson. As you can imagine, of course I refused, and asked my father why he would allow such a villain to be so rude to him and our whole family.

　　My father said, "Ah, my child, you are absolutely right, but you do not know my situation." But you'll know, Victor. Whatever happens, I'm going to try to let you know. But you don't want to make your poor old father sad now? child. ”

　　"'Dad was so excited that he shut himself in his study all day, and I saw from the window that he was busy writing.

　　"'That night, something happened that relieved me because Hudson told us he was going to leave us. After we had eaten lunch, and were sitting in the dining room, he walked in, half drunk, and his voice hoarsely uttered his intentions.

　　He said, "I've had enough in Norfolk, and I'm going to Mr. Beddos in Hampshire." I dare say that he must have been as happy to see me as you are. ”

　　"Hudson, I hope you didn't leave here with ill feelings." My father said humbly, which made my blood boil.

　　"He hasn't apologized to me yet," he said, glancing at me and stretching his face.

　　Dad turned to me and said, "Victor, you should admit that you have indeed been disrespectful to this venerable friend." ”

　　I replied, "On the contrary, I think our father and son tolerated him too much." ”

　　Hedson growled and said, "Ah, do you think so, don't you?" That's great, man. Let's walk and see! ”

　　"'He walked out of the house listlessly, and half an hour later he left my house, leaving Dad in a state of pitiful fear. I heard Dad pacing around the room night after night, and as he had just regained his confidence, disaster finally descended from the sky. ''What the hell is going on?' I asked hurriedly.

　　"'Very strange. Last night Dad received a letter stamped with the postmark of Fordingham. After Dad saw it, he gently slapped his head with his hands, and began to circle around the room like a lost soul. Later I helped him to the couch with his mouth and eyelids tilted to one side. I saw that he had suffered a stroke, and immediately invited Dr. Fordham to help my father to the bed with me, but he was getting more and more paralyzed, and there was no sign of regaining consciousness at all, and I think it would be difficult for us to see him alive. ’

　　"'Little Trevor, you're simply scaring me!' I exclaimed, 'So, what is in that letter that can cause such terrible consequences?' ’

　　"'Nothing. This is where the inexplicable lies. The letter was absurd and trivial. Oh my God, what I was worried about has indeed come! ’

　　"By the time he said it was already at the bend in the boulevard and saw that in the dim light the curtains of the house had been lowered. As we walked to the door, my friend showed a look of grief as a gentleman dressed in black stepped out.

　　"'Doctor, when did my dad die?' Trevor asked.

　　"'Almost just when you left.'"

　　"'Has he ever woken up?'

　　"'Wake up a little bit before you die.'"

　　"'Leave me with any words?'

　　"'He only said the paper was in the back drawer of the Japanese cabinet.'"

　　"My friend and the doctor walked together to the house of the deceased, but I stayed in the study, my mind churning through all these events, and I felt that I had never been so melancholy. Old Trevor used to be a boxer, a traveler, and a gold miner, so how could he be at the mercy of this angry sailor? Also, why did he faint at the mention of the semi-obscure initials of his name on his arm, and then be frightened to death when he received a letter from Fordingham? Then I remembered that Fordingham was in Hampshire, in Mr. Beddos's hometown, and that the sailor had blackmailed him. The letter, then, may have been from The Sailor Hudson, who said he had denounced trevor's past crimes. Or it was Bedos who sent the letter warning old Trevor that an old accomplice was about to report the matter. This seems obvious. But how could this letter be as trivial and absurd as his son had said? Then he must have read it wrong. If so, then there must be a special kind of password in it, which has a different literal meaning than the actual meaning. I must look at this letter. If there is indeed a secret in the letter, I believe I can decipher it. I sat without a lamp and thought about it for about an hour, and then a tear-stained maid brought in a lamp, and my friend Trevor Jr. walked in. He was pale, but calm, holding in his hands the few sheets of paper that were now spread over my knees. He sat down across from me, moved the lamp to the table, and showed me the short strip scrawled on the stone-blue paper, which was what you see now: 'The supply of game in London is steadily rising.' We believe that The General Custodian Hudson has now been ordered to accept all orders for sticky fly paper and to save the life of your female pheasant. I'm afraid that the look of confusion on my face when I first read this letter is the same as the one you just had. Then I reread it very carefully. Apparently, as I expected, there were some secret meanings hidden in these strange phrases. Phrases like 'sticky fly paper' and 'female pheasant' may be pre-agreed code words. This code word can be arbitrarily agreed upon. In any case, it is impossible to deduce its meaning. But I do not believe that this will be the case, and the appearance of the word Hudson seems to indicate that the content of the letter corresponds to my conjecture. And it was sent by Bedos, not the sailor. I read the words backwards again, but the phrases like 'life, female pheasant' were a great disappointment. So I tried to read it every other word, but neither 'theoffor' nor 'supplygameLondon' made no sense.

　　But after a while, the key to opening the stuffy gourd finally fell into my hands, and I saw that from the first word, every two words could be read with a single reading of meanings, and these meanings were enough to put old Trevor into a desperate situation.

　　The words are short and concise, and they are warning letters. I immediately read it to my friend:

　　‘The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life.’

　　(Translation: It's all over.) Hudson has denounced them all. Hurry up and run for your life! ）

　　"Victor Trevor covered his face with trembling hands." I suppose it must be so,' he said, 'that's worse than death, because it means being humiliated.' But what do the words "total custody" and "female pheasant" mean? These words have no meaning in the letter, but if we have no other way to find the sender, it will be of great use to us. You see he started writing 'The... ｇａｍｅ... is' and so on, after writing the pre-drafted words, fill in two words between each two words. Naturally, he uses the words that first appear in his mind. It is certain that he is a keen hunter, or a man who loves to raise poultry. Do you know what's going on in Bedos? ’

　　"'Well, you mentioned it,' he said, 'I remember, every autumn my poor father was invited by Beddos to go hunting.'"

　　"'Then this letter must have been sent by him,' I said, 'and now we need only find out what secret that the sailor Hudson possessed to threaten these two powerful men.'"

　　"'Alas, Holmes, I fear it is a sin and a disgrace!' My friend exclaimed, 'But I don't have to keep any secrets from you.' This was Dad's statement, written when he learned that Hurderson's denunciation was imminent. I found it in a Japanese cupboard according to the doctor's words. Please take it and read it to me, for I myself have no strength or courage to read it. ’

　　"Watson, these pieces of paper were given to me by little Trevor, and I read them to him in the old study that night, and now I read them to you." You see, on these pieces of paper it reads: 'Notes on the sailing of the three-masted galleon 'Gloria Scott'. It set sail from Farmouth on October 8, 1855, and sank on November 6 of the same year at 15 degrees 20 degrees north latitude and 25 degrees 14 minutes west longitude. It is written in the form of a letter.

　　"'My dearest son, since the imminent shame has dimmed my twilight years, I may honestly and sincerely say that I am not afraid of the law, nor of losing my official position in the county, nor of the pain of being looked down upon by acquaintances. But the thought of you loving me so much and respecting me so much that you would be humiliated by me made my heart clench. But if the wreckage that has been hanging over my head has indeed come, then I hope that you will read this chronicle, and then you will have a direct understanding of what kind of punishment I should be punished. On the other hand, if there is peace and no trouble (may the Almighty Mercy God grant permission!). In the unlikely event that this piece of paper has not yet been destroyed and falls into your hands, I beseech you, for the sake of God, for the sake of your dear mother, for the sake of our father and son, burn it and forget it forever.

　　"But if you do read this letter then, I know that the matter has been revealed, that I am in prison, or that nine times out of ten I have been silenced (for you know that my heart is weak).' However, in either case, there is no need to continue to conceal it. The following things are true, and I would like to swear from the bottom of my heart to ask for forgiveness.

　　"'Dear child, I was not originally called Trevor, but james Armitage when I was young[James Armitage two words abbreviated as J. Ａ．。 - Translator's Note. From this you will understand the reason for my fainting from that fright. I mean what your college friend said to me a few weeks ago, which sounded to me as if a word had broken the secret of my pseudonym. As Amitage, I worked in a London bank, and as Amitage, I was convicted of breaking the laws of the land and sentenced to exile. Don't be too harsh on me, child. This is a so-called gambling debt, I have to pay it back, so I use money that does not belong to me to repay. Of course, I'm sure I can make it up before I notice it. But the most terrible misfortune was coming, and the money I had hoped for did not arrive, and with the advance check of the accounts, my deficit was exposed. The case could have been handled leniently, but the law thirty years ago was much harsher than it is now. So on my twenty-third birthday, I was convicted of a felony, along with thirty-seven other criminals, locked on the deck of the Galley Scott and exiled to Australia.

　　"'It was 1855, and the crimean war was in full swing. Most of the ships that originally carried offenders were transported militarily in the Black Sea, so the Government had to use smaller, inappropriate vessels to deport offenders. The Galley Gloria Scott was engaged in the Chinese tea business, with an ancient style, a heavy bow and a wide hull. The new fast sailing boat has already outperformed it. The three-masted schooner weighed five hundred tons, and in addition to thirty-eight prisoners, it carried twenty-six sailors, eighteen soldiers, one captain, three deputies, a doctor, a priest and four jailers. When we set sail from Falmouth, there were about a hundred people on board.

　　"'Usually the cell partitions of the prisoner's ship are made of thick oak, but the cell partitions of this ship are very thin. While we were being taken to the dock, I noticed a man who was now in a cell at the stern of the ship next to me. It was a young man with a beautiful face, no beard, a slender nose, and a shriveled mouth. With a proud look on his face, he walked with his head held high, the most prominent of which was that he was particularly tall, and I could not see whose head could not reach his shoulders, and he must be at least six and a half feet tall. In so many melancholy and depressed faces, it is not insignificant to see such an energetic and determined face. Seeing this face is like sending a fire in a storm. I found him as my neighbor and was very happy. One night in the middle of the night, a few whispers came into my eardrums, and I looked back and saw that it was he who had managed to dig a hole in the partition of the cell, which made me even more overjoyed.

　　He said, "Hey, friend! What is your name? For what crime was he imprisoned here? ”

　　"I answered him and asked him who he was.

　　He said, "My name is Jack Prendergast, and I swear you'll know my good before you break up with me." ”

　　"'I remember hearing about his case, because before I was arrested myself, his case had been a sensation across the country.' He came from a good family and was very capable, but he was tainted with incorrigible vices and, by clever deception, swindled huge sums of money from london magnates.

　　Then he said proudly, "Ha, ha! You think of my case. ”

　　I said, "Indeed, I remember very clearly. ”

　　He said, "So, do you remember anything special about that case?" ”

　　I said, "What's so special?" ”

　　He said, "I got a fortune of almost two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, didn't I?" ”

　　I said, "That's all they say." ”

　　He said, "But the stolen money hasn't been recovered, you know?" ”

　　I replied, "I don't know." ”

　　He asked again, "Hey, where do you guess this huge sum is now?" ”

　　I said, "I can't guess at all." ”

　　He exclaimed, "The money is still in my hands." Not fake at all! The number of gold pounds in my name is more than the strands of your hair. Little partner, if you have money in your hands and know how to manage money and use money, then you can do whatever you want. feed! Don't think that a man who can do whatever he wants will will be willing to sit in the stenchy cargo compartment of this dilapidated Chinese ship full of rats and beetles, no, sir, such a person must not only save himself, but also rescue his friend. You can do it all! By relying on Him, you can swear by the Bible that He will surely save you. ”

　　"That's the tone of his speech at the time. At first I didn't take it seriously. But after a while he tried again at me, and solemnly swore to me that there was indeed a secret plan to seize the ship. Before boarding the ship, twelve prisoners had already made preparations in advance, led by Prendergast, who used money as a power.

　　Prendergast said: "I have an accomplice, a rare good man, completely honest and reliable, and the money is in his hands." Guess where this guy is now? Well, he's the priest on this ship—the priest, that's not bad! He wore a black jacket on the ship, his ID card was ringing, and the money in the box was enough to buy everyone on the ship. All the sailors were his confidants. Before they signed their orders, he bribed them with a cash discount. He also bribed two jailers and a second mate, Mailer, and if he thought the captain was worth buying, he would even bribe the captain himself. ”

　　I asked, "So, what are we going to do?" ”

　　He said, "What do you see?" We want to make some soldiers' clothes more bright red than the tailors' clothes. ”

　　I said, "But they all have weapons." ”

　　He said, "Boy, we're going to arm ourselves too, with two pistols each."

　　We had all the sailors backed us, and if we hadn't captured the ship, we would have been sent to the boarding school for young girls. Tonight you talk to the person next to you to see if he is reliable. ”

　　"'I complied, knowing that my neighbor was a young man in the same situation as me, accused of counterfeiting currency.'" His original name was Evans. Now, like me, I have changed my name and surname, and I am a rich and fortunate man in the south of England. He was more than happy to participate in this conspiracy, for only then could we save ourselves, so that only two prisoners in the whole ship were not involved in the secret until our ship crossed the bay. One is weak-willed and we dare not trust him, and the other is suffering from jaundice, which is of little use to us.

　　"'At the beginning, our ship-grabbing operation was really not hindered. The sailors were a bunch of scoundrels who had been specifically chosen to do such things. The fake pastor kept coming to our cabin to cheer us on, and he was carrying a black school bag that seemed to be full of scriptures, and he came out and went very busy. By the third day, each of us had a file, two pistols, a pound of explosives, and twenty rounds of ammunition at the foot of our bed. The two jailers had long been Prendergast's confidants, and the second pair had become his helpers. The only people on the ship who opposed us were the captain, two lieutenants, two guards, Lieutenant Martin and his eighteen soldiers, and the doctor. Things were very safe, but we decided to be cautious and prepare for a surprise attack at night. However, the hands were much faster than we expected. The situation is like this:

　　"'One night, three weeks after the ship set sail, the doctor came to see a prisoner. He reached under the prisoner's bed and felt the outline of the pistol. If he had been silent at that time, he might have ruined all our business, but he was a coward, screaming and bloodless, and this made the prisoner immediately understand what was going on and catch him. Before he could sound the alarm, his mouth was blocked and he was tied to the bed. When the doctor came, he unlocked the door to the deck, and we went through it and rushed up. Two sentries were shot and fell to the ground, and a squad leader ran to see what was going on, but was also killed. Two other soldiers held the door of the official cabin, and their muskets did not seem to be filled with gunpowder, because they had not fired at us at all. They were shot and killed while intending to be stabbed. As we rushed into the captain's room, there were gunshots inside, and when we pushed the door, we saw that the captain had fallen, his brain marrow had stained the Atlantic chart nailed to the table, and the priest was standing next to the dead body, and the pistol in his hand was still smoking. The two mates had already been captured, and the whole thing seemed to be completed.

　　"'The official cabin was close to the captain's quarters, and we rushed there, sat down on the benches, and talked freely together, ecstatic to feel that we had once again regained our freedom. The cabin was surrounded by cargo crates, and the fake priest Wilson brought one and took out twenty bottles of brown wine. We broke the bottleneck, poured the wine into the glass, and were waiting to raise a glass to drink, when suddenly we heard a burst of gunfire, and the official cabin was suddenly filled with smoke, and we could not see anything across the table. By the time the smoke cleared, it was flesh and blood. Wilson and eight other men fell to the ground dying, and I still feel sick when I think of the blood and brown wine on the table. We were horrified when we saw this. I think if it weren't for Prendergast, it would have been all over. Like a bull, he rushed out the door with a roar, and all the living people rushed out with him. We rushed outside and saw the lieutenant and his ten men standing at the stern, with a revolving skylight on the cabin, facing above the table, and opening it slightly, and they shot at us through the gap. We rushed forward before they could reload the gunpowder. Although they resisted heroically, we had the upper hand, and the battle took them all in less than five minutes. Oh my God! This sailboat is like a slaughterhouse! Prendergast was like a furious devil, lifting up one soldier after another like a child, dead or alive, and throwing them all into the sea. One of the sergeants was badly injured and accidentally swam for a long time until a good man shot him in the head. The battle was over, leaving only two guards, two ship lieutenants and a doctor, and the rest of the enemy was completely destroyed.

　　"'We have a debate about what to do with the few remaining enemies. Many people rejoiced in regaining their freedom, and they did not want to kill any more. It's one thing to kill a soldier with a weapon in his hand, it's another thing to be indifferent to ruthlessly killing people. Eight of us, five prisoners and three sailors said we didn't want to see them killed, but Prendergast and his group were indifferent. He said that our only chance to be safe was to get things done neatly, and he didn't want to leave a living mouth to stand on the witness stand and rap. This almost brought us into custody again, but he finally promised to leave them in a dinghy if we wished. We readily agreed to this suggestion, for we had long loathed this bloody act, and we knew that something even more cruel would happen after this killing.

　　So he gave each of us a sailor suit, a bucket of fresh water, a small bucket of cured beef, a small bucket of biscuits, and a compass. Prendergast threw us a nautical chart telling us that we were sailors of a shipwrecked ship that sank at fifteen degrees north latitude and twenty-five degrees west longitude. Then he cut the cable and let us drift away.

　　"'My dear son, now I'm going to tell the most amazing plot of this story.' At the time of the riot, the sailors used to drop their sails and drive against the wind, but after we left, they raised their sails again and took the northeast wind to leave us slowly. Our dinghy follows the smooth undulating waves. Of our gang, only Evans and I were the most educated. We sat down and looked at the charts, determined where we were and where we planned to head to the coast. This is an issue that needs to be approached with caution, because five hundred miles north is the Cape Verde Islands, and about seven hundred miles east is the Coast of Africa. As the wind turned north, we were basically sure that it was better to travel towards Sierra Leone, so we turned the bow of the ship and headed in this direction. At this time, looking from the rear of the dinghy, the three-masted sailboat was no longer seen, only the mast. We were looking at it when suddenly we saw a thick black smoke rising up like a strange tree hanging in the sky. A few seconds later, a thunderous sound sounded deafening, and when the smoke cleared, the Gallia Scott was gone. We immediately turned the bow of the ship and headed with all our might, and the still swirling smoke and dust on the surface of the sea reflected the tragic situation of the ship's death.

　　"'It took us a long time to get there, and at first we were afraid that we would come too late and not be able to save anyone. Only a small broken boat and some broken mast fragments were seen undulating with the waves, which showed the location of the sinking of the sailboat, but there was no trace of the living. As we turned the bow of the ship in disappointment, we overheard a cry for help, only to see a man not far away lying upright on a stump. We dragged him to the boat for a look, and it turned out to be a young sailor named Hudson, who was burned, exhausted, and unable to speak, until early the next morning, when he told us what had happened.

　　"It turned out that, after we had left, Prendergast and his group set out to kill the five remaining prisoners. He shot two jailers and threw them into the sea, and did the same for the three pairs. Prendergast went down to the middle cabin and personally slit the throat of the poor doctor. At this time, only the brave and witty Grand Replicants remain. When he saw Prendergast approaching him with a bloody butcher's knife, he broke free of the tying rope he had managed to loosen beforehand, ran up to the deck, and went headlong into the tail compartment. Twelve criminals rushed toward him with pistols in hand, only to see him sitting by the powder keg with a box of matches in his hand, which had been opened and a hundred barrels of gunpowder on board. The first officer swore that if anyone touched him, he would kill all the people of the ship. Before he could say anything, there was an explosion. Hudson believed it was a criminal who had mistakenly shot a powder keg, not the first mate lighting a match. But whatever the reason, the GalliosCot galleon and the robbers were over.

　　"'My dear child, simply put, the process involving my terrible events is like this. The next day, a brig bound for Australia, the Hotspot, rescued us. The captain of the ship easily believed that we were the survivors of the shipwrecked passenger ship. The Admiralty recorded the Glauria Scott transport ship as a shipwreck at sea, but its true fate was not revealed at all. After a smooth voyage, the Hotspot set us ashore in Sydney, Evans and I changed our names and surnames to go mining, and in the midst of the gathering of people from all over the world, we effortlessly concealed our past identities. I don't have to dwell on the rest. Then we made our way, traveled around, returned to England as wealthy colonists, and bought property. For more than twenty years, we have lived and worked in peace and contentment, living happily ever, hoping to bury the past forever. Later, this sailor came to us, and I recognized him at a glance as the man we had rescued from the wreck of the shipwreck. He didn't know how to track us down here, deceived us into fear, and extorted us. You should now understand why I tried so hard to reconcile with him, and you should sympathize with the fear that filled my heart. Although he left me for another deceived person, he was still making false threats against me. ’

　　"The handwriting below was trembling and almost illegible," Bedos wrote in a secret letter saying that Hudson had denounced it all. God, pity us! ’

　　"That's the story I read to little Trevor that night. Watson, this situation can be regarded as a dramatic case. After this storm, my friend moved to Traj to plant tea trees, and I heard that he mixed well there. As for the sailor and Beddos, since the warning letter was written, there has been no trace of it. No one filed a complaint with the police, so Beddos mistook Hudson's threats for fact. Hudson was seen lurking nearby, and the police believed he had escaped after killing Bedos. And I'm sure the opposite is true. Eighty percent of the time Bedos was in a desperate situation, believing that Hudson had denounced him, so he took revenge on Snow and killed Hudson and fled the country with all the cash he had. That's the case in this case, Doctor, and if they're helpful for your information gathering, I'd be happy to give it to you. ”

　　Naval Agreement

　　The July of the year I was married was truly unforgettable, because I had the privilege of solving three major cases with Sherlock Holmes and studying his approach to thought. The titles of the cases I recorded in my diary were: "The Second Blood Stain," "The Naval Agreement," and "The Weary Captain." But the first of these cases was of such importance and implicated so many of the kingdom's dignitaries that it could not be made public for many years. In holmes's case, however, there is no more clear demonstration of the value of his analytical methods and a greater impression on his collaborators than in this case. I still have an almost verbatim transcript of the conversation that Holmes had told Monsieur Dubück of the Paris Police Station and Fritz von Wolbau, a well-known expert in Gdansk, on the facts of the case. The two of them had wasted a lot of energy on this case, and it turned out that they were all engaged in some minor problems. But I am afraid that the case will not be published until the next century. I therefore intend to publish the second case recorded in my diary, which also concerned the vital interests of the State for some time, some of which accentuated its unique character.

　　As a student, I had a close relationship with a teenager named Percy Phelps. He was about the same age as me, but two levels above me. He was brilliant, received all the awards awarded by the school, and because of his outstanding grades, he was awarded a scholarship at the end of the course and entered the University of Cambridge for further study. I remember that he had several noble relatives, and even when we were children, we heard that his uncle was Lord Holdhurst, a well-known Conservative politician. These nobles did not benefit him in school. Instead, we teased him everywhere on the sports field, touching his calf bone with a toy hoop and taking pleasure in it. But after he entered the society, the situation was different. I vaguely heard that he had made a good fortune in the Foreign Office by virtue of his talents and powerful relatives, and I forgot about him completely until I received the following letter:

　　Woking, BrilBlay

　　My dear Watson: I have no doubt that you can recall Phelps the Tadpole, when I was in fifth grade and you were in third grade. You may have also heard that I, by virtue of my uncle's strength, got a beautiful job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I was very trusted and respected. But a terrible curse fell from the sky, and it ruined my future.

　　There is no need to write you the details of this terrible event. If you grant my request, then I can dictate it all to you. I've been suffering from nervous breakdowns for nine weeks, and now I've just recovered and I'm still very weak. Can you please invite your friend Mr. Holmes to come and see me? Although the authorities told me that there was nothing more that could be done about the matter, I would like to hear Mr. Holmes's opinion on the case. Please invite him to come and come as soon as possible. I lived in terror and lived like a year. Please explain to him that the reason why I did not consult him in time was not because I did not admire his talents, but because I was delirious on the verge of disaster. Now my mind has returned to normal, but I am afraid of the recurrence of the old disease, and I dare not think about it more. I am still very weak, and as you can see, I had to dictate and ghostwrite it. Please be sure to invite Mr. Holmes to come.

　　Your old alumnus, Percy Phelps

　　I was so shaken to see this letter that he repeatedly appealed to Sherlock Holmes, which was pitiful. I was deeply moved, and even if it was difficult, I would try to do it. But of course I know that Holmes loved his skill, and as long as his clients believed in him, he was always willing to help. My wife and I agreed that holmes should be told immediately, without delay for a minute. So, less than an hour after breakfast, I was back at my old accommodation on Baker Street.

　　Holmes sat at a table against the wall in his pajamas, concentrating on chemical experiments. A large curved distillation bottle, boiling violently over the red flame of Bunsen's lamp, dripped distilled water into a measuring instrument with a volume of two liters. When I walked in, my friend didn't even lift his head, and I saw that his experiment must be important, so I sat down in an armchair and waited. He looked at the bottle, looked up the bottle, sucked a few drops of liquid out of each bottle with a glass straw, and then took out a test tube solution and put it on the table. In his right hand he holds a litmus test strip.

　　"You have come at the right time, Watson," said Holmes, "if this paper is still blue, everything will be normal." If it turns red, the solution can kill people. "He dipped the paper into the test tube and immediately turned a dark, dirty red." hey! Sure enough, I didn't expect it! He shouted, "Watson, I'll be able to do what you say in a moment." You can get tobacco leaves in Persian slippers. He turned and walked over to his desk, scribbled a few telegrams, handed them to the little listener, and then sat down in the chair opposite me, bent his knees, and clasped his hands around his long, thin calves.

　　"A mundane murder," said Holmes, "I suppose the case you brought me would be much more interesting." Watson, you are not in trouble, what happened? ”

　　I handed him the letter, and he read it with all his attention.

　　"This letter doesn't tell us much about it, does it?" Holmes said as he returned the letter to me.

　　"It hardly says anything." I said.

　　"But the handwriting is worth noting."

　　"But this trace is not his."

　　"It's true, it was written by a woman."

　　"It must have been written by a man," I exclaimed.

　　"No, it was written by a woman, and it was a woman with an unusual personality.

　　You see, the important thing is that from the very beginning of the investigation, we know that your client has a close relationship with a person who, in every way, has a distinctive personality. This case has now intrigued me. If you wish, we can leave at once for Woking to see the diplomat who suffered such misfortune and the woman who wrote the letter according to his dictation. ”

　　We were lucky enough to catch an early train at Waterloo Station, and in less than an hour we were in Woking's fir and heather bushes. It turned out that Brilblay was a large mansion, isolated on a vast expanse of land, just a few minutes away on foot from the station. We handed in our business cards and were taken to a tastefully furnished living room, where a few minutes later we were received very attentively by a fairly stout man. Although he was close to forty years old, his cheeks were rosy and his eyes were cheerful, which still gave the impression of a straight and innocent naughty boy.

　　"You are very welcome," he said, shaking hands with us, "and Percy has been inquiring about you all morning. Ah, my poor old friend, he did not spare a life-saving straw! His parents wanted me to come and greet you, because they felt very bitter when they mentioned it. ”

　　"We don't yet know the details of the case," said Holmes, "I don't think you're from their family." ”

　　Our new acquaintance looked amazed, and he looked down and began to laugh.

　　"Of course you saw the name 'JH' on my necklace pendant." He said, "I thought you had some tricks for a moment." My name is Joseph Harrison, because Percy is going to marry my sister Anne, and I'm at least one of his in-laws. You can meet my sister in Percy's room, and she has been taking care of him tirelessly for two months. Maybe we'd better go in now, I know how anxious Percy is to see you. ”

　　We were going to Percy's room with the reception room on the same floor. The room is arranged like both a living room and a bedroom, and the hall is elegantly decorated with flowers. An earth-colored, frail young man lay on a couch. The couch was close to the window, and the rich fragrance of flowers and the pleasant air of early summer drifted in through the open window. A woman sat next to him, and as we entered the house, she stood up.

　　"Do you want me to leave, Percy?" she asked.

　　Percy grabbed her hand and wouldn't let her go.

　　"Hello! Watson," Percy said affectionately, "I saw you with a beard, and I could barely recognize you. I dare say you don't know me either. I guess this is your famous friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, right? ”

　　I introduced them to them in three words and sat down together. The stout middle-aged man left us, but his sister's hand was pulled by the patient and had to stay indoors. She was an unusually attractive woman, slightly chubby and somewhat uneven, but she had a beautiful olive face, large dark Italian eyes, and dark cloud-like black hair. In contrast to her gorgeous countenance, her partner's pale face became more and more weak and haggard.

　　"I don't want to waste your time," percy said as she sat up from the couch, "so I'm going to talk about it straight to the point." I am a happy and accomplished man, Mr. Holmes, and I am about to get married. But a sudden catastrophe ruined the future of my life.

　　"Watson may have already told you that I am serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that through the connections of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I will soon be promoted to an important position. My uncle, who was foreign minister in this Administration, entrusted me with some important tasks, and I always did a good job, finally winning his full trust in my talent and resourcefulness.

　　"About ten weeks ago, or rather on May twenty-three, he called me into his private office, first praised me for doing a good job, and then told me to carry out a new important task.

　　"He took a gray paper roll from his desk and said: 'This is the original of the secret agreement between Britain and Italy, and unfortunately there have been some rumors in the newspapers.'" Most importantly, no more news can be leaked. The French and Russian embassies are spending huge sums of money to probe the contents of these documents. If I hadn't desperately needed a copy, I would never have taken it out of my desk. Do you have a safe in your office? ’

　　"'Yes, sir.'"

　　"'Well, take the agreement and lock it in your safe.' But I should tell you: you can stay in the office after work so that you can copy copies without worrying about being peeked at. After copying, lock the original and the copy in the safe and hand it over to me tomorrow morning. ’

　　"I took this document, and I just..."

　　"Excuse me, pause," said Holmes, "are you two the only present when we say this?" ”

　　"A good point."

　　"In a big room?"

　　"Thirty feet square."

　　"Is the conversation in the middle of the room?"

　　"Yes, almost in the middle."

　　"Isn't it loud?"

　　"My uncle's voice has always been very low, and I hardly speak."

　　"Thank you," said Holmes, closing his eyes, "for continuing." ”

　　I did exactly as he was told, waiting for several other clerks to leave. Only one man named Charles Groot had a little business to do. So I went out to dinner and left him to stay in the office by himself. When I came back, he was already gone. I was anxious to get my business out of this business, because I knew joseph—

　　Mr. Harrison, whom you have just met, is in town and is going to take the eleven o'clock train to Woking, and I want to catch this train as much as possible.

　　"As soon as I saw this agreement, I immediately realized that it was indeed extremely important, and my uncle's words were not exaggerated in the slightest. Without looking closely, I can say that it sets out the position of the Kingdom of Great Britain towards the Triple Alliance, and at the same time predestins the response to be taken by Britain once the French navy has complete superiority over the Italian navy in the Mediterranean. The issues covered by the agreement are purely naval. The agreement ended with the signing of senior officials from both sides of the consultation. After I read it hastily, I sat down and copied it.

　　"This document is long, written in French, and includes twenty-six articles. I copied as fast as I could, but it was not until nine o'clock that I copied nine, and it seemed that there was no hope that I would catch the train at eleven o'clock. Due to the fatigue of the whole day and the failure to eat dinner well, I felt drowsy, my mind was numb, and I wanted to have a cup of coffee to wake up my mind. There was a small concierge downstairs, where a janitor stayed all night, and it was customary to burn coffee with an alcohol lamp for every overtime worker. So, I rang the bell to summon him.

　　"To my surprise, a woman was called, a tall, vulgar-looking old woman, wearing an apron. She explained: She was the janitor's wife, and she was here as a chore, so I told her to make coffee.

　　I copied two more, feeling more and more drowsy, so I got up and paced around the house, stretching my legs. The coffee hadn't arrived yet, and I wanted to know why, so I opened the door and walked down the hallway to look. Coming out of the room where I copied the documents was a straight hallway, dimly lit, the only exit to my office. There is a turning staircase at the end of the corridor, and the janitor's small concierge is just off the aisle below the stairs. There is a small platform in the middle of the staircase, and another corridor leads to this platform, which is t-shaped with the staircase at the platform. At the end of this second corridor, there is a staircase leading to the side door, which is dedicated to servants and is also a shortcut for staff to enter the building from Charles Street. This is a sketch of that place. ”

　　"Thank you, I think I fully understand what you're saying," said Sherlock Holmes.

　　"Please note that it is time to say the most important place. I went down the stairs, entered the hall, and found the janitor asleep in the concierge, the coffee pot was boiling on the alcohol lamp, the coffee spilled to the floor, I took the pot, extinguished the alcohol lamp, reached out to shake the person who was still sleeping, and suddenly the bell above his head rang, and he woke up at once.

　　"'Mr. Phelps!' He looked at me puzzled and said.

　　"'I'll see if the coffee is brewed.'"

　　"'I was cooking and fell asleep unconsciously. Sir,' he looked at me, and looked up again at the still trembling electric bell, a look of even greater amazement on his face.

　　"'Since you're here, sir, who's ringing the bell?' he asked.

　　"'Ring the bell!' I shouted, 'What bell?' ’

　　"'This is the bell ringing in your office room.'" "My heart was suddenly gripped by a cold hand, so to speak, someone in my office, and my hard-to-buy agreement was on the table. I ran up the stairs like crazy to the corridor, which was empty, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the house either. Everything was exactly the same as when I left, except that the original copy of the document that I had given to me had been taken from my desk, leaving only the manuscript. ”

　　Holmes sat up straight in his chair, rubbing his hands. I could tell the case had piqued his interest. "Excuse me, what did you do then?" He whispered.

　　"It occurred to me immediately that the thief must have come upstairs through the side door. If he had come upstairs through the main entrance, I would have run into him. ”

　　"Do you believe that he wouldn't have been hiding indoors, or in the hallway?" Didn't you say the hallway lights were dim? ”

　　"It's absolutely impossible. Whether it is indoors or in the corridor, even a mouse cannot hide. There is no hiding place at all. ”

　　"Thank you, please go ahead."

　　"The janitor was horrified to see me, knew something terrible had happened, and followed me upstairs. The two of us ran down the corridor to the steep staircase leading to Charles Street, and the side door at the bottom of the building was closed and unlocked. We pushed open the door and rushed out. I remember very clearly hearing the neighboring bell ring three times as I went downstairs, at exactly nine o'clock. ”

　　"That's very important." Holmes said as he wrote it down on the cuff of his shirt.

　　"It was dark and drizzling on the night, and Charles Street was empty, but the Whitehall Road at the end of the street was as usual, with a steady stream of cars and pedestrians.

　　We didn't even wear our hats, so we ran down the sidewalk and, in the right-hand corner, saw a policeman standing there.

　　"'There was a theft,' I said breathlessly, 'a very important document was stolen from the Foreign Office.'" Did anyone go down this road? ’

　　"'I've been standing here for just a quarter of an hour, sir,' said the policeman, 'and there has been only one man passing by all this time, a tall old woman, draped in a peezley shawl.'

　　"'Oh, that's my wife,' the janitor shouted, 'Didn't anyone else come over?'

　　"'There's no one left.'"

　　"'So this thief must have escaped from the left corner,' the guy shouted, tugging at my sleeve.

　　"But I didn't believe it, and his attempt to lure me away only increased my suspicions."

　　"'Which way is that woman going?'

　　"'I don't know, sir, I only noticed her walking past, but I had no reason to look at her.' She seemed in a hurry. ’

　　"'How long has this been?'

　　"'Ah, not for a few minutes.'"

　　"'Less than five minutes?'

　　"'Yes, but five minutes.'"

　　"'You're just wasting your time, sir, every minute counts now,' cried the janitor, 'believe me, it has nothing to do with my wife, go to the left end of this street.' Well, you don't go to me. With that, he ran to the left.

　　But I caught up with him and tugged at his sleeve.

　　"'Where do you live?' I asked.

　　"'I live at sixteen Ivey Lane in Brixton,' he replied, 'but don't let yourself be captivated by false clues, Mr. Phelps.' We went to the left end of the street to see if we could hear anything. I don't think there's any harm in doing as he advises, and the two of us and the police hurried over, only to see the streets bustling with traffic and people coming and going, all of us wanting to get back to our place early on this rainy night, and none of the idlers could tell us who had walked by.

　　"So we went back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and searched the stairs and corridors, but to no avail. The hallway leading to the office is covered with a beige lacquered cloth that is easy to spot as soon as there are footprints. We examined very carefully, but not even a trace of a footprint was found. ”

　　"Did it rain all the time that night?"

　　"It started to rain at about seven o'clock."

　　"So how could the woman, who had entered the room around nine o'clock and was wearing boots with mud, not have left footprints?"

　　"I'm glad you pointed that out. That's when I thought about it too. This handyman had a habit of taking off her boots and changing into cloth slippers in the janitor's room. ”

　　"Got it. So, although it rained that night, no footprints were found, right? This chain of events is indeed very important. What do you do next? ”

　　"We also checked the room. There could not have been a hidden door in this room, and the windows were thirty feet above the ground. Both windows were bolted from the inside. The floor was carpeted, there could not have been an authentic door, and the ceiling was plain white ash brushed. I dare to vouch for my life, no matter who stole my documents, he can only escape through the door. ”

　　"What about the fireplace?"

　　"There was no fireplace there, just a stove. The electric bell was at the right end of my desk. Whoever wants to ring the bell must go to the right side of my desk and press it. But why would a criminal ring the bell? This is one of the most difficult mysteries to explain. ”

　　"It's really extraordinary. What's next for you? I suppose you've checked the room to see if the uninvited guest has left any traces, like cigarette butts, lost gloves, hairpins, or anything else, haven't you? ”

　　"There's no such thing."

　　"Didn't you smell anything?"

　　"Alas, we didn't think of that."

　　"Ah, when investigating a case like this, even a little smell of tobacco is valuable to us."

　　"I've never smoked, and I think I'll smell it whenever there's a little smoke in the house. But there was no smell of smoke there. The only conclusive fact is that the janitor's wife, the woman named Mrs. Tangai, came out of that place in a hurry, and the janitor could not explain the matter, but said that his wife usually came home at this time. The police and I agreed that if the document was indeed in the woman's possession, we had better grab her before she could take it out.

　　By this time Scotland Yard had been alerted, and Detective Mr. Forbes had arrived at once and took over the case with all his might. We rented a two-wheeled two-seater carriage and got to the spot the janitor told us in half an hour. A young woman opened the door, the eldest daughter of Mrs. Tangai. Her mother had not yet returned, and she had let us into the vestibule to wait.

　　Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. At this point we made a serious mistake, and I can only blame myself for this. That's why we didn't open the door ourselves, but let the girl drive it. We heard her say, 'Mom, there are two people in the house waiting to see you.' Then we heard a rush of footsteps rushing into the aisle. Forbes slammed the door open, and the two of us ran into the back room, the kitchen, but the woman preemptively walked in. She looked at us with hostility, and then, suddenly recognizing me, had a very surprised expression on her face.

　　"'What, isn't this Mr. Phelps in the ministry!' She said out loud.

　　"'Hey, hey, what do you think of us?' Why avoid us? My companion asked.

　　"'I thought you were a thrift merchant,' she said, 'we had a problem with a businessman.'"

　　"'The reason is not very sufficient,' replied Forbes, "we have the basis to think that you took an important document from the Foreign Office and went here to deal with it." You must accompany us to Scotland Yard to be searched. ’

　　"Her protests and resistance were futile. We called a four-wheeled carriage and all three of us sat in it. Before leaving, we checked the kitchen, especially the fire in the kitchen, to see if she had thrown the papers into the fire when she arrived here alone. However, there is not a trace of debris or ash. As soon as we arrived at Scotland Yard, we handed her over to the female searcher. I was so anxious that I waited for the female inspector to send the report, but the report said that there was no trace of the document.

　　"Only then did I begin to realize that my situation was so terrible that so far I had only acted and had not thought at all. I had always been convinced that an agreement could be found very quickly, so I did not dare to think about the consequences if I did not find it. But now that I have no idea, I have time to consider my situation. It's horrible. Watson may have told you that when I was in school, I was a timid and sensitive child. That's how my character is. I think of my uncle and his colleagues in his cabinet, of the shame I have brought to him, of the shame I have brought to myself and my relatives and friends, and what have I personally gained as a victim of this very bizarre accident? It is important that diplomatic interests are at stake and that no accident should be allowed. I was ruined, hopelessly and shamefully ruined. I don't know what I did. I think I must have made a big fuss in public. I only vaguely remember that some colleagues surrounded me and tried to comfort me. A colleague accompanied me on the ride to Waterloo and put me on the train to Woking. I believe that if it were not for my neighbor Dr. Ferrier, who was also traveling on this train, that colleague would have sent me home all the time. The doctor took very good care of me, and indeed thanks to him for taking such care of me, because I had fainted once at the station and had almost become an incoherent lunatic before I got home.

　　"You can imagine when the doctors rang the bell and woke my family up from their slumber and they saw me like this. Poor Anne and my mother were almost cut off. Dr. Ferrier had just heard the detectives at the station tell me the origin of the incident, and he told my family about it, but to no avail. Everyone knew very well that my illness would not be cured in a moment and a half, so Joseph was forced to hastily move out of the beloved bedroom and convert it into my hospital room. Mr. Holmes, I have been lying here for more than nine weeks, unconscious, with a very confused brain, and if it were not for Miss Harrison here and the care of the doctor, I would not be able to speak to you now. Miss Anne took care of me during the day and hired another nurse to guard me at night, because I could do anything in the event of my neurotic attack. My mind gradually cleared up, but it was only in the last three days that my memory was fully restored. Sometimes I even wish it hadn't recovered. The first thing I did was to send a telegram to Mr. Forbes, who was working on the case. He came here and explained to me that, by all means, he could not find any clues; he had examined the janitor and his wife by all means, and had not been able to make things clear. So the police again targeted the young Golot, who, as the reader remembers, was the man who had spent a long time in the office after work that night. He actually had only two suspicious points: one was that he had gone late, and the other was his French name. But the truth is that I have not yet begun to copy the agreement before he leaves; his ancestors were of Huguenot descent, but he was British in habit and affection, like you and me. In any case, there is no definite basis for implicating him. So the case stopped here. Mr. Holmes, I have placed my last hope entirely on you. If you disappoint me, then my honor and status will be ruined forever. ”

　　Tired from talking for too long, the patient leaned back on the mat, at which point the nurse poured him a cup of sedative. Holmes tilted his head back, his eyes slightly closed, and sat there silently, seemingly listless to a strange man, but I knew it meant that he was thinking very nervously.

　　"You're making it very clear," he said at last, "that I don't have many more questions to ask." However, there is one most important issue to be understood. Have you ever told anyone you were going to perform this particular task? ”

　　"No one told me."

　　"Let's say Miss Harrison here, didn't you tell me?"

　　"Nothing. During the time I was ordered and on mission, I did not return to Woking. ”

　　"Didn't any of your relatives and friends happen to come to see you?"

　　"Nothing."

　　"Does any of your friends and family know the path to your office?"

　　"Ah, yes, I told them the path there."

　　"Of course, if you haven't told anyone about the agreement, then there's no need for these inquiries."

　　"I didn't say anything."

　　"Do you know anything about the janitor?"

　　"All I know is that he turned out to be a veteran."

　　"Which group is it?"

　　"Ah, I heard, it's the Colestrim Guard."

　　"Thank you. I'm sure I can get the details from Forbes. Officials are very good at gathering facts, but they don't often use them. Ah, how cute the rose thing is! ”

　　He walked over the couch to the open window, reached up to hold up a low-hanging rose branch, and admired the delicate green and red flowers. It seems to me that this is also a new aspect of his personality, because I have never seen him show a strong love of natural objects before.

　　"There is no greater need for reasoning in the world than religion." Leaning his back against the shutters, he said, "Reasoning may be gradually established by reasoning scholars as a sophisticated discipline." According to reasoning, it seems to me that our highest faith in God's mercy is in flowers. For everything else: our abilities, our desires, our food, all of this is first and foremost the need to survive. And this flower is very different. Its aroma and its color are embellishments of life, not conditions of survival. Only kindness can produce these extraordinary qualities. So I repeat, human beings have great hopes in flowers. ”

　　Percy Phelps and his carers looked at Holmes as he argued, with a look of surprise and utter disappointment on their faces. Holmes fell into deep thought with the rose in his hand, and after a few minutes the young woman broke the silence.

　　"Do you see any hope of resolving this mystery?" "Mr. Holmes," she asked in a somewhat harsh voice.

　　"Ah, this mystery!" Holmes was stunned before returning to real life and replied, "Well, it would be foolish to deny that this case is complicated and difficult to solve." But I can promise you that I will investigate this matter in depth and tell you everything I know. ”

　　"Do you see any clues?"

　　"You've given me seven clues, but of course I'll have to examine them before I can determine their value."

　　"Which one do you suspect?"

　　"I doubt myself."

　　"What?!"

　　"Doubt my conclusions are being made too quickly."

　　"Then go back to London and test your conclusions."

　　"Your suggestion is wonderful, Miss Harrison," said Holmes, standing up, "I suppose, Watson, we cannot have a better way. Mr. Phelps, don't hold high expectations. This is very confusing. ”

　　"I'm anxiously waiting to see you again." The diplomat said loudly.

　　"Well, although it may not bring you any good news, I will take this bus to see you tomorrow."

　　"May God bless you with success," cried our client, "and I know that something is being done, and that gives me the strength to be born again." By the way, I received a letter from Lord Holdhurst. ”

　　"Ah! What did he say? ”

　　He said cold, but not harshly. I concluded that he didn't blame me because I was seriously ill. He repeatedly said that it was a matter of top secret, and that unless I recovered my health and had a chance to remedy my mistakes, my future — he meant, of course, that I was dismissed — would be irreparable. ”

　　"Ah, it is reasonable and thoughtful," said Holmes, "and go, Watson, we have a whole day's work to do in town." ”

　　Mr Joseph Harrison took us to the train station in a carriage and we quickly boarded the train to Portsmouth. Holmes was immersed in deep thought and remained silent until we passed the Klappen Junction station and then opened his mouth: "It is a very happy thing that no matter which railway line we take into London, we can see such houses condescendingly. ”

　　I thought he was telling a joke, because the view was so overwhelming, but he immediately explained: "Look at the big isolated houses, which stand on bluestone like islands of bricks in a sea of lead-gray." ”

　　"Those are boarding schools."

　　"That's a lighthouse, my buddy! A beacon of the future! Every lighthouse is filled with a thousand brilliant little seeds, and england will be wiser and richer in their generation in the future, and I think Phelps will not drink alcohol, right? ”

　　"I don't think he's going to drink."

　　"I think so too, but we should anticipate everything that is possible. This poor man is in dire straits, and the question is whether we will be able to save him from shore. What do you think of Miss Harrison? ”

　　"She's a strong girl."

　　"Yes, but she's a good person, or I'm wrong." She and her brother were the only two children of an ironworker near Northumberland. On her winter trip, Phelps became engaged to her, and her brother accompanied her to meet the Phelps family. Just when this unfortunate thing happened, she stayed behind to take care of her fiancé, and her brother Joseph Harrison found it quite comfortable and stayed. You see, I've done some separate surveys. But today, one day, I have to investigate. ”

　　"My medical care..." I began.

　　"Ah, if you think your business is more important than my case..."

　　Holmes said somewhat harshly.

　　"I'm trying to say my medical routine might as well delay it for a day or two, because it's the lightest time of the year."

　　"Great," said Holmes, and he regained his cheerful mood, "then let's study the case together." I think we should start with a visit to Forbes.

　　He can probably tell us all the details we want, and then we know where to solve the case. ”

　　"You mean you already have a clue?"

　　"Yes, we already have a few clues, but only after further investigation can we test its value." Cases without a criminal motive are the most difficult to investigate. But the case was not without a criminal motive. Who can benefit from it? The Ambassador of France, the Ambassador of Russia, the man who could sell the Agreement to one of them, and Lord Holdhurst. ”

　　"Lord Holdhurst!"

　　"Yes, it is conceivable that a politician, out of necessity, could take the opportunity to destroy such a document without regret."

　　"Isn't Lord Holdhurst a cabinet minister with an honorable resume?"

　　"It's possible, and we can't ignore that either. We are going to visit this noble Lord today to see if he can tell us something, and I am already investigating. ”

　　"Already done?"

　　"Yes, I sent a telegram from Woking Station to every evening newspaper in London. Every evening newspaper will publish such an advertisement. ”

　　Holmes handed me a piece of paper, torn from a diary, on which it was written in pencil:

　　At 9:30 p.m. on May 23, in or near the gate of the Foreign Office on Charles Street, a passenger got out of a carriage, and the informant please inform the carriage number to 221 Baker Street B, and the bounty was ten pounds.

　　"Are you sure the thief came by carriage?"

　　"It doesn't matter if it's not. If Phelps was right, there was no hiding place in either the office or the corridor, then the man must have come in from the outside.

　　And if he had come in from outside on such a rainy night, checked a few minutes after leaving, and found no wet footprints on the lacquered cloth, he would most likely have come by car. Yes, I think we can infer with great certainty that he came by carriage. ”

　　"It sounds like it makes sense."

　　"That's a clue I'm talking about. It can lead us to some kind of conclusion. And, of course, the ringtone, which is the most special point of the case. Why ring the bell? Was the thief bluffing? Or someone came in with the thief and deliberately rang the bell to prevent the thief from stealing. Or was it unintentional? Or..." He fell back into fangcai's nervous thoughts, and I knew his mood quite well, and he must have suddenly thought of some new possibilities.

　　When we arrived at the terminal, it was already 3:20 a.m., and we had a hasty lunch at the tavern and rushed to Scotland Yard. Because Holmes had already sent a telegram to Forbes, he was waiting for us. This man was five short in stature, with a rooster-headed rat eye, a harsh and mean attitude, and unfriendly. Especially after he heard about our intentions, he was even more indifferent to us.

　　"I have heard of your methods before this, Mr. Holmes," he said wizenly, "and you are happy to use all the information provided to you by the police, and then you yourself try to close the case and embarrass the police." ”

　　"On the contrary," said Holmes, "of the fifty-three cases I have cracked in the past, only four have been named, and the police have received all the honors in forty-nine." I don't blame you because you don't understand the situation because you're young and inexperienced. But if you want to advance in your new profession, you'd better work with me than oppose me. ”

　　"I'd love to hear from you," said the detective, changing his attitude, "and I have not received any honors in handling cases so far." ”

　　"What measures have you taken?"

　　"I've been keeping an eye on the janitor Tangai's tip, but he has a good reputation when he leaves the guard, and we can't find any suspicions." But his wife is a bad guy, and I think she knows a lot about it, not as she pretends to be. ”

　　"Have you followed her?"

　　"We sent a female detective to follow her. Mrs. Tangai was good at drinking, and the female detective took advantage of her pleasure to drink with her, but found nothing from her. ”

　　"I heard that some thrifty merchants have been to her house?"

　　"Yes, but she has paid off the debt owed to them."

　　"Where did this money come from?"

　　"Everything was working properly. The janitors had just received their annuities, but they did not look like they had a lot of money. ”

　　"That night Monsieur Phelps rang the bell for coffee, and she went up to promise, and how did she explain that?"

　　"She said her husband was very tired and she was willing to do it for him."

　　"Yes, after a while I found him sleeping in a chair, which of course fits the situation.

　　Then there is no evidence of any crime other than the woman's bad character. You didn't ask her why she left in such a hurry that night? Even the police noticed her panicked look. ”

　　"She was already late that day than usual, so she was in a hurry to get home."

　　"Have you pointed out to her that you and Mr. Phelps left at least twenty minutes later than she did, but arrived earlier than she did?"

　　"She explained that this is because two-wheeled two-seater carriages are faster than public carriages."

　　"Did she make it clear why she ran into the back kitchen when she got home?"

　　"She said that because her money was in the back kitchen, she was going to take it out and pay it to the thrifty merchant."

　　She replied to everything. Have you ever asked her if she had met or seen anyone wandering on Charles Street as she left the scene? ”

　　"She didn't see anyone but the police."

　　"Well, it seems that you have interrogated her thoroughly. What else have you done? ”

　　"I have been monitoring staff Gorot for nine weeks, but to no avail. We couldn't find any suspicion of him. ”

　　"What else?"

　　"Ah, we have nothing to do, because there is no evidence at all."

　　"Why do you think about ringing without the electric bell?"

　　"Ah, I must confess that it has stumped me. Whoever he was, he was bold enough not only to come, but to sound the alarm. ”

　　"Yes, it's a really weird thing. Thank you for telling us about this. If I want you to go and arrest this person, I will inform you. Watson, let's go. ”

　　"Where are we going now?" As we left the police station, I asked him.

　　"Go and visit Lord Holdhurst, the Cabinet Minister and the future British Prime Minister."

　　Luckily, when we arrived at Downing Street, Lord Holdhurst was still in his office. Holmes handed in his business card, and we were immediately summoned. The Cabinet Minister received us in the old manners and gave us up in the sumptuous easy chairs on either side of the fireplace, where he stood on the carpet between us. This man was slender, slender, well-defined, with a kind face, and his curly hair had prematurely turned grayish-white, appearing unusually imposing, and indeed he was a nobleman.

　　"I have long heard of your name, Mr. Holmes," he said with a smile, "of course, I cannot pretend not to know your intentions. Because there is only one thing in this department that can get your attention. Can you ask who was entrusted with this case? ”

　　"Entrusted by Mr. Percy Phelps," replied Holmes.

　　"Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You understand, of course, that because we are related, I cannot harbor him in the slightest. I feared that this accident would be very bad for his future. ”

　　"But what if you find this document?"

　　"Ah, of course that's another story."

　　"I have one or two questions for you, Lord Holdhurst."

　　"I'm happy to do what I know to advise."

　　"Is that in this office you ordered the transcribing of documents?"

　　"That's right."

　　"That means it's hard to eavesdrop on your conversations, right?"

　　"There's no possibility of eavesdropping."

　　"Have you ever mentioned to anyone that you were going to have someone copy this agreement?"

　　"Never."

　　"Are you sure of that?"

　　"Absolutely."

　　"Well, since you never said it, and Phelps never said it, and no one else knew about it, it was purely accidental that the thief came to the office. He saw this as an opportunity and stole the document. ”

　　The cabinet minister laughed.

　　"What you're saying is no longer within my power." Lord Holdhurst said.

　　Holmes pondered for a moment. "There is another very important point that I would like to discuss with you," he said, "and as far as I know, you are afraid that the details of this agreement will have extremely serious consequences as soon as they are revealed." ”

　　The cabinet minister flashed a shadow over his expressionary face and said, "Of course there will be extremely serious consequences." ”

　　"Have there been serious consequences?"

　　"Not yet."

　　"If this agreement has fallen into the hands of, say, the French or Russian Foreign Ministry, do you think you will hear from you?"

　　"I must be able to hear it," Said Holdhurst with an unpleasant look.

　　"So, since nearly ten weeks have passed and no news has been heard, it is based on the assumption that, for some reason, the agreement has not yet fallen into the hands of the French and Russian Foreign Ministries."

　　Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.

　　"Mr. Holmes, it is hard for us to imagine that thieves stole this agreement only to put it in a cabinet or hang it up."

　　"Maybe he's waiting for a high price to sell."

　　"If he had waited a little longer, the document would have been worthless. Because in a few months, this agreement will not be a secret. ”

　　"This is very important," said Holmes, "and of course it is conceivable that the thief suddenly fell ill..."

　　"Let's say you have a nervous breakdown, don't you?" The Cabinet Minister glanced quickly at Holmes and asked.

　　"I didn't say that," said Holmes calmly, "and now, Lord Holdhurst, we have delayed you a great deal of precious time, and we are going to bid you farewell. ”

　　"I wish you success in finding the criminal, whoever he is." The nobleman sent us out the door and nodded to us.

　　"He is a brilliant man," said Holmes as we walked down Whitehall Street, "but he will have to fight to keep his official position." He was far from rich, but he was expensive. You certainly noticed that his tunic boots had been changed to soles. Now, Watson, I will not delay your serious work any longer. Unless my advertisement for the search for a carriage has heard back, I have nothing to do today. Still, I'd be grateful if you could come with me tomorrow on the same bus I took yesterday to Woking. ”

　　The next morning I saw him as promised and took the train to Woking together. He said his ad had no response and that the case had no clue. As he spoke, he tried his best to stretch his face as stiff as an Indian's, so I could not tell from his countenance whether he was satisfied with the current state of the case. I recall that he spoke of the Betty Rong survey [1853-1914): The French bourgeois criminal investigative scientist who proposed the so-called "personal measurement method", that is, the identification of criminals according to age, comparison of bones, combined photography and fingerprints, etc., known as the "Betty Rong measurement method". He admired the French scholar.

　　Our client is still carefully cared for by his faithful caregiver, but looks much better than before. As soon as we entered the door, he effortlessly got up from the couch to welcome us.

　　"Any news?" He couldn't wait to ask.

　　"As I expected, I failed to bring good news." Holmes said, "I have met Forbes and your uncle, and yet I have investigated one or two clues that may have found some problems. ”

　　"So, you haven't lost faith yet?"

　　"Of course not."

　　"God bless you! It is a pleasure to hear you say this," said Miss Harrison in a loud voice, "as long as we do not lose courage and patience, we will be able to find out." ”

　　"You don't say much to us, but we can tell you more." Phelps sat back down on the couch and said.

　　"I hope you get the big picture."

　　"Yes, I had another dangerous incident last night, and it was a serious one indeed."

　　He said it with a very serious expression and his eyes showed an almost terrifying look. "Do you know," he said, "that I have come to believe that I have unwittingly become the center of a conspiracy of evil whose goal is not only my honor, but also my life." ”

　　"Ah!" Holmes cried.

　　"It seems unbelievable, because as far as I know, I don't have a single enemy in the world. But from last night's experience, I can only conclude that someone is going to murder me. ”

　　"Tell us about it."

　　"You know, last night was the first night I didn't ask anyone to take care of me in the room, and I slept alone. I feel very good and feel like I don't need care anymore. But I still have the lights on at night. Ah, at about two o'clock in the morning, I was drowsy when I was suddenly awakened by a slight noise. It sounded like a rat biting a plank. So I lay down and listened for a while, thinking it was a mouse. Then the sound grew louder, and suddenly from the window came a harsh metallic rubbing sound. I sat up in amazement and understood exactly what was going on. The first sound was the sound of someone inserting a tool through the gap between the two windows to pry the window, and the second was the sound of the window latch being pulled open.

　　Then the sound subsided for about ten minutes, as if the man was waiting to see if the noises woke me up. Then I heard a soft creak and the window was slowly opened. Because my nerves were no longer as usual, I couldn't hold back any longer, so I jumped out of bed and slammed open the blinds. A man was crouching by the window. In the blink of an eye he fled, and I couldn't see who he was, because he was wearing a mask on his head, covering the lower half of his face. I can only be sure of one thing, and that is that he has a murder weapon in his hand. I think it's a long knife. As he turned to run away, I clearly saw the flash of the knife. ”

　　"It's very important," said Holmes, "what happened to you later?" ”

　　"If I'm a little tougher, I'll have to go over the window and chase him." But then I could only ring the bell to wake up the whole family. This delayed a little, because the bell was in the kitchen, and the servants were sleeping upstairs. However, I shouted loudly and called Joseph, who woke the others up again. Joseph and Groom found footprints on the flower beds outside the window, but lately the weather had been unusually dry, and they had tracked down the grass and could no longer find them. However, there was a spot on the wooden fence on the side of the road, however, where there were some marks, and they told me that it was as if someone had turned over and broken the tip of the railing while climbing over. Because I thought I'd better hear from you first, I haven't told the local police yet. ”

　　The experience, recounted by our client, clearly played a special role in Sherlock Holmes. He got up from his chair, couldn't suppress his excitement, and paced around the room.

　　"It's a disaster," Said Phelps with a laugh, though the danger had clearly frightened him.

　　"You do take a risk," said Holmes, "and you see if you can go for a walk around the house with me?" ”

　　"Ah, yes, I'm willing to bask in the sun. Joseph went with him. ”

　　"I'll go too," said Miss Harrison.

　　"I'm afraid you'd better not go," said Holmes, shaking his head, "I suppose I must ask you to stay here." ”

　　The girl sat back down unhappily, and her brother joined us, so the four of us went out together. We walked across the lawn to the young diplomat's window. As he said, there were indeed some traces on the flowerbed, but they were very blurred and unrecognizable. Holmes leaned over for a moment, then shrugged and stood up.

　　"I don't think anyone can find much from these traces," he said, "and we walked around the house to see why the thieves had chosen the house."

　　In my opinion, the large windows of this living and dining room should have been more alluring to him. ”

　　"But those windows can be seen clearly from the main road," Mr. Joseph Harrison reminded.

　　"Ah, yes, of course. But there was a door here, and he could try it from here. What is this door for? ”

　　"This is the side door for merchants to come in and out. At night, of course, it is locked. ”

　　"Have you ever been frightened like this before?"

　　"Never," said our client.

　　"Do you have gold and silver cutlery or other things in your house that attract thieves?"

　　"Nothing valuable."

　　Holmes slipped his hands into his pockets and walked around the house in a look of negligentness that he had never felt before.

　　"By the way," Holmes said to Joseph Harrison, "I heard you found a place from which the man had climbed over the fence. Let's take a look! ”

　　This stocky middle-aged man led us to a place where the tip of a wooden railing had been broken. A small piece of wood is still hunched over. Holmes broke it and examined it attentively.

　　"Do you think it was broken last night?" It looks old, right? ”

　　"Ah, it could be."

　　"There are no footprints here that jump from the fence to the outside. No, I can't find any clues here, so let's go back to the bedroom and discuss it. ”

　　Percy Phelps, supported by his future in-laws, walked very slowly. Holmes and I hurried across the lawn back to the open window in the bedroom, where the two men were far behind.

　　"Miss Harrison," said Holmes very seriously, "you must stay here all day without moving. You don't want to leave here when anything happens. This is extremely important. ”

　　"Mr. Holmes, if you ask me to do so, I will do so," said the girl in amazement.

　　"Before you go to bed, please lock the door from the outside and hold the key yourself." Please promise me to do so. ”

　　"But what about Percy?"

　　"He's going to London with us."

　　"So will I stay here?"

　　"It's for his sake. You can do him a lot of help. Hurry up! Say yes! ”

　　She quickly nodded her head in agreement, just as the two men walked into the house.

　　"Why are you sitting here with a sad face, Anne?" Her brother shouted, "Go out and bask in the sun!" ”

　　"No, thank you, Joseph. I had a bit of a headache and the room was cool and just what I wanted. ”

　　"What are your plans now, Mr. Holmes?" Our client asked.

　　"Ah, we can't afford to lose the main target of the investigation because of the small matter of investigation.

　　If you can go to London with us, it will help me a lot. ”

　　"Will you go right away?"

　　"Yes, if it is convenient for you, the sooner the better, what about within an hour?"

　　"I feel very stiff, can I really help you?"

　　"Very likely."

　　"Presumably you want me to live in London tonight?"

　　"I'm going to suggest you do that."

　　"Then, if my Friend of the Night ever visits me again, he will be empty.

　　Mr. Holmes, we do everything you want, and you must tell us what you are going to do. Maybe you want Joseph to go with us so you can take care of me?" ”

　　"Ah, no need, you know my friend Watson is a doctor, and he'll take care of you." If you promise to do so, we'll have lunch here, and after dinner the three of us will go into town together. ”

　　Everything was stopped as he suggested, and only Miss Harrison, on Sherlock Holmes's advice, made an excuse to stay in the bedroom. I can't imagine what tricks my friend was playing, wasn't it because he wanted the girl to leave Phelps?

　　Phelps, having recovered his health and looking forward to participating in the operation, happily joined us for lunch in the dining room. But Holmes had another thing that surprised us even more, for after accompanying us to the station and getting us on board, he did not hesitate to declare that he had no intention of leaving Woking.

　　"Before I go, there are one or two little things I want to figure out." He said, "Mr. Phelps, you're not here, and in a way it's better for me. When you get to London, Watson, you must promise me that you will drive with our friends to Baker Street at once until I see you again. Fortunately, the two of you are old classmates, and there must be many things to talk about. Tonight Mr. Phelps can stay in my bedroom. I'll take the eight o'clock train to Waterloo station tomorrow morning, in time to have breakfast with you. ”

　　"But what about our investigation in London?" Phelps asked in frustration.

　　"We can do these things tomorrow. I think it is very necessary for me to stay here now. ”

　　"You can tell them when you go back to Brilblay that I want to go back tomorrow night," Phelps shouted as our train was just about to leave the platform.

　　"I don't necessarily go back to Brilbe," replied Holmes, waving happily to us as our train departed.

　　Phelps and I had been talking about it all the way, but no one could come up with a satisfactory reason for his new action.

　　"I suppose he was trying to find clues to last night's theft, if there were any thieves. As for myself, I would never believe that it was an ordinary thief. ”

　　"So, what is your own opinion?"

　　"Honestly, whether you attribute it to my nervous fragility or not, I believe that there is some kind of hidden political conspiracy going on all around me, and for some reason I cannot understand, these conspirators want to kill me. This may sound exaggerated and absurd, but consider the facts! Why would a thief want to pry open the window of a bedroom where there is nothing to steal? Why did he have a long knife in his hand? ”

　　"Are you sure that's not a crowbar for prying doors?"

　　"Ah, no, it's a knife. I saw the flash of the knife very clearly. ”

　　"But why on earth would you have such a deep hatred to attack you?"

　　"Ah, here's the problem."

　　Well, if Holmes sees it the same way, then that explains why he took this action. Is that right? Assuming you're right, he can catch the man who threatened you last night, and he's a big step closer to finding the one who stole the naval agreement. Suppose you have two enemies. It would be ridiculous that one stole something from you and the other came to threaten your life. ”

　　"But Holmes said he would not go back to Brilbrae."

　　"I don't know him for a day and a half," I said, "and I've never seen him do anything without a good reason." "At this point, we moved on to other topics.

　　But this day made me tired. Phelps remained weak after a long illness, and the misfortunes he suffered made him more irritable and nervous. I tried my best to tell some of my past in Afghanistan and India, about some social issues, about things that would make him happy, but to no avail. He was always preoccupied with the lost agreement, and he marveled, guessed, pondered, wondering what Holmes was doing, what Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we would hear tomorrow morning. After the night darkened, he went from excitement to pain.

　　"Do you trust Holmes very much?"

　　"I've seen him do a lot of great cases."

　　"But he's never solved a clueless case like this, has he?"

　　"Ah, no, I know he's solved cases with fewer clues than yours."

　　"But isn't it a case of such importance?"

　　"I don't know. But I do know that he has handled extremely important cases for three European royal families. ”

　　"But you know him well, Watson. He was such an incredible figure that I never knew how to understand him. Do you think he has any hope of success? Do you think he intends to solve this case? ”

　　"He didn't say anything."

　　"That's not a good sign."

　　"Quite the opposite. I've noticed once that when he loses a clue, he always says he's lost a clue. When he found a clue and was not very sure, he was particularly reticent. Now, my dear friend, who has disturbed myself for this matter, and which is of no benefit at all, I urge you to go to bed quickly and go to bed, and tomorrow morning, no matter how good or bad the news is, you will be able to deal with it with full energy. ”

　　I finally persuaded my companion to accept my advice, but I could tell from his agitated expression that he had no hope of sleeping peacefully. Indeed, his emotions also affected me, and I myself tossed and turned in bed for the middle of the night, unable to fall asleep, carefully calculating this strange question, and making countless inferences, one more than the other. Why did Holmes stay at Woking? Why did he want Miss Harrison to stay in the ward all day? Why was he so careful not to let the people of Brilbrae know he intended to stay near them? I racked my brains to find an answer that matched all these facts, and finally fell asleep.

　　When I woke up, it was already seven o'clock, I immediately got up and went to Phelps' room, and found that he had a haggard face, and must have been sleepless all night. His first words asked Holmes if he had returned.

　　"Since he promised to come," I said, "he will come on time." ”

　　My words were indeed good, and just after eight o'clock, a carriage sped up to the door, and my friend jumped out of it. We stood in front of the window and saw him with his left hand bandaged and his face serious and pale. He went into the house and came upstairs after a while.

　　"He seems exhausted," Phelps shouted.

　　I have to admit he was right. "After all," I said, "the clue to this case may still be in town." ”

　　Phelps groaned.

　　"I don't know what's going on," he said, "but I have so much hope that he'll come back." But his hand wasn't wrapped around like this yesterday. What's going on here? ”

　　"Holmes, are you not injured?" When my friend walked into the house, I asked.

　　"Alas, it is only because of my clumsiness and bruises on my skin," he replied, nodding his head in greeting to us, "Mr. Phelps, your case is indeed the most secret compared to all the cases which I have investigated in the past." ”

　　"I'm afraid you're powerless against this case."

　　"It was a very strange experience."

　　"The bandage on your hand shows that you have been in danger," I said, "can you tell us what happened?" ”

　　"Wait until you've had breakfast, my dear Watson. Don't forget that this morning I drove thirty miles from Surrey. Presumably, my advertisement for a carriage search hasn't landed yet, right? Well, well, we can't expect everything to go well. ”

　　The table was ready, and I was just about to ring the bell when Mrs. Hudson brought refreshments and coffee. A few minutes later she served three more breakfasts, and we sat down together, and Holmes devoured them, and I watched curiously, and Phelps was sullen and dejected.

　　"Mrs. Hudson is very contingencies," said Holmes, opening the lid of a plate of chicken curry, "and she has a limited number of dishes, but like a Scottish woman, this breakfast is well thought out." Watson, what's your dish? ”

　　"A ham egg," I replied.

　　"Great! Mr. Phelps, what do you like to eat, chicken curry or eggs with ham? Otherwise, please eat your own portion. ”

　　"Thank you, I can't eat anything," Phelps said.

　　"Ah, come on! Please eat a little of the one in front of you. ”

　　"Thank you, I really don't want to eat."

　　"Well, then," said Holmes, who blinked mischievously, "I suppose you will not refuse my kindness." ”

　　Phelps opened the lid, and as soon as he opened it, he suddenly let out a scream, his face as pale as a vegetable dish, and sat there staring blankly at the inside of the dish. It turned out that there was a small blue-gray paper roll on the plate. He grabbed it, looked at it with stunned eyes, and then pressed the paper roll to his chest, screamed with joy, danced madly in the room, and then fell into an armchair, weak and exhausted by overexcitement. We had to pour him a little brandy so that he would not faint.

　　"Okay! All right! Holmes tapped Phelps lightly on the shoulder and comforted him, "It's terrible to put it in front of you like this all of a sudden, but Watson will tell you that I always can't help but want to make things a little dramatic." ”

　　Phelps grabbed Holmes's hand and kissed it.

　　"God bless you!" He shouted, "You saved my honor. ”

　　"Well, you know, it's also my own honor," said Holmes, "and I should reassure you that my failure to handle the case is as unpleasant as the dishonesty you were entrusted with." ”

　　Phelps carried the precious document into the pockets of his shirt that fit close to him.

　　"I don't want to bother you with breakfast anymore, but I'm eager to know how you got it and where you found it."

　　Sherlock Holmes finished a cup of coffee, finished the ham egg again, then got up, lit his pipe, and sat down in his chair.

　　"I'll tell you what I did first and how I started doing it later." "After breaking up with you at the station, I walked leisurely through the beautiful Surrey landscape to a small village called Ripley, where I had refreshments in a small guest house, and filled my kettle with a piece of sandwich bread in my pocket and prepared everything," said Holmes. I waited until late afternoon before returning to Woking, and when I came to the road next to Brill Bray, it was already dusk.

　　"Well, I waited until there was no one on the highway —I think there were never too many pedestrians on that highway—so I climbed over the fence and came to the homestead behind the house."

　　"That gate is open day and night," Phelps shouted suddenly.

　　"Yes, but I especially like to do it." I chose a place where there were three fir trees, and under the shade of these fir trees, I walked over, and no one in the house could see me. I crouched in the bushes next to me, creeping from one tree to another—as evidenced by the broken knees of my pants, until I crawled to the bush of azaleas opposite your bedroom window. I crouched down there and waited for things to unfold.

　　"The curtains in your room have not yet been lowered, and I can see Miss Harrison sitting at the table reading a book. When she closed the shutter and exited the bedroom, it was already ten o'clock.

　　"I heard her close the door and clearly heard her lock the door with the key."

　　"The key?" Phelps shouted suddenly.

　　"Yes, I told Miss Harrison beforehand to lock the door from outside your bedroom while she was sleeping, and to take the key herself. She carried out my orders meticulously, affirming that without her cooperation you would not have found the document in your coat pocket, and then she walked away, the lights went out, and I was still crouching among the azaleas.

　　"The night is clear, but it's still tiresome to wait. Of course, the excitement is like a fisherman lying by the river waiting for a school of fish. But the wait was very long, Watson, almost as long as you and I had been waiting in that lifeless room when you and I were investigating the little problem of the 'Spotted Tape Case'. The bells of Woking Church rang for quarters of an hour, and I thought more than once that maybe nothing would happen. But finally, around two o'clock in the morning, I suddenly heard the sound of the door latch being pulled open and the key turning. In an instant, the door for the servants to enter and exit opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrilin came out in the moonlight. ”

　　"Joseph?!" Phelps shouted suddenly.

　　He was bare-headed, but with a black cloak draped over his shoulders so that in the event of an emergency he could immediately cover his face. He crept into the shadow of the wall, approached the window, inserted a long thin blade knife into the window frame, and pulled the latch open. Then he pried open the window and inserted the knife into the shutter slit, opening the shutter.

　　"From where I was hiding, I could see the situation inside and his every move. He lit two candles on the mantelpiece and rolled up a corner of the carpet next to the door. After a while, he bent down to remove a small square plank that the plumber used to repair the gas pipe joint. The plank is covered with a T-shaped gas pipe fitting, and a pipe leads to the downstairs kitchen to supply gas to the kitchen. Joseph took a small roll of paper from this hidden place, reclogged the planks, flattened the carpet, and blew out the candles, for I was standing outside the window waiting for him, and he crashed into my arms.

　　"Ah, Mr. Joseph is much more vicious than I thought!" He pounced on me with the knife, and I had to grab him again, and before I could gain the upper hand, I let the knife scratch on my knuckles. After we had finished the fight, he looked like a murderer because he could only see with one eye, but he listened to my advice and handed over the papers. I got the papers and let him go. But I sent a telegram to Forbes this morning and told him all the details. It would be great if he could move sharply and catch the person he was trying to catch. But if, as I expected, he arrived there and the people had already fled, well, the government would have liked it. I think, first of all, Lord Haldhurst, and secondly, Mr. Percy Phelps would rather this case not go through the contravention court. ”

　　"Oh my God!" Our client groaned, "Tell me, has this stolen document been in that room with me during my ten weeks of extreme pain?" ”

　　"Exactly."

　　"Then Joseph! Joseph is a villain and a thief too! ”

　　"Hey! I am afraid that Joseph is a more sinister and dangerous figure than he may seem on the outside. Judging from what he said to me this morning, I speculate that he lost money in the stock trade and was prepared to do anything bad in order to turn his luck. As an extremely selfish person, when the opportunity comes, he has neither his sister's happiness nor your reputation. ”

　　Percy Phelps sat back in his chair. "My head is dizzy," he said, "and your words make me even more dizzy." ”

　　"The main difficulty in your case," Holmes pointed out preachily, "is that there are too many clues." Extremely important clues are obscured by irrelevant signs. We have so many facts before us that we can only choose from them what is necessary and string them together in order to take into account the various links of this series of strange events. I began to suspect Joseph on the basis that you had intended to go home with him on the night of the theft, and it occurred natural to me that he was bound to come to you, for he was familiar with the Foreign Office and was on the way. Later I heard you say that someone was anxious to sneak into that bedroom.

　　I suppose that only Joseph could have hidden something in that bedroom—you told us how you got Joseph out of the bedroom when you went back to the bedroom with the doctor that day—and then my suspicions turned to affirmation. Especially the first night when no one lived with you, someone tried to sneak into the room, which shows that the uninvited guest is familiar with the situation in the room. ”

　　"How blind I am!"

　　"I found out what the facts of this case went like this: Joseph Harrison walked into the Foreign Office through the side door that led to Charles Street, and because he was familiar with the road, he broke straight in when you left the office, found that there was no one there, and immediately rang the bell, and while he was ringing, he glanced at the documents on the table. At a glance, he felt that there was a good opportunity in front of him to get an extremely valuable national document, and he carried it into his pocket at once. As you recall, it took a few minutes for the freshly awakened janitor to alert you to the ringing of the bell, which was enough time for the thieves to escape.

　　He took the first train back to Woking, inspected the stolen goods, and sure that it was extremely precious, hid the agreement where he thought it was very safe, and tried to take it out within a day or two and send it to the French embassy or anywhere he thought he could pay a high price. But you suddenly return home. He was caught off guard and was forced to move out of that bedroom.

　　Since then, there have been at least two people in the house, making it impossible for him to take out his treasure again. This situation simply drove him crazy. But he finally saw the opportunity. He managed to sneak indoors, but you didn't fall asleep, foiling his plan.

　　You may remember that you didn't take the kind of medicine you normally take that night. ”

　　"I remember."

　　"I think he must have done something in that medicine, so he believes you must be unconscious." Of course, I know that whenever he feels he can do it again without danger, he will try again. You leave the bedroom naturally as an opportunity he can't ask for. I asked Miss Harrison to stay in the house all day so that he wouldn't be able to take advantage of our absence. On the one hand I mistook him for no danger, and on the other hand, as I had just said, I was monitoring the movements in the bedroom. I already knew that the document was hidden in the bedroom, but I didn't want to take apart all the floors and feet to search for it. I let him take it out of the hiding place by himself, and I saved a lot of trouble. Is there anything else I haven't made clear? ”

　　"The first time he could have entered through the door, why did he have to pry the window?"

　　I asked.

　　"Entering through the door he had to bypass the seven bedrooms, on the other hand, he could jump effortlessly into the lawn from the window. Any questions? ”

　　"Don't you think," Phelps asked, "that he had any intention of committing murder?"

　　That knife can only be used as a murder weapon. ”

　　"It may be so," replied Holmes with a shrug of shoulders, "I can only say with certainty that Mr. Joseph Haririlin was by no means a gentleman of good will. ”

　　The Yellow-Faced Man

　　In some mysterious cases, the extraordinary talents of my friend Holmes have made us fascinated by some bizarre and dramatic stories, and finally we have thrown ourselves into these stories. When I published short stories based on these cases, it was natural to write about his achievements in much more detail than his failures. I do this not to take care of Holmes's reputation—in fact, to be admired for his energy and versatility whenever he is on the brink of extinction—but because wherever Holmes fails, no one else will succeed, and the story will never end. However, there is often a situation in which even when he makes a mistake, he finally finds out the truth. I have noticed five or six cases of this sort, two of which are the most obvious and fascinating, one is the Musgrave Ceremony case, and the other is the story I am now preparing to tell.

　　Holmes was a man who rarely engaged in physical activity for physical exercise. Generally speaking, there are not many people who are good at using their physical strength. And there is no doubt that sherlock Holmes is the best boxer I have ever met among those of his weight, but he sees blind exercise as a waste of energy, so he rarely pays attention to other activities except for projects related to his profession. But he was very energetic and tireless. Obviously, his way of cultivating himself is indeed very strange. His diet was always very simple, and his living was extremely simple, close to cutting down on food and clothing. Apart from the occasional injection of cocaine, Holmes had no other vices. Whenever there were no cases to investigate and the newspaper news was boring, he turned to anesthetics to relieve the monotony of life.

　　One day in the early spring, Holmes was idle and actually had time to accompany me to the park for a walk. By this time the elm had produced tender green shoots, and new five-petaled leaves began to emerge from the top of the chestnut tree. We walked silently for two hours, which was perfect for two people who knew each other. When we got back to Baker Street, it was nearly five o'clock.

　　"Excuse me, sir," said our little servant as he opened the door, "a gentleman has come to you, sir. ”

　　Holmes looked at me complainingly.

　　"It's all to blame for the afternoon walk!" Holmes said, "So, is this gentleman gone?" ”

　　"Yes, sir."

　　"Didn't you invite him in?"

　　"Please, sir, he's come in."

　　"How long did he wait?"

　　"He waited for half an hour, sir. He was very restless, sir, and he had been pacing around the house, stomping his feet. I was waiting outside the door, sir, but I could hear him. Finally he went down the aisle and shouted, 'Isn't he going to come back?' That's what he said, sir. I said, 'Please wait a little longer. He said, 'Then I'll go outside and wait, I'm going to suffocate here, and I'll be back in a minute.' After saying that, he left, and I said that nothing could keep him. ”

　　"Well, well, you're doing the right thing," we walked into the room, and Holmes said, "it's really angry, Watson. I just need a case. Judging from this person's impatient appearance, it seems to be an important case. feed! The pipe on this table is not yours, it must have been dropped by the man. It was a good Heather pipe with a long handle and was made of the kind of material that tobacconists call amber. I don't know how many real amber cigarette holders there are in the city of London, but some people think that the kind with flies in them is the real amber. Hey, he forgot about his apparently cherished pipe, which must have been very upset. ”

　　"How do you know he cherishes this pipe?" I asked.

　　"Ah, it seems to me that the original price of this pipe was no more than seven shillings and sixpence, but, you see, it has been repaired twice, once on the wooden handle and once on the amber mouth. As you can see, silver hoops are used for each repair, which is much higher than the original price of the pipe. The fact that this man would rather repair the pipe than spend the same amount of money to buy a new one shows that he must have cherished it. ”

　　"Is there anything else?" I asked, for Holmes was turning his pipe over and dropping it, staring at it with a distinctive contemplative look.

　　Holmes picked up his pipe and flicked it with his slender index finger, as if a professor were teaching a lesson on animal bones.

　　"Pipes are sometimes very important," said Holmes, "and nothing but watches and shoelaces is a better expression of a person's personality." But the signs of this pipe are neither obvious nor important. The owner of the pipe is obviously a strong man, with a left hand, a good mouth, carelessness, and financial wealth. ”

　　My friend uttered these words without the slightest hesitation, and I saw him squinting at me to see if I understood his reasoning.

　　"Do you think he smoked with a seven-shilling pipe and that was a rich man?" I asked.

　　"This is a Grosvenor board cigarette, eightpence one and two," said Holmes, putting his pipe in the palm of his hand and knocking out a little tobacco, "with this half price, he can smoke a fine cigarette, which shows that he is economically rich." ”

　　"So, what about the other points?"

　　"He had a habit of lighting pipes on oil and gas blowtorches. You can see that one side of the pipe is already charred. Of course, this will not happen with matches. How does lighting a cigarette with a match burn the edge of a pipe? But if you light a cigarette on an oil lamp, you can't help but burn the pipe. Only the right side of the pipe was charred, from which I speculated that he was a man with a left hand. Now that you have your pipe lit on the lamp, you can see that because you are accustomed to your right hand, it is naturally the left side of the flame. Sometimes you may not light a cigarette that way, but this is not often after all. Therefore, it can only be considered that he is used to his left hand. The amber mouth has been bitten through, indicating that he is strong and has neat teeth. If I'm not mistaken, I heard that he had come upstairs, and then we could study something more interesting than this pipe. ”

　　After a while, the door of our house opened and a tall young man walked in. He wore a set of elaborate and plain dark gray clothes and held a brown wide-brimmed tweed hat in his hand. I guess he was around thirty, but he was actually a few years older.

　　"Excuse me," he said with some embarrassment, "I think I should knock on the door first." Yes, of course I should knock on the door first. But in fact I was a little upset, please forgive my rashness. He put his hand on his forehead, as if dizzy, and turned around and fell back in his chair.

　　"I can see that you haven't slept for a night or two." Holmes said amiably, "It does hurt more than work, even more than play." How can I help you? ”

　　"I'm going to ask you for advice, sir. I didn't know what to do, and my whole life seemed to have collapsed. ”

　　"Are you trying to ask me to be a consulting detective?"

　　"It's not just that. You are a knowledgeable person, a well-known person, and I need your teachings. I need to know what I should do next. I hope you can tell me. ”

　　He spoke in fragments, his breathing was short, his tone trembled, and I felt as if he were in pain even speaking, always trying to suppress his feelings with his will.

　　"It's a very tricky thing," he said, "and no one wants to talk to outsiders about their chores." In particular, it is embarrassing to discuss his wife's behavior with two complete strangers. It's horrible to do that. However, I have reached the point where I have exhausted my intellect and cannot but ask others for advice. ”

　　"My dear Mr. Grant Munro..." said Holmes.

　　Our visitor jumped up from his chair.

　　"How?" He exclaimed, "You know my name?" ”

　　"If you want to hide your name and identity," said Holmes with a smile, "I advise you not to write your name in your hat in the future, or not to rush it to people when you visit others." I am just about to tell you that my friend and I have heard so many strange and mysterious things in this room, and that we have been fortunate to be able to bring peace to many troubled people. I'm sure we can do that for you too. Because time is very important, please don't delay the time, and tell me the truth of the matter quickly. ”

　　Our visitor put his hand on his forehead again, as if in great pain. I could tell from his posture that he was a taciturn, impulsive man, somewhat proud by nature, preferring to hide his trauma rather than expose it. Later, he suddenly made a firm gesture with a clenched fist, as if he was no longer keeping secrets, and began to say:

　　"Here's the thing, Mr. Holmes, I'm a man who's been married, and it's been three years since I've been married. During these three years, my wife and I, like any couple, were exceptionally loving and lived happily ever after. There is no disagreement in our thoughts, words and actions. But now, starting last Monday, there was a sudden obstacle among us. I found that there were some things in her life and thoughts that I knew nothing about, as if she were a strange woman. We were estranged. I want to know why?

　　"But there is one thing I want you to know first, and then I will go on, Mr. Holmes. Effie loves me. Don't misunderstand this. She loved me wholeheartedly and now loves me even more. I know and feel this, and there is no doubt about it. It's easy for a man to detect that a woman is loving him. But between our husband and wife, there is this secret, and until this secret is clarified, we can't do everything as usual. ”

　　"Mr. Munro, please tell me the truth," said Holmes a little impatiently.

　　"I'll first tell you what I know about Effie's history. When I first met her, although she was very young, only twenty-five years old, she was already a deceased person. At that time her name was Madame Heberon. She went to the United States as a child, lived in Atlanta, and there married the Hepagron, who was a lawyer and had many clients. They had a child, but there was yellow fever in that place, and her husband and child both died of yellow fever, and I saw Hepa long's death certificate. This made her feel bad about the United States, so she returned home to live with her unmarried aunt in Pinnal, Middlesex. I would also like to state that her husband left her a considerable inheritance, about four thousand five hundred pounds. During her husband's lifetime, she invested in the asset with an average annual profit of seven percent. When I met her, she had only been in Pinnal for six months, and we fell in love with each other and got married a few weeks later.

　　"I myself am a hemp merchant with an income of seven or eight hundred pounds a year. We rented a small villa in Norbury for eighty pounds a year and life was very comfortable. Our little place is close to the city but has a rustic twist. Not far from us there was a small inn and two houses, and on the other side of the field in front of our door there was a separate cottage. In addition, there are only houses on the way to the station. My profession makes me go to town to run errands in certain seasons, but in the summer I don't have to go to town. So my wife and I indulged in joy in our country house. I can tell you that nothing unpleasant had happened to us as a couple before this unfortunate thing happened.

　　"One more thing, I should tell you first, and then I will continue. When we got married, my wife transferred all the property to my name. That wasn't my intention, because I felt that if my career failed, it would be difficult to turn around. But she had to do it, and I had to do it. Ah, about six weeks ago, she came to me.

　　"'Jack,' she said, 'when you accepted my money, you said I could ask you for it whenever I wanted it.'"

　　"'Yes,' I said, 'it was all your own money.'"

　　"'Well,' she said, 'I want a hundred pounds.'"

　　When I heard this, I was a little shocked, because I thought she was just going to buy a new dress or something of this kind.

　　"'What the hell is going on?' I asked.

　　"'Oh,' she said jokingly, 'you said you were just my bank custodian, you know, bank custody never asks people questions.'"

　　"'If you really need this money, of course you can get it.'" I said.

　　"'Oh, yes, I really need it.'"

　　"'Can't you tell me what you're doing with this money?'

　　"'Jack, I can tell you in a few days, but not now.'"

　　"So I had to do it this way. But if there is any secret between us as a couple, this is the first time to solve the problem. I gave her a check and didn't think about it afterwards. This incident may have nothing to do with what happened later, but I think I will still say it all.

　　"Well, I just told you that there is a small cottage not far from our quarters. There was a field between our house and the cottage, but if you wanted to go to the cottage, you had to walk along the road to the opposite side, and then go around to a small road. Right over there, there is a frequent scottish fir tree, and I usually like to walk there. Because, walking in the woods is always pleasant. For eight months, this little cottage has been uninhabited, but this is a pity. Because it was a beautiful two-story building with an old-fashioned veranda and honeysuckle all around it. I often stay there and often wonder how pleasant it would be to stay here.

　　"Cough, last Monday evening I was walking down this road when I came across an empty caravan turning onto the path and at the same time seeing a pile of carpets and something else on the grass next to the veranda. It was clear that the cottage had finally been rented out. I walked over and stopped to look around like a wanderer, wondering who lived so close to us. But I was looking at it, and suddenly realized that a face in the window above was also watching me.

　　"Mr. Holmes, I didn't know what this face looked like, but I seemed to have a cold sweat on my back. I stood a little farther away, so I couldn't see what it was like. But this face is a bit unnatural and doesn't look like a human face. That was my impression at the time. I hurried forward to see more clearly the man who was spying on me. But as I approached, the face suddenly disappeared, as if suddenly pulled into the darkness of the room. I stood for a full five minutes, thinking carefully about it, intending to analyze the impressionS I had received. It's hard for me to tell if it's a man's face or a woman's, it's too far away from me. But the color of this face left a deep impression on me. It was like blue-gray chalk, and it was a bit stiff and stiff, unnaturally frightening. I was very upset and decided to see the new occupants of this cottage again. I approached the door and knocked, and immediately a tall, slender woman opened the door, and the woman's face was ugly and intimidating.

　　"'What are you going to do?' She asked in a northern accent.

　　"'I'm your neighbor across the street,' I nodded my head toward my quarters, and said, I see you've just moved in, so I wonder if I can help you with something...'

　　"'Hey, when we need you, we'll naturally please you,'" she said, closing the door. I ate such a rough closed door soup, very angry, turned around and went home. Throughout the night, as hard as I tried to think of something else, I kept thinking about the rude image of the strange man and the woman at the window. I decided not to tell my wife about it, because she was a timid and easily agitated woman, and I did not want her to share in the unhappiness I had encountered. However, before I went to sleep, I told her that the cottage was now inhabited, and she did not answer.

　　"I usually sleep to death. My family often laughed at me and said nothing could wake me up during the night. But that night, due to the slightest irritation of this matter or for other reasons, I did not know, but I did not sleep as dead as usual. I vaguely felt something moving around the room as I was asleep, and gradually realized that my wife was dressed and put on a cloak and hat. I murmured a few words of surprise and disputed her untimely move. When my half-open, half-closed eyes suddenly fell on my wife's candlelight-illuminated face, I was so amazed that I could not speak. Her expression was something I had never seen before, and it would never be a fake. She was dead white and short of breath, and as she fastened her cloak, she sneaked up on the bed to see if she had woken me up. Later, thinking I was still asleep, she slipped quietly out of the house, and after a while I heard a sharp creaking sound, which was clearly the sound of the closing leaves of the gate. I sat up from the bed and knocked on the bed rail with my knuckles to see if I was really awake. Then I took my watch out from under my pillow, and it was already three o'clock in the morning. And when my wife goes outside at three o'clock in the morning, what is she going to do?

　　I sat for twenty minutes, my mind churning over the matter, trying to find some possible explanation. The more I thought about it, the more bizarre and strange I felt. I was pondering this when I heard the door close softly again and my wife come upstairs.

　　"'Where have you been at three in the middle of the night, Effie?' As soon as she came in, I asked.

　　As soon as she heard me say it, she was immediately shocked and screamed violently. This scream bothered me more than anything else, because there was an indescribable sense of guilt in it. My wife has always been a sincere and straightforward woman, and it really chilled me to see her sneaking into her house and screaming and cowering when her husband asked.

　　"'You're awake, Jack!' She grudgingly smiled and said out loud, 'Well, I thought nothing would wake you up.' '

　　"'Where have you been?' I asked more severely.

　　"'No wonder you're going to be amazed,'" she said. I saw her fingers trembling as she unbuttoned her cloak, 'Well, I've never done anything like this before.' Here's the thing: I feel a little stuffy, and I want to get through the fresh air. If I didn't go out, I really thought I was going to faint. I stood outside the door for a few minutes and have now fully recovered. '

　　When she said this, she never dared to look at me, and her voice was completely out of the usual tone. This shows that what she said was a lie. I didn't answer, turned my face to the wall, very sad, and filled my heart with a thousand malicious speculations and doubts. What is my wife hiding from me? Where did she go from this strange outing? I felt that I would not be at peace until I had ascertained the details of the matter. But after she had told me a lie, I didn't want to ask her anything more. This night I have been tossing and turning, nervous, guessing and guessing, and the more I think about it, the more confused I am.

　　"I was supposed to go to town the next day, but I was so upset that I couldn't take care of my business. My wife seemed to be as disturbed as I was, she kept an eye on my face, and I looked at her suspicious gaze, and she already knew that I didn't believe what she said, and now she was also a six-god and nobody who didn't know how to be good. We didn't talk a word at breakfast, and then I immediately went out for a walk so that I could think about it in the fresh early morning air.

　　"I walked all the way to Crystal Palace, where I spent an hour, and it was already one o'clock when I got back to Norbury. I happened to pass by the cottage and stopped to look at the windows to see if I could see the face that had seen me yesterday. Mr. Holmes, imagine how surprised I am, that I was standing there when the door of the cottage suddenly opened and my wife came out.

　　"When I saw her, I was so stunned that I could not speak, but when our eyes met, my wife seemed more excited than I was. For a moment, it seemed that she wanted to retreat to the villa again. Later, seeing that there was no use in hiding any longer, he stepped forward, his face unusually pale and frightened, and the smile that she had shown on her mouth was obviously not commensurate.

　　"'Ah, Jack,' she said, 'I've just come to see if I can do my new neighbor a favor.' Why are you looking at me like this? Jack, you're not going to get mad at me, are you? '

　　"'Well,' I said, 'this is where you came last night.'"

　　"'What do you mean by that?' She shouted.

　　"'I'm pretty sure you came here last night.' Who are these people? You actually came to see them in the middle of the night? '

　　"'I haven't been here before.'"

　　"'How can you tell me a lie?' I shouted, 'Your voice has changed as you speak.' When did I ever hide anything from you? I'm going to go in and get this sort of thing. '

　　"'No, no, Jack, look in the face of God!' Don't go in. She was so excited that she couldn't control herself and said breathlessly. When I got to the door, she tugged at my sleeve and pulled me back with a brute force.

　　"'I beg you not to do this, Jack,' she cried out, 'I promise to tell you everything in a few days, and if you go into the villa, there will be no other benefit than asking for your own food.'" Later, I broke free from her hand, and she wrapped herself tightly around me, pleading frantically.

　　"Believe me, Jack!' She shouted, 'Just believe me this time.' You will never regret it. You know, if it wasn't for your own good, I would never hide anything from you. It's about our whole lives. If you go home with me, everything will be fine, and if you insist on going into the villa, then everything between us is completely over. '

　　Her attitude was so sincere and so desperate that her words dissuaded me and made me hesitate to stand in front of the door.

　　"'For I to believe in you, there must be one condition, and only one condition,' I said at last, 'and that is that from now on this clandestine activity must cease.'" You have the right to keep your secret, but you must promise me not to come out at night, to do nothing again without me knowing. If you promise me that there will be no more such things in the future, I will forget everything in the past. '

　　"'I know you'll believe me,'" she exclaimed with great relief, 'it's perfectly as you wish.' Let's go, ah, get out of here and go home. '

　　She still tugged at my sleeve and lured me away from the cottage. As I walked, I looked back and saw a lead-gray face looking at us in the window above. What is the relationship between my wife and this strange man? What did the rough and ugly woman I saw the day before have to do with her? It's a strange mystery. I know that until I unravel this mystery, my mood will never be calm.

　　"After that, I stayed at home for two days, and my wife was very faithful to her appointment, because, as far as I know, she never went out a step. On the third day, however, I had ample evidence that her solemn promises could not free her from the mysterious attraction that would lead her to turn her back on her husband and her responsibilities.

　　"I went to town that day, but instead of coming back by the train at 3:36 as usual, I returned by the train at 2:40. As soon as I entered the door, the maid ran into the hall in a panic.

　　"'Where's the wife?' I asked.

　　"'I think she went out for a walk,'" she replied.

　　My mind was filled with doubt, and I ran upstairs to see if she was really not in the house. Then I accidentally looked out the window and saw the maid who had just spoken to me running through the field in the direction of the cottage. At that time, of course, I knew exactly what was going on. My wife went there again, and told the maid that if I came back, I would call her. I was so angry that I ran downstairs and ran out, determined to investigate the matter once and for all. I saw my wife and maid hurrying back along the path, but I didn't stand down and talk to them. There was a secret in this cottage that made darkness envelop my life, and I swore that, in any case, it could not be allowed to continue. I walked to the front of the room, didn't even knock on the door, turned the door button, and rushed into the aisle.

　　"Downstairs was silence. The kettle on the stove in the kitchen sizzles. A large black cat is lying in a basket. But there was no trace of the woman I had seen before. I ran into another room, but it was equally empty. Then I ran upstairs, and the other two rooms were empty. It turned out that the whole villa was empty. The furniture and drawings in the room are extremely ordinary and vulgar, and only the bedroom where I see strange faces from the window is comfortable and exquisite. When I saw a full-body photograph of my wife hanging on the mantelpiece, all my mysteries burned with a strong and painful flame, which I had asked her to take three months earlier.

　　"I stayed indoors for a while, and after knowing that there was no one at all, I walked out, feeling heavier in my heart than before. When I entered the house, my wife came to the vestibule, but I was so distressed and irritated that I did not want to talk to her, and rushed from her into my study. But before I could close the door, she came in behind me.

　　"'I'm sorry I broke my promise, Jack,' she said, 'but if you knew all the truth about it, I'm sure you would forgive me.'"

　　"'Then tell me all this.'" I said.

　　"'I can't, Jack, I can't,'" she shouted.

　　"'If you don't tell me who lives in that villa and who the person you give the picture is, we can't trust each other.'" I said, walked away from her and left the house. This was yesterday, Monsieur Holmes, and I have not seen her since that time. For this strange multitude, I only know these. This was the first discord in our midst. This shocked me and I didn't know how to fix it. This morning it occurred to me that you could instruct me, so I hurried to you, and all was to you. If there is any point in this that I have not made clear, please ask me. First, though, please tell me what to do, because I can't stand the pain. ”

　　Holmes and I listened intently to this bizarre story. The man was extremely excited and spoke intermittently. My partner, with one hand on his chin, sat there quietly, lost in thought.

　　"Please tell me," he said at last, "can you guarantee that the face you see in the window is a man's face?" ”

　　"Every time I see this face, the distance is relatively far, so I can't be sure."

　　"But you obviously have a very bad impression of this face."

　　"It seems to be very unnatural in color, and it has a strange appearance. But as I approached, I suddenly disappeared. ”

　　"Your wife asked you for a hundred pounds, how long has it been now?"

　　"It's been about two months."

　　"Have you seen a picture of her ex-husband?"

　　"No, shortly after his death, there was a fire in Atlanta and all her documents were burned."

　　"But she has a death certificate, and you said you saw it?"

　　"Yeah, after this fire, she got a copy."

　　"Have you ever met someone who knew her in America?"

　　"Or have you heard from there?"

　　"Thank you. Now I'm going to think about it a little bit. If the villa were still empty, we would have a little harder time. However, I think it is very likely that yesterday before you went in, the occupants inside were warned, so they avoided it beforehand, and now they may be back in the house. It's not hard to find out. I urge you to return to Norbury and look again at the window of that villa. If you're sure it's inhabited, you don't have to break in, just shoot a telegram to me and my friends. We got the telegram, we'll get to you in an hour, and we'll be able to find out soon. ”

　　"What if the villa is still empty?"

　　"In that case, I'll go tomorrow and then I'll discuss it with you." Good bye. The important thing, though, is that you don't bother until you've figured it out. ”

　　"I'm afraid it's not going to be good, Watson," said my friend, returning from the door with Mr. Grant Munro, "what do you think?" ”

　　"It's hard to do," I replied.

　　"By the way, if I'm not mistaken, there must be deception in this."

　　"So who is the deceitful?"

　　"Ah, that must be the man who lived in the only comfortable room and hung her photo AE f1 on the fireplace wall. Watson, really, that dull face in the window is really noteworthy, and I don't let go of this case anyway. ”

　　"Do you already have an inference?"

　　"Yeah, that's only a temporary inference. But if this inference proves to be incorrect, it will surprise me. I think this woman's ex-husband lives in a cottage. ”

　　"Why do you think that?"

　　Otherwise, how can she explain her panicked and determined not to let her current husband in? As I think about it, the truth is roughly this: this woman is married in the United States, and her ex-husband has some bad habits, or rather, some nasty disease, that others do not want to touch or have reduced their ability. She finally abandoned him and returned to England. Changed my name and surname, and wanted to start a new life. She showed her husband a copy of someone else's death certificate. Now three years into her marriage, she is convinced that she is in a very safe situation. But her tracks were suddenly discovered by her ex-husband, or, conceivably, by some slut who had an affair with the patient. They wrote to the wife, threatening to expose her. She asked for a hundred pounds to try to get rid of them. But they still came. When the husband mentioned to his wife that the villa had a new occupant, she knew that this was the person who was tracking her. She waited for her husband to fall asleep and ran out to try to convince them to keep her quiet. This time it didn't work out, and the next morning she went again, but as her husband told us, she came out and ran into him. Only then did she promise not to go again. But two days later, a strong desire to get rid of these terrible neighbors drove her to try again. This time she brought the pictures they had asked her for. She was meeting with her ex-husband when the maid suddenly came to report that the master had returned home. Knowing that he was going straight to the villa, she urged the people inside to slip through the back door into the nearby fir bushes. So, what he saw was an empty house. But if he goes again tonight, it's strange that the house is still empty. What do you think of my inference? ”

　　"It's all speculation."

　　"But it at least corresponds to all the facts. If we find new situations that do not match each other, we will have time to reconsider. We couldn't stop until we received the telegram from our friend from Norbury. ”

　　But we didn't wait long. Just after eating refreshments, the telegram came.

　　The telegram said:

　　The villa is still inhabited. Then I saw the face inside the window. Please take the train at seven o'clock to meet, everything is waiting for you to take care of.

　　When we got off the train, he was already waiting on the platform, and under the station lights we saw him pale, worried, and trembling.

　　"They're still there, Mr. Holmes," he said, clutching my friend's sleeve with his hand, "and as I passed the villa, I saw a light. It is time for us to address it categorically and completely. ”

　　"So, what are your plans?" As we walked down the dark shaded road, Holmes asked.

　　"I'm going to break in and see for myself who is in the house." I want you two to bear witness. ”

　　"Your wife warned you better not to unravel the mystery, are you determined to break in desperately?"

　　"Yes, I made up my mind."

　　"Well, I think you're right. It's better to find out the truth than to be endlessly skeptical. We'd better go right away. Of course, legally speaking, it is wrong for us to do so. But I think it's worth it. ”

　　It was unusually dark that night, and we turned from the road onto a narrow path lined with hedges, and it began to drizzle, and Mr. Grant Munro rushed forward impatiently, and we stumbled with all our might.

　　"That's the light in my house," he whispered, pointing to the flashing light in the bushes, "and this is the villa I'm going into." ”

　　As he spoke, we had turned a corner in the path, and the house was within reach. In front of the door, a yellow light was reflected, indicating that the door was half-hidden, and a window upstairs was also illuminated by the light. We looked over and saw a dark shadow passing over the curtain.

　　"This is the monster!" Grant Munro shouted, "You can see with your own eyes that someone is here. Now come with me, and we'll figure it out right away. ”

　　We approached the door, and suddenly a woman came out of the dark shadow and stood in the golden light of the light. In the dark I couldn't see her face clearly, but she raised her arms high and made a pleading gesture.

　　"Look at God's face, don't do this! "Jack," she shouted, "I expected you to come tonight. Honey, please think again! Believe me again, you'll never regret it. ”

　　"Effie, I've believed in you for too long," he snapped, "let go of me!" I must go in. My friends and I'm going to fix this once and for all! He pushed his wife aside and we walked over behind him. He had just opened the door when an old woman ran up to him and tried to stop him, but as soon as he pushed her away, we were all upstairs. Grant Munro ran to the lit house above, and we went inside.

　　It was a warm, comfortable, well-furnished bedroom with two candles lit on the table and two on the mantelpiece. In one corner of the room, it looked like a little girl sitting bent over the table. As soon as we entered the door, she turned her face, but we could see that she was wearing a red blouse and a pair of long white gloves. When she suddenly turned to us, I couldn't help but cry out in horror. Her face was an extremely strange lead gray, completely expressionless. In an instant, the mystery was revealed. Holmes smiled and put his hand behind the child's ear, and a false mask fell from her face, and it turned out that she was a small black girl like black charcoal, and at the sight of our frightened faces, a row of white teeth was revealed with joy. Seeing her funny look, I couldn't help but laugh. But Grant Munro put one hand on his throat and stood there staring blankly.

　　"Oh my Goodness!" He shouted, "What's going on? ”

　　"I tell you what's going on," said his wife, glancing firmly and proudly at the people in the room, "you forced me to tell you against my will that now the two of us must find a proper solution." My husband died in Atlanta, but the child is still alive. ”

　　"Your child?"

　　She took a large silver box from her arms and said:

　　"You've never seen it open."

　　"I thought it wouldn't open."

　　She pressed the spring and the lid immediately opened. Inside was a portrait of a man, handsome and gentle, but his face was clearly characteristic of African origin.

　　"This is John Heberon of Atlanta," said Madame, "and there is no one more noble in the world." I was cut off from my peers in order to marry him, but I didn't regret it for a moment when he was alive. Unfortunately, our only child inherited the bloodline of her ancestors and was not like me. Because whites and blacks intermarry, this is often the case. Little Lucy was much darker than her father. Black or white, she is, after all, my own dear little daughter, a mother's little baby. "Hearing these words, the little one ran over and snuggled up next to the woman." It was only because she was in poor health that the change of soil and water might be harmful to her that I handed her over to our former servant, a devoted Scottish woman, to raise. I never thought of abandoning my children. But ever since I met you, Jack, and knew that I was in love with you, I didn't dare tell you that I had a child, and God forgave me, I was afraid I would lose you, so I didn't have the courage to tell you. I have only chosen one of the two of you, my cowardly man, who has finally abandoned my little girl and chosen you. I've been hiding this from you for three years, but I often get news from the babysitter that she's all right. However, I finally couldn't contain my desire to meet my child. Although I have repeatedly suppressed this desire, it has not helped. I knew there was danger and was determined to let my child come, even for a few weeks. So I sent a hundred pounds to the nanny and told her that there was a cottage here, that she could come and live with me in the neighborhood, and that I didn't have to come forward and contact her. I even told her not to let the child go outside during the day, and to cover the child's face and hands, and even if someone saw her from the window, there would be no gossip that there was a little black man in the neighboring house. If I hadn't been too careful, I might not have done it so stupidly. Because I am afraid that you will see the truth, but I am a little dizzy.

　　"It was you who first told me that there was someone living in this little cottage, and I was supposed to wait until morning, but I couldn't sleep with excitement, because I knew it was difficult for you to wake up, so I slipped out." Unexpectedly, you saw it, so I began to get into trouble. The next day you discovered my secret, but you were magnanimous and did not pursue it. Three days later, you break in through the front door, but the nanny and the child escape through the back door. Tonight the truth finally came out, what are you going to do with me and my children? She clasped her hands and waited for an answer.

　　After ten minutes of this, Grant Munro broke the silence. His answer left me with pleasant memories. He picked up the child, kissed her, and then, holding the child in one hand and his wife in the other, turned and walked toward the door.

　　"We can go home and discuss calmly," he said, "although I am not a saint, Effie, but I think it is better than you think." ”

　　Holmes and I followed him out of the path when my friend tugged at my sleeve.

　　"I suppose," he said, "that we'll go back to London anyway, and that's more useful than it would be in Norbury." ”

　　He never spoke of the case again all night, until he finally walked back to his bedroom with a lit candle and said:

　　"Watson, if in the future you feel that I am overconfident in my ability, or that I am not working hard enough in a case, please whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, then I will be grateful." 」

　　The Ridgate Mystery

　　It was in the spring of 1887, and my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, had exhausted himself from overwork and had not yet recovered his health. The Holland-Sumatra Company case and Baron Mopotuiz's vast plan are still fresh in people's minds. These cases are so closely related to politics and economics that they are not well documented in a series of my memoirs. But, from another point of view, those two cases were so unique and complex that my friend had the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of a new method of struggle, one of the many methods he had used throughout his life to combat criminality.

　　I looked up my notes and saw that on The fourteenth of April I had received a telegram from Lyon informing me that Holmes was bedridden at the Durand Hotel. Within twenty-four hours, I rushed to his hospital room and was relieved to find that his symptoms were not very serious. However, even a steely physique like his, under the fatigue of more than two months of investigation, could not avoid collapsing. During this period, he worked at least fifteen hours a day, and he told me that on one occasion he worked five days a day, night. Even the joy of victory could not bring him back after such terrible exhaustion. While his name was ringing all over Europe and congratulatory messages were piled up in his house, I found holmes still in pain and frustration. The news came that the police of all three countries had failed, but he had won, and he had foiled the tricks of Europe's most skilled fraudsters in every way. Even this did not lift him from exhaustion.

　　Three days later, we returned to Baker Street together. However, it would obviously be better for my friend to change the environment, and the idea of taking advantage of this great spring light to spend a week in the countryside was also very attractive to me. My old friend Colonel Haidt asked me to treat him when he was in Afghanistan. He now buys a home near Reggate, Surrey, and often invites me to visit him. Recently, he said that as long as my friend is willing to go with me, he will be happy to entertain him. I made this point in a roundabout way, and when Holmes heard that the master was a bachelor and that he was completely free to move, he agreed to my plan. A week after returning from Lyon, we arrived at the Colonel's quarters. Haidt was a laid-back, well-informed veteran, and he soon realized that he and Holmes were very good at talking, which was exactly what I expected.

　　On the evening of our arrival, we had dinner and sat in the Colonel's gun storage room. Holmes was lying on the couch on all fours, and Haidt and I were looking at his little ordnance room where the eastern weapons were stored.

　　"By the way," said the Colonel suddenly, "I want to take a pistol upstairs from here, in case I encounter an alarm." ”

　　"Alert?!" I said.

　　"Yes, we have been greatly disturbed by recent incidents in our area. Old Acton was a local gentry. Last Monday someone broke into his house. Although he didn't suffer a lot of damage, the guys were still at large. ”

　　"Don't you have a clue?" Holmes looked at the colonel and asked.

　　"There are no clues yet. But this is a small matter, a small crime in our village, and after you have handled such a huge international case, it must not attract your attention, Mr. Holmes. ”

　　Holmes waved his hand and told him not to praise himself, but he smiled, indicating that these words of praise made him happy.

　　"Are there any important signs?"

　　"I don't think so. The thieves searched the library, and despite their efforts, they didn't get anything. The whole library was turned upside down, the drawers were all knocked open, and the books were turned into a mess. It turned out to be only a volume of Pope's translated Homer's poems, two gilded candlesticks, an ivory paperweight on one side, a small oak barometer and a ball of thread missing. ”

　　"It's so varied and bizarre!" I shouted.

　　"Well, these guys are obviously taking the sheep by the hand, touching what to do."

　　Holmes snorted on the couch.

　　"The regional police should find some clues in this," said Holmes, "hey, obviously..."

　　But I held out my finger and warned him, "You're here to rest, my dear friend." If your nerves are still very tired, please be sure not to start a new case. ”

　　Holmes shrugged and glanced helplessly at the Colonel, and we turned to irrelevant matters.

　　However, everything has its own destiny, and all those words that destined me as a doctor to remind him of it were in vain. Because the next morning, the case itself forced us to intervene, so that we could not ignore it, and our trip to the countryside changed in a way that neither of us expected. As we were entering breakfast, the Colonel's butler broke in without the slightest courtesy.

　　"Did you hear the news?" "Sir," he said breathlessly, "it's at Cunningham's house!" Mr. ”

　　"It's theft again!" The colonel held up a cup of coffee in his hand and said loudly.

　　"Kill someone!"

　　The Colonel exclaimed, "Oh my God! He said, "So, who was killed?" Was it the sheriff or his son? ”

　　"Neither, sir. It was William the Coachman. The bullet pierced his heart, and he could no longer speak, sir. ”

　　"So, who shot him?"

　　"It's the thief, sir. He flew away and escaped without a trace. He had just broken through the kitchen window when William bumped into him. In order to protect his master's property, William was killed. ”

　　"When was that?"

　　"It was last night, sir, at about twelve o'clock."

　　"Ah, then, in a moment we'll see," said the Colonel, and sat down again composed for his breakfast. "It is a very unfortunate thing," added the Colonel after the butler had left, "that old Cunningham was our leading figure here, and a very decent man. He must have been very sad about this, for this man had served him for several years and was a very good servant. The culprit was clearly the villain who broke into Acton's house. ”

　　"Is that the same person who stole that bunch of weird stuff?" Holmes said thoughtfully.

　　"Yes."

　　"Oh! It's probably the easiest thing in the world, but at first glance, it's still a little weird, isn't it? As one might expect, a group of thieves operating in the countryside would always have to change the location of their crimes and would never break into a house twice in the same area within a few days to steal. When you talked about taking precautions last night, I remember an idea flashing through my head: this place is probably the parish that British thieves pay least attention to. From this, I still have a lot to learn. ”

　　"I suppose it was done by the local thieves," said the Colonel, "and if that were the case, of course, Acton and Cunning's house would be exactly where he was going to visit." Because the two of them are the largest in the area. ”

　　"Is it also the richest family?"

　　"Yes, they should be the richest. However, the two of them have been fighting for several years. I think this lawsuit sucked a lot of blood and sweat from both of them. The elder Acton once demanded half of The Canning's possessions, and the lawyers profited from it. ”

　　"If this is a crime committed by a local villain, it is not very difficult to track him down." Holmes yawned and said, "Well, Watson, I'm not going to interfere in this matter. ”

　　"Sergeant Forrest begs to see, sir," said the butler, opening the door suddenly.

　　A young officer with a quick wit walked into the room.

　　"Good morning, Colonel," he said, "I hope not to disturb you, but we have heard that Mr. Holmes of Baker Street is here." ”

　　The colonel waved his hand at my friend, and the sergeant nodded in greeting and said, "We think you would probably like to come and guide me, Mr. Holmes." ”

　　"Fate is against your will, Watson." Holmes said with a smile, "When you came in, we were talking about this case, sergeant. Maybe you can let us know more details. "When he leaned back on the back of the chair in his usual posture, I knew my plan had failed again.

　　"In the Acton case, we don't have a clue yet. But in this case at the moment, we have many clues that can be worked on. There is no doubt that the two cases were committed by the same group. Someone saw the perpetrator. ”

　　"Huh?!"

　　"Yes, sir. But after shooting and killing poor William Cowan, the perpetrator ran away like a deer. Mr. Cunningham saw him from the bedroom window and Mr. Alec Cunningham saw him from the back corridor. It was the alarm that sounded at eleven o'clock. Mr. Cunningham had just fallen asleep and Mr. Alec was smoking in his pajamas. Both of them heard William the Coachman's cry for help, so Mr. Alec ran downstairs to see what was going on. The back door was open. As he walked to the foot of the stairs, he saw two people wrestling outside. One of them fired one shot and the other fell. The murderer ran through the garden and over the fence and fled. Mr. Cunningham looked out of his bedroom and saw the guy running down the main road, but in the blink of an eye he was gone. Mr. Alec stopped to see if he could still save the dying man, and let the villain escape. Aside from knowing that the murderer was of medium stature and wearing dark clothes, we have no clue about his appearance, but we are trying to investigate, and if he is a foreigner, we can find out him immediately. ”

　　"What happened to that William?" What did he say before he died? ”

　　Not a word was said. He and his mother lived in servants' houses. Because he was very loyal, we thought, maybe he went to the kitchen to see if there was any peace there. Of course, the Acton case raised everyone's vigilance. No sooner had the robber pushed the door open—the lock had been pried open—and William ran into him. ”

　　"Did William say anything to his mother before he went out?"

　　"His mother was deaf and we couldn't find anything from her. She was so frightened by this that she almost became stupid. Still, I know she's not usually very shrewd either. However, there is a very important situation. Take a look! ”

　　The officer took a corner of torn paper from his notebook and spread it on his knees.

　　"We found the deceased clutching this note in his hand. It appears that it was torn off a large piece of paper. As you can see, the time mentioned above is the moment when this poor fellow was in misfortune. You see, either the murderer tore a piece from the hands of the dead, or the dead took back the corner from the murderer. This note reads a lot like a short Date for a person. ”

　　Holmes picked up the little piece of paper. Below is a replica of it.

　　[Fig. 1 mem-co1.gif]

　　"We think it's a date," the sergeant continued, "and of course it is possible to believe that, though William Cowan is known for his loyalty, he may also be in collusion with thieves." He may have been there to greet the thieves, or even help them break through the door, and later the two of them may have fallen out again. ”

　　"This font is very interesting," said Holmes, examining the note intently, "and it is much more profound than I thought." He clasped his hands in his head in thought, and the officer could not help but be overjoyed to see that the case had made the famous London detective so tired.

　　"You have just said," said Holmes after a moment, "that there may be a tacit understanding between the thief and the servant, and that this piece of paper may be a secret letter from one man to another, and this is indeed a unique insight, not entirely impossible. But this note clearly reads..." He put his hands on his head again and pondered for a moment. When he looked up again, I was amazed to see that he was as red as he had been when he was not sick, his eyes were shining, his energy was full, and he jumped up.

　　"I'll tell you," he said, "I'd love to take a look at it quietly and find out some of the details of the case." There are some things about it that appeal to me very much. If you allow it, Colonel, I would like to say goodbye to you and my friend Watson and go on a run with the officer to test one or two of my ideas. I'll see you again in half an hour. ”

　　After an hour and a half, the officer returned alone.

　　"Mr. Holmes is pacing around in the field," he said, "and he wants the four of us to go to the house together to have a look." ”

　　"Go to Mr. Cunningham's house?"

　　"What to do?"

　　The officer shrugged and said, "I don't know exactly, sir. I will tell you only that I don't think Mr. Holmes's illness is all right. He acted very eccentric and overly agitated. ”

　　"I don't think you need to make a fuss," I said, "I often find that when he seems to be crazy, he is already confident." ”

　　"Some would say that his method is simply mad," muttered the sergeant, "but he is in a hurry to investigate, Colonel, so if you are ready, we had better go now." ”

　　We saw Holmes with his head bowed, his hands in his trouser pockets, pacing around the field.

　　"It's got more interesting," said Holmes, "Watson, the country trip you initiated has been markedly successful. I had a wonderful morning. ”

　　"I know you've been to the crime scene," said the colonel.

　　"Yes, I have already inspected the scene with the officers."

　　"What are the achievements?"

　　"Ah, we saw something very interesting. Let's talk as we go, and I'll tell you everything we've done. First, we saw the unfortunate corpse. Indeed, as the officer said, he died of a gunshot wound. ”

　　"So, do you have any doubts about this?"

　　"Ah, it's better to examine everything. Our reconnaissance is not in vain. Later we met with Mr. Cunningham and his son because they were able to point out the exact location where the killer had crossed the garden fence when he escaped. This is extremely important. ”

　　"Of course."

　　"Then we looked at the poor man's mother again. But she was old and frail, and we couldn't get any information from her. ”

　　"So, what is the result of your investigation?"

　　"The result is that I'm convinced this crime is bizarre. Perhaps our current visit can make it somewhat clearer. Officer, I think we both agree that the time written on this piece of paper in the deceased's hand is the exact time of his death, and that is extremely important. ”

　　"This gives us a clue, Mr. Holmes."

　　"It does give us a clue. The person who wrote this note was the one who wanted William Cowan to get up at that time. But where is the half of this piece of paper? ”

　　"I examined the ground carefully and hoped to find it." The officer said.

　　"It was torn from the hands of the dead. Why is someone so desperate to get it? Because it can prove his crime. What does he do with it after tearing it off? He tucked it into his pocket, probably not noticing that a dime of paper was still in the hands of the deceased. If we could get the piece of paper that we had torn away, it would obviously be of great help to us in solving the mystery. ”

　　"Yes, but we have not caught the criminal, so how can we get it from the criminal's pocket?"

　　"Ah, ah, that's something worth careful consideration. And there's another point that's also obvious. This note was for William. The person who wrote the note would not have given it to him personally, otherwise, of course, he could have told him the contents himself. So, who brought the note to the dead? Maybe it was sent by post office? ”

　　"I have inquired," said the sergeant, "and yesterday afternoon William received a letter from the post office. The envelope had been destroyed by him. ”

　　"Superb!" Holmes patted the officer on the back and said loudly, "You've seen the postman. I'm very happy to work with you. Well, that's the servant's house, Colonel, and if you'd like to come in, I'll show you the crime scene. ”

　　We walked past the beautiful hut where the victims lived, walked up a path lined with oak trees, and came to an ornate Queen Anne-era mansion with the lintel inscribed Marboro [In 1709, during the Battle of the Spanish Succession, Marboro commanded the British and their allies to defeat the French.] —the date of the translator's note]. Holmes and the officer led us around, and then we came to the side door. Outside the door is the garden, and outside the fence of the garden is the main road.

　　A policeman stood by the kitchen door.

　　"Please open the door, sergeant," said Holmes, "hey, it was from the stairs that little Mr. Cunningham saw the two men fighting, and the place where they fought was where we were now, and it was at the second window from the left that mr. Cunningham saw the fellow who had just escaped to the left of the bushes. His son said the same thing. Both of them mentioned the dwarf bushes. Then Mr. Alec ran out and knelt beside the injured. You see, the ground here is very hard and has not left us a trace. As Holmes was speaking, two men went around the corner of the house and walked up the path of the garden. One is older, with a strong face, deep wrinkles on his face, and his eyes are depressed; the other is a beautifully dressed young man, who is lively, full of smiles, and richly dressed, which is a very strange contrast to the case we have come for.

　　"Are you still investigating this?" He said to Holmes, "I suppose you Londoners will not fail. But you don't seem to be able to solve the case anytime soon. ”

　　"Ah, you must give us some time," said Holmes cheerfully.

　　"It's necessary for you," said Alec Cunningham, "and oh, I don't see any clues at all. ”

　　"There is only one clue," replied the policeman, "we think that as soon as we can find ... Oh, my God! Mr. Holmes, what's going on? ”

　　My poor friend's face suddenly showed a very frightening expression. His eyes rolled straight up, and his face changed shape in pain. He snorted uncontrollably, his face falling to the ground. He suddenly fell ill, and so badly, that it startled us. We hurriedly carried him to the kitchen and made him lie down on a large chair. He breathed hard for a while, and finally stood up again, ashamed and sorry for his weakness.

　　"Watson will tell you that I have a serious illness and have just recovered." Holmes explains, "This neuralgia can easily flare up suddenly. ”

　　"Did you send you home in my carriage?" Old Cunningham asked.

　　"Well, now that I'm here, there's one thing I want to make clear.

　　We can easily find out about it. ”

　　"What's the problem?"

　　"Ah, it seems to me that the arrival of poor William was probably not before the thief entered the house, but after the thief entered the house. It seems that you just take it for granted that although the door was opened, the robber did not enter the house. ”

　　"I suppose it is quite obvious," said Mr. Cunningham gravely, "well, my son Alec is not yet asleep, and if anyone moves, he will be able to hear it." ”

　　"Where was he sitting?"

　　"I was sitting in the locker room smoking."

　　"Which window is for the dressing room?"

　　"The last window on the left, next to my father's bedroom."

　　"Then the lights in both of your rooms are naturally on?"

　　"Good value for money"

　　"Now there are a few points which are very strange," said Holmes with a smile, "is it not strange that a thief, and a rather experienced thief, who, at a glance at the lights, knows that there are two people in this house who have not yet slept, but have deliberately broken into the house?" ”

　　"He must be a calm veteran."

　　"Ah, of course, if it were not for the strangeness of this case, we would not have been forced to come to you for advice," said Mr. Alec, "but I think it is ridiculous that you say that the thief had entered the room before William caught him." Wasn't the house not messed up and nothing was found lost? ”

　　"It depends on what it is," said Holmes, "and you must not forget that we are dealing with such a robber—he is not simple, and he seems to have his own set of methods." You see, what are all the weird things he took from Acton's house? A ball of thread, a paperweight on one side, and something else I don't know about. ”

　　"Well, we have entrusted everything to you, Mr. Holmes," said old Cunningham, "and do everything at your command or to the sergeant." ”

　　"First of all," said Holmes, "I would like to ask you to offer a reward yourself, because it may take some time for the authorities to agree to the money, and it is impossible to do these things immediately." I've got a draft, and if you don't object, please sign it. Fifty pounds, I suppose, is enough. ”

　　"I'd rather give five hundred pounds," said the sheriff, taking the paper and pencil that Holmes had handed him. "But that's not entirely true," he added as he glanced through the manuscript.

　　"I wrote too hastily."

　　"You see what you wrote at the beginning: 'Given that there was an attempted robbery at 00:30 a.m. on Tuesday,' and so on. In fact, it happened at eleven o'clock and three. ”

　　I was saddened to see this mistake, for I knew that Holmes was always embarrassed by such negligence. Getting the facts very accurate is his specialty. But his recent illness had choked him enough, and the little thing in front of him was enough to show me that his body was far from recovering. Apparently, he was embarrassed.

　　The officer raised his eyebrows, and Alec Cunningham laughed. The old gentleman immediately corrected the error and returned the paper to Holmes.

　　"Send it to you as soon as possible," said Old Cunningham, "I think your idea is very clever." Holmes, however, carefully put the paper away and clipped it in his notepad.

　　"Now," he said, "we'd better take a closer look at the mansion together to find out if this eccentric thief really didn't steal anything." ”

　　Before entering the house, Holmes scrutinized the broken door. Apparently, it was with a chisel or a sturdy knife inserted in and the lock pried open. We can see the marks left on the wood after the sharp object is inserted.

　　"So, don't you use door latches?" Holmes asked.

　　"We always thought it was unnecessary."

　　"Don't you have a dog?"

　　"Got it, but we chained the dog to the other side of the house."

　　"When did the servants go to sleep?"

　　"Around ten o'clock."

　　"I heard that William didn't usually go to bed at this time?"

　　"Yes."

　　"It's strange that on this night of the accident, he got up. Now, I would be happy if you would show us this residence, Mr. Cunningham. ”

　　We passed the slate corridor next to the kitchen and followed a wooden staircase to the second floor of the residence. We ascended the landing. Opposite it is another ornately decorated staircase leading to the front hall. Past this landing is the living room and several bedrooms, including the bedrooms of Mr. Cunningham and his son.

　　Holmes walked unhurriedly, paying attention to the style of the house. I could tell from his expression that he was following a thread tightly, but I still couldn't guess what he was following.

　　"I said sir," said Mr. Cunningham somewhat impatiently, "that must be very unnecessary. The stairwell was my bedroom. My son's bedroom is right next door. I would like to ask you to judge that if this thief goes upstairs and we are unaware, is this possible? ”

　　"I suppose you should go around the house and investigate, looking for new clues," Cunningham's son laughed sinisterly.

　　"I'm going to ask you to take me a little longer, for example, I'd love to see how far I can look out of the bedroom window. I know, this is your son's bedroom," said Holmes, pushing the door open, "and this is the dressing room where he was sitting smoking when the alarm was raised!" Where does its window face? Holmes walked over the bedroom, pushed open the door, and looked around the other room.

　　"I guess you should be satisfied by now, right?" Mr. Cunningham said sharply.

　　"Thank you, I think I've seen everything I want to see."

　　"Well, if you really think it's necessary, you can go to my room."

　　"If it doesn't bother you too much, go for it!"

　　The sheriff shrugged and led us into his own bedroom. The furniture and furnishings in the room are very simple and ordinary, and it is an ordinary room. As we walked toward the window, Holmes walked slowly, so much so that he and I fell behind everyone. Next to the bed, there was a plate of oranges and a bottle of water. As we walked past the bed, Holmes leaned ahead of me and deliberately knocked all these things to the ground. The glass bottle shattered and the fruit rolled everywhere, which startled me!

　　"Look at you, Watson," said Holmes calmly, "you made a mess of the carpet. ”

　　I leaned down in a panic and began to pick the fruit, knowing that my friend wanted me to take responsibility for a reason. Others picked up the fruit as they lifted the table up again.

　　"Oops!" The officer shouted, "Where has he been?" ”

　　Holmes was gone.

　　"Please wait here," said Alec Cunningham, "I see that there is something wrong with this man's nerves, Father, you come, let's go see where he has gone!" ”

　　They rushed out the door, and the officer, the colonel, and I stayed in the room looking at each other.

　　"Oops, I agree with the master, Alec," said the sergeant, "that may be the result of his illness, but I seem to think..."

　　Before he could finish speaking, there was a sudden scream, "Come on! Come on people! Kill! "I heard it was my friend's voice and couldn't help but creep out. I rushed madly from the room to the landing. The cry for help was lowered and turned hoarse, muffled shouts from the room we had first entered. I rushed straight in and ran all the way into the locker room inside. The Canningian father and son were pressing Sherlock Holmes to the ground, and the little Cunningham was pinching Holmes's throat with both hands, and the old Cunningham seemed to be twisting one of his wrists. The three of us immediately pulled them away from Sherlock Holmes. Holmes stood up shakily, pale, obviously exhausted.

　　"Hurry up and arrest these two men, sergeant," said Holmes breathlessly.

　　"On what charge was the arrest?"

　　"The crime was the murder of their coachman, William Cowan."

　　The sergeant stared at Holmes with two eyes in a daze.

　　"Ah, well, Mr. Holmes," said the sergeant at last, "I believe that you don't really want to..."

　　"Cough, sir, look at their faces!" Holmes said out loud and rudely.

　　Indeed, I have never seen such a confessional facial expression.

　　The old man seemed to be like a wooden chicken, and a look of deep pain and anger appeared on his determined face. On the other hand, the son had lost his original lively attitude and had become like a fierce god, his eyes showing a forced and fierce light like a trapped beast, and he no longer had the slightest sense of elegance. Without a word, the officer walked to the door and blew his siren. Two police officers answered the call.

　　"I have to do this, Mr. Cunningham," said the sergeant, "I believe it may have been a ridiculous misunderstanding, but you can see—ah, what do you want to do?" Drop it! He raised his hand and shot it, and the pistol Alec was about to fire snapped and fell to the ground.

　　"Don't move," said Holmes, calmly stepping on the pistol with his foot, "it is only useful during interrogation." But that's what we really need. He said holding up a small ball of paper.

　　"That part of that piece of paper that was torn away!" The officer shouted.

　　"Not bad at all."

　　"Where did you find it?"

　　"Found it where I expected it to be. I'll make the whole case clear to you right away. Colonel, I think you and Watson can go back now. I'll see you again in an hour at the most. I and the officer were going to interrogate the criminals for a few words, but I would definitely rush back at lunch. ”

　　Holmes was very obedient, and an hour later he met us again in the Colonel's smoking room. He came with the company of a short old gentleman. Holmes introduced to me that this was Mr. Acton, and that the first theft had taken place in his home.

　　"When I explain to you this little case, I hope that Mr. Acton will also be present," said Holmes, "and naturally he is also interested in the details of the case." My dear Colonel, I am afraid that you must regret having received such a troublesome man as I am. ”

　　"On the contrary," replied the Colonel enthusiastically, "I think it is my greatest privilege to have the opportunity to learn your detective methods." I confess that this is completely unexpected, and I am completely unable to explain the results you have obtained. I didn't even see a clue. ”

　　"I am afraid that my explanation will disappoint you, but my method of work is not at all secretive to my friend Watson, and to anyone who is serious about my working methods. However, because I was attacked in the locker room, I wanted to drink a little brandy to calm the mind, Colonel. I had just run out of energy. ”

　　"I'm sure your neuralgia won't flare up like this again."

　　Sherlock Holmes burst out laughing. "We shall come back to this matter later," said Holmes, "and I shall tell you about this case in order, and shall tell you the points which have prompted me to make up my mind." If you don't know anything, feel free to ask me.

　　"In the art of detective, the most important thing is to be able to see from many facts which are critical problems and which are secondary problems. Otherwise, your energy will not only fail to concentrate, but will be distracted. Therefore, from the very beginning of this case, I have no doubt that the key to the whole case must lie in the shredded piece of paper in the hands of the deceased.

　　"Before discussing this issue, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that if what Alec Cunningham said is true, if the murderer escaped immediately after killing William Cowan, then it is clear that the murderer could not tear that piece of paper from the hands of the deceased. But if it hadn't been for the murderer's tearing, it would have been Alec Cunningham himself, for several servants were already on the scene before the old man went downstairs. This is very simple, but the police officer ignores it. Because from the beginning, he speculated that these squires had nothing to do with the case. At that time, I was determined not to hold any prejudices, but to follow the direction that the facts showed me. So, at the beginning of the investigation, I looked suspiciously at the role played by Mr. Alec Cunningham.

　　"I examined very carefully the corner of the paper that the officer handed us. I immediately saw clearly that this was a very noteworthy piece. That's the note. Don't you see something very telling now? ”

　　"The font looks irregular." The colonel said.

　　"My dear sir," said Holmes aloud, "there is no doubt that it was written alternately by two men. I just have to draw your attention to the two powerful 't' in the words 'at' and 'to', and compare them with the two weak 't' words in 'quarter' and 'twelve', and you will see the truth of the matter at once. From the simple analysis of these four words, you can say with confidence that the 'learn' and 'maybe' are written by the man with the sharp edge, and the 'what' is written by the weak man. ”

　　"Oh my God, this is really clear!" The Colonel shouted, "Why on earth did the two of them write this letter in such a way?" ”

　　"It was obviously a crime, and one of them didn't trust the other, so he decided that whatever he did, the two of them had to do it together. It is clear that of these two men, the one who wrote the 'at' and 'to' was the mastermind. ”

　　"Then what do you say?"

　　"We can infer from the handwriting of the two men who are compared. But we have stronger reasons. If you examine the paper carefully, you will come to the conclusion that the man with the sharp pen first writes all the words he wants to write, leaving many blanks and asking another person to fill them out. And these blanks are not all redundant, and you can see that when the second person filled in the word "quarter" between "at" and "to", he wrote very crowdedly, indicating that the words "at" and "to" were written first. The man who wrote the first thing he was going to write was, no doubt, the one who planned the case. ”

　　"Wonderful!" Mr. Acton said loudly.

　　"But it is obvious," said Holmes, "but we shall now turn to an important point. Probably, you don't know, experts can infer a man's age fairly accurately from his handwriting, and under normal circumstances, can determine a man's age with fair certainty. I said, 'Under normal circumstances,' this is because unhealthy and weak physique is characteristic of the elderly, and if the young man is a patient, his handwriting will also have the characteristics of the elderly. In this case, if we look at one person's handwriting, which is thick and powerful, and the other's handwriting, though weak and weak, is still very clear, but the word 't' is missing, we can say that one of them is a young man, and the other is not very old, but he is also old. ”

　　"Wonderful!" Mr. Acton said loudly again.

　　"Another thing is that it's very subtle and interesting. The handwriting of the two men has some similarities. They are people of the same bloodline, and perhaps the most obvious thing for you is that the 'e' is written like the Greek letter 'ε'. However, in my opinion, many small places can illustrate the same problem. I have no doubt that, in terms of the style of writing, these two handwritings are from the handwriting of a family. Of course, what I am telling you now is only the main result of my examination of this piece of paper. There are twenty-three other inferences that the experts are probably more interested in than you are. And all of this deepened my impression, and the Cunningham father and son wrote this letter.

　　"Having come to that conclusion, of course, the next step is to investigate the details of the crimes and see how much they can help us." The officer and I came to their residence and saw everything we had to see. I am absolutely certain that the wounds on the deceased's body were shot with a pistol four yards away. There were no marks of gunpowder on the clothes of the deceased.

　　So it's clear that Alec Cunningham's statement that the killer fired his gun in the fight was a complete lie. In addition, the father and son pointed out in unison that the man had fled to the place where the main road passed. However, as it happens, there is a wide ditch in this place, and the bottom of the ditch is wet. Since no footprints had been found near the ditch, I was not only absolutely convinced that the Cunningham father and son had lied again, but I was certain that there had never been anyone from unknown origin at the scene.

　　"Now I have to consider the motives for the crime in this strange case. In order to reach this point, I must first ascertain the cause of the first theft at Mr. Acton's house. From some of the things the Colonel told us, I learned that Mr. Acton, you and canning are in a lawsuit. Of course, it occurred to me immediately that they had broken into your study in an attempt to steal some important document about the case. ”

　　"Not bad at all," said Mr. Acton, "there is no doubt that they meant it." I have every right to claim half of their existing property. But if they could find my piece of evidence, they would have won, but, luckily, I had already put it in my lawyer's safe. ”

　　"Look how it goes," said Holmes with a smile, "that it was a dangerous and reckless attempt, and I seemed to think it was Alec's doing. When they couldn't find anything, they were suspicious and took something with them, making it an ordinary theft. This could not be clearer, but there are still many places that are still obscure. First, I'm going to find the half of the note that was torn away. I'm sure it was ripped off by Alec from the dead man's hand, and I'm sure he must have stuffed it into the pocket of his pajamas. Otherwise, where else could he put it? The only question is whether it's still in the pocket. It's well worth the effort to find it. For this purpose, we all went to their house together.

　　"You probably remember that The Cunninghams ran into us outside the kitchen door. Of course, it is of the utmost importance not to mention the matter of this paper in front of them, or they will destroy it without delay. Just as the officer was about to tell them the importance we attached to the paper, I pretended to faint suddenly and turned the subject away. ”

　　"Oops!" The Colonel laughed and shouted, "You mean, we are all in vain anxious for you, and your sudden onset of illness turned out to be pretend?" ”

　　"Professionally, this hand is so beautifully done," I exclaimed, looking in amazement at the man who often used unpredictable techniques to confuse me.

　　"It is an art that is often used," said Holmes, "and when I returned to normalcy, I made a little trick and had Cunningham Sr. write 'twelve'. Eleven o'clock in English, written as a minute difference of twelve o'clock. Holmes deliberately wrote the time as a moment short so that Cunningham would leave his handwriting behind when corrected. This is a word that allows me to compare it with the 'twelve' written on the secret letter. ”

　　"Oh, how stupid I am!" I shouted.

　　"I can see that you came out sympathetic to my physical weakness," said Holmes with a smile, "and I know that you must have been very anxious at the time, and I was very unhappy not to go." Later we went upstairs together. I entered the room, saw the pajamas hanging behind the door, and deliberately turned over a table, trying to get their attention, and then slipped back to check the pockets of the pajamas. I had just gotten the piece of paper—it was not surprising to me, in the pajama pocket of one of them—and the Cunningham father and son pounced on me, and I believe that if you had not come to my rescue in time, they would have killed me on the spot. In fact, I felt the young man already choking me by the throat, and his father twisted my wrist to retrieve the piece of paper from me. You see, they know that I have learned the whole truth of the matter, and they originally thought it was absolutely safe, but all of a sudden they were completely in a desperate situation, so they took the risk.

　　Later, I spoke to Old Cunningham and asked him what his motive was. He was honest, but his son was a complete villain, and if he got his pistol, he would beat himself or someone else to death. When Cunningham saw that the case was very unfavorable to him, he completely lost confidence and confessed everything. It seems that that night, when William's two masters suddenly broke into Acton's residence, William quietly followed them. Knowing this about their privacy, William threatened to expose them and began extorting them. However, Mr. Alec is a dangerous man accustomed to playing such tricks. He had the genius to see that the theft that had shocked the whole country was an opportunity to kill the people he feared. They lured William out and killed him. If they had the full note in their hands and paid a little attention to the details of their complicity, they would probably not arouse suspicion. ”

　　"But what about that note?"

　　Sherlock Holmes put this torn note in front of us.

　　(The Secret Covenant translates as —If you arrive at the East Gate at eleven o'clock three, you will learn something extremely unexpected and of great benefit to you and to Anne Morrison.) But don't tell anyone about it. ）

　　"This is exactly what I was hoping for," said Holmes, "and of course we do not yet know what relationship there is between Alec Cunningham, William Cowan, and Anne Morrison. As can be seen from the outcome of the matter, this trap is very cleverly arranged. I'm sure you'll be happy when you find that the tail ends of those "p" and "g" have the same characteristics. The old man writing the word 'i' without pointing at the point above is also very unique. Watson, I think we've had a remarkable effect of resting quietly in the countryside, and tomorrow I'll be back on Baker Street with plenty of energy. ”

　　Musgrave Ceremony

　　My friend Sherlock Holmes has a little bit of a personality that annoys me a lot. Although his methods of thought were sharp, methodical, and his dress was simple and neat, his habits of life were disorganized and upset the people who lived with him. I myself am not blameless in this regard. The messy work I had in Afghanistan, and the debauchery of temperament, had made me rather sloppy, not what a doctor should be. But there's always a limit to me. When I saw a man put a cigarette roll in a coal bucket and a tobacco leaf on top of a Persian slipper, and some unanswered letters were inserted in the middle of the wooden mantel with a large folding knife, I began to think that I was still weird. Moreover, I have always thought that the practice of pistols should obviously be an outdoor pastime, and that Holmes, on a whim, sat in an armchair and, with his pistol and a hundred cassettes of bullets, decorated the opposite wall with bullet marks in the spirit of Queen Victoria's patriotism, and I deeply felt that this would not improve the atmosphere in our interior nor the appearance of the house.

　　Our rooms were often stuffed with chemicals and the relics of criminals, and these things were often placed in unexpected places, sometimes suddenly in butter plates, or even in less noticeable places, but his documents were my greatest problem. He dislikes destroying documents the least, especially those related to his past cases, and he concentrates only once every two years on summarizing them. For, as I have mentioned in some places in these fragmented memoirs, he will have this energy when he has established a remarkable merit and thus made a name for himself. But this enthusiasm soon faded, followed by an unusually indifferent reaction, during which he spent his daily days with violins and books, barely moving except from the couch to the table. Month after month, his documents piled up, bundles of manuscripts piled up in every corner of the house, which he would never burn, and who was not allowed to move them an inch except himself.

　　One winter night, we were sitting together by the stove, and I took the liberty of proposing to him that, after he had copied the summary into the memorandum, he would spend two hours tidying up the room to make it slightly more habitable. Unable to refute my just demands, he went into his bedroom with a grimace on his face and returned in a moment, dragging a large tin box behind him. He placed the box in the middle of the floor, took a small stool and squatted in front of the large box, and opened the lid. I saw that one-third of the boxes were already filled with documents, all small bundles tied with red ribbons.

　　"Watson, there are many cases here," said Holmes, looking at me mischievously, "I suppose that if you know what I have in this box, then you will ask me to take out what has been put in, and not for me to put what is not in it." ”

　　"So, this is all a record of your early case handling?" I asked, "I always want to take notes on these cases." ”

　　"Yes, my friend, this was all done before I became famous." Holmes gently and lovingly took out bundles of documents. "These are not all successful records, Watson," he said, "but there are many interesting in them." This is the Tarlton Murders Report, the Van Berry Wine merchant case, the Russian Old Woman Adventures case, and the Aluminum Crutch Case and the case of the lame Rickory and his odious wife. And this one, ah, this is really a kind of novel case. ”

　　He reached into the box and took out from the bottom of the box a small wooden box with a movable lid that resembled a children's toy box. Holmes took out from the box a crumpled piece of paper, an old-fashioned copper key, a wooden nail wrapped around a ball of thread, and three rusty old metal round plates.

　　"Hey, my friend, guess what's going on with these things?" Holmes saw the expression on my face and asked with a smile.

　　"It's just some weird collection."

　　"It's very strange and strange, and the stories that happen around them will surprise you even more."

　　"So, do these relics still have a history?"

　　"Not only are there histories, but they are histories themselves."

　　"What does this mean?"

　　Sherlock Holmes took them out one by one, arranged them in a row along the edge of the table, and then sat down in a chair and looked at them, his eyes showing satisfaction.

　　"These," he said, "are all things that I have left behind to recall the Musgrave ceremony." ”

　　I've heard him mention the case more than once, but I've never been able to get the details. "If you tell me in detail," I said, "then I'm so happy." ”

　　"So these messy things are still not moving?" Holmes said mischievously, "Your neatness is not as good as you want, Watson. But I am glad that this case can be added to your case record. Because this case is not only very unique in the domestic criminal record, but I believe, it is also extremely rare abroad. It would be incomplete to collect my insignificant achievements without documenting this bizarre case.

　　"You certainly remember the galleon 'Gloria Scott,' and I told you what had happened to the unfortunate man, and my conversation with him made me think for the first time of career questions, and then detectives did indeed become my lifelong profession. Now you can see that I am already famous all over the world, and both the public and the police generally regard me as the highest court of appeal for difficult cases. Even when you and I first made friends, when I was working on what you later posthumously called the 'Blood Letter Study', although my business was not very prosperous, I already had a lot of patrons. It's hard for you to imagine how difficult it was for me to start out, how long it took me to succeed.

　　"When I first came to London, I lived in Montag Street near the British Museum, and when I was idle, I concentrated on studying various sciences in order to achieve something in the future. At that time, people constantly begged me to solve the case, mainly through some of my old classmates. Because in my later years in college, people often talk about me and my approach to thought. The third case I solved was the Musgrave Ceremony case. And the series of bizarre events that invigorated me and the outcome of the case that later proved to be of great importance made me take the first step towards the profession I am today.

　　"Reginald Musgrave and I studied at the same school and I had a face to face with him. Because he seems to be proud, he is not very popular among college students. But I always felt that his pride was actually trying to hide his natural shyness. He had a very typical appearance of a nobleman, a thin body, a high nose, big eyes, slow and methodical, and gentle. In fact, he was a descendant of one of the oldest nobles of the British Empire. However, in the sixteenth century, their branch (descendants of the second son) was separated from the Musgrave family in the north and settled in western Sussex, and The Hellstone Manor is perhaps the oldest living building in this area. The things of sussex, where he was born, seem to have had a great influence on him, and every time I see his pale and clever face or the posture of his head, I can't help but think of the gray arches, the straight windows, and all the remains of the feudal castles. One or two times we talked unconsciously, and I remember more than once he said he was interested in my methods of observation and reasoning.

　　"We haven't seen each other in four years, and one morning he came to look for me on Montag Street. He had not changed much, dressed like a young man of high society (he loved to dress carefully), and still maintained the quiet and elegant demeanor that he had always been.

　　"'Have you always been good?' Musgrave, 'After we shook hands warmly,' I asked.

　　"'You've probably heard of my poor father dying,'" Musgrave said, "he died two years ago. From then on, of course, I was going to manage Hellstone Manor. Because I am a councillor in our district, I am very busy. But, Holmes, I hear you're putting your amazing skills into practice? ’

　　"'Yes,' I said, 'I've made a living from this little cleverness!' "'I'm glad to hear you say that, because your advice is very valuable to me right now.' I encountered many strange things in Hullstone, and the police failed to find out anything. This is indeed one of the most unusual and ineffable cases. ’

　　"You can imagine how impatient I was when I listened to him, Watson, for months I had been idle, and the opportunity I had been longing for seemed to have finally arrived. Deep down in my heart, I believe that other people have failed, I can succeed, and now I have the opportunity to try my hand.

　　"'Please tell me the details,'" I exclaimed.

　　Reginald Musgrave sat down across from me and lit the cigarette I handed him.

　　"'You know,' he said, 'though I'm a bachelor, I still have quite a few servants at Hellstone Manor, because it's a remote, messy old manor that needs a lot of people to take care of.' I also did not want to dismiss them, and during the pheasant hunting season, I often held family banquets in the villa, leaving guests to stay, and the lack of manpower was not possible. I had eight maids, a cook, a housekeeper, two male servants and a little listener. The garden and the stables, of course, had another group of people.

　　"'The longest of the servants was The Butler Brunton. When my father first hired him, he was an incompetent elementary school teacher. But he was energetic and had a strong personality, and he was soon valued by the whole family. He was of modest stature, with a beautiful eyebrow and a handsome forehead, and although he had been with us for twenty years, he was not yet forty years old. Because of his many merits and extraordinary talents (because he could speak a few Chinese and play almost all instruments), it was incomprehensible that he had been in a position of servant for so long that he was satisfied. However, I think he is content with the status quo and does not have the energy to make any changes. Anyone who visits us remembers this butler.

　　"But there is also a flaw in this perfect man, that is, there is a little don Juan [Don Juan: A Spanish legend, a wandering aristocrat, quoted in Western poetry and drama.' You can imagine that it is not difficult for someone like him to play the role of a wanderer in the backcountry. He was fine when he first got married, but since his wife's death, we have run into endless trouble with him. A few months ago, because he had been engaged to our second-class handmaiden Rachel Howells, we had hoped that he would relent again, but he abandoned Rachel again and got mixed up with Janet Tregelis, the daughter of the head of the hunting grounds guard. Rachel was a good girl, but she had the welsh-like personality of being easily agitated. She had just had a meningitis and was not able to walk now, or until yesterday. Compared to her past, she had become a ghost with black eyes. This is our first dramatic event in Hullstone. But then came a second dramatic event, which left us with the first, and the second drama, caused by the fall of the butler Brunton and the dismissal.

　　"'Here's the thing: I've already said that this man is very clever, but cleverness is mistaken by cleverness, because cleverness makes him overly curious about things that have nothing to do with himself.'

　　It had no idea at all that curiosity would trap him so deeply, until something purely accidental happened that brought me to his attention.

　　"'As I said, it was a messy manor.' One day last week, or rather last Thursday night, after dinner, I drank a very strong cup of coffee in a very stupid way, could not sleep for a long time, and kept making trouble until two o'clock in the morning, and I felt that I had no hope of falling asleep, so I got up and lit a candle, intending to continue reading a novel that I had not finished reading. However, I threw the book in the marbles room, so I put on my pajamas and went out of the bedroom to get it.

　　"'To get to the marbles room, I have to go down a flight of stairs and then through a corridor, and at the end of that corridor, leads to the library and the gun storehouse.' I looked down the hallway and saw a faint light peeking out of the open door of the library, and you can imagine how surprised I was. Before going to bed, I personally turned off the lights in the library and closed the door. Naturally, my first thought was that this must have been a night thief. The walls in the corridors of Hellstone Manor are decorated with the spoils of many ancient weapons. I picked out a tomahawk from inside, then, throwing the candle, crept through the corridor and peeked through the door.

　　"'It turned out to be the butler Brunton in the library. He sat neatly dressed in an easy chair with a piece of paper on his lap that looked like a map, his hand on his forehead, contemplating. I stood there stunned, spying on him. I saw a small candle at the table, and by the faint light of the candlelight I saw that he was neatly dressed, and then I saw him suddenly get up from his chair, walk to a writing desk over there, open the lock, and open a drawer. He took a document from it, returned to his original seat, laid it flat on the candle by the table, and began to study it intently. Seeing him so calmly and calmly examining our family's documents, I couldn't help but get angry and stepped forward. Then Brunton looked up, saw me standing in the doorway, jumped up, his face blue with fright, and hurriedly tucked into his arms the chart-like document he had just studied.

　　I said, "Wow! You repay us for your trust. Tomorrow you will leave your job and resign. ”

　　"'He bowed in frustration and slipped away from me without a word.

　　The candle was still on the table, and with the help of the candlelight I glanced at what the document Brunton had taken out of his desk was. To my surprise, the document didn't matter at all, it was just a copy of a strange ancient ritual question and answer. This ritual is called the Musgrave Ceremony and is a ritual peculiar to our family. Over the past few centuries, all the people of the Musgrave family have performed this ritual as soon as they reach adulthood—this is only related to the private affairs of our family, and like our own heraldic atlas, it may be of some importance to archaeologists, but it is of no practical use. ’

　　"'We'd better go back and talk about that document,'" I said.

　　"'If you think it is really necessary,' replied Musgrave with some hesitation, 'well, I'll go on: I used the key that Brunton had left to re-lock the desk, and I was just about to turn and walk away when I suddenly found the butler coming back and standing in front of me, and I was taken aback.'

　　He was emotionally agitated, and his voice hoarsely shouted: "Sir, Mr. Musgrave, I cannot lose this face, sir, although I have a low status, but I have a very heavy face in my life, and losing this face will cost me my life." Sir, if you are desperate, then your responsibility for my death is your responsibility, and I will do so. If, sir, you can no longer keep me after this incident, then, in the presence of God, let me apply to you to leave within a month as if I were voluntarily resigning. Mr. Musgrave, it's okay to resign, but it's not okay to kick me out in front of all my acquaintances. ”

　　I replied, "You don't deserve so much care, Brunton, you're behaving extremely badly." However, since you have been in our house for so long, I have no intention of embarrassing you in public. But a month is too long, leave within a week, just find a reason. ”

　　He cried out in despair: "Only give a week? Mr. Two weeks, I said, at least two weeks! ”

　　I repeated, "A week." You should think that this is very lenient for you. ”

　　"'He walked away like a desperate man, hanging his head in despair. I blew out the lights and went back to my room.

　　"'For the next two days, Brunton was very diligent and dedicated, conscientious. I didn't mention what had happened either, and waited with curiosity to see how he saved face. He had a habit of always eating breakfast to receive my instructions for his day's work, but he did not come on the third morning. I happened to meet the maid Rachel Howells when I came out of the dining room. As already mentioned, the maid had recently recovered from her illness, was exhausted, and her face was bloodless, so I advised her not to go to work again.

　　I said, "You should rest in bed, be stronger, and work again." ”

　　"'She looked at me with such a strange expression that I began to wonder if she had another encephalopathy.

　　She said, "I'm strong enough, Mr. Musgrave." ”

　　I replied, "We're going to hear what the doctor has to say." You have to stop working now, and when you get downstairs, tell Brenton that I'm looking for him. ”

　　She said, "The butler is gone. ”

　　I asked, "Gone!" Where did it go? ”

　　She said: "He's gone, and no one sees him." He was not in the room. Ah yes, he's gone, he's gone! Rachel said, leaning against the wall, and let out a series of screams and laughter, and this sudden onset of hysteria made me creepy and I hurried to ring the bell to call for help. The servants carried the girl back to the room. I asked her about Brunton, and she was still screaming and sobbing. There was no doubt that Brunton was indeed gone. No one had slept in his bed the night before, and no one had seen him since he had returned to his room the night before. It is also difficult to find out how he left the house, because the doors and windows are latched in the morning. His clothes, his watch, and even his money were all in the room intact, except for the black clothes he often wore. His slippers were gone, but his boots were left behind. So where did the butler Brunton go at night? How is he now?

　　"'Of course we searched the whole manor from the basement to the attic, but there was not even a shadow of him. As I said, it was a labyrinth of old mansions, especially the old boxes, which were now virtually uninhabited. But we searched every room and basement repeatedly, and there was no trace of the missing. It's hard for me to believe that he can throw away all his possessions and go empty-handed, and where can he go? I called in the local police, but to no avail. It had rained the night before, and we had inspected the lawns and paths around the estate in vain. That's the case. Then things went ahead and diverted our attention from this mystery.

　　"'Rachel Howells was very ill for two days, sometimes unconscious, sometimes hysterical, and I hired a nurse to accompany her for the night. On the third night after Brunton's disappearance, the nurse found the patient sleeping sweetly, so she sat down in an armchair and snoozed, and woke up early the next morning to find the bed empty, the windows wide open, and the patient nowhere to be seen. The nurse woke me up immediately, and I led two servants to set out immediately to find the missing girl. Her whereabouts are not difficult to identify, for from under her window we can follow her footsteps, effortlessly through the lawn, to the small lake, where the footprints disappear near the gravel road, which leads to the garden next to the house. This small lake was eight feet deep, and we saw the footprints of the poor mad girl disappear by the lake, and the mood at that time could be imagined.

　　"Of course, we immediately salvaged and set out to search for the body, but we couldn't find even the shadow of the body. On the other hand, one of the most unexpected things was fished out, which was a linen pocket containing a pile of old, rusty and dull metal pieces, as well as some dull crystal and glasswork. There was nothing else we had fished out of the lake but this strange object. Moreover, although yesterday we did everything possible to search and inquire, we still know nothing about the fate of Rachel Howells and Richard Brunton. The District Police Department has exhausted its resources. I had to come to you, and this was the last move. Watson, imagine how impatiently I listened to this series of bizarre events, tried my best to string them together, and to find the common thread that connected all the events. The butler was gone, and so was the maid, who had loved the butler but then had reason to resent him. The girl is of Welsh descent and has an impatient and irritable temperament. As soon as the housekeeper disappeared, she was immediately excited. She threw her pocket containing the strange thing into the lake. These are all factors that need to be taken into account, but none of them fully touch on the essence of the problem. What is the starting point of this chain of events? Now there is only the end of this series of intricate events.

　　"I said, 'I must look at that document, Musgrave, the one that your butler thinks is worth losing his profession.' "'Our family's ceremony is a very absurd thing.'" Musgrave replied, 'But since it was left by the ancients, there is at least something desirable.'

　　If you'd like to look at it, I have a copy of this ceremonial Q&A. Watson, Musgrave handed me the document I was holding now, and it was the strange doctrinal question-and-answer manual that every adult in the Musgrave family had to obey. Listen to the original text of the Q&A.

　　"'Whose is it?'

　　"'It's the one who left.'"

　　"'Who deserves it?'

　　"'The man who's coming.'"

　　"'Where is the sun?'

　　"'On top of an oak tree.'"

　　"'Where are the shadows?'

　　"'Under the elm tree.'"

　　"'How do I measure it?'

　　"'Ten and ten steps to the north, five and five steps to the east, two and two steps to the south, one step and one step to the west, right below.'"

　　"'What are we going to trade for it?'

　　"'Everything we have.'"

　　"'Why should we take it out?'

　　"'Because you have to be trustworthy.'"

　　"'The original is not dated, but the text is spelled in the middle of the Seventeenth Century.'" Musgrave said, 'But I'm afraid it won't help you much in solving your case.' ’

　　"'At least,' I said, 'it gives us another unsolvable mystery, and it's more interesting than the original. It is likely that the mystery was solved, and the mystery was solved. Forgive me, Musgrave, your butler seems to me to be a very intelligent man, and has been more mentally aware than his host family for ten generations. ’

　　"'It's hard for me to grasp what you mean,' said Musgrave, "and I don't seem to think this document is of any practical significance.'"

　　"'But I think this document is of great practical importance, and I think Brunton agrees with me that he probably had read it before you caught him that night.'"

　　"'It's quite possible. We never bothered to treasure it. ’

　　"'I suppose he was just trying to remember its contents this last time.'" I know he's using all kinds of maps and sketches to compare with the originals, and as soon as you come in, he's in a hurry to stuff the drawings into his pocket. ’

　　"'It's true. But what does he have to do with this old custom of our family? And what's the point of this boring house gift? ’

　　"'I don't think it's going to be very difficult to find out this,' I said, 'If you agree, we can take the first train to Sussex and investigate this matter in depth on the spot.'"

　　"The two of us arrived in Hellstone that afternoon. You may have seen the photographs and records of this famous ancient building, so I will not go into details, but I just want to say that it is an L-shaped building. The long row of houses is more modern, and the short row of houses is the center of the houses left over from ancient times, and the other houses are extended from here. On the low, bulky lintel in the middle of the old-fashioned house, the date of 1607 is engraved. However, connoisseurs believe that the actual age of the beams and stone components is much older. The walls of the old-style houses were high and thick, and the windows were small, allowing the family to build that row of new houses in the last century. Now the old house has been used as a storehouse and a wine cellar, and has no other use. The house is surrounded by dense old trees, forming a small garden, and the small lake that my client mentioned is next to the boulevard, about two hundred yards from the house.

　　"Watson, I am already convinced that this is not three mysteries in isolation, but only one, and that if I can properly understand the Musgrave Code, I will certainly be able to grasp the clues to ascertain the truth about the steward Brunton and the maid Howells. So I did it with all my might. Why was the butler so anxious to grasp the words of those ancient rituals? Apparently because he saw the mystery, which had never been noticed by the gentry of his hometown. Brunton is counting on self-gain from this mystery. So, what is this mystery? What effect does it have on the fate of the butler?

　　"I read the ritual and it became clear that this measurement must have referred to a certain place implied by certain sentences in the ritual, and if we could find this place, we were on the right path to uncover the secret, and Musgrave's ancestors thought that it was necessary to use this wonderful way to make future generations forget this secret. To get started, we learned about two directional poles: an oak tree and an elm tree. Oak trees are not a problem at all, just in front of the house, on the left side of the driveway, among the oak trees is one of the oldest, the tallest trees I have ever seen in my life.

　　"'Did you have this oak tree when you drafted your house's ceremony?' I said as we drove past oak trees.

　　"'Eighty percent of them were at the time of the Norman conquest of England [referring to 1066].] There is this tree," replied Musgrave, "and this oak tree is twenty-three feet thick." ’

　　"One of my guesses had been confirmed, and I asked, 'Do you have an old elm tree in your house?'

　　"'There used to be a very old elm tree over there, destroyed by lightning ten years ago. We sawed off the trunk. ’

　　"'Can you point out the ruins of that elm tree?'

　　"'Ah, of course.'"

　　"'Is there no other elm tree?'

　　"'There are no old elms, but there are many new ones.'"

　　"'I'd love to see the old site of this old elm tree.'"

　　"We were in a single carriage and didn't get into the house, and the client immediately led me to a pothole in the lawn, where the elms used to grow. The place is almost right in the middle of the oak trees and houses. My investigation appears to be making progress.

　　"'I guess we can't possibly know the height of this elm tree,' I asked.

　　"'I can tell you at once that the tree is sixty-four feet tall.'"

　　"'How do you know?' I asked in surprise.

　　"'My old governess used to call me to do triangulation exercises, often measuring height.' As a teenager, I measured every tree and every building in the manor. ’

　　"It was unexpectedly lucky. My data came faster than I thought.

　　"'Tell me,' I asked, 'has the butler ever asked you about the elm?'

　　"Reginald Musgrave looked at me in amazement." "As soon as you remind me," he replied, 'Brunton did ask me about the height of the elm tree a few months ago when he had a little argument with groom. ’

　　"This news is simply wonderful, Watson, because it shows that I am on the right path. I looked up at the sun, which was already west, and I calculated that in no less than an hour, it would be over the top of the old oak tree. One of the conditions mentioned in the ceremony was met. And the shadow of the elm tree must refer to the far end of the shadow, otherwise why not choose the trunk as a marker? So I looked for where the farthest end of the elm shadow landed when the sun was off the top of the oak tree. ”

　　"That must be very difficult, Holmes, because the elm tree is no longer there." I said.

　　"Well, at least I know, and since Brunton can find it, I can do it too. Moreover, it is not difficult in practice. Musgrave and I went into his study, cut the wooden nail, and I tied the long rope to the wooden nail, tied a knot every yard, and then took two fishing rods and tied them together, the total length of which was exactly six feet, and returned to the old elm site with my client. At this time, the sun is just over the top of the oak tree. I inserted one end of the rod into the soil, noted the direction of the shadow, and measured the length of the shadow, which was nine feet long.

　　"Of course, it's very simple to calculate. If the projection is nine feet when the pole is six feet long, the projection is ninety-six feet when the tree is sixty-four feet tall. The direction of the shadow of the fishing rod is naturally the direction of the elm tree. I measured this distance, and it was almost at the base of the manor's wall. I nailed wooden nails in this place. Watson, when I found a small cone-shaped hole in the ground less than two inches from the nails, you can imagine how ecstatic I was. I knew it was a mark brent had made when he measured it, and I was following his old path.

　　"From this point on we started the step test, first using my pocket compass to set the direction, and walking twenty steps north along the walls of the manor, and then nailing a wooden nail. Then I carefully took ten steps east and four steps south, and came to the threshold of the old house. Following the ceremonial instructions, I took two more steps to the west, and I walked to the stone paved corridor.

　　"Watson, I have never been so disappointed as I was then. For a moment I seemed to think that there must be a fundamental error in my calculations. The slanting sun illuminated the road surface of the Yongdao, and I saw that the gray stone slabs on the Yongdao, although ancient and thinned by passers-by, were still firmly cast together with cement, and they must have not been moved for many years. Brunton apparently didn't get his hands on it. I knocked on the slate, and it sounded the same everywhere, and there were no caves and cracks under the slab. Fortunately, Musgrave began to appreciate my intentions in doing so, and as excited as I was, took the manuscript to check the results of my calculations.

　　"'Right below,' he shouted, 'you ignore the word: 'Right below.'"

　　"I thought it was for us to dig, but of course I immediately understood that I was wrong." So, is there a basement under the corridor? I said out loud.

　　"'Yes, the basement is as old as these houses, just below, and enter through this door.'" "As we descended the winding stone steps, my companion drew a match and lit a lantern on a wooden barrel in the corner. In an instant we saw clearly that we had come to the place we were looking for, and that there had been people in recent days.

　　"It had long been used as a warehouse for stacking wood, but the short logs that had obviously been littered on the ground had now been piled up on either side to make room for a clearing in the middle of the basement. There was a large slate in the clearing, and in the center of the stone slab was a rusty iron ring, and a thick black and white plaid scarf was tied to the iron ring.

　　"'Oh my God!' My client exclaimed, 'That's Brunton's scarf, and I can swear I've seen him wear it.' What is this villain doing here? Two local policemen were summoned at my suggestion, and then I grabbed the scarf and lifted the slate vigorously. But I only moved a little, and with the help of a policeman, I reluctantly moved the stone slab aside. A black hole hole in the cellar appeared under the slate, and we all stared down. Musgrave knelt by the cellar and reached in with a lantern to investigate.

　　"We saw that the cellar was about seven feet deep and four feet square, and on one side was a low wooden box with brass hoops, the lid of which had been opened, and the oddly shaped old-fashioned key was inserted in the keyhole. The outside of the box was thick with dust, eroded by moths and dampness, and the planks had rotted through, and the inside was covered with blue-gray wood fungus. Some metal discs like old coins, obviously old coins, like the ones I had in my hand, were scattered at the bottom of the box, and nothing else.

　　"However, at this point we cannot take care of this old wooden box, because our eyes fall on something. The thing was curled up next to the wooden box, a humanoid figure, dressed in black, crouching there, with its forehead against the edge of the box, holding the box in both arms. This position made his whole body blood condense on his face, and no one could recognize who this distorted pig liver-colored face really was. But when we pulled the body over, the figure, the clothes and the hair, everything showed our client that the deceased was indeed the missing butler. This man has been dead for a few days, but there are no wounds on his body that can explain how he ended up here. The bodies are transported out of the basement, but we still face a conundrum that is as difficult to solve as the one we encountered in the beginning.

　　"Watson, I still admit that I was disappointed in my investigation at that time. When I found this place according to the hints of the etiquette, I used to expect to solve this problem. But now that I am here, it is clear that I am far from being able to figure out why this family is taking such carefully planned precautions. Admittedly, I had figured out what had happened to Brunton, but now I had to find out how he had been killed; and what role the missing girl had played in this matter. I sat down on a small bucket in the corner of the wall and pondered the whole case.

　　"In a situation like this, you know my disposition, Watson. I put myself in this person's shoes, first measuring his level of intelligence and trying to imagine what I could do in the same situation. In this case, things are very simple, because Brunton is a very intelligent man, do not have to consider what kind of 'personal observation error' he will have in observing the problem (here to borrow a term from astronomical observers), he knows that the treasure is hidden, he found the place accurately, found that the slate cover is too heavy, and a single person can not move. What's next? Even if he had a trustworthy person outside the manor, he would have to open the door and let him in if he asked for help, at great risk of being discovered. The best thing to do is to find an assistant inside the manor. But who can he turn to for help? This girl had loved him once. No matter how bad a man is to a woman, he never admits that he will eventually lose the woman's love. He may offer his courtesy a few times, return to his old friendship with the girl Howells, and then make an appointment to act together. They might come to the basement together at night and work together to lift the slate. So far I can trace their actions as if I had heard and witnessed them.

　　"But to lift the slate was too much effort for the two of them, and one of them was a woman. Because even I didn't think it was a brisk thing to do with the five-year-old Sussex policeman. What if they can't move the slate? What if I did? I stood up and carefully examined the various short logs lying around the ground. I saw almost immediately what I expected to be. A piece of wood about three feet long had obvious defects at one end, and several pieces of wood were flattened on the sides, as if they had been flattened by something quite heavy. Apparently, they lifted the slab upwards and stuffed some wood into the crevice until the crevice could climb into a man, and then they held the slab vertically against the slab with a piece of wood so that it would not fall. Because the weight of the slab is all pressed on this piece of wood, so that it is pressed against the edge of another slab, this causes a defect in the end of the wood landing on the ground. So far my evidence remains reliable.

　　"The question now is how do I recreate what happened that night. Obviously, there was only one person in this cellar, and that was Brunton. The girl must have been waiting on it. Then Brunton opened the wooden box and handed over the contents of the box (because they had not been discovered), and then, what happened later?

　　"I suppose that perhaps the impatient Celtic girl, who had treated her badly at first sight (or perhaps he treated her much worse than we suspected), could be at his own mercy when the vengeful anger that had accumulated in her heart suddenly flared up? Or did the wood slip by accident, the slate fell on its own, and Brenton was imprisoned in the stone tomb she had sought, and her fault was simply to conceal the truth and not report it? Or did she suddenly push the top wood away and let the slate fall back to the mouth of the cave? Whatever the situation, in front of my eyes, it seemed that a woman grabbed the treasure and ran desperately on the winding stairs, deaf to the muffled cries of the urn coming from behind her, and the sound of her hands frantically pounding the stone slab, and it was the stone slab that suffocated the lover who had suffocated her.

　　No wonder the next morning she was pale, trembling with fright, laughing hysterically; it turned out that this was the secret. But what's in the box? What does all this stuff have to do with her? Of course, the box must have been ancient metal and crystal stones salvaged from the lake by my client. She threw these things into the lake at the first opportunity in order to wipe out the stolen goods.

　　"I sat there for about twenty minutes, motionless, thinking thoroughly about the case. Musgrave was still standing there, pale, swinging his lantern and staring into the cave.

　　"'These are the coins of charles I's time,' he said, taking a few coins from the wooden box, 'you see, we have calculated exactly the time when the ceremony was written.'"

　　"'We can find other things from the time of Charles I,' and I suddenly thought of what the first two questions and answers of this ceremony might mean, and cried out, 'Let's see what you have fished out of the lake in your pocket.'"

　　"We went back to his study, and he laid all those crap in front of me. As soon as I saw the rags, I understood that he didn't value them, because the metal was almost all black and the stones were dull and dull. However, I picked up a piece and wiped it with my sleeve, and it was in my hand, shining like Mars. The metalwork is shaped like a double ring, but it has been bent and twisted, and it is no longer the original shape.

　　"'You must remember,' I said, 'even after the death of King Charles I, the royalists waged an armed revolt in England, and when they finally fled, they may have buried many of their most valuable treasures and prepared to return home during the Taiping Period to dig them up.'"

　　"'My ancestor, Sir Ralph Musgrave, was a prominent royalist in the time of Charles I, and a powerful assistant to Charles II on his way to his death.'" My friend said.

　　"'Ah, good!' I replied, 'Now, I think this is really the last link we're looking for.' I must congratulate you on receiving this treasure, which, though tragic, is a valuable relic, and as a historical treasure, its significance is even greater. ’

　　"'What the hell is that?' Musgrave asked in surprise.

　　"'It's nothing else, it's an ancient crown of England.'"

　　"'Crown!'

　　"'Not fake at all. Think about the words of the ceremony! How does it come about! "Whose is it?" It was the one who left. This refers to the execution of Charles I. Then there's "Who deserves it?" The man who is coming. This refers to Charles II, who had foreseen that Charles II would come to the manor of Hellstone. I think there is no doubt that this worn-out crown was once worn by the Stuart emperor. ’

　　"'How did it get into the lake?'

　　"'Ah, it will take some time to answer this question.'" As I spoke, I told him the speculations and arguments I had made from beginning to end, until the night was hazy and the moon was empty, and I finished telling the story.

　　"'Then why didn't Charles II come to take the crown when he returned?' Musgrave put the relic back in the linen bag and asked.

　　"'Ah, you have accurately indicated a problem that we may never be able to solve.' It may be that Musgrave, who held the secret, died at this time, and out of negligence, he passed on this etiquette for the guide to posterity without explaining its meaning. From then to today, this ritual has been passed down from generation to generation until finally a man emerges who uncovers the secret and dies in an adventure. ’

　　"This is the story of the Musgrave Ceremony, Watson. The crown remained in Hellstone— but they had gone through a legal whirlwind and paid a large sum of money to keep it. I believe that as soon as you mention my name, they will show you the crown. And the woman, who has been heard from all, is likely to have left England and fled abroad with criminal memories. ”