Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 20 Research on Scarlet Characters 20
He continued: "I feel much better. Well, I waited for about a quarter of an hour, and suddenly I heard a noise coming from the house. It seemed that someone was fighting. Then, the door opened suddenly, and two people came out, one of them One was Draper, and the other was a lad I never saw. The lad took Draper by the collar, and dragged him to the steps, and gave him a push and a kick, and kicked Draper to the In the middle of the street, the young man waved the wooden stick in his hand and shouted loudly: "You bastard! I will teach you a lesson and see if you dare to insult a good woman!" In the middle of the street the lad would have given him a good beating. He ran till he came round the corner, and when he saw my carriage he jumped up with a shout. "Take me to the Halliday's," he said.

"Seeing him get into my carriage, I was ecstatic and my heart was pounding with excitement. I was really afraid that my blood tumor would burst at this critical moment. I drove the carriage slowly, thinking to myself. I I wanted to take him to the countryside and settle accounts with him on a secluded path. Just as I was about to do this, he solved this problem for me. His alcoholism happened again at this time, and he let me He parked the carriage at the entrance of a big hotel, and asked me to wait for him outside as he walked in. He didn't come out until the hotel closed, and he was very drunk. I knew it at a glance, this time I Victory is at hand.

Don't think I'm going to stab him while he's drunk, I won't, because that's simply the execution of a trial.I have already decided to give him a chance to choose. If he is lucky enough to grasp this opportunity, he still has hope of life.When I wandered in America, I did everything.I worked as a janitor at the 'York College' lab and swept the floor.Once, the professor explained to the students about poisons, and he asked the students to look at something called alkaloids.He extracted it from the poison used by the natives of South America for poisoning arrows. This poison is extremely poisonous, as long as it touches a little, it will kill you immediately.I secretly remembered the poison bottle, and secretly poured out a little while no one was there.I am a connoisseur of dispensing, and I make little pills of this poison that can be dissolved in water.I put two pills in two boxes, one in each, and in each box was a pill that looked exactly the same but was non-toxic.My idea is: if one day I get it, I will give each of them a box, let each of them pick one to eat first, and I will eat the rest.Doing so, like shooting with a handkerchief over the muzzle, can kill just as much, but it will be much quieter.From that day on, I carried the box of pills with me until I used them, and now, it was time to use them.

"It was past twelve o'clock in the middle of the night. It was a stormy night. The wind was blowing and the rain was pouring. Although the weather was bad, I was in a very good mood and I wanted to cry out with joy. Gentlemen , if you stand in my position, when you have been waiting for more than 20 years for something that you have been thinking about day and night, and suddenly you can get it, then you will definitely understand my mood at that time. I lit a cigar Inhale, to calm my nerves. My hands trembled and my temples throbbed from overexcitement. As I drove down the road, in the dark, old John Ferrier and lovely Lucy seemed to be Smile at me. I saw you as clearly as I see you now. They went all the way in front of me, each side of the carriage, until they came to the house in Brixton Road.

"There is no one around, and there is no other movement except the sound of the rain and the whistling wind. I glanced into the car through the window and saw Draper curled up in a ball, drunkenly asleep. I Shaking his arm and saying, 'It's time to get out of the car.'

"He said: 'Yes, coachman.'

"I think he must have thought we were at the hotel he was talking about, because he got out of the car without a word, and I had to support him, because he was top-heavy and unsteady on his feet. We walked through the garden to the door, and I The door was opened, and he was led into the front room. I can assure you that all this time, I saw clearly that the Ferrières were leading the way before us.

"He stomped and said: 'It's too dark in here.'

"'We'll have a light in a moment,' I said, and I struck a match and lighted a candle I had brought with me. Then, turning to him, I held the candle up to my face, and said : 'Well, Mr. Enoch Draper, do you see who I am?'

"He stared at me with sleepy drunken eyes for a while, and then a look of fear suddenly appeared in his eyes, his face turned pale with fright, and his whole face twitched, which meant that he had recognized me. He was scared I had to stagger back a few steps. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and flowed to his eyebrows; I also heard his teeth chattering. It was so satisfying to see him frightened like this , I couldn't help leaning against the door and laughing nonstop. I've known for a long time that complex hatred is a happy thing, but I never thought it would be so wonderful.

"I said, 'You bastard! I chased you all the way from Salt Lake City to St. Petersburg and never got you. Now your days are numbered, and one of us will never see tomorrow. It's sun.' He heard me say this, and took a few steps back in fright. From the expression of extreme terror on his face, he thought I was crazy. Indeed, I was like a madman at that time, and the veins in my temples were throbbing. It went on and on and it was going to burst. I'm sure I would have had a fit if it hadn't been for the relief of the blood coming from my nose.

"'What do you say about Lucy Ferrier?' cried I, locking the door and shaking the door key before him. 'Your punishment has come too late, but today has come. I'm done." As I spoke, his lips trembled, as if he wanted to beg for mercy. But he knew very well that all this was in vain.

"He stammered: 'Are you trying to murder me?'

"I replied: 'Is it murder to kill you? Who would think that killing a mad dog is murder! When you dragged my beloved Lucy away from her tragically dead father, when you forced her into your During the dirty and shameless bridal chamber, did you have any sympathy and pity for her?"

"He cried out: 'I didn't kill his father, Lucy died of her own illness.'

"'But you killed her pure heart!' cried I, and when I had finished, I held the poison-box before him. 'Let God judge the commons for us. Now, you choose Eat one grain, one grain can kill you, and one grain can make you live. You choose first, and I will eat the rest. I want to see if there is still fairness in this world. It can be said, We're both taking chances."

"He backed away in fright and yelled for mercy. I drew the knife and put it on his neck and waited until he reluctantly and helplessly took his next pill. I took the remaining one too Yes. The two of us stood face to face, neither said a word, and stood for a minute or two to see who died and who lived. When there was a pained look on his face, I knew he had swallowed the poison. I still can't forget his ugly face. I couldn't help laughing when I saw him in pain, and held Lucy's wedding ring in front of his face. All this was only a moment, because the creature The alkali poison was very fast. The severe pain caused his facial features to be deformed. He stretched out his hands and shook them from side to side. Then he let out a scream, and he fell to the ground. I kicked him over and used Tried his nostrils with his hand, he had stopped breathing.

"At this time, my nose kept bleeding. I didn't care, and I don't know why I suddenly thought of writing on the wall with blood. Maybe it was a prank to lead the police into the wrong direction. I really felt very relaxed and happy at the time. I I remember that a murdered German was found in New York with the word Rachel written on his body. There was an argument in the newspapers at the time, saying that it was done by a secret group. I think it made New Yorkers puzzled The words must be able to stump Londoners. So I dipped my fingers in the blood from my nose and wrote the words on the wall. I walked happily to the carriage and found that there was still no one around. , only the strong wind and the torrential rain. After driving the carriage for a while, I reached into the pocket where I usually kept Lucy's wedding ring, but found that the ring was missing. I was suddenly stunned, because It was the only remnant of hers, and I thought I might have dropped it while stooping over the body, so I hurried back, parked it in a nearby street, and ventured into it again. That house, I would rather risk anything than lose that ring. When I went to the door, I bumped into a policeman who had just come out of the house. I had to pretend to be drunk. Only then did he dispel his doubts.

"That's how Enoch Draper died. I'm going to do the same to Ster Jackson and avenge John Ferrier. I know he's staying at the Halliday Hotel, so I'm on guard all day. There, but he never came out. Probably because Draper never showed up, so he felt that something must have happened. Stuart Jackson was very cunning and always on guard. He obviously thought that staying in the house and not going out would be enough He was terribly mistaken in avoiding me. I quickly found out the window of his room, and climbed into his room at dawn the next morning, using a ladder in the alley behind the hotel. room. I woke him up and told him it was time for him to die for old Ferrier. I told him about the circumstances of Draper's death and then asked him to choose a pill as well. Not only did he not accept He had a chance to live, instead he jumped out of the bed and threw himself on my throat. In self-defense, and more revenge, I stabbed him in the heart. The result will be the same anyway, because God will not let his evil He picked up the non-toxic pill with his hand.

"I have a few more words to say before the process is over, and afterward I drove the carriage for a day or two because I wanted to earn enough money to go back to America. I was standing in the yard of the garage, a ragged Poor boy asked if there was a coachman named Jefferson Hope, and there was a gentleman at 221 Baker Street who wanted his car. I followed him without any doubt. You all saw it later, it was this young man People handcuffed my hands cleanly, which is rare in my life. Gentlemen, this is all I have experienced. You may think that I am a criminal, but I think that I am like you, A judge who enforces the law."

He spoke so touchingly, and with such sincerity, that he left an impression that will never be forgotten, and we were all fascinated by it.Even the two detectives were fascinated.We sat there in silence, neither of us saying a word, broken only by the rustle of Remired's confession.

Finally, Holmes asked: "I want to know one more thing. Who was your accomplice who came to collect the ring after I advertised?"

Hou Po smiled and winked at Holmes: "I can only tell my own story, and I don't want to implicate others. After I saw the advertisement, I also thought that this might be a hoax, but maybe it was me. The chosen ring. You know, from what has been said, how important that ring is to me, and that you risked nothing to get it back. My friend volunteered to go for it. You must feel, too, that He did a great job."

"Indeed," said Holmes honestly.

The police officer said seriously: "Gentlemen, we must abide by the legal procedures. This Thursday, the criminal will be brought to court. I hope you will be able to attend at that time. I will be in charge of him before the court session." After finishing speaking, he pressed At the ringing of the bell, two guards led Jefferson Hope away.Holmes and I left the police station and drove to Baker Street in our carriage.

(End of this chapter)