Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 25 Four Signatures 3
Miss Morstan entered with dignified steps and a calm attitude.She has long light-colored hair and a light figure. The clothes suit her temperament well, and the gloves match the color of the clothes well.The clothes were made of dark brown woolen material without any decorations, and on his head he wore the same dark hat with a white feather on the side.Simple clothes indicate that her life is not well off.Miss Morstan could not be called pretty, but she looked very gentle, kind, and amiable.The big blue eyes are very divine.I have traveled all over the country and met all kinds of women, but I have never seen a face as elegant and intelligent as hers.When Holmes asked her to sit down, she was still in a tense and restless state, for I could see that her lips and hands were trembling slightly.

She said: "Mr. Holmes, you once resolved a family dispute for Mrs. Cecil Forrester. For this, she admires you very much. Therefore, I come to you for advice today."

Holmes thought for a while and replied, "Yes, I did a little favor to Mrs. Cecil Forrester."

"But she doesn't think so, and this time my case will not be that simple. My situation is so incomprehensible. I'm afraid there is nothing more bizarre than this."

Holmes was very excited when he heard the lady's narration, and his eyes shone brightly.He leaned slightly forward in his chair, his alert, hawk-like countenance befuddled with concentration."Tell me about your case," he said, in an animated and serious tone.

Feeling a bit inconvenient here, I got up and said, "I'm sorry, I lost my compensation."

Unexpectedly, the girl held out her gloved hand to stop me, and said, "If you can stay, maybe you can be of great help to me."

I sat down again.

She went on: "Simply put, it goes like this: my father was an officer in the Indian Army and my mother died early. He sent me back to England when I was a child. I had no relatives. So he sent me to Edinburgh to study, and boarded in a comfortable school, where I remained until I was seventeen. My father was the oldest captain in the regiment. In 17, My father came back from a vacation of twenty months saved up. He sent me a telegram informing me that he had arrived safely in London and was lodging at the Langham Hotel, and that I should meet him there at once. The telegram was full of kindness. On arrival in London, I I went straight to the Langham Hotel, but I didn't see my father. I asked my colleagues at the hotel, and the answer I got was: Captain Morstein did live there, but he went out the night before and hasn't come back yet. I waited there all day Days, still no trace of him. At the suggestion of the hotel manager, I reported the case to the police station. The next day, I published a missing person notice in the major newspapers. The result is still no news. Since that day until now I have heard nothing of my unfortunate father. He returned home with high hopes for a quiet and comfortable life, but..."

Before she finished speaking, she was already sobbing.

"What day is that?" asked Holmes, opening his note-pad.

"He disappeared on December [-], [-], nearly ten years ago."

"Where's his luggage?"

"Still kept in the hotel. There are only some clothes, books, and a few antiques from Anderman Island, but there is nothing to give clues. He used to be an officer in charge of prisoners there."

"Has he any friends in London?"

"Only one I know of—Major Sholto of the 34th Infantry at Bombay, whose father was an officer in his regiment. The major was recently discharged from the army and lives in Upper Ruowood. Of course we owe him Inquired, but he said he had no idea my father was back in England."

"A strange thing," said Holmes.

"The most amazing thing is yet to come. About six years ago--on the fourth of May, [-], indeed, a request for the address of Miss Mary Morstein was published in The Times." Advertisement, the person who posted the advertisement specifically stated that it would be very good for Miss Melissa Morstein if she could answer his inquiry, but there was no signature and address under the advertisement. I happened to be Cecil Forrest at the time My wife's tutor, under her persuasion, I published my address in the advertisement column of the newspaper. On the same day, someone sent me a small cardboard box from the post office, which contained a huge and dazzling pearl .without a single word of postscript. Since then, I have received the same paper box with the same pearl in it every year on this day, but there has never been any clue of the sender. These pearls have been verified by experts. They are said to be rare and very valuable. Look at these pearls, they are really beautiful."

As she spoke, she opened a flat case, and I saw the finest pearls I had ever seen in my life.

"What you say is wonderful," said Sherlock Holmes. "Is there anything else that might tell me?"

"Yes, I received a letter just this morning. Please read it. That's why I have come to ask you for advice."

"Thank you," said Holmes. "Give me the envelope, too. Postmarked, South West London, dated, July [-]th. Oh, and there is a man's thumbprint on the corner—possibly from the postman. Good paper." .Envelopes come in bundles of sixpence. Writer is particular about paper. Sender leaves no address. "Please meet me at the third post from the left of the Lytheham Theater at seven o'clock tonight.If you doubt, come with two friends.You are a wronged woman and deserve justice.Please don't bring the police.Otherwise, we will not meet each other.Your unknown friend. "Ah, that's a very curious thing! What are you going to do, Miss Morstein?"

"That's what I want to ask you."

"We must go--you and me, and--Dr. Watson is just the right man for us. He and I have been working together and fit the letter writer's requirements. Watson and I are very good friends. "

She looked at me with a pleading expression, and said to my friend in a very gentle tone: "Is he willing to go?"

I didn't wait for Holmes' answer, and said quickly, "I'd like to serve you."

"In this city, I don't have any friends to rely on. I can't thank you enough for your kindness. Well, I'll be here at six, okay?"

"Six o'clock at the latest," said Holmes. "And, is the handwriting on the letter the same as that on the box in which the beads were sent?"

Miss Mostan took out six pieces of paper and said, "Here are all of them."

"Among all my clients, you are the most thoughtful, and you are a model for them. Well, let's compare." He spread all the letter papers on the table, compared them one by one, and then He also said: "Except for this letter, the handwriting on the six pieces of paper was written by one person, but they were all imitated. Let's see how prominent the end hook of this Greek letter e is upturned, and the letter e at the end The letter s is bent like that. I wonder, Miss Morstan, is the handwriting similar to your father's?"

"No, it's not the same at all."

"I guess it's the same. Well then, we'll wait for you here at six o'clock. It's just 03:30. You left the letter. I want to study it, okay? Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Miss Morstan looked at us with tender eyes, picked up the pearl box, and walked out of the room.

I stood by the window and watched her until her brisk figure disappeared into the crowd.

I turned to Holmes and said: "She is a very pretty girl."

He leaned back in his chair, lit his pipe again, closed his eyes, and said listlessly, "Really? I didn't notice."

"Machine! You're a machine of precision parts, so impersonal!" I yelled at him.

He smiled slightly: "Don't let a person's external image affect your judgment. It is very important to me. A client is just a link in a calculation unit problem. Emotions can affect the brain Judgment right. The most beautiful woman I ever saw murdered three of her own children for insurance money and was hanged; and the most uncomfortable face I ever knew a man But a philanthropist who donated £25 to the poor in London."

"But this time..."

"I never thought there were exceptions. There are no exceptions to the rule. Have you studied the character of the handwriting? What do you think of the handwriting of this sender?"

I said, "The writing is quite clear. It seems that this person has a strong character and a careful mind."

Holmes shook his head and said, "The long letters written by this man are almost never taller than ordinary letters. The d letter is like an a, and the l is like an e. No matter how poorly written a strong-willed herringbone is, the long letters will be taller than ordinary letters." Yes. The letter K in the letter is not uniform, and the uppercase letters are okay. Now I am going to go out to investigate some situations. I will refer to a book for you——"The Story of Chengren" by Winwood Reed, which is A masterpiece. I'll be back in an hour."

I sat at the window with a book in my hand, but my mind drifted outside this masterpiece, to the guest who had just left—her voice and smile, and her strange situation.If she had been 17 when her father disappeared, she would be 27 now, when she was moving from youth to maturity.I sat there thinking about it until some kind of bad signal went off in my brain.I hurriedly stood up, sat down at the table, picked up a pathology book and read it carefully in an attempt to suppress my instinctive thoughts.I'm an army doctor, I don't have much salary, and I have a broken leg, how can I think in that direction?She is just the client of this case, as Holmes said, a unit of calculation, a link.No identity other than that.Stop dreaming that there will be a good destiny waiting for you to fight for. It is best to take on the burden. Even if the future is dark, you must not rely on wishful thinking to pass your time.

(End of this chapter)