Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 29 Four Signatures 7
It was almost eleven o'clock when we arrived at the last stop of our adventure that night. The damp fog in the city of London had long since dissipated. now.Although the pavement is clearly identifiable, Thaddeus?Sholto still took a lamp from the carriage to light the way for us.

Sakuranuma Villa stands alone, surrounded by high stone walls topped with broken glass.The only entrance and exit was a small narrow door nailed on both sides with iron sheets.Our guide slammed twice on the door.

A gruff voice from inside the door asked, "Who?"

"Mike Murdo, it's me. Who else will knock on the door besides me?"

With the sound of complaining and the sound of keys, the door was slowly pulled back, and a short, strong man stood at the door, holding a yellow lantern in his hand, and the light illuminated his Protruding face and two suspicious eyes.

"Mr. Thaddeus, it is you! Who are those others? I cannot let them in without my master's order."

"Don't let them in, McMurdo? How unreasonable! I told my brother last night that I would bring some friends. He has agreed."

"Mr. Basolonio didn't leave the room all day today. He has no orders for me. You know the master's rules very well. I can let you in, but your friend has to wait outside."

This is beyond our expectations.Thaddeus?Sholto said at a loss: "McMurdo, you are so disgraceful. Can't I guarantee it? Besides, there is a girl here, how can she stand in the open air!"

The gatekeeper said indifferently: "I'm sorry, Mr. Thaddeus, even if they are your friends, they are not necessarily friends of the master. He paid me to hire me, and I must be loyal to my duty. Besides, your friend I don't know any of them."

Sherlock Holmes kindly exclaimed: "Oh, McMurdo, do you remember me? I don't think you will forget me. Remember that night four years ago, at Allison's Yard Hold a boxing match and fight an amateur boxer with you for three rounds?"

The professional boxer shouted: "Is that Sherlock Holmes? My God, why didn't I recognize you? Instead of standing there without saying a word, you might as well give me a punch, and I'll kill you." Recognized. Why, you're a very gifted boxer, and if you keep at it you've got a lot going for you."

"Look, Watson," said Holmes with a smile. "Even if I fail to achieve anything, I can still find a way to earn a living. It seems that our master will not let us stand outside in the cold."

"Sir, please come in, please come in, please come in with your friends. Mr. Thaddeus, I am very sorry, the master's rules are very strict, I must find out who your friends are before I can let them in."

The entrance is a stone path, which passes through a cold open space and leads directly to a square-shaped house with an ordinary structure.The whole house was almost shrouded in eerie darkness, except for a ray of moonlight that fell on a corner of the roof and on the windows of the attic.Such a big house is so gloomy and silent that it makes people shudder.Thaddeus?Sholto also seemed a little uneasy, and even the lantern in his hand shook and made a sound: "I really don't understand what happened here. I clearly told Basolonio that I would come here. But his room There's no light in there. I really don't know what's going on."

Holmes asked: "Is he usually so guarded?"

"Yes, he inherited his father's habits. You don't understand, he is his favorite child, and I sometimes even think that my father told him more than he told me." Thaddeus continued: " The room where the moonlight shines on the window is Barsolonio's living room. There is no light in the room. The light in the small window by the door is the housekeeper's room. She will tell us everything. Wait a moment, I will go and see her .”

He ran over and knocked twice on the door in the usual way.Then a tall woman welcomed him in as if she had met a relative, and then closed the door.

"Mr. Thaddeus, it's great that you're here, it's great!" These words came faintly through the door.

Our guide left the lamp with us when he went to find the housekeeper.Holding a lamp, Holmes slowly and meticulously examined the surroundings of the house and the vast piles of discarded earth and rubbish piled up in disorder in the open space.I stood side by side with Miss Morstan, her hand in mine.Love is really an elusive thing. Before this, the two of us have never met, even today we are together, and we have never said a word of love.But at this moment, when we encounter difficulties, our hearts have made us hold our hands together involuntarily.Later, whenever I think of this scene, I still feel a surge in my heart.However, under the circumstances at that time, protecting her seemed to be out of nature rather than self-consciousness. As she often told me later, she also had this feeling at the time, and only by clinging to me could she be comforted and protected.So, like children, we stand hand in hand, fearless in spite of all dangers.

She looked around and said, "This place is really weird! It's like a mine has been opened!"

"This kind of scene can only be found in the prospecting of Plata, just like the moles all over the UK have been hidden here."

Holmes said: "For these treasures, people have dug countless times! Don't forget, they have been tossed for six years. How can this not be like a sandpit!"

Suddenly the door flew open, Thaddeus?Sholto stretched out his hands and shouted as he ran:

"I'm scared to death. Something must have happened to Basolonio. I can't stand it." His eyes were full of fear, and the collar of his lambskin coat couldn't cover his bloodless face. The muscles on it couldn't help twitching, and the expression on his face Panicked, like a frightened child.

Holmes said boldly: "Come on! Let's go in!"

"Go in! Go in! I'm out of ideas now," Thaddeus pleaded.

We followed him into the housekeeper's room, where Mrs Burnston was pacing up and down in a panic.Seeing Miss Morstan was like seeing a savior. She said excitedly, "God, how calm you are! This day, I have had enough, but seeing you makes me feel better."

My companion comforted her softly while patting her hand.After a while, the old lady's spirit recovered.

Mrs. Burnston said: "The master locked himself in the room for a whole day, and I waited here for a whole day, but he never said a word. I know that he is the only one staying in the room. He has had it before. Such a time. But an hour ago, I was a little worried. Why has there been no movement? I went up and looked at him through the keyhole... Anyway, Mr. Thaddeus, go up and see for yourself. Ten years , I have seen the joy and sorrow of the master, but I have never seen such an expression on his face."

Sherlock Holmes leads the way with a lamp, Thaddeus?Sholto was so frightened that his teeth chattered and his whole body trembled.Seeing how frightened he was, I helped him up the stairs because his legs were shaking so badly that he couldn't stand upright.Twice as we went upstairs, Holmes took out his magnifying glass from his pocket, and examined carefully the stains on the coir-mats which covered the stairs.He held the lamp lowly, looked around carefully back and forth, and then slowly climbed up the stairs.Miss Morstan remained downstairs, in company with the terrified housekeeper.

Up the third flight of stairs there is a long passage with an Indian rug hanging on the right wall and three doors on the left.Holmes examined it carefully, and we followed closely behind.The shadows of several of us are long reflected on the wall behind us.We stopped at the third gate.Holmes knocked vigorously on the door, but there was no answer. He turned the handle and pushed hard, but the door would not open.Getting closer to the crack of the door, we saw that the lock was bolted upside down.Holmes stooped to look through the keyhole, and immediately stood up to catch his breath.

I've never seen him look like this.He said to me, "Come here, Watson, it's a little scary."

I glanced through the keyhole, and shrank back in fright. There was a face in the room, which seemed to be looking towards us in the hazy moonlight. It was the same as Mr. Thaddeus's face, bald, Red hair, bloodless face, but the expression is rigid, the smile on the face is full of ferocity, and the teeth are exposed unnaturally.At this moment, seeing such a smiling face is more scary than seeing a sad face.The smiling faces in the room were so similar to our friend's that I subconsciously turned around to make sure he was next to me.But suddenly, I thought again, they are twin brothers.

I asked Holmes: "It's terrible, what should I do next?"

He said decisively: "Open the door first!" Then he slammed into the door and dealt with the lock with all his strength. The door only rang a few times, but it didn't open. The two of us bumped into it together, and finally there was a "bang" , the lock is opened.We rushed into Basolonio's room.

The whole house is like a chemical laboratory.On the opposite wall are corked glass bottles, gas lamps, test tubes, stills and other chemical experiment supplies are all over the table, and there are bottles containing acidic reagents piled up in the corner, one of which seems to have leaked, or has been destroyed. It burst, and a black liquid flowed out of it.The pungent asphalt smell permeated the whole house.On the other side, a pair of ladders leaned against the wall, a mess of planks and plaster underneath, a hole in the ceiling above that could have accommodated a single person, and a long coil of rope cluttered at the foot of the ladder.

Beside the table, the owner of the house was sitting in a wooden armchair, with his head tilted on his left shoulder, and a very ugly smile on his face.He was stiff and had obviously been dead for a long time.Not only did he have a ferocious facial expression, but his limbs were also twisted into strange shapes.Beside his hand on the table lay a peculiar utensil—a solid brown stick with a stone tied haphazardly with coarse twine, like a Stone Age tool.Next to it lay a torn piece of paper with some words scrawled on it.Holmes picked it up, glanced at it, and handed it to me.

He raised his eyebrows meaningfully and said, "Watson, take a look."

By the light of the lantern, I read in a voice trembling with fear: "Four Signatures."

Then he couldn't help asking: "My God, what does this mean?"

He was bending over to examine the corpse, and said, "It's murder, oh, it's just as I expected, look here!"

He pointed to something like a long black thorn that was piercing above the dead man's right ear.

I said, "This looks like a thorn."

"It's a thorn, and you can pull it out. But be careful, because it has poison on it."

I carefully pulled the thorn out with my thumb and forefinger.As soon as the thorns are pulled out, the wound closes up.If it weren't for the little bit of blood left on the wound, there were hardly any traces.

I said: "This is a completely incomprehensible strange thing. Now, instead of understanding it, I am even more confused."

He replied: "On the contrary, every link is clear. As long as a few more links are clarified, the whole case will be clear."

Since we entered this room, we have been so absorbed in the dead that we have almost forgotten our companions.He was still standing at the door, trembling all over.

Suddenly, Thaddeus?Sholto exclaimed, "It's all gone! They've taken it all away! We got it out of that hole, and I helped him get it together. When I left him and went downstairs last night, there was I heard him lock the door. I guess I was the last to see him."

"What time was that?"

"Ten o'clock. Now that he's dead, the police must suspect me of being the murderer, have killed him, and taken all the treasure for themselves. But you don't suspect me, gentlemen, do you? If I did it, Why did I even bring you here myself? God, I'm going crazy," he yelled, stomping his feet in rage.

Holmes patted him on the shoulder kindly and comforted him, saying: "Mr. Sholto, don't be afraid. Go to the police station and report the incident first. I promise to assist them with all my strength. We will wait for you here."

After hearing what Holmes said, Mr. Sholto went to the police station to report the incident.

(End of this chapter)