Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 75 Adventure History 35
I knew very well that Holmes now had the case in his mind, but what conclusions he had reached I had no idea.On our way home, I tried several times to get some information from him, but he kept diverting the conversation until I had to give up the idea.It was not yet three o'clock in the afternoon.As soon as we were in our house he hurried into his room, and a few minutes later he came downstairs, dressed like a bum; Wearing a red tie and a pair of worn leather boots, he is a typical tramp.

"I'm dressed like that, Watson," he said, glancing at the glass. "I may find a clue to the case, or I may run away. But I shall soon see which is which. I hope to be back in a few hours."

I had just finished my tea when he came back happily dangling an old boot.He threw the old boot in a corner and went to pour tea.

"I'm just passing through here," he said, "I have to go now."

"Where to go?"

"Well, to the West End. It may be a long time before I come back. If I come back too late, you don't have to wait for me."

"How are things going?"

"Oh, all right. I went to Strotterham again after I left, but didn't go into the house. That's an interesting little problem, and I can't let it go by any means. out of my clothes, and put on my own respectable suit again."

He hurried upstairs, and a few minutes later, when the door slammed, I knew he was off once more on the hunt he was born to love.

I waited until midnight, but he didn't come back, so I went back to my room to rest.I don't know when he came back, but when I came down to breakfast he was sitting there with a cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other, refreshed.

"I am sorry, Watson, but I did not wait for you," said he, "but you know that our client has an appointment with us this morning."

"Why, it's past nine," I said, "he must be calling, and I've heard the bell."

Sure enough, I was struck by the great change that had taken place in him. His broad, strong face was now sunken, and his hair seemed to be growing grayer.He came in wearily, more miserable than he had been the morning before, and slumped heavily in his chair.

"I don't know what wickedness I have done to subject me to such cruel revenge," he said. "Two days ago I was a perfectly happy and well-to-do man, and now I am in such a state. Misfortunes never come singly, and now my My niece Mary has deserted me again."

"abandon?"

"Yes. I found her bed unoccupied this morning, her room empty, and a note for me on the table in the hall. I said sadly to her last night that if she Marry my son and he'll be fine. Maybe I don't say it rightly, but her note also said these things:

'My dearest uncle:

I feel that I have caused you distress, but if I had acted otherwise, this terrible misfortune might never have happened.It is with this thought in my heart that I shall never be able to live happily with you again.And I feel like I have to leave you forever.Don't worry about my future, for I have my own shelter.More importantly, never look for me, for it will be in vain and a disservice to me.whether i live or die i will always be your darling

mary'

"What does she mean by this note? Do you think she hints at suicide?"

"No, no, that's not the case at all. Perhaps this is the best solution. I can tell you, Mr. Holder, that your troubles will soon be over."

"Ha! Are you sure? What do you hear, Mr. Holmes? Where are the emeralds?"

"You don't think a thousand pounds is too much for a green jade, do you?"

"I'd like to offer ten thousand pounds."

"That's not necessary. Three thousand pounds will be enough. A small fee, I suppose. Have you got your cheque-book? Give you this pen, and write a check for four thousand pounds."

The banker wrote the check exactly.Holmes went to his writing desk, took out a gold paper bag, took out three green jades from it, and threw them on the table.

Our client let out a squeal of delight and grabbed it in his hands.

"You've got it!" he said hastily. "I'm saved!"

He pressed these brand new green jade tightly to his chest.

"You have other debts, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, very gravely.

"Debt?" He picked up the checkbook and pen. "How much? I'll pay it off."

"No, the debt is not owed to me. You owe your son a good apology for taking it all upon himself. I should be very proud if my own son did the same, if I had A child's words."

"Then Arthur didn't take it?"

"I told you yesterday, it wasn't him!"

"You're sure! Then let's go to him at once and let him know that the truth is out."

"He already knew. After I figured it all out, I went to talk to him. He didn't want to tell me the truth, so I just told him. After hearing it, he admitted that I was right, and he didn't understand a few places that I didn't understand. supplemented."

"My God! Then, tell me what the answer is!"

"Let me tell you from the beginning. First of all, it is hard for me to say, and hard for you to hear: that Sir George Burnwell was involved with your niece Mary. They have now escaped together. .”

"Mary? Impossible!"

"Unfortunately, it's not only possible, it's a certainty. When you took this man into your home, none of you knew him very well for what he was: one of the most dangerous men in America - a down-and-out gambler. A villain, a villainous rogue, a scoundrel without heart or conscience! Mary knew nothing about the man, too. When he swore to her as he had done to a hundred other women before, she flattered herself that She was the only one who touched his heart. The demon knew how to make her work with his sweet words, and he had trysts with him nearly every night."

"I will never believe such a thing!" cried the banker.

"I'll tell you that the night before yesterday your niece Mary, thinking you had gone back to your room, crept down to talk to her lover at the window which looked out onto the stable lane. His feet were standing there for so long And deep stamped footprints in the snow. They talked of the crown. That kindled his lust for gold, and forced her to obey his will. She hadn't finished listening to him, see you Come downstairs, shut the window hastily, and tell you of the maid's escapades with her lover, which is true.

"After your son finished talking with you, he went to bed, but he was restless because of his debt. In the middle of the night, he heard light footsteps outside his door, so he got up and looked outside. , amazed to see his cousin sneaking down the aisle until she disappears into your living room. The child hastily put on a plainclothes and stands in the shadows watching, when she comes out again, from the door of the aisle. In the light your son saw her walking up to the stairs with the crown in her hand, and he ran and hid himself behind the curtain near your door, where he could see what was going on in the hall. He saw her open the window surreptitiously , handing the crown out of the window. Then shutting the window again, passing quite close to where he stood--behind the curtain in which he hid--had hurried back to her room.

"As long as she was there, it was impossible for him to do anything to avoid exposing the shameful behavior of the woman he loved. But as soon as she went away, he realized that this incident would cost you a lot, and realized that putting it How important it was to be corrected. He hurried downstairs, clothed and barefoot, opened the window, jumped out into the snow, and chased along the path, and in the moonlight he saw George Burroughs. Sir Enver was trying to escape, but was caught by Arthur, and the two fought in the snow, your boy holding one end of the crown, and his opponent the other. During the dispute, your son hit and struck Sir George in the eye. At that moment the crown was snapped, and when your son found it in his hand, he ran back and went upstairs to your room, where he was examining the twisted crown. You appear when the crown is broken and tries to straighten it with force."

"Is that possible?" said Mr. Holder, sweating.

"Just when he thought you were sure to thank him, your relentless invective aroused his anger when he could neither explain the actual situation nor betray someone who deserved his sympathy. He thought there should be knights Grace, so kept Mary's secret."

"That's why your niece screamed and passed out at the sight of the crown!" cried Mr. Holder. "My God! How blind I am! Arthur asked me to let him Go out for 5 minutes! I want to find the missing part of the crown at the scene of the competition. I have wronged him mercilessly!"

"When I came to your house," continued Holmes, "I looked round at once to see if there were any traces in the snow which might assist me in my investigation. I passed the path which the traders had followed. , the footprints were trampled beyond recognition. However, just on this side of it, a little farther from the kitchen door, there were traces left by a woman standing there talking to a man, and one of the footprints there was round. , which means that this person has a wooden artificial leg. I can even conclude that someone in the middle has alarmed them, because there are traces of a woman running to the door, which can be seen from the shape of the deep front footprints and shallow rear footprints on the snow. The man with the wooden leg seemed to be there for a while before going away. I thought then it might be the maid and her lover. You have told me about them. It was proved to be so after investigation. I went to the garden I walked around and saw nothing but scattered footprints, which I knew were left by the police; but when I reached the trail leading to the stables, a long and complicated scene was printed on the snow. The image was displayed in front of me.

"There are two rows of footprints of men in boots, and, to my delight, two additional rows of footprints of a man with bare feet. I will at once prove from what you have told me that the last two traces were made by your son. Head Two sets of footprints were walking to and fro, and the other two were running very fast, and in places his footprints overlaid those of the boots, evidently followed by him. I followed these tracks , found them leading to the windows of the hall, where the man in the boots melted all the snow around him while he waited. Then I went to the other side, which is about 100 yards down the trail. I I could see that the man in the boots had turned around, because the snow was trampled all over the ground, it seemed that there had been a struggle there and the scene was a mess, and finally I found a few drops of blood spattered there, That proved me to be right. At this moment the man in the boots was running down the path again, and there was another small pool of blood showing his injury. When he came to the other side of the road, I saw Having been swept away, the trail is no longer there.

"You must remember that when I first entered the house, I used a magnifying glass to inspect the window sills and window frames in the hall. Outlines of feet. By then I had formed a preliminary idea of ​​what had happened here. Namely, that a man had waited outside the window; another had brought the emerald crown there; your son had found This being the case, he went after the thief and wrestled him; the two of them together seized the crown, and fought it hard, and did such damage as no one alone could have done. He took the prize back , but the three pieces of emeralds fell into the hands of the opponent. That was all I knew at the time. Now the question is, who was that person? And who gave him the crown?

"I remember the old adage that when you rule out the impossible, the rest, however improbable, must be true. Surely it wasn't you who took the crown down, I know, So only your niece and the maids are left. But if the maids did it, why would your son be willing to suffer for them? There is no solid reason here. It is because he loves his cousin that he will keep her This explains the secret. Because this secret is related to family scandal, he wants to do it all the more. I remember you said that you saw her at that window, and she fainted after seeing the crown. At this time, My guess became a very certain fact.

"But who could be the accomplice? Her lover, obviously. I know you are a reclusive person, and you have few friends, and Sir George Burnwell was one of them. I have heard he was in Notorious among women, he must be the one who wore those boots and held the lost emerald. Though he knew he had been discovered by Arthur, he thought he was safe, for the lad had only to confide Just one word, and the family ugliness will be publicized.

"Well, then you can imagine what the second step I took was. I went to Sir George Burnwell's lodgings dressed as a tramp, and made the acquaintance of his valet and his master the day before yesterday. Scratched my head in the evening. At last I bought for six shillings an old pair of shoes which must have been thrown away by his master, and came back to you to check, and it matched the footprint exactly.

"Then I went home and changed my clothes. As I had a delicate part to play at this point, I felt compelled to avoid a scandal in order to avoid prosecution, and I knew that the villain had nothing to fear. I called at the door, and at first he denied it; but when When I pointed out the details, he showed himself and tried to intimidate me. But before he raised his club and hit me, I put the pistol on his head. I told him that we can pay a thousand pounds a piece. Buy his emeralds. He regretted telling me that he had sold them to someone else for six hundred pounds a piece. I got the address of the collector on the promise not to tell him. Find the man After much bargaining, I redeemed the emeralds for a thousand pounds a piece. Then I went to your son and told him that everything was settled."

"This day can be said to have saved Britain from a big scandal that was about to be made public," the banker stood up respectfully, "Sir, I don't know how to thank you, but I will not let you down. Now I must go at once to my dear son, and apologize to him. Mary has broken my heart. I am afraid you will not be able to tell where she is now, no matter how skillful you are!"

"I can say with certainty," replied Holmes, "that she is where Sir George Burnwell is. And, still more certainly, that whatever crimes she has committed, they will soon be severely punished." punishment."

(End of this chapter)