The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 105 The Return (20)
"It seems to have started with the bust of Napoleon. I bought it four months ago at the second shop next to the Highland Street coach station, Harding Brothers, and it was very cheap. It has been kept in this room. I often write at night until the next morning, and it is the same today. I was upstairs in my study at about three o'clock in the morning, when I heard something coming from downstairs. I just listened attentively, but there was no sound again. So I thought the sound must be coming from outside. Then, after another 5 minutes, there was a very miserable roar, Mr. Holmes, that sound was very terrible Well, it will haunt me as long as I live. I sat quite still for a minute or two, petrified, and then took the chimney-rods and went downstairs. I went into this room, The window was wide open, and the bust on the mantelpiece was gone. I don't understand why the thief would take this thing. It's just a plaster cast and worthless.

"You must have seen that whoever took a long step through this open window could easily reach the front steps. The thief evidently did so. So I opened the door and walked in the dark. Going out, I almost tripped over a dead man, and the body was lying there. I hurried back to the house to get the lamp, and then I saw the poor man lying on the ground with a big hole in his neck and a big pool of blood around him. His face Lying on his back, with his knees bent and his mouth wide open, he looked very frightening. Ah, I would dream of him often. Then I blew the whistle, and then nothing. I thought I must have been I fainted from fright, and when I woke up, I was already in the lobby, and this policeman was standing beside me and looking at me."

Holmes asked: "Who is the victim?"

Lestrade said: "There is nothing to prove his identity. You can go to the funeral home to examine the body, but until now we have not found any clues from the body. Aged, poorly dressed, but not looking like a worker. In a pool of blood beside him was a jackknife with a horn handle. I don't know whether it was the murder weapon or a relic of the deceased. The deceased There is no name on his clothes, and in his pockets he has only an apple, a piece of string, a map of London for a shilling, and a photograph. It is a photograph."

The photos are obviously snapshots taken with a small camera.The person in the photo looks very intelligent, with thick eyebrows and a distinctively raised lower part of the face, like the face of a baboon.

After examining the photograph carefully, Holmes asked: "How is the bust?"

"Just before you came we had word that the statue had been found smashed in the garden of an empty house in Camden Street. I'm going to see it. Will you?"

"Yes, I shall go and see," said Holmes, examining the carpet and the window. "This man is either long-legged or agile. The ground outside the window is low, and it will take great dexterity to jump onto the ledge and open the window." .and it would be easy to just jump out. Mr. Harker, would you like to see the remains of the bust with us?"

The journalist sat down at his desk in a depressed mood.

He said: "While I believe the first evening papers of the day have come out with a full account of the incident, I shall try to write about it. Such is my fate! Do you remember the story of Doncaster's The collapse of the stands? I was the only reporter in that stand and my newspaper was the only one that didn't report it because I was too shaken to write a single word. Now the writing happened in It's too late for the murders on my front door."

When we left the room, we heard him start to write on the manuscript paper.

The bust had been shattered just two or three hundred yards from the house, with tiny pieces scattered across the grass.It is conceivable how strong and uncontrollable the hatred in the heart of the person who smashed the statue was.It is the first time we have seen the French emperor in this state.Holmes picked up a few fragments and inspected them carefully. He was concentrated and meticulous, with a confident expression on his face. I believe he must have found a clue.

Lestrade asked, "How is it?"

Holmes shrugged his shoulders and said: "Although we still have a lot of work to do, we have already grasped some information that can be used as a basis for investigation. To this murderer, a bust is worth more than a human life. That is one point. Also, it would be a strange thing to say that the man who got the bust was only to smash it, and that he was neither in nor near the house."

"Maybe he got flustered when he met this guy. He just didn't know what to do with it, so he took out the knife."

"It may well be so. But I would draw your attention to the position of the house in which the statue was broken in the garden."

Lestrade looked round, and said: "It's an empty house, so he knows he won't disturb anyone in the garden."

"However, there is an empty house not far from the entrance of this street. He must pass that one before he can reach this one. Since he is walking with the statue, the danger of being run into by others will increase every time he takes a step. One more point, why didn't he smash it in that empty house?"

"I don't understand that," said Lestrade.

"Here he can see clearly," said Holmes, pointing to the lamp above us, "and there he cannot. That is the reason."

Lestrade said: "Yes, that is indeed the case. I remember that the statue that Dr. Barnicker bought was smashed not far from the light. Mr. Holmes, how to deal with this situation?" "

"Remember it, and put it in the record. We may have occasions to come up against it again. Lestrade, what do you think the next step is?"

"I think the best way to find out the inside story is to find out the identity of the deceased. What did Mr. Harker do, and who met Mr. Harker on his front steps and killed him. Do you think it would be possible?"

"Your method is good. But my method of handling this case is not the same as yours."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Oh, don't let me influence you. I suggest you do it your way, and I do mine. Then we can exchange ideas so that we can learn from each other's strengths."

Lestrade said, "Okay."

"If you go back to Pitt Street and see Mr Harker, please tell him for me that I think it is safe to say that the man who went to his house last night was a dangerous murderer, and mad to hate Napoleon. It is very important for him to write. News coverage should help."

Lestrade stared at him, wondering: "This is not what you really think, is it?"

Holmes smiled. "Isn't it? Perhaps. But I daresay it will interest Mr. Harker and the readers of the Central Syndicate. We have a lot of complicated work to do today, Watson. Lestrade, I would like you to meet us in Baker Street at six o'clock tonight. I would like to borrow this dead man's pocket photograph and return it to you in the evening. If I am not mistaken, I may ask you to help us go out tonight. See you tonight, and I wish you well!"

Sherlock Holmes and I walked together to Highland Street and into Harding Brothers' shop where busts were sold.A young clerk told us that Mr. Harding was only coming in the afternoon, and that he himself was a novice and did not know the situation.An expression of disappointment and trouble appeared on Holmes' face.

He said: "Well, in that case, we have to change our plans. It seems that Mr. Harding will not come in the morning, so we will have to come to him in the afternoon. As you must have guessed, Watson, I will pursue the source of these busts. It was to see if there was anything in particular that would properly explain why the busts were smashed. Now, let's go to Mr. Hudson's shop in Connington Street and see if he can give us any useful information."

We rode in a carriage and arrived at the shop an hour later.Hudson was of short stature, rosy-faced, strong, and impatient.

He said: "Yes, sir, it was on my counter that the statue was broken. Well, it's outrageous! What's the use of paying taxes when villains can do what they want? Yes, sir, I sold it." Two statues for Dr. Barnico. This kind of thing must be done by the anarchists--that's how I see it, they're the only ones who go around smashing statues. Where do I get these statues? What does that have to do with it. But if you really want to know, it doesn't matter if I tell you, from Geldel & Co., Church Street, Stepany. This company has been well-known in the plaster sculpture business for nearly 20 years. How many did I buy? Three, two for the first time, one for the second time, three in total. Two sold to Dr. Barnico, and one that was smashed on the counter in broad daylight .Is this guy in the picture? No, I don't know. Oh, no, I could say I do. Isn't that Beppo? He's an Italian, doing odd jobs here and there for a living. He worked here. He'd Carving, gilding, framing, odd jobs anyway. This guy left last week and no one has mentioned him since. I don't know where he came from or where he went. He's doing pretty well here. He had been walking for two days when the statue was broken."

As we came out of the shop, Holmes said to me: "We can only learn so much from Moss Hudson. We ran ten miles and found out that both cases in Connington Street and Kensington The connection with Beppo is worthwhile for that alone. Watson, we're going to Geldel's in Stepany, where these busts were made. I reckon we'll get some clues from there."

So, we quickly passed through the bustling areas of London: the hotel district, theater street, commercial street, and the place where the London shipping companies are concentrated, and finally arrived at a town with a population of about [-] along the Thames River.The rented houses in the town are full of homeless people from the European continent, and their breath and sentiment are everywhere.On a wide street where wealthy London merchants used to live, we found the factory of the sculpture company. There was a large yard in the factory, and the yard was full of stone monuments and other things.Inside there was a large house in which fifty workmen were working.The manager is a German, tall and fair-skinned.He received us with great courtesy, and answered every question Holmes had with clarity.Dewan's marble head of Napoleon was used for several hundred plaster reproductions, three of which were sold to Moss Hudson about a year ago and three to Harding Brothers in Kensington, according to an audit. It's the same batch.These six statues are no different from any other.He couldn't understand why anyone would want to destroy the statues—in fact, he couldn't understand the explanation for the so-called "paranoia".The wholesale price of each statue is six shillings, but retailers can sell it for more than twelve shillings.The replica is to make molds from the front and back of the marble head, and then connect the two half-side molds together to form a complete head model.This work is often done by Italians. They work in this room, and then take the statues to the table in the aisle to dry, and finally pack them one by one.There's only so much he can tell us.

However, when the manager saw the photo, he reacted violently.His face was flushed with anger, and his brows were furrowed over his blue German eyes.

He exclaimed, "Ah, the scoundrel! Yes, I know him too well. Our company has always had a good reputation, and the only time the police came here was this fellow. That was more than a year ago." Well, he stabbed another Italian with a knife in the street, and when he got back to the workshop, the police came and that's where he was taken. His name was Bepo - I never knew his last name I'm unlucky to hire such a man of bad character. But he's a pretty good trader, and he's a good hand."

"What was he convicted of?"

"The man who was stabbed didn't die, he was released after a year of imprisonment. I'm sure he's not in prison now, and he's afraid to show his face here. He has a cousin here, and I think his cousin will tell Where are you?"

"No, no," said Holmes loudly, "don't mention it to his cousin. I beg you not to say a word. It's a serious matter, and I feel it's getting worse the further you go. On the side, I saw that the date of sale was June [-] last year. I want to know when Bebo was arrested."

The manager replied, "I can give you an approximate date by looking at the payroll account." He turned a few pages and continued, "Yes, the last time he was paid was on May [-]."

"Thank you," said Holmes, "for your trouble. I don't think I need to take up any more of your time." He finally urged the manager not to speak of our inquiry, and we got up and walked back.

We were busy until four or five o'clock in the afternoon, and we had a hasty lunch in a restaurant.At the door of the restaurant, newsboys were running around shouting: "Kensington Murder, Madman Kills." This news showed that Mr. Harker's report was still published.Covering two columns, the writing is engaging, shocking, and beautifully worded.Holmes set the newspaper up on the spice rack and read it as he ate.Once or twice he giggled.

He said: "Watson, that's how the news should be written. Listen to this passage:
'We are pleased to inform our readers that Mr. Lestrade, the experienced official detective, and Mr. Holmes, the famous consulting detective, have come to the same conclusion on this case, and there is no difference of opinion. The murderer was insane rather than deliberate, and only the cause of mental disorder can explain the whole incident. '

Watson, a newspaper is an invaluable tool if you know how to use it.If you're done, we'll go to Kensington and see what the manager of Harding Brothers has to say. "

Unexpectedly, the founder of this big store is a small, thin man, shrewd, capable, clear-headed, and eloquent.

"Yes, sir, I've seen the news in the evening papers. Mr. Harker is our customer. He bought the statue from us a few months ago. The company ordered three statues of that kind. They're all sold now. To whom? Check our sales bill and I'll let you know right away. Oh, here are the bills. You see, one sold To Mr Harker, one to Mr Jozia Brown, Rabnom Street, Chiswick, and a third to Mr Sandford, Lower Bush Street, Reading. On the picture you showed me I have never seen this man. If I had, I would never forget him, because he is so ugly. Are there any Italians among our clerks? Yes, there are a few workers and cleaners It's easy for them to peek at the sales bill, and there's no need to hide it. Ah, yes, that's a very strange thing. If you want to know anything else, please let me know."

As Mr. Harding made these remarks, Holmes made several notes.I saw that he was satisfied with the way things were going.However, he didn't say anything, he just wanted to hurry back, otherwise he would delay his meeting with Lestrade.Sure enough, when we reached Baker Street, Lestrade was already there, and was pacing up and down the room impatiently.His serious look showed that he had a productive day's work.

He asked: "How is it? Mr. Holmes, have you gained anything?"

My friend explained: "We were very busy today, and it was not in vain. We visited the retailers and wholesale manufacturers of the statues, and found out where each statue came from."

Lestrade cried: "Bust! Well, Mr. Holmes, you have your way, and I should not object, but I think I have had a better day than yours. I have found out the identity of the dead man."

"really?"

"And the cause of the crime was found out."

"great."

"We have a detective named Saffron Hill, who is in charge of law and order in the Italian quarter. The dead man has a statue of God hanging around his neck, and from the color of his skin, I think he came from southern Europe. Detective Hill recognized him as soon as he saw the body. His name was Pedro Vannucci, a Neapolitan in Italy. He was a well-known robber in London with connections to the Mafia. You know, the Mafia is a secret political organization, to realize their creed through assassination. Now it seems that things are gradually clear. The other person may also be an Italian, and also a Mafia. He probably violated some aspect of the discipline of the Mafia. Pedro was in Follow him. The photo in Pedro's pocket is probably the other guy's. He carries the photo with him to identify the person. He followed this guy and saw him enter a house, wait outside, and later scuffle He was mortally wounded. What is the explanation, Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"

Holmes clapped his hands appreciatively, and exclaimed: "Very well, Lestrade, very well! However, I do not fully understand your explanation of the bust breaking."

"Busts! You can't get over those worthless busts. That's nothing, petty theft, six months in prison at most. We're investigating murder, and frankly, all the clues I got it all."

"What should we do next?"

"That's easy. Hill and I go to the Italian Quarter, find someone based on a photo, and arrest him for murder. Will you come with us?"

(End of this chapter)