The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 140 Uncanny Valley (2)
It was another dramatic moment, and my friend Sherlock Holmes was born for such moments.It would be an exaggeration to say that he was taken aback or excited by the astonishing news.Although he is not cruel by nature, but because he has been in such an environment for a long time, he can completely deal with it with equanimity.However, if he was relatively dull emotionally, his rational thinking and insight were unusually active and sharp.I was terrified by this brief news, but Holmes showed no fear. His expression was calm and composed, like a chemist who sees crystals separated from a supersaturated solution.

"Unexpected! Unexpected!" he said.

"You don't seem surprised?"

"Mr. MacDonald, this does interest me, but it is by no means a surprise. Why should I be surprised? I got an anonymous letter from some key point warning me that a danger was approaching a person. Within an hour." , I was told that the danger had materialized and that the man was dead. As you can see, it intrigued me, but not by surprise."

He briefly described the letter and code to the detective.Macdonald sat silently with his chin in his hands, his thick pale brown eyebrows knit into a ball.

"I was going to Birlstone this morning," said Macdonald, "and I came here to ask you and your friend if you would like to go with me. But, as you say, , perhaps it would be better to stay in London."

"I don't think so," said Holmes.

"Damn it! Mr. Holmes," cried the Inspector, "the papers should be full of 'The Birlstone Mystery' in just a day or two. But since someone was in London before it happened, It is expected, so is it still a mystery? As long as you find this person, everything will be solved."

"Indeed, Mr. MacDonald. But how are you going to find this so-called Pollock?"

Macdonald, looking over the letter which Holmes handed him, said: "It was sent from Camberwell--that is of no use to us. You say it is a pseudonym, and of course there is no way to trace it. You are not Did you say you ever gave him money?"

"Delivered twice."

"How did you give it to him?"

"By post to Camberwell."

"Have you ever noticed who took the money?"

"No."

The officer looked surprised, "Why not?"

"Because I have to keep my word. I promised him not to track him down. I promised him at the beginning."

"Do you think there is someone behind him?"

"Must have."

"Is that the Professor Moriarty I heard you mention?"

"It's him!"

Detective MacDonald smiled slightly, glanced at me, his eyelids trembling slightly: "Excuse me, Mr. Holmes, in our Criminal Investigation Department, everyone thinks that you have a little prejudice against this professor. In fact, I I also went to investigate it myself, but he is indeed a knowledgeable and admirable person!"

"Glad you recognized his talent."

"Man, people can't help but admire him! After hearing what you said about him, I decided to meet him. I talked to him about the eclipse. How we talked about it, I can't remember exactly , but he produced a lamp and a globe, and quickly explained the principle clearly. He lent me a book, lest you laugh, although I was well educated in Aberdeen, Still can't understand. He has a thin face, silver-white hair, and a solemn expression when he speaks. He could be a very good priest. When we said goodbye to each other, he put his hand on my shoulder, like a father blessing him for a long journey It’s like the son of a child who walked into a cruel and dangerous society.”

Holmes rubbed his hands together and said with a giggle: "Good! That's great! Macdonald, my friend, please tell me that this unforgettable meeting probably took place in the professor's study?"

"Yes."

"It's a nice room, isn't it?"

"Yes, downright splendid, Mr. Holmes."

"You sat at his desk?"

"Yes."

"The sun is on your face and he's in the shadows, isn't it?"

"Well, it was evening, but I remember the light was on my side."

"Indeed. Have you ever noticed the portrait hanging on the professor's chair?"

"Mr. Holmes, probably under your influence, I observed more carefully. Yes, I remember the portrait—a young woman with her chin in her hands, squinting at you."

"That's a painting by Jean-Baptiste Gruz."

The detective tried to look interested.

"Jean-Baptiste Gruze," continued Holmes, leaning back in his chair, interlocking his fingers, "is a French painter who was famous in the period from [-] to [-]. His heyday. I mean, of course, his creative career. Contemporary critics speak much more highly of Gruz than his contemporaries.”

The detective began to look dull-eyed and said, "Are we..."

"We are not digressing," interrupted Holmes. "What I have said has a direct and important connection with what you call the 'Burlstone Mystery'. In a sense it is precisely this. The crux of the case."

MacDonald gave me a begging look, forced a smile, and said, "Mr. Holmes, your train of thought is a little too fast. You have omitted one or two links, and I can't keep up. What connection does the dead painter have with the Birlstone case?"

"All knowledge is useful to a detective," Holmes went on. "In 120, Gruz sold a painting called "The Shepherdess" for 4 million francs—that is, more than [-] pounds. It was bought at the Bodalis auction for $[-]--even such a trivial matter is worth your careful consideration."

Sure enough, these words caught the detective's attention, and he listened carefully while thinking.

"I must remind you," went on Holmes, "that the annual salary of a professor, as can be found in several authoritative books, is seven hundred pounds."

"Then how can he afford..."

"Exactly like this, how can he afford it!"

"Ah, this is indeed worth noting," said the detective thoughtfully. "Mr. Holmes, please go on with the story. It is very interesting and wonderful!"

Holmes smiled. He always felt warm when he heard sincere appreciation--like a true artist.Then he asked: "Didn't you say you were going to Birlstone?"

"We still have time," said the Inspector, looking at his watch. "My carriage is just outside the door, and I will be at Victoria Station in twenty or ten minutes. But as to the picture, Mr. Holmes, I remember that you once Said you never dealt with Professor Moriarty."

"We've never seen it."

"Then how do you know the layout of his room so well?"

"Ah, that's a different story. I've been to his house three times, and twice I've waited for him under different pretenses and left before he came back. Another time, well, I've been really bad. Said an official detective. That was the last time I snuck in and looked at all his papers, and the results were totally unexpected."

"Have you found any clues?"

"Nothing, which is astonishing. Anyway, now you know why I'm bringing this up - Moriarty is in fact extremely rich. But where did his wealth come from? He's unmarried , his younger brother is only the station master of a railway station in the west of England. He has an annual salary of [-] pounds, but he owns an oil painting by Gruz."

"so……"

"The answer is simple."

"You mean, he has a lot of illegal income?"

"Exactly, and of course I have other reasons to doubt him—many clues leading us vaguely to the center of the web, where the poisonous spider is lurking motionless. I only mentioned one painting , because this is what you saw with your own eyes."

"Well, Mr. Holmes, I admit that what you just said is indeed very interesting, not only interesting, but wonderful. But can you go into more detail, where exactly did he get his money? Counterfeit money or theft?"

"Do you know Jonathan Wilde?"

"Ah, the name sounds familiar. He is the protagonist in the novel, right? I never learn to solve crimes from the characters in the novel. These guys only tell you who the criminal is, but they never let people know how they do it. Yes. Fiction can only give people inspiration, but it has no practical significance.”

"Jonathan Wilde is not a detective, nor is he the protagonist of a novel. He is the leader of a criminal gang, born in the last century—about [-] or so."

"Then he doesn't mean anything to me. I'm a practical person."

"The most practical thing you should do, Mr. MacDonald, is to study criminal histories twelve hours a day for three months behind closed doors. Everything goes in circles—and so does Professor Moriarty. Jonathan Wilde was the mastermind behind London's criminals at the time, and he took a 15.00% commission from London criminals with bad ideas that would give the investigators a headache. The old wheel still spins, and the same axle will Go back to the original place. Everything that happened in the past may recur at any time. I will tell you about this Moriarty again, you should be interested."

"I'm really interested in him."

"By chance, I discovered the first link in Moriarty's chain, with the culprit at one end and his minions at the other - thugs, thieves, fraudsters, and artificers. Gambler who cheats money, this chain is full of all kinds of crimes. Behind the mastermind of this force is Colonel Sebastian Moran, and the law cannot work on this 'Chief of Staff' because he and Moran Riarty is also invulnerable in the eyes of the world. Do you know how much Professor Moriarty paid him?"

"Appreciate further details."

"Six thousand pounds a year to buy his genius ideas. Purely American trading principles. His income is much higher than that of a prime minister. How much is Moriarty's income and the scale of the behind-the-scenes transactions involved? How big, you can get a glimpse of it here. Also, recently I specifically checked Moriarty's checks - some of the regular checks he used to pay the family's daily expenses. These checks came from half a dozen different banks. About this you What do you think?"

"Indeed, it is unreasonable! But what conclusion do you draw from it?"

"He doesn't want people to know that he is very rich. No one knows how much money he has. I dare say he has twenty bank accounts in his name, and his largest account is probably abroad. Deutsche Bank or Crédit Lyonnais. If you have a year or two to spare, you can investigate Professor Moriarty."

As the conversation deepened, Macdonald was so fascinated that he almost forgot why he came here.Now another reminder of his practical Scotchness caused him to return at once to the case at hand.

"In any case, he has every right to deposit his money in any bank," said MacDonald. "The anecdotes you describe are interesting, but seem to be a little far from our case, Mr. Holmes. But the question is The point is that you mentioned that the professor was involved in this case, and that you have received a letter of warning from the man named Pollock. Could you elaborate a bit more for the sake of the present case?"

"Let us first speculate on the motive of the crime. From what you have just described, this is a murder which is inexplicable, or at least inexplicable. Assuming that the crime was caused as we suspect, then his motive There are two possibilities. Before that, I want to tell you that Moriarty adopted a policy of iron and blood for the control of his subordinates, with strict discipline. There is only one punishment in his code, and that is death. Now we It can be assumed that the victim, Douglas, was denounced because he had betrayed his leader in some matter. Of course, bad luck will befall him, and the punishment will soon be publicized, and it will also make people feel angry. The rest of the men felt the fear of death."

"Well, it is an opinion, Mr. Holmes."

"Another motive, which Moriarty plotted with his usual business methods. Have you heard of any robbery lately?"

"I haven't heard of that yet."

"If this is the case, then the second hypothesis, Moriarty probably participated in the planning with the promise of dividing up the stolen goods, or else he presided over the planning of the murder after receiving benefits from others. Both hypotheses are Possibly. But whether it's either of the two, or the third possibility of both, we have to go to Birlstone to find out. I know our opponent too well, he will never be in London leaves nothing to expose itself."

"Well, let's set off for Birlstone now!" cried MacDonald, jumping up from his chair. "Oh, it's past my scheduled time! Gentlemen, I can only give you five It takes a few minutes to prepare, and act quickly."

"It is enough for us." Holmes sprang up from his chair, took off his pajamas hastily, and put on his coat. "Mr. MacDonald, please tell me all the details on the way later."

"All the details" are disappointingly scant, but enough to suggest that the case deserves an expert's close attention.Holmes' countenance gradually brightened as he rubbed his slender hands together as he listened to the few but noteworthy details.After saying goodbye to the long and idle weeks, now I finally have a good opportunity to show my talents.If this extraordinary talent in him cannot be used for a long time, I am afraid that the sharp blade of thinking will become rusty and dull.

Sherlock Holmes met his long-awaited opportunity, his eyes bright, his pale cheeks slightly flushed, and his visceral desire making him look bright.Leaning forward in the carriage, he listened intently to MacDonald's brief account of the unsolved case in Sussex.As the detective said, he learned about it in a briefing brought to him by the milkman this morning.Police Officer White Mason is his good friend. Whenever the local police need Scotland Yard's support in such a difficult case, MacDonald is always the first to get the information.Such a seemingly clueless unsolved case usually requires the provincial capital to send experts to solve it.

Dear Officer McDonald:
This letter is specially written for you, and other official documents have been sent to the police station.Please wire me the number of your train to Birlstone this morning, and I will meet you at the station.If I have something to do, I will also send someone to pick it up.This case is very difficult, please come here as soon as possible.It would be great if you could come with Mr. Holmes, he will be of help to the case.If someone hadn't been killed, the whole case would have been seamless.OMG, this is unbelievable!
"Your friend does not seem stupid," said Holmes.

"Yes, sir, White Mason is, in my opinion, a man of life."

"Okay, what else did he say?"

"When we see him, he will tell us all the details."

"Then how did you know about Mr. Douglas and his murder?"

"That was in the official report that came later. It didn't use the word 'suffering,' it wasn't an official term, it just mentioned that the deceased John Douglas was shot in the head with a musket and that the case It was issued at about midnight last night. In addition, the report clearly stated that this was a murder, but the murderer had not yet been arrested, and that the case was complicated and bizarre. Mr. Holmes, all I know now is that That's it."

"Then, if you don't mind, Mr. MacDonald, we will stop here. One of the most taboos in our business is to jump to conclusions when the evidence is weak. At present, I think only two points are reliable--London There's a big brain and someone in Sussex is dead. We're going to investigate the connection between those two."

The Tragedy of Three Burlstones
Permit me to set aside for a moment the irrelevant matters, and give an objective account of what happened before our arrival at the scene of the crime, which we only learned later.For only in this way can I give the reader an understanding of the characters involved and of the strange backgrounds upon which their destinies are determined.

Birlstone is a village on the northern edge of Sussex. For hundreds of years, the houses here have always maintained their old appearance with a half-timbered structure, and the ancient charm still exists.Due to its picturesque scenery and superior geographical location, it has attracted many wealthy people to move here in recent years, and their villas are built in the surrounding jungle.The natives say the jungle is a corner of the Weald Great Forest, which grows thinner and thinner as far as the northern chalk hills.Due to the increase in population, some small shops have come into being, so Birlstone will soon change from an old mountain village to a modern town in the not-too-distant future.It is in the center of the country, and about ten or twelve miles from here, extends eastward to the borders of Kent, and the nearest important town is Tunbridge Wells.

About half a mile from the town there is an old park known for its tall beech trees called Birlstone Hall.It has a rich history, with some buildings dating back to the days of the First Crusade, when Hugo de Capps built a small castle in the center of the estate given to him by the King of England.The castle was destroyed in a fire in [-].It was not until the time of James I that a manor was rebuilt on the ruins of this feudal castle, and part of the blackened cornerstone of the original castle was also used.

(End of this chapter)