The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 145 Uncanny Valley (7)
"However, it is clear that the cause of death was shooting. So, it must be before the police arrived, which is an indisputable fact. So, what we are seeing is a deliberate conspiracy, it is the two Claiming to be the man who heard the gunshots, that is, the man named Buck and the woman named Douglas. First, when I can prove that the shoe prints on the window sill were deliberately printed by Buck to distract the police. You have to admit that the case is going against him.

"Now, we must clarify the question: When exactly did the murder take place? The servants were still going up and down the house until 10:30 p.m., so the murder must not have happened before that. 45:[-] The servants all returned to their lodgings at [-]:[-], and only Ames remained in the pantry. After you left this afternoon, we made some experiments and found that no matter how much noise MacDonald made in the study, I can't hear a thing in the pantry just by closing a couple of doors in the hallway.

"But it was different in the housekeeper's bedroom. It was not far from the corridor, and I could hear it faintly in this bedroom when MacDonald made a loud noise. When the case happened , the musket had a very short range and was muffled to some extent so it wasn't very loud, but it was audible in Mrs. Allen's bedroom in the dead of night. Although Mrs. Allen told us she Somewhat deaf, but she still mentioned in her testimony that half an hour before the alarm went off, she heard a sound like a slamming door. It was exactly 45:[-], and I'm sure what she heard was a gun The sound is the real time when the murder happened.

"If my conjecture is correct, I now face another problem: If Mr. Barker and Mrs. Douglas were not the murderers, then at 45:[-] when the gunshots sounded, and at [-]:[-] when they rang the bell to call the servant What did they both do during that time? Why didn't they ring the bell immediately when they were led into the study by gunshots and saw the tragedy that had happened? This is the answer we are looking for. Once we find this answer, we will leave The case is close."

"I also believe they were in collusion," I said. "She must be a heartless thing if she can laugh at a joke only a few hours after her husband's death."

"That's right. Even when she told the case herself, she didn't look like the victim's wife. As you know, Watson, I'm not a feminist. But my life experience tells me that no woman would If she had any affection for her husband, she would not have looked at her husband's dead body in a few words. Watson, if I marry, I will certainly instill in my wife a feeling that when my body lies She would never follow the butler when she was only a few paces away. Their play was so poorly done that even the most inexperienced detective would have been terrified of not hearing the woman's cries. Strange. Even if there were no other clues, this little incident alone would make me think that this was a pre-arranged conspiracy."

"So, do you think Mrs. Douglas and Buck conspired to kill her husband?"

"You are astonishing at your straightforward questioning," said Holmes, waving his pipe at me. "The idea has been fired at me like a bullet. If you think that Mrs. Douglas and Barker knew the truth of the murder, and conspired to conceal it, then I Agree with you from the bottom of my heart, they must know the truth. But the premise of your to-the-point argument is not clear. Let's first examine the obstacles that stand in our way.

"If we suppose that these two men, conspired by an affair, were determined to get rid of the one who got in the way. This is only a bold supposition, for it cannot be proved by our careful investigation of the servants and others. Quite the contrary, The Douglases were very much in love with each other in many testimonies."

"I think these can all be faked," I said, remembering her beautiful smiling face in the garden.

"Anyway, at least they gave the impression of that. However, we can assume that they had planned to blind everyone to this point and conspired with the murder, and Douglas was indeed facing the Some kind of threat..."

"We're hearing only one side of the story about this threat."

Holmes said thoughtfully: "I know, Watson, that you have roughly stated your view that everything they say from the first is a lie. In your view, there is no potential danger at all." , clandestine organizations, there's no 'uncanny valley', and that boss named McGinty, etc. Well, that's sort of a quick cut, so let's see where this argument leads us. They made it all up to cover up the crime, and then, to match it, they dropped a bicycle in the bushes to prove that the murderer was an outsider. And the footprints on the ledge were faked for the same purpose. The body The same is true of the adjacent card, which was probably written at the manor. All this is in line with your logic, Watson. But now, we are faced with other difficult, tricky, and inconsistent issues. Question. With so many weapons, how did they choose a truncated musket? And this musket is made in the United States. How can they be sure that no one will go there to check after the gun goes off? Allen The madam mistook the gunshot for the slamming of the door, and can only say that it was purely accidental. Watson, would the pair of criminals you so-called commit such a foolish thing?"

"I admit that these are things I cannot explain."

"And, besides, if a woman conspired with her lover to kill her husband, would they remove his wedding ring immediately afterwards, revealing their criminal motives? Do you think it is possible?"

"No, it's absolutely impossible."

"Besides, if it was your idea to leave a bicycle in the bushes, is there any value in doing it? Even the worst detective would say it was obviously done on purpose, because a bicycle is a deadly weapon. It is the most convenient means of transportation when gangsters escape."

"I can't figure out what the reason is."

"However, for this series of closely related events, human intelligence will not find a reasonable explanation. Let us try to reason, as an intellectual training, regardless of whether it is consistent with the facts. I Admittedly, this is just imagination, but doesn't imagination come from the restoration of the truth?
"We can assume that the man named Douglas did have a criminal secret in his life, and the fact that he couldn't tell him, and this is the root cause of his murder. We assume that the murderer is an outsider who, after killing him, takes his place. The wedding ring was gone, for what reason I have not yet been able to explain. Perhaps the feud dates back to his first marriage, which is why the man took his wedding ring.

"Just as the man was about to flee, Barker and Mrs. Douglas rushed to the house. The murderer made them understand that if they handed him over to the police, it would lead to the publicity of this lurid scandal. They changed their minds and willingly Let him go. It is entirely possible, then, that they quietly lowered the drawbridge for that purpose, and then pulled it up again. The murderer, for some reason, thought it safer to walk than to ride a bicycle when he fled, so He left his bike in the bushes and fled. So far, we can only say that this is a possibility, right?"

"Yes, it is certainly possible," I said with reservations.

"Watson, we must keep in mind that the case we have encountered is undoubtedly very special. Now, let us continue to reason the case in our imagination: these two people may not necessarily be the real murderer. After the murderer fled, suddenly Realizing that they might not be able to get rid of the suspicion, because it is difficult for them to prove that they neither committed the murder nor condoned the crime of others. So they did these cover-ups in a hurry. Buck printed on the window sill with his slippers There were bloodstains, which shows how the murderer escaped. They obviously heard the gunshots and sounded the alarm after the incident, but this was delayed by half an hour from the time of the crime."

"How are you going to prove all this?"

"If the murderer is someone else, then his arrest will be the most effective proof. But if not... Well, the scientific methods are endless. I think I will spend a night alone in that study, It will definitely help a lot.”

"Are you going to be there alone all night?"

"I plan to go now. I have communicated with the respectable butler Ames. He is definitely not with Buck and the others. I will sit there for one night and see if the atmosphere in the study can give I have brought some ideas. Watson, my friend, please relax and smile. Let us see, then. By the way, have you brought your big umbrella?"

"here."

"Okay, can I borrow it?"

"Of course, but what a poor weapon to use this for! If there is any danger..."

"It is not so serious, my dear Watson, or I would have asked you for help, but I must take this umbrella. Now, I am waiting for the return of my colleagues from Tunbridge Wells, They are now tracking down the owner of that bicycle."

It was dusk when officers McDonald and White Mason returned from their investigation.They were elated and said that the investigation had made great progress.

"Man, I admit I was skeptical that there was an outsider," MacDonald said, "but that's over now. We've found out where the bike came from and what the owner looked like, so , The harvest of this trip is not small."

"It sounds as if the case will be closed," said Holmes. "I offer you my heartiest congratulations."

"Well, I started with the fact that Mr. Douglas had been to Tunbridge Wells. He was a little restless that day. Obviously, he realized the danger there. If that person came by bicycle If so, it is conceivable that he must have come from Tunbridge Wells. We took bicycles and identified them to the owners of various hotels, and were quickly recognized by the owner of the Eagle Commercial Hotel. He said the owner was a man named Hargrave, who had stayed there two days before, and that this bicycle and a suitcase were all his luggage. From the hotel register, he was from London, But no address was given. The suitcase was London and the contents were British, but he himself was undoubtedly an American."

"Well, very well," said Holmes cheerfully, "you have put the work into practice, and I am sitting here speculating with my friend on various ideas. Mr. MacDonald, you are doing me a favor." A lesson, being practical is really meaningful.”

"Well, that's true, Mr. Holmes," said Inspector MacDonald with satisfaction.

"The results of the investigation are also completely in line with your inference." I couldn't help but say.

"That's not certain. But, Mr. MacDonald, if you go on, is there no way of ascertaining the identity of this man?"

"Not yet, he was obviously very careful not to be recognized. He had no papers with him, and his clothes were not clearly marked. On his bedroom table, we found only a cycle map of the county. Yesterday. He left the hotel on his bicycle after breakfast in the morning, and we didn't hear anything more about him until we went to investigate the matter."

"That is what perplexes me, Mr. Holmes," said White Mason. "If this man wishes to get rid of suspicion, he should go back to the hotel at once and stay there like a common tourist. Press now According to the circumstances, he should know that the owner of the hotel will report to the police, so his disappearance must be connected with this murder."

"He must have thought so. But since he hasn't been caught until now, at least it proves that he is a person with a very high IQ. So what are the sayings about his appearance?"

Macdonald opened his notebook and said: "We took it all down. He didn't seem to attract much attention, but the descriptions of the waiters, caretakers and waitresses were generally the same. The man was about Six feet, about fifty years of age. He was a little grizzled, with a light gray beard, an aquiline nose, and a forbiddingly murderous face."

"Well, you're almost talking about Douglas himself," said Holmes. "He's just in his fifties, gray-bearded, and about the same height. Anything else?"

"He wore a gray caravan and double-breasted jacket, over which a yellow carcoat was draped, and a cap."

"Is he carrying a gun?"

"The musket was less than two feet long, and he could have put it in his suitcase, or he could have easily concealed it in his overcoat and carried it with him."

"What do these things you find contribute to the case?"

"Believe me, Mr. Holmes," said MacDonald, "I sent the telegram within five minutes of receiving these messages. Once we have him in hand, we shall find a better answer." ...but even if that's all we know so far, it's certainly a big step forward. We learned that an American who called himself Hargrave came to Tunbridge Wells two days ago and took a bicycle with him and a suitcase containing a stubbed musket, which he evidently came here to seek revenge. He came here yesterday morning on his bicycle with the musket hidden in his overcoat. According to our Understand, no one saw when he came to the manor gate, but he didn't have to go through the village to get here, and there were a lot of people on bicycles along the way. The bicycle we found in the bushes afterwards, maybe It was at that time that he was left, perhaps he was lurking here, spying on the estate, waiting for Mr. Douglas to come out. It does seem unusual to us that a murderer should use a musket indoors, but it is possible He intended to use it outdoors, because the advantage of using a musket is that it is not easy to miss, and in places where British shooting sports enthusiasts gather, the sound of gunshots is common and does not particularly cause people s concern."

"That is evident!" said Holmes.

"However, Mr. Douglas never showed up. What would the murderer do next? He decided to leave his bicycle and walk towards the manor at dusk. He found that the drawbridge was lowered and no one was passing by, so he took advantage of this opportunity." Slipped in. Doubtless if he had been bumped into at this moment he could have found some excuse to get in, but he ran into no one. He saw the study first, so he slipped in and hid in the Behind the curtain. From there he could see the drawbridge being raised, and knew exactly how he would get out. He waited until a quarter past eleven, when Mr. Douglas, on his customary tour of the estate, entered the room. He shot Douglas and fled according to the pre-arranged plan. When he thought that others might recognize him because of this bicycle, which would be very bad for him, he did not retrieve the bicycle, but Returning to London by other means, or perhaps to the hiding-place he had arranged in advance. What do you think of that analysis, Mr. Holmes?"

"Very well, Mr. MacDonald, as things stand, you have made a good and clear statement. This is your view of a possible outcome, and my conclusion is that the incident occurred at a later date than the present report. The time was half an hour earlier; Mrs. Douglas and Mr. Barker conspired to conceal some circumstances, and they let the prisoner go, or at least discovered the murderer before he had escaped; And it is likely that they set down the drawbridge with their own hands and released the murderer. This is my interpretation of the first half of the case."

Both detectives shook their heads.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, if what you say is true, we shall be much less able to explain those perplexing problems," said the London police officer.

"And it's even more difficult," White Mason added. "Mrs. Douglas has never been to America in her life. How can she have any friendship with a murderer from America, and cover up this criminal?"

"I admit that there are some doubts," said Holmes, "and therefore I intend to investigate myself to-night, and I may discover something which may assist in the solution of the case."

"Mr. Holmes, can we be of any help?"

"No, no! I'll just go there in the dark with Dr. Watson's umbrella. And Ames, the faithful steward, will no doubt make an exception for my convenience. I It’s always been about a basic question: why would someone with an athletic physique use one dumbbell so unconscionably when exercising?”

In the early hours of the morning, Holmes returned from investigating the case alone.We lived in a room with two beds, which was the highest treatment that this small country hotel gave us.I was already asleep at that time, and it was the sound of him entering the door that woke me up.

"Oh, Holmes," I murmured, "have you discovered anything?"

Holding a candle in his hand, he stood silently beside my bed.In the dark, I saw his tall, gaunt shadow bending over me.

"I say, Watson," he said in a low voice, "that you are not afraid to sleep in the same room with a man who is insane and out of control?"

"Not at all." I replied in surprise.

(End of this chapter)