The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 160 The Last Greeting (3)
So, I waited quietly.However, as time went by, I became more and more disappointed, and I didn't wait for anything.My friend didn't move.One day I learned by chance that he had been in town all morning, and it turned out that he had gone to the British Museum.Except for this outing, he didn't do anything, and every day he either took a long walk alone, or stayed in the village and chatted with a few gossip guys, with whom he seemed to be actively acquainted.

"I am sure, Watson, that a week in this country will be very dear to you," said he, "and it is very pleasant to see again the new shoots of the hedges and the blossoms of the hazels. With Bring a small hoe, an iron box, and a book on elementary botany, and you'll have an interesting time." He searched around for a long time with the equipment he said, and all he brought back was A few small plants, these things can be obtained in one evening.

Occasionally, as we walked and talked, we bumped into Sheriff Baynes.He greeted my friend with a smile on his fat, red face, and a twinkle in his small eyes.He seldom talked about the progress of his investigation of the case, but judging from the subtleties he said, he seemed to be relatively satisfied with the progress of things.However, I have to admit that on the fifth day after the incident, when I opened the morning paper and saw a series of headlines, I couldn't help but be a little surprised:

Oxshot Mystery Solved

The murderer has been apprehended

While I was reading the title, Holmes jumped up from his chair, as if stabbed by something.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, "couldn't Baynes have caught him?"

"Obviously," I replied, and went on to read the following report.

The news that the murderer at Oxshott had been arrested last night caused a great sensation in Usher and its neighbourhood.Mr. Garcia of Westeria House was found dead in Oxshott Clearing, bearing the marks of a brutal attack, and his servant and cook, who had fled the same night, apparently took part in the crime.The memory of this case is still fresh.It was pointed out that the dead gentleman might have put some valuables in the apartment, so that the property was stolen and a murder occurred.But that claim was never confirmed.Sheriff Baynes, who was in charge of the case, found out the hiding place of the fugitive after many efforts.He has sufficient evidence to show that the fugitive did not flee far away, but hid in a certain residence prepared in advance.One thing is certain, they will be brought to justice in the end, because two businessmen testified that they had seen the cook through the window, and he had a very special appearance, a tall mulatto, and his appearance Terrible, with the obvious yellowish complexion of black people.The man had been seen after the incident, for he had the audacity to return to Westeria House, and was found and followed that night by Inspector Walters.Sergeant Baynes believed that the cook's return must have his purpose, so he speculated that he might come again, so he abandoned the apartment and set an ambush in the bushes.This person fell into a trap and was finally arrested after a fight last night. Police officer Tang Ning was attacked by this thug during the fight.We know that when an offender is brought before a magistrate, the police will ask for remand.After the arrest of this person, the case is expected to make greater progress.

"We shall find Baynes at once," cried Holmes, taking up his hat, "and we shall be at him before he sets off, and there is still time." We hurried to the village road, as we thought. , Sheriff Baynes was just about to leave his residence.

"Have you read the paper, Mr. Holmes?" he asked, handing us the paper.

"Well, I see. Mr. Baynes, if I give you some friendly advice, I hope you will not be offended."

"Advice, Mr. Holmes?"

"I have studied this case carefully, and I am not sure that your direction is right. Unless you are absolutely sure, I don't want you to go on like this."

"Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Holmes."

"I promise you, I'm doing this for your own good."

I seem to see Mr. Baynes blink one of his eyes.

"As agreed, we will go our separate ways, Mr. Holmes. That is exactly what I did."

"Oh, well," said Holmes, "please take it to heart."

"There, sir, I believe you have good intentions for me. It's just that we all have our own plans, Mr. Holmes. You have your plans, and I have mine."

"Let's change the subject."

"You are welcome to refer to my information at any time. This guy is a complete savage, as strong as a trailer horse, and as fierce as a devil. Before he caught him, Tang Ning's thumb was almost bitten off by him. .He doesn't speak any English, just grunts. You can't get any clues from him."

"You think you can prove that he killed his master?"

"I did not say so, Mr. Holmes. I did not say so. We have agreed, and each has his own way. You use yours and I use mine."

Holmes shrugged his shoulders, and we departed together. "I don't understand this guy, he seems to be riding around. Well, just do what he says, go your own way and see what happens. But there's always something about Sheriff Baynes that I don't understand. thing."

When we got back to Bull's lodgings, Sherlock Holmes said: "Go and sit in that chair, Watson. I want to make you understand, as I may need your help to-night. I will tell you the ins and outs of the case. Although the development of the case is very simple, there are still great difficulties in how to arrest the criminals. There are still some gaps in it that we need to fill.

"Let's go back to the letter that was sent to Garcia on the night of his death. Let's set aside for a moment what Baynes said about Garcia's servants having anything to do with the case. Let's assume this case: Garcia arranged for Scott Eccles to come to his apartment, which only shows that his purpose was to provide him with an alibi. That night, Garcia had a bad idea and a bad idea. He was doing bad things I said evil thoughts, because only when a person has evil thoughts, he will want to create the illusion of not being at the scene of the crime. Then, who will kill him? Of course The man that the criminal attempt was directed at. So far, I feel our evidence is sound.

"Now, we can explain why Garcia's servants disappeared. They were all accomplices, all involved in this crime that we still don't understand. If Garcia's plan succeeds and returns safely, then, the Englishman's testimony any possibility of doubting him can be ruled out, and everything will go well. However, this move is undoubtedly a risk. If Garcia does not return by a certain time, it may be his life. Therefore, it is arranged in this way : In the situation mentioned above, his two accomplices will hide in a pre-arranged place, evade capture, so that they can continue to work afterwards. That makes the whole case clear, doesn't it?"

A mess of threads seemed to have been sorted out in front of me.But I wonder, like every time before, why I can't see it before this?
"But why should a servant come back?"

"We can imagine that, in his haste to escape, he left behind something precious, something he was reluctant to part with. That says something about his obstinacy, doesn't it?"

"Oh, so what's next?"

"Next is the note that Garcia received at dinner. This note shows that he has another accomplice in another place. So where is this other accomplice? I have told you As I said, it can only be in a certain big house, and there are not many big houses. In the first few days when I first arrived in the village, I wandered around, conducted my plant research, and used my free time to visit all the big houses. Inquired into the family history of the owners of the house. One family, and only that house, caught my attention. That was the famous Jacobin Old Manor in High Gables, a mile from the other end of the Oxshott River, from the place where the crime happened. Less than half a mile. The owners of the other houses are ordinary and respectable, and have nothing to do with legendary life. But Mr. Henderson of High Gables is a very queer man, and strange things can happen to him. So, I focused on him and his family.

"His family are a lot of queer people, Watson. He was the queerest of them all. I managed to find a plausible excuse for seeing him. From his deep-set, dark, reflective eyes , I can see that he knows my purpose. He is about 50 years old, strong and flexible, with gray hair and thick eyebrows that are almost connected together. Behind his parchment face was a fiery spirit. His skin was yellow and dry, but firm, so I guessed he was either a foreigner or had lived in the tropics for a long time. He had A friend and his secretary--Mr. Lucas, no doubt a foreigner, brown-skinned, sharp-tongued but polite, cunning, urbane, cat-like. You see, Watson, we have Two groups of foreigners have been approached - one at Westeria Lodge and the other at High Gables, so our two gaps have begun to be filled.

"These two good friends are the center of the family. However, for my most immediate purposes, there is one person who is more important. Henderson has two children - an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl. Their The governess was Miss Burnett, an Englishwoman of about forty. There was also a valet. These made a real family, and they traveled everywhere together. Mr. Henderson was a great traveler, Travels a lot. He had been away from home for a year before, and he just came back to High Gables a few weeks ago. I may add that he is very rich. Whatever he wants, he can easily Got it. As for the rest, there was always a whole lot of stewards, valets, maids, and the usual crowd of idlers in an English country house.

"Some of these things were heard from the chats of the villagers, and some were learned from my own observations. The best witness is the servant who was wronged but dismissed. Fortunately, I found such a One. It's lucky, but if I don't look for it, good luck won't come by itself. As Benis said, we all have our own plans. According to my plan, I found Heiga Bull's former gardener—John Warner. His master was very bossy, and he packed up and left in a rage. Many of the servants who worked in the house were like him. They both hated their master and feared them. Master. So, I found the key to the family's secrets.

"What a lot of queer people, Watson! I don't think I have figured it all out, but they are a queer lot. It is a house with two wings, the servants on one side and the master on the other. The sides never The connection, except for Henderson's own servant, who cooks for the family. Everything has to be taken to a designated door, which is the connection. The governess and the two children only walk in the garden and hardly go out. Henderson never Doesn't go out alone. His dark-skinned secretary is inseparable from him. There is a saying among the servants that their master is afraid of something. 'He sold his soul to the devil for money,' said Varner. 'Just waiting for the creditors to come and kill him.' No one knows where they came from or who they were. All they know is that they're brutal. Twice Henderson whipped someone with his dog whip, but he Relying on his bulging wallet to pay huge damages, he always gets away with it.

"Let us now, Watson, judge the situation in light of this new circumstance. Let us first assume that the letter was sent from this queer family, asking Garcia to carry out some premeditated conspiracy. Who sent the letter? Someone in the house, and a woman at that, who could it be, but Miss Burnett, the governess? All our reasoning seems to point to this question. In any case, let's assume this first and see what the result will be. To add, from the perspective of Miss Burnett's age and personality, my idea that this matter may be related to love at first must not be tenable. .

"If she wrote the letter, she must have been a friend or accomplice of Garcia's. So what might she do when she hears of his death? If he was killed in some illegal business , then she will keep her mouth shut. However, she will definitely hate those who killed him, and she will definitely find an opportunity to avenge him. Can you go to meet her and try to get in touch with her? This is my initial thought. But now The situation is not very optimistic. From the incident until now, no one has seen Miss Burnett. Since that night, she has disappeared. Is she still alive, or is she in the same place as the friend she summoned? Was she killed at night? Or, was she under house arrest? We must figure this out.

"You will appreciate the dilemma, Watson. We have insufficient evidence to call for a search. If we were to show our whole plan to the magistrate, he might find it absurd. The woman's disappearance says nothing." , because in such a special family, no one can see each other for a week. And her life may be in danger now. All I can do is to monitor the house and put my agent Waner Leave the guard at the gate. We can't let this bad situation continue. If the law can't do anything, we'll have to risk it ourselves."

"What are you going to do?"

"I know the location of her room. It can be entered from the roof of a house outside. I suggest that we go there tonight and see if we can unravel the secret of this mysterious incident."

I have to admit, the situation is not optimistic.The murderous old house, the eccentric and scary inhabitants, the unpredictable dangers of the quest, and the situation in which we were defined by the law as breaking the rules, all dampened our enthusiasm.But there was something in Holmes' cool reasoning that made it impossible to shrink back from any adventure he suggested.We know very well in our hearts - do this, and only by doing this can we find the answer.I silently took his hand.This is the case, no regrets.

However, what we didn't expect was that our investigation ended in a bizarre way.About five o'clock in the afternoon, just as night was beginning to fall on a March evening, a flustered countryman broke into our room.

"They have gone, Mr. Holmes, by the last train. The lady escaped. I put her downstairs in the carriage."

"Very well, Varner!" cried Holmes, jumping up. "Watson, the blank will soon be filled!"

In the carriage was a woman who was half paralyzed from nervous breakdown.Recent tragedy had left its mark on her thin and haggard face.Her head hung limply on her chest.When she raised her head and looked at us with her glazed eyes, I saw that her pupils had become two small black spots in the light gray irises.She was forced to take opium.

"Mr. Holmes, I am at the gate as you have ordered," said our messenger, the dismissed gardener. "I followed the carriage as far as the station. She was not conscious at the time, but when When they tried to get her on the train, she came to her senses and struggled like hell, and they pushed her into the car, and she broke free. I grabbed her, put her in a carriage, and here I am. I decided Will never forget the face in the window of the car when I took her away - the black-eyed devil glaring at me angrily. If he had got his way, I would have died."

We helped her upstairs and put her on the couch.Two cups of strong coffee cleared her mind from the drug.Holmes invited Baynes.Seeing this, he quickly understood what happened.

"Ah, sir, you've got the witness I'm looking for," said the Inspector enthusiastically, shaking my friend's hand. "We've been looking for the same lead from the beginning."

"What?! You're looking for Henderson too?"

"Well, Mr. Holmes, I was watching you from a tree on the estate as you crept through the bushes of High Gables. It was only a question of who should get his witness first."

"Then why did you arrest the mulatto?"

Baynes laughed.

"I'm sure the man calling himself Henderson has sensed that he's under suspicion, and as long as he thinks he's in danger, he hides and doesn't act anymore. I made the wrong arrest on purpose to convince him that we Didn't notice him. I knew he might slip away, and that would give us a chance of finding Miss Burnett."

Holmes patted Sheriff Baynes on the shoulder.

"You will rise, you have not only wisdom, but also keen intuition," said Holmes.

Baynes was all smiles, very happy.

(End of this chapter)