The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 34 Four Signatures (18)
The guest sat huddled in a chair, with his head drooping to his chest, as if he had been completely crushed.Holmes put his feet on the corner of the mantelpiece, put his hands in his pockets, leaned back, and said to himself: "The man married a woman 15 years older than himself for the sake of money." married, and as long as her daughter is unmarried, he has access to her daughter's money. It is a considerable sum for their position. Without it, he would be in a very different position. The daughter Good-natured and gentle-natured. Evidently a girl of her appearance and income would not keep her boudoir empty. But if she married it would mean a loss of a hundred pounds a year to her stepfather, so how could he Can she not be stopped? So he tried to keep her in the house and forbid her to associate with friends of her age. But he found that this was not a long-term solution. She began to protest, and finally insisted on going to the ball. Come, what is her crafty step-father to do? He contrived a vicious scheme. With the acquiescence and assistance of his wife, he disguised himself, and put a pair of light-colored spectacles on his piercing eyes, He put false mustaches and whiskers on his face, and deliberately softened his voice. Since his daughter was nearsighted and gullible, his disguise was all the more infallible. He used Mr. Hosmer Angel's Appear in name and woo her daughter, lest she fall in love with another man."

"I was just playing with her," murmured the guest, "we didn't expect her to be so infatuated."

"It could not have been a joke at all. The woman, however, was so carried away that her step-father was in France that she never suspected that she was being deceived. She was delighted by the gentleman's flattery, plus Her mother's vehement approval made her the more delighted. Mr. Angel began to visit, for as soon as the plan had taken effect, the matter was to be carried on. They met several times and became engaged, which finally secured the woman's life. The heart will not turn to others. But a fake show cannot go on forever, and it is troublesome to pretend to go to France on business frequently, so a dramatic ending is simply made to leave an indelible impression on the woman's heart, lest she Might one day see other suitors. So there were tricks of him telling her to swear on a Bible, hinting on the morning of the wedding that something might happen. James Windibank hoped that Miss Sutherland would give Huo Small Angel remained faithful, but his life and death were uncertain. This would keep her from having sex with other men for the next ten years. Hosmer led her to the door of the church. The scene couldn't go on any longer, so he resorted to the old trick of slipping in through one door of the carriage and out the other, and slipped away. I think that's how the whole thing happened, Do you think so, Mr Windibank."

While Holmes narrated, the visitor resumed his impudence, and rose with a sneer on his pale face.He said: "Mr. Holmes, what you say may be true or may be false. Since you are so clever, you should understand that I have not violated the law, but you have broken the law. I have never done anything illegal, but you have done it." Lock the door and keep me here, and that alone will get you prosecuted for 'Assault on the Person and Unlawful Detention'."

"It is true, as you say, that the law cannot deal with you," said Holmes, unlocking and opening the door, "but no one is more deserving of punishment than you. If the woman had any brothers or friends, they would surely Lash your back with a whip." Seeing the bitter sneer on the man's face, Holmes went on, "Although it is not my duty to my client, here happens to be a hunting whip, and here are the beasts. I have to try my hand at it." He said, walking quickly to get the whip, but before he got the whip, he heard hurried footsteps on the stairs, and then the heavy hall door slammed .Mr. James Windibank was galloping down the road as we looked out of the window.

Holmes sat back in his armchair and said with a smile: "What a cruel villain! Although he has not committed any crimes, he will be guillotined one day after another. From a certain point of view, There are a few interesting things about this case."

I said, "I don't quite understand the steps of your reasoning yet."

"It is obvious. My first thought was that this Mr. Hosmer Angel's strange behavior must be intentional, and it is also obvious that the only person who really benefited in this incident was the stepfather. Then Look at the fact that these two men never met, and always showed up when one wasn't around, which was inspiring to me. Also his light-colored glasses, soft speaking voice, and fur coat His shaggy beard suggested disguise, and he signed it from a typewriter, so it can be inferred that the woman must be so familiar with her stepfather's handwriting that she would recognize even a few words as his. This odd practice aroused my suspicions all the more. You can see that all these individual facts and many details combined point in the same direction."

"Then how did you prove it?"

"Once the culprit is identified, it's easy to prove the crime. The description in the newspaper missing person notice, minus what I guess might be a disguise—whiskers, glasses, voice, etc.—so I wrote to the office where he worked. Company, ask them to tell me if the appearance of the disguised part is similar to someone in their company. And I also noticed the characteristics of the typewriter, so I wrote another letter to him at his office, asking if he came here A trip. As I expected, his reply was also typewritten, which revealed the small but characteristic flaws. The same postman brought me a letter from Westhouse, Fenchurch. A letter from Marbank & Co., stating that my description of my appearance corresponds exactly to that of their employee, James Windibank. And so the matter is perfectly clear."

"Well, what are you going to say to Miss Sutherland?"

"If I told her the truth, she wouldn't believe it. You should remember a Persian proverb: 'Destroying a woman's desire is as dangerous as snatching a tiger's cub from its hen's claws.' This ancient proverb is our way of life You should understand the truth!"

Redheads

One day last autumn I called on Holmes.When I saw him, he was having a deep conversation with a stranger.The man had a ruddy complexion and fiery red hair.When I wanted to apologize and turn around to exit, Holmes suddenly grabbed me, pulled me into the room, and closed the door behind him.

Holmes said gently: "My dear Watson, you have come at just the right time."

"I'm afraid you're busy."

"That's right, it's been really busy lately."

"Then I'll wait for you in the next room."

Holmes said: "No, no need." He turned his head and said to the guest: "Mr. Wilson, this gentleman is my friend Dr. Watson. He has really helped me a lot in the cases I have experienced. For your In this case, I think he can also give a lot of help."

The rosy-faced guest bowed slightly at this moment, nodded to me, and quickly looked me up and down.

"Sit down in the settee," said Holmes to me. As he spoke, he sank back into his arm-chair, keeping his fingertips together.I know that this is his habit of entering into a state of deep thought.

After a while, "Watson, you and I may be the kind of people who don't like the ordinary, monotonous, and old-fashioned life, which can be seen from your efforts to record the past cases. If you don't mind , I would like to say that you sometimes add a lot of luster to my little case."

I replied: "I am indeed very interested in the case you are investigating."

Holmes said: "You must remember that before we debated the case about Miss Mary Sutherland, I told you that we have to experience and experience all the strange things in the world before we can understand them." The true meaning of it. And this is definitely not something that can be penetrated by imagination. There is a saying that the truth may be more shocking than imagination."

I said, "I really doubted your statement."

"Yes, doctor," said Holmes, "you did doubt it. But you must agree with me anyway. You will be convinced by the innumerable examples. Take this Mr. Jabez Wilson. Regardless of whether it is a crime or not, as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the strangest things I've ever heard or seen. I told you that because the most queer and queer things in the world often grow out of lesser crimes. From what I've heard, I'm not sure it's a case of crime, However, I was really fascinated by its strangeness. Now, Mr. Wilson, would you please tell my friend what happened in detail from the beginning. Not only because he didn't hear the beginning part, and I can review it, and perhaps I will discover something new. Because in retrospect, this is really an unbelievable strange thing!"

The guest puffed up his chest a little, showing a little pride in his attitude.Then, he took out an old crumpled newspaper from his coat pocket, and looked at it carefully with his head down.In this interval, I had the opportunity to take a good look at this man. Of course, this was also to try my best to imitate my partner and see if I could see something from his clothes.

However, my gains are not great.From the outside, although he is relatively tall, he is nothing more than an ordinary British businessman.His movements were slow, but cautious.He was wearing a pair of baggy gray checked trousers, a somewhat soiled tuxedo, unbuttoned in front, and a drab vest underneath, from which hung a long, thick copper chain with a small tail at the end. A piece of metal with a square hole in the middle serves as an ornament.In addition, a frayed top hat and a faded brown overcoat with a slightly wrinkled woolen collar lay on the chair beside him.As far as I could see, there was nothing special about this man other than his fiery red hair and annoyed expression.

Holmes' piercing eyes seemed to read my thoughts.When he noticed my questioning gaze, he smiled and said: "Besides his appearance, I also know that he has done manual labor for a period of time, likes to smoke snuff, is a freemason, has been to China, and recently wrote Passed a lot."

Mr. Jabez Wilson straightened up suddenly, spread the newspaper on his knees, looked at Holmes in astonishment, and said, "Mr. Holmes, how do you know so much about me? Your words are as accurate as the gospel, because I do Having done manual work, I started out as a carpenter on boats."

"Look at your hands," said Holmes. "Your right hand is much larger than your left. Because you work with your right hand, the right hand is more muscular than the left."

"What about snuffing and being a Freemason?"

"You have yellow marks on your fingers and nostrils, so you can tell that you like snuff. You also wear a pin that looks like a bow compass in spite of your society's regulations."

"Yeah, I forgot that. But how do you know I've been writing a lot lately?"

"Your right sleeve has about five inches of glistening, apparently rubbed, and your left sleeve has a patch near where your wrist usually rests on the table."

"Then why do you say I have been to China?"

"You have a fish pattern tattooed on your right wrist. This kind of light red scale pattern is only found in China. I have studied tattoo patterns a little bit, and I have also written a manuscript on this subject. In addition, I saw that you have a pendant on your watch chain. With a Chinese coin, that's obvious."

Jabez Wilson laughed and said, "Haha, I haven't actually been to China. I thought at first, you're just so clever, but now I don't think so."

Holmes said: "Watson, my reasoning may be wrong and my words will be lost. If this continues for a long time, I am afraid I will be ruined. Mr. Wilson, have you found the advertisement?"

"There it is, here," he continued, pointing his thick red finger in the middle of the advertisement, "and that's how the whole thing started. You might as well read it for yourselves, sir."

I took the newspaper from his hand and read: "The Redhead Society: This society was established in accordance with the last words of the late Lebanese Izikia Hopkins from Pennsylvania, USA. Now there is a vacant position in the society. The salary is £21 per week. Any red-haired male, over [-] years old, in good health and sound mind, who wants to join the club, can apply. Applicants should come to No. [-] Pope's Court, Fleet Street at [-]:[-] on Monday morning Redhead office, apply to Duncan Ross."

After reading this unusual ad twice, I wondered, "What the hell does it mean?"

Holmes sat on his chair and said with a triumphant smile: "This advertisement is very special, isn't it? Mr. Wilson, please tell us about yourself, about the people you live with, and about your relationship with this society. Don't miss it. Watson, look at the title and date of the paper."

I said, "This is the Chronicle of August [-]th, [-], nearly two months ago."

"Very well. Now Mr. Wilson."

"Well, Mr. Holmes, as I told you just now," said Mr. Wilson, mopping his forehead with his hand, "I run a small pawn shop in Coburg Square, near the city. Business has been slow in recent years, and I only Can barely live off of it. I used to be able to keep two clerks, but now I only have one. In fact, I wouldn't be able to keep one clerk if he hadn't volunteered to take half wages to learn the trade. ah!"

"What's the fellow's name?" asked Holmes.

"His name is Vincent Spaulding. He is not very young, and I do not know his real age. Mr. Holmes, I have a very capable chap. He could have lived a better life, as far as his abilities are concerned." , making twice the salary I paid him. But since he is satisfied with the current salary, why should I give him more?"

"Oh, really? How lucky you are to be able to get a chap below market rate! Not a common thing among employers your age. Is there anything special about this chap?"

Mr. Wilson said: "Ah, he has a hobby. He likes photography. As long as he is free, he takes a camera to take pictures everywhere, and then rushes to hide in the basement to develop the pictures. It's like a rabbit drilling a hole. is his biggest fault. But, on the whole, he is a good worker and has no bad intentions."

"I think he's still living in your store now."

(End of this chapter)