The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 4 Research on Scarlet Characters (3)
Holmes snorted contemptuously, and said in a nasty voice: "Le Gauc is a useless fool. There is only one thing about him that is worth mentioning, and that is his energy. I am quite bored with that book. Just kept talking about how to identify unknown criminals. But I can solve such a problem in 24 hours, while Legauc took about six months. With such a long time, it can give Detectives have written a textbook on what they should really avoid."

It resented me to hear him make so little of two persons whom I admired.So I went to the window, looked at the bustling street, and said to myself, "This man may be very clever, but he is too proud."

Beside, Holmes complained dissatisfiedly: "There has been no crime these days, and no criminals have been found. People in our business are going to lose their minds. I know that my talent is enough to make me famous. There has never been anyone like me." In this way, there is a combination of talent and superb research in the detection of crime. But what can be done? There are no sophisticated crimes to investigate, at most simple and childish crimes, and the motives of the crime are obvious. Even the Scotland Yard People can see through it at a glance."

Still annoyed at his outrageous remarks, I thought it best to change the subject.

"I don't know what this person is looking for." I pointed to a burly and plainly dressed person outside the window and said.The man was walking slowly across the street, looking anxiously for the house number.He held a large blue envelope in his hand, clearly a messenger.

"Do you mean the retired Sergeant of the Marine Corps?" said Holmes.

I thought to myself: "He's bragging again! He knows I can't verify whether his guess is correct."

Before this idea disappeared from my mind, I saw the person I was observing just now ran over quickly from across the street after seeing our house number.There was only a quick knock on the door, someone downstairs was talking in a low voice, and then there were heavy footsteps on the stairs.

As soon as the man entered the room, he handed the letter to my friend."This is a letter to Mr. Holmes," said he.

This was a good opportunity to dampen Holmes' arrogance.He was talking nonsense just now, and he would never have thought that it would be the current situation.I asked in a gentle voice as much as possible: "Young man, what is your occupation?"

"I am on duty, sir," replied the man gruffly, "and my uniform has been sent for repair."

"What did you do?" I asked him, casting a malicious glance at my companion.

"Sergeant, sir, I have served in the Royal Marines in the Light Infantry. No reply, sir? Well, sir."

He touched his heels, raised his hands in salute, and walked out.

Three Lauriston Garden Street Massacre

Once again my companion's theory has been borne out by practice.I admit that the result really surprised me and made me admire his analytical ability even more, but I still have some doubts in my heart, I am afraid that this is a trap he arranged in advance to play tricks on me.As for the purpose of teasing me, I can't imagine.When I looked at him, he had finished reading the letter.I saw his eyes were dazed, lost in thought.

"How did you deduce that?" I asked.

He asked gruffly, "Infer what?"

"Well, how do you know he's a retired Marine sergeant?"

"I don't have time for such trifles," he interrupted rudely, and then smiled again, "forgive my rudeness for interrupting my train of thought. But it doesn't matter. So, you Can't you really see that he was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps?"

"I really can't tell."

"It is easy to understand, but it is not so simple for me to explain how I have deduced it. If you were asked to prove that two and two equal four, you would find it difficult, but you know it is certain. Across the street, I saw a tattoo of a large blue anchor on the back of this man's hand, which is characteristic of a sailor. Besides, his demeanor is quite military-like, and he has a military-style beard, so it can be inferred that He's a Marine. His attitude is a little pompous and commanding. You must have noticed the way he holds his head up and swings his staff? From his appearance, he is a steady and Solemn middle-aged man--so from these facts I am sure he was a sergeant."

I couldn't help shouting: "It's wonderful!"

"It's very commonplace," said Holmes.But judging by the expression on his face, he was also pleased to see my admiration. "I said just now that there are no clever criminals. It seems that I was wrong-look at this!" He said and threw the note he just sent in front of me.

"My God," I exclaimed after a cursory glance, "this is horrible!"

He said calmly: "It does seem unusual. Would you please read the letter aloud to me?"

Here is the letter I read to him:
Dear Mr. Holmes:
Last night there was a homicide at 3 Lauriston Gardens, at the end of Brixton Road.At about two o'clock this morning, the patrolling police found a light in the place. Knowing that the house was unoccupied, they suspected that there was something wrong.The patrol found the door wide open, and there was nothing in the front room except a male corpse.The man was neatly dressed and had a business card in his pocket with the words "Enoch Drebber, native of Cleveland, Ohio, USA".Judging from the body, there was neither sign of being robbed nor any evidence that could explain the cause of death.Although there were several bloodstains in the house, there were no injuries on the body of the deceased.How the deceased entered the empty house, we were puzzled and felt that the case was very difficult.I hope you can be there before twelve o'clock, and I will be waiting for your arrival.Everything on the site will remain as it is until a reply is received.If you cannot come, please let me know the details.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Enter Tabeus Grayson
My friend said: "Gleason is the most capable man in the Metropolitan Police. He and Lestrade are the best of that bunch of fools. They are both quick and alert. , but they are both too conformist and old-fashioned. They fight each other openly, intrigue, and are jealous and suspicious like two laughing women. If these two people get involved in this case, there will be trouble Here comes the joke."

I was very surprised to see that Holmes was still talking calmly and nonchalantly.So I yelled, "You really can't miss a minute! Shall I hire you a carriage?"

"I'm not sure whether I'll go or not. I'm one of the few lazy people in the world, but that's only when my laziness kicks in. Because sometimes I'm very quick."

"Ah? Isn't this the opportunity you've been looking forward to?"

"My dear friend, what does it matter to me? If I settle this case, there can be no doubt that Grayson and Lestrade's gang will take all the credit for themselves. Maybe it's because I'm an unofficial guy."

"But he is turning to you now!"

"Yes. He knows that I am better than him, and he will admit it in front of me. However, he would rather cut off his tongue than admit it in front of any third party. Even so, We can still go and see. I can go it alone and solve the crime by myself. Even if I don't get anything, I can laugh at them. Let's go!"

He put on his coat, and his haste showed that his eagerness had overcome his indifference and passiveness.

He said, "Put on your hat."

"Do you expect me to go too?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, if you have nothing else to do." A minute later we were in a carriage and hurrying down Brixton Road.

It was a cloudy and misty morning, and the roof hung like a drapery of taupe, much like the muddy street beneath.My companion was in high spirits, babbling on and on about the differences between Cremona, Stradivari and Amati violins, while I remained silent and silent. and listened to him in silence, for the dreary weather and this sad task weighed me down very much.

At last I interrupted Holmes on the subject of music, and said: "You seem to be giving little thought to the case at hand."

He replied: "There is no material yet. It is absolutely wrong to make assumptions before you have all the evidence. That will lead to errors in judgment."

"You'll have the material shortly," I said, pointing forward, "if I'm not mistaken, this is Brixton Road, and that's where the house should be. "

"Exactly. Stop, coachman, stop!" Holmes insisted on alighting when we were still about a hundred yards from the house, and we walked the rest of the way.

3 Lauriston Gardens looks like a haunted house from the outside.There are four houses in a row, all set back from the street, two of which are occupied and the other two are empty.And No. 3 is the empty one.The vacant house, with three rows of windows facing the street, was in a very bleak condition because it was unoccupied.The dusty glass was pasted with "for rent" posts everywhere, which looked like white shadows on the eyes.Each house had a small patch of overgrown garden in front of it, separating the houses from the street.In the small garden there was a yellow path paved with clay and stones, which was muddy everywhere after a night of heavy rain.The garden was surrounded by a low wall, about three feet high, topped with a palisade.A tall policeman was standing against the wall, surrounded by a few idlers who were stretching their necks and peering in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the scene in the room, but unfortunately they couldn't see anything.

At that time, I guessed that Holmes would rush into the house immediately to study this mysterious case.But in fact he didn't seem to be in a hurry.He had an air of indifference, which, in the circumstances, seemed to me a little pretentious.He walked up and down the sidewalk, staring blankly at the ground now, at the sky and at the houses across the way and the wooden fence on top of the wall.After careful inspection, he walked slowly up the path, or rather, he walked across the grass beside the road, and watched the ground of the path intently.Twice I saw him stop, and once I saw him smile and give a cheer of satisfaction.It turned out that there were many footprints on the wet and muddy clay ground.But with the police running over it repeatedly, I don't see how my companion could hope to make out anything from it.However, to this day, I still don't forget how he miraculously proved his keen observation ability, and I firmly believe that he must be able to see many things that I can't see.

At the door of the house, we were greeted by a tall, fair-skinned, fair-haired man with a notebook in his hand.He ran up, shook my companion's hand warmly, and said, "It's very good of you to come! I've left everything as it is."

"Except that!" said my friend, pointing to the path. "A herd of buffaloes wouldn't make it any worse than that. No problem, Gregson, you must have figured it out." Conclusion, so you allow others to do this?"

The tall man said evasively: "I am busy in the house, and my colleague Mr. Lestrade is here. I entrust all the outside affairs to him."

Holmes glanced at me, raised his eyebrows mockingly, and said: "With two figures like you and Lestrade present, the third one, of course, will find nothing more."

Rubbing his hands together, Grayson said triumphantly, "I think we've done our best. It's a really bizarre case, and I know it's just to your liking."

"Have you not come in a carriage?" asked Holmes.

"No, sir," Grayson replied.

"Nor Lestrade?" said Holmes.

"Nor has he, sir," Grayson replied.

"Then let us go into the house and have a look," said Holmes.

After Holmes asked these few irrelevant questions, he strode into the room.Grayson followed, a look of surprise on his face.

There was a short passage leading to the kitchen, which was not carpeted and was full of dust.There was a door on the left and right of the aisle, and one of them had obviously not been opened for many weeks.The other is the door of the restaurant where the tragedy happened.Holmes went in, and I followed him with a heavy heart.This is caused by dead bodies.

It was a large square room, extraordinarily spacious because it was unfurnished.The walls of the house are pasted with cheap floral paper, some places have been spotted with mildew, and some places have peeled off in large pieces, revealing the yellow whitewashed walls inside.There is a beautiful fireplace opposite the door.The mantelpiece was of white fake marble, and at one end of the mantelpiece stood a stump of a red candle.There was only one window in the room, and it looked very dirty, so that the light in the room was very dim, and a dull color was cast on everything.The thick accumulation of dust in the house made this feeling even deeper.

These sights came to my attention only later.As I walked in, my attention was fixed on the horrific corpse—slumped on the floor, his dull eyes fixed on the faded ceiling.The deceased was described as being in his 40s, of medium build, with broad shoulders, black curly hair and a short, stiff beard.He wore a thick black woolen coat and vest, light-colored trousers, and a crisp white collar and cuffs.There is a clean top hat on the floor beside him.The dead man clenched his fists, his arms were outstretched, and his legs were crossed. It seemed that he had made a painful struggle when he was dying.There was a look of horror on his stiff face, which I analyzed to be an expression of resentment, which I had never seen in my life.His ferocious countenance, with its bared teeth, made him look very frightening.Coupled with the low forehead, flat nose and protruding chin, he looks more like a weird-looking flat-nosed ape.Moreover, the unnatural, writhing posture of his body made his features even more terrifying.I've seen all kinds of dead people, but I've never seen anything more horrible than this one in a dark, filthy house on a London boulevard.

Lestrade, always lean and detective, was standing in the doorway, greeting us.

"This case," said he, "is bound to make a sensation in the town, sir. I am not an inexperienced novice, but I have never seen anything so extraordinary."

Grayson asked, "No clue at all?"

Lestrade replied, "Not at all."

Holmes walked up to the body, knelt down and examined it with absorbed attention.

"Are you sure you don't have any wounds?" he asked, pointing to the blood around him.

The two detectives replied in unison, "Indeed not."

"Then the bloodstains must belong to someone else, perhaps the murderer. If it was a murder, it reminds me of the death of Van Gensen of Eutrict in [-]." case. Grayson, do you remember that case?"

"Don't remember, sir," Grayson replied honestly.

"You should re-read this old case. There is nothing new in the world. It's all done before."

When he was talking, his sensitive fingers felt here and pressed there, and after a while he unbuttoned the dead man's clothes to check, and then there was the blank expression I had seen in his eyes again.He checked very quickly and surprisingly meticulously.Finally, he sniffed the dead man's lips and glanced at the soles of the dead man's patent leather boots.

He asked, "Has the body remained untouched?"

"Other than to carry out the necessary checks, there has been no movement."

"He can be sent for burial now," he said. "There is nothing more to examine."

Grayson had prepared a stretcher and called four stretcher bearers.As soon as he called, they entered and carried the dead man out.As they lifted the body, a ring tumbled to the floor.Lestrade quickly picked it up and stared at it blankly.

"A woman must have been here," he exclaimed. "It's a woman's wedding ring."

As he spoke, he stretched out the hand holding the ring for everyone to see.We gathered around to see that the plain gold ring was undoubtedly the bride's.

"That makes the case more complicated," Grayson said. "My God, this case is already complicated enough."

"How do you know that this ring does not shed any light on the case?" said Holmes. "It is useless to stare at it like this. Have you found anything in your pocket?"

"It's all here," said Grayson, pointing to a small pile on the last step of the stairs. "A gold watch - No. 97163, Barrod & Co., London. A heavy, sturdy Albert A gold chain. A gold ring with the Masonic emblem engraved on it. A gold brooch with the head of a bulldog with eyes set in two rubies. A card holder in Russian leather with the seal Cleveland, Enoch J. Dreb's business card, the initials match the three initials EJD on the shirt. No wallet, only some change, a total of seven pounds and thirteen shillings. A pocket edition of Boccaccio "The Decameron," with Joseph Stangerson on the title page. There are also two letters—one to Drebber, one to Joseph Stangerson."

"Where was it sent?" demanded Holmes.

(End of this chapter)