The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 56 Four Signatures (40)
"I'll do my best, what do you want me to do?"

"We'll be at Copper Beeches at seven. The Lucasles have gone by then. And Toller, I'm afraid he's still asleep. Then there's only Mrs. Toller left, who has called the police." It is possible. If you can find an excuse to let her go to the cellar and lock her there, it will be of great use to us in this operation."

"I will do it."

"Great! Let's get this straight together then. Obviously there's only one reason for all of this, the real reason you were hired was to impersonate someone, and that person is imprisoned in that room But as to who that person is, I'm sure it's their daughter, Miss Alice Lucasle. If I remember correctly, you said she was sent to America, didn't you? The reason why they chose you may be It's just that you have the same body shape and hair as hers. It may be because of some illness that such a good hair was cut off, so it also requires you to sacrifice your hair. It should be a coincidence that you found that lock of hair. And the man standing on the road is undoubtedly her friend, or possibly her fiancé. And, because your clothes and body shape are so similar to hers, when he sees your smile and actions, he believes that Lu Miss Castle is happy, and thinks she doesn't need him anymore. The dog should be released at night to prevent him from contacting her. These circumstances in the case are clear, and the most difficult point is probably the child's out of character."

I suddenly asked, "What does it have to do with that child?"

"Dear Watson, as a doctor, to understand a child's temperament, you have to start with his parents, but have you not thought that the reverse is also the same? I often start with children to deeply study the true character of their parents. The child was eccentric and cruel, seeking only pure cruelty. Whether it was inherited from his smiling father or from his often silent mother, it was very important to the locked-up girl. Not a good thing."

"I believe you, Mr. Holmes," said the client loudly. "Recalling what happened now, I am quite convinced that what you said was right. It seems that there is no longer any delay, and we must hurry to rescue the girl." .”

"We have to be cautious, because we are dealing with a cunning fellow. Nothing can be done before seven o'clock, and as soon as seven o'clock we will be at your side, and it will not be long before we can untangle the Puzzle."

We kept our word, and at seven o'clock sharp we were at Copper Beeches, and put up our hansom at a wayside coaching inn.The black leaves on the trees gleamed like polished metal in the afterglow of the setting sun.Even without Miss Hunt to meet us, we could tell from this alone that this house was the destination we had in mind.

"Are you ready?" asked Holmes.

At this time, there were bursts of banging sound coming from downstairs. "That's Mrs. Toller. She's in the cellar," she said. "Her husband is lying on the kitchen rug and snoring. Here are his keys, exactly the same as Mr. Lucasle's." same."

"You have done well!" said Holmes excitedly. "Now you lead the way, and we shall discover the end of this hideous deed."

We went upstairs, opened the door, walked in along the passage, and stopped only before the obstacle mentioned by Miss Hunt.Holmes cut the rope, moved the thick iron bar out of the way, and tried to unlock the door with the bunch of keys, but without success.There was no sound in the room, and Holmes' face sank in the dead silence.

"I don't think we're too late," said he. "I think you had better not go in together, Miss Hunter. Well, Watson, put your shoulder against it, and see if you can get in."

This is an old and dilapidated door. The two of us worked together and the door collapsed immediately.We rushed in, and it was just an empty room with a simple bed, a small table and a basket of clothes, but nothing else.The skylight above the head is open, and the person who was locked here has disappeared.

Holmes said: "There is something tricky about it. That guy may have thought of Miss Hunter's intentions and got her elsewhere beforehand."

"But how did he get her out?"

"Skylight. We'll know the answer in a moment." He climbed to the roof and cried. "Ah, so that's it. Here's a long portable ladder, leaning up against the wall, and that's how he did it."

"It's incredible," said Miss Hunt, "that the ladder wasn't there when the Rucastles were out."

"He came back to carry it. I said he was a dangerous and cunning fellow. I heard steps going up the stairs, and it would be strange if it hadn't been him. I think, Watson, you'd better get your gun ready." good."

Before he finished speaking, a man stood at the door of the room. He was a thick and thick man, holding a thick stick in his hand.Miss Hunter shrieked and shrank back against the wall when she saw him.But Holmes flew forward and faced him calmly.

"You rascal!" said Holmes. "Where is your daughter?"

The man scanned the surrounding area with his eyes, and then looked up at the skylight. "I should be asking you!" he growled. "You thieves! Thieves! I've got you, haven't I? You're in my hands, and you'll be better off!" He turned around quickly ran downstairs.

"He's gone to let the dogs out," said Miss Hunter loudly.

I said, "I have a revolver!"

"Close the door first," said Holmes.So we rushed downstairs together, and before we reached the hall, we heard the sound of the mastiff barking, followed by the howling of ghosts and wolves and the creepy sound of the mastiff biting people.A red-faced man of some age came out of the side door waving his arms unsteadily.

"By God!" he cried, "someone let the dog out. It hasn't been fed for two days. Hurry up, hurry up, or it'll be too late!"

Holmes and I hurried out and round the corner, Toller following closely behind.Not far away, I saw a huge, extremely hungry beast biting Mr. Lucasle's throat with its black mouth, and he was rolling on the ground and wailing miserably. I ran up and opened fire. The gun, its head blown off, fell over, but the sharp teeth remained on his fat wrinkled neck.We managed to separate the man from the dog and carried him into the house.People are still alive, but already a frightening bloody mess.We laid him flat on the sofa in the living room and sent Toller, who was sober from the shock, to contact his wife.I did everything I could to minimize his pain and we surrounded him.At this time, a tall, thin woman walked in through the open door.

Miss Hunter called, "Mrs. Toller!"

"Yes, miss. Mr. Lucasle came back and let me go, and then he went up to you. Oh, miss, it's a pity I couldn't have known your idea earlier. For it could have been told to you, or else It won’t take such a big trouble.”

"Ah!" Holmes stared at her keenly. "It is evident that Mrs. Toller understands the mystery of this matter better than anyone else."

"Yes, sir, indeed. I will now tell you all I know."

"Then please sit down and let me listen. I have to admit that there are still some points in this matter that I am not very clear about."

"I'll make it clear to you," she said. "I could have done it if I had come out of the cellar sooner. If it ever ends up in court, I want you to remember that I am Alice." Miss friends, I am on your side. Miss Alice is not at all happy at home. She has been unhappy since her father remarried. She is not treated well in the family and has no say. But in Before her friend's family met Mr. Fowler, she was really all right. As far as I know, Miss Alice was mentioned in the will to have her own rights, but she was so patient and submissive that she never said a word As for the rights, she left it all to Mr. Lucasle. He knew she was nothing to worry about, but once a new husband came in, he would fight for what was rightfully his. So she His father thought it was time to stop this from happening. He asked his daughter to make a letter stating that he could use her property regardless of future marriage. Since she refused to sign it, he kept making trouble until she lost her mind. Yan, she almost died six weeks ago. Then she gradually recovered, but she was skinny, and her beautiful hair was cut off, but this did not make the young boyfriend empathize! He was very fond of her Two hundred percent loyalty."

"Ah!" said Holmes. "Your kindness to inform us of this matter is of great help to our understanding of the matter. As for the rest, I think I can infer that Mr. Lucasle is Because of this, I'm sure, she was put under house arrest."

"Yes, sir."

"So Miss Hunter was specially invited from London to help get out of Mr. Fowler's entanglement?"

"That's it, sir."

"But Mr. Fowler was a determined man, as a good sailor must be. He cordoned off the house, found you, and convinced you, money or otherwise, that you had a common interest. point."

"Mr. Fowler is an approachable and generous gentleman," said Mrs. Toller calmly.

"He satisfies your husband in terms of wine, and asks you to prepare the ladder after the master goes out."

"Yes, sir, it is so."

"We owe you our apologies, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for you have cleared up some of the doubts we had in our minds. Now that the Doctor and Mrs. Lucasle are coming, I think, Watson, we'd better send Miss Hunter back to Winchester, as I feel it would be embarrassing for us to gain legal status here."

And so all the mysteries about the ominous house with the copper beech before the door were solved.Mr. Lucasle survived in the end, but became a depressed man, only able to live on because of the care of his faithful wife.The old servants still lived with them, probably because they knew so much about the Lucasle past that Mr. Lucasle could hardly speak to send them away.Mr. Fowler and Miss Lucasle were married in Southampton the day after their escape.Mr Fowler currently holds a government position in Mauritius.With regard to Miss Violet Hunt, my friend Holmes has disappointed me a little.Because she wasn't the key person in the problems he had, he lost interest in her.She is currently the principal of a private school in Walsall, and I believe she will be able to make achievements in education.

The Emerald Crown Case

One morning, I stood in front of the curved window, looking out at the street below.I said, "Look, Holmes, there is a madman coming here. How can such a man come out alone? How can his family allow it?"

My friend was lolling. He got up from his armchair, put his hands in his pockets, and looked behind me out of the window.It was a sunny morning in February.The ground was covered with snow from the previous day, and it glistened in the warm winter sun.

The snow on Baker Street was crushed into a gray-brown band by passing traffic.But the snow piled high on the sidewalks on both sides, as if it had just fallen.The gray gravel road next to it has been cleaned, but it is still slippery.So no one left.In fact, it was only this gentleman who was coming this way from the direction of the Metropolis, so his unreasonable behavior caught my attention.

The man appeared to be about fifty years old, strong and dignified, and of extraordinary appearance.Although the color of his clothing is dull, it is very luxurious, a black coat, a shiny hat on his head, exquisite tan high boots with leggings, and gray vermilion wool trousers that are currently in fashion. Exquisite.However, his behavior was out of place compared with his clothes, which seemed very ridiculous.For he was running furiously, mingled with little jumps, as if he were not used to exercising his legs a lot and not used to burdening them.When he was moving, he waved his left and right hands up and down, and dangled his head from side to side, looking around unnaturally.

I asked, "What happened to him, what happened? He seemed to be checking the number of the house."

"I think he's coming to us," said Holmes, rubbing his hands together.

"Come here?"

"Yes, I think he has something important to discuss with me. I am familiar with this sign. Ha, didn't I just tell you?"

While he was talking, the man rushed hysterically to our door, and the doorbell rang through the house.

After a while, he had entered our room, still panting and gesticulating.His distorted face and desperate eyes made us immediately stop smiling and replace it with shock and pity.

He couldn't speak for a while, he could only shake his body and pull his hair, like a person who was cornered.Then he jumped up suddenly, banging his head against the wall, and the two of us quickly grabbed him and dragged him into the middle of the room.Holmes forced him into an easy chair and sat down beside him to keep him company, stroking the man's hand, and speaking to him in his usual relaxed and gentle tones. .

He said: "You came to me to tell me your affairs, right? You are a little anxious now, you can take a break, and when you calm down and sort out your thoughts, I will be very happy to answer you Ask me any questions."

After the man sat for a while, his chest was still heaving and he couldn't speak.He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, and with his lips parted, he turned his face towards us.

He said to us, "You must think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"No," replied Holmes, "I see that you must be in great difficulty."

"God knows what trouble I've run into... This incident happened so suddenly and so horribly that I've lost the ability to judge. Perhaps I can bear the public humiliation, but I'm indeed a human being. I am a flawless human being. Everyone has their troubles, they cannot be avoided, but these two things together, and in such a terrible form, it would take my life away. Besides, This is not only related to me personally, unless a solution to this matter is found, otherwise that noble person may also be implicated."

"Sir, please calm down," said Holmes. "Would you please give me your name and address, and the details of what has happened to you?"

The man said: "My name, as you may be familiar, is Alexander Holder, manager of the Holder-Stevenson Bank in Needlework Street."

We are indeed familiar with this name. As we all know, he is the main partner of the second largest private bank in London.So what happened to bring this gentleman of the City of London to such a miserable state.We were very curious, but patiently waiting, waiting for him to be able to control his emotions and continue talking.

He said: "I think time is precious now, so when the police officer asked me to come and ask you for help, I rushed to you. I came to Baker Street by subway, and the carriage was driving very slowly on the snow. , so I chose to walk here. Because I don't usually exercise, I just had a bad breath. Now that I am much better, I will tell you this matter in the simplest way. Of course, you should be very clear In order to develop the banking industry, it is necessary to see whether the capital is used properly, and issuing loans and absorbing funds is one of the important ones. One of the ways to maximize profits is to lend money to those who have valuable collateral In recent years, we have done a lot in this regard, many nobles will bring their collection of paintings, books or gold and silver utensils to us for mortgage, and then we will lend the money to them.

"Just yesterday morning, I was sitting in my office. A clerk handed me a business card. I was shocked when I saw the name on it because it was someone else. But even for you, His name, I can only say that he is well known all over the world, one of the most noble and honorable names in Britain. When he walked in, I was deeply shocked by it, and was about to express my courtesy to him , but he turned to talk about the business directly. Judging from his demeanor, it seemed that he was full of confidence in this urgent matter.

(End of this chapter)