The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 62 Memoirs (3) ([-])
"The matter does not depend on the attitude of Colonel Ross. I can say as much or as little as I like. That is the advantage of unofficial detectives. I don't know if you have noticed, Watson, Colonel Ross. The proofreader was a little arrogant about me. Now I want to make fun of him. Don't tell him about the horses."

"I won't say a word without your permission."

"This matter is actually trivial. The most important thing is who is the murderer of John Straker."

"Are you going to track down the murderer?"

"On the contrary, we drove back to London overnight today."

What my friend said was completely unexpected.We had only been in Devon for a few hours, and after we had done such a good job at the beginning of the investigation, it baffled me that he should stop what he was doing and rush back.On the way back to the trainer's house, no matter what I asked, he didn't answer.The colonel and the sheriff were already waiting for us in the living room.

"My friend and I intend to drive back to London overnight," said Holmes. "Your Dartmoor air is so fresh and refreshing."

The sheriff was dumbfounded, and the colonel curled his lips contemptuously.

"So you've lost faith in catching poor Straker's murderer?" said the colonel.

Holmes shrugged his shoulders.

"It is indeed a great difficulty," said Holmes. "But I am sure that your horse is fit for Tuesday's race, and please have your jockey ready. May I have a photograph of John Straker?"

The sheriff drew a photograph from an envelope and handed it to Holmes.

"My dear Gregory, you have prepared everything I need in advance. Wait a moment, I want to ask the maid a question."

"It must be admitted that I am very disappointed in our adviser from London," said Colonel Ross frankly, as soon as my friend had left. "I see no progress in solving the case since he came here."

"At least he's assured you that your horse will run," I said.

"Yes, he assured me," shrugged the colonel. "I hope he finds my horse and proves he's not lying."

I was about to refute him, in defense of my friend, when Holmes stepped in.

"Gentlemen," said Holmes, "I am now quite ready for Tavistock."

As we got into the carriage, a stable boy opened the door for us.Holmes seemed to have suddenly remembered something, so he leaned over to the stable boy and tugged on his sleeve.

"You have some sheep in your paddock," asked Holmes. "Who tends them?"

"It's me, sir."

"Have you noticed anything wrong with them lately?"

"Oh, sir, it's nothing serious, but three feet are lame."

Holmes rubbed his hands together and smiled slightly.It can be seen that he is very satisfied.

"A bold hypothesis, Watson, but a very correct one," said Holmes, touching my arm. "Gregory, I advise you to take note of this strange disease in the flock. Come on, coachman. "

Colonel Ross still showed distrust of my friend's abilities, but I noticed that the Sheriff paid much attention to what Holmes said.

"Are you sure it's important?" Gregory asked.

"Yes, very important."

"Is there anything else you want me to pay attention to?"

"That night, the dog's reaction was inexplicable."

"That night, the dog didn't have any unusual reactions."

"That's the odd thing," reminded Sherlock Holmes.

Four days later Holmes and I resolved to drive to Winchester to see the Wessex Cup Championship.Colonel Ross met us at the station as scheduled, and his tall carriage drove us to the racetrack outside the city.Colonel Ross was sullen and extremely cold.

"Until now there has been no news of my horse," said the colonel.

"I suppose you will recognize it when you see it?" asked Holmes.

The colonel said angrily: "I have been in the racetrack for 20 years, and I have never heard such a thing." .”

"What about the stakes?"

"This is the mystery. Yesterday the bet was fifteen to one, but the difference is getting smaller and smaller, and now the bet has dropped to three to one."

"Ha!" said Holmes. "Somebody must have got the news."

When the carriage reached the fence of the stand, I saw the list of horses on the racing card.

Wessex Gold Cup

Horse racing age: limited to four or five years old.Duration: Five furlongs a mile.Fifty pounds was payable for each horse.The champion, in addition to the gold cup, will receive a prize of [-] pounds.Runner-up, three hundred pounds.The third runner-up will receive a prize of two hundred pounds.

[-]. Mr. Sean Newton's racehorse Negro.Jockeys wear red hats and tan jackets.

[-]. Colonel Wardlow's racehorse Pagelister.Jockeys wear pink caps and black and blue jackets.

[-]. Lord Buckwater's Jockey Desborough.Jockeys wear yellow caps and yellow sleeves.

[-]. Colonel Ross's racehorse, the silver fronted horse.Jockeys wear black hats and red jackets.

[-]. Iris, the racehorse of the Duke of Balmoral.Jockeys wear yellow hats and yellow and black striped jackets.

[-]. Lord Singleford's race-horse Rathpole.Jockeys wear purple caps and black sleeves.

"We've got another horse out of the race, and now we're putting all our hopes on your word," said the colonel. "What? What's that? The famous silver-fronted horse?"

"Five to four for the silver blaze!" cried the racer. "Five to four for the silver blaze! Five to fifteen for Desborough! Five to four for the rest!"

"All the racehorses are numbered," I said aloud. "Six horses are out."

"All six horses are out? So my horse is out?" cried the colonel in great anxiety. "But I don't see him, no white horse coming."

"Just ran five horses, and that one must be yours."

As I was speaking, I saw a vigorous chestnut horse galloping bravely out of the horse fence, bridle and walking slowly in front of us, and sitting on the horse was the colonel's well-known black hat and red jacket jockey.

"That is not my horse," cried its owner. "It has not a single white hair on it. What is the matter, Mr. Holmes?"

"Hey, hey, let's see how it goes," said my friend calmly, and he watched through my binoculars for a few minutes. "Beautiful! It started so beautifully!" he exclaimed again suddenly : "They're coming, they've already turned the corner!"

We looked over from the carriage, and the scene was very spectacular, with the racehorses running towards this side together.At first, the six horses were close together, and one carpet could cover all six horses.Halfway through the race, the yellow-capped jockey from Mapleton Stables took the lead.However, when they ran past us, Desborough's strength was weak, and Colonel Ross's famous horse rushed forward, opened a distance of six horses from his opponent, and crossed the finish line first, Barr Iris of the Duke of Moral was third.

"So it's really my horse," said the colonel, panting. "I admit I'm at a loss. Mr. Holmes, don't you think you've kept the secret for too long?"

"Yes, Colonel, you will know all about it in a moment. Now, let us go and see the horse together," continued Holmes. "You have only to wash its face and legs with alcohol, and you will recognize it. That silver and white-fronted horse." By this time we had entered the stables, which are restricted to owners and their friends.

"I'm so surprised!"

"I found it in the hands of the horse thief, so I decided to let it compete like this."

"My dear sir, what a mystery you have done. The horse appears to be very good and strong. This is the best run of his life. I am so sorry that I questioned your talents. You helped me get the horse back , that's very kind of you, and you'd be doing me a better favor if you could catch John Straker's murderer."

"I've already done that, too," said Holmes unhurriedly.

Both the colonel and I looked at Holmes in astonishment, and the colonel asked:
"Have you got him? Where is he?"

"He's right here."

"here?"

"Yes, he's with me right now."

The colonel flushed with anger.

"I fully admit that you have been a great service to me, Mr. Holmes," said the colonel, "but I consider what you have just said to be either mischievous or insulting!"

Holmes laughed.

"I assure you that I do not think you are the murderer, Colonel," said Holmes. "The real murderer stands behind you." He went and laid his hand on the smooth neck of the horse.

"This horse?!" The colonel and I both shouted loudly at the same time.

"Yes, the horse. If I said he killed in self-defense, that would lessen his guilt. John Straker is a man who is not at all worthy of your trust. Now the bell is ringing, and I I want to make a small profit in the next game. Let's find another appropriate time to talk about it in detail."

On our way back to London that night in the Pullman, my friend gave us a fascinating account of what had happened at the Dartmoor stables on Monday night, and his solution.I expected Colonel Ross to feel as much a short journey as I did.

"I admit," said Holmes, "that the conceptions I had formed from the newspaper reports were wholly incorrect. There are, however, some important facts which were obscured by other details. When I first arrived in Devonshire, I also I was convinced that Fitzroy Simpson was the culprit. Of course, I didn't have any solid evidence at the time. And when I came to the trainer's house in the carriage, it suddenly occurred to me that the curried mutton had a great significance. You will remember , When you all got out of the car, I was still thinking about it. I was wondering if there was something wrong with my head, and how could I ignore such an obvious clue."

"I confess," said the colonel, "that I still do not understand how mutton curry can do us any good."

"It is the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered narcotics have an odor. The odor is not unpleasant, but it is detectable. If it is mixed with ordinary dishes, people who eat it can easily eat it. If you find it, you may not eat it, and curry can mask the smell. It is impossible to suppose that the stranger Fitzroy Simpson will bring the curry to the horse trainer's house that night. Another particularly absurd hypothesis , the night he came with the powdered narcotic, happened to come across dishes that would mask the smell, a coincidence of course unbelievable. So Simpson is out of the question. So my focus is on It fell on the Strykers. Only these two people could choose curry mutton as dinner that night. Others ate the same dish but had no adverse reactions, indicating that the anesthetic was specially given to the stable boy after the dish was prepared Which of the two of them would be more likely to get access to this dish without being noticed by the maid?

"Before solving this problem, I realized the importance of the dog's silence, because a solid inference always leads to other problems. From this episode of Simpson, I know that there is a dog in the stable. Someone He came in and led the horse away without barking or disturbing the two stable watchmen who were sleeping in the shed. It was obvious that the dog knew this man very well.

"I'm sure, or almost sure, that it was John Straker who came to the stables late at night and took the horses away. Why did he do that? Clearly, he meant it, or why would he What about anesthetizing the stable boy? However, I couldn’t think of the reason at the time. There have been some cases in the past, some horse trainers used agents to place huge bets on the failure of their own horses, and then in order to earn money, Deliberately let their horses lose. Sometimes they will deliberately slow down the horse in the race and lose the race. Sometimes, in order to be more sure, they will use some more insidious and cunning methods. What is the method used here? I think Check the contents of the deceased's pockets before making inferences.

"It is true, and you will remember that curious little knife found in the dead man's hand, which apparently no sane man would have used as a weapon. As Dr. Watson told us, it was a surgical knife. A scalpel for the most delicate operations. That night, it was the same knife that was intended for the most delicate operations. Colonel Ross, you have a lot of experience with racehorses, and you should know that if on a horse's hind ankle A small scratch is scratched under the skin, which is absolutely invisible. The horse treated in this way will gradually develop a slight lameness, which is often easily mistaken for overtraining or a little Rheumatic pain, but it will never be discovered that this is a dirty conspiracy."

"Rogue! Scoundrel!" cried the colonel.

"Such a fierce horse must have neighed loudly after being stabbed, and woke the sleepers in the straw shed. We have found out the purpose of John Straker when he led the horse into the moor. You have to go into the wilderness to do this kind of work."

"How blind I am!" cried the Colonel. "No wonder he needs candles and matches."

"Yes, after examining his things, I was lucky enough to discover not only his modus operandi, but even his motive. You are a man of the world, Colonel, and you must know that a man does not We keep our own bills in our own pockets. Under normal circumstances, we generally settle our own bills. So I immediately deduced that Strike was bigamous and had another residence. From that bill, it can be seen that this There must have been a spendthrift woman in this case. Even a man as generous as you to your servants would never have expected him to spend twenty guineas on a woman's dress. I have casually asked Stray Mrs. C. had known about the dress, but her lack of response, which, to my considerable satisfaction, had nothing to do with her. I took down the address of the dresser, and instinctively thought that I would bring Stray Graham's photo must have easily demystified Mr Derbyshire.

"From then on it became clear. Straker led the horse into a hollow and lighted a candle so that it would not be seen easily. Simpson lost his tie as he fled, and Straker picked it up. Arriving at it, it was probably intended to bind the horse's legs. When he reached the hollow, he went behind the horse and lit a candle. The horse, frightened by the sudden light, threw its hind legs violently out of the animal's instinct of self-preservation. Kicking back, the iron hoof caught Straker on the forehead. Straker had taken off his greatcoat in the rain for that delicate work, and as he fell the knife cut his thigh Scratched. Am I clear?"

"Brilliant!" cried the colonel. "Brilliant! You've seen it all."

"I admit that my last point of speculation is very bold. I think that Stryker is a scheming fellow, and he would never perform such delicate operations on the tendon of the horse's ankle without trial. Yes. Is there anything for him to experiment with? Seeing the sheep, I asked a question, and to my own amazement, the answer I received confirmed my conjecture.

"When I got back to London, I visited the dresser, and she recognized Strike as the very rich client under the alias of Derbyshire, who had a well-dressed wife and had a penchant for luxurious clothes. Evidently, it was this The woman saddled Strike with deep debt, leading him to a path of crime."

"You have told me everything except one question," cried the colonel. "Where is the horse?"

"Ah, it ran away and one of your neighbors took him in. We have to be lenient about that. I think we're at Clapham Station, if I'm not mistaken, and we'll be there in ten minutes. Will be at Victoria Station. Colonel, if you will come to us for a smoke, I shall be happy to give you some other details that interest you."

lead gray man
In some strange cases, the extraordinary talent shown by my friend Holmes has given us such an interest in strange stories that we have become involved in them ourselves.When the short stories based on these cases were published, I naturally focused my pen and ink on his achievements and not much on his failures.The reason why I write this is not to take into account the reputation of Sherlock Holmes.In fact, his energy and talent were admirable when he was on the verge of death.If Holmes fails, no one else will, and the story will never end.However, it is often the case that he made a mistake at the time, but in the end he found out the truth.I have noticed half a dozen cases of this kind, of which two stand out, the case of the Musgrave Rites, and the story I am about to tell.

Holmes was not a man who practiced physical activity for the sake of exercising his body.Generally speaking, there are not many people who are good at using their physical strength.Holmes, however, is undoubtedly the best boxer in his class of weight that I have ever seen, but he considers mindless physical exercise a waste of energy, and so, apart from items connected with his profession, he does not The rest of the activities have never been involved.He is full of energy and tireless.His way of keeping in good health is really strange.His diet is always very simple, and his life is extremely frugal, almost scrimping on food and clothing.Apart from the occasional shot of cocaine, Holmes had no other vices.Whenever there is no case to investigate and the news reports in the newspaper are boring, he resorts to anesthetics to relieve the monotony of life.

(End of this chapter)