The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 74 Memoirs (3) ([-])
"Afterwards, I asked old Cunningham why he did it. He was honest, but his son was a villain, and if he got hold of his pistol, he would kill himself or someone else. Little Cunningham looked When the case turned against him, he completely lost confidence and confessed to the crime he had committed. When William's two masters broke into Acton's house that night, William quietly followed them. William had them Mr. Alec, however, was a dangerous man accustomed to such tricks. He saw the burglary, which shocked the village, as a great opportunity to get rid of his thorn in the side. They lured William out of the , kill him.

"If they had only got the complete note, and paid a little attention to the details of their accomplices, they would probably not arouse suspicion."

"What about the note?"

Sherlock Holmes places before us the torn note.

(The secret letter reads: If you come to the east gate at a quarter past eleven, you will learn something very unexpected and of great benefit to you and Anne Mileson. But don't tell it to me. anyone.)
Holmes said: "This is exactly what I hope to get. Of course, we don't know yet what is the relationship between Alec Cunningham, William Kirwan and Anne Mileson. From the end of the matter, we can See, the trap is very cleverly arranged. I'm sure you'll be delighted when you find those 'p' and 'g' tails that have the same character. The old man wrote 'i' The absence of the above is also very unique. I think, Watson, that our country rest has been remarkably successful, and that I shall return to Baker Street to-morrow in good spirits."

hunchback

One summer night, a few months after my wedding, I sat smoking by the fireplace and dozing off over a novel, exhausted by the day's work.My wife had already gone upstairs, and I knew the servants had also gone to rest when I heard the locking of the hall door.I got up from my chair and was knocking off the ashes of my pipe when I heard the doorbell ring.

I looked at my watch, it was a quarter to twelve in the evening.It was so late that it was impossible for anyone to visit.Obviously a patient, probably a patient who needs to go to the emergency room.Reluctantly, I went to the vestibule and opened the door.To my surprise, it was Sherlock Holmes standing on the stone steps outside the door.

"Ah, Watson," said Holmes, "I hope it is not too late for me to come to you."

"Come in, my dear friend."

"You seem surprised, which is not surprising! I think you should be relieved now! Oh! Why are you still smoking that Acadian blend you smoked before marriage? From the fluffy cigarettes that fell on your clothes Soot, I'm right. You've always been used to wearing military uniform. If you don't give up the habit of hiding your handkerchief in your sleeve, Watson, you don't look like a pure civilian. Can you keep it tonight? Am I staying overnight?"

"Very welcome."

"You told me once that you had a bachelor's room, which I don't think is currently occupied. Your hat rack shows that."

"I'm honored to have you live here."

"Thank you. I'll take a vacant peg on the hat rack, then. I'm sorry to find that a British workman was once in your room. He didn't come to fix the gutters, I hope?"

"No, I'm here to fix the gas."

"Ah, his boots left two stud prints on your linoleum. No, thank you, I've had my supper at Waterloo, and I'd be more than happy to have a pipe with you."

I handed him the pipe, and he sat across from me and smoked for a while in silence.I knew that he would not come to me at this time if there was no important matter, so I waited patiently for him to speak.

"I see that your medical affairs are very busy recently." He looked at me and said.

"Yes, I've been busy all day. It may seem to you very foolish for me to say so," I said, "but I really don't know how you figured it out."

Holmes smiled.

"My dear Watson, I know your habits better than anyone else," said Holmes. "When you make your rounds, you walk on foot when the distance is short; , but it is not dirty at all, so it is not difficult to infer that you are very busy now and often ride in a carriage."

"Brilliant!" I exclaimed.

"It is not difficult to conjecture," said Holmes. "The results of a man of good reasoning often astonish those around him, because they tend to overlook the details on which the inferences are based. My dear friend, you Great exaggeration in writing, leaving some of the plot to the reader, will of course have the same effect. Now, I am in the same position as those readers, because of a puzzling case, I have already I have some clues, but I still lack a point or two to complete my reasoning. But I will find it, Watson. I will find it!" Holmes' eyes were hale and hearty, and his thin cheeks were slightly glowing. red.At this time, he was no longer reserved, showing a naive and enthusiastic look, but it was only for a moment.When I looked over again, his face had returned to that rigid look.

"There are some noteworthy features, I might even say, rare noteworthy features in the case," said Holmes. "I have made an inquiry into the case, and, I think, are close to solving it. If you can find yourself in the Help me with this last step, and you'll be doing me a great favor."

"I'd be happy to oblige."

"Can you start as far as Aldershot tomorrow?"

"I thought Jackson could practice medicine for me."

"Excellent. I should like to start for Aldershot by the ten past eleven from Waterloo."

"That way, I'll have time to prepare."

"Then, if you are not very sleepy, I will tell you the state of the case and what needs to be done."

"Before you came, I was very sleepy, but now I am very awake."

"I will try to explain the case to you as briefly as I can, without omitting anything of importance. You may have read some of the reports on the matter. It is the Munster Rifle in Aldershot which I am investigating. Colonel Buckley of the Regiment presumed murdered."

"I've never heard of it at all."

"It appears that the case has not caused much excitement except locally. It happened two days ago. The general circumstances are as follows: The Munster Infantry is one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army. It In the two counter-insurgency campaigns in Crimea and India, great feats were established.

"The regiment has been distinguished in every battle since then. The regiment was under the command of Colonel James Buckley until this Monday night. The colonel was a man of courage and experience, and at first he was only a common soldier. , was promoted for his bravery in fighting Indian rebels, and later took command of his regiment.

"Colonel Buckley was married when he was a sergeant. His wife was named Nancy DeVoy, the daughter of a former sergeant in the regiment. It is conceivable that the young couple must have had a good time in their new surroundings. There will be some social ostracism. However, they quickly acclimatized to their new surroundings, and I have heard that Mrs. Buckley is very popular with the ladies of the regiment, and her husband is well-liked by the officers. I would add, She is a beautiful woman, even now, she has been married for more than 30 years, her appearance is still moving.

"Colonel Barclay's family life appears to be very happy. I have heard a lot from Major Murphy, and he said that he had never heard of any disharmony between the couple. On the whole, He thought that Colonel Buckley loved his wife more than his wife loved Buckley. If Colonel Buckley left his wife some day, he would be restless. On the other hand, although she loved Buckley and was faithful to him, But they lack the tenderness of a woman. They are recognized as a model middle-aged couple in the regiment. From the perspective of their relationship, people can never see anything that will cause future tragedies.

"Colonel Barclay himself is a bit of a queer character. He is usually a stocky, lively old soldier, but sometimes he can be quite rough and vindictive.

"But he never took it out on his wife. I spoke to five other officers, and three of them and Major Murphy had noticed another thing, that the Colonel was a little depressed at times. The major said that Colonel Barkley often did not smile when he was talking and laughing happily with people at the dinner table. In the days before the incident, he was in a depressed state and was in a depressed mood. This depressed state made him not like being alone. , especially after dark.

"His childishness naturally arouses discussion and suspicion.

"The Munster Infantry, originally the [-]st Battalion of the Old [-]th, has been stationed in Aldershot for a long time. The officers who have wives live outside the barracks. The Colonel has been living about half a distance from the North Camp all these years. In the Lanjing Villa, which is surrounded by courtyards, but less than thirty yards from the road to the west. They have only one coachman and two maids. Because the Buckleys have no children and no guests usually live in his house, the whole Only the colonel and his wife and these three servants lived in Lanjing Villa.

"Now tell me about what happened at Lanjing Villa from nine to ten o'clock last Monday night.

"Mrs. Buckley is a Roman Catholic, and she is very enthusiastic about the St. George's Charity. The charity is held by the Watt Street Chapel, which is dedicated to giving old clothes to the poor. At 07:30 that night, Mrs. Buckley hastily ate After dinner, she went to a meeting held by the charity. As she was going out, the coachman heard her say a few words to her husband, and told him to be back soon. Then she went to invite the young woman who lived in a neighboring villa. Miss Morrison went to the meeting together. The meeting lasted for four or ten minutes, and Mrs. Buckley came home at 10:[-] in the evening. They parted as they passed Miss Morrison's house.

"There is a room at Lanjing House which is used as an early morning sitting room. It faces the road, with a large glass door opening onto a lawn thirty yards wide. It is separated from the road only by a low wall with an iron railing on it. Buck Mrs. Leigh entered this room on her return home, before the curtains had been drawn, for the room was usually used only by day. But Mrs. Barclay herself lit the lamp, and rang the bell, to order Jane, the maid. Steward brought her a cup of tea, which was different from her usual habit. The Colonel was sitting in the dining room, and when he heard his wife had returned, he went to meet her in the parlour. Went into that room. The colonel never came out again.

"Mrs Barclay's tea was not ready until ten minutes later. The maid was very surprised when she approached the door, for she heard the mistress and his wife arguing violently.

"She knocked at the door, received no answer, turned the handle again, and found it locked from the inside. She ran back at once and told the cook, and the two maids and the coachman came into the corridor, and heard The two were still arguing violently. Both said they heard only two voices, Buckley and his wife. Buckley's voice was low and incoherent, so none of the three could hear him say What is it. On the contrary, the voice of the hostess was so distressed that they could hear her clearly when she spoke aloud. She repeated: 'You coward! What now? What now? Put Give me back my youth. I don't want to live with you anymore! You coward! You coward!' Then the servants heard a terrible cry from their master, and at the same time they heard a crash The sound and the hostess screamed. The screams came out again and again, and the coachman knew that the situation was not good, so he tried to break in. But the coachman failed, and the two maids were already frightened and helpless. However, A sudden idea occurred to the coachman, and he ran out the front door and out onto the lawn facing a French window. One of the windows was open. I heard that in summer this window is always open, and the coachman never stopped. He climbed in through the window without difficulty. By this time his mistress had stopped screaming and was unconscious on the couch. The unfortunate soldier lay flat in a pool of blood, with his feet raised Head on the side arm of the armchair, near the corner of the fire fender.

"The coachman found it impossible to save his master, so he naturally thought of opening the door first, but he encountered an unexpected difficulty. The key was not on the inside of the door, and he could not find it anywhere in the house. So he still Climbing out of the window, a policeman and a medic were called for help. The lady, who was, of course, a serious suspect, was carried to her own room, still in a coma.

"The colonel's body was placed on a sofa and the police inspected the crime scene carefully.

"The unfortunate old soldier's fatal wound was a two-inch gash to the back of the head, apparently caused by a blow with a blunt instrument. It is not difficult to guess what the murder weapon was. Next to the body lay a stick of carved hardwood with a bone handle. The colonel loved to collect all kinds of weapons from the different countries in which he fought. The police guessed that this stick was one of his trophies, but the servants They say they have never seen this stick before, but if it is among the many valuables in the room, it is likely to be overlooked. The police found no other important clues in this room. Only one thing is very strange : The missing key was neither in Mrs Buckley nor in the victim nor in the house. Finally, they got a locksmith from Aldershot to open the door.

"This is the basics of the case, Watson. I am going to Aldershot on Tuesday morning, at the invitation of Major Murphy, to assist the police in solving the case. I think you will find the case very interesting. I have observed Afterwards, it occurred to me that the case must have been more peculiar than I had first imagined.

"Before I examined the room, I questioned the servants, and they told me what I have just told you. Jane Steward, the maid, recalled another noteworthy detail. You must remember, As soon as she heard the quarrel, she called for two other servants. She said that the first time she was alone outside the door, the master and his wife kept their voices so low that she could hardly hear anything. Not by what they said, but by the tone of their voices, they concluded that they were arguing. However, when I pressed her hard, she remembered that she had heard the lady mention the word 'David' twice. Names. From this it is of the utmost importance to infer the cause of their sudden quarrel. The Colonel's name is James.

"The distorted countenance of the colonel's corpse left a deep impression on both the servants and the police. According to them, the colonel's face had taken on a terribly frightened expression, and it was no longer the face of a normal person. This terrifying countenance almost made more than one person who saw him faint. It must be that he had foreseen his own fate before he died, which aroused his extreme fear. Of course, this is consistent with the police's statement that the colonel may have died It was seen that his wife was going to murder him. The fact that the mortal wound was in the back of his head did not quite contradict this, for he was probably turning to avoid the blow. Unclear, we have no way of learning from her.

"From the police I understand that Miss Morrison, who was out with Mrs Buckley that night, said she did not know what had caused her companion to go home and lose her temper.

"After I gathered these facts, I smoked several pipes and mulled them over, trying to separate what was essential from what was purely accidental. One of the unusual and intriguing aspects of the case was the disappearance of the key to the house. It is very strange. We have searched the house very carefully and still can't find it. The key has obviously been taken. But neither the colonel nor his wife took it, so there must be a third party This room has been entered before, and this third person can only enter through the window. It seems that only a careful inspection of the room and the lawn will reveal some traces left by this mysterious person. Watson, are you Knowing my method of investigation, there is not a single method in this case which I have not used. At last I found traces, but quite different from what I expected. There was indeed a person who was in the room, and he was from The road came in through the lawn. I found five distinct footprints of the man in all: one right next to the road where he climbed over the low wall; two on the lawn; left on the soiled floor by the window when he came in. He had evidently run across the lawn, for his toes were much deeper than his heels. But it wasn't this that surprised me. man, but his companion."

"His companion?!"

Holmes drew a sheet of paper from his pocket, and spread it carefully on his lap.

"What do you think this is?" asked Holmes.

On the paper was the paw print of a small animal.The paw print has five distinct fingers and a very long tip.

"It's a dog," I said.

"Have you ever heard of a dog climbing a curtain? But I have found clear marks of the animal on the curtain."

"Is it a monkey?"

"But these are not the paw prints of a monkey."

"What would that be?"

(End of this chapter)