The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 8 Research on Scarlet Characters (7)
"'Later I saw him leave in the car, and I was relieved. My son is on vacation now, but I haven't told him about these things at all, because he has a bad temper and loves his sister very much. The two moved After I left, I closed the door, and my heart was relieved. But, God, within an hour, someone called the door again, and it turned out that Drebber had returned. He looked very excited, obviously Too drunk. He came into the room, where I was sitting with my daughter, and he started talking nonsense about how he missed the train. Later, he dared to tell Alice in front of me. and suggested that she run away with him. He said to my daughter, "You have grown up and no law can restrain you.I have plenty of money, so don't worry about this old woman.Come with me right now.You can live like a princess. "Poor Alice was terrified, and kept avoiding him. But he seized her by the wrist, and drew her hard towards the door, and I cried out in terror. Just then my son Arthur came in. I don't know what happened after that. All I heard was shouting and scuffling, and there was such a mess that I was so frightened that I couldn't even raise my head. Looked up, and there was Arthur standing in the doorway, laughing, holding a stick in his hand. Arthur said he didn't think this fellow would ever trouble us again. He told me to follow him out, see See what he's going to do. Having said this, he took up his hat and ran into the street. Next morning we heard that Mr. Drebber had been murdered.'

"That's what Madame Charpentier said herself. She gasps and pauses. Sometimes she speaks in such a low voice that I can hardly hear them. But I have written down everything she said in shorthand. Something could go wrong."

Holmes yawned, and said: "That is indeed very pleasant. What happened?"

The detective went on: "When Mrs. Charpentier stopped, I saw the crux of the whole case. So I fixed her with a look that works well for women, and asked her when her son was born. home.

"'I don't know,' she replied.

"'Don't know?' I continued.

"'Don't really know. He's got a key to the latch and he'll let himself in,' she explained.

"'Did he come back after you fell asleep?' I asked again.

"'Yes,' she answered in the affirmative.

"'What time did you go to bed?' I still wouldn't stop.

"'It was about eleven o'clock at night,' she said.

"'So your son has been out for at least two hours,' I asked, reckoning.

"'Yes,' she replied.

"'Is it possible to be out for four or five hours?' I asked again.

"'It's possible.' She didn't deny it.

"'What has he been doing all these hours?' I asked tentatively.

"'I don't know,' she answered, turning white with lips.

"After asking this point, there is no need to ask other questions. After I found out the whereabouts of Lieutenant Charpentier, I brought two police officers to arrest him. When I patted him on the shoulder, I warned him to follow him honestly. As we were leaving, he said brazenly: 'I suppose you arrested me because you thought I had something to do with the murder of that scoundrel Dreb?' We didn't mention it to him, but he did it himself. , which is even more suspicious."

"Very suspicious," said Holmes.

"Until then he was carrying the big club her mother mentioned he used to chase Dreb. It was a solid oak stick," Grayson exclaimed.

"Then what is your opinion?" asked Holmes again.

"Well, in my opinion, he chased Dreb as far as Brixton Road. Then they quarreled again, and in the middle of the quarrel Dreb got a hard blow, perhaps right in the heart. , so although he died, he did not leave any wounds on his body. It rained heavily that night, and there was no one around, so Charpentier dragged the body to the empty house. As for the candles, blood, and writing on the wall And rings, etc., are just some of his tricks to lead the police astray."

Holmes said in a complimenting tone: "Well done! Gregson, you have made great progress. It seems that you will rise to the top sooner or later."

The detective replied proudly: "I thought it was done neatly and neatly, but the young man confessed that after he had chased him for a while, Drebber spotted him, and Drebber got into a cab." He ran away. On the way home, he met an old colleague who used to work on the ship, and he walked with the old colleague for a long time. But when asked about the address of his old colleague, his answer did not convince Satisfactory. I think the plot of the case fits perfectly. The funny thing is actually Lestrade, he went astray from the start. I'm afraid he won't get much done. Hey, just talk about him, and here he comes .”

It was indeed Lestrade who entered.While we were talking, he had gone upstairs, and then came into the house.Normally, no matter from his appearance, actions, or clothes, he was full of complacency and confidence, but now it has disappeared.He looked flustered, sad, and his clothes were messed up.He came here obviously to ask Holmes for advice.Because when he saw his colleagues, he seemed coy and uneasy and at a loss.He stood in the middle of the room, fiddling with his hat with both hands."It is indeed a very strange case," he said at last, "a very unthinkable incident."

Grayson said triumphantly: "Aha, do you think so, Mr. Lestrade? I knew you would come to such a conclusion. Have you found Mr. Stangerson, the secretary?"

Lestrade said with a heavy heart: "The secretary, Mr. Stangerson, was assassinated at the Halliday Hotel about six o'clock this morning."

Seven ray of light in darkness

The news that Lestrade brought us was both important and sudden, quite unexpected.After hearing this, we were all astonished.Grayson stood up abruptly from his chair, and in a hurry, he spilled the remaining whiskey in his glass.I watched Holmes in silence. His lips were tightly shut and his eyebrows were tightly pressed over his eyes.

Holmes murmured: "Stangerson has also been assassinated, and the case is more complicated."

"It's already complicated enough," Lestrade complained, sitting on a chair, "I feel like I'm in some kind of military meeting, and I don't have a clue."

Grayson stammered and asked, "You, is your news reliable?"

"I've just come from where he lives and I'm the first to find out about it," Lestrade said.

"We have just been hearing Gregson's opinion on the case," said Holmes. "Would you also please tell us what you saw and did?"

"Certainly," replied Lestrade, sitting down thereupon, "I confess that I thought Drebber's murder had something to do with Stangerson. But this new discovery shows me that I was quite mistaken." I made up my mind and set out to investigate the whereabouts of this secretary. The two of them were seen together at Euston Station at about 08:30 on the evening of the 08rd. At 30 o'clock in the morning on the [-]th, Drebber The body was found in Brixton Road. The problem I faced was to find out what exactly Stangerson was doing from [-]:[-] pm until the murder. Where did I go again. So I went to every hotel and flat near Euston Station while I wired Liverpool describing Stangerson's appearance and asking them to keep an eye on American ships. , I thought so at the time, if Drebber and his friend had said goodbye, it was common sense that Stangerson would have to find a place to stay near the station that night, and he would not go to the station again the next morning. .”

"It is probable that they have made an appointment first," said Holmes.

"It turns out to be true. I ran all night yesterday to inquire about his whereabouts, without success. I began my inquiries early this morning. At eight o'clock I arrived at the Halliday Hotel in Little George Street. Before I asked whether When a Mr. Stangerson lived here, they immediately answered yes.

"They said: 'You must be the gentleman he's been waiting for, he's been waiting two days for a gentleman.'

"'Where is he now?' I asked.

"'He's still asleep upstairs. He's given orders not to wake him until nine o'clock.'

"'I'm going up to him at once,' I said.

"I figured that by showing up unexpectedly, I might surprise him and maybe reveal something when he was flustered. A shoe-shine waiter volunteered to lead me up. His room was on the third floor with a short road. The corridor can be directly accessed. After the waiter pointed out the door to me, I was about to go downstairs. Suddenly I saw a scene, which made me feel very sick and wanted to vomit. Although I have 20 years of police experience , but at this time I couldn’t help myself—a crooked bloodstain flowed out from under the door, flowed straight through the aisle, and gathered at the foot of the opposite wall. I couldn’t help but yelled, and the waiter turned around immediately after hearing my cry Walked back. When he saw this scene, he was so frightened that he almost fainted. The door was locked upside down. We smashed it open and entered the house. The window was wide open, and beside the window lay the dead body of a man , he was in his pajamas, curled up in a ball, he had died long ago, his limbs were stiff and cold. When we turned the body over, the waiter immediately recognized him as the occupant of this room, named Stangerson. The left side of his body was stabbed deeply with a knife, which must have injured his heart, and this is also the cause of his death. There is also one of the strangest circumstances. Guess what is on the face of the deceased?"

When I heard this, I felt horrified, very scary.Holmes on the side immediately replied, "It's the word 'Lache' written in blood."

"Exactly the word," said Lestrade, with fear in his voice.For a while, we were all silent.

The assassination of this shadowy murderer seemed methodical and at the same time incomprehensible, which made his crime all the more horrific.Although my nerves are very strong on the battlefield full of casualties, when I think of that terrible scene, I can't help being afraid.

Lestrade went on: "The murderer has been seen. A milkman, on his way to the milk-house, happened to pass the little alley behind the hotel. The little alley leads to the coach-house behind the hotel. He saw The ladder that was usually on the ground was erected, and the upper end of the ladder was facing a window on the third floor, which was wide open. After the child had passed by, he turned his head and saw a person stepping up from the ladder. He climbed down. He came down in a leisurely manner. The kid thought it was a carpenter in the hotel, so he didn't pay special attention to that person, but he thought it was time to start working. It must have been too early. He seems to remember that the man was a big man with a red face and a long brown coat. He must have lingered in the room for a while after the murder, because we found the face There was blood in the water in the basin, indicating that the murderer had washed his hands. There was also blood on the bed sheet, which showed that he calmly wiped the knife after the murder."

As soon as I heard that the murderer's figure and features were in good agreement with Holmes' deduction, I couldn't help but glanced at him, but there was no smug look on his face.

"Have you found nothing in the house which would lead to the arrest of the murderer?" asked Holmes.

"No. Stangerson had Drebber's purse with him, but he seemed to be in charge of it usually, for he was in charge of expenses. There was more than eighty pounds in cash in the purse, and it was quite a penny. These crimes are seen As unusual as it may seem, its motive, whatever it may be, could never have been murder. There were no papers or diaries in the victim's pocket, only a telegram, which had been sent from Cleveland a month earlier, The telegram was 'JH is now in Europe', which was not signed," Lestrade replied.

"Anything else?" asked Holmes.

"Nothing of importance. There is a novel on the bed, which the deceased presumably read before going to bed. His pipe is on a chair by the bed. There is a glass of water on the table. There is a container of ointments on the windowsill." A wooden box with two pills inside." Lestrade described again.

Before he could finish his sentence, Holmes jumped up from his chair with a cry of joy.He said loudly with joy, "This is the last link. My deduction is finally complete now."

Both detectives looked at him in surprise.

My friend said confidently: "I have in my hands every clue that makes up the case. Of course, the details have yet to be added. But from the time Drebber parted from Stangerson at the railway station to the day of Stan By the time Xun's body was found, I'd seen all the major plots as if I'd seen them with my own eyes. Now I'm going to prove my opinion to you. You brought the two pills ?"

"Here," said Lestrade, bringing out a little white box, "here are the pills, the purse, the telegram, which I would have put in a safer place in the police station." .And I brought the pills just by accident. I must say, I don't think it's a thing of any importance."

"Bring it to me, please," said Holmes. "Hey, doctor," he said, turning to me again, "is this a regular pill?"

These pills are indeed unusual, they are pearly gray, small and round, almost transparent to the light.I said, "Judging from the two characteristics of light weight and transparency, I think the pill can dissolve in water."

"Exactly," replied Holmes. "Would you please go downstairs and fetch up that poor dog? The dog has been ill all the time, and did not the landlady ask you to kill him yesterday, so that he would not suffer so much?" ?”

I went downstairs and picked up the dog.The dog was struggling to breathe and had glazed-over eyes, suggesting it would not live long.Indeed, its snow-white lips have shown that it has already far exceeded the lifespan of ordinary dogs.I put a pad on the carpet and put it on top.

"I will now cut one of the pills in half," said Holmes, taking out his pocketknife and slitting open the pill. "I will put half back in the box for future use, and the other half which I will put in a wineglass, a glass." There is a spoonful of water in it. Please see, our doctor friend is right, it dissolves in the water at once."

"That is very interesting," said Lestrade in an angry tone, thinking that Holmes was playing tricks on him; "but I don't see how it has anything to do with Stangerson's death!"

"Be patient, my friend, be patient! Then you will understand that it matters. Now I add some milk to it, it tastes better, and I put it in front of the dog, and it will Lick it off immediately."

As he spoke, he poured the liquid from the wine glass onto a plate, and placed it in front of the dog. Sure enough, the dog quickly licked up all the liquid in the plate.Convinced by Holmes' earnestness, we all sat in silence, watching the dog attentively, and expecting something astonishing to happen.However, nothing special happened, and the dog was still lying on the mat, breathing hard.Apparently the pill has neither good nor bad effect on it.

Holmes had already taken out his watch to watch the minutes passing by, but there was no result. His face showed an expression of extreme chagrin and disappointment.He bit his lip and tapped his fingers on the table, showing a very anxious look.He was very emotional, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him in my heart.The faces of the two official detectives showed ironic smiles at this time, and they were very happy to see that Holmes had encountered a setback.

"It cannot be by chance," cried Holmes at last, getting up and pacing about the room in a restless mood. "It cannot be mere coincidence. In Drebber's case I doubt There are certain pills, which are now really discovered after Stangerson's death, but they don't work. What's the matter? It's safe to say that the series of inferences I've made are by no means Falseness is possible! Impossible! But the poor thing has eaten it all right. Oh, I see! I see!" Holmes exclaimed happily, and running to the box, he took out another. cut it in half, dissolve the half in water, add milk, and put it in front of the dog.Before the unfortunate little creature had even wet its tongue, all four legs convulsed and trembled, and then it died stiffly, as if struck by lightning.

Holmes let out a long breath. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "It seems that my self-confidence is not enough. I should have thought just now that if a plot seems to contradict a series of inferences, then the plot is There must be some other explanation. Of the two pills in that little box, one is a strong poison and the other is not poisonous at all. I should have thought of it before I saw the little box."

I think this last passage of Holmes's is so startling that it hardly convinces him of his sanity.But the dead dog was clearly in front of him, proving that his deduction was correct.I seem to feel that the doubts in my mind are gradually disappearing, and I gradually have a vague understanding of the truth of the case.

(End of this chapter)