The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 82 Memoirs (11) ([-])
"On the contrary," said Holmes, "out of the fifty-three cases I have ever solved, I have put my name on only four, while the police have taken full credit in forty-nine. I do not wish to blame you, for you do not Understand the situation because you are young and inexperienced. But if you want to get promoted again, you'd better work with me."

"I'd be more than willing to take your advice," said the detective, changing his attitude. "I haven't had any credit for my work so far."

"What steps have you taken?"

"Tangay, the gatekeeper, has been kept on the lookout. He left the guard with a good reputation, and we can't find anything to suspect. His wife is a bad fellow, though, and I think she knows a lot about it, and doesn't As she pretends."

"Have you followed her?"

"We sent a female detective after her. Mrs. Tangay was a drinker, and the female detective went to drink with her when she liked, but got nowhere."

"I heard that some second-hand dealers have been to her house?"

"Yes, but she has paid off her debt to them."

"Where did the money come from?"

"Everything is normal. The janitors just got their annual salaries, but they don't look like they're well off."

"How does she account for that evening when Mr. Phelps rang for coffee and she went up to answer?"

"She said her husband was very tired and she was trying to help him."

"Yes, after a while, he was found sleeping on a chair, which is of course reasonable. Apart from this woman's bad character, there is no other evidence? You didn't ask her why she left in such a hurry that night. Go? Even the police noticed her flustered look."

"She was later than usual that day, so she was anxious to get home."

"Did you ask her why you and Mr. Phelps started at least twenty minutes after her and arrived before her?"

"She explained that it was because the hansom was faster than the stagecoach."

"Did she make it clear why she ran into the back kitchen when she got home?"

"She said because she put the money in the back kitchen and was going to take it out and give it to the junk dealer."

"She answered everything. Did you ask her if she met or saw anyone prowling Charles Street as she left the scene?"

"She saw no one but the police."

"Well, it appears that you questioned her very well. What else did you do?"

"For nine weeks, we have been monitoring the clerk Gorot, but to no avail. We have found no evidence against him."

"What else?"

"There is nothing we can do because there is no evidence."

"Have you ever considered why the bell rings?"

"Oh, I must admit, it stumps me. Whoever he was, he was bold enough not only to come, but to sound the alarm."

"Yes, it is indeed a curious incident. Thank you for telling us these circumstances. If I want you to catch this man, I will inform you. Watson, go."

"Where are we going now?" I asked him as we left the police station.

"To visit Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet minister and future prime minister."

Lord Holdhurst was still in office when we reached Downing Street.Holmes handed in his card, and we were summoned at once.The Minister of the Cabinet received us with old-fashioned decorum, placed us in sumptuous easy chairs on either side of the fire, and stood between us on the rug.Lord Holdhurst was slender, thin, chiseled, with a kind face, curly hair prematurely greyed, and an impressive presence. He was indeed a nobleman.

"I have known you for a long time, Mr. Holmes," he said with a smile on his face. "I cannot pretend to be ignorant of your purpose. There is only one matter in this department that can attract your attention. May I ask who you are entrusted to handle this case?" of?"

"At the commission of Mr. Percy Phelps," replied Holmes.

"Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You understand, of course, that I have nothing to do with him, as we are related. I fear that this accident will be very unfavorable to his future."

"But what if this document is found?"

"Oh, that's a different story, of course."

"I have a question or two for you, Lord Holdhurst."

"I'll do my best to answer you."

"Is this the office where you ordered the copying of the document?"

"Yes."

"It means that your conversation is difficult to be eavesdropped on?"

"No chance of eavesdropping."

"Did you mention to anyone that you intended to have this agreement copied?"

"there has never been."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, since you never said it, and Phelps never said it, and no one else knew about it, it was purely accidental that the thief came to the office. stole the files."

The cabinet minister smiled. "What you said is beyond my ability," said Lord Holdhurst.

Holmes pondered for a moment. "There is another extremely important point which I would like to discuss with you," he said. "As far as I know, you fear that the details of this agreement, if they become known, will have extremely serious consequences."

A shadow passed over the cabinet minister's face, and he said, "Of course there will be extremely serious consequences."

"Has there been serious consequences?"

"not yet."

"If this agreement had fallen into the hands of, say, the French or Russian foreign ministries, do you think you would have been informed?"

"I will definitely receive it." Lord Holdhurst said with a displeased expression.

"So, since nearly ten weeks have elapsed without any news, it is presumed that for some reason the agreement has not yet fallen into the hands of the French and Russian foreign ministries."

Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr. Holmes, it is difficult for us to understand that the thieves stole this agreement only to put it in a cupboard, or hang it up."

"Maybe he's waiting for a high price to sell."

"If he has to wait a few more days, the document is worthless. Because in a few months, the agreement will not be a secret."

"This is a very important point," said Holmes. "Of course, it is also conceivable that the thief suddenly fell ill..."

"A nervous breakdown, for instance?" asked the Cabinet Secretary, casting a quick glance at Holmes.

"I did not say so," said Holmes calmly. "We now bid you farewell, Lord Holdhurst, for having taken much of your precious time."

"Hope you succeed in finding the culprit, whoever he may be," said the nobleman, nodding to us as he sent us out the door.

"He is a fine man," said Holmes, as we reached Whitehall Street, "but he will have a struggle to keep his office. He is far from rich, but he is expensive. You should Noticed that his well-boots have been resoled. Now, Watson, I shall not delay your work any further. I shall have nothing to do today unless there is an answer to my advertisement for the carriage. However, if you I can't thank you enough for joining me tomorrow on the train to Woking."

Next morning I met him as promised, and we took the train to Woking together.He said his adverts have gone nowhere and the case has no clue.His face was so rigid as he spoke, that I could not tell from his countenance whether he was at all satisfied with the state of the case.I remember, he talked about the Bertillon measurement method, and he had a great appreciation for the French scholar.

Our client is still well cared for by his devoted caregiver, but looks better than ever.As soon as we walked through the door, he rose from the sofa to welcome us effortlessly.

"Any news?" He asked impatiently.

"I have not brought good news, as I expected," said Holmes. "I have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and have investigated one or two clues which may lead to some question."

"So you haven't lost your mind yet?"

"of course not."

"God bless you! It's a pleasure to hear you say that," cried Miss Harrison. "If we don't lose our courage and patience, we shall find out."

"You haven't told us much, but we can tell you more." Phelps said, sitting back on the sofa.

"I hope you understand something important."

"Yes, I encountered another dangerous incident last night, and it is indeed a serious incident."

He spoke with a very serious expression, with a look of terror in his eyes. "Do you know," said he, "that I have come to believe that I have unknowingly become the center of a criminal conspiracy whose object is not only my honor but my life."

"Ah!" cried Holmes.

"It seems unbelievable because, as far as I know, I don't have a single enemy in the world. But from last night's experience, I can only conclude that someone is going to murder me."

"Please tell me the details."

"You know, last night was the first night I didn't have a babysitter in my room. I slept by myself. I felt so good that I didn't need a babysitter. However, I kept the lights on at night. About two o'clock in the morning I was suddenly awakened by a slight sound. The sound was like the sound of a mouse biting a plank. So I listened for a while, thinking it was a mouse. Unexpectedly, the sound became louder and louder, and suddenly there was a harsh sound from the window. The sound of metal rubbing. I sat up in amazement and understood what was going on. The first sound was the sound of someone inserting a tool into the gap between the two windows to pry the window, and the second sound was the sound of pulling the window latch.

"Then the sound fell silent for about 10 minutes, and the man seemed to be watching to see if the noise had woken me up. Then, I heard a soft creak and the window was slowly opened. I couldn't hold it any longer. , jumped up from the bed, and jerked open the shutters. A man was crouching by the window. In an instant he fled, and I couldn't see who he was, because he had a cloth on his head that hid his face. Half of it was covered. I can only be sure of one thing, and that is that he had a murder weapon in his hand. I think it was a long knife. When he turned and ran away, I clearly saw the light of the knife."

Holmes said: "This is very important. May I ask what you did afterwards?"

"If I had been stronger, I would have chased him through the window. But then I could only ring the bell to wake the whole family. It took a little time, because the bell was in the kitchen and The servants were all sleeping upstairs again. But I yelled and called Joseph, who woke the others. Joseph and the groom found footprints in the garden outside the window, but the weather has been very dry lately, and they tracked it down to the meadow , I couldn't find any footprints anymore. On the wooden fence on the side of the road, there is a place where there are some marks. I'm taking your opinion first, so I haven't told the local police yet."

The experience, as related by our client, has evidently had a special effect on Sherlock Holmes.He stood up from the chair, unable to restrain the excitement in his heart, and paced back and forth in the room.

"It's true that misfortunes never come singly," Phelps said with a forced smile.

"You do take the risk," said Holmes. "Would you mind going for a walk around the grounds with me?"

"Yes, I am willing to bask in the sun. Joseph can go too."

"Me too," said Miss Harrison.

"I think it would be better for you not to go," said Holmes, shaking his head. "I think you should stay here."

The girl sat back down in dismay, her brother joined us, and the four of us went out together.Walking across the lawn, we came out the window of the young diplomat.As he said, there were traces on the flower-bed, but they were too indistinct to make out.Holmes stooped for a moment, then rose with a shrug.

"I don't think anyone can discover much from these traces," said he. "Let's walk about the house and see why the burglars have chosen this house. It seems to me that the size of the drawing-room and dining-room Windows should be more alluring to him."

"But those windows are well seen from the road," reminded Mr. Joseph Harrison.

"Oh, yes. But there's a door here, and he could have tried it. What's the door for?"

"This is the side door for merchants to come in and out of. It's locked at night."

"Have you ever been frightened like this before?"

"Never," said our client.

"Have you any silverware or other things in your house that would attract thieves?"

"Nothing of great value."

With his hands in his pockets, Holmes walked up and down the round of the house with an air of negligence never before seen.

"By the way," said Holmes to Joseph Harrison, "I hear that you have discovered a place from which the man climbed over a fence. Please show us."

This pudgy middle-aged man led us to a place where the tip of a wooden railing was broken.A small piece of wood was still drooping.Holmes broke it off and examined it carefully.

"You think it was broken last night? It looks old, doesn't it?"

"Ah, maybe so."

"There are no footprints jumping from the fence here. I don't think there are any clues here. Let's go back to the bedroom and discuss it."

Percy Phelps walked very slowly, supported by his future brother-in-law.Holmes and I hurried across the lawn to the open window of the bedroom, leaving them both far behind.

"Miss Harrison," said Holmes, very gravely, "you must remain here all day long. If anything happens, you must not leave here. This is very important."

"If you ask me to do it, Mr. Holmes, I will do it," said the girl in surprise.

"Before you go to bed, please lock the door from the outside and keep the key yourself. Please promise to do as I say."

"But what about Percy?"

"He's going to London with us."

"Then do I stay here?"

"It's for him. You can do him a great favor. Come on! Say yes!"

She nodded quickly in agreement, just as the two entered the room.

"Why do you sit here somberly, Anne?" cried her brother. "Go out into the sun!"

"No, thank you, Joseph. I have a headache, and the room is cool, just as I like it."

"What are your intentions now, Mr. Holmes?" asked our client.

"We can't lose the main object of our investigation by investigating this small matter. It would be of great help to me if you could come to London with us."

"Are you going right away?"

"Yes, if it's convenient for you, the sooner the better, how about within an hour?"

"I feel very strong physically, can I really help you?"

"Very likely."

"Perhaps you would suggest that I live in London to-night?"

"I was going to suggest you do that."

"If my late-night man should call on me again, he will be in vain. We are at your command, Mr. Holmes, and you must tell us what you intend to do. Perhaps you will get Joseph to come with us, so that take care of me?"

"Oh, no, you know my friend Watson is a doctor, and he will take care of you. If you promise to do so, we will finish our lunch here, and then the three of us will go to town together."

Everything was arranged according to his suggestion, except that Miss Harrison, in accordance with Holmes's advice, found an excuse to remain in this bedroom.I can't imagine what trick my friend was playing to get the girl out of Phelps?

Phelps, having regained his health and looking forward to the action, happily dined with us in the dining room.But Holmes surprised us even more, for after he had escorted us to the station and seen us into the train, he said without haste that he had no intention of leaving Woking.

"Before I go, there are a couple of little things I want to make clear," said he. "Mr. Phelps, it will be in a certain way better for me by your absence. When you arrive in London, Watson, You must promise me to ride with our friend to Baker Street at once until I return. You two are old schoolmates, and there must be many things to talk about. Mr. Phelps can stay with me tonight. I'll be at Waterloo by the eight o'clock train to-morrow morning, in time to have breakfast with you."

"But we're in London, how are we going to investigate?" Phelps asked despondently.

"We can do these things tomorrow. I think it's imperative that I stay here now."

"You can tell them when you go back to Brillbrae that I want to go back tomorrow night," cried Phelps as our train was leaving the platform.

"I'm not necessarily going back to Brillbrae," replied Holmes, waving us cheerfully as our train left the station.

Phelps and I talked about it all the way, but neither of us could quite figure out why Holmes did it.

"I suppose he was looking for clues to last night's burglary, if there was one. But I don't believe it was an ordinary burglar."

"Then what is your own opinion?"

"Honestly, whether you attribute it to my nervous breakdown or not, I believe that there is some dark political conspiracy going on around me, and for some reason beyond my comprehension, these conspirators want me dead. This may sound exaggerated and absurd, but consider the facts! Why would the thief want to force open the window of a bedroom where there is nothing to steal? And why does he have a long knife in his hand?"

"Are you sure that's not the crowbar you used to open the door?"

"No, it was a knife. I saw the glint of the knife very clearly."

"Why did they attack you with such deep hatred?"

"That's the problem."

"If Holmes sees it that way, then that would explain why he took this course of action. Does it not? Assuming you're right and he can catch the man who threatened you last night, he's looking forward to finding the thief." The goals of the people of the Naval Agreement have gone a long way. If you have two enemies. One steals from you, and the other threatens your life, that would be ridiculous."

"But Holmes says he is not going back to Brillbrae."

"I know him so well," I said, "I've never seen him do anything for no reason." At this point we moved on to other topics.

(End of this chapter)