Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 108 The Return (19)
"Well, Mr. Holmes, I'm sure I have something on my mind, but it's so grotesque that I really don't want to bother you any more. It's a small thing, but it's really strange. I know very well that you're wrong about everything." Ordinary things are very interesting, but I think this has something to do with Dr. Watson."

I said, "Disease?"

"Madness, to say the least, and very queer madness. Can you imagine such a thing? People who live in this day and age hate Napoleon, and want to put his face down whenever they see his picture." smash."

Holmes leaned back in his chair.

He said, "This matter has nothing to do with me."

"Yes, I have long suggested that this has nothing to do with us. But when this man breaks into someone's house and insists on breaking the Napoleon statue, he should not be sent to the hospital but to the police station."

Holmes sat up suddenly again.

"Robbery? This is a bit interesting. Please tell me the details."

Then Lethred took out his work log and read it as he talked, in case there was anything missing.

He said: "The first case was reported about four days ago. It happened at Moss Hudson's shop. The owner had a branch on Connington Street where they sold pictures and figurines. As soon as the clerk left At the counter, I heard the sound of something colliding with each other behind, and ran back quickly. It turned out that the statue of Napoleon on the counter was smashed. The clerk rushed to the street. Although some people said that a person ran out of the store, but He couldn't find the man at all, let alone recognize the rascal. It seemed to be one of the frequent and pointless misdemeanors. The clerk reported the matter to the patrolman. The plaster statue was worth a few shillings at most. And the matter is too small to merit a special investigation.

"But later, someone reported a second case, this time it was serious, it happened last night.

"On Connington Street, just two or three hundred yards from Moss Hudson's store, lives a well-known Dr. Barnicker, who is visited by many people on the South Bank of the Thames. He His home and practice were in that street, and he had a branch and pharmacy two miles away in Lower Brixton Street. The doctor was a great admirer of Napoleon, and in his The paintings and relics of the French emperor. Not long ago, he just bought two bust replicas of Napoleon from the Hudson store, which are the works of the famous French sculptor Divin. He displayed one on Connington Street In the hall of the house, another was displayed under the mantelpiece of the Brixton Street Clinic. When the doctor came downstairs this morning, he was astonished to find that someone had entered his house during the night, and there was nothing Take it. The plaster head was thrown to pieces outside under the garden wall.

Holmes rubbed his hands.

"It's kind of weird," he said.

"I thought this might interest you. But I haven't finished. At twelve o'clock, Dr. Barnico went to the clinic and found the windows open, and the room was littered with fragments of statues. You must have One can imagine his astonishment. The bust was smashed to pieces again. Not a single trace was left in two places for us to trace the culprit of this prank, perhaps a madman. Mr. Holmes, that is the whole story. "

"The matter is absurd and strange," said Holmes. "Is it true that the busts which have been smashed are copies of the same model?"

"Yes, it's all made of one model."

"That completely negates the idea that Napoleon's bust wasn't smashed out of hatred. Of course we know how many statues of Napoleon there will be in all of London? Thousands of them. And that Those who oppose the worship of Napoleon, whoever they are, must not start with these three replicas. Therefore, this idea is very unreasonable."

Lesred said: "I was thinking the same as you. But Moss Hudson was probably the only one who supplied statues in that part of the country, and had these three statues in his shop for a long time. So, though There are many statues of Napoleon in London, but these are probably the only three in this district. So this madman has set about destroying these three statues here. What do you think, Dr. Watson?"

I replied, "Paranoia manifests itself in different ways and without any pattern. There is a condition that French psychologists call 'paranoid ideation', which means being very lucid about everything else, while Very stubborn on a trivial matter. If a person has read a lot of Napoleon's deeds and has a very deep impression, or his family has left a psychological shadow on him caused by the war, it is likely to form this kind of pathology .under its influence, he may well be driven mad by fancy."

Holmes shook his head and said, "Dear Watson, this doesn't make sense at all. No matter how great the impact of this disease is, it's impossible for those patients to find out where those avatars are distributed one by one."

"Then how do you explain it?"

"I just feel that the actions of this man are regular. For example, in the doctor's house, if you make a sound, everyone will wake up, so he takes the statue outside and breaks it. But In the clinic, there was no chance of alarming anyone, so he just broke it up on the spot. It may be something innocuous, do you remember how that annoying case of the Abagnait family came to my attention? Just from seeing how deep celery sinks in butter on a hot day. So I can't take those three broken busts lightly at all, Lesred. If only I could learn more about I would be very grateful to you for any update on the matter."

What my friend wants to know is moving swiftly and tragically.Next morning, as I was dressing in my bedroom, I heard a knock at the door, and Holmes hurried off, returning with a telegram in his hand.He read it aloud to me:

Come to 131 Pitt Street, Kensington immediately.

Les Reid
I asked, "What's the matter?"

"Don't know, maybe something happened. But I'm guessing there's something going on with the bust. If that's the case, our bust-breaking friend is starting to act elsewhere in London. There's still coffee on the table Hurry up, Watson, I have already prepared the carriage."

After half an hour, we arrived at the designated place.It's a lifeless alley, next to one of the busiest parts of London. No. 131 is a very functional house, and as soon as we got there, we found a lot of curious people crowded outside the fence of the house.

Holmes walked slowly through the crowd.

"My God! It's murder to say the least. This time the newsboys are going to be surrounded tightly. Look at the dead man with his shoulders curled up and his neck stretched out. Is there any other possibility besides violent crime? Watson , what's the matter? The upper steps have been washed, and the rest are dry. There are many footprints here! Here, Lethred is at the front window. The truth will be revealed in a moment."

Lethred greeted us with a serious and dignified look.He led us into a living room where an elderly man in flannel pajamas was walking up and down tremblingly.Lesred told us that the old man was Mr. Lars Harker, the landlord, who belonged to the Central Newspaper Syndicate.

Lesred said: "This case is also connected with the bust of Napoleon. Mr. Holmes, you were very interested in this last night, so I think you will be very happy to come here. Now things are too serious."

"How much?"

"Murder! Mr. Harker, please tell these gentlemen exactly what you know."

Mr. Harker said: "This is so strange. I have devoted my life to collecting other people's news, but when this real news happened to me, I was confused and didn't know what to say. If I used If the identity of a reporter appears here, then I have to face myself, and I have to write some reports about it in the evening paper. In fact, because of work, I have indeed done very important reports to many people, but today But I am helpless. Your name is so familiar to me, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, that if you can explain it, it will be of no use for me to explain it to you."

Holmes sat and listened quietly.

"The reason was for the bust of Napoleon. I bought it four months ago at the second shop next to the Highland Street coaching station, Harding Brothers, and it wasn't expensive. It's been there ever since." In the room. Normally, I write manuscripts until early in the morning, and today is no exception. At about three o’clock, I was writing manuscripts in the study when I heard some noise coming from downstairs. I listened carefully later, but After a while, there was no sound again. So I guessed that the sound must come from outside. About 5 minutes later, there was a tragic roar, Mr. Holmes, it was really scary, as long as I was alive, the sound would be It kept ringing in my ears. I was really frightened, so I sat there for a minute or two, then picked up a poker and went downstairs. As soon as I walked into this room, Seeing that the window was wide open, the bust under the mantel was gone. I really don't understand why the robbers took nothing but this. It's just a plaster cast, worthless at all.

"Surely you see that whoever takes a big step from this open window will surely be able to reach the front steps. This man must have done so. So I opened the door, Walking down in the dark, I almost tripped over the dead man, and the body was lying there. I hurried back to carry the lamp, only to find the man lying on the ground pitifully, with a big hole in his neck and a lot of blood around him. His face Lying on my back with my knees bent and my mouth open, I thought I was going to have a nightmare and dream about him again. Then I blew the siren and passed out. I think I was fainted When I opened my eyes, someone was already in the hall, and the officer was watching me."

"Who is the victim?" asked Holmes.

Lesred said: "There is no document to prove his identity at all. You can go to the funeral home for an autopsy. So far, we have not found any clues from the deceased. He is tall, strong, with a dark complexion, and his age is about He was about 30 years old, dressed in rags, not like a worker. There was a jackknife with a horn handle in the pool of blood beside him. I don’t know if it was a murder weapon or something that the deceased had. The clothes of the deceased There was no identifying name on it, and in his pocket were an apple, a piece of string and a map of London worth a shilling, and a photograph."

The photo was obviously taken with a small camera.The man in the photo has an alert expression, thick eyebrows, and a very protruding muzzle, like the face of a baboon.

After examining the photograph carefully and calmly, Holmes asked: "How is the bust now?"

"Before you came here, we had word that the statue had been broken. It was found in the garden of the vacant house in Camden Street. I'd like to see it, and you?"

"Yes, I want to see it too." Holmes inspected the carpet and the window carefully, and then said, "This man is either long-legged or very agile, and the ground below the window is very low. Impossible to be inflexible, but very easy to jump out of. Mr. Harker, would you like to see that broken statue with us?"

The journalist sat at his desk in a very depressed mood.

He said: "Although this case has already been published in the evening papers, and the details must have been told, I still want to write about it to the best of my ability. This is my fate! Do you remember Dunka?" What about the collapse of St.'s stand? The only survivor was me. My newspaper didn't publish it, because I couldn't bear too much excitement to write it down. I'm writing now that it happened in The murder in my own home was also a bit late."

As soon as we left the room, we heard the sound of manuscripts being written "shuashua".

The place where the fragments of the bust were found was only two or three hundred yards from the house.The bust had already been smashed into tiny pieces, which showed the person's strong hatred and uncontrollable emotions towards it.This is the first time we have seen the noble emperor fall to such a state.Holmes picked up a few fragments and examined them carefully.Judging from his meticulous face and confident expression, I'm sure he has found the clue to solve the case.

Lesred asked, "What did you find out?"

Holmes shrugged his shoulders.

He said: "Although we still have a lot of work to do, we now have some facts that we can use as a basis for action. For that prisoner, the bust is worth more than human life. .And one more thing, if the man was just trying to smash the bust, why didn't he smash it in or near the house? That's all the more strange."

"Probably he panicked when he met this person, not knowing what to do, and then took out the knife."

"Probably so. But I would like to draw your attention to the location of the house in which the statue was broken by the man in the garden."

Lethrid looked around.

"Because it was an empty house, he knew that no one bothered him in the garden."

"But there's an empty house at the entrance to the street, so why didn't he break it there and bring it here? It's dangerous to walk that far with a bust in your arms."

Lesred said, "I don't know either."

Holmes pointed to the lamp above our heads and said, "Perhaps that is the reason why he can see it here, but not at all over there!"

"Yes, that's true," said the police officer. "I recall that the bust of Dr. Barnicker's was smashed not far from the lamp. Mr. Holmes, what is the matter?"

"Put this on the record. Maybe we'll have another case in connection with it. Lethred, what do you think we should do next?"

"As far as I am concerned, it is easy to first identify the dead man. We have thus begun the investigation to find out what the dead man was doing in Pitt Street last night, and who was in Mr. Harker's house." I saw him killing the dead on the doorstep, do you think it's okay?"

"Okay, that's it. But it doesn't quite fit with my approach to the case."

"How are you going to do it?"

"You must not be influenced by me. I think we should do our own things first, and then exchange opinions with each other. This may be more beneficial to solve the case."

Lesred said, "Okay!"

"If you go to Pitt Street and see Mr. Harker, tell him for me that the murderer who went to his house last night has a madness that is extremely hostile to Napoleon. It may be of some value to his report."

Lesred looked at him intently, and said, "That's not what you really think, is it?"

"Isn't it?" said Holmes, smiling. "Perhaps I don't think so at all. But I'm sure it will interest Mr. Harker and the Central News Syndicate reporters. We'll be busy today, Watson. Ray Stride, I hope you will come to see us in Baker Street tonight at six o'clock. I would like to borrow the photograph from the dead man's pocket, and I will give it to you when you come to me. If I am not mistaken, I may ask you Come out with us late at night on some errands. See you tonight and good luck!"

Sherlock Holmes walked with me to Highland Street, to Harding Brothers' shop where busts were sold.A young clerk there said that Mr. Harker had just come in this afternoon, and that he himself was a novice and didn't know much about these things.Holmes expressed disappointment and agitation.

He said: "Well, as things have changed, we must change our plan of action. I think that Mr. Harding may not come in the morning, and we will have to come to him in the afternoon. You may have guessed why we The purpose of finding out the origin of the busts is to see if there is anything special in them that would explain why they were broken. But now we go to Mr. Hudson's shop in Connington Street Take a look, maybe it will give us some inspiration."

We immediately called a cab and were in the shop in about an hour.Hudson was short, rosy-cheeked, and strong, but his manner was too impatient.

He said, "Yes, sir. The statue was smashed right there on the platform. Huh! That's so annoying! A robber can do whatever he wants, so what's the point of our taxes?" Yes, sir, I sold Dr. Barnico's two statues to him. I think this kind of thing is definitely done by those anarchists, and only those people want to smash statues here and there. Those things come from Where you got it doesn't seem to have anything to do with that, does it? But if you really want to know, it's safe to tell you, it's from a company called Geldel on Church Street in Stepany. Nearly 20 years , this company has always been very famous in the plaster sculpture industry. I bought a total of three of this Napoleon statue. The first time I bought two, the second time I only bought one. Two of them were sold to Dr. Barnico, and the other One was broken up in broad daylight. I don't really know the man in the photo you showed me, but I can count him as acquainted. This is Bebo, an Italian, who does odd jobs He used to work here too. He does a lot of odd jobs like sculpture, gilding, framing, etc. This guy left here last week.

(End of this chapter)