Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 11 The Tracking of Blood Letters (10)
"It was a stormy night, the wind was blowing, the rain was pouring, the weather was terrible, but my mood was not affected by the bad weather, I really wanted to shout to the sky A few times. Gentlemen, you can stand in my position and think about my mood at that time. I lit a cigarette to try to stabilize my emotions. I was so excited that my hands were shaking and my temples were throbbing violently I was driving the carriage, and suddenly Ferrier and Lucy appeared in front of me. They walked towards me with smiles, and accompanied me all the way to the house in Brixton.

"It was very quiet, and the only thing I could hear was the patter of rain. I looked in through the car window and saw that Draper was fast asleep. I pushed him and said, 'Sir, it's time to get out of the car. '

"He responded in a daze.

"He must have thought he was at the hotel, so he came down and followed me. I had to hold him up so he wouldn't fall. When I got to the door, I opened the door and helped him into the room, when I seemed to see Ferrier and Lucy followed me in.

"He touched his sleepy eyes and said, 'It's too dark.'

"I struck a match and lit the candle I had prepared. 'It's not dark anymore!' I held the candle up to his face and said, 'Draper, remember who I am?'

"He stared at me with wide eyes, and almost didn't cry out. It seems that he has recognized me. His face was as white as paper, and he took a few steps back, sweat dripping down his cheeks. I couldn't help it Laughing, revenge is really a refreshing thing.

"You bastard! I've been chasing you so hard! I've been chasing you all the way from Salt Lake City, and now your end is coming! One of us will probably not see the sun tomorrow.

"He took a few steps back, and his facial expression told me he thought I was crazy. Indeed, every vein in my body was about to burst, if it wasn't for the relief from the blood that was pouring from my nose. I think my illness may have flared up then.

"'Where is Lucy Ferrier now?' I locked the door and dangled the key in front of him as I yelled at him. 'I can't let you escape today.' He seemed about to say something, but He clearly realized that it was useless to say anything.

"'Are you trying to murder me?' he stammered.

"I laughed, 'Is killing you murder? When you beat Ferrier to death and took Lucy away and carried her all the way to your filthy shabby house, did you still have a trace of it? What about humanity?" he argued: "His father was killed by Stangerson."

"'But you killed Lucy's pure heart!' I said, and I put the box in front of him. 'Now let God judge justly, now you must choose one, and the rest That grain is mine. I wonder if there is still justice in this world. So to speak, the two of us are now choosing between life and death.'

"He hugged his head and shouted for mercy. I put a bright bayonet on his neck, forcing him to choose. He had to close his eyes and swallow the one he carefully selected, and I ate the rest. We The two stood face to face, waiting for God's verdict. After a while he showed a painful expression, and we all understood the verdict. I still remember his painful look. I held Lucy's wedding ring on his In front of him. After a while, he couldn't move anymore. Due to the excessive toxicity, his facial features were deformed in the end. When he was dying, there was only a scream. I turned him over, touched his chest, his heart Has stopped beating.

"At this moment, my nose started to bleed, but I didn't care at all. I suddenly remembered that there was a news in the newspaper, saying that a German was murdered, and 'RACHEL' was written on his body. I also commented on this matter. I thought about it, and wrote this word on the wall with the blood from my nose. After I went out, I returned to my carriage, and there was still no one around, and the rain was still pattering Lili was on the ground. I drove the carriage for a while, and suddenly remembered the ring. I touched my pocket, but found that the ring was gone. Immediately, I felt very anxious, because it was the only thing left by Lucy. I think it was dropped while examining the body. I'd rather sacrifice everything to get back the lost ring.

"As soon as I went back, I ran into two cops and got away by pretending to be a drunk. That's all I did to Draper. I'm going to have Stangerson and Draper The same fate, because I already knew that he was staying at the Holliday Hotel. I have been wandering around this hotel since then, but I have never seen him. I think he must know the seriousness of the matter. Stangerson has been doing business all the time. He may have thought that his life would be safe as long as he didn't go out, but I soon found out which room he lived in. The next day, at dawn, I climbed up the ladder and climbed into his room. I went in When he was still asleep, I woke him up and told him about Draper's death. I asked him to choose a pill in the same way. He didn't choose, but fell silent for a moment, and then rushed towards me. I Thinking, anyway, he already knew his sin, and any death is death, so I stabbed his heart with a knife. I was about to die, and I wanted to say everything. After a few days, I thought Save up some money and go back to America. Today I was driving a car on the street, and a street kid came up and asked me if I was Jefferson Hope's coachman. I said yes, and he said, there is a gentleman at 221 Baker Street To hire my car. I followed without thinking, and it turned out that this young lad handcuffed my hands.

"That's the whole process. You may think I'm a murderer, but I think I'm a judge who enforces the law."

Hou Po's speech is thrilling, and it is almost immersive.We all sat there in silence, listening to him tell all this.The silence was broken only by the rubbing of the pen tip against the paper as Lethred took his confession.

"I would like to ask you another question. Who is the man who claimed the ring?" Holmes asked.Hope smiled mischievously at Holmes and said, "I can only talk about myself, and I don't want to talk about other people's things. But after seeing the advertisement, I thought it was a trap, but I still hugged a little bit." hope. My friend said he would come for me, do you think he did a good job?"

"Yes, I admire him very much," replied Holmes truthfully.

Then the police officer said sternly: "Gentlemen, we will bring the criminal to court this Thursday. I hope you will show up on time." Taken away, my partner and I also returned to our residence.death of an avenging angel

We are all set to testify in court on Thursday.However, when the day of the trial came, we were no longer needed.As Jefferson Hope's case was accepted by a higher judge, he was taken to another court, where he received a fairer trial.It turned out that on the night of his arrest, he had an attack of illness.He was found peacefully dead on the prison floor the next morning, with a small smile on his face, as if pleased with a job well done.

We talked about it again the next night. "Gladson and Lethreid would be very angry if they found out that Hope was dead. They would lose their bragging rights." Holmes explain.

"They've done nothing about the case!" I replied.

"In people's eyes, what matters is not what you do, but what you can make others believe you have done. But it doesn't matter, no matter what, I will not let this case go, because it is what I saw The most wonderful case ever. Although it is simple, there are a few points in it that are worthy of our warning."

I asked in amazement, "Is it simple?"

"Yes, it can only be described as simple." Seeing my puzzled look, Holmes smiled and said, "I have brought the criminal to justice with ordinary reasoning without any setbacks. You said it is not simple." ?"

"That's true," I said.

"I remember I told you before that to solve a particular problem, sometimes only one clue is enough. The most important thing is to reason rigorously, and learn to reason back and forth layer by layer. It is very important when it is critical. However, people Often this skill is not used very well, always forgetting to use retrospective reasoning to solve everyday problems. If fifty people use synthetic reasoning, there may be only a few who use analytical reasoning."

"Honestly, I can't understand what you're saying," I said.

"I don't hope you can understand much, but let me try to explain to you. Most people have this ability. If you tell him the facts, he can guess the result. Because As long as the facts are put together, it is not difficult to draw conclusions through analysis and reasoning through the human brain. However, there are also a few people, as long as you tell him the result, he can use association analysis to connect every step of the result. Tell you, this is the method of 'backward reasoning'."

I suddenly woke up.

"The case of Hou Po is an excellent example. We only know the result, and we need to reason each step by ourselves. Let me tell you the reasoning steps of this case. You know, when I first arrived at the scene, I did not Without first going into the old house, I examined the street in detail. I saw a carriage mark, and was sure it had been made during the night. And because the distance between the marks is very narrow, and in London The carriages rented by the city have narrower wheels than the carriages for private use, so I judged that it was a rented carriage.

"This is the first step. Next, I walked to the garden, because the garden path is a clay road, which is easy to leave footprints. In the eyes of others, it is just a dirt road that people trample on, but I did not let it go Any trace. In detective science, the art of footprints is more important, but it is also a clue that is easily overlooked. Many times of practice have taught me that I must pay attention to it. Before these messy boot prints, I can distinguish I got the boot prints of the policeman and the footprints of the first two people. In this way, I basically mastered the second link, that is to say, there were two people who came at night. From their steps, one of them was very tall. And the other is smartly dressed, as can be seen from the exquisite shoes he wears.

"Later, when I walked into the house, the man in the fine boots was already lying on the ground, so the tall man was the murderer. From the analysis of the deceased, he was not injured at all, but his expression showed that he had been in a state of illness before his death. A state of horror, and all sick and dead people don't have this expression. I smelled his lips and there was a sour taste, so I deduced that he died of poison. His facial expression showed that he was forced to die Yes. By eliminating all unreasonable assumptions, you can draw correct conclusions. This method is quite effective in detective science.

"Judging from the things on the deceased, this is not a robbery, because the valuables are not missing at all. Then it can only be a case or a love murder case. But I think it must be a love murder case, because if it is a political case, the murderer kills I will definitely leave the scene immediately. But he didn't, and he still walked around the house for a long time. It can be concluded that it is a vendetta. When I found the word 'Lache' on the wall, I was even more convinced. I know that the murderer did it deliberately to divert the attention of the police. When the ring was found, the result became clearer. The murderer might want to use the ring to remind the victim of something. About this Question, I once asked Gregson whether he had investigated anything special before Draper when he sent the telegram, and Gregson said at the time that he hadn't asked.

"Later, I checked the room again and confirmed again that the murderer was the tall man. At the same time, I also found traces of soot and marks left by the murderer's fingers on the wall. Because there was no sign of a struggle in the house, So I concluded that it was the murderer's nosebleed, and judging from the amount of blood, the murderer must have plenty of blood, otherwise there would not be so much blood. So I speculated that the murderer was a strong, red-faced man. Later, This has also been confirmed.

"After leaving the scene of the crime, I cabled the Cleveland Police Department and asked about Draper's marriage. The answer was clear. Draper had previously accused Jefferson Hope, a former rival, and asked the police to Come forward to protect him. By this time, I have basically grasped the ins and outs of this case, and the next thing is to see how to catch the murderer.

"I'm sure: the driver must have entered the house with Draper, and no one else.

"I observed the horses in the street where they were parked, and found that the horses had wandered about at will for a long time, which proved that the coachman must have left the carriage. Where would the coachman be if he was not in the house? If it was a man of good nerves, wouldn't he?" Will openly carry out sophisticated crimes in the presence of third parties. The best way to follow someone is the coachman, and this fact made it clear to me that I must go to the cab driver in the city to find Jefferson Hope.

"The murderer is a coachman, and he will not quit suddenly, or people will suspect him. He will not leave immediately, and it is impossible to change his name, because no one will know him in a strange place. Real name. So I organized the waifs and asked them to go to each carriage factory to inquire about the situation. As a result, this small team was quite efficient. Stangerson's death was indeed beyond my expectations, but anything can have accidents Appeared, fortunately I found those two pills, and I guessed that Draper died of poison. You see, the whole case went like this."

"It's great, you should publish your deduction to the public, so that people can experience your magical detective skills. If you are busy, I will publish it for you." I said so much excitedly.

"Do you think it's necessary? Read the newspaper first," said Holmes, holding out a newspaper.

I took the newspaper and looked at it. It was the "Echo".

The content of the report is:
Hou Po's sudden death deprived people of much talk about the case.Hope was a suspect in the killings of Draper and Stangerson.According to insiders, this is a long-planned peachy case.As for the insider details of this case, it has been decided not to announce it after research.The investigation showed that the two victims were Mormons, while Hope was not, but also from Salt Lake City.This case itself is no different from ordinary homicide cases, but it can still demonstrate the speed of the police detectives in solving the case, and warn some foreign immigrants: it is better for those responsible for foreign crimes to solve the criminal case in their own country, and it is best not to sneak into England.The detection of this case is attributed to the two detectives, Gleeson and Lesred, who are well-known for their ability, alertness, and outstanding criminal investigation ability.It is understood that the murderer was captured at Holmes' home. Holmes is a private detective with a solid foundation in detective skills and was deeply taught by the two detectives.These two heroes, Grayson and Lethred, will receive considerable awards in recognition of their exploits.

"Haven't I told you? My study of the scarlet letter will certainly do them credit," said Holmes, laughing.

"However, it doesn't matter. I will tell the world what I saw and heard. Now that the case is over, you should be content." I said firmly.

(End of this chapter)