Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 127 Uncanny Valley (5)
"Then when he was in California, was there anything special about his living habits?"

"He doesn't want to come into contact with strangers, but often goes to quiet places. This is understandable. When a person is threatened, he must be reluctant to come into contact with strangers. He gave up his prosperous career and came here. , it must be because of this. Within a few days after he left, several people came to me to inquire about his whereabouts."

"Then who were the people who asked you about Douglas?"

"Their expressions were cold and hostile. I only told them that he had gone to Europe. I don't know where."

"Are they native Californians?"

"I don't know about these, but I can guarantee that they are some Americans, and I particularly dislike them. So I don't want to stay there anymore."

"How many years has this been going on?"

"About nearly seven years."

"In this way, you have stayed there for five years, so it should be 11 years now?"

"Yes."

"Then this is definitely not some personal grievance, it must be a blood hatred, which makes him still miss it after so many years."

"It's really unlucky for anyone to encounter such a thing."

"Things are still quite strange. He knows that he is facing a huge disaster, and this kind of disaster may happen at any time, so why doesn't he ask the police for help?"

"There are dangers that can't be solved by calling the police, and the police can't protect him all the time, so he can only rely on himself. He always carries a pistol with him. When the suspension bridge was lifted yesterday, he relaxed. Be vigilant, but at this moment, he is attacked."

"Let me ask you another question. You are here in the second year of Douglas's arrival. Hasn't Douglas been here for almost six years?"

"Yes, that's right."

"It's been five years since I got married for the second time. When you came, it must be the year he got married, right?"

"Yes, the year I came, and I was his best man."

"Did you know his wife before he was married?"

"I've been away from here for a long time, so I didn't know her before."

"So after you met, did you come and go frequently?"

Buck thought for a while and said:

"Yes, I have seen her more often, but I ask you not to misunderstand me. I often hang out with my friends, and it is inevitable that I will meet his wife. There is no relationship between us..."

"Mr. Barker, please don't make wild guesses. I just ask you some information."

Buck said angrily: "Don't you know that this is disrespect to me?"

"Please believe me, we have no other purpose but to clarify the case, and I would like to ask you, what does Mr. Douglas think of you and his wife's frequent contacts?"

Buck's complexion changed, and he opened his eyes wide and said angrily, "You guys are deceiving people too much."

"Is this also related to the case?"

"But I must ask, will you answer me?"

"I don't have to answer your questions."

"You have already given us a good answer in this way, so there is no need to answer. There is no ghost in your heart, why do you want to escape?"

When Mr. Buck heard this sentence, he seemed to regret it. He stood there in a daze for a long time, and then he forced a smile and said:

"Of course, you're the police, and I'll have to ask and answer. The reason I'm doing this is that I don't want Mrs. Douglas to worry about other trivial things. She's suffering enough by now. I'll just tell the truth." Well, it's that Douglas is very jealous. We get on very well, like brothers, and he is very devoted to his wife. He is very happy to have me here, and I am often invited, but sometimes it is very awkward. Happy, that's when I was close to his wife. I was planning to never come here again, but after this unpleasant incident passed, he apologized to me and told me to come again. He said that if I don't Come, it means that I did not forgive him, so I have to come. But please believe that I have nothing to do with his wife, and his wife is very sincere to him.

Mr. Barker spoke very excitedly, and Macdonald didn't relax in the slightest, and continued to ask questions:
"Did you know that the wedding ring was taken from Douglas' finger?"

"Yes, it seems that there is no more."

"Is that not certain? Why do you answer in such a tone?"

"Perhaps Douglas took it off himself, I think," said Mr. Barker, after a moment's hesitation.

"But it happened exactly when the case happened, you know? What does it mean? The wedding ring is about the relationship between Douglas and his wife."

Mr Buck said firmly:

"I don't want to say anything now. I just want to advise you. If you think about whether there is a problem with their relationship, it is a waste of effort." His face blushed a little.

Macdonald said dryly:

"Okay, I don't want to ask you any more now."

Holmes suddenly asked:
"I have one more thing to ask you. When you came in after the murder, did you see that candle burning on the table?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you saw what happened when you came in, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"So you rang the bell?"

"Yes."

"How long has it been since they came?"

"Dozens of seconds, less than a minute anyway."

"Then why did they light the oil lamps and blow out the candles when they came?"

Buck said: "It is also worthy of your doubts? There is a lamp on the table, and I lit it casually, so that the house will be brighter."

"Did you blow out the candles?"

"Yes."

Holmes stopped asking questions, and Mr. Barker somewhat recovered his usual calm, greeted him and left.Obviously, he was a little angry at the question just now.

Asked Mrs. Douglas that we were going to meet her in the bedroom, but she said no, in the dining room.We all sat there waiting for her.

After a while, she arrived, just like I thought, a beautiful woman with a very slender figure.Her face was not very good-looking, a little sad, but very composed, which we all thought was odd.

She looked at each of us with those slightly suspicious eyes, looking very natural and relaxed.The move came as a surprise.Then she asked, "What did you find?"

She seemed to be hiding a secret in her heart.

"Mrs. Douglas, please don't worry, we will investigate the case as soon as possible, but we have to ask you a few questions."

"Very well, you don't have to think about the cost, I will bear it, as long as I can get the whole thing out." She said frankly, her expression was very indifferent.

"Can you offer us something of value?"

"If I can, I'll try my best."

"Well, you didn't go in to see your husband, did you? Is that so?"

"Yes, when I went downstairs, Buck stopped me and begged me not to go down, so I obeyed him. Later, Mrs. Allen accompanied me upstairs."

"Did you go down when you heard the gunfire?"

"Yes, I put on my pajamas and ran down."

"How long was it between the time you heard the gun and Buck stopped you when you went downstairs?"

"About two minutes! I was too anxious at the time, and maybe I couldn't make an accurate judgment. Buck told me to go back upstairs in order not to scare me, so I went back with Mrs. Allen."

"How long did it take from when Douglas came down the stairs to when the gunshots sounded?"

"I can't tell. I don't know when he went down, because he went down from the locker room. He always checks before going to bed at night. He is afraid of causing a fire."

"Well, where did you and Douglas meet?"

"In England we've been married for five years."

"Did he tell you about his past? For example, in America, what troubled you?"

She paused, as if recalling everything before, and said: "Since we got married, our relationship has been very good. Indeed, for a while, I saw him restless, as if something was going to happen, But he never told me the bad news. He was afraid that I would worry, and he would rather bear it himself than let me share a little pain for him, so I stopped asking him.”

"How do you know this?"

Mrs. Douglas squeezed a smile and said:

"We love each other deeply. Is there any secret that we can hide from each other? Although I can perceive some things about him, sometimes he deliberately avoids me. He often changes the subject and talks about life in America. For some unknown He is always very cautious about his status, but it is inevitable that he will not reveal a little bit. I can clearly feel that he has enemies, and the enemies are relatively powerful. This devil has been staring at him all the time, and he knows all of this in his heart. He was very careful, and I was very worried about his safety. He came back late that day, so I thought something was going to happen."

"What of his remarks, Mrs. Douglas, caught your attention?" asked Holmes.

"Whenever I ask him, he talks about the 'uncanny valley' and he says he can't escape the disaster because he's already in it. I ask if we can never escape the 'uncanny valley' Gu'? He always showed a helpless expression."

"Did you ask him what the 'uncanny valley' really meant?"

"I've asked him that question too, but he always said, 'I don't want it to threaten us both, I'm willing to take it all on my own and I hope you're okay.' So I stopped asking. .I think he may have offended someone in a valley, and he can't forget it. That's all."

"Didn't he mention their names to you?"

"As mentioned, it was his feverish nonsense. All he could say was a man named McGinty, whom I had never heard of. When he was better, I asked him Whoever Ginty was, he put me off and said, 'He's out of my business.' Nothing else. I got the feeling that McGinty must have some kind of connection to Uncanny Valley."

Macdonald said: "It is said that you and Douglas met in England and agreed to each other. I would venture to ask, have you been in a relationship? Is there anything worthy of your attention?"

"We've been in love for a long time, and there's nothing that deserves my attention."

"Has Mr. Douglas a rival?"

"Absolutely not, because I never had a boyfriend."

"How do you explain the disappearance of the wedding ring when Mr. Douglas was killed?"

At this time, Mrs. Douglas showed a secret smile on her mouth.

"It's really weird, it's really incomprehensible," she said.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Now we don't have any questions to ask. When necessary, we may come to disturb you again. I hope you don't mind."

When Macdonald had finished speaking, she stood up and gave each of us a tentative look.

Then, she bowed to us and walked away slowly holding her long skirt.

Officer MacDonald looked after her and said: "She is so beautiful. Doesn't Mr. Barker have any other meaning to frequent here? The missing ring must be brought to our attention. Mr. Holmes, you Do you have any opinions to express?"

Holmes ignored what he said, then got up and rang the bell.

Ames ran over immediately.

"Where is Buck now?" asked Holmes.

He said, "Let me go out and have a look."

After a while, Emers came back and said, "He is in the garden now."

"Ames, do you remember what kind of shoes Buck wore when he was with you last night?"

"He was wearing a pair of slippers first, then he said he was going to call the police and I handed him a pair of boots."

"Ames, where are those slippers he was wearing?"

"Under the chairs in the lobby."

"The purpose of my asking these is to find out which footprints belong to the murderer and which footprints belong to the manor."

"You are so careful, those slippers are stained with blood like my shoes."

"These are inevitable. Thank you, Ames, you can go back. When we need you, we will ring the bell to call you."

In a moment we entered the hall, and Holmes took out the shoes and looked at them. They were felt slippers, with bloodstains on both soles.

Mr. Holmes took the slipper to the window sill and compared it with the bloodstain on the window sill, and said in amazement: "It's wonderful!"

He quickly put the slippers close to the bloodstain on the window sill, and a wonderful thing happened. It turned out that the bloodstain on the window sill matched the slippers perfectly. Holmes smiled with satisfaction.

Macdonald was in a daze, and said in dialect: "My dear Mr. Holmes, does this match?"

"This is definitely not a boot print. It was printed on purpose. What is it for? It is simply too bizarre."

"Why?" Holmes seemed to be talking to himself.

White Mason said triumphantly: "Well, this case is bizarre." Bringing the dead back to life

With many details still to be worked out by these three capable detectives, I left the estate alone.

I came to the garden, which is a very beautiful place, located on the side of the manor, surrounded by yew trees, trimmed in strange shapes, it looks particularly charming.

I walked in slowly, and a green lawn unfolded in front of my eyes.The scenery in the park is pleasant, and I was completely immersed in the beauty, and I was able to walk out of the shadow of the tragedy.Indeed, the appalling scene made people feel frightened.However, just as I was walking in the garden, immersed in the fragrance of birds and flowers, I suddenly encountered a strange thing. My nerves that had just been relaxed became tense again, which reminded me of the tragedy again.

As I said just now, the garden was dotted with rows of yews.At the farthest end from the manor houses the yews were dense and formed a continuous hedge.

There seemed to be two people behind the hedge. I walked over quietly, and their talking and laughing gradually became clear.When I walked over, I thought I was dreaming. How could these two be Mrs. Douglas and Buck?What amazed me the most was that her grim indifference was gone, and she was smiling so cheerfully now; and Buck sat smiling with his legs crossed.When they found me, their faces immediately changed a lot, and even instantly restored the serious disguise. They seemed a little at a loss as to what to do.

Then Buck paused and said, "Hello, are you Dr. Watson?"

I couldn't hide the grievance in my heart, and said coldly, "Yes, I am."

"People say that Mr. Holmes lives with a good friend of his, so I suppose you are his good friend! Then talk to Mrs. Douglas for a while!"

I hesitated.I really don't want to talk to this dissolute woman, she doesn't care about her husband's death at all, and she laughed so happily just now, it's really strange.

I greeted her casually, without paying too much attention to etiquette, because she was indeed a bit of a nuisance.

She asked, "Do you think I'm a little indifferent to my husband's death?"

I snorted and said, "What does this have to do with me?"

"However, I think you will know later that now you..."

At this moment, Buck suddenly said, "It's fine that Dr. Watson doesn't want to know more. He said it too. It's none of his business."

I said, "Why should I know this? I'm just out for a walk."

Mrs. Douglas said hastily: "Doctor Watson, you can't go. I want to ask you a question, and this question is very necessary. I know you know Mr. Holmes very well. What I ask is, if I secretly tell him a secret, he will Will you tell the police this secret?"

Barker also said: "I also want to ask this question, does Mr. Holmes discuss everything with the police station?"

"Dear Dr. Watson, there is one thing I don't know whether I should say it or not?
"Please do me this favor, only you can help me."

Mrs. Douglas spoke very emotionally, with a pitiful look, I felt sympathy immediately, so I said: "You should rest assured that before the case is clarified, he has never revealed anything to outsiders, including me. He doesn't say anything, he always completes it independently. However, he sometimes provides clues that help solve the case to other investigators for reference. I can only tell you these things. As for the others, I think you should find out by yourself gone."

After speaking, I left them.When I walked away, I looked back at them, and they were still staring at me and talking to each other.

Later, I went back to the hotel by myself, and Mr. Holmes didn't come back until after five o'clock in the afternoon.I quickly asked the waiter to bring him food, so that he could eat a little quickly.

After he finished eating, I told him about it.

He paused and said, "What will they tell me? If they are criminals, I will feel embarrassed when I go to catch them."

"Mr. Holmes, are you sure of that?"

Mr. Holmes said: "Perhaps a little more progress will reveal the truth. At that time, you will know that I am not very sure. Now the most important thing is to find the lost dumbbell."

"What? Dumbbells?" I asked confusedly.

"Do you really find that incomprehensible? Maybe you don't know yet. It's very important to find dumbbells these days. A person who exercises regularly doesn't just take a dumbbell to exercise. If he does, he will develop a deformity. Is it possible? Well, I guess even the two detectives didn't pay attention to these small details, but this small problem is very important."

His face was flushed, and he looked confident. Seeing me so confused made him feel very ridiculous.

Holmes became lively again.

He sat on a small stool near the fire, took out a cigarette and lit it, saying: "As soon as I arrived at the scene of the crime, I felt that someone was trying to deceive me. First, Buck, he tried his best to fabricate the facts. Didn't tell the truth. Mrs. Douglas was deceiving us too. They both tried to keep their words consistent, so it seems that they are conspiring to deceive us. So we should find out why they lie, find out These, we may understand.

"Think about it, after the murderer kills someone, he takes off his wedding ring, and this ring is still under another ring on the same finger. If you want to take that wedding ring, you have to take this one off first. Put the ring on him later. Can such a cumbersome action be completed in tens of seconds? Isn’t it they who are lying? The other is the card, can the murderer be so calm in the short tens of seconds? Another possibility is that the ring was taken off before the shot was fired. Judging from the burning of the candle, the time they met was very short. Besides, the murderer threatened him to take off the ring. It will not be handed over easily.

(End of this chapter)