Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 26 Adventure History (4)
"I was just insane - mentally ill."

"This has caused you serious harm."

"At that time, I was too young, just a crown prince, and now I am only 30 years old."

"In that case, the photo must be taken back."

"I tried, but it didn't work."

"You can buy it for a lot of money."

"She will never sell."

"That can only be stolen."

"I've tried five times. Twice I sent two thieves to search her house, once when she was traveling and took the opportunity to change her luggage, and I stopped her twice on the road. But nothing was found."

"The picture is gone?"

"Yes, not at all."

"It is but a trifle," said Holmes, laughing.

The king was a little angry and said, "But this is very important to me."

"Okay, very important. So what the hell is she trying to do with this picture?"

"Destroy me."

"How to destroy you?"

"I'm getting married soon."

"I understand."

"I am about to marry Clotilde Rodman von Zaxmeningen, the second princess of the King of Scandinavia. You should have heard that their family rules are very strict, and she is A very sensitive and careful woman, if she had any doubts about my behavior, the marriage would definitely fail."

"What did Irene Adler do?"

"She threatened me and said she was going to send them pictures. She always said what she said, so she would definitely do that. You don't know her, this woman has a strong personality, not only has a flawless appearance, but also has a manly personality Strong heart, if I were married to another woman, she would do anything."

"Are you sure she still has the photograph?"

"Of course I am."

"The reason?"

"Because she said she was going to send the picture next Monday, the day the engagement was announced."

"Hurry up, there are still three days before now." Holmes yawned unhurriedly. Stay in London."

"Very well, you can find me at the Langham Hotel. My name is Count Von Kramm."

"I will write to you about our investigation."

"That's great, I want to know everything as soon as possible."

"So, how do you deal with money problems?"

"Everything is up to you."

"Without conditions?"

"I'll tell you the truth, I could even offer you a province in my territory as payment for your photo."

"What about the current cost?"

The King took from under his cloak a heavy antelope bag, and laid it on the table.

"Here are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred notes," said the king.

Holmes quickly wrote a receipt in his notebook, tore it out, and handed it to him.

"Give me the lady's address, please?" he said.

"St. John's Wood, Semponty Street, Brioni House."

After taking down the address, Holmes said, "One more question. Is the photograph six inches?"

"Correct."

"Well, good-bye, Your Majesty, I believe that good luck will come soon." Then he said to me: "Good-bye, Watson. I would like to ask you to come back at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon to discuss something with you." At this time, the royal carriage has gone a long way.

At exactly three o'clock the next afternoon, I arrived at Baker Street on time.Holmes had not yet returned, and the landlady told me that he had gone out after eight o'clock in the morning.Nevertheless, I sat patiently by the fire and waited for his return.I am very interested in this matter. Although this case is not as horrible and bloody as the two cases I have recorded, the prominent status of the client and the nature of the case itself are full of unique colors.In addition, Holmes' keen observation and careful reasoning ability, as well as the quick and precise method of solving problems, are all worthy of my study, and I have gained endless fun from it.He always succeeds, I'm used to it.Therefore, it never occurred to me that one day he might fail.

About four o'clock the door opened, and a drunken coachman entered the room.His face was flushed, he was covered with beards, and his body was even more tattered.Although I have long been used to Holmes' superb disguise skills, facing such a person, I still had to distinguish him carefully before I recognized him.He nodded to me and entered the bedroom, and within 5 minutes he came out wearing tweed clothes as usual and looking handsome.With his hands in his pockets and his legs stretched out, he sat comfortably in front of the fireplace and laughed.

"Oh, is that true?" he said, choking suddenly, and then laughed again, and kept laughing until he got bored before falling back on the chair.

"what on earth is it?"

"It was really interesting, and I'm sure you have no idea what I did this morning, or how it turned out."

"I don't know, but I suppose you were watching Ms. Irene Adler's habits, or that you were taking a good look at her house."

"Very correct, but the result is very special. I am happy to tell you what happened. At a little past eight o'clock this morning, I pretended to be an unemployed coachman and went out to inquire about the situation. If you were a coachman, you would easily know this Everything. Soon, I found the Brioni Mansion. It was a chic little villa with two floors and a beautiful garden behind it. The gate of the villa was facing the road, with a Chapel lock on the door On the right is the spacious and bright drawing-room, richly furnished, with long windows reaching almost to the floor, and the latches which a child could undo. The passage windows are accessible from the top of the coach-house, and nothing else. Other special features. I looked around the villa carefully and found nothing of interest.

"Then I went straight up the street, and in the alley near the garden wall, I found, as expected, a row of stables. I helped the grooms groom the horses, and they gave me twopence and a glass of mixed wine , two pipes of tobacco, and told me a great deal about Ms. Adler. Besides her, they told me many anecdotes about half a dozen other people. Since I was not interested, I didn't listen to them very well. , but had to listen."

"How is Irene Adler?" I asked him.

"Ah, it is said that her beauty fascinates all the men in the area, and she claims to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Anyone in the stables on Sepunenty Street will say so. She often sings in concerts and lives a very peaceful life. She goes out at five o'clock in the morning and comes back for dinner at seven o'clock in the evening. Except for performances, she rarely goes out. She only associates with one man, and she has a very close relationship. He is handsome, strong, average Sees her at least once a day, usually twice. That's Mr. Godfrey Norton, who lives in Temple. Do you know the advantage of being a confidant coachman? The coachmen used to drive for him and take him home, you know. After hearing what they had to say about him, I lingered again at the Brioni mansion, considering what to do next.

"Godfrey Norton is the key. He's a lawyer, and that's against us. What's the relationship between them? Why do you visit her so often? Is she his client or a friend or mistress? If it's a client, then The photographs were given to him; if it was the mistress, they would not have been given to him. With these matters settled, I shall be able to decide whether to proceed with the investigation of the Brioni House, or the gentleman's residence at Temple. .I must take this very carefully, and slowly expand the scope of my investigation. Perhaps these details will tire you, but if you want to understand the matter, I must tell you about the difficulties I encountered."

I said, "I'm listening intently."

"While I was thinking carefully, I suddenly saw a carriage approaching the gate of the Brioni mansion, and a gentleman got out of the carriage, a very handsome man. He was dark-skinned and had a hooked nose. , with a mustache, looks like the man I heard. He seemed to be in a hurry, told the coachman to wait for him outside the door loudly, and then hurried past the maid who opened the door for him, without any restraint .

"He stayed in the house for about half an hour. Through the window of the living room, I vaguely saw him walking back and forth in the house, waving his arms excitedly and talking about something. However, I didn't see the woman After a while, he came out, looking more anxious than before. As he got into the carriage, he looked at the gold watch on his wrist, and shouted eagerly: "Hurry up, to the Gross Hankey Hotel in Regent Street at once." , and then to St. Monica's Church on Edgefull Road. I'll pay you half a guinea if you'll be there in 10 minutes.' They said and disappeared, and I was hesitating to give chase Suddenly, a fine four-wheeled carriage came out from the alley. The driver's coat button was only half buttoned, his tie was on one side, and all the metal hoops of the horse's harness protruded from the buckle. After the car came to a stop, a woman ran out of the house and got into the car. I caught a glimpse of her in an instant, and she was indeed a beauty, the kind of beauty that could make any man bow down under her pomegranate skirt.

"She called out to the coachman: 'John, go to Santa Monica Church, and I'll give you half a guinea if you get there in twenty minutes.'

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Watson. I was debating whether I should overtake them or just climb behind the cart when I passed a cab. The driver was hesitant about the meager fare, but I was He jumped into the car before he said quit. 'Santa Monica Church,' I said, 'if you arrive in twenty minutes or less, I'll give you half a guinea.' It was eleven thirty-five. , what will happen next is self-evident.

"I've never been in a carriage so fast. The coachman was going so fast. Even so, the two carriages reached the church before I did. Panting. After paying the fare, I hurried into the church. There were only three people inside, except for the pastor wearing a white cassock, the other two were the people I just chased. The pastor seemed to be persuading them, and the three stood around In front of the altar. I, like a tramp who occasionally wanders into the church, walked along the passage as if nothing had happened. The three standing people suddenly turned their heads and looked at me. Their actions startled me. Godfrey hurried over.

"'Thank God!' he cried, 'you are very kind, come on! Come on!'

"'What the hell is going on here?' I asked in bewilderment.

"'Come on, man, it's only three minutes before you're here, or we're not legal.'

"He dragged me up to the altar. Before I knew where I was standing, I found myself responding instinctively to the words that were whispering in my ears, and for something I didn't understand at all. The matter was testified. In short, it was to help the unmarried woman Irene Adler to marry the single man Godfrey Norton. The matter was completed almost instantly, and then the man and the woman thanked me separately, The pastor stood there smiling at me. The scene confused me. I have never encountered such absurdity. So I couldn't help laughing just now. They are going to get married, but it is not very legal If there is no witness, the pastor will not witness the marriage for them. Fortunately, I appeared in time to relieve them, so that the bridegroom would not run to the street to find a witness. The bride was very happy and gave me a pound of gold. It's on a fob as a memento."

"It was so unexpected," I said, "and what happened?"

"Alas, I feel that there is a change of plan, that they may leave the place at once, and that urgent measures must be taken. They parted at the church gate, the man returned to Temple by car, and the woman to her lodgings. Parting She said to him: 'I'm the same as before, going to the park at five o'clock.' That's all I heard. After they left, I left there too and started thinking of other ways."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Some stewed beef and a glass of beer," he said after pressing the bell. "I'm so busy that I don't even have time for dinner. Tonight may be even busier. By the way, doctor, you have to help me tonight."

"My pleasure."

"Aren't you worried about breaking the law?"

"no way."

"Aren't you worried about being arrested?"

"For a noble purpose, I will not be afraid."

"Yes, that's a noble goal."

"Besides, I am your most capable helper."

"I used to think so."

"What are you going to do next?"

"I'll tell you as soon as the landlady's meal comes, but now," he said, staring hungrily at the food delivered by the landlady, "I have to eat and talk, because there's not much time left, and it's almost five It's noon, and we must be at the place of action by seven o'clock. Ms. Irene, oh, it's madam, we're going back at seven o'clock, and we must meet her at the Brioni mansion."

"what's next?"

"I'll handle the next thing. I've already arranged how to deal with what will happen. Now I just remind you to remember this. No matter what happens, don't interfere. Do you understand?"

"You mean I don't have to worry about anything?"

"Don't worry about anything, there may be some small unpleasant things happen, but you must not interfere. Because after I am sent into the house, the unpleasantness will disappear, and it is estimated that after four or five minutes, someone will put the The bedroom window is open and you have to wait near the window."

"Ok."

"You have to keep an eye on me, I'm sure you can see me."

"Ok."

"As soon as I raise my hand - like this - you've got to throw whatever you're supposed to throw in the house and yell 'fire'. Do you know what I mean?"

"understood."

"Nothing else matters," so he took out a long, cigar-like roll from his pocket. "This is a plumber's pyrotechnic tube, with caps at both ends, and it burns itself. Your only The thing to do is take care of this thing. A lot of people will come to put out the fire when you are yelling for fire. At this time, you run to the other side of the street. I will find you on the corner in 10 minutes, I hope you understand I mean."

"When I got to the location, I kept my hands off, leaned against the window, stared at you, threw the pyrotechnic tube into the house as soon as I saw you raise your hand, then yelled it was on fire, and then went to the corner of the street to wait for you. "

"Great, that's it."

"Then you can rest assured and wait for my performance."

"Great, I think it's time for me to prepare for my new role."

Holmes entered the bedroom, and a few minutes later he emerged, an affable middle-aged clergyman, wearing a broad black hat, baggy trousers, and white tie, with a most sympathetic look. Few can match that smile and that amiable demeanor.At this time, Holmes not only changed his clothes, but also changed his expression, manner and even his soul.When he was a detective, the stage lost a famous actor, and the scientific world lost a reasoner.

We left Baker Street at a quarter past six and arrived at Sabonty Street ten minutes earlier.It was getting dark, and we walked up and down outside Brioni House for a while.The lights were turned on as soon as the owner returned, and the house was exactly as I had imagined it to be, though that was only according to Holmes' description.The only difference is that its surroundings are not as quiet as I thought. On the contrary, it is very lively, which is quite different from other quiet neighborhoods nearby.A group of ragged, smoking and chatting people gathered around the corner, a man was sharpening his scissors with a pedal wheel, and two guards were flirting with the nurse.A few others were well dressed, with cigars in their mouths, and looked like they were not doing business.

While the two of us were walking back and forth outside the house, Holmes said to me: "See, once they got married, things became simpler. That photograph became a weapon that threatened both parties. The king was afraid that the princess would see it, and the prince Dele is also afraid of being seen by Godfrey Norton. The most important thing for us now is where to find the photos.

"Yeah, where are we going to find it?"

"She can't carry it with her. The six-inch photo is too big to fit in a woman's clothes. Besides, the king has sent someone to stop her twice. She should be prepared, so I'm sure she won't carry it with her." on."

"In that case, where will the photos be hidden?"

"There are two situations, in the hands of her bank or lawyer. But I feel that these are not realistic. Women are born to like to keep secrets. They always have their own unique ways of hiding. She has a strong personality and is very good at controlling herself. sure, so she may not easily hand over the photos to others for safekeeping. As for the indirect impact or political consequences this matter will have on a career person, she may not be clear. And don’t forget, she still has to use The picture, therefore, must be in her house, and it will be within easy reach of her.

"But the house has been burglarized twice."

"Hmph! Those people don't know what to do!"

"Then how do you find it?"

"I don't have to look for it at all."

"Then what should we do?"

"I'll let her pull out the picture herself."

"She won't do that."

(End of this chapter)