Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 29 Adventure History (7)
"Okay, hats on, let's go. We can stop by for lunch as we pass through the city. The program is mostly German music, which suits my taste. I think German music is deeper than Italian or French music, I just need to think about it.”

We took the Tube to Aldersgate and walked a short distance to Sachs-Coburg Square, where the bizarre incident took place.This is a simple alley, narrow and broken.Four rows of gray and dilapidated two-story brick houses are arranged inside a circle of iron fences.There was also an overgrown lawn with a few dying laurel bushes stuck in it.On the door of a house on the corner of the street was a brown board with three gilt orbs, and on the board was written "Jaberts Wilson" in large white letters.Seeing this signboard, we know that it should be the shop opened by the client.Holmes first stood in front of the house and watched carefully for a long time, then took a turn in the street, and then came back to the corner, his eyes shining brightly.Finally, he came to the pawn shop, knocked hard on the crosswalk with his cane, raised his hand and knocked on the door of the pawn shop again.The door was opened for him by a young man, a clean-shaven young man who looked very bright and able, and invited Holmes into the room.

But Holmes said, "Excuse me, I would like to ask you something. How can I get to the Strand from here?"

The man replied immediately: "Turn left at the third intersection, turn left at the fourth intersection." After speaking, he closed the door.

Turning away, Holmes said to me: "A shrewd fellow indeed. I suppose he is the fourth shrewdest man in London. As for boldness, I am not sure that he is the third. I used to Get to know him."

I said, "Obviously this man is a key figure in the Redhead case."

"I think you're not just pretending to ask for directions just to catch a glimpse of him."

"Yes, not at him."

"Then what are you looking at?"

"Of course I want to see it."

"Then why are you knocking on the pavement?"

"We should be watching carefully, not talking, my dear Watson. We are scouting enemy territory, and we need to know the situation in Sachs-Coburg Square. Let's go to the back of the square first."

Turning the corner from the shabby Sachs-Coburg Square, we both saw a very different scene than we had just seen.The bustling avenue and the back alley are two sides of the same painting.This street is the main road leading to the northwest from the urban area, and groups of business people are bustling to block the road.Among them, some were walking in and some were going out, and the crowd trampled the crosswalk to blackness.Looking at the rows of luxurious shops and buildings, I couldn't believe that this bustling avenue was next to the dilapidated square.

Holmes stood round the corner, looked at the houses and said: "Let's take a look, and be sure to remember the order of the houses. I like to know London exactly. There's a Mortieran Tobacco's here, a Newsstand there, Inwards is the Coburg branch of the Suburban Bank, the vegetarian restaurant, the McFarlane Carriage Works, and down to another high street. Well, Watson, we're done with work, let's take a break. First, have a sandwich and a drink. A cup of coffee, and then go to a violin recital. There's only good music there, and there won't be so many problems to bother us."

Holmes was originally a passionate musician. He is not only good at playing, but also a powerful composer.That afternoon, he sat in the auditorium with great excitement, his slender fingers waving back and forth to the beat of the music.Although there was a smile on his face, there was sadness in his eyes, as if he had entered a dreamland.At this time, he was completely different from the clever and quick-witted detective in his usual days.He has two very distinct and extreme personalities at the same time, and often walks back and forth between these two extremes.Sometimes he is energetic, and other times he is vulnerable.When he is serious, he can sit in a chair and meditate for several days, but when he suddenly has a strong desire to hunt, his reasoning becomes intuition, which makes it difficult for those who don't know him to believe him. practice, and treat him as a bombast.That afternoon, when I saw him intoxicated by the music alone, it occurred to me that disaster seemed to be imminent for the man he was determined to hunt.

When he came out of the concert, he said: "Watson, don't you want to go home?"

"It's time to go home."

"I've got a few more hours to do something, what happened in Coburg Square is a big case."

"What big case?"

"Someone is plotting to commit a crime. I must stop them in time. However, because today is Saturday, things may be more troublesome. I hope you can help me tonight."

"What time?"

"Ten o'clock is enough."

"I must be in Baker Street at ten."

"Very well, Watson, but I fear there may be some danger this time. Take the gun you used in the army." He waved to me, turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I was always reluctant to admit that I was stupider than Holmes, but when I was with him, I had to admit that I was too stupid.Just like this incident, I saw what he saw, and I heard what he heard, but only based on the description of the person involved, he already has a general understanding of what happened, and can predict what will happen, I can't feel anything, and I'm still confused.I went over the whole thing again, from the red-haired copying of the Encyclopedia Britannica to the scouting of Saxe-Coburg Square, and then I thought of Holmes' hint at the moment of parting, what were we going to do in the evening?Why are you carrying a gun?Where exactly are you going?From what he said, the boy in the pawn shop must be difficult to deal with, and he may use some tricks.I want to sort out these things, but I just can't get any results, forget it, ignore them, anyway, the truth will be revealed tonight.

At a quarter past nine I left the house and walked across the park and across Oxford Street to Baker Street.Two hansoms were parked in front of Holmes's house, and as I entered the passage I heard voices from upstairs.Entering the room, I saw that Holmes was talking lively with the other two.I knew one of them, Inspector Jones of the Police Department, and the other, a tall, thin man in a bright hat and a heavy, elegant frock coat.

"Well, we are all here," said Holmes, buttoning up his coat as he spoke, and taking down the hunting whip from the rack. "Watson, I think you must know Mr. Jones from Scotland Yard? Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Merriwether, who is also our partner tonight."

Jones said proudly, "Look, Doctor, we're partnering again. This is our hunting expert, and he only needs the help of an old dog to catch prey."

Meriwether said with a sad face, "I hope tonight's action will not fail."

The detective said: "Sir, you have to trust Sherlock Holmes. He has his own unique way of thinking. To put it bluntly, his method is somewhat theoretical, but it does have the qualities of a good detective. For example, in the Sholto murder case and the Accra In the treasure theft case, his deduction is more correct than the official one, I am not exaggerating at all."

Mr. Merriwether said: "I don't object to you saying that, Mr. Jones, but I have to state that I missed my bridge time, and for the first time in 27 years, I didn't play bridge on a Saturday night."

"You will soon find that your stakes to-night will be greater than ever before, and more exciting than the game of cards," said Holmes. "Mr. Merriweather, your stake today is about thirty thousand pounds. To Jones, yours." The bet is who you want to catch."

"John Clay was a murderer, a thief, a fraud, and although he was a young man, he was the head of a crime ring. Mr. Merriwether, I think it is more important to arrest this man than any other criminals. We must highly Be on the lookout. John Clay's grandfather was a duke of the royal family, and he himself was educated at Eton and Newton. He is so quick-witted that although we can always touch him easily, we can't catch him. He Could smash a crib in Scotland one week and build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. I followed him for years and never met him."

"I can introduce you tonight. I have dealt with John Clay several times, and I agree with your statement. Well, it's past ten o'clock. Let's start. You two take the first carriage , Watson and I take the second one." Sherlock Holmes didn't say anything more along the way.

He leaned on his seat and kept humming the tune he had heard in the afternoon.The carriage went down the long street with its many gas lights until it reached Farrington Street.

"We're pretty near there now," said Holmes. "Merriweather is a director of the bank, and he's interested in the case, and there's a reason for bringing Jones along. He's stupid. But he has one of his great strengths. He's as fierce as a hound and as tenacious as a lobster when he catches a criminal. Well, it's time for us to get out of the car. They're waiting for us there."

We came to that bustling street again.After sending the carriage away, we passed through a narrow passage under Mr. Merriweather's direction, and entered through a side door which he opened.Inside is a corridor, and at the end of the corridor there is a large iron door. After passing through, a series of spiral stone stairs appear in front of you, leading to another door that makes people feel a little scary.Mr. Merriwether lit a lantern and led us down a dirt-smelling passage, then opened a third door into a vast vaulted basement full of great boxes.

Holmes looked around with a lamp."It didn't seem easy to breach this basement from above," he said.

Mr. Merriwether tapped the floor with his cane and said, "It's hard from below, too." Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up in surprise. "Oh! It seems to be empty below."

"Everyone, please keep quiet! Otherwise our operation will be ruined. Please find a box to sit for a while and don't disturb our work." Holmes said seriously.

Mr. Merriweather sat down on a crate, aggrieved.At this moment, Holmes took a lantern and a magnifying glass, knelt on the ground, and began to observe carefully the cracks between the flagstones.After a while he finished checking, stood up and put the magnifying glass in his pocket.

He said: "We have another hour to wait, for they won't start until the pawnbroker is asleep. As soon as he's asleep, they'll be racing against the clock to gain time to escape. I guess you see that, Watson." Well, this is the basement of a bank branch in London. Mr. Merriwether is the chairman of the bank. He'll tell you why the basement is of interest to daring criminals."

Merriwether whispered, "There's French gold here, and we've been warned early on that someone's after them."

"French gold?"

"Yes, a few months ago, we just had an opportunity to increase our capital reserves. For this reason, we borrowed [-] French gold coins from the Bank of France. But we have never had time to get out the money, so we have been putting it in The basement. There are two thousand French ducats in the box I'm sitting in, all wrapped in foil. Our bank now has far greater reserves of gold than any branch, so the directors are worried."

"Your fears are quite justified," said Holmes. "I will arrange things now, and I shall be able to clear things up in about an hour, Mr. Merriweather. We must put the lantern on."

"Waiting in the dark?"

"It can only be like this. I originally brought a deck of cards, thinking that the four of us could just play bridge. However, someone may have prepared it now. In order to avoid accidents, we must not leak a little light. Everyone must choose their own cards first. location, those criminals are all daring, we have to surprise them when they are not prepared, and at the same time we must be careful not to get hurt. I hide behind this box, you hide behind those boxes, if you see me shining them with lights, You rush on. Watson, if they shoot, you can fight back decisively."

I loaded the revolver and put it on top of the box in which I was hiding.Holmes quickly pulled up the slide of the lantern, and everyone was plunged into darkness—I have never experienced such a dark environment since I grew up.I smelled hot metal, which proved that the lamp was still on, and it would flash on at the first movement.Everyone was guarding in a tense atmosphere. The cold and damp basement and the surrounding darkness made people feel oppressed.

"They have but one way of retreat," said Holmes in a low voice, "first into the house, and then into Sachs-Coburg Square. Did you do as I told you, Jones?"

"Yes, I sent an inspector and two policemen at the door."

"Very well, we have blocked the exit, we just need to wait here."

The waiting time was long, and we checked our watches later. We waited for an hour and 15 minutes, but it felt like we had been waiting all night, hoping that dawn would come soon.Because they couldn't walk freely, everyone's hands and feet were numb.My nerves were so tense that I could almost hear their breathing, and distinguish between Jones' heavy breathing and the bank chairman's sigh.I looked forward from the box and could see the stone slabs, and suddenly I noticed a faint light flashing in front of me.

At first, there was only a little light reflected on the stone slab. Later, the light merged into a line, and after a while, a gap appeared in the ground, and a hand stretched out from the gap.That hand was white and tender, like a woman's hand.It groped around where there was light, and after about a minute, it slowly protruded out of the ground, but suddenly retracted.It was pitch black again, with only a little yellow light shining through the cracks in the stone slabs.

The hand disappeared for a while, when suddenly there was a harsh sound, and a white stone slab on the floor was overturned.Immediately a square hole appeared in that place, and a ray of light shot out from the hole.Then, a handsome face appeared from the hole.The man looked around alertly and saw nothing unusual, so he grabbed the opening of the hole with both hands and climbed up. Then he put one knee on the edge of the hole and climbed up in an instant.Then his companion was also pulled up.The man was also very agile, he was not tall, his face was very pale, and he had fiery red hair on his head.

He whispered, "Everything is all right, have you got your chisel and bag ready? My God, Achille, it's no good, jump down, come on! I'll take care of the rest!"

Holmes sprang forward and seized the man by the collar.Another jumped down the hole.With a hiss, Jones merely tore off the skirt of his coat, and in the confusion the barrel of a revolver flashed in the light, and Holmes hastily knocked it away with his hunting whip.

Holmes said calmly, "John Clay, you can't get away. Don't make any effort."

The other party also said very calmly: "I can see it, but my friend escaped, and you just grabbed his lapel."

"There is someone waiting for him at the door," said Holmes.

"Oh, really? It turns out that you have arranged so well, I have to congratulate you."

Holmes said: "Against, each other, the redhead meeting you planned is also very original and effective."

"You'll see your accomplice in no time, he's a better burrower than I am. Hold out your hands and let me cuff them," Jones said.

When the handcuffs were put on the criminal's hands, he actually said: "Don't touch me with your dirty hands, I'm a descendant of the royal family, and you have to remember to use the words 'sir' and 'please' when talking to me. "

Jones stared wide-eyed, couldn't help laughing, and said, "Okay 'sir', please walk up the steps by yourself, and after you get out, we will take you to the police station in a carriage, do you think it's okay?"

John Clay replied, "That's more or less." He bowed to the three of us and walked out slowly under the supervision of the police officer.The three of us followed suit.Mr. Merriwether said: "I don't know how much we can thank you from our bank. You have, without a doubt, the most rigorous method of solving this crime. This case is the most extraordinary bank robbery I have ever seen."

Holmes said: "I was going to settle accounts with John Clay myself. I spent some money on this case, and I think the bank should pay. Besides, I also got the most precious thing, which is this The experience of solving a crime for the first time, the story of the Redhead Society alone gave me a lot of insight."

Early the next morning, as we drank whiskey and soda together in Baker Street, Holmes began to explain to me: "I don't know if you see it, Watson, but it was obvious from the start, and the red-headed The sole purpose of advertising and copying the Encyclopedia Britannica was to keep the pawnbroker out of the shop for a certain amount of time each day. It was a rather idiosyncratic method, but clever. It must have been Clay who came up with it, and he cleverly used the pawnbroker With fiery red hair, he tricked his boss into taking the bait with four pounds a week. Compared with the millions of pounds they wanted to get, this was nothing worth mentioning. First, they put an advertisement in the newspaper, a Went to rent an office, and the other encouraged the pawnbroker to apply. That way, he would leave the pawnshop regularly every day, so they could do what they wanted. When I heard that the guy volunteered to take half wages, I Decided he must have a special reason."

"However, how do you know his purpose?"

(End of this chapter)