Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 39 Adventure History (17)
"I forgot about it when I finished the report. But then, things changed. Once, I secured a note for a friend, but I got a court summons and finally ordered me to pay 25 pounds. At that time, I didn't When I couldn’t get the money and was desperate, I suddenly thought of this method. I asked my creditors to give me half a month’s time to raise funds, and then I asked for leave, disguised as a beggar again, and went to the city to beg. The result was only It took ten days to pay off that debt.

"Well, you can imagine how tempting it is. I just paint my face, put my hat on the ground, and sit there quietly, and I get two pounds a day. But I work hard There’s only so much you can make in a working week. Once you’ve tasted it, it’s hard to turn back. My mind struggled with self-esteem and money, and in the end, money won out. I quit my job as a reporter. Sitting in the place I chose for the first time every day, relying on my ugly appearance in exchange for the sympathy of the world, so that I can easily stuff the copper coins into my pocket. Only one person knows my secret, and that is the low-grade smokehouse in Swan Gate Lane The boss, because I live with him, I am a dirty beggar in the morning, and a well-dressed playboy at night. The Indian Asan promised to keep a secret for me, because I paid him a high rent.

"Very quickly I amassed a fortune. I don't believe every beggar makes £[-] a year on the streets of London - my average income is more than that. I wear makeup and am good at wooing those A person who gave money. Gradually, I became a well-known beggar in this city. All kinds of silver coins poured into my pocket every day, and when the luck was the worst, I had an income of two pounds a day. The richer I was, the more greedy I was, Not only did I buy a villa in the suburbs, but I also got married and had children. No one doubted my real occupation. My wife only knew that I was doing business in the city, but she had no idea what I was doing.

"On the day of the incident last Monday, I had finished begging for a day and was changing clothes in the room upstairs of the tobacco shop. To my surprise, I just glanced out the window casually and saw my wife I was standing in the middle of the street, and she was looking at me. This scared me so much that I yelled, covered my face with my hands quickly, and then ran out of the window to find Indian Ah San, begging him to block anyone who came upstairs to find me People. Although I heard my wife arguing with the Indian Ah San downstairs, I knew she would not be able to come up in a short time. I hurriedly took off the clothes I changed into, quickly put on the beggar’s clothes again, and painted them with oil paint , put on a wig, and became Hugh Boone again. In this way, even my wife could not see through my disguise. But I thought that the house would be searched soon, and those clothes would definitely give me away. The secret, so I hurriedly opened the window. Because of my anxiety, I used too much force, and the cut hand was broken again. I pulled a leather bag-the money I usually ask for was in it, and grabbed a lot of copper coins from it. I put it in my coat pocket and threw it out of the window with all my might, believing that the Thames would wash it away quickly. I planned to throw away other clothes, but the police rushed upstairs. But I soon discovered that no one I was relieved to be recognized as Neville St. Clair. Then they arrested me as a suspect in Neville St. Clair's murder.

"Is there anything else I need to explain? Because I can only continue to pretend, so I can only bear with a little dirty face. I think my wife must be very anxious, so she took off my ring when the police were not paying attention, and returned it to me. I hurriedly wrote a few lines and asked India’s San to send it for me. I comforted my wife and said that everything will be fine.”

"She received the letter only yesterday," said Holmes.

"My God, I don't know how she's made it this week."

Said Inspector Brasstreet: "The police have been watching the Indian man, and it is hard for him to post the letter without being detected. He may have passed the letter on to some sailor." Customer, but that guy forgot all about it for a few days."

"It should be so," said Holmes, nodding his head in agreement with the inspector's reasoning. "But you have not been charged with begging?"

"Yes, and many times, but I don't care about the fine."

"From now on you are not to beg in the streets," said Inspector Bradstreet. "If you want the police to keep your secrets, Hugh Boone must disappear in London."

"I swear."

"That being the case, I don't think it's necessary to pursue the matter further. But if you resume your old business, we will immediately make the matter public. Mr. Holmes, your help to clarify the facts again is very grateful! Besides, I I wonder, how did you know the answer?"

Holmes said: "The answer is all due to sitting on five pillows and smoking an ounce of tobacco. I think, Watson, if we rush back to Baker Street now, we should still have time to have breakfast." Sapphire in goose crop

The morning after Christmas, I went to see my friend, Sherlock Holmes, to wish him a happy holiday.He was lounging on the sofa, wearing a purple pajamas, a pipe holder on the right hand side, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, which he had obviously just read.Next to the sofa was a wooden chair, and on the back of the chair hung a dirty, worn-out felt hat with hard tires. The hat was so worn that it was almost unwearable, and it was open in several places.There were tweezers and a magnifying glass on the cushions, and the hat hung up for inspection.

I said, "I'm busy, I hope it doesn't hinder you."

"What are you talking about, it's a pleasure to have a friend discuss the research results with me, but..." He pointed at the hat and said, "It's worthless. But several problems related to it are very serious , even very educational."

It was winter, and the glass was covered with frost, and I sat in an armchair and warmed my hands over the well-burning wood stove. "According to my guess, although the hat is broken, it is related to a certain important case. According to this clue, you can solve the mystery and punish the criminal."

"No, no," said Holmes, laughing. "It's not necessarily a crime. It's a trivial matter. You think, with four million people crowded in a few square miles, anything can happen. Besides, There are too many anecdotes and strange things in this world, some of them are sensational, but not all of them are crimes, do I see such things less often?"

"Indeed," I said, "out of the last six cases I have recorded, three have not involved legal crimes."

"I know, you mean the Irene Adler photograph case, the Mary Sutherrange case, and the crooked beggar case?"

I said, "That's right."

"Well, at the moment this trifle is probably not to be called a crime either. You know Podson the Porter, don't you?"

"know."

"This is his prize."

"Is this hat his?"

"Oh, no, he picked it up. No one knows whose hat it is, but you can't ignore its existence. Let me tell you about its origin. On Christmas morning, it was given away with a fat goose When it came to me, the fat goose must be roasting on the stove at Podson's house. It happened like this: On Christmas Day, around four o'clock in the morning, Podson was walking home after a small banquet. He was on his way home. Suddenly, he saw in front of him a tall, shambling man with a white goose on his back. As he passed the corner of Goodge Street, Podson saw a gang of hooligans arguing around the man. Among them One knocked his hat off. The stranger swung his goose stick in defense, and smashed the glass of the shop behind him. You know, Podson is a simple and honest man, so he's going to stand up He went out to help the stranger. Unexpectedly, when the stranger saw the uniformed Peterson coming towards him like a policeman, maybe he was afraid that he would be punished for breaking the glass, so he immediately dropped the goose and fled the scene. When the rascals saw Podson coming this way, they also ran away in a hurry. So there were only Podson and the two trophies left on the scene: a broken hat and a big fat goose."

"Then it should be returned to the original owner?"

"Yes, dear. But therein lies the problem, although the goose had a card tied to its left leg saying: Dedicated to Mrs. Henry Barker, and the initials 'HB' were also written on the lining of the hat , but you must know that in this city, there are countless people surnamed Buck, and there are countless people named Henry Buck, so it is not easy to return things to their original owners."

"What then?"

"He came to my house on Christmas morning with things, because he knew I was interested in such trivial matters. As for the white goose, although the temperature was very low in winter, it seemed that it would not be suitable for long-term storage, so I asked Podson to put it Take it away, and go to complete the ultimate mission of a goose. As for this hat, I will keep it for that stranger for the time being."

"He didn't have a found-and-find notice?"

"No."

"Then do you have any clues about the stranger's identity?"

"Can only speculate."

"By the hat?"

"Correct."

"Don't be joking, my dear, what can you get out of that shabby hat?"

"You know what I do, I'll give you a magnifying glass, and try to figure out the character of its owner from the hat."

I repeatedly looked at the old felt hat in my hand. It was the most common round black felt hat. It was so hard that it was almost unwearable.The red silk lining has faded and the logo is gone.As Holmes said, the hat had the initials "HB" scrawled in it.The brim is perforated, presumably to keep it from being blown away by the wind, but there is no elastic on it.There were also a few patches blackened with ink, cracked and stained here and there anyway.

"I'm ashamed, I didn't see anything." I said and handed him the hat.

"On the contrary, Watson, you can see it, but you don't have the confidence to say it, and you don't make inferences from what you see."

"Then tell me your reasoning."

He looked at the hat in his hand, and said with his unique expression and posture: "This hat may remind people of many things, and some of them are obvious, and some of them are not exact, but they are probably Not far from ten. Judging from the appearance of the hat, the current situation of its owner may not be very good, but he is quite knowledgeable, and his life should be quite rich three years ago. He was resourceful, but time has passed, and now his family’s ruin has made him depressed day by day, as if And some kind of bad habit, like drinking too much. I think it's probably because his wife doesn't love him anymore."

"Oh, come, my dear Holmes!"

"However, no matter what, he still maintains a minimum of self-esteem." He ignored my interruption and went on.

"He is middle-aged and never exercises. His hair is grey. He has only had a haircut in the last few days and has lemon cream on it. All of this can be inferred from his hat, and there is no gas lamp in his house."

"You can make up jokes."

"It's not a joke, it's my conclusion. Don't you really see what's going on?"

"I'm not stupid, but to be honest, I don't fully agree with your point of view. For example, you said that this person is highly educated."

Holmes snapped his hat back on his head, which just covered his whole forehead and pressed down on the bridge of his nose.He said, "Isn't it smart to have such a big head?"

"Then how do you know that his family is in trouble?"

"Look at the hat. It's the rolled-up style that was in fashion at the time, and it has a ribbed silk band and rich lining, all the hallmarks of a first-class hat. Three years ago he could afford such an expensive hat, and he hasn't since." Bought it, what is it if it’s not a poor family?”

"I see. What about his 'resource' and 'depression'?"

Holmes smiled. He pointed to the small discs and loops used to fasten the elastic bands and said: "This is his foresight. Before ordering the hats, he realized that the strong wind might blow them away, but the hats for sale were There was no elastic band, so he ordered such a hat specially, but then the elastic band broke, and he didn't bother to fix it, obviously depressed. He also dyed the patch of the hat black with ink, trying to cover up its wear and tear To maintain what remains of self-esteem."

"It sounds reasonable."

"Besides, I examined the lining of the hat with a magnifying glass, and found curls of hair stuck together, evidently the work of the barber, and a strange smell of lemon balm. In the middle age, the hair is gray and gray, and he has just had his hair cut recently, and he also applied lemon cream on his hair. Looking at the dust on the hat, it is obviously different from the dust on the street, it is the unique brown fluffy dust in the house. Can imagine However, most of the time, the hat was lying around. Also, from the wet spots on the lining, the owner was sweating a lot, so I presume he didn't have a good workout."

"And you said his wife doesn't love him anymore?"

"Watson, the dust on your hat has obviously not been cleaned for weeks. Think about it, if your hat has been dusted for weeks and your wife doesn't care about it and sees you going out like this, it's still a shame. Can you tell she still loves you?"

"Another possibility is that he has no wife."

"No, the fat goose he carried was to please his wife. Have you forgotten the card on the goose's leg?"

"You have solved most of the mysteries, but I still don't understand why there is no gas light in his house."

"If there were only a drop or two, it might have been by accident, but there were at least five drops on the hat, so I deduced that his hat was often next to the burning candle, for example, when he went upstairs with the candle in one hand and the other in the other. Take your hat. Gas-lamps don't drip candles, anyway. What do you think?"

I said excitedly, "Wonderful, you're a genius. But like you said, none of this has anything to do with crime. It's just a lost goose, and we're really bothered."

Just as Holmes was about to make an excuse, the door was suddenly knocked open, and the porter, Podson, ran in with a flushed face. He looked hurried and surprised.

"Mr. Holmes, the goose, the goose!" he stammered.

"Goose, what's wrong with it? Could it be that it came back from the dead?" Holmes turned around and laughed.

"Look, sir, my wife found this in a goose crop!" We looked up, and in Podson's palm lay a gleaming sapphire.It was slightly smaller than soybeans, crystal clear and radiant, as if a flash of lightning flashed across his palm.

Holmes sat up and whistled. "My God, Podson! It is indeed a priceless treasure. Do you understand what you have got?" he asked.

"It's a sapphire, isn't it, sir? It can cut glass, and it's said to cut iron like clay."

"It is not an ordinary gemstone, it has a big background."

"Could it be the sapphire of the Countess of Mogo?" I asked aloud.

"Yes! I have recently read about this gem in The Times, and I know its size and shape. It is a rare gem like no other in the world, and its value can only be estimated roughly at a thousand pounds." The bounty is less than one-twentieth of the value of the gem itself."

"My God! A thousand pounds!" The porter collapsed in his chair, looking at me and Holmes with wide eyes.

"That's just a bounty. I heard that the Countess, for some sentimental reason, promised to give away half of her fortune if the gem could be found."

"If I remember correctly, this gem was lost at the Hotel World," I said.

"Yes, five days ago, on December 12, a plumber named John Horner was charged for allegedly stealing the countess's jewel, and the court accepted the case because there were all witnesses and evidence. He searched among some outdated newspapers. "This is very detailed." He finally found a newspaper and read:

"The theft of jewels from the 'Hotel of the World'. Suspect John Horner, 26, a plumber, was indicted by the court for the theft of the Countess of Mogo's sapphire. Witness James Ryder, head of the inn. Testified: Because The second grate on the fireplace in the Countess of Mogo's dressing room was loose, so on the day of the theft, he took John Horner, the plumber, to weld the grate. The foreman was called away. When he came back again When I arrived in the dressing room, I found that Horner had disappeared. A Moroccan jewelry box was pried open and thrown on the dressing table. The head of the inn immediately called the police and Horner was captured that night. Curiously, no jewels were recovered from Horner or from his home. Catherine Cusack, the Countess's maid, has attested to Ryder's exclamation when he discovered the jewel had been stolen At the same time, it also proves that the testimony provided by Ryder is basically consistent with what she saw. Inspector Brasstreet of District B said that Horner reacted violently when he was arrested and tried to defend himself. Because he had previously stolen Therefore, the police did not dare to take things lightly, but transferred the case to the court. Horner was very excited during the trial, and fainted when the sentence was pronounced, and was finally carried out of the court."

"Hmph! The police station and the court have only so much information." Holmes said, putting the newspaper aside.

"What we now have to figure out is what happened between the theft of the gemstone and the pick-up of the goose on Dotnem Court Road. Now it seems that the problem is not as simple as we thought. The possibility of crime is very high. This is indeed the jewel, but it comes from the goose, which belongs to Mr. Henry Buck. I have just told you the results of the analysis of Henry Buck and his old hat. Now it seems that the search for the gentleman is to be set about, and what part he plays in the affair. The quickest way is to advertise the lost and found in all the evening papers. If that doesn't work, we'll think of another way."

"How to write lost and found?"

"Give me the pen, and write like this: I found a black felt hat and a white goose at the corner of Goodge Street, please ask Mr. Henry Barker at No. 06 30B, Baker Street at 220:[-] tonight, The restoration can be offered.

"Keep it short and to the point."

"Yes, it's very concise, but I wonder if he can see it?"

(End of this chapter)