Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 72 Memoirs (6)
"'The first thing is to manage the large warehouse in Paris. We have a big business now, which is to continuously ship British-made ceramics to 130 four consignment stores in France. The work of purchasing can be done within a week. This For a week you will be in Birmingham to do other work.'

"'what to do?'

"He didn't speak, but took out a big red book from the desk cabinet.

"'It's a directory of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris, with names of trades after each person's name. You take it back, and write down the addresses of the hardware dealers, and sort them into a table, which will be very useful to us.'

"I said, 'I'll do what you say. But isn't it already sorted here?'

"'Those classification lists cannot be relied upon, and our classification is different from theirs. You had better hurry up and give me the list before twelve o'clock on Monday. So be it, Mr. Pycroft, and if you continue to behave well, the company I will not treat you badly.'

"I went back to the hotel with the book, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, I had been officially hired, and the one hundred pounds advance was pocketed; Some signs, I feel that the company's economic situation does not seem to be good. But, no matter what, if you have money, let's sit down and copy. On Sunday, I worked hard all day, but I only copied the letter H until Monday. No way, I had no choice but to go to my master. Finally, I found him in the room that seemed to have been ransacked by robbers. He said that I could copy until Wednesday, and I would find him after I finished copying. However, when Wednesday came, I still hadn’t finished copying, so I had to continue I finally finished it on Friday, yesterday. Finally, I handed the copied list to Mr. Pinner.

"He said: 'Thank you very much for your hard work, maybe I underestimated the difficulty of the job, this list is very beneficial to us.'

"I said, 'It took a lot of time, but it's done, what else do I have to do?'

"'Very well, here is a list of china shops that sell china, and you will make another copy.'

"'All right.'

"'Come here at seven o'clock tomorrow night and tell me about your work. You don't need to be too tired. You might as well go to the Day Music Hall to relax after work. It's good for your health.' He finished with a smile , laughing so much that I was taken aback. For, he had a very ugly gold tooth in the second upper left tooth."

Holmes rubbed his hands happily, and I looked at our guest in astonishment.

He said: "Doctor Watson, you are surprised! I will tell you why. In London, when I promised the man not to go to Mawson's, he smiled happily, and I accidentally saw his upper left tooth. A random gold tooth. On different occasions, I have seen the same gold teeth, and they have the same shape and voice, only slightly different in those parts that can be changed by razors and wigs. Based on these, I I thought that the so-called 'brother' might be one person. Although sibling brothers inevitably look alike, they cannot have the same gold teeth on the same teeth. I went back to the hotel, washed my head with cold water, and seriously I thought about it. Why did he bring me to Birmingham? Why did he write a letter of introduction to himself? How could he get here before me? These questions made me crazy, and I couldn't do anything. Then I thought of Mr. Holmes, maybe he would easily solve it. This mystery. So I took the train back to the city in the evening, and came to Mr. Holmes' apartment this morning, and asked you to come to Birmingham to help me clarify this matter."

After he finished speaking, we were all silent for a moment.My friend took one look at me, leaned back in his chair, relaxed, like a connoisseur, presumably about to make a comment.

He said: "There is something, Watson, isn't it? There are a lot of details in it. I think you'll be well worth the trip. We need to go and see Mr. Pinner at the interim agency of the French Central Hardware Co., Ltd. in Birmingham first." .”

I asked, "Why did you see him?"

Pycroft said bluntly: "It's very easy. I just said that you are my good friends and want to find a job in the company. In this way, it will be natural for me to bring you to the manager."

"Of course," said Holmes. "I should like to see this man, and see if I can get something out of it on the spot. My friend, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea? Perhaps..."

He suddenly bit his nails and looked out the window anxiously. He didn't speak until he reached the street.

We arrived at the office at about seven o'clock in the evening, but there was no one there.

Our client said: "It won't do any good to come early, it's obvious he's here to deal with me, and he'll only be there at his appointed time."

My friend said, "That's worth noting."

The lad said loudly, "I see him! That man is right in front of us."

The man was short in stature, neatly dressed, and was hurrying forward.He saw a little boy selling evening papers across the street, bought one across the busy street, and walked toward the office with it in his hand.

exclaimed Pycroft, "He's in! Come with me, and I'll do my best."

Together we climbed up to the fifth floor and found a room with the door ajar.Pycroft knocked lightly at the door, and we were invited in.We went in, and it was, as Pycroft said, empty and scarcely furnished.

The man was sitting at the only table with the newspaper he had just bought.He looked up at us, and for a moment, I thought it was a very painful face.The expression was not only panic, but also extremely weird.His forehead was dripping with sweat, his face was pale, and his eyes were fixed on his employees as if he had never seen them before.At the same time, Pycroft's startled expression also tells us that this will not be the usual appearance of the man.

"Are you ill, Mr. Pinner?" asked Pycroft.

Pinner replied, "Yes, I'm a little uncomfortable."

He tried to control his voice to restrain his emotions, licked his chapped lips and said, "What are these two gentlemen here for?"

Pycroft hurriedly said: "This is Mr. Harris from Bermondsey, and this is Mr. Price from this town. They are all good friends of mine and have rich work experience, but unfortunately they are all unemployed. Ask if there is an opportunity to get a living job with this company."

Pinner said with mock lightness, "It's easy, and I'm sure it can help. Mr. Harris, what did you do before?"

"I am an accountant," said Holmes.

"Very well, just what we need. What do you do, Mr. Price?"

I said, "Scribe."

"I think our company will need two of you, and we'll let you know when we decide. You can leave now, for God's sake, leave me alone for a while!"

He spoke very loudly, as if he could no longer restrain his emotions.The three of us looked at each other, and Pycroft went to the table again.

He said: "Mr. Pinner, you will not forget that I am here to ask for instructions."

The other party regained their tone and said calmly: "Of course not, Mr. Pycroft, please wait here for a while. If you don't mind, I will come back in three minutes."

He stood up politely, nodded to us, and went through another door in the house.

"What is the matter?" said Holmes in a low voice. "He won't run away?"

"It's impossible," said Pycroft.

"why?"

"It's a suite."

"There is no other exit?"

"No."

"Is there anything in it?"

"No, at least not yesterday."

"Then what is he going to do? It's incomprehensible. Isn't he frightened stupid? But what is it that frightens him?"

I said, "He probably thinks we're the police."

"Very likely," said Pycroft loudly.

Holmes shook his head and said, "He was not frightened by us. He turned pale when we came in. The only possibility is..."

Holmes was interrupted by a loud knock at the apartment door.

The young man was surprised: "What is he doing inside?"

The knocking sounded again, and louder.We all looked towards the door.Holmes looked stern, and leaned forward in great excitement.There was a low guttural grunt from inside, followed by a thud-thump-thump on a board.

Holmes rushed forward like a madman, and pushed the door hard.The door remained unmoved, apparently locked.We slammed on the door hastily, the hinges broke, and the door fell down.Strangely, no one was in the suite.

We suddenly felt that something was wrong.Soon, we found that there was a small door in the corner of the house.Holmes ran to them and pushed them away. A coat and a vest were thrown on the floor.On the hook behind the door, the general manager of the French Central Hardware Co., Ltd. hanged himself.His legs were bent, and he tapped on the door with both feet. It was this voice that had interrupted Holmes.I hugged his waist and lifted him up.Holmes and Pycroft hastened to undo the braces of their trousers.The suspenders had been cut into his livid skin.We carried him out of the house, and he was lying on the ground, his face ashen, his blue lips trembling with weak breathing, a terrible scene, completely different from him 5 minutes ago.

Holmes asked me: "Watson, can he be saved?"

I walked over, knelt down, and examined him.His pulse was weak and intermittent, but his breathing became longer and longer, his eyes trembled slightly, and white eyeballs were exposed under the eyelids.

I said, "It was dangerous, but now it's out of danger, please give me some cold water and open the window."

I unbuttoned his collar, poured cold water on his face, and gave him artificial respiration until he breathed naturally.

"It's only a matter of time now," I said, standing up.

Holmes, with his head bowed and his hands in his pockets, stood thoughtfully at the edge of the table.

"I think it's time to call the police and wait for the police to come and hand over the matter to them," he said.

Pycroft scratched his head and said, "Damn it, I still don't understand, whatever it is they've got me here for, but I..."

"That's pretty clear," said Holmes with confidence. "It's just that there was a sudden suddenness at the end."

"Then you understand everything else?"

"It seems obvious to me, Watson, do you see?"

I shrugged and said, "I admit I'm confused."

"If you can think carefully about the cause and effect of things, you will understand."

"So, what's your conclusion?"

"There are two key points in the whole case. First, he made Pycroft write a certificate of working for this shell company. Don't you see that there is a lot to it?"

"I never noticed that."

"What is the purpose of them asking you to write the guarantee? This is very abnormal, because such things usually only need to be agreed verbally, and there is no need to do it at all. Young friends, don't you realize that they really want to get your handwriting, but Can't find another way?"

"Why would they want my handwriting? What would it be for?"

"Very good, if this problem is solved, our case will make progress. They want to get your handwriting because they want to imitate your handwriting, or they must use money to buy your handwriting. Now we analyze the second key Point. Pinner is asking you not to resign in order to give the manager of Mawson & Co. hope that Mr. Pycroft will be at work on Monday morning."

exclaimed Pycroft: "My God! I am so stupid!"

"Now let's see why he wants your handwriting. If someone wants to go to work for you under your name, but the handwriting is different from the application, it will reveal itself. But if they If you learn your handwriting, then you will be sure. Because, I am sure that no one in that company knows you."

"No," said Pycroft mournfully, "nobody knows me."

"Great, there is one more important point, which is to try to keep you from changing your mind and keep you from contacting other people in case you learn that you have been replaced by an impostor at Mawson's. So he advances you a lot money, and send you to the Midlands, and give you plenty to do, so you don't have time to go back to London. Otherwise you'd have no trouble knowing the inside story."

"But why did he pretend to be his brother?"

"It's also very simple. Obviously, there are only two of them. One of them is already working at Mawson's. They don't want a third person to participate in their tricks, but they want someone to be your boss, so he had to pretend to be His brother. He thinks that even if you find that they look alike, you will only think that the two brothers look alike. If you hadn't accidentally seen Gold Tooth, you wouldn't doubt them."

Pycroft shook his fists, and cried: "Good heavens! What should I do if 'Pycroft' did something to Mawson's while I was being tricked? Tell me, Mr. Holmes, What on earth should I do?"

"We had to telegraph Mawson immediately."

"They close at 62 on Sundays."

"It doesn't matter, they have janitors or guards..."

"By the way, it is said that because they have a huge amount of securities, there is a guard team responsible for security."

"Great, I'll send them a telegram to see if everything's ok and if there's really an imposter working there. It's easy enough, but it's a little puzzling, why did he kill himself when he saw us? "

A hoarse voice came from behind us: "Newspaper!"

The man had already sat up, his face was as white as a dead man, his eyes were closed, and his hands kept stroking the red and purple strangle marks on his neck.

Holmes said excitedly: "By the way, the newspaper! How careless I was to think of the visit instead of the newspaper. The secret must be in the newspaper."

He opened the paper and called: "Watson, come and read this article. This is the London evening paper, the early edition of the Evening Standard. Read the headline, and there is the answer. 'The Great London Robbery. Mawson and Murder at Williams House, arrest for attempted robbery. 'Watson, that's what we need to know, read it to us.'

This report occupies a prominent position in the newspaper, which shows that it is indeed a very important case. The content is as follows:

There was a murder and robbery in London this afternoon.One person was killed and the killer has been arrested.It is well known that the famous Mawson and Williams firm held enormous amounts of valuable securities and was therefore heavily guarded.Not long ago, the executives even purchased a batch of new safes, added a guard team, and arranged armed policemen to guard the building day and night, so as to ensure safety.Last week, the company hired a new employee named Cole Bevchi.This man was the notorious counterfeiter Beddington.Beddington and his brother had just been released after serving five years in prison.At present, the police have not yet ascertained how the criminals gained the trust of the company, how to obtain various key molds, and fully grasp the setting status of the safe and the safe.

By convention, Mawson Trading Company will give its staff a holiday at noon on Saturday.So, at twenty one in the afternoon, Scotland Yard Inspector Tucson was surprised when he saw a man coming out of it.The man was holding a felt handbag in his hand, and his strange behavior aroused the suspicion of the police officer, so he ordered him to stop and prepare to investigate carefully.Although the criminal tried his best to resist after being alarmed, Tucson finally captured the criminal with the help of police officer Pollock, and a murder and robbery case was detected.Among the handbags seized at the scene, police found US rail bonds worth £[-], as well as huge amounts of shares in other companies.During the inspection of the firm, the police found that an unfortunate guard of the firm was killed and his body was hidden in a safe.Had it not been for the decisive action and accurate judgment of the Tucson police officer, the case may not have been discovered before Monday.It is reported that the guard's skull was smashed to pieces.It is believed that Beddington lied that something had been left in the company, then re-entered the building, killed the guards, ransacked the safe, and fled with the stolen goods.His younger brother often commits crimes with him, but after many investigations this time, it has not been successful so far. The police will continue to follow up with all their strength.

"Well, now we can save the police some trouble," said Holmes, looking at the man huddled by the window with a feeble expression. "Human nature is so strange, Watson, that even murderers have the same feeling. Seeing that my brother is going to be executed, I would rather kill myself. But we have no choice in our actions. Mr. Pycroft, you report to the police. We have prisoners. Now, gentlemen, act!" The tragedy on the prison ship

One evening in winter, Holmes and I sat on either side of the fireplace to enjoy the fire.My friend said to me: "I have here, Watson, some papers worth your perusal, in connection with the case of the 'Gloria Scott' barque. Magistrate Driver read them and Scared to death."

Holmes opened a drawer, took out a small gray paper tube, opened it, and handed me a red paper.The handwriting on it is simple and scribbled:
The supply of game for London is going steadily up [itran] Headkeeper Hudson, Webelieve, has been now told to receive all orders for fly-paper and for preservation of your hen-pheasant's life

(Game supply in London is trending steadily upwards. We believe we have informed Superintendent Hudson to receive the full order of flypaper and protect the lives of your hen pheasants. - Translator's Note)

After reading this puzzling note, I looked up in bewilderment.Holmes, who was watching me, smiled with pursed lips.

"Are you confused?" he asked.

"I don't know how a note like that can scare people to death. To me it's just absurd nonsense."

"That's right, but the fact is that the strong old man fell dead on the ground after reading the note, like a target hit by a bullet."

I said, "That's strange, but why did you just say that this has special meaning to me and that I should study it?"

"The reason is that this is the first case I personally undertake."

I've been trying to study my partner, trying to get him to tell me what it was that made him decide to turn to crime, but he's never interested.He slowly sat down on the armchair, spread out the documents on his knees, lit his pipe, smoked for a while, then kept flipping through it, and studied it seriously.

(End of this chapter)