Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 82 Memoirs (16)
But at this moment, something happened that made us all stop.The lights on the top of the building suddenly went out, and a shrill, trembling voice came from the darkness: "Don't move! I tell you, I have a gun in my hand. If you go any further, I will shoot you."

Dr. Trivelly said loudly, "Mr. Blessington, you are being so rude."

The man obviously relaxed, "It's you, doctor, are those two right?"

We froze for a moment in the dark.

The man finally said, "Yes, yes, come on up! I'm so sorry for being so rude to you."

As he spoke, he lit the lamp on the stairs.The person in front of him was very strange. From his expression and voice, one could tell that he was indeed a little overly nervous.He was fat, perhaps even fatter some time ago than he is now, so that his face was that of a hound, with two lumps hanging from his cheeks.His face was pale, and his khaki hair was not much, and it was bristling at this moment due to nervousness.He held a pistol in his hand, and he put it in his pocket as we walked on.

He said: "Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Holmes. I need your advice most now. I think Trivelli has told you that someone has broken into my room."

"That's right," said Holmes. "What are those two men? Mr. Blessington, why are they playing tricks on you?"

Mr. Blessington said anxiously: "Well, I think it's hard to say. I have no answer here, Mr. Holmes."

"You mean you don't know?"

"Please come in, please come in and have a seat."

He took us into his bedroom, which was spacious and comfortable.

He pointed to the big black box over the bed, and said: "Look at this thing. Dr. Trivelly may have told you, Mr. Holmes, that I am not rich. This is the only investment I have made in my life. I Don't trust banks, never trust any bank. I can tell you, but please keep it a secret, all my money is in the box. So you can understand how much it irritates me when strangers break into my house .”

Holmes looked at Blessington suspiciously and shook his head.

"I can't help you if you're hiding it," he said.

"But I said it all."

Holmes shook his head in disgust, then turned, and said, "Good night, Mr. Trivelley."

Blexington shouted, "Won't you give me some advice?"

"Sir, my advice to you is to tell the truth."

After 1 minute, we have come to the street, walking in the direction of home.We crossed Oxford Street and came to Harley Street, when my friend said:

"I am very sorry, Watson, to make you waste your time on account of such a fool. But, nevertheless, it is an interesting case."

I said frankly, "I don't feel it."

"It's very evident that two or more persons, at least two, have, for some reason, decided to find Blessington. His accomplices have used ingenious tactics to keep the doctor out."

"But, what happened to the catalepsy?"

"That's a mere deception, Watson. I don't want to give you a doctor about it, but it's an easy disease to fake, and I've done it before."

"So, what happened next?"

"Coincidentally, Blessington always goes out at this time. They choose such a special time to come to the doctor because they think that there will be no one else in the waiting room at that time. However, at this time Blessington happened to go for a walk. This seems to show that they don't know much about Blessington's living habits. Of course, if they want to steal, they must take at least some valuables, but they don't. In addition, the eyes of Blessington Tell me he was terrified. I can't believe that he has two enemies like this and he doesn't know anything about them. So I think he must know the identities of those two people, and because it involves himself, he avoids it. Not to talk about it. But tomorrow he will tell the truth."

I said: "Couldn't there be some other scenario? It's unlikely, of course, but it could be assumed. For instance, it might be that Dr. Trivelli was plotting to break into the Blessington Room and make up The story of the Russian lad."

By the light, I saw my friend smiled after listening to my words.

He said: "Dear friend, I thought so too at first. But I soon confirmed what the doctor said. The man also left a few footprints on the carpet on the stairs, so I don't need to look at the indoors again." Footprints. I tell you, the man's shoes are square toed, while Blessington's shoes are pointed, and the footprints are a little three inches longer than the doctor's shoes. This shows that the doctor's words are indeed true. Now we can I'm going to bed, and I'll be surprised if there's no news from Brook Street in the morning."

Holmes' words were quickly borne out, and in dramatic form.The next morning, just after 07:30, Holmes stood beside my bed in his pajamas.

"There is a carriage waiting for us outside, Watson," said he.

"what's up?"

"It's not about Brook Street."

"Any new news?"

"It may be a tragedy," said Holmes, drawing the curtain, "but it's not certain. Look at this. It's a note torn from a notebook. On it is written sloppily in pencil: 'For God's sake, Come at once, Percy Trivelly. 'Our doctor must be in a difficult position as he writes this note. Come, my dear Watson, it is urgent."

After 15 minutes, we came to the doctor's clinic again, and he ran out in a panic to meet us.

Putting his hands on his temples, he said loudly, "My God! Such a thing can happen!"

"What happened?"

"Brisington hanged!"

Holmes shuddered.

"Yes, he hung himself last night."

The doctor took us into that waiting room.

"I don't know what to do, the police are upstairs. I'm scared to death," he said aloud.

"Every morning he had his maid bring him a cup of tea, and this morning at seven o'clock the maid went to deliver the tea and found him hanging in the middle of the room. The rope was attached to the hook that hung the heavy gas lamp, and from yesterday we saw him Jumped off the box to hang to death!"

Holmes stood there thinking for a while.

Then he said: "With your permission, I want to go upstairs and investigate."

The two of us went upstairs, followed by the doctor.

As soon as we stepped through the bedroom door, we were met with a tragic sight.I had described Blessington's flabby state, and now he was hanging from the hook, and his appearance was even more ugly, almost inhuman.His neck was elongated, like the neck of a plucked chicken.Compared with this, his body seems to become fatter and more unnatural.He was wearing pajamas, under which his ugly feet and swollen ankles stuck out stiffly.A capable detective stood beside the body, taking notes in a notebook.

As soon as we entered, one of the sheriffs said enthusiastically: "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holmes."

"Good morning, Rannore," said Holmes. "You don't think me a criminal who broke in, do you? Do you know the circumstances leading up to this incident?"

"I've heard some."

"What do you think about this?"

"Personally, I think the man was scared out of his wits. He slept in this bed for a while because it had deep indentations. You know, suicides usually happen around five in the morning, and it could be that he hanged himself. time. It can be inferred from this that he decided to do so after careful consideration.”

I said, "Judging from the stiffness of the muscles, he's been dead for three hours."

"Have you noticed anything unusual?" asked Holmes.

"Found a screwdriver and some screws on the sink. I also found four cigar butts on the fireplace. He seemed to have smoked a lot last night."

"And have you found his cigar-holder?" said Holmes.

"could not find it."

"Has his cigar case been found?"

"Found it, in his coat pocket."

Holmes opened the cigarette case, took out a cigarette and sniffed it.

"It's a Havana, and the one on the fireplace is a special Dutch variety imported from the East Indies. You know, these cigars are usually wrapped in straw and thinner than other brands."

He took out his magnifying glass and carefully observed the cigarette butts.

"Two of them were smoked by mouth, and the other two were not. Two were chipped off with a blunt knife, and two were bitten off with your teeth. This is not suicide, Mr. Lannor, it is prearranged." murder!"

"Impossible!" said the sheriff loudly.

"Why not?"

"If it was murder, how could he hang himself in such a stupid way?"

"That's exactly what we need to investigate."

"How did they get in here?"

"Come in through the front door."

"The door is locked in the morning."

"They locked the door after they left."

"How do you know?"

"Because I found their traces, I will explain them to you later."

Holmes went to the door, turned the lock, and examined it carefully.Then he took the key from the back of the door and examined it in detail.Then he examined the bed, the carpet, the chairs, the mantelpiece, the body, and the rope.At last he seemed satisfied, and, assisted by me and the sheriff, cut the rope, lowered the dead man, and covered him with a sheet.

"Where did you get this rope?" he asked.

Dr. Trivelli drew a large bundle of rope from under the bed, and said: "It was cut from here. He always kept these things with him, because he was afraid of fire, and said that in case the stairs caught fire, he could use the rope to jump from the window." go out."

Holmes thought for a while and said: "This rope has provided convenience for the murderer. Well, the case is clear, and I will tell you the whole story this afternoon. I will take away the picture of Blessington on the mantelpiece and solve the problem. Useful."

"But you didn't say anything," said the doctor loudly.

"The course of the matter," said Holmes, "is quite clear. There are three persons involved, an old man, a young man, and a third. As to the third, I have no clue. As for the first two, it must be the Russians. Father and son. We have known their case well enough, they were let in by fellows in this house. If you believe my advice, Sheriff, the boy should be arrested at once. As far as I know, he is nearly A genius, huh, Doctor?"

Dr. Trivelli said: "But the little fellow is gone."

Holmes shrugged his shoulders.

He said: "However, his role in this case is not very important. The three people went up the stairs on tiptoe, the old man was in front, the young man was in the middle, and the unknown third person walked at the end..."

I couldn't help saying: "You are wonderful! My dear Holmes."

"Oh, there, their footprints overlapped and they couldn't be seen very clearly, but I could still tell which was which, and I counted it last night. Then they came upstairs and walked to Bly In front of the Xington door, they found that the door was locked, so they used the wire to turn the key inside. From the scratches on the key, we can see where they put their strength.

"They entered the room and first gagged Blessington. Blessington might have fallen asleep, or might have been petrified, and didn't cry out. Besides, the walls here are so thick that even if he yelled once or twice , and no one heard.

"Obviously, after they had him in place, they talked around him for a while, and accused him of certain things. It didn't seem to be a short process, because that's when the cigars were smoked. The old man sat in the wicker chair, smoking through the cigar holder; the young man sat at a distance, knocking the ashes on the opposite side of the wardrobe; bed.

"In the end, they grabbed Blessington and hung him up. It was a plan they had planned, because I think they had the gallows blocks with them, and those screwdrivers and screws were for the gallows blocks. But then they found the hooks, so that saved them a lot of trouble. They fled immediately after that, and their accomplices locked the door."

We listened to Holmes's account with great interest.These are all inferred by him based on subtle clues, which is incredible. Even after he has analyzed them one by one, we still can't follow his train of thought.Afterwards the Sheriff went off to arrest the page, and Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast.

After dinner Holmes said to me: "I shall be back at three o'clock, when the sheriff and the doctor will be there. I must use this time to clear up the few doubtful points of the case."

Our guests all arrived at the appointed time, but my friend didn't come back until 45:[-].However, from the look on his face when he entered the door, I already concluded that everything should be fine.

"Sheriff, any news?"

"We have arrested the page, sir."

"Great, I found others too."

The three of us were surprised at the same time: "Found it?"

"Yes, at least their identities have been found out. Indeed, as I expected, that Blessington and his three enemies are very famous in the police department. One of them is Peter, and the other is Hay. Wall, and another named Moffett."

"It's the robbers who robbed the Hinton Bank!" cried the sheriff.

"Yes, it is they," replied Holmes.

"Then the case is clear," said the inspector.

But Trivelly and I looked at each other, puzzled.

"You remember the Hinton bank robbery," said Holmes. "There were five men involved, four of them, and one named Cartwright. They killed Tobin, the bank keeper, and took another seven thousand pounds." This happened in 1875, when all five were arrested, but the case was never closed due to lack of evidence. That Blessington was originally named Sutton, and he exposed them all. Because of his denunciation, Carter Wright was sentenced to hang and the other three were sentenced to 15 years in prison. The three of them were released early recently. It is conceivable that they must find the person who betrayed them and avenge the death of Cartwright. They tried twice Tried to find him, but failed. The third time, they succeeded. Dr. Trivelly, is there anything you don't understand?"

The doctor said: "I think you have made it very clear. That day, he must have been frightened out of his wits when he learned that these people were released early."

"Exactly. What he said about being afraid of theft is just an excuse."

"But why didn't he tell you about it?"

"Dear friend, he knows his accomplice's vengeance is very strong, so he dare not reveal his identity to anyone easily. Moreover, it is not honorable, and he can't leak it. But although he is very hateful, Still under the protection of English law. Sheriff, I believe that although the law does not protect it, justice will avenge him."

That was the story of the hospital patient and the Brook Street doctor.After that night, the three murderers disappeared.According to Scotland Yard's speculation, they may have escaped on the steamer "Noracranina".Unfortunately, that ship and its crew were lost a few days earlier off the coast of Portugal, dozens of nautical miles north of Port.As for the little footman, he was finally released due to insufficient evidence.The true story of what became known as the Brook Street Mystery has not been reported until now.The Adventures of a Greek Interpreter

Though I had known Mr. Sherlock Holmes a long time and was as close as a brother, I had heard him speak little of his relations, or of his own past.He is taciturn, indifferent, and reserved, and always gives people the feeling that he does not value friendship, is withdrawn and perverse, has a high IQ and a low EQ.

He doesn't like to approach women, and he doesn't want to meet new friends. These are the most typical character traits of those who are not easy to be emotional.The most unacceptable thing is that he never mentioned his family.At first I thought he was an orphan, with no relatives in the world.Until that day, he unexpectedly talked about his brother.

One summer evening, when we had nothing to do after dinner, we chatted.From the golf club to the cause of the formation of the yellow-red angle, and finally to the genetic adaptability of the atavism phenomenon, the focus of the discussion is: how much of a person's extraordinary talents is determined by genetics, and how much is acquired due to training.

"As far as you are concerned," I said, "from what you have said, it is obvious that your excellent observation ability and unique reasoning ability should all benefit from acquired systematic training rather than other factors. .”

"In a way. My ancestors were country gentlemen, and naturally lived the lives of men of their class. My tastes, however, are inherent in my blood. I may have inherited some of my grandmother's blood. She is the younger sister of the French artist Gilner, and the artistic talent in her blood has been miraculously passed on to me."

"But how do you know it's hereditary?"

"Because my brother Mycroft's reasoning is much better than mine."

This is indeed news to me.If there are other people in the UK with such superpowers, how is it that the police and the public don't know about it?I think it must be because my friend respects my brother and is just modest.So, I raised this question.

"My dear Watson, I am not of the opinion that modesty is a virtue. For those logicians, a thing is what it is, and it is not true to underestimate or exaggerate oneself. I do, therefore, think that Mycroft's powers of observation and deduction are better than mine, no exaggeration at all."

"How old is Mycroft?"

"Seven years older than me."

"Why haven't you heard of him?"

"He's just famous in his circle."

"Then what is his circle?"

"Well, for example, in the Diogenes club."

(End of this chapter)