Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 97 The Return (8)
"However, now is the most difficult time. Except for E, the order of use of other English letters is not very clear. The order of appearance in a normal page of articles and a short sentence may be exactly the same. Generally speaking, the frequency of letters is T. , A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L; but the frequencies of T, A, O, and I are almost equal. If you want to try all kinds of combinations and get a satisfactory answer, then work It's going to be endless, so we'll have to wait for new material to come in. When Mr. Hilton Cupid came to me again, he did bring me two more short sentences, namely these symbols without flags. Of the five symbols in this sheet, I found that the second and fourth are both E. The word may be sever, or lever, or never. Needless to say, The last word is the most likely answer, and there are indications that it was written by Mrs. Cupid. If this guess is correct, we can say that it stands for N, V ​​and R respectively, but at this time My difficulty is still great. But a strange idea let me know a few other letters. I guess if this request came from someone who was very close to Mrs. Cupid in her youth, then a letter with two ends of E is likely. It is the name ELSIE (Elsie). I searched and found that this word appeared three times at the end of a sentence. This may be a request for Elsie, so I found L, S and I. However, the content of the request What exactly is it?

"The word before 'Elsie' consists of only four letters and ends in E. I tried many other words ending in E, but none of them fit, only Come (来) was the best, so I found C , O, and M. Now we have to analyze the first sentence, separate out the individual characters, and replace the unknown letters with dots. After processing, this sentence is:
"MEREESLNE

"I think the first letter must be A, and this finding is the most favorable, since it occurs three times in this short sentence, and the H at the beginning of the second word is more obvious, and the sentence now becomes:
"AMHEREAESLANE plus the missing letter in that name:
"AMHEREABESLANE

(Here I am, Abe Slaney.)
"I've been able to explain the second sentence, because now I have a lot of letters. This reads like this:

"AELRIES

"In this sentence, I think it would be more interesting to add a T and a G where the letters are missing (living in Elrich), and I assume that's where the person who wrote the letter lived or the name of the hotel."

Sheriff Martin and I listened with great interest to my friend as he explained how he had found the answer, and all our doubts were answered.

"And what did you do next, sir?" asked the Inspector.

"I have every reason to conclude that Abe Slaney was an American, because Abe is spelled American, and since this chain of troubles was caused by a letter from America, I have all the more reason to conclude that this There must be a dark side to the story. The mistress had said something suggestive of the past, but she didn't want to tell her husband about it, and that's where I started thinking. So I telegraphed the NYPD yesterday, asking News about Abe Slaney from a friend named Wilson Hargreave. This friend has more than once made use of what I know about crime in London.

"He called me back and said, 'This man is the most dangerous liar in Chicago.' On the very night I got the call back, Mr. Hilton Cupid sent me the last little figure of Abe Slaney, using my The known letters solve the following:

"ELSIEREARETOMEETHYGO Add P and D and the sentence is complete: Elsie, get ready to go to God! This shows that the bastard has changed from persuasion to menace. I know the gang in Chicago well, so I think he will quickly turn his words into reality.

"I resolved to come here at once with my friend Watson, but unfortunately when we arrived the worst happened."

"It's a great honor to be able to handle the case with you." The sheriff said enthusiastically, "However, to be honest, you only need to be responsible to yourself, and I must be responsible to my superiors. If Abe Slaney at Elrich Farm is really the murderer, if I let him escape here, I will definitely be punished."

"You don't have to worry, he won't escape at all."

"How do you know he won't?"

"Fleeing is tantamount to his admitting that he is the murderer."

"Then let's get him back quickly."

"Don't worry, he'll be here soon."

"Why did he come?"

"Because I wrote in my letter that he was invited."

"I can't believe it, Mr. Holmes! Why did he listen to you? Wouldn't it arouse his suspicions and make him run away?"

"Didn't I write that letter?" said Holmes. "The gentleman is on his way, if I guess correctly."

On the path outside the door, a tall, dark-skinned, handsome man was striding towards this side.He wore a gray flannel coat, a Panama hat on his head, a barbed beard, an aquiline nose, and swung a cane as he walked.

"Gentlemen," said Holmes in a low voice, "I think we'd better take cover and proceed with caution in dealing with such a dangerous man. Inspector, get your handcuffs ready. I'll have a word with him first."

We waited there in silence for a while, and the door opened and the man walked in.Holmes immediately shot him on the head with the butt of his pistol.Martin immediately handcuffed him.They moved so fast and so skillfully that the bastard was arrested before he could figure out what was going on.He stared at us with black eyes and smiled wryly.

"Gentlemen, you have won this time. I have met a powerful person. I came here because I received a letter from Mrs. Cupid. Did she participate in this? Could it be that she designed this scheme for you?"

"Mrs. Hilton Cupid is in bed badly wounded and is dying now."

The man uttered a hoarse cry that rang through the room.

"You nonsense!" he cried desperately. "Hilton was the one who was hurt, not her. Who would have hurt little Elsie? God, forgive me! I forced her, but I It will never hurt a single hair of her. Take back what you just said! Tell me she is fine!"

"She was in a really serious condition when it was found out, lying next to her husband."

He groaned sadly, leaned back on the bench, covered his face with his hands, and said nothing.After about 5 minutes, he raised his head and said to us in despair: "I don't need to hide anything from you. If I shot at a person who shot at me, it shouldn't be murder. Suppose you think I hurt Elsie, because you don't know me at all, and you don't know her. I don't think there is another man in the world who loves her as deeply as I do. Years ago, I had the right to marry her, and I made a promise to her, but why did the Englishman separate us? I was the first to have the right to marry her, and all I want is my own right."

"When she sees you for who you really are, she wants to get rid of you," said Holmes sternly. "She doesn't want to see you, and the only way she can do that is to flee America and marry a respectable English gentleman. It hurt her so much that you seduced her to abandon her beloved husband and run away with you, a wicked man, but in the end you killed a noble gentleman and forced her to kill herself, and that's what you did , you will be brought to justice, Mr Abe Slany."

"If little Elsie is dead, then what's the point of my life?" The American said, opened his hand, and looked at the piece of paper in his hand.

"Hey, sir." His eyes were full of doubts, and he asked loudly, "Aren't you scaring me! If her injury is serious, then who wrote this letter?" He threw the letter on the table superior.

"I wrote it to call you here."

"You? Except for the members of our gang, no one else knows the secret of the dancing figure. How did you write it?"

"Whoever discovers it, someone will understand it," said Holmes. "A carriage will take you to Norwich, Mr. Abe Slany. Now you may perhaps make amends for your mistake, Cupid." The wife is suspected of murdering her husband, do you know this? I have some information about you here, which can save her from criminal charges. You should at least declare to the public on her behalf that her husband's tragic death has nothing to do with her directly or indirectly. Responsibility."

"That suits me," said the American. "I think the best way to justify me is to tell the whole truth."

"I am obliged to warn you: it may be against you," cried the Inspector, in the serious spirit of the fair play of English penal law.

Slany shrugged.

"I'm willing to take the risk," he said. "Gentlemen, I'll tell you something first: I've known Elsie since she was very little. At that time, in Chicago, we formed a gang of seven, one of whom Elsie's father was our eldest. Her father was clever enough to invent the code, and unless you knew it you'd think it was a child's scribble. Elsie learned some of our way of life, but she I can't stand this kind of business. She has some money of her own, and she came to London alone when we weren't looking, and she was already engaged to me by then. .She will not tolerate my profession at all, let alone contaminate her. I only found her whereabouts after she married that Englishman. I wrote to her, but she ignored me. There was no way I could Came to England. Since writing letters was useless, I left those words where she could see them.

"I have been here for a month, and I rented a downstairs house in that farm. Every night, without anyone knowing, I freely entered and left her house, and tried every means to trick her away. When I saw her answer to what I wrote, I got anxious and started bullying her. She wrote me a letter asking me to get out of here, she said she didn't want her husband's reputation to be damaged, then she would Heartbroken. She also said she would make it clear to me at the last window at [-] a.m. if I agreed to leave here and never have anything to do again. Her husband was already asleep by then, and she went upstairs When she came down, she wanted to bribe me with money. I was so angry that I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her down from there. At this moment, her husband rushed over with a gun. Elsie collapsed on the ground in fright, and Cupid and I were really face to face. I had a gun in my hand, too, and I tried to raise it to scare him so I could run away, but he shot, but missed me , and at the same time I shot at him, and he fell. I was running from the garden in haste, when I heard the window shut behind me. Gentlemen, everything I said was true, and I afterwards I don't know anything until the young man delivers the letter, and I'm like a pig, throwing myself into the trap."

While the American was speaking, the carriage had already arrived, and there were two policemen inside. Sergeant Martin stood up and touched the man's shoulder with his hand.

"We should go, sir."

"Can I go and see Elsie first?"

"No, she has not regained consciousness. Mr. Holmes, if there is an important case next time, I hope I can meet you again." We stood at the window and watched the carriage leave.I turned and saw the wad of paper he had left on the table, the letter with which Holmes had enticed him.

"Watson, read what is written on it," said Holmes with a smile.

There wasn't a single word in the letter, just a line of dancing little people like this:

"If you will use the code I have explained," said Holmes, "you will find it interesting, 'Come here at once. No one else will write this letter, so, my dear Watson, we have finally solved the case by using these wicked villains. I think I have fulfilled my promise to you. Is it in your notebook? Added some non-trivial information?I think we should go back to Baker Street. "

One more word about the epilogue: at the Norwich Winter Trials, the American Abe Slaney was sentenced to death, but due to consideration of some mitigating circumstances and the fact that the deceased had fired the first shot, he was given a lighter sentence. Sentenced to hard labor imprisonment.As for Mrs. Cupid, it was later heard that she had regained her senses and now lived alone, devoting all her energies to helping the poor and managing her husband's estate.

cyclist following teenage girl
Between 1894 and 1901, Mr. Sherlock Holmes was very busy.In general, during these eight years, there was not a single difficult case in public affairs that Holmes did not ask for advice. In addition, there were hundreds of private cases, many of which were complicated and distinctive, and Holmes also played a big role in it.In this long continuous work many achievements have been astonishing, and some failures were inevitable.As I know so much about these cases, many of which I have personally participated in, it can be imagined that it was not easy to figure out which cases should be published.However, I can, as I have done in the past, give preference to cases not known for the ferocity of the crime, but for the cleverness and drama of the closing.And that is why I am willing to tell you about the case of Miss Violet Smith, the single cyclist in Charrington, and the bizarre end of our investigation, which ended in unexpected tragedy. Everyone listen.In fact, the case did nothing to add credit to the talents for which my companion was known, but there were some points about the case which stood out quite apart from the long criminal record from which I gathered the material for these little stories.

I went through the case records from 1895 to find out when we first heard Violet Smith talk about her, which was Saturday, April 4rd.I remember very well that Sherlock Holmes did not welcome her at the time, for at the time he was preoccupied with a particularly difficult problem confronting the famous tobacco magnate John Vincent Harden.My friend likes accuracy and concentration best, and he hates other things to disturb him the most during the process of handling a case.Even so, he was not very stubborn by nature, and it was impossible for him to refuse the visit of the slender, well-mannered, and dignified beautiful woman, and listen to her tell her tragic experience, not to mention that she personally Came to Baker Street to ask for his help and advice.In spite of Holmes' declarations that his time was short and full, it was in vain.The girl has made up her mind and must speak.Obviously, she is a person who will not give up until she achieves her goal. Unless force is used to force her to leave, other methods are impossible.Out of reluctance, Holmes forced a smile, and asked the beautiful intruder to sit down and let her tell us what happened to her.

"I suppose it cannot be that your health has been impaired," said Holmes, having looked her up and down with a keen eye. "You must be very fond of cycling, and I think you have a great deal of energy."

She looked at her feet in amazement, and I noticed that the edges of the bicycle pedals had frayed the soles of her shoes.

"Yes, I often ride a bicycle, Mr. Holmes. The reason why I am here today has a lot to do with it."

My friend suddenly grabbed the girl's ungloved hand and examined it intently and impassively, like a scientist examining a specimen.

"I'm sure you won't blame me. It's my professional instinct," said Holmes, after putting down the girl's hand. "I almost mistaken you for a typist. I can see that you are a musician. Watson, I thought those two occupations had the same well-proportioned fingertips. However, I can see from her face that there is another kind of demeanor." The woman turned her face to the bright place quietly, "That is the typist There is no temperament at all, and I think this lady must be a musician."

"Yes, Mr. Holmes, I teach music."

"From the look of your face, you teach music in the country, don't you?"

"Yes, sir, at a place called Surrey Borders, near Farnham."

"It's a fine place, and brings to mind many interesting associations. You must remember, Watson, that it was near there that we captured the counterfeiter Archie Stamford. By the way, Miss Violet, you were there." What's wrong with you?"

The girl clearly and calmly narrated the following strange incident.

(End of this chapter)