Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter 99 The Return (10)
As for the specific reasons for my resignation, it is not only my special situation with Mr. Carruthers, but also the reappearance of that annoying Mr. Woodley.He was already frightening, but the way he looked now was even more frightening.Maybe something happened to him and he became even more unseemly.To my delight I did not meet him, he had a long talk with Carruthers, after which Mr Carruthers was very much agitated.Mr. Woodley didn't live in his house at all, and I thought he must live nearby.I saw him again this morning slinking about in the bushes.I can't express how outraged and terrified I will be in this place soon to meet that ferocious man-eating beast.How could Mr. Carruthers put up with the bastard?I think all this trouble is coming to an end.

"I believe so, Watson," replied Holmes gravely, "that there is a most insidious conspiracy about this girl, and it is our duty to go there, and to have no one disturbing her last journey." I think, Watson, that we should be there early on Saturday morning, in order to be able to secure our particular investigation without misfortune."

I don't deny that until now, I still haven't paid much attention to this case. I don't think there is any danger in it, but I just think it is a bit absurd.It's only natural for a man to like a woman and lurk around her.Had he been bolder, he could have wooed her.But when the girl approached him, he ran away, which shows that he is not a very vicious murderer.That bastard Woodley was another matter.But other than that, I don't think he ever harassed our friends.In recent days, when he was at the Carruthers' house, he must have not intruded on her.That biker was sure to be part of the weekend party, but who was he?What is he going to do?These are still vague.Holmes's expression was very serious. After he left the house, he took the pistol with him, which made me feel that there must be a hidden tragedy behind this strange incident.

After a night of heavy rain, the morning sun was so bright, and the heath bushes in the village were dotted with clumps of gorse, shining golden.For me, who is tired of the gloomy weather in London, I find it beautiful.The two of us strolled on the wide sandy road, breathing the fresh air, and the singing of birds and flowers in front of us was even more fascinating, full of vitality everywhere.From above the high road on the crooksbury hill we could see the manor house looming ominously among the old oaks.The oak tree is old, but compared with the manor it embraces, it is still much younger.Holmes pointed out a long path, like a red and yellow ribbon among brown heather and young green woods.In the distance, a small black dot was heading in the opposite direction from us.Holmes exclaimed anxiously:
"I am half an hour behind," said Holmes. "If she is sitting there, she must be trying to catch an early train. I am afraid, Watson, that we are too late to meet her. She has passed Charing." Tonton Park."

Before we knew it, we had stepped out of the high road, and the carriage was no longer in sight, but we had to speed up.He was so fast that I started to feel the disadvantages of not doing much exercise, so I had to fall behind.But Holmes had always been in good health, he was always full of energy, and he never slowed down.Suddenly, a hundred yards away from me, he threw up his hands in a disappointed gesture.At this moment the empty carriage came round the bend in the road, and the horse, dragging its bridle, came trotting in our direction.

"It's too late, Watson, it's too late . . . " he shouted into the air as I ran up to him out of breath, "I'm too foolish to think she's likely to catch the early train. Someone must have kidnapped that girl, Watson, yes, hijacking! Murder! God knows, what the hell is this? Block the road! Stop the horses quickly! By the way, come on, and see if we can Make up for the consequences of this big mistake."

We jumped into the carriage at once, Holmer turned the horse's head, gave the horse a good whip, and we hurried back in the direction of the road.As we turned the bend, with the whole of the road between the manor and the heather before us, I clung to Holmes' arm.

"That's the man!" I gasped.

A lone cyclist came toward us, head down, shoulders round, pedaling with all his might, like a race car driver.Suddenly he raised his bearded face, saw us right in front of him, jumped out of the car, his pale face contrasted sharply with his black beard.His eyes gleamed, as if in a state of overexcitement.Then he stared at us and the car with wide eyes, with a look of surprise on his face.

"Hey, stop!" he yelled at us both, putting his bicycle in the middle of the road to prevent us from passing. "How did you get this car? Stop!" He took the bicycle from his pocket. He raised his pistol and yelled, "Stop the car, or I'll shoot the horse."

Holmes, having given me the reins, sprang from the carriage.

"You are the man we are looking for. Tell me, where is Miss Violet Smith?" Holmes asked clearly.

"I still want to ask you, she was in the carriage, why is it in your hands? What did you do to her? Where is she now?"

"We saw this carriage on the road, and there was no one on it. We came back to save that girl."

"My God! what shall I do?" cried the man in despair, "they've got her, that damned Woodley and that bastard clergyman! Come on, sir, if you're really her friends, Help me to save her, then. I would die in Charington Woods."

He took the gun, and ran like mad towards a gap in the hedge, Holmes at his heels, and I, who had left my horse to graze by the road, followed me.

"Here's where they just passed," said the stranger, pointing to the footprints left on the muddy path. "Hey, wait a minute, who's in the bushes?"

It was a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed like a groom, wearing leather pants and leggings.He was lying on the ground with his knees curled up, with a horrific gash on his head.I looked at the wound and it didn't hurt the bone.

"That's Peter the groom," cried the rider, "that's the wagon he was driving, and those bastards must have pulled him off and wounded him. Let him lie here, we can't take care of him now." But we can save a woman from the worst that has ever happened to her."

We ran like crazy towards the winding path in the forest.As soon as he reached the bushes surrounding the house, Holmes stopped.

"They didn't go in at all. There's their footprints on the left. Right here, by the laurel bushes. Oh, that's right, right there."

While he was speaking, there was a woman's shriek, and from the thick green bushes in front of us there came a scream of extreme terror.Suddenly the sound disappeared, followed by a choked "cluck".

"They're at the pétanque," said the cyclist, breaking into the bushes, "these bastards! Come with me, gentlemen! It's too late! It's too late!"

We rushed into the green forest surrounded by big trees. There were three people under the big trees on the other side of the grass. Our client was among them. Her head was hanging down, she might have fainted, and her mouth was covered with a handkerchief. with.Before her was the hideous Woodley, with his legs bound and spread apart, one hand on his hip, and the other shaking his whip, looking very haughty.Between these two stood an old man with a gray beard, wearing a light tweed jacket and a white surplice.It looked like a wedding ceremony had just concluded.He pocketed the prayer book as soon as we got there, then pointed to the bastard groom's back and blessed him cheerfully.

"Are they having a wedding?" I asked out of breath.

"Come!" cried our guide, "Come!"

He charged into the clearing in the woods, with the two of us close behind.When we got to the girl, she wobbled against a tree in case she fell.The man who called himself a priest bowed low and mockingly to us.That bastard Woodley roared, laughed triumphantly, and charged us.

"Take off your beard now, Bob!" he said. "I know you, absolutely, and you've come just in time, and I'm just about to introduce you to Mrs. Woodley."

Our guide answered the bastard in his own way, pulling off his black camouflage beard and throwing it on the ground, revealing his clean-shaven khaki face.Then he pointed his gun at the young thug who was about to whip his whip at us.

"Yes," said our companion, "I am Bob Carruthers, and I want to see if the girl is doing well, and if she should be hurt in any way I shall kill myself. As I told you, if If you bother her again, what will I do. By God, I will do what I say!"

"It's too late, she has already become my wife."

"No, she's just your widow."

The shot really went off, and I saw blood spurt from the bastard's foreheart, and he yelped, staggered, and fell down.The ugly red face immediately became pale and colorless, and looked terribly horrible.The old man was still wearing his white cassock, and he opened his mouth to curse. It was really the first time I heard those swear words.He took out a pistol from his pocket, and before he could raise it, Holmes' muzzle was already aimed at him.

"Come," said my companion coldly, "put the gun down! Watson, you bring the gun! Yes, put the gun to his head! Yes, thank you very much. And Carruthers, you too Give me the gun, we must never use force again. Yes, take his gun too!"

"who are you?"

"My name is Sherlock Holmes, gentlemen."

"Oh!"

"I can tell from the expressions on your face that you may have known each other a long time ago. But before the police arrive here, I will take care of everything. Hey, you!" He was frightened towards the clearing in the woods "Come this way," cried the groom, "and ride this letter to Farnham." Holmes tore a sheet from his notebook, and scribbled on it, "Give this note to the police." Sir, I must watch over them for him until he arrives."

The dominance of Holmes dominated the tragic scene, and the men obeyed him completely.Williamson and Carruthers carried the wounded Woodley into the house, and I supported the frightened girl.The hideous wounded man was carried to the bed, and Holmes asked me to examine him.When I told him the results of the examination, he was sitting in the old-fashioned dining room, still hung with tapestries, with Williamson and Carruthers under surveillance sitting in front of him.

"He's not dead," I said.

"What!" cried Carruthers, jumping down from his chair, "I'll deal with him upstairs, and you won't tell me that pretty girl is going to suffer that bastard Woodley for the rest of his life." torture!"

"It is not necessary for you to ask," said Holmes. "She will never be his wife, for two reasons. First, we are absolutely sure of doubting Williamson's status as a clergyman."

The old bastard yelled, "I'm ordained."

"It should have been exempted a long time ago."

"Being a pastor for a day will never change for a lifetime."

"I don't think it's possible. Where is the marriage certificate?"

"Yes, it's in your pocket!"

"From this point of view, you are calculated. In any case, as long as it is a forced marriage, it is invalid and the crime is very serious. You have a lot of time to figure it out in the next ten years. For For Carruthers, you'd do better if you didn't take your gun out of your pocket."

"I'm only beginning to think so now, Mr. Holmes. But if I think of what I've done for the girl I love, I won't regret it. Do you know, Mr. Holmes? This is the first time in my life that I know what love is." The thought of her falling into the hands of some of South Africa's fiercest gangsters drives me crazy. No one from Kimberley to Johannesburg hears his name without changing their face. You may find it hard to trust me, but I I knew they bastards were hiding in this house. From the day she accepted my offer, whenever she passed here, I escorted her by bike, I always kept a certain distance from her, and wore a fake beard , lest she recognize me. Because this girl is so nice, if she knows that I am following her, I don't think she will be hired by me at my house."

"Then why didn't you tell her there was danger here?"

"Because if this is the case, wouldn't she have to leave? I don't want this to happen. No matter how she treats me, as long as she can stay at my house, I can see her pretty face every day and hear the crisp It's a beautiful sound, and I'm satisfied."

"Hey," I said, "do you think that's love? Mr. Carruthers, I think it's called egoism."

"Maybe it's both, and anyway, I don't want her to leave me. Besides, she's got these gangsters lurking around her, and she'd better have someone around her, and then I got that telegram and knew they were going to do something. "

"What telegram?"

Carruthers took the telegram from his pocket.

"This is it," he said.

The content of the telegram is very simple: the old man is dead.

"Oh!" said Holmes, "I know all that now. And I see, too, that, as you say, this telegram will really drive them to a corner. You can tell the police what you know. tell me about it.”

The fake pastor uttered a string of obscenities.

"God!" said Williamson, "if you tell the detective about us, Bob, I'll do to you what you did to Woodley. You can tell as much about the girl as you want, That's your business."

"My lord pastor, don't get excited!" said Holmes, lighting a cigarette. "This case is very unfavorable to you. It is quite clear. I just want to ask some detailed questions out of curiosity about the case. If you don't want to talk, let me do it first. You'll see in a moment that you can't keep any more secrets from you. First, the three of you came back from South Africa for a show."

"Nonsense," said Williamson. "I've never seen them two months ago, and I'm back from Africa! You meddler, you put these lies in your Let's burn it together in the pipe."

"He told the truth," said Carruthers.

"Well, both of them are from South Africa, and your amiable and respectable priest counts as a local product. They both met the girl's uncle Ralph Smith in South Africa, and think that he is not old. That's too much, and you have learned that his only niece will inherit all his property, am I correct?"

Carruthers nodded, and Williamson swore.

"You are very sure that she will be the only heir to his property, and you also know that the old man will not leave any will."

"He can neither read nor write," said Carruthers.

"So you two went all the way to find this girl. You decided that one of you would marry her and the other would get half of the spoils. For some reason, Woodley chose to be the husband. What's the matter? ?”

"When we played cards on the way back, we used the girl as a chip, and he won."

"I see. You hired that girl to be a teacher in your home in order to give Woodley opportunities. Fortunately, the girl saw that Woodley was not a good guy and didn't want to associate with him. Just at this At that time, you also fell in love with her deeply, which completely deviated from your conspiracy, and you simply couldn't bear that this girl was possessed by that hateful guy."

"Yes, actually, I really can't take it any longer."

"So you guys had a disagreement and quarreled, and he walked away in anger, thinking of his own way."

"You see, Williamson, all we have to say about this gentleman has been said, and there is not much left," cried Carruthers, with a wry smile. "Yes, we quarreled before, and he hit me. Anyway. , we were equal in fights. I never saw him after that. He knew this excommunicated priest. I saw them rent a house on this estate, which is the only way to get to the station. Way. After this, when I learned that it was dangerous, I watched her very carefully. I visited them more than once, wondering what they were doing. Just two days ago, Woodley took the share The telegram from Ralph, who is dead, came to me and asked if I would still do it as planned? I said no. He asked me if I wanted to marry the girl myself and give him half of the property. I said I would Would love to do it, but the girl wouldn't agree. Woodley said, 'Let's get her first, and she'll probably think differently about it after a while.' I said, I don't want violence means, so he acted like a rogue, kept swearing and left, and swore he would get her. She wanted to leave this weekend, and I got her a buggy , but she was still worried, so she rode up. But she set off early, and before I could catch up with her, something happened. As soon as I saw these two gentlemen drive back the carriage she was in, I knew something must have happened.”

(End of this chapter)