Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 12 Memoirs 12
"'Where's the shadow?'

"'Under the elms.'

"'How to measure it?'

"'Ten paces to the north, five paces to the east, two paces to the south, and one pace to the west, just below.'

"'Swap it for what is ours?'

"'Our everything.'

"'Why should we take it out?'

"'Because of keeping one's word.'

"'While the letter is undated, it is written in the middle of the seventeenth century, from the manner in which it is written. But I do not think that will help you very much in understanding the case,' said Musgrave.

"I said: 'It adds at least one more puzzle to us, but it looks all the more interesting because it's probably the crux of the whole case. But, Musgrave, I think you The butler is really smart, and, with all due respect, he seems to be smarter than ten generations of his master's family.'

"Musgrave said: 'Isn't this just a normal document, what's so special about it?'

"'Brenton and I consider this document to be very valuable, and it is quite possible that he saw it before he was caught by you that night.'

"'It's possible that I haven't treasured it because I don't think it's important.'

"'It seems to me that when you caught him, he was just trying to memorize the contents of the papers, and before you entered the house, he must have been comparing various maps and sketches with the originals.'

"'But what does this old custom in my family have to do with him? What's the point of this silly custom in itself?'

"I replied: 'It will be easy to find out, and we can take the train to-morrow to see it.'

"The next afternoon, we arrived in front of the old building in Helstone. It was a large house, and the long row of houses was built later, but the center of the building was the row of A relatively short house. In the middle of the row of houses is a low, heavy lintel, and the date on the lintel indicates that it was built in [-]. Experts in the construction industry say that the era is farther back than that Because it is not suitable for lighting, the old house is now only used as a storeroom and wine cellar. And two hundred yards away from the house, the small lake just mentioned lies there next to the tree-lined road.

"At this moment, I firmly believe that these three seemingly isolated mysteries are actually just three parts of one mystery. I must begin to correctly understand the meaning of the 'Musgrave Ritual'. And through this clue, I will definitely be able to figure out Clearing up the relationship between Butler Brenton and Howells, the maid. I am also convinced that the reason the butler was so anxious to peek at the phrases used in the ancient rituals was because he had actually seen them The meaning of the sentence. And what is this secret that Brenton hopes to profit from? How does it affect his results?

"It became clear to me that some phrase in the mysterious liturgical answer must have hinted at the exact location to use the survey method, and that I must first find this spot. Since Musgrave's ancestors must have intended to pass this Rites tell posterity about these issues. I now have two places in my hands: an oak tree and an elm tree. And I immediately found the largest oak tree I have ever seen when I grew up, because this ancient The tree is directly in front of the house on the left side of the driveway.

"'As the carriage passed the oak tree,' said I, 'was this oak tree when your ancestors drew up the liturgy?'

"Answered Musgrave: 'There are many who say the oak dates back to the Norman conquest of England.'

"The oak problem was solved, so I asked again: 'Where does your house grow an old elm?'

"'There used to be an old elm tree, but we have sawed it down now, because it was killed by lightning ten years ago.'

"'Then you must remember the exact location of the elm tree?'

"'certainly.'

"'And think again, do you have any old elms anywhere else in your house?'

"'There are some new elms, but none of the old ones.'

"'Let us now go and see where the old elm was.'

"We did not enter the house, and in a one-horse carriage, led by Musgrave, came to the hollow where the elm used to grow. The place was between the oak and the house, which suggested that , my speculation may be going some way.

"I asked: 'Do you know the exact height of this elm tree?'

"'Sixty-four feet.'

"I was surprised and asked: 'How do you know that?'

"'My trigonometry used to be limited to measuring heights, so I used to know exactly how tall every tree and every building was.'

"Now, I can work faster.

"I asked: 'So Brenton, the steward, must have asked you about the position and height of the elms, too.'

"Musgrave looked at me in amazement, and replied: 'When you said that, I remembered that he had indeed asked me the height of the elm tree, during the conversation between him and the groom a few months ago. in dispute.'

"Watson, this news is extremely important to me, because it shows that my deduction is correct. The sun is already westward at this time, and through calculation, I know that within an hour, the ceremony mentioned in the ceremony One condition, namely, that the sun appear above the topmost branch of the oak tree, will be fulfilled. And since the top of the tree is chosen as the pole in the ceremony, it means that the shadow of the elm must refer to the top of the shadow. Then I began to find out where the farthest point of the shadow of the elm is when the sun passes over the top of the oak."

I said, "But Holmes, you know that the elm is long gone, and your work must be difficult."

"But I thought that if Brenton could find it, so could I, and in fact it was not so difficult as I thought. Following Musgrave, I went into his study. There I A peg was whittled, and fastened to it was a long rope, which I tied knots at every yard, and then I tied the two rods together, so that their total length was six feet. .After drying, I went back to the old site of the old elm tree, at this time, I found that the sun was exactly at that specific point. Sticking the end of the fishing rod into the soil, I noted the direction of the shadow and measured the shadow The length is nine feet.

"In this way, the difficulty of calculation is reduced. Since the shadow of the measured rod is nine feet long, the elm tree which is originally 64 feet high is 96 feet high, and the direction of the shadow of the elm and the rod must be in the same direction. So I walked 96 feet and came near the heel of the wall. Just as I was driving the wooden peg, I found that there was a small cone-shaped hole two inches from me. I was so happy when I saw it, because It must have been the mark that Brenton had made while he was measuring, and I was doing the same thing with him.

"I then set my bearings with my pocket compass, and from this point I walked twenty paces north along the wall of the manor house, and drove another wooden peg to fix it. I then proceeded carefully ten paces east and four miles south. Then, I followed the instruction of the ceremonial answer, walked two steps west, and finally came to the passageway paved with stone slabs.

"It seemed as though all my previous calculations had been wrong. The setting sun was now brightly illuminating the pavement of the passage, and the old gray stone slabs used to pave the passage, although they had been trampled thin by passers-by, must have been there for many years. It has not been touched, because they are firmly cast together by cement, so Brenton must not have started here. I knocked on the stone slab, and I heard the same sound everywhere, which shows that there is indeed no cave under the stone slab. And cracks. But Musgrave immediately understood what I meant, brought the manuscript and was very excited to check the calculation results with me.

"He shouted: 'There is one sentence in the answer to the ceremony that Brenton didn't notice: 'Just below'. That is to say, under the passage.'

"I immediately overturned what I thought the sentence meant for us to dig, and said loudly: 'It turns out that there is a basement under this passage!'

"'That's right, go in through this door, and go down to the basement.'

"We went down together into the basement, and my companion lit a lantern with a match. We could clearly see that the place had been visited in the last few days.

"The short logs that were scattered on the ground before were piled up on both sides, so that there was a large space in the center of the basement. In the space, there was a large stone block with a rusty iron ring. And a thick cloth scarf made of black and white checks is still tied to the hoop.

"Called Musgrave: 'This must be Brenton's, why should the scoundrel come here?'

"After two policemen were called, and with the help of one, we seized the scarf and moved the slab aside with all our strength, and then we saw a dark cellar, into which Musgrave stuck his lantern. Searchlight, we all stare down.

"On one side of the cellar, which was seven feet deep by four feet long and wide, stood a low wooden box with brass hoops, the lid of which had been opened, and this strangely shaped old-fashioned key stuck in the lock. The wooden boards of this box have long since rotted, and the inside is covered with blue-gray wood fungus, and some old-style coins like this are scattered at the bottom, and besides, there is nothing to be seen.

"Suddenly, our eyes fell on the human-shaped thing curled up beside the wooden box. No one could recognize his identity from this distorted liver-colored face. But from the body's height, clothing and Judging from the characteristics of the hair, Musgrave still confirmed that this person was his missing housekeeper. And no strong evidence could be found on the body to prove the cause of his death, so his death gave us a mystery.

"At that time, Watson, I must admit that I was really disappointed in my work. I had naturally thought that if I could only find the place suggested by the ceremony, I would solve the case. But I still can't figure it out myself. What is the reason why the ancestors of this family valued and protected this place so much. And now the end of Brenton is self-evident, but what caused him to die here? And the missing girl did something What? I sat on a keg in the corner, trying to figure out what had happened to this whole thing.

"Brenton will not have 'personal observation errors' when he commits crimes, because he is a very smart person. When he accurately found the treasure location, he could not remove it with his own strength because the stone slab was too heavy. In this case, what measures will he take? Even if he asks a confidant outside the manor to help him, he will take a lot of risks when opening the door to let him in. Therefore, the safest way It is better to find a helper in the manor. The maid who is most likely to assist him is the maid. Although he rejected her love, as long as he shows her a few more courtesies, the two sides may reconcile. So, very soon It is possible that they went to the basement together at night and worked together to lift the slab.

"However, for a woman and a man, it is almost impossible for two people to lift the stone slab together. Because even the strong policeman and I took a lot of effort to move it away. If it can't be moved What else would Brenton do? Standing up, I looked carefully at the various short logs scattered about. Then I knew his method at once, because in a log about three feet long On the other end, there are very obvious cracks, and the sides of several pieces of wood next to it have been flattened. Obviously, they first raised the stone slab to a small gap, and then stuffed some wood to widen the gap to accommodate a The man climbs in and puts a stone against the slab to prevent the stone from falling, so that at one end of the log there is a trace left by the full weight of the stone.

"Obviously it must have been Brenton who got into the cellar. He asked the girl to wait up there, and he went in and opened the wooden box so he could give the girl what was in it, but then what happened? what?

"I guess that when this impetuous girl saw Brenton begging her for help, she must have dropped the log for revenge, but she may have concealed the fact that she dropped the stone and suffocated Brenton in the tomb. The truth. I seem to have seen a woman grabbing a treasure and running desperately down the stairs to the ground, ignoring the cries for help and the sound of beating stone slabs behind her.

"It's no wonder that the next day people saw her trembling, pale, and always laughing wildly. It turned out that she had smothered the wicked person to death. As for the things in the box, she would throw them into the lake whenever she got a chance. The loot was wiped out, and my friend actually found them.

"I sat motionless for twenty-one minutes thinking about the whole thing. Meanwhile Musgrave was swinging his lantern and peering into the cave.

"He picked up some coins from the wooden box and said: 'We are right about the date of the writing of the liturgy, and see, these are coins from the time of Charles I.'

"Hearing what he said, I immediately thought of the meaning of the first two sentences of the ceremony, and shouted loudly: 'Come and see what's in the several bags you fished out of the lake. Something from the time of Charles I.'

"Back in the study, he showed me the things he didn't pay much attention to. I picked up a piece of metal that had turned black long ago, wiped it with my sleeve, and it glowed golden like sparks. Its shape was folded Twisted double ring.

"I said: 'You must know that the Royalists fought armed revolts all over the country after the death of King Charles I and failed, so it is probable that they have buried a great deal of treasure to be dug up in peacetime.'

"My friend said: 'It is true that my ancestor Sir Ralph Musgrave was a famous Royalist, and he was an assistant to Charles II when he fled!'

"I replied: 'Here it is, we have now finally found what we were looking for. Tragic as its acquisition was, it is indeed a priceless relic of great historical importance!'

"Musgrave was astonished, and asked, 'But what is it?'

"'It is a crown of old England!'

"'crown!'

"'You see, in that ceremonial answer it says 'Whose is it? The man who is gone!' It means that Charles I was put to death. And 'Who deserves it? The man who is coming soon.' "This is Charles II. For your ancestors must have foreseen that Charles II would come to this estate. So this dilapidated crown must have been worn by the Stuart kings!" '

"'Then how did it get into the lake?'

"So I spent a lot of time talking to him.

"Musgrave put the relic back into the bag and asked: 'But why didn't Charles II come to ask for his crown when he returned home?'

"'I can't answer that. Perhaps your ancestor who knew the secret had just died when he came; up to the secret.'

"That's the story of the Musgrave ceremony, Watson. I left the crown after a lot of trouble and money. And the woman was never heard from again, and may have left England in guilt. gone."

(End of this chapter)