Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 2 Memoirs 2
"Then what accounts for Strike's wound?"

"That's what he did when he fell to the ground."

"So the case is against Simpson."

"Needless to say, Simpson had no knife, much less a wound. But he valued the missing horse very much, and was suspected of poisoning the stable boy. He carried a heavy cane with him when he went out that night, and at the same time he The silk tie he wore was also in the victim's hands, which is very bad for him, and I think it is entirely possible to sue him."

Holmes shook his head and said: "The evidence can be completely refuted by a capable lawyer. Why did he steal the horse from the stable? Wouldn't it be easier to kill the horse in the stable? Has the key to the stable been found on him? He Where did he get the strong narcotic? Where could he, a stranger, hide the horse? And what about the paper he wanted the maid to give to the stableman?"

"He does have a ten-pound note in his purse, but that's all very well. He comes to Tavistock twice a summer, so he's not a stranger. He can bring Narcotics. And that key may have been thrown away by him long ago. As for the famous horse, it may be in a pit or an old mine in the wilderness."

"How about that tie?"

"He said the tie was lost long ago. But one fact is enough to prove that he brought the horse."

Holmes listened.

"There was a group of gypsies who were within a mile of the murder on Monday night, and they were gone by Tuesday. If there was some kind of agreement between the gypsies and Simpson, Simpson could have put the horses in Give it to the gypsies to avoid pursuit, and the famous horse may still be in the hands of the gypsies."

"It's entirely possible."

"We're doing everything we can to find these gypsies, and I've searched every stable and cottage within ten miles of Tavistock."

"I've heard there's probably another riding stable in the vicinity."

"Yes, their Desborough is the No. 2 horse in the betting. We would be wrong to ignore the positive effect of the disappearance of the silver white horse on them. I heard that the trainer Silas Brown was betting on the horse race. Big bets were made, and he and Strike were not on good terms. But by examining the stables, we didn't see him having anything to do with it."

"Has Simpson no interest in the Mapleton Stables?"

"Totally irrelevant."

The conversation was interrupted, and Holmes leaned back in the seat. A few minutes later, the carriage pulled up in front of a small red brick villa with long eaves. To the west, some stables of Mapleton shaded the moor.We all jumped out of the car.Holmes, on the other hand, was still leaning back on the back of the carriage, motionless and contemplative. I went over and touched him, and he jumped out of the carriage.

Holmes turned to Colonel Ross, who was looking at him in amazement.Holmes said: "Excuse me, I am imagining." His eyes were shining strangely, and he was trying to suppress his excitement. I knew he had a clue, but I didn't know how he found it.

Gregory said: "Mr. Holmes, I take it you want to go to the scene at once?"

"Has Strike's body been carried here? I think I'll have a little problem or two to clear up before going to the scene."

"The body is upstairs and the post-mortem will be done tomorrow."

"Colonel Ross, has he worked for you for many years?"

"Yes, he was an excellent servant."

"It goes without saying, Sheriff, that you have checked the pockets and made the list, have you not?"

"Go to the living room and see, everything is there."

"Great!"

We sat down around a table in the middle of the lobby.Opening a square tin box, the sheriff took out the items.They consisted of: a box of matches, a two-inch candle, an APP pipe made of heather root, a sealskin pipe, five gold one-pound pieces, an aluminum pencil case, some blank sheets of paper, An ivory-handled pocket knife with a sharp blade and engraved with the words of Shens & Co. of London.

Holmes picked up the knife and looked it over for a while, then said: "This knife is very strange. There are bloodstains on it. I think it is the knife held by the deceased. Watson, come and see if you are familiar with this knife?"

"This is the eye shadow knife commonly used by doctors." I said.

"I think so, but isn't it strange that a person goes out in a rainstorm with such an extremely sharp knife suitable for precision surgery, but doesn't put it in his pocket?"

"Near his body we also found the round cork sheath of the pocketknife. It wasn't exactly a handy weapon, but it was probably the best weapon he could find at the time," the sheriff said.

"That's perfectly possible, but how does the paper explain it?"

"Three are receipts from the grass seller, one is a letter of instruction from Colonel Ross to him, and the other is a note from Mrs. Lesurier of Bond Street to Mr. William Debish, worth 37 pounds [-]." Invoices for women's clothing in shillings. Mrs. Straker told us that Mr. Derbyss was a friend of her husband's, and letters were sometimes sent to him."

Holmes looked at the invoice and said, "Mrs. Debugs, thirty-seven pounds fifteen shillings is not cheap, but we can go to the place now."

Stepping out of the living room, we saw a thin, haggard woman waiting for us in the hallway.Stepping forward, she pulled the sheriff's sleeve with her hand.

"Caught them? Did you find them?" she said nervously.

"Mrs. Straker, we have not found the murderer. Mr. Holmes from London will give us a lot of help, and we will try our best."

"Mrs. Straker, I must have seen you not long ago in a park in Plymouth," said Holmes.

"Impossible, sir, you must be mistaken!"

"I'll bet you were wearing a light gray overcoat trimmed with ostrich feathers."

"But sir, I have never had a dress like this," replied the woman.

"Ah, that makes it clear," said Holmes, apologetically, and followed the sheriff to the spot where the body had been found, where the overcoat had hung on the gorse bushes by the side of the pit.

"I hear there was no wind that night," said Holmes.

"Yes, but it rained heavily."

"If so, someone must have put that coat here."

"Yes, someone did hang clothes on the gorse bushes."

"There's a lot of footsteps here, a lot of people must have been here since Monday night."

"We all stood on a straw mat that was placed next to the body."

"great."

"In the bag are one of Fitzroy Simpson's shoes, a shoe of the silver white-fronted horse, and one of Strike's boots."

"My dear Sheriff, you are very clever." Holmes took the bag, pulled the straw mat into the middle, climbed onto the mat, and carefully inspected the trampled earth.He suddenly exclaimed: "Ha! What is this?" It turned out that he found a half-burnt wax match with mud on it. At first glance, it looked like a small stick.

"I didn't see it," said the sheriff dejectedly.

"I found it by looking for it on purpose."

"What, did you expect to find this?"

"I don't think it's impossible."

Holmes carefully compared the boots in the bag with the footprints on the ground, then climbed to the edge of the pit again, and advanced slowly among the ferns and gorse bushes.

"We've searched the area within a hundred yards, so I'm afraid we won't find any more traces here," said the sheriff.

Holmes stood up and said, "Now that you say so, I need not do it again. But I would like to take a walk on the moor before dark, so that when I come tomorrow I will have a good idea of ​​the terrain. For the sake of luck, I should Put this horseshoe in your pocket."

Colonel Ross was very dissatisfied with Holmes's leisurely and step-by-step working method.He looked at his watch and said, "Sheriff, I think it would be better for you to come back with me. I would like to consult your opinion on several issues, in particular, whether we should make a public statement to cancel the horse." eligibility for the competition."

Holmes immediately said loudly and decisively: "No need, I must find a way to get him to participate in the competition."

The colonel nodded and said: "Sir, I'm very glad to hear your opinion. After you finish your walk in the wilderness, please go to poor Straker's house, and then we will go to Tavistock together."

After Colonel Ross and the Sheriff had gone, Holmes and I walked on the moor.The broad plain was golden, and the sun was setting behind Mapleton's stables.Holmes, on the other hand, had no time to appreciate it, and fell into deep thought.

At last he said: "Well, Watson. Let us imagine that after the tragedy, the horse escapes. Where can it slip away? According to the gregarious nature of horses, it will either return to the Kings Pilling Stables, or It will be at the Mapleton Stables. After all, it will not run wild on the moor. If so, others will find it, and why do gypsies kidnap horses? Such people do not want to escape the police. How can you steal such a famous horse if it is too late? You must take a lot of risks to carry it and you may get nothing."

"Where did you say the horse was?"

"Didn't I already tell you that if it's not in King's Pillane, it must be in Mapleton. Let's look at the hypothetical. The Sheriff has said the soil is dry and hard here, but the terrain toward Mapleton is Lower and lower, the ground must be wet on a Monday night. The famous horse must have passed there, and we can certainly find his footprints there."

We walked and talked happily, and after a while, we came to what we called a depression.I went to the right and he himself walked away to the left.Before I had walked fifty steps, I heard him calling me and waving to me.Sure enough, there were some obvious horseshoe prints in the soft soil in front of him, and these hoof prints were in perfect agreement with the horseshoes in Holmes' bag.

"You see the importance of conjectures," said Holmes. "That's what Gregory lacked. Now that the conjectures are correct, let's get on with it!"

After a quarter mile of dry grass through the wet lowlands, the terrain began to slope downwards.We have rediscovered the horseshoe prints.After the next half a mile or so the tracks were broken off again, and near Mapleton we saw them again.Holmes' face beamed with triumph.And next to the horseshoe prints, we found the footprints of a man very clearly.

"It looks like the horse moved on its own at first," I said.

"Exactly, hey, what's going on here?"

It turned out that both tracks turned abruptly back in the direction of Kings Piran, and we had to follow again.Holmes kept staring at the footprints, and I looked aside indifferently, and was surprised to find that the footprints had returned to the original direction.

When I pointed it out to Holmes, he said, "Excellent, Watson! This will save us a lot of running, and let us take the retracement!"

We did not go far before we found our tracks broken off on the asphalt to the Mapleton stable gate, and as we approached a groom ran out."No outsiders are allowed to stay here," he said.

Holmes said: "I just want to ask, if I call on your master, Mr. Silas Brown, at five o'clock tomorrow morning, will you think it is too early?"

"Oh, sir, he'll see you even then. The reason is he's always the first to get up. Why, he's here, you go ask him. No, sir, if he sees me taking your money , I should be kicked out, if you give me, please wait a while."

Hearing this, Holmes put back into his pocket the one and a half crowns which he was about to take out.A ferocious-looking old man strode out from the door, waving a hunting whip in his hand.

He yelled, "Dawson, what are you doing?! Go about your business! No gossip! What are you doing?"

"Oh, my dear sir," said Holmes leisurely, "we just want to talk to you for ten minutes."

"Outsiders are not allowed to stay here, and I don't have time to talk to idlers! If you don't leave, I will let the dogs go!"

At this moment, Holmes came forward to whisper something to him, and he suddenly jumped up, blushing and shouting, "You are lying!"

"Very well, shall we argue here in public, or shall we discuss it in your living room?"

"If you like, please go to the living room."

Holmes smiled and said, "I will not keep you waiting, Watson. I am at your command, Mr. Brown."

When the two of them walked out 20 minutes later, it was already dark.To tell the truth, I never saw a man so transformed in an instant as Silas Brown.His forehead was covered with beads of sweat, his face was pale, his hands trembled, and the hunting whip in his hand swayed like a twig in the wind.He cringed at Holmes' side like a pug.

He said: "Your instructions must be followed, and they must be followed exactly."

Holmes turned his head and said, "I promise there will be no mistakes." But he became trembling as if he was afraid of Holmes' magical gaze.

"Ah, yes, guaranteed to make no mistakes, guaranteed to play, shall I change it?"

After thinking for a while, Holmes laughed loudly, and said, "Don't bother. I'll let you know and don't make trouble, otherwise..."

"Oh, please believe me, please believe me!"

"Well, you must listen to my news tomorrow, and I can trust you." Brown stretched out his hand tremblingly, and Holmes turned and walked towards King Spillane.

When we returned wearily, Holmes said: "Seldom have I seen such a man as courageous at one moment, and at the same time as cowardly and servile as Silas Brown!"

(End of this chapter)