Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 27 Return 3
In his hand he held what appeared to be a walking stick, which he lowered to the floor with a metallic clang.He took a large chunk out of his coat pocket, fiddled with it, and finally clicked.He was still kneeling on the floor, bent over and pressed all his strength on some lever, there was a sound of rotation and friction, and finally another click.So he straightened up, and I realized that what he was holding was a gun with an unusually shaped buttstock.He opened the breech of the gun, put something in it, and snapped the bolt on again.He rested the barrel on the windowsill, and I saw his shining eyes staring at the sights.I heard a sigh of satisfaction as he pressed the butt of the gun against his right shoulder.He saw the figure reflected on the yellow curtain, exposed in front of the gun without any disguise.After pausing for a moment, he pulled the trigger, followed by a series of crisp shattering sounds of glass.At the same moment Holmes sprang swiftly at the shooter.The shooter fell.He hastily got up and grabbed Holmes by the throat.He fell to the floor with a bang as I hit him on the head with the butt of the pistol.I swooped in and held him down, and my friend blew a screeching siren.Two uniformed policemen and a plainclothes detective rushed in.

"Remired, is that you?"

"Yes, Mr. Holmes. Pleased to know you are back in London, sir."

"I think a little unofficial help works. You can't go unsolved three murders a year, Remy Reade. You handled the Morzi case very well."

Everyone stood up.On either side stood a tall police prisoner panting.Ray Mired lit two candles, and the policemen lit their lanterns, and I finally got a glimpse of our prisoner.

A face full of energy and menacing cunning is upon us.He fixed Holmes' face with hatred and surprise in his eyes. "You devil, you cunning devil," he kept bellowing.

"Ah, my Colonel!" said Holmes, straightening his ruffled collar. "'It's not that enemies don't get together.' I haven't seen him since your attention on the cliffs of the Reichenbach Falls." you."

The colonel stared intently at my friend like a man in a trance. "You cunning devil!"

My friend said: "Gentlemen, this Colonel is Sebastian Moran, who formerly served in Her Majesty's Indian Army and is one of the greatest archers in our Eastern Empire. He is as good as ever in tiger hunting. is unique!"

This vicious old man just stared at my partner with wide eyes.

"It is strange that such a good hunter should have been deceived by such a simple ruse of mine," said Holmes. "You have also tied a lamb under a tree, and you have hidden yourself in the tree with a rifle. Wait for the lamb to lure the tiger. Today this house is my tree, and you are the tiger I want to shoot. You may have a few spare guns in case there are multiple tigers, or if you don’t aim well, And that's impossible. They're all my backup guns." He gestured to the people around him.

Colonel Moran rushed forward, roaring, but two policemen dragged him back.There was a frightening look of anger on his face.

"But one trick of yours certainly surprised me," said Holmes. "I did not expect you to take advantage of this empty house and this convenient front window."

Colonel Moran turned angrily to the official detective.

He said: "You have no reason for me to be taunted by him. If I am breaking the law now, please do it!"

"You are right," said Remy Read. "Mr. Holmes, do you have anything else to say before we go?" Holmes had picked up the extremely powerful air gun from the floor long ago, and was Watching intently.

He said: "The gun specially made for Professor Moriarty by the blind German craftsman von Heidel has existed for many years, but he has never had the opportunity to play with it. Remy Reid, I especially put this gun The gun, and the bullets that go with it, are all handed over to you."

"Leave it to us, and you can rest assured, Mr. Holmes." Remy Read said.At this time, everyone walked towards the door, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"What charges are you going to charge him with?"

"What charge?" one of the policemen asked.

"An attempted murder of Mr. Holmes, of course," said Remy Read.

"That's not right, Remired. I have no intention of making a public appearance on this matter. It's your fault that he was caught. I want to congratulate you, Remired!"

"Who has been caught, Mr. Holmes?"

"Colonel Moran was the man whom the police had been looking for but could not find. On the 30th of last month he pointed at the front window on the second floor of 427 Park Road and killed Ronald Adair. Now, Watson , let's go to the study to smoke a cigar, stay for half an hour, and have fun."

Under Mycroft's supervision and Mrs. Hudson's direct care, our old house remained as it had been.As soon as I entered the house, I noticed that it was very tidy.Here is where the chemical experiments are done, on a pine table that has been stained with acid; over there, there is a row of large scrapbooks and reference books on shelves.I looked around and saw that the wall charts, the violin case, the pipe rack, and even the Persian slippers with shredded tobacco were all in the same place.Two people had already entered the room: the smiling Mrs. Hudson, and the indifferent dummy who had done so much to this day.This wax figure, placed on a small shelf, is very realistic in his old pajamas.

"Is everything going well, Mrs. Hudson?"

"I did it on my knees, as you ordered, sir."

"Very well, you did a pretty good job. Where did the bullet hit?" "The bullet hit the head just right, and then smashed against the wall. Here I found it on the carpet."

My friend handed me the bullet. "What a marvelous lead-tipped revolver. Well, thank you for your help. Now, Watson, I beg you to remain in your old seat, and I would like to discuss a few matters with you."

He took off the old frock coat and put on taupe pajamas from the wax figure.

"What a good old hunter, Moran!" he laughed, inspecting the broken forehead of the wax figure. "He used to be the best shooter in India, and I don't think there is anyone better than him in London now. Listen. Did you say his name?"

"No."

"Look, that's called being famous! But, if I remember correctly, you've heard of James Moriarty in the past, and he's definitely one of the great men of this century. Take my Take this biographical index from the shelf."

He leaned back easily in his chair, puffing on his cigar and flipping through his notes.

"These materials I collected in Department M are okay. No matter where they are placed, Moriarty is a unique person. This is the cunning poisoner Morgan, this is the notorious Meridius, and Matthew S - he knocked out my left canine in the waiting room in Charing Cross Square. The guy we saw tonight was the last of them."

The notebook he handed me read:

Colonel Sebastiani Moran, unprofessional, served in the 1840st Bangalore Engineer Regiment. Born in London in 1881, he was the son of Sir Augustus Moran, former British Minister to Persia.Educated at Eton College and Oxford University.Participated in the Battle of Chawaki, the Battle of Afghanistan, and served in Charasi Abu (Dispatch), Shepur, and Kabul.Author of "Great Game in the Western Himalayas" (1884), "Three Months in the Jungle" ([-]).Live on Pipeline Street.Participated in three clubs: British Indian Club, Tankville Club, Baggetal Card Club.

Holmes put a marginal note in the margin: The second most insidious and cunning man in London.

"Oddly enough," I said, handing him back the book, "that this man is quite a soldier."

Holmes replied: "In a way he did a very good job. He was very brave. The story of him climbing into a ditch to chase a wounded man-eating tiger is a household name in India. Watson, when he grows to a certain height Sometimes, some woods will suddenly grow into strange shapes. This often occurs in some people. That is, the individual reproduces the entire development process of his ancestors in the development, and suddenly becomes worse or better like him. , some influence in his family came out. He became a microfilm of his family."

"Your idea is really hard to understand."

"I don't know why, Colonel Moran began to degenerate. Although he didn't do anything to make a fool of himself in India, he didn't stay there all the time. After he retired, he returned to London and became notorious. At this time, Mori He was picked by Professor Arty, who was once Moriarty's chief of staff. Moriarty was generous with him, but only used him for a case or two that no ordinary gangster could afford. You may remember 1887 That murder of Mrs. Stewart in Lord. I think Moran must have been the mastermind, only we had no evidence against him when the Moriarty gang was busted. Remember? I went to see you that night, just in case Air gun, I closed the shutter. Because I already knew that there was such an unusual gun, and there was a gunner who was the first in the world. When we were in Switzerland, he and Moriarty were on the trail together Us. Obviously he was responsible for my nightmarish 5 minutes on the Reichenbach cliffs.

"When I was in France, I kept an eye on the newspapers, looking for a chance to overpower him. His shadow haunted me all day, because sooner or later he would find a chance to kill me. How should I deal with him? Shot him as soon as I saw him, then I would have to go to court, no need to ask the mayor for help. So I couldn't sleep or eat. Then I saw the news of Ronald Adel's tragic death. I knew the opportunity At last it came. It was shown that it was Colonel Moran. He played cards with the young man, followed him from the club to his house, and shot him through the open window. It was obvious. By This bullet will sentence him to death. I returned to London immediately, and the sentry found me. He reported my appearance to Colonel Moran. The colonel connected his crime with my sudden return. He was terrified. I figured he'd try to kill me right away, and he'd reuse the weapon for that. I put an obvious target in the window, and gave Scotland Yard advance notice that they might need their help (yes Now, Watson, didn't you see them staying in the doorway?), and then found a surveillance point that I thought was safe, but I didn't expect him to choose that place to attack me."

I said at once, "Quickly, then, explain why Colonel Moran killed Ronald Adair."

"Ah, my dear Watson, we are left to speculate on the reasons for this, but in this respect even the most logical mind may err. Every one may make a hypothesis on the basis of the available evidence."

"So, what's your hypothesis?"

"Actually, this case is not difficult. The testimony proves that Colonel Moran won more than 400 pounds with the young Adel. Obviously Moran cheated - on the day Adel was killed, Adel found Moran cheating and probably talked to Moran in private, and threatened to expose him unless he voluntarily quit the club forever. It stands to reason that it is unlikely that Adel would immediately expose the well-known and much older man. Moran. Presumably he did as I surmised. But for Moran, who made his living at poker, quitting the club was tantamount to ruin. So he shot Adel, who was calculating his How much money will be refunded, because he doesn't want to profit from his partner's cheating. In order to prevent his mother and sister from suddenly coming in and forcing him to tell what the names and coins are for, he locked the door behind him. Is that reasonable?"

"I think you've probably told the whole truth about it."

"The trial will either prove or disprove my theory. However, Colonel Moran will never bother us any more. Von Herdel's marvelous air gun will grace the Scotland Yard Museum, and I can devote myself to Investigating the interesting little questions raised by the intricacies of London life."

(End of this chapter)