Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 40 Return 16
He said, "I agree with both of your arguments. This notebook has changed my opinion. Have you investigated the securities mentioned in the notebook?"

"There is an investigation going on, but I think more than half of the owners of these shares are in South America, so it will be a few weeks before we know what happened to those shares."

Holmes examined the cover of the notebook with a magnifying glass.

"It's a bit dirty in here," he said.

"Yes, sir, there is blood on it. I picked it up from the floor."

"Which side of the book did the blood drip?"

"The side next to the floor."

"This would suggest that the notebook was dropped after the murder."

"Exactly, sir, and I think it was dropped by the door in the haste of the murderer's flight."

"There is no estate of the deceased in these securities, is there?"

"Yes, not at all."

"Have you any proof that this is a robbery-murder case?"

"No, sir. Because nothing has been touched."

"That's an interesting case. There's a knife there, isn't there?"

"It was a knife, still in its sheath, lying at the dead man's feet. Mrs. Garry certifies that it belonged to her husband."

Holmes was at once lost in thought.

After a while he added: "I want to check it out myself."

Inspector Hopkins exclaimed joyfully:

"Thank you, sir, this will greatly relieve my psychological pressure."

Holmes waved his hand gently at him.

He said, "It would have been easy a week ago, and now you'll probably get nothing. Hopkins, we'll go to Forest House in a little while."

We alighted at a little post-house by the road, and in a clearing on the slope of a hill stood a long, low stone house.There was a hut near the main road, and that was where the murder took place.

Once inside the house, the sheriff introduced us to a gaunt, gray-haired woman, the victim's widow.With her was her daughter, a pale young girl with fair hair.Speaking of her father's death, she was very happy, and she said that she wanted to bless the murderer who killed her father.Black Peter has made his home very ugly, and his home has a sense of depression. After we left his house, we walked along a path across the field, which Black Peter himself had stamped out with his feet. .

The house is built of wood, with one window near the door and another window at the end.Stanley Hopkins took the key from his pocket, bent over the lock, and stopped suddenly.

"The door was broken by someone else."

This fact cannot be disputed.There were knife marks on the wooden part of the door, and the paint on it was scratched white, as if it had just been scraped.Holmes had been examining the windows.

"Someone still wants to get in through the window. Whoever it is, he didn't achieve his goal anyway."

"This is something extraordinary. I could have sworn there was no sign of it here last night," the sheriff said.

I reminded: "Maybe it was done by those curious people in the village."

"They dare not come here, let alone break into the cottage. What do you think of that, Mr. Holmes?"

"Looks like we're lucky."

"You mean the man will come again?"

"Probably, the door was closed when he came, so he tried to pry it open. He couldn't get in. What will he do?"

"Will come again with more applicable tools."

"I think so too. We'd be wrong not to wait here for him. Let me first see what's going on in the house."

The traces of the incident have been cleaned up, but the furniture in the house is still in place.Holmes carefully examined each item for two hours, but his face told me that I was not successful.There was a pause in the middle of his patient examination.

"Hopkins, did you take anything from this shelf?"

"No, I haven't moved anything."

"Something must have been taken. A book lying flat, perhaps, or a small case. Well, the inspection is over. Watson, let us enjoy the singing of the grove. Hopkins , Let’s meet here tonight to see if we can meet the gentleman who came here last night.”

When we set up a simple ambush, it was already past 11 o'clock at night.Sheriff Hopkins advocated opening the door of the cabin, which Holmes believed would arouse the stranger's suspicions.Because as long as a small, stronger iron lock can be opened.Holmes also advocated waiting outside the house.If the man lights a lamp, we shall see him, and see the purpose of his stealth at night.

We crouched in the bushes, waiting for whatever might happen, without making a sound, of course.

It was 02:30 in the morning when we were all startled by a low, high-pitched ticking sound from the gate.After a period of silence, there was the sound of light footsteps from the other side of the hut, and from there came the grinding and clanging of metal objects a moment later.The man is trying to open the lock.This time his skill or tool was better than last time, for the door was opened a moment later, and we heard the creak of the hinges.The man then struck a match, and the candle lit the interior of the hut.We stared at the scene inside the house.

The young man was emaciated, and his deathly pale face grew paler.He was just over 20 years old, and he was frightened and frightened, his teeth were obviously chattering constantly, and his limbs were shaking.He stared around in horror, then he put the stub of the candle on the table, and went into a corner, and then we lost sight of him.After a while he came back with a large book, which was one of the rows of logbooks on the shelves.He leaned on the table and flipped through it quickly until he found the item he was looking for.He clenched his fists in an angry motion, then closed the book again, and put it back in its place. Before he could get out of the cabin, Hopkins' hand seized the collar.He shivered and curled up under the detective's watch.

Stanley Hopkins asked sharply, "My good man, who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man pulled himself together, tried to stay calm, and watched us.

He said: "Don't think I have anything to do with Captain Gary's death, I have a very clean slate."

Hopkins said, "We'll figure this out step by step. Let us know your name first?"

"John Hopeley Nelgan."

Holmes and the Inspector exchanged a quick glance.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have my secret, are you worthy of my trust?"

"No, you don't have to."

"Then I don't need to tell you."

"But if you don't answer, you will be at a very disadvantage when you stand trial."

"Well, then, I'll tell you that there's no need to hide it anyway. But I hate to let the old gossip go round again. Have you ever heard of Dowson and Nergan's?"

Hopkins had never heard of it, as could be judged from the bewildered look on his face, while Holmes seemed interested.

He said: "Are you talking about the West Bankers, sir? They've lost a million pounds and half the households in Cornwall have been bankrupted, and Nergan has disappeared."

"Yes, I am the son of Nergen."

We've finally got something for sure, but what's the inner connection between an absconding banker and a Black Peter harpooned to a wall? We're all listening to this young man .

"This matter mainly concerned my father because Dowson had retired. I had just turned ten years old at the time, and I could already feel the shame and fear of this incident in my surroundings. People rushed Alleging that my father stole all the securities and ran away. This is not consistent with the facts. My father deeply believed that if he was given some time to convert the securities into money, everything would be fine and he would be able to return the money. All debts cleared. Father ran off to Norway on his small yacht just before he was arrested. I still see him saying goodbye to my mother. He gave us a copy of the securities he took List, and vowed to come back to clear his name, he didn't want those who trusted him to be implicated. But since he was gone, we have never heard from him. We all think he and his yacht and all the securities he took away I have been buried in the sea. But a businessman friend of ours saw the securities my father took away in the London market. My mother and I were very surprised. I immediately set out to trace the source of the securities. After many twists and turns and difficulties, I It was discovered that the owner of the house, Captain Peter Gary, had originally sold the securities.

"On investigation I found out that he had been captain of a whaling ship which happened to be returning from the Arctic Ocean while my father was crossing to Norway. It was a very stormy autumn, with strong winds blowing from the south, and it is likely that my father's yacht Blown to the north and met Captain Gary's ship. If my assumption is correct, what happened to my father? Anyway, if I can get the truth out of Peter Gary's mouth, why the securities are showing up in the market In fact, it can prove that my father did not sell these securities and when he took them, it was not to make a fortune for himself.

"I have come here to see the captain, at exactly the time when this unfortunate murder took place. I have learned from the post-mortem report that the ship's logbook is still kept in this cabin. I Thought if I could see what happened aboard the Unicorn of the Seas in August 1883, I could solve the mystery of my father's disappearance. I was trying to get the logbook last night, but the door couldn't open Open, so I came again tonight, I found the logbook, but those records in August were all torn up by others, and I was caught by you at this time."

Hopkins asked, "Is that the whole truth?"

"Yes, that's the whole truth."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

He hesitated.

"Nothing."

"Have you been here before last night?"

"No."

Hopkins held up the notebook, which had some blood on its skin and the man's initials on the first page, and exclaimed, "So how do you explain that?"

He covered his face with his hands and trembled all over.

He said bitterly: "Where did you get this notebook? I thought I left him in the hotel."

Hopkins said sharply: "That will be enough. Now you and I will go to the police station. Mr. Holmes, I express my heartfelt thanks to you and your friend for coming here to help. It turns out that I can successfully close the case without you." , but I still want to thank you. We can go back to the village."

The next morning we drove back to London in a carriage. On the way Holmes asked me: "What do you think of this matter, Watson?"

"I can see that you are not satisfied."

"Oh, Watson, you are mistaken, and I am quite satisfied. I may not approve of Stanley Hopkin's methods. I would have thought he would have handled it better. A detective should always seek The second possibility, and the fact that there is such a possibility, is the most important one in investigating cases."

"Then is there a second possibility in this case?"

"I have been conducting continuous investigations on this possibility, and I may not get a result. It is still difficult for me to say, but at least I will carry it through to the end."

There were several letters from Mr. Holmes in the Baker Street lodgings, and he opened one of them, with a faint cry of triumph.

(End of this chapter)