Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 43 Return 19
"We should be very careful," said Holmes. "The letters are locked in the safe in the fellow's study, which is in the antechamber of his bedroom. But he sleeps very badly," said Agatha, my fiancée, in the servant's office. In private conversation, jokes about not being able to wake up the master. He has a secretary who never leaves the study during the day. We can only go in at night. He has a ferocious dog. The last two nights Agatha and I have had a great date. In the evening, she locked up the dog so that I could go away cleanly. This is the house, the big house in the yard. See, there is no light in the house at this time, and everything is going smoothly. In progress."

Putting on our silk masks, we quietly approached the house.

"That's his bedroom," said Holmes in a low voice. "The door opens onto the study. It suits us best, but the door is locked and bolted, and it would be very difficult to pry it open." Loud voice. Come here, here is a greenhouse with the door facing the living room."

The greenhouse was also locked, and Holmes easily removed a circle of glass, and then unlocked it from the inside.After entering, he closed the door behind him.He has a special ability to see things in the dark, which he only possesses after careful training.While holding my hand, he opened a door.We entered a large room where someone had just had a cigar.He opened another door, and then he closed it behind him.I reached out and found some tops hanging on the wall, which meant we were in the hallway.After crossing the passage, my companion gently opened a door on the right hand side.This house is on fire.Holmes entered on tiptoe, and when I had entered, he closed the door softly again.We were now in Milverton's study, opposite a curtain which led to his bedroom.

The fire was hot enough to light up the whole house.There was a thick curtain beside the fireplace, covering the bay window--the one we saw outside.On the other side of the fireplace, there is also a door leading to the balcony.There is a desk in the middle of the room, and a large bookcase opposite the desk.In the corner between the bookcase and the wall stood a tall green safe, and my friend slid over to it and examined it warily.Then, he ran to the door of the bedroom and stood there listening for a while, but he didn't hear anything.Then it occurred to me that the outer door would be a good way of retreat, so I went to examine the door, and found it neither bar nor locked.I touched Holmes on the arm as a gesture, and he turned his masked face and glanced in the direction of the door.

He whispered next to my ear, "This is not good, but I don't quite understand what you mean yet. Anyway, we must hurry up."

"What should I do?"

"Stand by the door, and if you hear someone coming, bolt the door from the inside, and we can go back the way we came. If it comes from the passage we came from, we can go out through this door after we finish our business. We're hiding behind the curtains in the bay window when we're not done. Got it?"

I nodded and quietly stood beside the door.At this time, Holmes calmly, scientifically and accurately chose the tools in his hand.I have known for a long time that Holmes had a special penchant for opening safes, and it was this dragon that had eaten away the reputations of many beautiful ladies.I stood by the middle door, ready for any emergency.For a good half an hour he worked intently, laying down one tool and picking up another like a skilled mechanic.Suddenly I heard a click, and the green door of the safe was opened.I saw many paper packages inside, bundled separately, sealed with wax paint, and some words were written on the paper packages.Holmes picked out a packet, but the flickering flames obscured the writing, so he produced his little lamp which he always used in the dark.He stopped suddenly, listening intently, and at once he closed the safe door, took up his overcoat, pocketed the tools, and ran quickly to the bay window curtain, beckoning me to do the same. hurry over.

There was a door closing sound of "稶" in the distance, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching quickly, mixed with a low rustling sound.Then the door opened, then the light came on, the door closed again, and the acrid smell of cigar smoke rose to our nostrils.A few yards from us there was a man pacing up and down incessantly.Then there was the snap of a key in the lock, accompanied by the rustle of paper.

I gently parted the curtains in front of me to peek into that place.Holmes' shoulder was on mine, and he was watching too.Milverton's round, broad back was facing us, almost within reach.Evidently we misjudged his actions, and in fact he had not been in the bedroom, but sat smoking in the smoking room or the billiard room, because we hadn't seen that window just now.He held a stack of thick legal documents in his hand, and read them leisurely, puffing out smoke rings from time to time.It seemed impossible for him to change his calm and comfortable posture on short notice.

From what I can see, the safe door is not fully closed, and Milverton will find the leak at any moment.But the villain didn't look up, and continued to idly look at the file.Later, I thought he would go to the bedroom to sleep after reading the document and smoking a cigarette, but before this time came, a new accident occurred.My attention was drawn in another direction.

Several times I saw the villain look at his watch, and once he got up impatiently and then sat down again.I never thought that it would be so late, there would be an appointment here, and soon a low voice came from the balcony outside.Milverton put down his papers and sat up straight in his chair.I heard the low sound again, and then a soft knock on the door.Milverton got up and went to open the door.

He said bluntly, "Well, you're half an hour late."

The reason Milverton didn't lock the door and stay up so late was because of it.We had closed the curtain just now when Milverton's face was turned towards us, but I opened it again with great care.Under the light, there was a woman standing opposite him.She was tall, thin and dark, with a black veil and a cloak tied at her chin.She was breathing rapidly, and every part of her lithe body was throbbing with emotion.

Milverton said: "My dear, I hope you will make up for the night I didn't get a good night's rest because of you. Is there no way you can choose to come at another time?"

The woman shook her head.

"Well, if the Countess is a difficult woman, now is your chance to take her on. I bless you! But why are you trembling? Well, please brace yourself, and we'll talk business now Go." He took a notebook from a desk drawer. "You said you had five letters for sale, including Countess D'Arbe's. I'll buy them, very well, if they're good—oh, how could it be you?"

The woman lifted her veil and then her cloak.What appeared before Milverton was a beautiful, comely, swarthy face, with a curved nose, a pair of firm and shining eyes shaded by hard black brows, and a dangerous smile on the lips.

She said: "Yes! I am the woman whose life was ruined by you."

Milverton laughed, his voice shaking with fear.He said: "You are so stubborn, why do you push me to extremes? I set a price that you can raise, but you don't want to do it."

"So you sent letters to my husband, who is the noblest man in the whole world, and I have no right to tie his shoes. His heart was deeply wounded by these letters, and he suffered from it. Dead. Last night I begged and begged you to have mercy on me. And yet you still laugh at me, and it is your cowardly heart that keeps your lips trembling. Yes, you would not think of me coming here See you, but you have taught me how to deal with you that night, and I must see you alone. Charles Milverton, what else do you have to say?"

He stood up and muttered, "Don't think you can threaten me. I only need to call out, and my servants will arrest you at once. You can go back as you came here, and I will say no more."

The strange woman stood there with a murderous smile on her thin lips.

"You won't have the opportunity to destroy others like you destroyed my life. You won't be able to strangle more people's hearts like you strangled my heart. I will destroy you, the demon, physically. , you devil, shoot me, shoot, shoot, shoot again!"

As she spoke, she took out a small pistol, and as she kept pulling the trigger, bullets shot into Milverton's chest one after another. He curled up, fell on the desk, and let out a burst of fire. Coughing violently while scratching at the files with both hands.As he staggered to his feet, he was shot again and rolled to the floor.He yelled, "You killed me," and lay there quietly.The woman stared at him without blinking before kicking him hard in the face.Nothing was heard from him again.We hear a rustling of clothes and the Avengers are gone.

Had we intervened, Milverton would not have survived.No sooner had the woman rushed out than my companion, taking a few nimble steps, appeared at another door, and turned the key in the lock.The gunshots startled everyone in the house.Holmes walked quickly to the safe opposite, picked up bundles of letters in both hands, and dumped them into the fireplace.He threw bundle after bundle until he emptied the safe.Holmes also threw the letter announcing the villain's death into the blazing flames.We went out one after the other and locked the door from the outside.He said: "This way, Watson. From here we can climb the garden wall."

To my surprise, the alarm came quickly. The lights of the big house were all on, the front door was open, and figures were running out one by one, making noise all over the garden.When we ran out from the balcony, a guy yelled "Stop, and ran after us."A six-foot-high wall barred our way, and Holmes scrambled over it in a single stroke.As I was jumping, I felt someone grab my foot with a hand from behind, but eventually I kicked his hand away and climbed over the top of the grassy wall, falling face down hard on the ground. In the bushes, my friend helped me up immediately.We ran forward at full speed, stopped after running two miles, and listened carefully for a while, and there was silence behind us.We have rid ourselves of our pursuers and are safe and sound.

Next morning (which I have set down), just after breakfast, while we were smoking, Mr. Remy Read, of Scotland Yard, was ushered into our humble drawing-room.

He said: "Good morning, Mr. Holmes. Are you busy now?"

"Busy, but still have time to listen to you."

"I thought you might be willing to help us with a curious case that occurred in Helmsted last night, if you had nothing in particular to do."

Holmes pretended to be surprised and said, "Ah! What kind of case is it?"

"Murder, that is a very astonishing murder. We would be very grateful if you could go to the Aberdower Tower and give some advice on the investigation. Mr. Milverton has been under our watch for a long time," said In fact, he was only a villain, and he had been making basely use of some written materials to blackmail people. The murderer burned them all, but took no valuables, so the criminal was probably a person of high position, and their The intent is simply to stop the spread of these materials."

Holmes said: "They? Is there more than one murderer?"

"Yes, there were two of them, and they were almost caught red-handed. We have their tracks, and know their appearance. The first was a man of great swiftness, and the second was taken by a gardener. The apprentice caught him, and struggled to escape. The man was of middle height, strong, with a square jaw, a thick neck, sideburns, and a mask."

Holmes said: "You still don't describe it clearly. It sounds as if you are describing Dr. Watson."

"It does sound like a description of Mr. Watson," Raymond quipped.

"I am sorry, Mr. Remiread," said Holmes, "but I am afraid I cannot help you in this matter. The man Milverton is a villain, and one of the most dangerous men in London. And I think that for some criminal laws There should be no interference, that is, private vengeance is justified. There is no need to waste your breath. I sympathize with the murderer, not with that Milverton, and therefore I shall not take up the case."

We have literally witnessed this murderous tragedy.But that morning, he didn't say a word about it.While we were having lunch, he stood up suddenly and exclaimed: "My God! Watson, I remember! Come on, let's go together!" He walked quickly out of Baker Street to Oxford Street and continued on. Walk to Regent Street Square.Just to the left is a shop window full of pictures of famous people and beauties.My friend stared at one of them closely.Following his gaze, I saw a stately royal woman in court dress, with a high diamond-encrusted tiara on her head.I carefully looked at the gently curved nose, thick eyebrows, straight mouth, and strong chin.I immediately held my breath when I read the ancient and noble title of this woman's husband, a great statesman and aristocrat.We looked at each other, and as we turned to leave the place, he made a silent gesture.

(End of this chapter)