Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 45 Return 21
He said: "Although I still have a lot of things to do, we have initially grasped some facts, and the next step should be based on this. In the eyes of this prisoner, a bust is more valuable than a person's life. A little. Also, it would be odd if the man got the bust just to smash it, since he could have smashed it in or around the house."

"Maybe he panicked when he met this person at the time. He didn't know what to do, so he had to take out the knife."

"That's quite possible. But please pay attention to the location of this house. Why did he take the statue to the garden of this house and smash it?"

Remy Red looked around.

"Because the house is empty, he understands that no one will bother him if it's in the garden."

"But there is an empty house in front of this house. He has to walk through that house to reach this one. He walks with a bust, and every step he takes increases the risk of being discovered by others. Why does he still To come into this empty house and smash the statues?"

"It's hard to explain," Remired said.

Holmes pointed to the lamppost.

"He couldn't see it there, but he could see it here, for that simple reason."

The police officer said: "Yes, it is true. I remembered that the bust bought by Dr. Barnico was also brought to that place very close to the fire before it was smashed. Mr. Holmes, how are you going to solve this problem?" What's the situation?"

"Write it down and write it in the record. Maybe we will encounter a situation related to this matter in the future. Remired, do you think about what we should do next?"

"In my opinion, it's best to find out the identity of the deceased first, so as to help us figure out the inside story. It's not difficult. In that way, we can work smoothly, so as to further clarify the identity of the deceased last night to Peter. Street, and who met and killed Mr Harker in front of his house. What do you think?"

"Yes, that's the way to go, but my method of handling this case is not exactly the same as yours."

"So, how are you going to do it?"

"Oh, but don't be influenced by me at all. I suggest that we act separately. We can exchange opinions at any time in the future, so that we can learn from each other's strengths."

Raymond said, "Okay, that's it."

"If you go back to Pitt Street and see Mr. Harker, tell him for me that the man who came to his house last night was a murderous man with a Napoleon-hating madness. These circumstances will help his report."

The officer stared at him with a puzzled face.

"That's not what you really think, is it?"

Holmes laughed.

"Isn't that so? I may not think so, but Mr. Harker and the subscribers of the Central News Syndicate will be interested. Watson, we have much, much more complicated work to do today. Remy Read Sir, I would like you to meet us at Baker Street this evening at six o'clock. I will make use of the picture in the dead man's pocket and return it to you when we meet in the evening. If I judge well, I may ask You help us go out in the middle of the night. Well, see you tonight!"

Holmes and I walked together to Highland Street and entered the Harding Brothers shop where the busts were sold.A clerk told us that Mr. Harding was only coming in the afternoon and that he had just arrived and didn't know the situation.I could see that Holmes' face was full of disappointment and trouble.

He said: "In this case, we have to change our plan. It can be seen that Mr. Harding will not come in the morning, so we will come to him in the afternoon. Watson, you must understand why I want to pursue the source of these busts. I'm going to see if there's anything in particular here that would explain why the statues were smashed. Now, let's go to Mr. Hudson's shop in Connington Street, and hopefully we'll get some Get inspired."

We drove straight to the shop in a carriage.Hu Dexun was not tall, with a ruddy complexion and a strong body, but it was obvious that he was impatient.

He said, "Yes, sir, the statues were broken on my counter. If robbers could do as much as they wanted, we wouldn't have to pay taxes to the government! Yes, sir, those two statues are like our shop." Sold it to Dr. Barniko in the city. I think that kind of thing must be done by anarchists, only they would go around smashing statues. But I can tell you that these statues are from Stepani Got it from Geldel & Co., Church Street, District. This company has been well-known in the plaster sculpture industry for 20 years. I bought a total of three, two for the first time, and one for the second. Dr. Barnico Bought two and the other one was smashed on the counter in broad daylight. As for the guy in the picture? No, I don't know him. Oh no, I do know him on the other hand Yes. This is Mr. Bebo. He's from Italy. He's doing odd jobs for a living. He's worked here before. This guy left last week. But he works really hard here. He had been gone for two days when the statue was smashed."

As Holmes came out of the shop, he said to me: "We can learn as little as we have from Moses Hudson. We have learned that both the Connington Street and the Kensington That's all about Poe. Now, Watson, go to the Geldel & Co. in Stepany, as we just said, where these busts were made. I think we're likely to get some useful information from there. valuable information."

So, we quickly passed through some prosperous areas of London, and finally came to this town on the Thames River with a population of about [-].On a broad street, we found the factory of the sculpture company.The manager is a German and he gave clear answers to every question my friend asked.After checking the accounts, it was discovered that hundreds of plaster statues were reproduced with Dewan's marble head of Napoleon. The three sold to Chance Hudson about a year ago were from the same batch as the other three, and the remaining three It was sold to Harding Brothers in Kensington.These six were identical to any of the others, and he had no idea what the man's purpose in destroying them was.Admittedly, his interpretation of the so-called "paranoia" is cynical.The wholesale price of the statue is six shillings, but retailers can sell it for more than twelve shillings.For the replica, molds are first made from the front and back of the marble statue, and then the two half-face molds are connected together to form a complete head.This kind of work is usually done by Italians, who work in this room, and then take the busts to dry on the table in the aisle, and finally store them one by one.That's all he knows.

However, after seeing that photo, the manager's reaction was very strange.His face was flushed with anger, and his brows were furrowed over his Teutonic blue eyes.

He shouted: "Ah, the villain! Yes, I know him very well. Our company has always had a good reputation, but because of this guy, the police came once. It was a year ago, and he was in the street. He stabbed another Italian with a knife, and as soon as he got back to the workshop, the police came in and took him away from here. His name was Bebo, but I don't know his last name. I hired such a man of bad character Unlucky for a decent man. But he's pretty good at his job."

"What crime was he charged with?"

"The man he stabbed didn't die. He was released after a year in prison. I'm sure he's not in prison now, and he hasn't dared to show his face here. He has a cousin here, you can Find out his whereabouts from his cousin."

Holmes said loudly: "No, no, please don't tell his cousin. I feel that the matter is getting worse. When you are checking the accounts for the sale of these statues, I saw beside it that it was June 6 last year. sold it. Can you tell me when Bepo was arrested?"

The manager replied, "I'll check the payroll and I can give you an approximate date." He turned a few pages and said, "By the way, the last time he was paid was May 5th."

My friend said: "Thank you very much, I don't want to waste your time and trouble you." Before we got up and walked back, he repeatedly asked Mr. Manager not to share our investigation.

We were busy until four or five o'clock in the afternoon, and we had a hasty lunch at a restaurant.Newsboys at the door of the restaurant shouted: "Kensington murder, madman kills!" The news has spread like wildfire, and Mr. Harker's report has appeared in the newspapers.The article is astounding and beautifully written.My friend put the newspaper upright on the cruet rack and read it while eating.Once or twice he actually looked at it and laughed out loud.

He said: "Watson, this report is very well written. Let me read you a passage:

"'We are pleased to inform our readers that the case has so far remained undivided, as the experienced official detective, Mr. Remy Read, and the famous private detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, have come to the same conclusion. The conclusion, that this grotesque series of events ended tragically, that the murder was entirely insane rather than deliberate, and that the whole incident can only be explained by insane causes.'

"A newspaper is an invaluable tool, Watson, if you know how to use it. We shall return to Kensington in a moment to hear what the manager of Harding's has to say."

The founder of this large store is only a small, skinny man, which is also beyond our expectations.But it can be seen that he is shrewd and capable, clear-headed, and good at talking.

"Yes, sir, I have read about it in the papers. Mr. Harker is our customer, and I sold the statue to him a few months ago. Gail from Stepany We ordered three statues like that at Del & Co but they're all sold now. One to Mr. Harker and the other to Mr. Jozia Brown of Rabnom Street, Chidswick , the remaining one was sold to Mr Sandford in Lower Bush Street, Reading. I have never seen the man in your picture because he is so ugly, as long as I have seen it before Forget his. I can tell you we have Italians among our clerks, a couple of cleaners, but it's easy for them to peek at the sales ledger. I don't think I need to keep the ledger specially protected. Ah, Yes, that's a curious thing, and if you know anything about it, I wish you could tell me."

Holmes took down some of Mr. Harding's testimony, and was evidently pleased with the way things had turned out.Sure enough, when we rushed home, Sheriff Raymond had already arrived, and he was pacing up and down the house impatiently.This can be seen from his serious appearance.In this day's work, he achieved satisfactory results.

He asked: "Well, Mr. Holmes, is there any new development?"

Holmes explained: "It's been a busy day, but it's paid off. We've met retailers and wholesalers, and I've found out where each of the statues came from."

Remy Read cried, "Bust, good! But I think I did better than you today because I've identified the dead man."

"yes?"

"The cause of the crime was also found out."

"This is good."

"We have a Detective Saffron Hill who is in charge of the Italian area. Because of the statue of God hanging around the neck of the deceased, and because of the color of the skin, judging from these two points, I think he should be from southern Europe. The detective recognized him as soon as he saw the body. His name was Pietro Vannucci, and he was from Naples. He was a well-known robber in London, and he had connections with the Mafia. The other man may have been the same Italian, and possibly the Mafia. It may be that he violated some discipline of the Mafia and was followed by Pedro. The photo in Pedro's pocket may belong to that person, and he put it in order to be sure. He followed This man, seeing him into a house, waited outside until he came out, and was mortally wounded in the scuffle. What do you think of my explanation, Mr. Holmes?"

Holmes clapped his hands appreciatively and said:

"Excellent, Raymond! But I still don't understand. How do you explain the broken bust?"

"Forget those busts! What's that? Petty theft. Six months at most. We should investigate the current murder. I've got all the leads."

"What's the next step?"

"Isn't that easy? Hill and I go to the Italian Quarter, find the man according to the photo, and arrest him for murder. Can we go together?"

(End of this chapter)