Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 56 Return 32
At dawn, someone pushed me on the shoulder, and I awoke to see Sherlock Holmes.He told me that there was an urgent case.

Ten minutes later we got into a carriage and drove to Charing Cross Station.

We had a cup of tea at the train station.It was a train to Kent, and he kept talking all the way, and I listened with all my ears.He took out a letter from his pocket, which read:

Malsham Grange, Kent, at three-thirty in the afternoon.Dear Mr. Holmes:

I hope you will help me solve this extraordinary case immediately.Now that I have let the lady go, and otherwise the scene has not changed in the slightest, come quickly, for it is not proper to leave Eustace alone.

your friend stanley hopkin

"He has called me to the scene seven times," said Holmes, "and has needed my assistance each time. His case must have been in your collection. You always look at everything from the point of view of the story. The problem is not from the perspective of scientifically solving crimes. These typical cases have been damaged by you in this way. You have briefly written about the skills and details of the detection, but only focus on describing the plot. If you do this, the readers will not be educated. It's a feeling, but a feeling of excitement."

I asked back, "Why don't you write it yourself?"

"I'm going to write it. Although I'm busy now, I want to write a textbook in my later years that will cover the entire art of detection. The case we're going to rush to the scene seems to be a homicide."

"You mean to say that Ser Eustace is dead?"

"Yes. I think someone must have been killed. We're going to do an autopsy. He wouldn't call us on a suicide case. The letter said the lady was released, and said that while she was locked in the house , the tragedy happened. This is a case that happened in the upper class. You can see that the letter paper of this letter is very good, with a family crest on it, and the place where the accident happened is in a beautiful place. We must go there quickly, because he is not easy The letter was written. It was a murder that happened before twelve o'clock last night."

"How did you know?"

"You can quite tell, if you count the train times and the business times. It took at least a year to go to the local police and report it to Scotland Yard, who went to the scene and sent me a letter. All night."

After getting off the train, we walked another two miles on country lanes to a garden gate.It was an old man who opened the door for us.As soon as we entered the garden, we saw a house.Hopkins was standing at the door to greet us, looking anxious.

"Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson, it is a great pleasure to see you. The lady has now recovered, and she has gone through the matter, so there is not much for us to do. Do you remember Louisham, the robbers?" ?"

"Is it the three Randalls?"

"Yes, it is evident that they did it. They were discovered and reported to us at Seatonham a fortnight ago."

"Then Ser Eustace is dead?"

"Yes, his head was broken by a chimney-rod."

"The coachman told me that Sir's full name is Eustace Brackenstall."

"Yes, he's the richest man in Kent. The lady's in the bathroom now, she's almost dead. You'd better see her and let her tell you about it, and then we'll go check it out in the dining room."

Mrs Brackenstall was a very unusual woman, and I have seldom seen a woman of such elegance.But she was worn out by unfortunate events.One of her eyes was red and swollen, and the maid was washing it with diluted vinegar.The lady was lying weakly on the couch.As soon as I entered the room, I saw that the case had not shaken her will.

She said: "Mr. Hopkins, I have told you what happened. Can't you repeat it for me? But if you think it necessary, I will. Did they go to the restaurant?"

"I think it's better to let them listen to Madam first."

"Since that's the case, I'll say it again." Trembling all over, she raised her hands to cover her face.Then the cuff slid down, exposing her forearm."Ah, ma'am," said Holmes, "you are badly wounded! What is the matter?" I saw two red and swollen welts protruding from my lady's forearm.She hastily covered it with her clothes, and said, "It's all right. This has nothing to do with what happened last night. Please sit down, all of you! I'll tell you everything.

"I'm Eustace Brackenstall's wife. We've been married for a year. To tell you the truth, our marriage has been miserable. I grew up in the more relaxed environment of southern Australia. Big, not used to the rigid British life here. But the main reason is that he loves wine. How unbearable to have a young woman chained to him all day! Everyone should think that such a marriage should be lifted, or he is committing a crime. Your ridiculous laws will bring disaster to England, and God will punish all injustice." She sat up straight from the couch, with angry eyes shine.The maid put the lady's head back on the cushion, and the lady began to cry.After a while, she continued her conversation:

"Last night, as usual, all the servants slept in the newly built side of the house. This house consists of the living room, the kitchen, and our bedrooms. In the attic above my bedroom lived my maid, Theresa. No one lives in this central part, and the new side cannot hear anything going on here.

"My husband usually goes to bed at 10:30. By then the servants are back in their rooms, only my maid is up. I always go around to see if everything is packed before I go upstairs. I When I walked to the window of the dining room, thick curtains were still hanging on the window. At this moment, I suddenly felt a cool breeze blowing, and only then did I realize that the window was open. I pulled the curtain to the side, ah, there was a man in his prime A man was standing opposite me, and I was holding a candle stand in my hand. By the dim light of the candle, I saw two people behind this man wanting to come in. I was so scared that I took a step back, and this man rushed towards me immediately. Come on. First grabbed my wrist, and then jammed my neck. I was about to shout, but he hit me hard, and I fell to the ground. When I woke up, they had already called the servant The man's bell rope broke, and I was tied to an oaken chair by them.

I had a handkerchief stuffed in my mouth, so I couldn't even yell.At this moment my husband entered, who must have heard suspicious noises, and had with him his usual stick.He rushed at the robbers, but the older one struck him with a cleaning rod.He fell down with a cry, and never moved again.I passed out again.When I woke up again I saw they had taken a knife and fork from the sideboard, a bottle of wine, a glass in each hand.This is an old bearded robber, and the other two are children who have not yet grown up.They were probably a family, father and son! They muttered together for a while, then came over to see if I was tied up.Later, they went out and closed the window.It took me 15 minutes to spit out the handkerchief before I called the maid to save me.We called the police, who then made contact with London.Gentlemen, this is all I know, and I will no longer relate this painful experience. "

Hopkins asked: "Is there anything else you want to ask, Mr. Holmes?"

"I don't want to bore my lady any more," said Holmes, and then to the maid, "I wish you would tell what you know."

She said: "I saw these three people before they entered the house. At that time, I was sitting by the window of my bedroom, and I saw these three people outside the door by the moonlight. It counts. An hour later, I heard the mistress's cry, and I went downstairs. Sir's blood and brains poured out all over the room, and he fell dead on the floor. I think the lady was killed. She fainted from fright, and she was bound there, and many blood spots were splashed on her clothes. Gentlemen, I will accompany her back to the room now, and let her have a good rest."

So the maid put her hand on the shoulders of the mistress, and helped her away.

Hopkins said: "The two of them have been together. She took care of this lady from childhood to adulthood, and she came to England with her. Her name is Tiressa Ritter."

Holmes' face lost his original interest. The case was so simple that he didn't seem to be attracted by it.It seemed that the only thing to do was to catch the criminal, but what did it matter to him? Fortunately, the dining room at Grange Manor had an unusual sight, which aroused his interest.

It was a grand dining room, with a carved ceiling and rows of deer heads and ancient weapons painted on the surrounding walls with oak panels at the lower end.The window just spoken of was opposite the door, and to the right of it were three small windows, and to the left of the windows was a large fireplace with a mantelpiece.Beside the fire was an oak chair with arms on both sides and a crossbar below.A fuchsia cord was fastened to the lace of the chair, and the cord ran from either side of the chair to the cross-bar below.The rope has been untied, but the knotted rope is still there.

Lying on the carpet was a corpse. The deceased was about 40 years old, with a strong physique and a burly figure.He was lying on his back on the ground, with his hands clenched in fists in front of his head, and a wooden stick was placed horizontally in both hands.He has a dark complexion and a hooked nose. He was originally handsome, but now his face is distorted and hideous.He must have heard it from the bed, for he was in his pajamas, with his bare feet sticking out from under his trouser legs.He suffered severe head injuries and the room was spattered with blood.Beside him lay the thick cleaning rod, bent from the violent impact.My friend examined the cleaning rod and the corpse.Then he said, "This Randall must be a strong man."

"Yeah, he's a rough guy. We'll get him pretty easily," Hopkins said.

"There will be no difficulty. The gang is still in England now. Every port in the country has heard of it, and we will have them before evening. But I am puzzled by one point: they already know that the lady saw it." They, and we recognize them, why would they do such a foolish thing? Normally, they would have killed the lady."

I said, "Maybe they didn't expect Madam to wake up again after passing out."

(End of this chapter)