Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 60 Return 36
"No. They only know what they saw at the scene. I'm suspicious of Lucas, as it's only a few minutes' walk from Godolphin Street to Whitehall Residence Street. But the other two spies live at the end of London's West End .Lucas is more likely to establish contact with the minister's family. The connection between the matter itself and the fact that the crime was only a few hours old may be important. Hello, who's here?"

Mrs. Hudson came in with a women's card.After reading it, he gave me his business card.He said to her, "Madam Houp, please come upstairs."

Mrs. Hope was slender and beautiful.On this day, however, her cheeks were pale, her eyes were restless, and her thin lips were tightly shut, trying to control her emotions.

"Sir, has my husband been here?"

"Yes, ma'am, I have been."

"Sir, please don't tell him I've been here under any circumstances."

My friend agreed and let her sit in the chair opposite.

"Sit down first, and then tell me what you want, but I may not be able to satisfy you."

She walked to the other side of the room and sat down with her back to the window.

She said: "My husband and I have complete trust in everything except politics. On political issues, he said nothing to me. I only now know that a document was lost at my house last night. Because it involved politics, I My husband didn't tell me the details, but something so important, I should know. You are the only one who knows about it, apart from a few politicians, so I ask you to tell me what happened and how it turned out. Only by fully trusting me can his interests be guaranteed."

"Excuse me, ma'am, I can't tell you."

She buried her face in her hands.

"Madame, your husband doesn't think you should know about it; and I? I can't say what he doesn't want me to say because of my profession. You'd better ask him."

"I asked him. I came here out of necessity. Since you won't tell me the truth, give me some enlightenment."

"Madam, what is this revelation?"

"Will this accident affect my husband's political career?"

"Unless that letter is found, the consequences will be dire."

"I am well aware that the loss of this document will have dire consequences as my husband is devastated by it."

"If he thinks so, of course I have no objection."

"What was the nature of the consequences?"

"No, ma'am, I cannot answer that question."

"Then I won't bother. I beg you again not to tell him I've been here."

After the lady left, my friend said: "Watson, you should study women. What is the purpose of this beautiful lady here?"

"She made it very clear that she must have been upset."

"Hmph! Watson, you have to connect her performance with her repeated questions. You must know that she comes from a social class that is not easy to show emotion."

"Yes, she was very excited."

"You also have to remember that she repeatedly begged us to tell her everything and said it was only in her husband's interest. What did she mean by that? And she didn't want us to see her face because she was sitting in the sun Only on her back."

"She especially chose the backlit chair to sit in."

"It's not easy for us to think about women's psychological activities. Don't trust them! Sometimes a small action of theirs has a lot of meaning."

"You want to go outside?"

"Yes, I'm going to Godolphin Street to spend this morning with my friends. I can't solve the problem yet, but I know it must have something to do with Aiqiuardo Lucas. My You stay here, Watson, to receive your guests, and I shall try to come back and have lunch with you."

Three days passed, and Holmes remained silent.His investigation is not going well.He never said anything about the case, and I only learned about it from the papers, such as the arrest of the dead man's servant, John Milton, who was released shortly afterwards.The coroner ruled it was a murder.It is unclear why the murder occurred. The deceased was keen on studying international political issues and was very good at talking.He had a lot of correspondence, and he also had contacts with major leaders of several countries.As for his relationship with women, it is very complicated, but none of them have deep contacts.He has no peculiar habits of life, his behavior is in line with common sense.

The arrest of the servant John Milton was only a measure of disappointment.The alibi of the servant was sufficient, for he had gone to see friends at Hammersmith that night.The relationship between their master and servant has always been very good.Some belongings of the deceased were found in the servant's chest, notably a box of razors, but the housekeeper corroborated the servant's account of a gift from the master.Lucas had employed Milton for three years, but Lucas had never taken him to the Continent.Sometimes Lucas would stay in Paris for three months at a time, while Milton would just stay in the Rue Godolphin as housekeeper.As for the housekeeper, she heard nothing on the night of the accident.

For three days in a row, there was no news of the case being solved in the newspapers.Holmes may have known more, but he never said so.However, he told me that Ray Mired told him everything he knew.On the morning of the fourth day, a telegram from Paris appeared in the newspaper, the full text of which is as follows:

The Paris police have discovered something [according to the Daily Telegraph] which may shed light on the mystery of the tragic death of M. Aithuanto Lucas.Police suspected his valet, who was later released with an alibi.Yesterday several servants reported to the Paris police that their mistress, Madame Henri Verneuil, was not insane.She lives in a small house somewhere on Austria Street and suffers from mania.According to the investigation, she returned from London on Tuesday this week, and there is evidence that her whereabouts are related to the murder at Westminster Abbey.After verifying and checking the photos by multiple sources, one conclusion can be drawn, that is, M? Henri Furnay is Aiqiuado Lucas. The deceased lived in Paris and London respectively under two names.Mrs. Vernail was so eccentric that she might have killed her husband with a dagger because of a manic attack.At present, the patient's full activities on Monday night have not been ascertained.But a woman who looked like her at Charing Cross Station on Tuesday morning attracted attention.At present, she still has difficulty expressing language, and the doctor thinks that she cannot regain her senses.It has been proved that there is a woman who watched the house No. 16 on the Rue Godolphine for several hours this Monday night, and she is probably the female patient in Paris now.

I read the report to him, and said: "Holmes, what do you think of this report?"

"I haven't told you anything for three days, and now I can't draw any conclusions," he said.

"Doesn't it have much to do with Lucas' death?"

"Lucas' death is a trivial matter compared to the documents we are looking for. The most important thing in the past three days is that nothing happened. I have received reports from the government almost every hour these two days, and I can be sure that the current There is no sign of any disturbance in Europe. Where is the letter? If it has been lost. Is there really no connection between Lucas' death and the loss of the letter? Could it not be found in his papers? Could it be that his mad wife took the letter? If so, is it possible that the letter is in Paris? How can I search it without the Paris police not suspecting it? What about this letter? Ah, what's new?" He glanced at the letter that had just been handed into his hands, and said, "Remired seems to have found out something important. Watson, let's go to Wess. Minster Abbey."

Ray Mired was looking out the window when a policeman opened the door and let us in.We walked in and saw that there were basically no traces, except for a bloodstain on the carpet.A small square rug was placed in the middle of the room, and the floor around it was polished.The captured weapons, one of which was a dagger, hung on the wall above the fireplace, and a writing desk stood by the window.

Remy Reid asked, "Did you see the news in Paris?"

My friend nodded.

"Our French counterpart was right. She had knocked on the door. Lucas rarely interacts with people and he had to let her in so as not to attract attention. The lady told the owner to keep Looking for him, and reprimanding him. The dagger was hanging on the wall, and it was very convenient to use. But it didn't kill him all at once, because the chair fell on the side, and the dead man had a knife in his hand. The chair, it seems he is trying to block that madman with the chair. It seems clear enough."

"Then why are you still looking for me?"

"Ah, here's a little thing that might interest you. It's odd."

"Just tell me about it."

"After such cases, we always take great care of the scene. The man was buried this morning, the investigation is over, and we want to do a sweep of the house. On the top bunk, we happened to lift the carpet and found..."

"What did you find?"

"Did you see that bloodstain on the carpet? Most of the blood has soaked through the carpet?"

"It should be so."

"But there was no blood in the corresponding place on the white floor."

"No! But, of course..."

"Although there should be, and there must be, but in fact there is no."

He held the corner of the rug and turned it over.

"No, the blood is the same under the rug as it is on it, there must be traces."

Remy Read laughed as he finally got the famous detective confused.

"Now I will explain why. There is a second bloodstain, but it is not in the same place as the first. You can see it very clearly."

He lifted the other corner of the carpet, revealing a purplish red bloodstain on the white floor. "How do you explain that, sir?"

"Quite simply, the two bloodstains should be identical, but the carpet has been turned."

"Mr. Holmes, what we want you to ascertain is who moved the rug, and why did he do it?"

Holmes was very excited.

He asked, "Remy Reid, has the policeman at the door guarded the scene all the time?"

"Yes."

"Please interrogate him carefully according to my opinion. Ask him why he dared to let someone in and leave him alone in the house. Don't ask him if anyone has come in, just say that you know someone has come in, and press him He must do as I say!"

After Ray Mirad left, my friend said to me happily: "Watson, watch!" He quickly pulled the carpet away, lay down on the carpet, and kept lifting the board with his nails. A plank moved.Like the lid of a box, he flipped it up from where it had loose leaves.A small black hole appeared below, and he hastily reached into it with his hand.But when he pulled it back, he snorted in disappointment.There was nothing in the hole.

"Quick, Watson, quick, put the carpet away!" Remy Red's voice came from the passage as soon as all this was done.

(End of this chapter)