[Sherlock Holmes] The Legend of the Nightingale

(Nightingale's Diary)

On the day of boarding the ship, Hattie's friends in England all went to the port to see her off.Even little crazy Constance cried.Hattie shed a few tears and tamped down more grief gracefully.Watson was among those who saw him off, but they only shook hands without speaking.

There were young girls and college students among those who saw him off.I knew a few of them, especially a liberal arts student—a real liberal arts student—Richard Clarke.It was through literature that Hatty introduced us.He is 20 years old this year. He looks like a classic college student. His clothes are simple and clean. His shirt buttons are buttoned to the last one under his pointed chin. He is pale, and his face looks a bit elongated because of his thinness. The chain, like mine, is used to hang the glasses around the neck.He didn't say a word that day, and I didn't hear him sigh until the ship to San Francisco slowly left the port.

"It's sad." I said.

"Yes." Richard looked at the sea, and sometimes I wasn't sure if he knew who was talking to him. "Who knows what is waiting for her on the other side of the sea."

"It'll be all right, Hatty's a good guy." That's all I could say, which didn't make any sense.

"She's an interesting person. Otherwise I wouldn't know you."

"Well. Who is this boasting?"

"How did you get on with your studies in Baker Street?"

The topic jumps so fast, and it's something I usually don't talk to these students.I usually only talk to him about Gothic literature, which makes him sick. He tells me about Villanella poems, which give me a headache.

"fine.".

"I saw you in the paper." Richard moved his gaze from the sea to my face. "The Hilda Hopkins case."

"My name was mentioned once. But Scotland Yard is very righteous to do so." Thinking that Holmes often solves cases with the name of Scotland Yard, I said so.

"You took the case yourself?"

"No, the client came for my teacher. I was the one who handled the case. It feels a little fraudulent."

Richard forced a smile.Jane James, the daughter of a high school teacher, interrupted our conversation.

"We can't see the boat, we should go. What's the matter with you, Hatty hasn't left the British border, and you're chatting away?"

I went back to the Adams family, and followed everyone out of the port.I will go with the Adams family later, and Watson will leave directly.While Mrs. Addams was talking to the girls, Richard crept up to me again.

"If I have something to ask, can you help?"

"It's possible, but it's not necessary," I said. "You can go to Holmes directly. It's just that he's seldom at home during this time, and even I don't know what he's busy with."

"No, I'm not looking for Mr. Holmes." Richard was a little anxious, "I'm looking for you."

"Uh... what's the matter? Just don't worry about it."

Solved the murder of the pianist, and my reputation in the professional world has grown so much that even Watson thinks the future is bright.Holmes has never expressed his opinion on my level except for that cold praise.I knew very well in my heart that if I was given a case on the level of the Brook Street Murder, it would be bad.

"It's not a big deal, it's just a little strange." Richard adjusted his glasses, "A good friend of mine, a student of physics, received a letter last week. There was no letter paper in it, only five orange pits. "

"It's kind of weird." I said, "Is it a prank?"

"I don't know. It's been fine until now."

"It's nothing, so why not think about it." I looked at the Adams family, they had already stopped a taxi, and they were waving at me. "Is there anything else?"

"No, it's just that there must be a reason."

Self-inflicted problems are only a headache for good students, and fun-loving people like me don't care.In order not to make myself seem too indifferent, I still asked:

"What's your classmate's name?"

"John Openshaw," said Richard.

"At present, it seems that we can only put it aside. Come to us if you have any follow-up questions. Mrs. Adams should be in a hurry, goodbye!"

I said a vague farewell to Richard Clarke and caught the cab.This incident can be regarded as a small episode in 1887.I kept worrying on the way back.Constance is still angry and wants Hattie to come back and not talk to anyone, and Mrs. Adams can't coax her.It looks like my job would be much harder without Hattie.

In the evening I returned to Baker Street exhausted and exhausted.Now it seems that only Watson is still out of the whirlpool, reading the newspaper in the living room peacefully, nothing has changed.

"Surely you shouldn't be in a hurry to go to work. You look so bad." The doctor said sharply as soon as I entered the door.

"Probably because this year is not good." I said weakly, "As soon as Hattie left, Constance became stubborn, refused to learn anything, and dropped the drawing board. I had no choice but to call Mrs. Adams. "

"Then she is still dissatisfied with you?"

"Both are unhappy with me. There's no way I'm going to live." I hung my coat on the coat hook, put on only my gray skirt, changed my shoes, went into the living room, and threw myself on the sofa.

"Holmes hasn't come back?" I said with my eyes closed.

"No. Cases involving nobles and foreign affairs are generally more troublesome."

"How long has it been since you saw him?" I held up my hands and tried to count the days before falling back on the couch. "My clock hasn't been fixed yet. He must have forgotten it."

Watson said nothing.I don't know why the more tired I get, the easier it is to get angry. I closed my eyes and raised my hand to reach up. I forcibly tore the newspaper out of his hand and threw it aside.

"Nightingale, what's wrong with you?" Watson said helplessly.

"I don't know." I was also embarrassed by the inexplicable anger just now, and my voice became quieter. I turned my face up to the light on the ceiling, and my eyes were still blank when I closed my eyes.

"You're not right." The doctor's professionalism gained the upper hand again, "I haven't recovered from my illness. I wasn't so afraid of the cold before. Last winter you only went out in this skirt."

"The skirt is wool," I said weakly.

"You need to rest." Watson stood up bluntly, "Extend your leave to Mrs. Adams. If you are embarrassed, I will tell her, at least a week."

"You don't want me to take this job anymore. One week is enough for me to be fired." I covered my face with my hands, "I didn't ask for leave when I was sick."

Watson suddenly reached out and dragged me up.When he appeared as an ordinary gentleman, he was polite to ladies, but when he entered the role of a doctor, he had to act according to the doctor's diagnosis.

"Open your mouth and show me your tongue. Listen, I never treat a 17-year-old as a child. Okay, open your mouth and hold on. Okay, I understand. You go to your room and I'll call Mrs. Hudson tonight I'll make you dinner alone." Watson picked me up again and dragged me upstairs to Holmes' room.

"Don't tell me it's hospital treatment again."

"To tell you the truth, I just don't like you like this." Watson put me on the chair as soon as he let go, and said a little discouragedly, "You are more and more like Sherlock Holmes now."

"why?"

"As long as there is no case, it is half dead."

"That's out of the question. I can't even take a case myself right now." I was depressed again.

"That's the problem." Watson wandered in the limited space of the storage room. "The technology is so-so, but I have learned every quirk. I think you should use needles in a few days."

"If you have nothing to do, can you read something to me?" I was eager to change the subject, "Newspapers are also fine."

"News?"

"Yes. Is there anything special?"

"Let's just say there was some kind of crime. It's the same as Sherlock Holmes." Watson thought for a while again. "Not many people died. There was only one person who died. A man with a very special surname...it seems to be called Openshaw..."

"John Openshaw?!" I blurted out with a bad feeling.

"Yes. But it wasn't murder, but he fell into the water and drowned himself at Waterloo Bridge. Let us believe that for the time being."

"A physics student at the University of London?" I jumped out of my chair.

"A gentleman from Horsham Hall, not a student. What's the matter with physics?"

I stood silent for a while.Watson sighed and tried to push me back into the chair.

"I beg you not to resemble Holmes so much. Your nerves will be overwhelmed."

"There are some things I need to know more details to tell you." I said sullenly.

At this time, the downstairs doorbell rang, one after another, continuously.

Mrs. Hudson was away, and unable to ignore the knocker as she had done before, we both went downstairs to answer the door.

"Okay, okay, don't ring the doorbell, what's the matter." Watson walked to the door, frowned when he heard the harsh bell, opened the door, and then called out in surprise:

"Holmes! You...how do you..."

"It's nothing." Holmes' cold voice came from outside the door. "Watson, may I go in?"

Watson moved aside, and Holmes appeared at the door.I was also taken aback when I saw him.In the past two months, I have seen him for no more than two hours. He is now a bone, with a sallow complexion, sunken eye sockets, and an indifferent expression.With this expression on his face, standing in front of the door in black, he looked like a ghost.He stood at the door for a few seconds, took off his coat and hat and hung them on the coat hooks, and walked in without changing his shoes.Watson and I stood by and looked at him in a daze.

"So, it's over?" Watson asked.

"ended."

"Did you make it?"

Holmes, who had his back to us, turned his head and forced a smile.

"Success."

"Great! You must be in the newspaper this time! My God!"

Watson's final exclamation was not one of joy.Holmes's reassuring smile was fleeting. He lowered his head and put one hand on the back of the sofa. He couldn't support it, and fell to the ground.

The author has something to say: Gothic literature and Villanella poems are all about the author's self-abuse, so don't pay attention to these details.There has been no plot these two days, which is a bit deceptive.The case is coming soon...