[Sherlock Holmes] The Legend of the Nightingale

(Manuscript by Dr. Watson)

It was almost midnight when Colonel Haight and I reached the police station.The constable on duty took us into an office where both Holmes and Nightingale were present.Seeing them both I exclaimed annoyedly:

"Do you two have to scare us half to death to be satisfied? You acted without even saying hello, we thought something happened to you!"

Holmes was in the midst of a conversation with the Inspector, when we interrupted him.He was smiling as if he didn't care about my emotions.Nightingale was sitting on the chair across from the desk. She was not used to not sleeping at this time, and her face was very ugly, but her eyes were still bright because of her excitement.Holmes is recovering from a serious illness.Neither looked good by my professional standards.

"I'm sorry, Watson. How did you come here? I didn't ask them to call you here."

"We came by ourselves," I said, "William the coachman told us that Nightingale went to town alone, and didn't say hello to us, and you didn't come with her. We couldn't find you anywhere, so we felt that the situation was not good." After eleven o'clock in the evening, none of you came back, so I knew that this time I was going to have a relationship with the police station, so I rushed here. If you are not here, we can call the police on the spot. "

"You didn't come here, did you?"

"Of course not. William brought us here, and he doesn't worry about you." Colonel Haight said.

"Then I would like to thank this good old man personally." Holmes smiled slightly. "Now you can rest assured that the case has been successfully concluded. The culprit is Robert Stevenson."

No one was more surprised than Colonel Haight.He was stunned for a long time, but did not speak.I had to ask for him:

"How could it be him? How did you find out?"

"I was in the middle of talking to Police Officer Forrest just now, let's listen together. The breakthrough in this case actually lies in the presence or alibi of several important suspects."

"But isn't it just the opposite?" said the Colonel. "Isn't Stevenson the only one absent?"

"The general line of thinking does go like this, but not forever. The serial disappearances, and targeting children and young women, with only one body found, can't quite be called murder, which in this case is most likely kidnapping and Human trafficking. The criminal must send the victim out immediately and cannot stay in the village. In this way, the person who was in the village at the time of the crime was unlikely to commit the crime, and the person who was not present is the most suspect, because he needs to use business as a cover , Send the kidnapped people to the trading place."

"That said, it is very reasonable." Police Officer Forrest added, "We have records in previous investigations that Stevenson went out every time on the day of the incident."

"But there's also a witch's shop," I said, "how does that even make sense? All of this has to be planned, you see, he has to make sure every victim goes to that shop before he does it, and he has to It’s impossible to know exactly when he went there so that he could wait to start his work on the mountain road back. And we all saw firsthand that he, like other villagers, repeatedly emphasized the danger of that shop.”

"This requires the testimony of Miss Nightingale." Holmes patted Nightingale's shoulder. "She had a direct conversation with Stevenson. This gentleman is very good. He is clearly trying to prevent children from going to witches." shop, but his choice of words and sentences can arouse the curiosity of children. A lively and naughty child only needs to listen to his various warnings a few times, and soon he will go to the town by himself at night. And he During this period, he prepares for a business trip with great fanfare, so that he can travel at any time, because he must follow the target's actions. As soon as the victim leaves, he will leave the village, hide in the mountains, and block him on the way back. In case someone else passes by , he can also press it without sending it, and give up this operation without being discovered."

"It's a bit far-fetched, but it makes sense. But you still need evidence, Mr. Holmes." The colonel was dubious.

"Collecting evidence is a difficult process, Mr. Colonel, you are right." Holmes's smile became a little cunning, "Through Nightingale's experience, I conclude that she is one of Stevenson's intended targets. A foreign girl , young and lively, not too smart, suitable for attacking (Nightingale gave Holmes a hard look at this time). He has already put the bait down, and if she takes the bait, he will act. So the most direct way to obtain evidence It is to let her deliberately fall into this trap, and whoever attacks her at that time will be the person we are looking for."

"So you guys are going to do this?!" I could hear the desperation in my voice, "Let Nightingale go to town alone at night, in order to attract this dangerous person to abduct her or strangle her to death? You really picked this student up!"

Originally, there were still a lot of words that were about to rush out like a flood blocked by a dam, but Holmes looked at me with a cold face, so I held back the words behind.

"When did I impress you?" he said casually. "Miss Nightingale did a very good job. She took the road, because I believe she will get lost by herself when she takes the mountain road. Don't worry about it." Stevenson will not do anything because of this, because so far she is the only one who really dares to go out alone at night. At night, the road is as deserted as the mountain road. Stevenson is really following her. But I have gone to the police station to find They caught Officer Forrest and caught him on the spot when he showed his true colors. This assistant's acting skills," he glanced at Nightingale, "for a novice, it's already pretty good."

"Don't interrupt, I'm talking about safety." I found that I was deceived by his pretended seriousness again, "You can call me for this kind of thing, and you can protect yourself if anything happens, don't let her go."

At this time, Nightingale spoke for the first time: "But doctor, the target of Stevenson's kidnapping is a girl who is a little over five feet tall and can't even see the road at night, not a military doctor who has been on the battlefield and killed people. "

Holmes showed an apologetic expression, as if he was trying to figure out that he had nothing to do with Nightingale's straightforward reply, but I swear I still saw a flash of satisfaction on his face.I looked at Nightingale carefully and made sure that she was not harmed or mentally harmed, and then I said to Holmes: "At least nothing bad happened during the capture process? I believe that if you can't ensure everything is safe, you won't Let her take the risk."

"Uh...Frankly speaking, there was such a small accident during the implementation process, but it is impossible for there to be no uncontrollable factors at all. Even if you still have some doubts about me, you will never know the perfect ending of this performance. What should you be dissatisfied with?"

Holmes spread out his hand in the gesture of an actor taking a curtain call.Nightingale smiled, stood up from her chair and made a curtsy.I really want to turn around and pretend not to know these two people.

"Okay," I said with a bit of a breakdown, "out of trust in both of you, this topic ends here."

"So Mrs. Cunningham was really wronged?" The colonel was still immersed in the case, "She, and Gray who is said to be visiting her quietly at night, have nothing to do with this matter?"

"Of course. It's just a bit of hateful superstition, which caused everyone to be prejudiced." Nightingale said, "Actually, there is a little clue here. Stevenson said that only he and Morrie knew about Gray's going out at night. I don't know why. Most people would not think about it when it was spread out, but in fact this sentence was directed at himself. Just because only the two of them knew about it, one of them must have spread it.”

That's pretty much it.It took the Colonel a long time to recover from his shock.

"No one thought Stevenson could do it. There was no sign of it," he said, shaking his head.

"There is no need for warnings for this kind of thing, Mr. Colonel, otherwise he would not have been at large for so long." Before Holmes could answer, Nightingale calmly took up the conversation.The way she responds to this question is subtly similar to Holmes' speaking style. "It is necessary to know that besides the abducted and trafficked victims, there are also those he tried to frame. Obviously he also knows that this is not a long-term solution, and he has already prepared to replace the dead ghost. To create the effect that every victim went to the witch shop, it is said that News about Gray..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but why did Gray go?" said the Colonel troubledly.

"Mrs. Cunningham is his aunt," Holmes replied. "Gray has a lot of dissatisfaction with this relative, especially her occupation, and has always refused to disclose their relationship. But this does not mean that he has no regard for this aunt." , I still visit her once in a while. Of course, there are some other details, Watson, and we will add them to you when we get back."

"It's very exciting, Mr. Holmes, Miss Nightingale." Police Officer Forrester finally found a chance to speak, "But because you still need to testify in court, I'm afraid your holidays will be delayed until this matter is completely over. It should be extended appropriately."

Holmes waved his hand. "It's nothing, I'm happy to help."

I saw Nightingale's ugly expression, and immediately remembered something. "Nightingale, are you worried about your job?"

"Only freelancers don't worry," she said, emphasizing a noun.

"Don't be like this, who knows if you will be this kind of freelancer in the future." Holmes stretched out a hand to her pretending to be cool, "If the vacation is going to be extended, ask Watson to ask for leave for you. Since you stood on my side just now Here, tell me about Stevenson... holding a knife, are you not angry anymore?"

"I'm not angry, but you are forbidden to throw me out this time." Nightingale put her hand on Holmes's hand like a lady, which meant that he was allowed to walk on her arm—of course I think he could only drag because of his height. she goes.

"Come along, Watson, Colonel, it is almost daylight. Inspector Forrest, we shall see you later."

The two master troublemakers said their goodbyes in a hurry, and went out the door as if fleeing.There was a loud conversation between Holmes and the coachman outside:

"William, can there be two more people in the carriage?"

"No problem, sir."

I pondered for a moment what Holmes had just said.

"Holmes, can you explain to me what the 'Stevenson incident with the knife' is?"

It seemed I could hear the full story before returning to Reigate's estate.

The author has something to say: admit that there is no plot today, just a review of the past... and continue to broadcast the preview of the appearance of Goddess Irene.

When the ending is still endlessly hateful, I have already imagined N many possible extras, what should I use to save me...