[Sherlock Holmes] The Legend of the Nightingale

(Nightingale's Diary)

"Come in through the window on the second floor, take things and go out. It was done by two people." Holmes walked to the window, inspected the window sill, and poked his head out to look outside again. "From the traces they left behind. Look, one person should have entered the house to take what they needed, and another person was outside to meet him. This person climbed up with hands and feet, no ladder, neither hard nor soft, and it doesn't seem like he can climb walls , so there is a footstep for him below. Gregson, we will go down and look out the window later to see the footprints. There will be something left in the yard. Tell your people to stay away from that area. Your work is still in progress. Didn't make it this far?"

"Not yet." Grayson said a little embarrassedly, "Where did the powder on his hand come from?"

"In the book," I was biting my lip and squatting beside the corpse (because I didn't want to touch it) to look at the hand, and answered Gregson in passing, "his index finger and thumb are basically clean, and the dry powder is on the other Fingers. This is a common reading habit, and I lick my fingers every time I turn a page. As long as a thick layer of poisonous powder is sprinkled on the corners of each page, the person will be dead."

"You're incredibly quick-witted today," said Holmes, looking back at me from the window with a smile, interrupting the seriousness for a moment. "That's right. You've got more experience."

"I must declare that I have never had the habit, especially when reading borrowed books. It is not polite. And please don't tell Miss Merry that I said it, because I had no intention of . . . Forget it, I won't talk."

"And there's the question of how they're going to get clues if the treasure hunters murder Mr. Sholto. As it stands, he's the only one who knows exactly what's written on that piece of paper. Looking at the writing desk, Holmes muttered to himself in a trance, "They planned this murder, not on a whim. They knew that Mr. Sholto was also studying the meaning of the clues, so they used a book related to code deciphering to attract him." His attention broke his security line. That is to say, they are sure that they can still get clues after killing the insider. I am afraid that our victim leaked the life-saving things at some point. They What did you get?"

Holmes picked up the little box from the desk.

"I think Merry needs to see it," I said. "It's a jewelry box. There's supposed to be something in it."

"The brooch," said Holmes, "has two relatively large pinholes in the sponge-covered velvet pad. I see no sign of a woman here, or of any connection between this gentleman and a woman. And this pen— —the ink has dried in the pen. If he ever wrote in it, it was a few days ago. What did he write?"

The detective leaned over and reached into the wastebasket, took out a ball of paper without much effort, and gently unfolded it.

"Blotting paper," sighed Watson. "Another old trick. They never know what to do with the blotting paper when they've finished writing."

"Yes. But it will always help us too. Look here."

Holmes handed us the wrinkled paper.Although there are many ink marks and jumbled words intertwined on it, we can still make out a reverse "Merry Morstan".

"Mr. Landlord, are you sure that Mr. Sholto has never left the house or asked you to send a letter?"

"No," replied the landlord, "I'm sure."

"There is a letter from him to Miss Merry," said Watson a little sadly; "but where is he going to send it?"

"Perhaps that's why he's been slow to do anything since it's finished. Miss Merry just arrived in London today, and he doesn't know it yet. I think maybe, if nothing happened, he meant to deliver the letter as soon as he heard from her." To Baker Street. They discussed it before, she asked us for help, and he acted on his own. Let's ask Miss Merry if she recognizes this jewelry box."

This question does not seem to need an answer.Holmes had just carried the little brown box down the stairs when Merry, who was sitting in the living room, stood up.

"You have found my things," she said sadly, "and there seems to be no redemption."

"I'm sorry this happened, miss. Are you sure it's yours?"

"Yes. This is my mother, I mean my adoptive mother, the family jewel. She gave it to me. I thought I lost it in my haste when I fled Edinburgh, but it was at Thaddeus's." .”

"Unfortunately, that piece of jewelry is also lost now." Holmes opened the empty box and gave her a look. "But we think that the murderer took this piece for a reason. I'm afraid it's not as simple as a simple act of money. Can you describe the piece?" The character of the brooch?"

"I didn't say it was a brooch—but it is, Mr. Holmes." She wiped away her tears with a look of sadness and relief that made everyone present sad. A silver angel brooch with a thin layer inside, it can be used as a photo box to carry photos with you. I used to put my mother's photo in it. I don't understand why they took this thing, other than the meaning to the family, Not worth much."

"You imagine that Miss Merry's brother was in London before her, waiting for news of her. For whatever reason he felt compelled to pass the clue to her, and that he might not live to see her, but he wrote What he wrote was known by his opponents, and they killed him and took away the clues he wrote." Holmes slowly closed the lid of the box, "So Mr. Sholto wanted to send you the information in this brooch. , I thought it was safe, but it was discovered.”

"What do we do now?"

"I haven't looked at the yard yet. Let's go, they won't do such a big project and leave no trace."

The area corresponding to the window of the room is well protected, the killer did not think to deal with the footprints at all (and it is unlikely to deal with it), and no one damaged the scene.Holmes reached out to stop everyone. If he hadn't remembered that he needed to show me the real case, he might have lost himself immediately.

"Nightingale, come and look at this. These are the footprints of two people walking here. One is bigger than the other, wearing leather shoes. The smaller one is wearing lighter clothes. The depth, size, and gait of the footprints can be seen. Watch your step."

I put on my glasses and walked up to him, not knowing what to do.But as soon as Holmes saw the clues, he immediately entered into a state of excitement, and without hesitation he dragged me into the bushes, causing a branch to cut my ear.I heard Grayson say jokingly to Dr. Watson:

"Holmes could be a special kind of police dog. Now he has brought a small one."

"I think Holmes would take that as a compliment, Mr. Inspector."

"Concentrate, did you hear what I just said?" Holmes' stern voice brought my hearing back to the present moment. "Be as attentive as you are when you read those boring books, so that people will hear your name when you are called." No. Repeat what I just said about the footprint."

"Uh..." I glanced at the ground exposed by the bushes, "The pair of footprints are deeper than all the others, so it should be left by the lighter one when he stepped on his companion's shoulders to climb the window." ?”

Holmes gave me a push on the shoulder with a mixture of anger and amusement. "Yes, that's true, but you said it yourself, and I haven't said it yet. What I said just now is that the soles of these steps are deeper than the heels, and they were left when you retreated, and they were very hard. What do you think this is because of?"

"Uh……"

"Imagine you're on the spot, standing here, looking out the window, your accomplice is in the house, waiting to be picked up, why are you backing away so quickly?"

"He must have dropped something. The brooch was small enough to fit in a pocket, but the book was hard to hold, so he dropped it first."

"Perfect," said Holmes excitedly. He stepped back from the bushes, stood up and looked around. "Perhaps the shallow crater was caused by the book falling and not catching it. But it is a bit precarious to say so. All right. Yes, Nightingale, the footprints here are like this."

"I know. Wait a minute, my collar is caught on a branch."

"The scene is almost complete," Holmes said to the others. "The murderers have got what they want, and they probably won't come back here again. If we want to find the two men who climbed the window, I'm afraid we need to find the salesman." book people."

"That book seller is their accomplice?" Grayson said, frowning.

"Yes, it is more likely. They can also spend money to temporarily hire an ordinary salesman to help, but the book is highly poisonous. If the book seller is accidentally killed during the implementation process, things will be difficult to deal with The most likely thing is that the person knew there was a fraud in the book."

"What are you going to do?"

"Since it is difficult for Miss Meili and her two brothers to decipher the information in the clue, the people who follow them may not be able to figure it out immediately." Holmes put his hat on. There's a quick, but somewhat risky way."

"How?" Grayson asked.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose anything now, because the information is not enough. Everything that is useful has been checked, Mr. Inspector, and the scene can be cleaned up, especially those highly toxic substances. As for Mr. Landlord, you can clean up the house. It can be rented again in a few days, as long as there are people willing to come. Miss Meili, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Meili said palely.

"Then we're going back to Baker Street now. Gregson, do you have any questions?"

"No," Grayson couldn't help but look gloomy because Holmes mockingly reminded him of some common sense, "but I hope you've come to some conclusion now."

"There's no rush, old friend."

The author has something to say: To be honest, I have already started to make up my mind. If this film can break through the bottleneck of reasoning after finishing writing, should I start a purely original novel with Nightingale as the protagonist of the detective. . .