[Sherlock Holmes] The Rose and the Thorn

After returning to the residence, Claire was still worried about her brother's affairs, but when she entered the door, she noticed that he had already packed the things he brought yesterday, his hair was still wet, and it looked like he had just come out of the bathroom.

When seeing her and the detective appearing at the door, Victor took a deep breath:

"Holmes, the doctor and I soiled a suit alone, and this time you owe two suits again." His eyes were no longer in the vicious state of sister control before, and the joking look seemed to be on the contrary. Somewhat abnormal.

"You can keep the clothes and send them to you after washing." The detective's face was expressionless, and he seemed to be joking.

Victor, who packed his luggage halfway, shrugged:

"Forget it, for the sake of being friends for many years, I will forgive you this time." He saw the package in Claire's hand as he spoke, "Next time, brother will accompany you to buy clothes!"

"...cough." Claire didn't want to pay attention to him, but seeing his hurried figure, she still asked, "Why are you preparing to leave so early?"

"There is an urgent matter at Tray, so I have to rush back." He said and picked up the luggage bag, "Anyway, after I leave, you have to be careful! Even if this guy is always rigid, don't forget that he is a man!"

"...Obviously someone said just now that he is not a man at all." Claire muttered softly, then nodded perfunctorily, "Well, I understand."

After Victor stretched out his hand to bid them farewell, he stepped into the arranged carriage alone.

"It always feels like something very serious." Clare said in a low voice, looking worriedly at the receding carriage, while Holmes beside him stared at the receding figure without saying a word.He understood that the reason for Victor's departure was probably related to someone, and a large part of the reason why they went to bed so late yesterday was that Holmes was trying to persuade him that it would be better to give up and continue.Because after all, he wasn't like himself.Victor only exposes himself while stalking, allowing cunning enemies to take advantage.

Just as stubborn as he was, Victor did not accept Holmes' persuasion.

Maybe he was born like this, although he has a more enthusiastic personality than himself, but he has the stubbornness not to lose to himself.

■

Claire sorted out and recorded the entire "Analysis of Blood Letters".It also refers to many narrations of Watson and Holmes. Although after the completion of the draft, it was criticized by Holmes as a completely unrealistic romantic work, but at least the empty window on the newspaper office was perfectly filled.

When Morstan came to pick up the manuscript, Claire readily gave it to her.Watson is still uncharacteristically attentive to each other, which makes Clare suspicious and Holmes amused at the same time.

"Ma'am, to be honest, I don't like this topic, but I have to say that there seems to be an interesting relationship centering on Miss Morstan." It wasn't until Watson, who offered to send Morstan away, that Holmes sat down. Said on the sofa far away.

"I really want to understand what you mean." Claire said leisurely, looking at the novel in her hand, "It's a pity that these three people have one-sided affection, which makes things a little tricky." The book was put down, "But it's really rare that you care about this kind of thing."

"Probably because this matter is complicated enough." Holmes put his hands together, "but I'd better pay attention to other things."

"Brother sent a letter yesterday, and the letter I sent him mentioned the matter of Morstan." Claire said with her head propped up, "He doesn't seem to be interested... This person is really... stubborn enough."

"..." Holmes didn't continue. The scene when he left Baker Street a few days ago resurfaced before him. He felt that Victor was really a powerful character who could not lose to anyone.

But with that, certain things are bound to accelerate.He looked down at today's newspaper, such as today's news, maybe something bad is brewing:

"Claire, I think you should have seen today's newspaper."

"..." The woman didn't answer, she still remembered that when she was collecting the newspaper early this morning, the headline scared her so much that she threw the newspaper on the ground.

"Something has already started."

"What happened to that murder case...?" She rubbed her temples, and she remembered the final form of the deceased described in the newspaper: her eyes were nailed to wooden stakes... This would remind her of her not long ago The letter I received before, the heinous "ceremony", and the creepy picture, "Is it really... related to the letter I received."

"The rose..." Holmes said these words lightly. "Lestrade also mentioned roses in the telegram to me."

"what do you mean?"

"There is a rose beside the dead man," said Holmes, looking at her.

"..." Claire felt a little uneasy, she didn't know what relationship the person who received the letter would have with this horrific murder.

"Anyway, you'd better be careful these days." At the end, Holmes said such a sentence, "I think Hudson has been looking for opportunities for revenge."

"..." The woman sitting on the sofa frowned. She didn't know when, she became silent as if she had aphasia.She was afraid to hear these three words. Judging from the current situation, every negation of Hudson would only push herself into a more anxious state.How did my former self fall in love with him, as if every crime pointed at him was a denial of his past. "Perhaps I am too naive to think about divorcing him, Holmes, if possible, I really want to see him." She raised her head in pain, "If everything here is triggered by divorce, I think I'm going to get overwhelmed."

"It's not something you can decide, Claire, the fact that you've been really stupid all these years, foolishly thinking that you know this man, but you don't even know what he's thinking. Since you've been If you don’t know this person well, it’s understandable that you still don’t know him.”

"Maybe so..." Claire closed her eyes deeply, as if trying to get those messy things out of her mind.From the time when I still had room to miss them, to now I can't wait to hope that they will disappear from my mind. All these changes are so huge that even Claire doesn't want to believe it.

"Okay, I think it will be some time before Watson comes back, but there is one thing waiting for me to finish." He took a deep breath, and finally recovered from the sitting position that was about to slide, "To be honest, this is really A nasty case."

"Huh?" Claire asked back.

"You should have known the beginning of this case, but you chose to go for a walk because you were disturbed by the morning newspaper."

"Sorry, I was really in a bad mood at that time." Claire lowered her head slightly.

"If you'd like to go to Surrey with me, I'd be happy to recount to you what happened this morning." He crossed his fingers, and then looked at Claire in front of him.

"Well, I think I should have nothing to do next." Claire nodded.

"How about a change of clothes, if possible?"

"Of course, I think men's clothing is better in this case." Claire said proactively.

"You have clothes like this?"

"Yes, sir." She nodded. "I had quite a few clothes like this when I was young. I think you should have known, sir, when you first saw me."

"That's right." Holmes nodded, so when Claire put on a well-fitting men's suit from the room, she finally put her long hair into a hat.

"Put this beard on." After walking out of the bedroom, Claire realized that the man was taking out a beard from the box he used for makeup, and when he handed it to Claire, the woman nodded hesitantly:

"Okay." As she spoke, she stuck the brown beard under her nose, "To be honest, I'm really not used to it."

"You have experience, Claire."

"Probably." The woman shrugged. He was referring to Mrs. Barker, and Claire understood.

"Then let's go, I think White should have ordered a carriage for me." As Holmes said, he stood up and walked out the door. "I have left a note for Watson, and I think our friends will not worry about us. .”

……

After they sat down in the carriage, Holmes began to talk about the events of this morning.

"A lady named Helen Stoner came here in a hurry this morning. White opened the door. When she saw the lady's pale cheeks, she seemed to realize the seriousness of the matter. Because you were not here, she Woke me up."

Holmes began to talk. He said that Miss Stoner was a woman who was going to get married, but she had encountered strange things recently, which reminded her of her sister who died unexpectedly.She and her sister lived with her stepfather, whose mother left a considerable estate after her illness, which she left in his stepfather's name.But once the Stoner sisters got married, their stepfather had to send them a sum of money every year.Two years ago, her older sister was only 30 years old, and she was preparing to get married at that time, but one night, her screams pierced the room, and Miss Stoner was surprised to find that her older sister had been killed alive like this. Scared to death.

"Scared to death?" Claire frowned, "Then this is really too bizarre."

"That's what she said, but to be honest, I think it's too early to draw conclusions." Holmes asked as if suddenly remembering something, "By the way, do you have a gun?"

"I brought it when I went out." Claire replied, "To be honest, I have no sense of security after going out with you twice."

"But your marksmanship is very good, Claire, to be honest, I am not so worried if you have a gun." After finishing speaking, Holmes felt that he seemed to have gone too far. Hurt innocent people, things will be a little difficult."

"What are you worried about, sir, since I got this pistol, I haven't hit any living thing with it." Claire said like a man and patted the pocket where the pistol was placed.

Holmes nodded in satisfaction, then leaned back in his chair:

"However, Miss Stoner's appearance was not the most surprising thing. What was surprising was that shortly after she left, her stepfather appeared in our apartment."

"My God, what's going on?" Claire looked at Holmes in surprise, she didn't know that the development of the matter was so dramatic.

"This is indeed an astonishing development. After he appeared, he kept asking us what Miss Stoner said, and said a lot of high-spirited things."

"This is really bizarre!" Claire finally came to her senses after evaluating, "By the way, sir, in this way, if we go to Miss Stoner's residence later, won't we also meet her stepfather?"

"No, no, he has something to do this afternoon, so he must not be there."

"That's right!" Claire nodded reassuringly.

"This matter is more imminent than imagined." Holmes murmured softly, and not long after, Claire saw him turn his gaze to the scenery outside the window.After listening to all this, the woman finally leaned on the back of the chair with peace of mind.

She suddenly felt a little emotional. She knew that she liked hunting and trying new things.But since when, I also fell in love with this former "enemy" and embarked on the road to solve the case, it is really a mystery.

■

It was already afternoon when we arrived in Surrey.

After paying the fare, Claire followed Holmes up the steps of the house in front of her.At this time, Claire realized that the lady who greeted them was a lady in her thirties. She had a few strands of white hair on her head and a few faint wrinkles on her face, which made her look prematurely aging.She kept frowning, which made her look very sad.

"Hello, Mr. Holmes!" After seeing us, her expression finally relaxed a little.Clearly she was delighted by our presence. "I've been waiting anxiously for you," she said. "Everything is going well. My stepfather, Dr. Roylott, has gone to town, and it looks like he won't be back before evening." There was obvious doubt in Claire's eyes, so Holmes immediately explained:

"He's my assistant, and his name is Lyle Treve."

"Hello, Ms. Stoner." Claire immediately nodded to the woman when she heard that. She lowered her voice, which made her look more like a young man, "I have already heard about you from Mr. Holmes." Claire said with a smile.

"That's great!" she said, leading them inside. "I think you need to take a look at the house first?"

"That's what I mean," said Holmes, and followed Ms. Stoner inwards.

The house is in disrepair in many places and has caved in in many places.Holmes walked around the outer wall several times, and then looked at the condition of the house.

"By the way, Mr. Holmes, how long are you going to stay here today?" Miss Stoner asked, looking at Holmes who was looking around the corner with a magnifying glass.

"We're supposed to spend the night." He replied, which made Claire on the side stunned.This guy didn't say any of this before!

"Yes, I understand sir."

"We will not stay here. I have booked a room in the hotel outside this house. We will go to your bedroom to find out all this when it is late at night." Holmes said, pointing in the direction of the hotel.

"Okay, sir!" Ms. Stoner felt relieved, with a long-lost smile on her face.

However, Claire next to the detective looked at him in surprise:

"What's the matter with staying overnight in the hotel... sir?" For some reason, her hand touched the pocket where the gun was placed reflexively.

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