Bad days as neighbors with Sherlock Holmes

Just as he finished speaking, Mrs. Hudson's voice came from downstairs.

"Want some bread?" she called up the stairwell, "I made some."

The count immediately quieted down like a guilty conscience, and walked out with his hands behind his back.

Don't wait, anyway, all that needs to be said has been said, and now he plans to find a carriage at the door and take him back to the residence of the Molson family in London.

It's all his fault for talking fast, but it's better not to be heard by Mona.

Even if you hear it, you must escape before she comes up to chase people away.

Holmes spoke at this moment.

"Is Miss Molson's mother's property an underground force?" Holmes asked abruptly.

The count turned his head in surprise and glanced at Holmes, as if wondering why he asked such a question.

"This is absolutely impossible!" He said affirmatively, and then quickened his pace.

The family paid taxes diligently and worked hard. They not only inspected their own property, but also actively contributed to society.

How could it be an "underground force".

Wait, who's running London's sewer project?Who was ordered to build a new sewage system?

Thinking about it this way, it was actually right.

And the previous note, which Weston hinted to him was placed on the windowsill by someone else.

"Whoever controls London controls the world" Is this what it means?

It turned out that he was thinking in the wrong direction!It is the design of the sewage system!

Really, it's not funny to tell him the "navigation blueprint" in a mess. It's not funny to be inferior to manipulating the sewer.

Hurry up and go back, and you can talk to the housekeeper about this matter.

The count thought that he had gone in the wrong direction before, quickened his pace, and decided to go back and change the butler's opinion.

Looking at the hurried count, Elena tilted her head in surprise.

According to father's habit, should he pick her thorns first?

For example, say that the design here is not good, and the work there is not good and so on.

This time the earl came and went in a hurry, which is really a bit strange.

It seemed to be afraid of something, and the speed was as fast as oil on the soles of the feet.

"It seems that the Earl really doesn't know anything about the industry your mother was engaged in, Miss Molson," Holmes said. "Although he deliberately omitted some key information, he must think that the other party left you an industry. It's about design."

Elena shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, "I just came to the conclusion that my father, although he's been a little eccentric lately, still won't cooperate with inquiries."

Hearing the phrase "I will never cooperate with the inquiry", Watson seemed to try hard to suppress the corner of his mouth in order to hold back a smile.

Is there any misunderstanding between the father and daughter?

"So, have you accepted this commission, Mr. Holmes?" Elena changed the subject and asked, throwing her money bag, "And Dr. Watson, I know you are also very interested in this, I can pay you once." I will also pay the sex payment and the car and horse money as transportation expenses, please don’t be harsh on yourself. If this is the case, how much is the price?”

"Of course," said Holmes, taking his pipe between his teeth. "I will take it, and you must rest assured."

Noticing Elena's gaze, he raised his eyes towards Elena and smiled, "You don't need to pay me, work is the best reward."

He casually extinguished the match in his hand, "not to mention protecting a lady is a due responsibility."

The evening light was dim, which added a little haze to Holmes' face.

He didn't look too serious, on the contrary he was teasing, but it made Elena feel very at ease.

This is indeed a serious commitment.

But no money... This made Eileen laugh.

She threw the coin purse in her hand directly to Holmes who had already lit his pipe, "In this case, I will set the price, not too little. You can't let you bear the cost."

"It's impossible for people to say that my Molson family is so poor," Elena said with a bit of arrogance.

This is not for her construction career, but as a security expenditure, so she is quite justified in spending it.

Before she could turn around and leave, she saw Mrs. Hudson walking up with a tray.

Mrs. Hudson came up with hot buttered toast, and said angrily, "I don't welcome here—where are the Molsons? Gone? So fast? Then you're welcome, eat whatever you want."

"Father just left not long ago," Elena simply stopped and reached for a piece of bread, "I wanted to go back upstairs. Now that I happened to meet, Auntie, I want to ask you something thing."

She took a bite, and was struck by the sweet taste, "It's delicious——I want to ask something about my mother."

Mrs. Hudson looked at Elena and smiled.

"Of course, you can know anything you want," she said, setting the plate down and wiping her hands on her apron.

"But, are you sure you're here?" She looked a little hesitant.

"Ah, yes," said Elena, "this morning's matter is not over. The person who stole the box died in his room. So I asked Mr. Holmes to look into the matter."

Elena didn't inform Mrs. Hudson of the morning's affairs, and the coachman went home to help her bring things, and he just mentioned that she had a temporary business in the morning, so she didn't go to the architectural office.

She'd tried to tone down the tone of the sentence as much as she could, but it didn't look much better.

Mrs. Hudson gasped, her face paled instantly.

"It's happened again—are you all right?" she asked, pulling Elena. "My God, God bless."

"I'm really fine," Elena comforted helplessly, "I'm really fine, I went with Mr. Holmes and the others, and nothing will happen."

The remark did seem reassuring, and Mrs. Hudson relaxed with a sigh of relief.

"Where do you want me to start?" Mrs. Hudson asked slowly, sitting on the sofa.

"From your childhood," said Holmes, "when did you know that Mrs. Molson was not your own sister?"

Elena glanced back at Holmes, and found that he looked very serious at this time, sitting on the sofa with his hands folded, looking sharply at Mrs. Hudson, as if he was thinking about something seriously.

Mrs. Hudson was a little taken aback by Holmes' sharp words, but then she relaxed.

"About eight? Or nine?" she said. "I didn't know about it at first. My father was Joyce. She is a lady from a squire's family. Our sisters have studied mathematics, painting, etc. since childhood, and my sister Yvette is always good at homework and can learn everything quickly—that is an extremely rare talent."

"I remember very clearly, when I was about eight years old, I was sneaking behind the door and playing games with Yvette," Mrs. Hudson recalled. "I hid in the cupboard, and she quickly caught Me, we went into the living room hand in hand. After playing around for a while, Yvette said that she heard the voice of her parents. So we made an appointment to hide under the dining table covered with a tablecloth, and planned to wait for the parents to come. Scared them. Then unexpectedly, I overheard my parents arguing."

"Is it about mother's life experience?" Elena asked.

She squeezed Mrs. Hudson's hand tightly, trying to give her some strength to speak.

"Yes, and no, they are worrying about the tuition fees for me and Yvette," Mrs. Hudson sighed, "The tuition fees in London were really expensive at that time, and the price was already that of an unknown girls' school, let alone It's a bit of a burden for me and Yvette to be together."

"At this time, my father mentioned Yvette and said that she didn't need to go to school. After all, she was not born. It was not easy to raise her so big." There were tears in the eyes of Yvette. I put my arms around her and promised in a low voice that if she didn’t go to school, then I wouldn’t either. Then I followed her usual way of coaxing me and patted her on the back After the father finished speaking, the mother was silent for a while, and said, 'You can't be cruel at all', then walked to the dressing table, took out some jewelry, sold them, and saved enough money together. "

"Has anyone in particular been to your house?" asked Holmes. "Mrs. Molson's own parents, for example?"

Mrs. Hudson shook her head.

"No, at least not before we left home," she said affirmatively, "Yvette and I have always walked together, except for the rare occasions when she would not let me follow, we all walked together."

"What about those rare cases?" Elena asked a little surprised, "Going to the bathroom?"

"No, for example, if someone confesses to her, she must expressly refuse. But that can't be in front of me, it's too hurtful," Mrs. Hudson rubbed Elena's hair with a smile, "Back then Evie She is very popular, she is probably the prettiest, most temperamental, and the most intelligent one in the girls' school, and many teachers praised her for being good enough, and she will definitely be able to marry into a good family."

"And then the grandparents died?" Elena sighed.

"Yeah, and then they died in an accident," Mrs. Hudson breathed out slightly, "I don't know why. Even though Yvette told me it was a deliberate murder, we couldn't find a decent detective to go We can’t even report it to the police—they’ll think we’re missing our loved ones too much. Even though we’re safe, we’re kicked out of our former home.”

"And then Yvette started not coming home," she continued. "She was really smart — she found someone to take us in, then figured out how to make money, and hugged me and swore she would avenge her parents. Even In such a difficult situation, even if I don't know anything, she never thought of abandoning me."

"So how much do you know about her 'underground forces'?" Holmes asked.

"Probably more than that guy," laughed Mrs. Hudson. "He'd never figure out what Yvette ever did."

She explained to Elena again, "Your father's current situation cannot be said to be caused by Yvette, and it probably has something to do with concealment. Even if that guy knows, he won't care, but it's better not to know."

"Those forces..." Elena took out the list, "Is it these?"

She pointed at the first person, "Uncle Ben is also on it, so this list is real?"

"Let me see," Mrs. Hudson took the paper and glanced at it carefully.

"Most of them," she said, "but I'm not sure about a few. You should have some impressions of the first few, and I haven't attended the wedding, and I don't know them very well. When I was at home, basically I Wei Te will avoid me to deal with these things. Smuggling these things is regarded as huge profits, so in order to protect me, I was never allowed to handle them, and then gradually turned to tailor shops, jewelry shops, etc., so I am not very impressed."

"Then..." Holmes thought of another person. "Where is Arnold Quick? Do you know him?"

This was the person he had tracked down a few days ago, the place where the coachmen gathered. Someone told him that he had driven the Quick Brothers to a similar place in the past two days.

He has been to the area where the two often appear, but he has never met face to face.

"I don't know... Ah, Arnold Quick," Mrs. Hudson wanted to deny, but exclaimed as if remembering something, "he's famous, I know him."

She said with certainty, "I know him."

The author has something to say: Fixed typos!

Turn back, there is another one behind!

I also want to ask for a comment on this chapter~