Miss Watson of the Sherlock Holmes

John Watson is now standing in front of a single-family building with a honey-colored exterior and a warm gray roof, which is very characteristic of Bath, surrounded by large lawns and jungles. He can recognize several of them at this year's Chelsea Flower Show or The award-winning varieties that have appeared in other expositions. From these expensive gardening varieties, it can be seen that the owner of the house was also full of enthusiasm for it.

The reason for using the word “once” is that the surrounding area of ​​this house is full of fallen leaves and yellow lawns that have not been cleaned up in time.

But that's not the point, Dr. Watson quickly pulled his thoughts back from the analysis of the appearance of the house.

"Aren't you going to stop it?" He lowered his voice, trying to control the volume to a level that only he and Holmes could hear: "That's not how money is spent."

However, his extremely intelligent friend did not understand the intention of his actions at this time, and instead raised his voice, as if he was afraid that the three people who were talking a few steps away would not be able to hear him.

"Have you heard, my dear children?" Sherlock Holmes said loudly, "Your Uncle John is against you buying this house. I think you should think about it, after all..."

"This place is haunted~" Holmes dragged his tone, and looked meaningfully at the owner of the house who turned around, that is, the client, as well as Ursula and Eric, who had been discussing the sale with each other with great interest just now.

"..." Dr. Watson closed his mouth when he looked at the client with somewhat resentful eyes.

It's so embarrassing, he thought, the other party must really want to get rid of this house, but it's too outrageous for Eric to propose to buy it at the original market price.

The client who quickly adjusted his disappointed expression was a well-built middle-aged man named Jaip Balut. He was not a native of Bath, and he didn't even look like an Englishman in terms of his clothes. people.

The house was his only inheritance, from his uncle.His father is the youngest son in the family. He left home very early to make a living by himself. He not only left the country to settle down, but also married a local girl.

Therefore, he seldom met with the uncle who left him a considerable fortune, especially when he was old enough to be quiet, and he didn’t even want to attend the annual Christmas family gathering. He and his nephews sent cards and gifts.

This single-family house in Bath was bought during this period. Speaking of which, the client, after learning that his uncle’s address had been changed to Bath, thought that the other party was just renting a house there for a long time. After giving him the documents, I found out that it was actually bought.

Rare single family home in a great location.

This made Mr. Barut feel suspicious. How did his uncle, an ordinary country gentry, get such a house in a place like Bath where dignitaries gather and every inch of land is expensive?

But before he could further explore this, another message from the lawyer's mouth squeezed the question out of his head.

"Mr. Barut, before you go to officially take over this property, I have one thing to tell you." The lawyer's tone was quite hesitant.

"Tell me." Mr. Barut suddenly became nervous, but it was not surprising, after all, he had already had such a suspicion in advance: "Sure enough, there is something hidden about my uncle's acquisition of this house!"

"Ah, no, it has nothing to do with the old Mr. Barut, because everything happened after his death. As a professional, I shouldn't talk about such illusory things with clients, but, I feel that since he left you an inheritance... though he may not treat you..."

"What exactly are you going to say?" Facing the lawyer's faltering narration, Mr. Barut became a little impatient.

"It's a ghost! Some people say that the ghost of old Mr. Barut has a nostalgia for this house, and some people say that it's goblins like the Fool of the Castle." The lawyer said quickly.

"So I suggest that when you go to receive the house, it is best to bring professionals who understand these things with you, just in case. Of course, it is just a suggestion, and it doesn't matter if you believe these things."

"After all, despite the rumors, no one was hurt, right?" The lawyer shrugged.

"That's it, that's what he said at the time."

"Of course I don't believe this. Mr. Holmes, so I didn't go to those swindlers, but to you. I hope you can help me analyze it from a scientific point of view." Mr. Barut said in a rough voice say.

"You are indeed a very scientific man," replied Mr. Holmes, smiling.

Ursula and Eric, who had heard the conversation, looked at each other behind and raised their eyebrows at the same time.

"So you have actually inspected the house?"

"Ah, yes." Mr. Barut forced a smile: "I even stayed for one night."

"What happened?" asked Mr. Holmes with interest, looking up at the tightly drawn wooden windows.

"Nothing happened." Mr. Barut replied dryly: "I slept very soundly, which is enough to prove that everything is a rumor."

"I don't understand this, Mr. Barut. Since everything is normal, why did you entrust me to help you find out the reason for the haunting?" Mr. Holmes asked.

"Didn't I say it, Mr. Holmes, just to prove that this matter is not true?"

"...I see." Mr. Holmes withdrew his gaze from the building. "Look, let's talk inside the house. It's too eye-catching for so many of us to stand outside like this."

"Ah, that's right, I'll open the door now." Only then did Mr. Barut react. He took out a folded white handkerchief embroidered with golden cross patterns from his coat pocket, and spread it carefully on the fat On the palm of your hand, and then with the handkerchief, pinch the handle of the key to find the keyhole.

The door opened.

"I'm fat, and my palms sweat a lot. This key is said to have a certain history." Mr. Barut noticed that the girl beside him was curiously watching him put away his handkerchief, and explained.

"You are so careful!" Ursula exclaimed in admiration, acting like a naive little girl: "So, you must have a certain understanding of historical objects!"

"Ah, haha, that's right." Mr. Barut responded: "Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let's go in quickly. I will trouble you tonight."

Beige gray marble stretches from the foyer to under the door of the main living room.

"I like this house!" Ursula exclaimed in a childishly excited tone, especially when she found that there were two armor decorations holding swords placed on both sides of the door in the living room. sounded.

"How dreamy!" she exclaimed a little. "Look, Eric. You remember me saying that! If we're going to buy a house, I'm going to have something like this in the hallway."

"This must be a collection left over from the Middle Ages, look at these natural historical traces!"

"Yes, is it?" Mr. Barut couldn't help but stop: "Miss, are you sure?"

"I forgot to introduce you. Ursula's parents are both extremely famous archaeologists." Eric explained to the client as if he just remembered: "Because of family reasons, she is very strange to these archaeologists." I've always been obsessed with it."

"Is that so!" The client's eyes lit up.

"But..." Eric dragged his tone: "The vision is extremely bad, she~ only looks at the shape to confirm the age, and doesn't even consider the possibility that those crafts that seem to have a long history may be modern imitations."

"For example, this armor." Under Mr. Barut's suspicious eyes, Eric stepped forward and knocked on one of the armor decorations.

"The material of tin-plated iron, although the technology of producing this material was born in the 14th century, it was not until 1811 that Europe began to mass-produce it."

"You also said that the 14th century can be regarded as the Middle Ages, so why can't it be made in that era!" Ursula retorted in a serious manner: "I know you think these two armors are too delicate, but don't underestimate them. The level of craftsmanship of the people of that era!"

The client's expression became tangled.

"But people of that era would never engrave "1870, Italy" on their handicrafts." Eric replied in a friendly voice, crossing his arms.

Mr. Barut looked in the direction of the young man's finger, and sure enough, he saw such words, and he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed on his face.

"Well, even if it's a modern handicraft, I like it!" Ursula blushed a little, and said firmly in a low voice.

"Okay, children.!" Mr. Holmes said at this time, ending the debate; "You frightened Mr. Barut, Mr. Barut, please forgive me, these two children are used to bickering. "

"However, if it is a judgment on the history of cultural relics, I recommend you to talk to Eric. He has spent a lot of time in order to please his father-in-law, and he has also taken history courses in college."

Seeing the client look over, Eric bowed slightly: "I should ask for your advice."

"Hahaha, no, no, I only know the fur." ​​Mr. Barut took out a checked cotton handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"By the way, since Mr. Holmes is an expert in this field, I don't think I need to introduce my uncle's collection too much. In fact... I still have some things to do outside the city."

"You go, we will leave this place to us." Mr. Holmes said with great understanding: "We will spend three days and three nights here as agreed."

"Thank you, thank you. Oh! There is also dinner. Because of the haunted rumors, no servants are willing to come to work, let alone a chef." Mr. Barut squeezed a handkerchief, with some apology in his tone: "So I am in the city. The restaurant in here has ordered meals for you, just go directly when the time comes."

"However, please pay attention to one thing, Mr. Holmes." The client said solemnly before turning to leave: "You and your companions must not leave your bedroom before midnight."

"Don't you believe in haunted rumors?" Mr. Holmes looked at his well-built client with alert gray eyes: "How can we prove that this building is not worth visiting if we don't go around the house at the time when people are rumored to see ghosts?" Is it true that the house is free of paranormal events?"

"...You are right, ha, ha." The client said with a smile: "Then do as you say."

Ursula leaned against the side of the window, watched her client get into the carriage and leave, and shook her head.

"It's suspicious, isn't it?" Eric closed the curtains again and said to her with a smile: "By the way, dear Miss Watson, your acting skills are getting better and better."

"To each other, I don't know when you studied history for me." Ursula replied.

"This setting was obviously added by Sherlock." Eric laughed: "By the way, Ursula, is that key really an antique?"

"Yes, the antiques of the same age as armor have never been more than ten years since their birth and cannot be shorter."

"The handkerchief is also a flaw. I really don't understand what the other party is trying to do."

"Cough cough!"

A cough interrupted the conversation between the two of them, and Dr. Watson stood beside them with a dark face: "Why don't you explain?"

"That's fine, why do you guys join forces and act to deceive the client?"

"That's it."

"Because our client has an impure purpose." Mr. Holmes came from the other side of the corridor.

"What purpose can he have, isn't it just to entrust us to find the cause of the haunting?" Dr. Watson was puzzled. He thought for a while and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Could it be that he is a fake! The real client, Mr. Barut, was arrested He was kidnapped?"

"Imagination is rich, Watson."

"What else could it be? He just asked us to stay here for one night to check the situation." Dr. Watson was puzzled: "It's not difficult at all."

After saying this, the three people present except him looked at him with strange eyes at the same time.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Watson was taken aback by the unanimous gaze: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Actually, it's very difficult, Uncle John." Ursula was the first to explain. She felt that if she didn't speak again, these two wicked Sherlock Holmes would definitely play tricks and frighten poor Dr. Watson.

"Our client really thinks that this place is haunted." Miss Witch shrugged.

"what?"

"Of course his cognition is wrong. There are no supernatural creatures here, except for a strange half-elf (Eric protested: how strange!), there is nothing." Ursula seriously appeased Dr. Watson and said: " Even the ancient Roman baths in the past are now nothing but a bustling tourist city where gods perish.”

"You see, Halloween is celebrated here every year." Ursula added, "The day after tomorrow is Halloween. Since people are allowed to pretend to be ghosts in this city, there can be no real ghosts."

Only then did Dr. Watson remember that they arrived at the end of October, and it was too "lively" a while ago. Although he saw some pumpkins in front of some houses on the way here, he still didn't react.

"Yes, yes, so it's about this time." Dr. Watson said with emotion, "You mean that although Mr. Barut says he wants to believe in science, he actually still thinks that this house is haunted."

"That's right." Ursula nodded.

"But why did he lie to us?" Dr. Watson felt that the client's thinking was really incomprehensible.

"Did you forget what I was talking to Ursula when we were in the yard?"

"I remember buying this house." Dr. Watson said angrily, "If you want money to buy it, I have no position to stop you, but you still want to pay the market price, which is the highest one. There are rumors of a haunted house."

"Huh?" Dr. Watson suddenly stopped: "You don't think that Mr. Barut proved that this house is not a haunted house to sell the house for the original price!"

"There is such a guess." Mr. Holmes joined the conversation after watching for a while, "And this guess has been confirmed 90.00% by the test just now, and the rest is about the client's assets. Because he has been living on the other side of the ocean, and I sent a telegram before boarding the train, entrusting him to help me investigate, so the clues from there will be slower."

"Speaking of it, I have to blame you, Watson." Mr. Holmes laughed, "If it weren't for the little articles you published about me, which made my reputation a little too loud among the public, this gentleman who just returned to China would not I thought of using my reputation to clarify."

"That's why you asked us to stay for a few nights to dispel the rumors? They also specially picked Halloween spots." Dr. Watson became speechless after thinking about it.

"But think about the good." Dr. Watson was optimistic by nature, and quickly adjusted his mentality: "In this way, we have free board and lodging for three days."

"It's not so easy, my friend." Holmes looked around the room, "It's never the ghosts that are scary in this world, but the real people."

"Oh, Holmes."

"Someone is pretending to be a ghost." Mr. Holmes said seriously. "Although I don't know what the purpose is, it is obvious that our client was frightened that night when he lived here alone."

"Since I have accepted the commission, I will naturally complete it, won't I?"

"Holmes." Dr. Watson was moved by his friend's upright words, but before he could express his approval, the other party suddenly changed the topic.

"Speaking of which, what are you going to play for Halloween?"

"There are no children among us." Dr. Watson looked at the two "big children": "It should be candy."

"But there is a "strange half-elf" among us." Mr. Holmes laughed, imitating Ursula's tone: "Before this festival was named Halloween, it belonged to all the magicians and elves in this land. carnival."

Dr. Watson was refreshed by his friend's intentionally lowered voice, and turned to look at the person mentioned.

The "strange half-elf" looked innocent and looked at Dr. Watson with extremely sincere eyes

"Except for the price, what do you think of this house?"

"After all, according to our bet with a Mr. Goblin who will come to the party on Halloween, he will pay the bill for this house." Under Dr. Watson's expression that could not be explained, Eric happily added: "Of course, it is with Normal gold coins."

"He is a pirate captain, and he can definitely afford it. We just negotiated that price."