Miss Watson of the Sherlock Holmes

In the following time, Dr. Watson listened to Eric's speech "On the Adaptability of Elves and Witches to Haunted House Legends" with a blank face.

"If a house is defined as a haunted house, then what happens in it will not surprise other people, will it?" Eric concluded.

"Wait a minute." Dr. Watson couldn't help interrupting the other party: "What are you planning to do here? This is Bath!"

He persuaded with earnestness and earnestness: "It doesn't matter how big of a commotion your uncle makes in Baker Street, that's because London is already such a big weird cesspool, gathering strange people from all over the country."

Mr. Holmes sneered from the side: "Watson, in my opinion, what you said is too unfair to London. Bath is a small city, but it has more unique pleasures than London in terms of diversity of people."

"But this kind of diversity should be on the "normal" level!" Dr. Watson gritted his teeth and said that he was very dissatisfied with Holmes' inaction as a parent.

""Normal"?" Mr. Holmes suddenly laughed, the kind of laugh that hears something interesting: "We really want to live in a city whose name comes from Celtic gods and whose roots are built around the Temple of Sulis. Are you discussing this?"

"..." Doctor Watson found that he couldn't find a strong argument to refute Holmes, because Bath is indeed such a city, and its name comes from Sulis, the goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship in Celtic mythology. Although the city was invaded by the Romans to establish the current ruins of the baths, but because the gods in the West always seem to have so many inextricable connections and weird similarities, these invaders still retained the city. The original name of the city, and even the temple dedicated to Sulis Minerva.

"That's all." Mr. Holmes suddenly took out his pocket watch, and directly decided their next itinerary with his unique "self-assessment" style: "Let's go to the restaurant ahead to have a cup of afternoon tea."

"By the way, I read the tourist brochure. The most famous restaurant in this city is actually in the bathhouse, isn't it? The pump room of the bathhouse features hot spring water." Mr. Holmes put on his hat again: "Let's go, Hua Sir. When we arrive at the restaurant later, we just canceled the dinner that Mr. Barut ordered for us."

"Go and have a drink in the hot spring, and realize the health preservation you often talk about."

This is a must suffer.Ursula put down her coffee slowly and looked at the refreshment tray laden with sandwiches and desserts with a kind of wistfulness.

As a person who has experienced the era of global food impact, the joy of vacation is worth the first meal and the cold sandwich and the lethal sweetness attack on a simple soul whose highest rating for dessert is "not sweet" All of a sudden fell to the bottom.

To be honest, even though she had never been to Bath in any era before this, she could already imagine the dismal dinner.If it was in the 21st century, she could still look forward to it, but in the [-]th century, the dinner menu there would definitely not escape roast beef and roast venison.

Eric glanced at her, smiled, and picked a scone from the refreshment and put it on Ursula's plate.

"It's still some time before dinner, and before that we need to consume a lot of calories." He smiled and lifted his chin towards Mr. Holmes.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Holmes managed to strike up a conversation with the owner of the restaurant.

"You just said where you live?" the boss asked in surprise.

"The house at the back, the one near the river," said Mr. Holmes, in a very casual tone.

"Tsk." The boss smacked his lips in an unintelligible sound.

"What? Is there something wrong with that house?" Mr. Holmes immediately responded appropriately, and asked in a tone mixed with doubts and doubts: "To tell you the truth, we are here to inspect this house this time. .Before moving in, I made an appointment with the owner, and if the experience is good in the past few days, we will sign a contract."

"Ha, you want to buy that old Barut's house?"

"No, it's my nephew who wants to buy it." Mr. Holmes put on a worried look on purpose. "I was entrusted by his father to guard him. If you know anything, please let me know."

As he spoke, he took out a gold crown and handed it to the boss without any explanation.

The amazing thing is that the boss did not refuse. After receiving the reward, he turned his head and looked at the position of the bar first to confirm that his wife hadn't noticed the movement here, then lowered his voice and pretended to be mysterious: "I can give it to you. You said, but this secret has always been circulated only among the locals, and I took a great risk, once someone finds out..."

"I know you are a kind-hearted gentleman." Mr. Holmes also lowered his voice, and concealedly stuffed another gold coin into the opponent's hand.

"Of course, of course." From Ursula's point of view, the corners of the boss's mouth were happy to the ears, and the man rubbed his hands and held up a menu, pretending to be introducing the dishes to the guests Said in the same low voice to Mr. Holmes.

"The house you're looking at has a nickname among our locals, it's called the White Gorgon."

"Oh?" Mr. Holmes pretended to be surprised: "Why is it called such a scary name? I don't think that house is white either?"

"I don't know about that, anyway, that's what it was called when I was a child."

"Then do you know who his previous master was?" Holmes continued to ask, "Before old Mr. Barut."

"I don't know about this. The previous owner was even more mysterious than the current owner. Oh, the current one refers to the deceased old Barut." He said mysteriously, and then he noticed the right message from Holmes. With a dissatisfied expression, he hurriedly added: "But what I can tell you is that there were rumors of ghosts before the old Mr. Barut took over this house, ah, you know it! There are rumors that the house is haunted."

"I know this, but I think it's completely nonsense." Holmes said with disdain: "What era is this? It's just a rumor to scare away outsiders."

"That's not necessarily the case. I advise you to let that little gentleman think about it." The boss laughed, not angry because Holmes didn't believe him: "That's all I know. I'll give you a piece of advice. If you decide to If you want to buy that house, it is best to find a witch outside the city to help you drive away evil spirits, although it may not be useful. Anyway, enjoy your meal, sir."

After finishing speaking, the boss withdrew slipperily, carrying two gleaming gold coins and colored paper tickets for betting on horses exposed in his pocket.

As soon as Ursula looked back clearly, she heard Mr. Holmes teach Eric: "Anyone with gambling skills can't keep a secret. Motivation and money will always shake them. Start with weakness."

"For example, this restaurant owner is keen on horse racing, but because the financial power is in the hands of his wife, he obviously spent a lot of energy on this bad hobby."

"I just noticed that his seemingly enthusiastic way of serving food by skipping the waiters is actually not in line with the identity of the owner of such a shop that employs enough staff, but he has hidden a lot of tips."

"Look at your expression." Eric said with a smile: "Do you think your two gold coins are well spent?"

"It's quite worth it." Mr. Holmes' eyes were shining brightly: "As for why, I will tell you later when I leave here. Now we have to eat something quickly, and we still have to run."

Mr. Holmes glanced over and fixed on Ursula, who was trying to throw her share of the sandwich onto Eric's plate.

Under the gaze of Mr. Detective, Ursula retracted her claws calmly on the surface.

To be honest, when they circled most of the city, after Mr. Holmes's seemingly casual tour, like a tourist aimlessly, they finally arrived at the small mound called "Plinth Wall". When we arrived at the ruins of the temple, it was already time for dinner.

"You haven't said why you think the two gold coins are worth it?" Ursula asked looking at the nearby temple, which was more than 50 feet high and had four pillars.Although it has been buried for a long time and eroded by the years, it is still possible to glimpse the former glory and grand occasion through the lines carved on the stone.

"On this point, you are experts." Mr. Holmes pointed to a round carved pattern on the pediment on the top of the preserved part of the temple and said, "Why do you call this sculpture?"

"According to the saying that the Romans regarded the Celtic goddess as their god of war, Minerva, it would be Medusa." Ursula looked at the sculpture with claws and claws, recalling the explanation in the travel guide and subconsciously said Answer: "But I don't think this one looks very much like a banshee, after all, it has a beard... wait, Medusa?!"

"Oh, isn't this Gorgon?" Dr. Watson suddenly realized, "Could it be that the house is really related to goblins and magic?"

"My dear Watson." Mr. Holmes laughed, with some irony in his tone: "It is a good thing that you have a rich imagination, but it is too rich, so that you don't even think that since we have two different The young men of science have gone around the house and they see nothing and think it has something to do with ghosts."

"Do you know, Watson. When I don't have enough clues to predict whether a case is a supernatural event, the probability is generally based on the strength and time of the spread of the so-called rumors."

"Generally speaking, the more people know, the longer the history of folklore, the more likely it is man-made, especially this kind of monster that is related to Gorgon from the myth age at the beginning. "

As he said that, he stepped up the fully restored steps and walked in the direction of the cultural relics exhibition hall.

"White Gorgon." Looking at a gold-plated head that is said to be a goddess, Holmes suddenly fell into thought as he read the words of the restaurant owner.

"Ursula!" Mr. Holmes called suddenly to Ursula, who was also thinking.

"exist!"

"Do you know much about the myths of Roman history?"

"If it's a particularly out-of-the-ordinary suggestion, I suggest you ask Eric." Ursula said honestly, there is generally no problem, but many details in the field of mysticism are better understood by native half-elves. The human priests disappeared, but the contemporaries The goblin must still be there. Eric, the guy who lived on Avalon when he was a child, must know a lot of messy secrets.

"It's about treasure." He looked at the head of the goddess who should have been a glorious golden statue of the whole book if it hadn't been destroyed by the later land occupiers, and said, "What was the definition of treasure in that era?"

"This sculpture is gilded bronze, so gold?"

"Yes, gold and silver." Ursula thought about the other patterns on the pediment seen earlier, probably because it is a city of hot springs, and there are many elements of water gods. "Pearls count too."

"What humans call treasure doesn't seem to change much." She shrugged.

"And Gorgon." Eric, who hadn't spoken much since entering the temple, suddenly said, "It's also a rare treasure."

"What Gorgon?" Ursula looked at him.

"Ovid's mythological long poem." Eric reminded: "The "Metamorphosis" on your shelf, the part of Perseus."

"...He is afraid that Medusa's snake-haired head will be scratched by sand and stones,

Spread a layer of leaves on the ground,

The leaves are covered with a layer of seaweed,

Medusa's head rests on it.

fresh seaweed

The spirit sucked into the monster's head hardened and stiffened. "(Quoted from the fourth volume of "Metamorphosis")

ursula took it

"...

Then the nymphs in the sea also tried one after another,

And the algae stiffened too,

They were very happy,

Scatter these branches in the sea..."

"Oh! Coral!" Dr. Watson, who also read "The Metamorphosis", suddenly realized: "Because everything that sees Gorgon's eyes will turn into stone, so it is said that coral was born because of her magic power."

"So white gorgon means white coral?" Mr. Holmes touched his chin.

"Or white pearls?" Ursula said cautiously: "Coral doesn't seem to be particularly valuable in England, but pearls are very valuable, right?" She recalled the current price of pearls in jewelry stores on the market and the highlight moments of her uncle's life in the original book The description of the value of the big pearl in the "Four Signatures" case.

"Oh, the white coral, the red and the white pearls," mused Mr. Holmes, "this is a deliberate charade."

"Do you think that the reason why the house is rumored to be haunted is because there are treasures in it? Ancient Rome?" Ursula couldn't help asking.

"It's not impossible. If someone's purpose of pretending to be a ghost is not to kill, then it must be considered as a profit." Mr. Holmes said: "That's why I said on the way that this case is not complicated. If you two were not here, I may still need to rule out supernatural factors, but what needs to be spent now is to find the person behind the scenes or the ultimate purpose of the gang."

When Ursula heard Mr. Holmes say that, she rarely felt at ease. After she had finished her dinner and returned to the house, she sighed deeply in the bedroom where she lived.

"When, when, when."

There was a sudden, regular knocking sound on the outside of the window.

"Do you think there are no ghosts, so you need to go into battle in person to create an atmosphere?"

Ursula, who had been thinking wildly, was taken aback at first, but she reacted immediately, opened the window and looked angrily at Eric who was sitting on the windowsill.

"Lido is stunned," said the young detective abruptly. He didn't get down from the window sill, but just leaned slightly and patted the head of the Miss Witch. Ursula's hair was loose because she was going to sleep, and the crown was in the middle. It has returned to where it should go before, so Eric can touch the soft and fluffy top of Miss Witch's hair now.

"Although coral is called the stone of Gorgon in Roman mythology, pearls are regarded as its fruit in "Natural History", and in Diocles' "On Drugs", it also has such a name—— Stone tree." Eric said, "You're scared, afraid that it's not over yet, aren't you?"

"Don't you think too much about it? Another tree, okay this time it's a bit far-fetched, but..." Ursula replied a little listlessly.

She really didn't have the strength to do that kind of big scene again.

"Are you sure that guy Adonis is locked up"

"Sure." Eric said, "So if someone really wants to make trouble, it must not be him. I think it's just a coincidence."

"If you're really worried..." The young detective suddenly lowered his voice, waved his hand at her, motioned Ursula to come closer, and moved closer to her ear.

"We can do this..."

"By the way, can't you come down and talk?" Ursula asked strangely after hearing Eric's plan, and then suddenly realized that this guy looked like he was growing on the windowsill.

"No, if I come down, it will be very rude to step into the lady's room." Speaking of this, Eric looked very righteous: "I want to maintain the image in Dr. Watson's heart."

"..."

Watching the suddenly childish fellow, Ursula slammed the window shut.

"Holmes! Something has fallen!"

Sitting on the first floor, Dr. Watson, who planned to be on duty tonight with Holmes, was shocked when he saw the black shadow falling from the window.