[Sherlock Holmes] The Legend of the Nightingale

(God's perspective)

When Holmes awoke from the remote darkness, it was hard to say whether he was laughing at himself or not.He knew this would be the result sooner or later, but he didn't expect, or didn't fully expect, to be brought here in such an unrefined and uninspired way.

On the evening of the 5th, he arrived at the same tavern on time, and stayed there for about half an hour, when he saw the man he saw yesterday, all in black, come out of the lounge in a hurry and walk out the door.He cautiously let her out before getting up and going out calmly, keeping a distance so that people around the tavern would not see who he was chasing.He caught up after a few hundred yards.As if she felt someone approaching, she stopped and didn't look back.Holmes walked up to her with his hands in his pockets.

"Ma'am, I forgot to bring my watch, can I ask the time?"

When she turned to look at him, he was already beginning to feel unconscious.That look back seems to have a hypnotic effect.The face in front of him was more unfamiliar than familiar, unhealthily pale against the black fur collar, not very bright makeup, brown hair that had been dyed, and the roots of the hair showed the original black.She was too thin, and her face was long and angular.The whole picture quickly blurred in his eyes, turning into black and white interlaced color blocks, the last thing he remembered was the pair of eyes staring at him and the pair of hands holding his shoulders.

Very well, Sherlock Holmes, he said to himself in the midst of half-sleep, you have come a long way, being drugged with sleeping pills in a shop like this, and knowing nothing about it.

Holmes sat up.They saved him some face by not tying him up.He had just been lying on a single bed.He looked around. It was a hotel room with a simple layout. There was a writing desk and a chair in front of the window. The curtains were drawn. There was a floor-to-ceiling hanger in front of the door, and his coat was hung on it.This situation was a bit unexpected to him, because he never thought that the professor would arrange himself in a hotel instead of a secret stronghold.

Holmes thought for a moment.Who knows if Nightingale was also spying on him while he was spying on Nightingale's whereabouts. He had been seen by her on the evening of the 4th, prepared by the tavern, no doubt about it.Compared with the teacher who understands him unilaterally, perhaps he should be more wary of students who understand each other with him.

Holmes stood up and walked to the door. He turned the handle, but it was locked as expected.He knocked hard on the door again, and immediately heard footsteps walking away outside the door.Knowing that there was no hope, he felt all the pockets of his coat, and the gun was taken away.He went back to the desk, sat down with the chair facing the door, and then, like a cat, carefully arranged his hair, collar, cuffs and hem no matter what the situation.

The door opened.A burly, tough fellow entered first, and looked up at Holmes sullenly like a tiger, as if to ascertain whether he was also an aggressive feline.But the detective sat there motionless, as if he hadn't seen him.The visitor took a step to the side and made way for the door, and the professor walked in.His bodyguard closed the door behind him.

Holmes moved his lips with a somewhat regretful expression.

"Sorry, Sherlock, we both underestimated each other." Moriarty smiled almost affectionately, "I didn't expect you to find that tavern, and you didn't expect me to get you here. We It's a tie right now."

"Actually, I did not expect to catch Pollock," said Holmes calmly.

"If you mean Mr. Karl Winfield, then yes." Moriarty calmly said Pollock's real name.

"That's not too hard--but must we meet to talk about this unpleasant subject head-on?"

"I know what you want to talk about," said the Professor, "but not pleasantly. Mind if I sit down, Sherlock—or, Mr. Holmes?"

"You are the master here, Professor."

Moriarty looked around. The only chair in the room, ridiculously, was Holmes's, so he just moved closer.

"Let's talk about what you want to talk about."

Holmes leaned forward slightly, crossed his slender fingers on his knees, and looked calmly.

"After taking Miss Nightingale from Whitechapel, I hid her in London for a period of time, about a month. There were several accidents during this period, because Chigurh was hunting me down."

"I thought you had cleaned him out long ago," said Holmes. "You don't carry that pen with you any more. But I suppose you won't throw it away, perhaps in some souvenir drawer."

"Yes, just like you, Sherlock." Moriarty said sarcastically, "or should I say, you are just like me. I'm talking about little Chigurh, the son of the one-handed Chigurh in the past, far away Not as good as his father, otherwise he would not be stupid enough to use assassination to solve the problem. His father was not assassinated by me."

"But now he does chase you all over London, and even to the mainland."

"It was 'once' that chased me all over London. That's why I finally decided to abandon Winfield. As for going to the mainland, it wasn't entirely because of him."

"You suspect him of betraying you," said Holmes quietly.

"Strictly speaking, it was a partial betrayal. He was very unwise to try to double traitor. He managed to reveal my stronghold to Little Zig, thinking that this would leave a way out. Even if Little Zig didn't succeed, he might not It will be exposed, because there is more than one person who knows the address and usage of the stronghold. It is a pity that he forgot the simplest question. Among all these people, he is the only one who has not been kept by my side. Once the news leaks, the first one will be suspected It will be him. So you see, even the smartest people ignore big mistakes when they focus on narrow angles. That's why too many potential people die young because of selfishness-- They only see themselves, so they don't see what's going on in the bigger world."

"You are the same as before," said Holmes suddenly. "You are fond of telling stories and lecturing."

"To think it's preaching means you're not getting it."

"Okay. Go ahead, please."

"Zig's men came twice in the first place, the ones you and Scotland Yard found out. The first time William Wood was injured, but my men reacted quickly and cleaned up the scene. They went back that night Came once, when we were transferring. William didn't survive the night, we left him on site. Now there's a question of why all the papers in that house happen to be William's own..." Moriah At this point Dee glanced at Holmes.

"I think except for the maid, everyone in the stronghold has a document with their own name on it. If there is an accident, anyone can temporarily act as a scapegoat."

"The response was quick, Mr. Holmes." The professor went to the window and adjusted the curtains. This was already within Holmes' attack range, but he didn't seem to care at all.

"After changing the base, Little Ziggy's people can still follow up accurately - I just said why. It was quite dangerous once or twice, but fortunately, neither you nor Scotland Yard found it again. Considering the domestic situation is a bit tense , it was difficult to continue working in the college normally, so I took a long vacation and went to the mainland to recuperate because of my health. Miss Nightingale went to the mainland with me. At that time, you must have been looking for her like crazy. The student of the detective has been kidnapped without knowing it, and he has never been heard from again, and Sherlock Holmes will be—or has been—discredited if he does not solve the case himself.”

Speaking of this, the professor turned to Holmes and smiled. His frown was relaxed, and the wrinkles on his protruding forehead were not so deep. He changed from a wise and calculating Moriarty to a gentle professor of mathematics.

"Want to know how I domesticated her. You should know too. Miss Nightingale is not as gentle as her name, at least it was impossible under the circumstances at the time. The actual effort was more than I expected, and they even doubted that in the future Is the return from her enough to redeem these sacrifices? I have never doubted. The fiercer the horse, the more worthy of your painstaking efforts to deal with it, because it is the most expensive."

The professor's phrasing succeeds in finally irritating Holmes.His clasped hands parted and clenched into fists involuntarily.Colonel Moran approached warily, but Holmes did nothing.Moriarty casually looked out of the window, which he couldn't see at all.

"The important thing is to get her to stop fighting first - I don't mean the thought of fighting, no one can stop her thinking, I mean strong and stupid physical resistance, screaming, fighting, biting her teeth, fasting, suicide, etc. Etc. This type of person takes his own life too seriously, as if if he renounced his life, others would follow him carefully. Yes. There is no benefit except to cause me some trouble. Fortunately, she is not hysterical like a beast, but with her character, it is not impossible to kill herself in order to prevent me from achieving my goal. I did not give her this chance. Sherlock, you say—"

Moriarty looked back.

"How can you make a person who would rather die than let you succeed live obediently?"

Holmes frowned.

"Think about it, Sherlock."

"Only in your position is there such a question," replied the detective.

"Make him think you want to kill him. It's so simple." The professor slowed down when he said the last two words, and the breath of the voiceless consonants was stretched out, like the sound of a snake spitting out a letter. "Nightingale only knows how to fight against each other. The more she is in a difficult situation, the more she struggles. This is of great benefit. After the domestication is completed, I will get a nightingale with great resilience. Not only does she suffer a lot, I also spend my energy, but She finally calmed down. It was only the two of us when we went to the mainland. She was very obedient and never acted rashly again. I know she learned to wait for an opportunity with full confidence. But it’s okay, the domestication has just begun. Please believe it, no A man who can sustain his personality and will, let alone a young woman, in the long claustrophobic condition of being under my influence alone—are you distraught, Sherlock? I know what you've been worrying about. You want to know what she's doing To what extent do my subordinates do it, for example...has she ever killed anyone?"

Holmes stood up slowly, his gray eyes as cold as a wolf waiting to kill.Colonel Moran moved closer accordingly, keeping the same distance between Holmes and the professor as Moriarty did.The smile on the professor's face did not waver in the slightest.

"Yes, you guessed it right, she killed someone before."

The detective heard the blood rushing up in his veins all over his body.His face was pale, and his already clenched fists clenched tightly, and all three of them could hear the creaking of joints.Moriarty studied him, staring unceremoniously directly into Holmes' sparkling eyes.

"But I didn't order her to go. Nightingale is cautious and temporarily refuses to do anything she thinks will go to prison or hang. The people broke into the villa again, and one of them ran into her room by mistake. She was not very good at shooting, and she emptied and only hit half of it, but it was enough. When we arrived, the person fell to the ground I couldn't move, there was blood all over the ground, and the girl was still hooking the trigger of the empty gun... Fortunately, it's all over. I don't know if the blood on her body is her own or the person who was killed. In the end, Moran Helped that fellow. I couldn't break her hand and get the gun out with all my might, so she let it go. I've seen a hundred times worse, Sherlock. She rolled all over me. Blood, bloody lips bitten, but not a syllable."

The detective loosened his fists, hiding his trembling fingers behind his back.Moriarty turned to him with a serious and deep gaze.

"How is she?" said Holmes.

Moriarty looked at him.

"You'd better tell me she's all right now."

Moran stood vigilantly between the cold Holmes and Moriarty.But the professor raised a hand, beckoning him back to where he was.

"No, Moran, you needn't worry. It's no problem for Mr. Holmes to get out of this room, and you can't even promise to stop him. It's only a second to break a man's neck, let alone one of my age." Man. But I know he's not going to do it no matter how provoked. He's got to sit here at the end and get caught. Do you see why?"

The Professor smiled at Holmes.The detective raised his chin slightly to hide his surprise and worry.

"Because he hasn't seen Nightingale yet. He doesn't know whether she is intact or disabled. He doesn't even know if there is a gun stuck to her temple right now. Once bad news comes from our side, It'll be—a little push."

The author has something to say: I'm sorry to have disappeared for so long!First, my classmates came to play from other places, and then I was busy starting school again. I wrote this chapter for a week and didn’t have time to proofread it_(:з」∠)_The author has to hurry up and the already tight rhythm has been slowed down!