Baker Street Charterers

Since Nora wore men's clothes on the first day, the tenants were immersed in a sound sleep and could not see the heroic appearance with their own eyes. Therefore, when Nora packed everything and went downstairs in the early morning of the next day, she was very speechless to see that the living room had already It was full of people.

Mrs. Hudson was busy with breakfast and had no time to say hello. Before Watson, who was yawning sleepily, could react, Holmes, who was reading the morning newspaper, uttered an onomatopoeia with unknown meaning, "—oh." It was especially meaningful.

Watson raised his head, and immediately froze in place, "...Oh!" exclaimed.

"Good morning." Nora said calmly as if nothing had happened, made herself a cup of hot black tea, picked up the key and put it in her pocket, and asked casually, "Where are you going?"

Watson was easily diverted from the topic as always, "Did you forget that today we need to post recruitment notices."

On the contrary, Holmes observed her for a while, then nodded slightly, and concluded, "It suits you better than a skirt."

Is this mocking her for not having the slightest courtesy and reserve that a lady should have?

"thank you for your praise."

"Please don't get me wrong, that's not a compliment."

Watson lowered his head and suppressed a smile. Nora glared at him lightly. Seeing that Holmes read the newspaper very carefully, she couldn't help raising her eyebrows. "You want to advertise in the newspaper?"

"That's right." Holmes didn't raise his head. "As a murderer, he must always pay attention to the latest news of the murder. If you want to get him hooked as soon as possible, the best choice is undoubtedly to publish in the newspaper."

"Are you really going to hand over that ring?" Watson asked.

"Of course not." Holmes looked at him strangely, and took out a ring of a very similar style from his pocket. "This one is enough to deal with it."

"You are not afraid that he will recognize—"

"No." Nora took the bread from Mrs. Hudson and answered vaguely, "He will never come to pick up the ring himself. Wake up, my dear Watson."

The doctor who was confused because he woke up too early "..."

"What if he takes the risk?" he asked reluctantly.

"Since our busy employees need to go out to earn money to support themselves, we can only rely on ourselves." Holmes said, taking out an old-fashioned pistol from his pocket. "The clips are in the drawer, Watson, how is your marksmanship?" ?”

"...It's okay." Watson was vigilant, "Do you want to write the address as Baker Street?"

"Of course, my doctor," said Holmes in a tone that could not have been taken for granted, and quickly changed his tone to a gentle request. "My dear Watson, I need a new set of strings for my violin."

Watson stared at him in bewilderment, not understanding what solving the case had to do with this matter.

"Look, I found a copy of "On the Laws of Nations" published in Liege in the lowlands in 1642 at the book stand yesterday. It was printed in Latin. I think it is an old book worth studying..."

"Just do what he needs, my dear," Nora told him with a half-smile before going out, "or Mr. Holmes will achieve his goal with a grandiose speech comparable to the number of words in this book."

"Thank you for your note." Holmes mocked tactfully.

"Hands up."

……

Regent Street is located between the Regent's Palace and the park. It is a wide and beautifully curved Royal Avenue. It is not only full of gold-plated glory of the royal family, but also a high-end shopping street, connecting Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. There are many people.Of course, this is not the main thing. For Nora Poor Sharp, the only impression she has here is the embarrassment and shame of failing to recognize her relatives.

Her cousins, the Browns, live nearby.

Before leaving the clinic, she observed herself in the mirror again, and confirmed that she was not half the same as the waif in ragged clothes and messy face, and then she followed Cleveland here by car with confidence.

"You're very nervous." Cleveland said suddenly, he finally took care of himself a little better, wearing a new shirt and a long camel-colored overcoat, his boots were polished, and even his hair, which he almost never cared about on weekdays, was also in order Combed at the back, even though his gaze is still dull, he looks handsome and personable this way.

However, he completely broke this illusion as soon as he opened his mouth, his voice was still stiff and cold, and he always seemed a little dazed when it came to topics that did not involve corpses.

"I've never been to such a gorgeous and beautiful place." Nora replied kindly, "Forgive me, Mr. Hawke."

Cleveland stared at her for a few seconds, then shook his head. He didn't know whether to deny her lie or simply sighed with emotion. Fortunately, he didn't continue to ask, and watched the slowly receding scenery in silence until the driver stopped the carriage in a In front of an antique shop surrounded by many people.

Nora jumped out of the carriage. The strange attire caused many people to look at him strangely, but she didn't realize that she was nondescript at all. She followed Cleveland into the crowd with a calm expression, and then saw him lying on the ground with a pale face and slightly closed eyes. squinting, dead young blonde girl.

"Mr. Hawke." The nearby policeman walked in and greeted him, "You are here, we have already found out the identity of the deceased, she is a maid named Julie from the Brown family on Regent Street, and she came here last night I wanted to pawn an antique, but I didn't go back all night, and was found dead here the next morning."

Hearing a familiar name, Nora was taken aback.Could it be the Brown she imagined? Isn't it such a coincidence?

Soon the facts dealt her a heavy blow—when Cleveland squatted down to examine the corpse, two women rushed here with a servant and a coachman. One was about 40 years old, with smooth skin, fair skin and beautiful eyebrows, dressed in Huagui is also wearing gem jewelry, obviously a noble lady in the upper class.The blond woman behind her is younger and more beautiful, and the emerald necklace around her neck is almost dazzling.She turned pale suddenly when she saw the dead girl, and the old woman was even more serious, her body tilted and she looked like she was about to faint.

Nora silently stepped back, trying to get lost in the crowd, but Cleveland didn't give her the chance.

"Come and have a look." The boss said, "What did you find?"

Before Nora could stand up, someone stopped her with action.

"Julie, oh God, who did this to her?" Lucia Brown stepped forward with a look of grief, her eyes paused on the fatal wound caused by the dagger on the servant's chest, and she became more and more sad. "This doctor, you must find the murderer and avenge her—"

"Stay away, the makeup on your body is going to be sprinkled on her face." Cleveland drove away with a straight face, "I am only in charge of examining the corpse. As for the investigation, you should curry favor with the sheriff behind you."

Nora sneered, Lucia's expression stiffened immediately, she gave her a vicious look, and spat, "What are you laughing at, a woman dares to come out and show her face in such an unmanly manner, what are you doing?" Are you crazy?"

Obviously, she didn't recognize that the person she insulted was her cousin who had come to recognize her relative at all. Nora was not angry. She admired her cousin's lack of ladylike demeanor in the crowd, showing the appearance of a nouveau riche's rough temperament, like a smile Fei smiled, "You're right, miss, a lady shouldn't show her face outside." She accentuated the pronunciation of "lady".

"I don't agree." Cleveland interjected lightly, "At least you have a brain."

In his opinion, it was just expressing his inner thoughts, and the words without any help made Lucia blush—the Brown family prided themselves on being the upper class in London, but they were still unable to fit into this ancient and luxurious circle. Many ladies ridiculed in private.She is quite decent on weekdays. Seeing that the maid was killed, the gesture was just to show Brown's respect for the servants, but she didn't expect that the body collector was so shameless, and even his poor assistant dared to refute her. Her teeth were shaking with anger.

Fortunately, she was not completely out of her mind. She barely controlled her expression in front of the crowd, took a deep breath, calmed herself down, supported the lady's trembling body, and comforted her softly, "Mom, don't be sad, sheriffs The murderer will definitely be found."

Mother—is this her mother's own sister, Clydia Brown?

She took a closer look at the other party. Even though she was getting old, she still had beautiful features, not to mention a temperament, but compared with her mother, she was indeed much more brilliant.The original owner's mother and Clydia are not twins, and their looks are not completely similar. With Xi Ya's domineering slender eyebrows and long eyes, the two of them don't look like cousins ​​at all.

Of course, in terms of personality, the mothers of the two don't look like they were born from the same stomach.

Nora withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes, and began to carefully examine the female corpse.

Julie is very beautiful, not only her eyebrows are beautiful, but her body is pale and purple, and the gentle temperament before birth can still be seen.Wearing a light yellow corset dress, her long, smooth, curly blond hair was wet by the rain after night, and the wound on her chest caused by the dagger was bloody. She looked as if she had been suddenly attacked, with shock and pain remaining on her face and... sad?

Logically speaking, such a strange expression would not appear on the face of the deceased, unless the murderer... was someone she knew?

Over there, the Brown family was being questioned by the sheriff. Cleveland silently watched Nora's fluctuating expression, and finally interrupted her curiously, "Do you know them?"

Nora was taken aback, and subconsciously wanted to be perfunctory, but Cleveland always seemed to have an unexpected sensitivity to the truth. She didn't want to offend her employer, so she could only answer vaguely, "...I saw it once."

Cleveland nodded, expressionless, "It's rare to see some idiots, I don't want them to affect your judgment."

Nora laughed with a sneer, Cleveland's unintentional words brightened her mood, she touched her nose, and told him sincerely, "Don't worry, even if she comes to ask me for help, I will avoid it." I don't see you." She is not a good old man like Watson, who always pays back every grievance, and settles both grievances and grievances.

Since the identity of the corpse was clear, Cleveland did not ask her about her story as usual. He ordered the police to carry the corpse to the clinic. Just as he was about to say something to Nora, he looked up and saw the mother and daughter Brown coming over. Seeing hesitation and embarrassment on their faces, they instantly had a bad premonition.

He kept his face expressionless, and Clydia straightened her slightly messy hair, and said in a gentle tone, "Sir, I don't know your surname yet."

"What is it?" Cleveland asked without answering.

In her opinion, it was a little embarrassing for a body collector to be so shameless. Clydia's face froze slightly. After all, there was a city mansion, her expression remained motionless, and her eyes were still soft. "Actually, I want to ask you something, sir."

She stopped talking on purpose, but Cleveland didn't ask back inside as he imagined, but just stared at her, and the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Nora watched the joke with her arms folded.The boss was really extraordinary. The rumored good-tempered Mrs. Brown was smacked by his reaction. She really was a natural fool who conquered the world, and a natural black who destroyed the world.

Instead, Lucia next to her couldn't bear it anymore, and spoke first, "The silver ring in Julie's hand was given to her by my mother. Since she is dead, she should return it, right?"

It's about money, not corpses.Cleveland looked at Clydia's smiling face, then at Lucia, and said, "Please."

"What do you mean?" Lucia was stunned.

"Literally." Nora answered with a half-smile, "Mr. Hawk asked you to take it off yourself."

"Personally?" Lucia screamed, "How is it possible...that's a corpse—"

"Really? I saw that Miss Brown and Julie were very close. I thought you would want to see her 'for the last time.'"

Lucia had a look of disgust on her face, and she wanted to say something, but Clydia, who was next to her, suddenly clenched her arm and stopped her words, her face was slightly pale, as if she remembered something, she quickly showed a friendly gesture With a smile, "It turned out to be the doctor of the Hawke family...I'm so sorry, since the silver bracelet has been given to Julie, it will belong to her forever, and there is no need to return it."

"Mother--"

Clydia winked. It was obvious that she had been gaining power at home for a long time. Lucia immediately shut up. The wife of the Brown family nodded politely to the two, turned and left without looking back. Like running away.

Nora gasped in surprise, and turned her head to look Cleveland up and down. The other party noticed her gaze and looked at her suspiciously.

"What are you looking at?"

"It's nothing, I just found out that Mr. Hawke is also very handsome." She replied very quickly, since the other party didn't tell her what she meant, she didn't have to bother to find out about other people*, people who think themselves smart always die early.

Cleveland hadn't expected her to answer like this, and what was just a small joke to Nora was almost teasing in his ears.He stared at her seriously, thought for a while, and then said in a very serious, almost earnest tone, "I know, but even so, I hope you will not affect your work because of unnecessary emotional factors."

"..." I always feel that something is not right.

"Go back." After thinking that he had achieved the majesty that a boss should have, Cleveland nodded in satisfaction, and finally ordered, "—remember to take off the silver bracelet. If no one claims it in the end, then it belongs to the The private property of the Cleveland Clinic."

"……Yes."