Baker Street Charterers

A few minutes later, the detectives arrived with the police who rushed to take away one of the missing suspects, McAdam Baker.

Gleason was also here, and he saw Nora greeted him with a smile, showing a hellish expression as if she had eaten a fly, and stiffly tried to say hello to Holmes, "Hey, you are here too, and you will always be faster than us." That's one step."

"I believe that young police detective has made a great contribution to catching this Mr. Baker." Holmes replied mockingly. Gleason was choked, but fortunately he was used to it, and he returned to normal after a short pause. , with a smile on his face, said, "Since the suspect has been caught, let's take him back to the police station to examine him—"

"Now that you're here, Gleason." Holmes also showed a meaningful smile similar to Nora's, "Then why not come with us to visit Mrs. Brown's house, I believe you will not be disappointed."

Grayson looked defensive and surprised.

……

Coming to this unpleasant place again, Nora had nothing but peace in her heart.

Mrs. Brown was frowning and talking to the butler Krez. The serious man listened carefully. When she saw the maid opening the door for the police, she turned her head in surprise, then stood up, showing her weak With a gentle smile, "So it's the sheriff, may I ask why you are here..."

"Lucia Brown." Grayson said righteously, even though he only knew the name five minutes ago, "Where is she?"

Clydia froze, "She's upstairs, she doesn't know my daughter..."

"Why not let her speak for herself, madam," said Holmes solemnly.

She turned her head, and she saw Lucia standing on the stairs with a pale and panicked face.

"Arrest her," Grayson ordered.

"Wait—you can't—no, why—" Clydia tried to stop, but Nora just grabbed her arm lightly, forcing her to stop because of the strength, and whispered in her ear, " Clydia Agnes Brown, stay here, since you don't like 'meddling your own business', please obey this time, okay?"

She looked at Nora in shock, Agnes was her middle name, she never told anyone here, how did this person know—

She suddenly discovered something, staring at Nora's unfamiliar yet familiar emerald green eyes, she took a step back as if she had been electrocuted, almost forgot that her daughter was arrested, and panicked. Frightened again, "You, you are—"

"I almost forgot to introduce myself," Nora smiled. "I'm Nora Sharp, Holmes' assistant, from...Liverpool."

Sharp——she fell silent suddenly, looked left and right, as if remembering something, her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly smiled, "So it's you... Nora, little Nora, I'm your aunt, you all I've grown up so much, I..."

"Aunt?" Nora raised her eyebrows strangely, "Why didn't I know that I have an aunt from the Brown family, ma'am, I'm here to investigate the case, not to identify relatives, if you want to entrust acquaintances To prove Lucia's innocence, I suggest another way—after all, the Browns are famously rich, aren't they?"

Being so humiliated face-to-face, Clydia's face turned pale. Nora sneered, and turned her head to meet Holmes' gaze. After looking at each other for a while, Holmes shrugged, and Nora also smiled, tacit understanding.

Lucia didn't struggle, didn't explain anything, and followed the police out obediently without saying a word.When passing by Clydia, facing her mother's extremely worried eyes, her lips moved, but in the end she said nothing, lowered her head, her eyes were slightly red.

"Okay." Grayson clapped his hands, "It's time to close—"

"It's not over yet, detective." Holmes stopped him from calling it a day. Facing Gleason's puzzled eyes, Holmes spoke slowly, "What you have caught is just an accomplice, and the real murderer—"

He looked at a person slowly, with a sharp light in his gray eyes, "—the real murderer is over there."

All eyes followed him——

The serious and rigid middle-aged butler Krez stood there, holding a saucer, always reticent.

……

"How is it possible?! How could Krez be the murderer?!" Watching the police take the butler away, Clydia could hardly maintain her usual dignified appearance, almost screaming hysterically—her daughter was killed, Another beloved daughter is an accomplice, but the housekeeper who has always trusted and followed her is the murderer of her daughter. She can't believe it or accept it.

At the moment, the gentle lady in this impression had disheveled hair, tears all over her face, and she sat down on the sofa with a pale face, her sharp nails pinched into her palms, staring at Holmes, as if she would not give up without explaining.

"I'm very sorry for what happened to you." Sherlock Holmes said in a polite manner, but his expression did not show any sign of guilt at all, he just said calmly and almost indifferently, "But I don't think Madam may know, Mrs. Mr Raiz was Miss Julie's lover and remained in that relationship for almost a year."

Clydia was shocked, "What?!"

There was a little sympathy in Holmes' eyes, "In this family, you are probably the last person to know this fact, and I can assure you that your daughter, servant, and even your husband knew about this early on, but out of various reasons There are reasons to hide from you."

"Impossible..." Clydia murmured in a daze, "How is this possible..."

"Kreze coveted Julie's looks as early as she walked into this house. Unfortunately, Miss Julie has nothing but beauty but no means to fight against a cunning man. Your housekeeper is indeed loyal to you. Since you married This has been the case before—Of course, you may be very puzzled, why would a seemingly upright butler do such a thing, um...what makes a calm man crazy, evil, or even unscrupulous? "

Clydia was startled, her eyes showed sadness, obviously she knew the answer.

Holmes pointed to his own face and said slowly, "Miss Julie, I have eyes that are very similar to yours."

"Of course, her quietness, cowardice and timidity are the real reasons for her death."

Hearing this is still not the point—Holmes looked at Nora, she nodded knowingly, stepped forward, and said in a business-like and serious manner, "According to the examination by Mr. Hawke, a doctor in the private clinic in Cleveland, Zhu Miss Li had two abortions, one half a month ago and the other half a month ago."

It coincides with the time when Julie called "falling in love with the baker's son and going to elope" and "being persuaded after making a big fuss".

It is self-evident who the father of the child is.

Holmes continued to reason rationally and calmly, "Miss Julie has been enduring Kretz's assault but dare not resist. Apart from her timidity, there may be another more critical reason."

After a pause, he took out the silver bracelet Nora gave him from his pocket, and said in a steady tone, "Do you know this bracelet, madam?"

Clydia stared at it without speaking.

"It seems that you know where it came from, as Miss Julie said 'from a friend', er... friend, indeed, a high-ranking man who regards fame as wealth and does not allow any scandal' Friend'—Dear Mr Albert Brown, he's coming home from get off work soon, isn't he?"

Clydia closed her eyes, her face showing pain.

It's no wonder why she was so eager to get back the silver bracelet, the evidence of her husband's reputation, of course, it would be better not to show up in the hands of the police, but it's just strange how deterrent the boss's family is , Will Mrs. Brown retreat in spite of the difficulties?

"Mr. Brown knew about this, but considering Krez's loyalty to Mrs. you for many years, he had no choice but to give up Miss Julie and use this bracelet as a hush money. Therefore, even if Miss Julie pawned the worthless Gawu box, she would not Dare to let this bracelet wander outside."

"As for Lucia Brown, I have to say that she is very assertive. First, she met with Mr. McAdam Baker privately and asked him to elope with his sister, but failed. She had to find someone to break the wooden board nailed to the window and help Miss Julie. Escape... well, well-intentioned."

Clydia still didn't speak.

In her eyes, Lucia has always been doted on by her parents since she was a child, and she has an arrogant and willful personality. Fortunately, although she is not smart, she was taught by her mother to be a lady in front of others since she was a child, so that she can marry a good man in the future.She did so, but she never had a good face when facing the illegitimate daughter of the mother who led the door at home, and treated her like a real maid, sternly scolding, sneering, and expressing extreme hatred for Julie ——As a mother, she could only bear with it. She had no name to protect her daughter. She was a symbol of shame in this family. She could only watch silently and connive until Julie died tragically.

Lucia's "help" to Julie is not without reason. As an only child who has been doted on all the time, a strange sister is undoubtedly a threat to take away her mother's love. This kind of melancholy and melancholy temperament before the lily withers, all men who admire her will be robbed of their eyes after seeing her sister.

Sometimes a woman's jealousy is so strange and crazy, it comes without warning, and then gradually makes an originally good heart become more and more cruel and vicious.

"If you want to ask why I know all that Lucia has done?" Holmes took out a small piece of torn rough cloth from his pocket, "this is what the man who helped Julie escape left on a nail in the wood. , this unique navy blue work uniform is only worn by Geico Shipyard workers, and it didn't take me long to track down the man who kept it, and he confessed to being hired by Miss Lucia Brown."

"Miss Julie probably once really admired Krez, but it's a pity that two painful abortions made her love wither like her life, and Krez has become a prisoner for her. The devil. She escaped here with Lucia's help, thinking she was free, but Mr. Kreze was obviously smarter-he knew Miss Brown's plan early, he followed her, and was violently punished when he cruelly punished her. Resisting, in order to prevent her shouting from attracting passers-by, he killed her, and then returned to his room through the window as if nothing had happened."

"I think Krez waited a long time before he did it. He was waiting for Julie's 'adulter' to show up, but he never showed up. After the antique shop owner closed, he came out of the alley and took With that sharp dagger."

Nora nodded, "I found a hair on Julie's body. It's brown and thick. If you compare it, it's no surprise that it belongs to Kretz."

"As for the reason for the abortion..." Holmes pondered for a while, "I think he probably doesn't want Julie's affairs to be exposed. If that happens, he will lose his eligibility to stay in Brown's house."

Lose the qualification to stay with her.

The escaped Julie will also become a scandal for the Brown family. As Mrs. Brown, she will be ridiculed secretly by countless high-ranking ladies.

So he struck without hesitation, quickly and ruthlessly, and ended the life of a young girl who had once loved him.

That's the end of the case, Krez confessed to the fact of killing Julie, he will get the most just trial and punishment.

Nora told Watson the original story of what had happened. At the end, the young man sighed, "It's a poor girl. She didn't do anything, but she ended up like this."

Holmes pondered for a while, then shook his head.

Watson was puzzled, and Nora held the black tea, smiled, and sighed, "On the contrary, Watson, it is precisely because she did nothing—did not dare to resist Kretz's insult, dared not tell Mrs. Brown Ask for protection, and dare not use Mr. Brown's prestige to fight back against Krez...She died because of her sinister heart, her timidity and cowardice."

"People forgive everything about beauty, even if it's vulgar." Nora took a sip of black tea and whispered with a half-smile, "But on the contrary, extraordinary beauty will become a lily that loses the protection of its stems and leaves. Falling into the dust, being trampled upon by others. If a beauty wants to live well in this world, she must have something more useful than 'beauty'."

Watson touched his nose, unable to object to this sentence.

"Hmm..." Holmes thought seriously for a few seconds, looked over with serious gray eyes, and said, "Then it seems that Miss Nora Sharp will live a wonderful life in this world."

"Sherlock—!"