Baker Street Charterers

"Then before that, did you notice something...unusual about Miss Bell?" Holmes considered his tone. The wealthy family has always had a lot of grievances. If Cheryl Bell is pregnant, but the child's father is not her husband. If he went out, it would become a scandal in a large upper class circle in London, and Dolan's perfume shop would probably go down as a result.

Gleason showed a thoughtful look, as if he was also considering the importance of this secret.

Ethan thought for a while, and seemed to have thought of something, showing a hesitant expression, "If I want to say something different...then it was a doctor she met about half a year ago, she seemed to trust him very much, and of course she became more cheerful after that some."

"How long has it been since you...well, fulfilled your husband and wife obligations?" Nora asked.

The audience fell silent, and Holmes sighed softly, his expression not moving.Grayson's horrified eyes immediately cast over, dumbfounded.

Ethan was also taken aback, and answered in a low voice with some embarrassment, "... probably more than half a year."

"Oh." Nora nodded calmly, and suddenly realized that the people around her had applied incorrectly, so she couldn't help opening her eyes, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Grayson replied very quickly, turning his head away as if he didn't want to see her.

Nora curled her lips. Sure enough, not all men are like Sherlock Holmes. Even if she said such shocking and inappropriate words, she remained calm and unresponsive.

"Can you tell us where you were the night your wife died?" asked Gleeson businessly.

"In the store." Ethan replied, "There are many regular customers who come to buy perfume. Half of the ladies in London can testify to me."

Grayson nodded. "And the doctor?"

Ethan paused, "I haven't seen him... Cheryl never let me follow her, she just told me that she found someone who could treat her condition, and she always went to him on her own initiative .”

"Where is he?" asked Holmes, evidently attracting his attention to a man of medical experience.

"If you want to know, ask Kelly, my wife's servant, who goes out with her sometimes."

Holmes nodded, lowered his eyelids and seemed to be in thought for a few seconds, and then when Gleason was asking some detailed questions, Shul interrupted their conversation, "Mr. Reed, your store recently sold rosemary Perfume as the main ingredient?"

Ethan was stunned for a moment, then raised his head, seemingly puzzled, "Yes... There are many perfumes that require this kind of plant, and all perfume shops will have this kind of perfume."

"And olive oil?" Holmes continued.

Ethan shook his head, "Not really."

Holmes let out an "Oh", turned his gaze to the cabinet where the glass bottles were stored, and asked again in a soft tone, "Has your shop been stolen recently?"

Ethan didn't understand what he meant, so he had to answer honestly, "No."

Holmes pointed to one of the rows of glass bottles in the cabinet and said, "Look here, there are four rows of these two custom-made cabinets, and each row contains about seven bottles of the same type of perfume, but look at the second cabinet. The bottom row, count, if I'm not mistaken, there are only six glass bottles?"

Gleason also didn't seem to understand what he meant, his eyes were full of confusion, but Nora thought of something, and Shul raised her eyebrows, "Ah... I understand what you mean, Sherlock—these glass bottles are extremely visited. It is neat and orderly, which proves that the owner of the store is a person with a very regular life and a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder. The store has not been stolen recently, and no one will come in to buy perfume in the past two days. As Mr. Reed with the above symptoms, you Why leave that place empty?"

With a gentle smile in Holmes' eyes, he looked at Nora and listened to her asking each word with a pause, "Would you mind telling us where is the bottle of rosemary-smelling perfume that disappeared mysteriously?"

"Or," continued Holmes slowly, "to some charming lady have you given it?"

Ethan's face immediately turned pale. Facing Gleason's questioning eyes, he was silent for a long time, and finally gave a wry smile, and had to admit, "...you are amazing, yes...no one has ever discovered her ...I do have a mistress, but I think any of you would do that, no one can stand a wife like Cheryl, no one!"

This couple who cheated on each other really makes people feel no admiration, even if the other party has a rich family and a first-class appearance, Nora curled her lips, only to hear Holmes' clear voice echoing in the shop, "Please tell us the lady's address, If you don't mind."

"Her name is Ada, Ida Swan," Ethan said in a helpless voice, "she lives at No. 31a next to the church on Princeton Road—she is a very kind lady, and she will never be with this It matters, I swear."

"Oaths won't help us solve the case, Mr. Reed." Gleason said mockingly, "As for whether your lover is innocent or not, that's up to us to decide. Before the case comes to light, I suggest that you should not meet. Then Good night, Mr. Ethan Reed."

……

Considering that it was late at night and it was inconvenient to visit Miss Ida Swan again, Gleason agreed with them to go again tomorrow, and then he hired a carriage and left. Holmes suggested that they walk all the way back, which happened to be not far from Baker Street. And "the late-night conversations help clear my mind," he says.

"I think you need this." After he finished speaking, a men's windbreaker that smelled of heat and tobacco was properly put on her body.

Nora was stunned, and looked at Holmes incredulously, "Who are you? Are you still the Sherlock Holmes I know? He has never been so gentle with a lady! Please return him to me."

Holmes raised his eyebrows. "You are more than 'a lady' to me. And I think you need it more now than I do. In return for my trouble to come out tonight, please accept it."

So Nora tugged at the shoulders of the dress, and put it on with peace of mind. The quiet atmosphere at night made people feel very comfortable. She could not help but squint her eyes, and said lazily, "Tell me about your speculation, Sherlock, maybe Now you have a clear choice for the murderer?"

"Thank you for your compliment. I haven't identified who the murderer is, but I do have some clear clues." Holmes smiled.

"All ears."

Holmes shook his head, "But now those are just conjectures without evidence. I need to go to Miss Swan's house tomorrow, and then take the train to Greenwich to find some evidence to confirm my guess." After listening for a while, Gray Bright stared at her with smiling eyes, "Then you, you should have some unspoken guesses."

Nora snorted, "Mine is just a speculation without evidence, I dare not use it to fool you."

Holmes raised his eyebrows and just stared at her without saying a word.

"...Don't look at me like that, I don't like this... Well, I think you know very well that even if you don't ask me, I will be eager to ask you for proof." Nora curled her lips resentfully, " I have also thought about the matter of the lover. After all, the husband who can endure such cold treatment and cheating behavior from his wife is either because of the other party's family background, or someone else who makes him more fond of diverted his attention. Now that Mr. Reed has mastered If you have acquired the right to this store, then naturally the latter is more likely—but I didn’t expect that you can observe the arrangement of the glass bottles and then speculate about these things, which I really admire.”

Holmes raised his head slightly haughtily, "Things in the smallest details often reflect certain things the most, and qualified detectives can always notice these things."

Nora glanced at him with a half-smile, "The second doubt is naturally the smell of rosemary on Miss Bell's body. Obviously, she will not use this kind of perfume. If she is really going to meet the doctor's lover, Naturally, she will dress herself up well, but when she died, the smell was already very weak, and it hasn't rained in the past two days, so it is very likely that she got it unintentionally, so it seems that Miss Swan is indeed very suspicious."

"Don't you suspect that the perfumer killed him?" asked Holmes.

Nora shrugged, "Not ruled out, but he is not the most likely candidate. He is very calm, his eyes are calm, and he doesn't seem guilty at all. He doesn't have to do this. Once his wife's scandal is exposed, he will become London The one who received the most sympathy from public opinion, and the news of his wife's death would mark him as a suspect. deliberately didn't tell us."

"Then do you think the murderer knew that Miss Bell was pregnant?" Holmes continued.

Nora hesitated for a few seconds, "...I guess I probably know how to kill people in the fastest time. The first choice I would say is the heart. The murderer is not afraid to attack in crowded places, so naturally he will not shy away from these things. He But he deliberately chose the abdomen. Although the liver was pierced instead of the uterus, I think every mother’s subconscious is most worried about her stomach. The murderer may know that she is pregnant, so he chose to attack here. Her * * also destroyed her mind - after all, in my opinion, Miss Baker, who never stays at home, can take the initiative to "see a doctor" and have a child, probably because she really loves him, and she is naturally willing to do it for him. He's pregnant."

Nora sighed, "Although Miss Bell's character is not admirable, I am even more chilled by the character of the murderer's employer. Except for some killers with strange hobbies, probably only orders from the employer can make him Such a torture to a pregnant woman."

Holmes neither nodded nor denied, "You have a point."

"Then what do you think about her luggage and the murder weapon?"

Holmes looked into the distance, "It's not difficult. I think as long as the police search carefully on the way of the train, they will probably be able to find the messed up luggage, and some key things may be lost. As for the murder weapon that killed her... "

He narrowed his eyes slightly, showing an interesting smile, "This is very interesting, it will not be brought by the murderer, and it will not come from Miss Bell, it belongs to a passenger in the car...Of course the most likely Yes, our confident murderer didn't think of using it to kill it before, he must have had a flash of inspiration, so he had such a masterpiece - so interesting, this man is full of confidence, pride, sharp mind And the elegant murderer has challenged us, Nora."