Baker Street Charterers

Since Nora finished that sentence, there has been a kind of tacit silence between the two of them, until they came to a stone hut.

The house was built not far from the Jian River, and there were not many residents around, only the river was flowing quietly, and the environment was elegant and quiet.There are sky-blue washed sheets hanging outside the house, a few clusters of margaritas are placed on the window sills, and very bright violets are planted in the small garden in front of the house, which almost fills the entire yard and emits bursts of fragrance.

Nora and Holmes stood outside the door, but they could vaguely hear brisk singing coming from the room. The tune was inexplicably familiar, and Nora couldn't remember it for a moment.

Holmes stepped forward and knocked on the door, "Hello, Mrs. Griffin, I am Sherlock Holmes, and I am consulting the detective."

A few seconds later, the singing stopped suddenly, and a light footstep approached the door. Someone opened the wooden door, revealing a snow-white face full of nobility and static elegance.

Liz Griffin, the wife of the deceased, a woman who was rarely mentioned by Mr. Griffin, actually had a beautiful face and refined temperament that many local girls could not match.

She only paused for a moment when she saw Holmes, but she didn't show much surprise.Her light brown long curly hair hangs over her shoulders, a pair of rare amber crystal eyes that are close to golden stare at the two of them quietly, the sun shines on her snow-white skin, this lady is as beautiful as if she should not exist Angel in oil painting in the world.

This is a truly "beautiful" woman that Nora has seen for so many years. Amanda is a bit more worldly than her, and Ada Swan lacks that elegance. God must have been very partial when he created.

Compared to Nora's astonishment, Holmes looked very normal. He nodded slightly and said politely, "Good morning, Mrs. Griffin."

Liz Griffin nodded, but didn't reply, she just got out of the way and welcomed them in.

The room was as warm as imagined, and there was an aroma that seemed to be cooking meat.Nora noticed a phonograph on the table in the living room, and instantly understood where the singing came from.

The table, which seemed to be homemade wine, was half empty.The floor was covered with a soft woolen carpet, and even at the corners, four statues of different figures could be seen, which looked familiar.There are many murals depicting the Virgin or angels on the wall, and a small Jesus cross is placed in the center... There is no doubt that this is a devout family that believes in God.

There are traces of life left by the two people everywhere, and they seem to be very happy... Nora couldn't help feeling pity for this beautiful girl. He said softly before, "... Ma'am, can you guess why we are here today?"

Liz invited them to sit on a soft chair covered with woven wool cushions. Her amber golden pupils looked transparent, and when the backlight was on, her face almost melted in the thin sunlight.She didn't answer her words, instead she picked up the paper and pen from the table, and wrote word by word on the white paper, "I can guess it."

Nora was taken aback by her move, and then realized instantly, "You—" are you dumb?

Liz smiled faintly, without any inferiority complex.

Nora inhaled lightly and sighed, "Sorry."

"Ra." Holmes suddenly said in an awkward language.

Liz was obviously stunned, her eyes immediately turned to Holmes, she was quiet for a few seconds, and then she showed him a dewdrop-like soft and clean smile, her lips moved slightly, clearly saying "thank you" silently in English.

"You were just...?"

"It means 'I'm sorry, ma'am' in Italian." Holmes explained briefly, then stood up and bowed slightly, actually saluting Liz, "Nora, come and meet this once The descendant of the 'black nobility' who has been brilliant in Italy for hundreds of years, the descendant of the most famous nobleman in Florence, the Medici family, the honorable Mrs. Elizabeth Medici."

"..."? ? ?

Startled, Liz stared at him for a long time, and finally stood up and saluted him gracefully.

Mei... descendants of the Medici family?Nora immediately jumped up from the sofa, staring at her with wide eyes as if viewing an extinct work of art, the other party smiled slightly, and was very angry.

"How did you come to this startling conclusion, I assume you don't mind telling me?"

"Well, this speculation is indeed a little difficult for ordinary people," Holmes motioned her to sit down together, facing Liz's curious eyes, he clearly showed complacency in his eyes, but he put on a calm expression, taking his time Opened, "...there are violets in the garden, and margaritas on the windowsill—oh maybe I should explain that this is a species of daisy. Both of these plants are not commonly found locally, and both belong to Italian namesakes. Flower species, at first I guessed it might be a coincidence?——Until I heard the song "Santa Lucia" that all Italians can sing... Someone told you that your musical knowledge is actually as poor as Watson ?"

Nora, "...I disagree—I think we have very different definitions of what 'common sense' is."

Holmes gave her a sympathetic look, and continued, "There are also four small statues over the room—they have the same name, "Morning", "Twilight", "Day" and "Night"... the real four statues Now they are placed in front of the tombs of the two heads of the Medici family ... need me to explain to you which belong to Giuliano Medici or Lorenzo Medici?"

Nora, "...I don't think so at all."

"If these trinkets only make me suspicious, then the paintings hanging on the wall are the most exquisitely framed one in the middle, with a plump woman with naked fruit staring at Dai, who is surrounded by the throne, A noble woman with a crown... If I remember correctly, this is Rubens' famous painting "Marie de' Medici Arrives in Marseille"-although it is not authentic, I want to make such a painting almost admirable The oil paintings of the family are placed in such a conspicuous position...Since Professor Griffin is studying Greek mythology, combined with this lady's appearance and temperament and the importance attached to this family everywhere...I boldly guess that you and this famous Italian family Families are inextricably linked."

It dawned on Nora, "You should be an artist, I'm sure you'll go down in history."

Sherlock Holmes raised his eyebrows when he was praised, "That's natural, but it's a pity that my interest has never been in these things...they lack obvious challenges for me."

"..."

"Although I feel uncontrollably curious about the appearance of a descendant of an almost extinct aristocrat, unfortunately this is not the purpose of our visit." Holmes breathed a long sigh of relief, "But obviously, what you left The evidence provided is sufficient to remove the suspicion of killing your husband."

Nora, "..." He vomited blood feeling that all the hard work was wasted.

Husband was killed——this sentence made Liz's expression change slightly. She seemed to be stunned for a while, and then her eyes dimmed slightly, but she didn't seem to be surprised. She is a smart woman, and she should have Be prepared for this.

Liz lowered her head, her originally fair skin was almost pale. Although she was calm enough in front of outsiders, her clenched fingers, pursed lips, slightly trembling shoulders and the unconcealable sadness in her eyes Desperate, she still couldn't fully accept the news for a while.

While Mrs. Griffin was digesting the tragedy, Nora leaned over her head and asked in a low voice, "...how do you know that Liz is not the murderer—except for the excuse that she is too beautiful."

Holmes squinted at her, "Beautiful? This is no reason for me at all-you ask me why? Well, if I insist on keeping it secret, will you continue to ask and not give up halfway?"

"..." Nora straightened up and sat a little further away.

Holmes pursed his lips in frustration, "...the focus is on the restaurant."

Nora looked over—

Holmes explained, "See that bottle of red liquid that has been opened on the table? It is not home-brewed wine, but a kind of grape juice from an ancient recipe in the sixteenth century. You can see the pulp and the color of the liquid inside." Identify, it is not a common drink, but it has a very significant effect - cough, maybe you have not heard its name, 'sapa', Mrs. Griffin made these for her husband herself, including in the kitchen Sally Lun tea, Salisbury-style beef patties that are still cooking... She loves her husband so much that even if she is a descendant of an Italian 'black nobleman', she will cook for him herself, Hanging clothes."

"The murderer is completely different - even if he left Mr. Griffin's head, in a way it is another deep feeling, but it is by no means as warm and loving as this lady... It is twisted Angry, full of resentment, and even on the contrary, piety in a different understanding—you should have smelled the strange smell on the corpse, right?"

Nora nodded, "Hydrogen peroxide... Mr. Griffin's body was disinfected before his death."

Holmes put his fingers on his knees, thinking, "There are no obvious wounds on the recovered parts. I guess it is very likely that Mr. Griffin was forced to take poison to death...then the murderer cleaned and disinfected him thoroughly, Cut off his head, chopped him into pieces... Maybe you also noticed that there was very little bleeding on the neck, and he was decapitated after death."

"She/he is deeply in love with Mr. Blair Griffin," Holmes sighed, "it's just that this feeling was born in the base shadow at first, and finally it can only let it die in the dark with a gorgeous and grand ceremony. abyss."