Baker Street Charterers

Holmes and Nora walked into the yard. The orphanage was not very big, and there was only a small garden, which was fairly clean. Flowers and trees that could be seen everywhere along the road were planted, and a cobblestone path led directly to the stone steps. La's eyes swept across the dirt. Although it hadn't rained for the past two days, the footprints on both sides were messy, big and small. There were so many traces of people coming to such a remote orphanage... It really seemed very strange. suspicious.

Holmes obviously noticed this too, and he turned his head and said softly to her, "Do you remember what you said then?"

Nora laughed, "Which one?"

"Surprising beauty, rich heart, and reliable skills..." Holmes repeated with a smile on his face. "Of course, now I care more about the last sentence."

"Maybe I'm not a good one-hander, boxer and fencer," Nora blinked, "but believe me, I was a heroine who rescued our doctor from four hooligans with my bare hands." .”

Having received the assurance, Holmes felt relieved, took her arm and knocked on the heavy wooden door of the orphanage.

tuk tuk-

There was a moment of silence, and then there were hurried footsteps, the door creaked open a small gap, a pair of shining eyes looked over, kept looking them up and down, and finally asked vigilantly, "Who?"

"Lieutenant Stanford," Holmes introduced calmly, "this is my wife, and we want to adopt a clever child."

The other party seemed to think for a while before finally opening the wooden door. Dim light came out from behind him, and a dull smell came out afterward.Nora looked at the orphanage. There was a large old wooden table in the center, which was wiped clean. There were a few long wooden benches around it, and a large oil-stained lamp hung on the ceiling. A corridor led directly to the back door. None, it was empty and deserted.

The short man who opened the door let them in. He stared at them silently for a while, and then said in a low voice, "President Carter will be back soon, you can sit down for a while."

Holmes looked up haughtily, "Where are your children?"

The man smiled inexplicably, "Oh, Mr. Lieutenant, it's still early, and the children haven't woken up yet. Maybe you can tell me first, what kind of children do you like?"

"Children between the ages of seven and ten are the smartest. I like boys with brown hair. They are lively and smart." Holmes said his request slowly. The other party's eyes flashed and he smiled, "Oh To tell you the truth, Monsieur Lieutenant, we do have such children here."

"Oh?" Holmes raised an eyebrow with interest.

The other party sat down on the stool leisurely, brushed the dust off it before, stared at them with shrewd little eyes, but didn't follow the conversation, and brought up another topic, "Mr. Lieutenant, I'm looking at you It looks familiar, maybe we have seen it somewhere before."

"I live in London, and I have been to several orphanages before," Holmes said slowly, without moving his face, "Perhaps you have seen me there."

"Oh," the other party laughed suddenly, his eyes might be sharp, and the meaning on his face made him look extremely malicious, as if he was sarcasm, as if he was watching a joke, "maybe...but this lady, I I seem to have seen your picture in a newspaper."

The two of them tensed up at the same time, Nora looked over calmly, showing a gentle smile, "Newspaper? Oh no, I would never allow my face to appear on it, you are mistaken, sir."

The other party shrugged, "Okay. Why don't I take you to see the children first, so as to pass this boring time."

Nora was secretly wary, and Holmes squeezed her hand calmly, signaling her to relax, then turned his head and nodded to him, "Yes."

The other led them through the dimly lit hallway that day, to the door of the last room, knocked on the door, and shouted, "Delia! Aiden! Come out!"

After a while, I heard a thin and crisp female voice, "... who?"

The man knocked on the door again impatiently, "It's me, come out, someone wants to adopt you."

A few seconds later, the door was opened cautiously. A girl was holding a boy's hand and stood behind the door. She walked away timidly and looked up at them with some expectation.

The girl was older, about twelve or thirteen years old, thin and tall, with brilliant blond hair, sea blue eyes, fair and beautiful face, like a doll.She was holding a younger boy in her arms, about seven or eight years old, with brown hair, identical blue eyes, and a very delicate and lovely appearance. He hid in his sister's arms and peeked at them timidly.

Nora couldn't help showing a soft smile, "Hello, children."

The girl bit her lip and took a peek at the expressionless man, but said nothing.

"The older one is Delia, the oldest and prettiest girl in the yard." The man introduced, "This is her own brother, Aiden, you see, with brown hair, he is also very smart, and has already started Literacy, do you think he meets your requirements, Mr. Lieutenant?"

Hearing the man's words, Aiden showed a panicked expression, threw himself into his sister's arms and refused to look up.The frightened expression on Delia's face disappeared for a moment, her whole body was stiff, her big wet blue eyes looked back and forth between Holmes and Nora, and she begged with restraint, "Good sir and madam... Aiden He is my younger brother. He, he is indeed very smart and well-behaved. He never cries, but he is still very young. He will not leave me, and neither will I. Take me away together, I don't want to leave him..."

Before Holmes opened his mouth, the man immediately turned his head away, gave her an unfriendly look, then looked at them with a smile, and said glibly, "Don't listen to this girl, she is already old, and she is not suitable for you anymore. The family has become an adopted son, and Aiden is at the right age, so he will be very filial in the future..."

Delia hugged the boy subconsciously, showing a desperate expression.

Nora watched all this calmly, but Holmes turned his head and asked in a gentle voice, "Then what do you think, madam?"

Nora lowered her eyes, as if thinking.

Delia couldn't bear it anymore, she rushed over and grabbed the corner of her skirt, begging softly, "Please Ma'am! I can't be separated from Aiden! We have never left each other, he is my only relative Ah, madam, please be kind, please!"

Nora looked at Delia's face. It was really a beautiful face. Although she was indeed too old to wait for adoption in the orphanage, she was so beautiful. How could other couples look down on her?Well-behaved and beautiful children have always been the most beloved characters in the orphanage.

She raised her head and asked politely, "This girl is also very cute...can we take this pair of siblings away together?"

Unexpectedly, the other party did not show any embarrassment, but raised his eyebrows and smiled meaningfully, "Oh, of course...of course, ma'am, as long as the dean returns, everything will be fine."

Hearing the dean's words, the expressions of the two children all changed. Delia suddenly withdrew her hand, hugged her younger brother in panic, glanced at the man next to him with an interesting smile, and bit her lip.

Something is wrong... Nora pulled Holmes's sleeve calmly. Sherlock Holmes didn't seem to notice her little action, and she still lowered her eyes in thought. With the crisp sound of the floor, she turned her head and saw a tall woman in a dark red velvet dress and a black lace top hat walking in. The lace blocked most of her face, and only one colorful red lip was visible. Eye-catching like blood.Behind her were two tall and strong men with fierce faces, their eyes full of ferocity.

Nora and Holmes glanced at each other, their vigilance suddenly raised to the peak.

"Oh, look, who are our guests?" The woman smiled softly, but her voice couldn't express the familiar charm. She slightly raised her lace hat, and her eyes were painted with peacock green eyeshadow. The increasingly deep and narrow eyes were full of vicious smiles, staring at them, as if seeing prey in a trap, and said softly, "Long time no see, dear Miss Nora, and...the famous Xia Mr Rock Holmes."

"You know me?" Holmes remained calm.

"Tsk tsk tsk... You may have never seen me, but I have been following your news... I know everything about you." The woman said with a smile, with cunning, elegant and beautiful flowing on her body, then Zhang's healthy wheat-colored exotic face gave her a bit of unrestrained and sunny Mediterranean style. She raised her long, slender and delicate eyebrows with interest, and blew a kiss to Nora in the air, as if seeing her Friends for many years, with a familiar and intimate tone, "Do you miss me, little Nora?"

"Long time no see, Miss Marianne." Nora showed a calm smile on her face, "I do miss you very much...and that Colonel Moran."

Holmes immediately understood the name. His shoulders tensed for a moment, his gray eyes suddenly sharpened, and the smile on his face was still graceful and elegant. "It seems that we accidentally broke into Mr. M's A den of thieves, Nora."

"Yes." Nora smiled, "However, it saves a lot of effort, Sherlock."

Marianne giggled, pointing at them with blood-red fingernails. The smile on her face was extremely gentle and beautiful, but the words in her mouth were completely different and decisive and cold, "Catch them, guys! .”

Nora was about to make a move when Holmes stopped her, saying quickly and quietly, "Hold still, wait a minute."

So Nora relaxed her body, and let the two big men tie their hands with ropes, her expression remained unchanged.

"Oh, why are you so persistent, I hate you so much." Marianne muttered regretfully, "Look, I didn't tie you up here, you bumped in here yourself ...Let me think about it, what should I do with you..."

"It's up to you, ma'am," said Holmes in a relaxed tone. "But before that, I beg you to answer one of my questions... Are the missing children, including the waifs, still here?"

"This question stumps me," Marianne complained, and then narrowed her eyes, showing Nora's familiar, cold, blade-like light, her white fingers on her red lips, as if whispering Said, "Hush, gentlemen and ladies, if you know too much, you tend to die sooner... But anyway, your ending is the same, and it doesn't matter if I tell you--those cute little guys, don't you want to die again?" Can't find them either."

Marianne clapped her hands cheerfully, "But compared to their price, obviously, we have gained more, you guys - well done, Andre."

A sneaky figure approached her, and Nora took a closer look, and it turned out to be the homeless man who slipped away in the underground passage.He came over in a hurry, and responded excitedly and uneasy, "No, I just completed the task you paid me for, Miss Carter."

"Remember to notify me any time you get a good one, you know what to do." Marianne waved her hand, and glanced at the corner of her skirt that he accidentally touched with some disgust. Before leaving, I glanced at them, a little ashamed and a little nervous, but in the end I didn't say anything, and left here silently.

"Okay, now we have more time to have a good chat." Marianne endured the excitement, sat down on the stool gracefully, propped her cheeks, and said with a smile, "Before that, I bring you Greetings from Mr Moriarty - 'You arrived half a day sooner than I expected, Mr Sherlock Holmes'."

The eyes of the two sank together.