Baker Street Charterers

At last they were back in Baker Street again, and Watson was alone in the house, pacing anxiously in the drawing room.When he heard the sound of the door opening, he immediately turned his head, heaved a sigh of relief and at the same time said very uneasy, "You are finally back, I have been very worried... By the way, Mr. Adolf, two days after you came back Left an hour ago...sorry, I couldn't stop him."

Holmes paused, and finally frowned, "Did he leave any words?"

Watson shook his head, "He seemed anxious. I tried to keep him, but he just said 'I must go and save her'... It's my fault, Sherlock."

Nora sat back on the sofa wearily, rubbed her throbbing forehead, and said in a low voice, "Don't blame yourself, doctor... I believe no one here can keep a father who is in a hurry."

Holmes thought about it.She poured a sip of hot tea to relieve the fatigue of the day, and looked up at Holmes, "Oh, Sherlock, I'm very tired, don't let me guess what you're thinking now, do me a favor, just say it Bar."

Holmes raised his eyebrows, "It seems that my intention was discovered by you again... But, two hours ago, what were we doing at that time?"

Nora thought about it, and slowly frowned, "... Wasn't that the time when Moriarty appeared? Do you think Adolf's departure has something to do with him?"

"I don't think so," said Holmes firmly. "I'm sure—you don't think that everything, his poor taste for antiques, that old beret that didn't fit his whole body, and too many coincidences in the theatre. The encounter with Gleason's old friend...is this too easy to guess for professionals like us?"

Nora and Watson frowned together. Even Watson, who had stopped using his brains and letting his fat run amok after marriage for a long time, understood his meaning, "You mean...he did it on purpose?"

"Very likely." Holmes nodded slightly, "but I think most of what he said are facts, such as his background, his employment history, and Elizabeth...these are all true. And the false part... ..."

Attracted by his confident demeanor, Nora couldn't help squinting her eyes slightly, and listened intently to his next sentence, "—the fake is that not only was he hired five years ago, but he was not hired until the time he spoke to us. At that time, he still played for Moriarty."

Nora smiled, "Where is the evidence, Sherlock? You know, if there is no evidence, that serious and upright Mr. Button will arrest us for defamation."

Holmes couldn't help but twitched his forehead, and snorted coldly, "Evidence? When we find Adolf's body on the street tomorrow, you will believe that what I said is not just speculation."

corpse?The two were surprised, "Why do you say that?"

"Because Adolf betrayed his employer when he was still threatened to work for him." Holmes finally revealed a trace of sigh and regret, "He tried his best to let us discover this hidden truth, hoping to use our To find his daughter... I don't think a man like Moriarty would be ignorant of his little thoughts, did you see the way he looked at Marianne? That has nothing to do with tolerance, I can't find it in him to anything nice about 'magnanimity'."

Nora stood up immediately. "We have to find him right away! If he's dead, the clue is—"

"It's too late." Holmes was so calm that he was almost cold. "I guess someone sent a letter to Adolf in a way that Watson couldn't find out. It must be about Elizabeth, otherwise he wouldn't be so flustered... He made a choice, A long time ago - he chose to betray his own conscience, then he betrayed his best friend, and in the end, he betrayed his employer, and he paid for it."

Nora was silent, she sighed silently, and put her hand on her throbbing forehead, not knowing how to answer.

Perhaps the more important thing is that even if Adolf knew that he would never go back, and the news about Elizabeth was very likely to be false, he still had to go—as a father, his daughter was the only one he had, and he would not betray her. of faith.

"I should have stopped him..." Watson murmured regretfully, "I should have been more determined, or go with him..."

"It's useless, doctor." Nora shook her head. "He will definitely knock you out halfway, or get rid of you quietly...Your appearance will most likely make him lose his last chance to see his daughter again."

Watson sat on the sofa with his head in his arms. Even though he knew the result very well in his heart, his conscience still couldn't calm him down.

"We should inform that Mr. Barton who likes evidence," Holmes said in a cold tone, "and ask him to pay more attention to the news in the London newspaper tomorrow. If there is no accident, the name of Adolph Albert Barker will appear on the headlines—— in the manner of being murdered."

……

The result did indeed come close to what Holmes had said.The reason why I say almost but not all is because, according to the coroner's judgment, Adolf "suicide" died and was hanged under a large oak tree in Hyde Park in the western suburbs of London.

It is exactly the same way of death as Judas who betrayed Jesus.

He didn't have any other scars on his body, no traces or clues left by others, only a deep strangle mark on his neck.The final judgment is that he did not die from lack of oxygen or suffocation due to blocked airway, but a rare method of death in suicide: the cervical spine was broken under the weight of his body to death.

Presumably in terms of other ways of death, this kind of pain is the most short-lived and intense.When Holmes and Nora heard the news and hurried over, the corpse had already been laid flat on the ground.This living person whom they had just met yesterday was pale and in pain, his neck was twisted at a strange angle, stiff, cold, and silent.His eyes were wide open, seemingly full of unquenchable resentment, and he looked straight at the sky, but his pupils had already enlarged and turned gray, without the cunning and agility of his life.

Nora stared at his face. Although there were no visible scars on his body, she knew that there were at least a dozen ways to torture people before they died without causing bruises. .No one knew better than them whether Adolf had committed suicide.

She knelt down, reached out her hand, and tried to close his eyes.But it's useless, if she doesn't use force, she can't close his eyes at all, and he won't be able to rest in peace even when he dies.

"Could you be the doctor brought by Holmes again?" Grayson poked his head out from behind her and asked suspiciously, "Do you know the deceased?"

Nora lowered her eyes and replied softly, "Yes, I know him...he is a shameless villain, and a great father."

Gleeson looked like he wanted to ask more, but Nora didn't reply.She stood up and looked at Holmes with calm eyes, "Sherlock?"

Holmes had been carefully observing the corpse. At this moment, he finally straightened up and clapped his hands. His gray eyes revealed the same angry silence as hers. "Don't bother looking for the murderer, Gleason... You'll never get the evidence."

Gleason, "What murderer... isn't this suicide?! Can someone tell me what the hell you guys are up to!"

"Which one is it?" Nora asked, she didn't ask who it was directly, but chose the target very purposefully, without thinking at all, the murderer would only be among those few people.

"It's not Marianne." Holmes analyzed calmly. "She doesn't have the strength to hug a grown man up a tree, then hang a rope around his neck, and then forcefully lower it, breaking his cervical vertebrae... Of the would-be killers we know, only the sharpshooter could do that."

"He didn't struggle...because he was half paralyzed at the time...Look here," Holmes stretched the skin on Adolf's neck with his hands, revealing a very inconspicuous pinhole under the fine folds. "Someone used poison or The medicine knocked him down, but he was still awake. He could only feel the neck above the collarbone, but he could only watch himself being put on the gallows... I have to say, very 'Moriarty' style— —Leaving you with a ray of hope, but you also know very well that the chance of surviving in the end is so small that it is hopeless."

Nora stared at Adolf's stiff face, and after a while, she suddenly said, "What do you think Adolf is to Moriarty?"

Holmes replied without hesitation, "A clown."

"Would someone like Moriarty... would kill the Joker so cruelly just because of his betrayal, a betrayal he knew and indulged?"

"It is possible," said Holmes, and after a pause, his eyes narrowed again. "What do you mean?"

"Adolf knew that it was impossible for him to deal with him, but he sent out clues and asked us to find him, but in the end he found Moriarty with empty hands, trying to get his daughter back? Do you think Moriarty is so kind and friendly? person?"

Holmes showed a thoughtful look, and Nora continued, "What gave Adolf the courage to think that, in the end, he had some hope of making a deal with Moriarty?"

"What are his odds? Don't you wonder?"

"Hey, guys!" said Grayson bewilderedly. "What the hell are you talking about—Hello? Anyone hear me?"

Holmes stood up abruptly, his eyes sparkling, "Do you still remember what Adolf took from us?"

"Of course." Nora also stood up, and the two of them looked at each other, then immediately turned around and left tacitly. They didn't discuss the destination, but they always walked in the same direction.

Far-going Grayson, "..." This pair of dogs and men!