[Sherlock Holmes] Captured a detective

Chapter [-]

Since John got married, his life has slowly been on track.

When Jenny was bored of embroidering wedding dresses, she occasionally went to John's house as a guest, having afternoon tea with Meili, and discussing recipes by the way.

The business of the ready-made garment factory and the ready-made clothing store has gradually improved. Madeleine has contributed a lot. She is very sensitive to fashion trends, and some of the small accessories suggested by her are very popular.Although the garment factory does not exclusively produce clothes in Madeleine's shop, Sirius still often asks for her opinion.Jenny thought that Sirius wanted to pursue Madeleine, but Madeleine just smiled and didn't express her opinion.

Sherlock is still busy every day. When there is no case, he starts to prepare to write a thesis...Jenny said that it is too professional and she can't understand it.

Just when Jenny was intoxicated with this busy and comfortable life, John came to the door, and he was not the only one, and he brought another man with bandages on his hands.This gentleman is about 25 or [-] years old, dressed plainly, but his face is extremely pale, with two unnatural blushes on his cheeks, and the bandages on his hands are professionally wrapped, which should be John's handicraft.

They had come in a buggy early in the morning, and when Jenny saw them from the window, Sherlock was in his dressing gown on the second floor, flipping through a newspaper, which he had recently acquired before breakfast while smoking his pipe. .

"Watson, you are here." Sherlock nodded to John, pointed to the sofa and said, "Please sit down, Mr. Hatherley. Watson, do you want to have breakfast together?"

The gentleman with the bandage on his hand was stunned, "How did you know my name?"

"Ah." Sherlock walked over and took a look at Mr. Hatherley, "Not only do I know your name is Hatherley, but I also know that you took the train overnight and reported to the police at the nearest police station after you arrived in London. , and then found Watson to bandage the wound, and finally Watson brought you to me."

"My God, how do you know? The facts are exactly as you said, as if you have been following me." Hatherley yelled, he was a little too excited, and Sherlock had to go to a A small glass of wine was poured down for him.

"You shouldn't be irritating my patient like this, Holmes." John complained in his mouth, but in fact he was honored, and he was still quite proud of being another person who was bluffed by Sherlock.

"I'm sorry, Watson, but there's nothing surprising about it. The fact of the matter is to me like a fried egg on a plate, and you can tell it's probably half-cooked by the look of it. Oh, come on, eggs , please allow... I need to tell Mrs. Hudson to make two extra breakfasts." Sherlock walked to the door and shouted downstairs: "Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Hudson."

"What's the matter?" Jenny walked from the restaurant to the stairs and asked with her head up.

"Can you make two breakfasts, please?" Sherlock called down the corridor outside the door.

"Okay, got it." Jenny replied.

Sherlock briskly returned to the room and said to John and Hatherley, "I think I just need to wait a while..."

"No no no," said Hatherley, "please tell me, or I can't eat anything."

Sherlock smiled, "Well, it's actually not worth mentioning. Judging from the blood on your cuffs and skirt, your hand must have been seriously injured, but you didn't bandage the injured place, which means you You don't think that place is safe enough to allow you enough time to treat such a serious wound. Since you feel that it is safe to return to London, you will naturally find the nearest police station to call the police as soon as you get off the train."

"But... how do you know that I took the train overnight?" Hatherley was still very surprised.

"Oh, this is just my guess." Sherlock pointed to Hatherley's coat and said, "It takes a long time for such deep wrinkles to form on the tweed coat, and if it is not maintained properly, it may be difficult to recover. As for the train... you need to look in the mirror."

John quickly looked at the place where Sherlock suggested on Hatherley's face, and sure enough, he saw the faint acronym of "Railway", which was probably left by Hatherley accidentally leaning against the railway sign.

"As for your name." Sherlock stepped forward and opened the collar of Hatherley's coat, and there was a nameplate sewn inside: "w Hatherley". "It's actually very obvious, isn't it?" Sherlock teased.

"Oh." Hatherley was not as disappointed as other people who knew Sherlock's little tricks. On the contrary, there were traces of everything, which made him believe that Sherlock found the truth by strength, not luck.

"Let's have something to eat first. Good morning, Dr. Watson. Oh, my God, this gentleman's face is really bad." Jenny and Fantine came up with breakfast for three people, and everyone got A bowl of potato beef and carrot stew, a bowl of corn patty soup, and a small bowl of cubed apples mixed with tomato sauce, "I made this with leftover soup from last night, please don't mind." Jenny Put down the plate and say, "What would you like to drink? Tea, or coffee?"

"Tea."

"Clear water."

"Clear water?" John looked at Sherlock suspiciously, isn't this his habit?Sherlock didn't intend to explain anything to John.

Hatherley looked much better after the meal, but his physical strength seemed to be at its limit, and Sherlock and John had to arrange for him to lie on the sofa, and kept a glass of brandy and water near him just in case.

"It's not difficult to see that your experience is very unusual, Mr. Hatherley." Sherlock said, "Please lie here casually, don't be restrained. Tell us what happened to you as much as you can, and take a rest when you are tired. Refresh yourself with a sip of wine."

"Thank you." Hatherley said, "I actually feel more comfortable than I was before." He began to describe his bizarre experience.Sherlock sat in his large armchair with a weary look on his face that belied his keenness and eagerness, occasionally asking seemingly inconsequential questions about Hatherley's account, Then he asked Hatherley to continue his narration.

In the narrative, a man named Colonel Lysander Stark offered Hatherley a job at fifty guineas a night just to maintain a machine.Hatherley did not want to miss this opportunity, and he and Colonel Lysander Stark made a complicated journey to a small place in Berkshire called Eysin.

It's very rural out there, and Hatherley finds something out of the ordinary with a machine in need of repair, and nearly gets killed for it.Fortunately, he was able to escape with the help of a kind lady, but he also lost a thumb.

"It was only a little after six o'clock when I came back to town, so I went to bandage the wound first. It is a pity that the doctor accompanied me here. I entrust this case to you, and I will do it exactly according to your advice. .” Hatherley felt tired after finishing such a long paragraph in one breath, he picked up the glass and took a sip of the wine mixed with water, and couldn’t help coughing.

While the other two sat in silence for a while, Sherlock stood up suddenly, and took down a large, bulky book with newspaper clippings on it from the shelf.

"Here's an advertisement that will interest you," Sherlock said, turning quickly to a certain page. "It was in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to me: 'Missing. Jeremiah Helling Mr., aged 26, a professional water conservancy engineer, left the apartment at [-]:[-] p.m.

"But what does this mean?" John interrupted Sherlock anxiously.

"Ha! That means the last time the Colonel needed to overhaul his machinery, I suppose." Sherlock handed the book to John.

"There is no doubt about it. It is clear that the Colonel is a ruthless desperado." Sherlock said grimly. Leave one alive on the boat they captured. Well, every minute counts now, so if you can hold on, we've got to report to Scotland Yard right away, we're going to Eyzin first step."

When they went downstairs, Jenny heard movement and came out of the kitchen, asking, "Are you going out?" She looked Hatherley over, "Maybe it's not suitable for this gentleman?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine, Mrs. Hudson." Not only was it okay, but Hatherley was a little excited.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, will you be back for... er, lunch?"

"If you're lucky, yes." Sherlock touched the brim of his hat, and walked out quickly with the other two.

"So I have to at least prepare for Watson's share." Jenny muttered.

About three hours later, Sherlock and John boarded the train with Hatherley, Inspector Bradstreet of Scotland Yard, and an undercover detective.

But things didn't go as expected... Also, how could the criminals be so stupid as to wait for them?They speculated on the train where Hatherley had been taken, but when they got off the train, they saw billowing smoke—the house where Hatherley had stayed had been burned down.According to a farmer's account, they were informed that the grim colonel and his companions had left in the direction of Reading with several heavy trunks.

"But what exactly did they do with that machine?" Hatherley found no trace of the fire other than some bent cylinders and iron pipes.

"There is no doubt that they are criminals of mass counterfeiting, and they use that machine to cast alloys instead of silver," Sherlock replied.

"Well, it's a terrible thing for me. I lost my thumb, I lost my fifty-guinea fee, and what did I get?" Hatherley looked despondently at the charred house. , where firefighters also found his severed thumb.

"Experience!" Sherlock said with a smile, patting Hatherley on the shoulder. "You know, it may be valuable indirectly; You will gain a good reputation." This sentence finally made Hatherley feel a little happy.