I was sitting opposite Holmes in front of the fireplace in his apartment in Baker Street, listening to his conversation.

"Dear friends, life is always wonderful, it is far beyond people's imagination. Many ordinary things, we dare not think about. If you and I can fly out of this window hand in hand, be free in the sky above this big city

If you soar, you can just gently lift the roof of that house, and you will spy on the unusual things happening in the house: bizarre encounters, conspiracies in secret rooms, disputes between couples, and other things one after another.

Unexpected events, after so many generations, are still continuing, but the results are all kinds of strange. The result is that novels that make everyone know the ending as soon as they read the beginning suddenly become boring to readers and lose their popularity.

possible."

Regarding his judgment, I replied: "I don't agree with your words. Because I see more monotonous and vulgar cases reported in newspapers. Especially in the police case investigation reports,

It is extremely realistic. It makes you have to admit that such a case does not give people any sense of fun and artistry."

"If you want to ensure actual results, you must first use some choices and judgments, and these things are missing in the investigation reports made by the police. Perhaps it is because they focus on some old-fashioned statements made by local officials.

, and did not focus on some substantive details that outsiders thought were essential to the whole incident. Obviously, in their eyes, what is commonplace is natural," said Holmes.

I shook my head and continued to insist on my opinion with a smile: "I can understand your thoughts. Because I know that because of your special position, everyone in three continents who encounters difficulties will seek your help, so

Under such circumstances, you have the opportunity to come into contact with all the extraordinary people and things. But here..." I casually picked up a morning newspaper from the ground, "Let us verify it. What I see here

The first headline was "Husband Abuses Wife." But from the news article, which took up half a column, I could tell what it said at a glance. It was obvious that it also involved another woman, including drunken orgies, and

Keywords like pulling, punching, kicking, bruises, and sympathetic sisters or landladies, these are crude things that even the worst writers can't come up with."

Holmes took the newspaper, glanced at it briefly, and said: "Actually, your argument is very inconsistent with this example. I understand this case. It is about the separation of the Dundas family. It was

I was responsible for investigating the details. The husband in this case was a teetotaler and had no problems with other women. The reason why he was charged was only because he developed a behavior that made his wife very fond of him.

His intolerable habit is that at the end of every meal, he would take off his dentures and throw them at his wife. According to you, this is something that is difficult for ordinary storytellers to imagine. Doctor, bring it to me

A little snuff here. See? Your example is such that you have to admit, I win."

He took out his old gold snuff bottle from his pocket. There was a purple crystal inlaid in the center of the snuff bottle lid. This gorgeous and dazzling snuff bottle was completely inconsistent with his simple style and simple living habits. So,

I found another topic for comment.

"Oh," he explained in response to my comment: "I almost forgot, we haven't seen each other for a long time. This was given to me by the King of Bohemia because I was in Irene Ade

As a reward for helping him in the Le photo case, he gave me this souvenir."

"So what's going on with this ring?" I asked again when I saw the dazzling diamond ring on his finger.

"This was given to me by the Dutch royal family. However, since this case is very delicate, please forgive me that I cannot even tell you. Although you wrote down my life so faithfully, you did not forget even one or two small things."

"Okay, so do you have any cases on hand now?" I asked him still interested.

"About eleven or two, but none of them are very interesting. You know, although they are important, they are not interesting at all. To be honest, I have to admit that, generally speaking, in some less important cases,

On the contrary, it is possible to observe and analyze the internal causal relationship at any time, and if this is possible, then the investigation work will be more interesting. In many cases, the greater the crime, the simpler the case. Because generally the greater the crime, the simpler the case.

The motive for committing a crime becomes more obvious. Except for the case in Marseille, which I found very complicated during the handling process, almost none of the other cases were very interesting. But I can’t tell when, maybe in the next moment, it will become more interesting.

Cases will come to your door. If my prediction is accurate, a client has come to me now."

He stood up from the chair and walked to the window with the curtains open. He stared at the dark and deserted London street across the street. I also stood up and leaned over to look down. I saw a tall woman looking down.

Standing on the sidewalk. The woman wore a thick fur scarf around her neck and a wide-brimmed hat with a long, curved feather on her head. She looked a bit like a Devon.

The coquettish posture of a duchess. However, even though she was wearing such gorgeous clothes, she looked uneasy and hesitant. At this time, she was looking nervously and hesitantly in our direction while swaying back and forth.

She leaned forward and fidgeted with the buttons on her gloves with her fingers. Suddenly, like a swimmer jumping from the shore into the water, she hurriedly crossed the road. After a while, we heard something from downstairs.

There was a shrill ringing of the doorbell.

Holmes threw the cigarette butt in his hand into the fireplace and said, "I've seen this happen before. Generally speaking, when a person stands on the sidewalk looking nervous and swaying around, it's usually because something happened to her.

Love incident. She wanted to ask someone for advice, but she was not sure whether it was appropriate to tell others about such a thing. If a man did something very sorry to a woman, then the woman would not be so shaken. Generally speaking,

, she would be so anxious that she would disconnect the doorbell cord. We initially judged the situation of this person today to be a love affair. But surprisingly, this woman did not look very angry, but just a little confused or sad. Fortunately, she has now taken the initiative to come to the door.

Come visit us, and our questions will be answered soon."

Before he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Then a uniformed valet came in and reported: "Miss Mary Sutherland is here to visit." As soon as he finished speaking, the female guest appeared.

Behind the servant. And she stood behind the short servant like a large merchant ship following the pilot boat. Holmes received her calmly and in a gentlemanly manner. After the woman came in, Holmes closed the door and paused for a moment.

He bowed and asked the guest to sit in front of an armchair. During this moment, Holmes secretly observed her with a professional eye.

He asked: "Don't you find it a bit difficult to type so many words when your eyes are nearsighted?"

She replied: "It was indeed like this at the beginning, but now I can no longer find the position of the letters by looking at them with my eyes." Then she suddenly reacted and was particularly surprised, with a look of fear on her face. She raised her head

He started, looked up at Holmes, and shouted: "Mr. Holmes, have you heard of me before? Otherwise, how would you know this?"

Holmes smiled: "It doesn't matter, this is my profession. Maybe because of my profession, I am used to paying attention to things that others tend to ignore. Otherwise, why would you come to ask me for advice?"

"Sir, I came to you after being introduced by Mrs. Etheridge. At first, everyone, including the police, thought her husband was dead, so they gave up searching, but you easily helped her find her.

Oh, Mr. Holmes, I hope you can give me the same help. Although my income is very meager, in addition to the income from typing, I also have an inherited property, from which I can earn 100 per year.

Pounds. As long as you can help me find out the whereabouts of Mr. Hosmer Angel, there will be no problem in taking out all my income."

Holmes asked: "Why did you leave home in such a hurry to find me?" He put his hands on each other and looked at the ceiling.

Miss Mary Sutherland, who was feeling confused, once again had a look of surprise on her face when she heard this. She said: "It's true, I decided suddenly. Because when I saw my father-Wendy

Mr. Bank - When he didn't care about this matter at all, I was very angry inside. He was neither willing to call the police nor come to you. Until the end, he was unwilling to do anything and always

Said: 'It'll be okay, it'll be okay.' This made me very angry, so I immediately put on my coat and came to see you."

"Since you two have different surnames, your father must be your stepfather!"

"Yes, he is my stepfather. Even though he is only 5 years and two months older than me, I still call him father. This may sound a bit ridiculous."

"Is your mother still alive?"

"Well, my mother is still alive, Mr. Holmes. Not long after my father died, my mother got married again, and she found a man 15 years younger than her. I am not satisfied with this. My biological father is under the care of others.

A pipe trader in Turnham Court Road, he ran a very large business during his lifetime. After his death, the business was continued by his mother and the supervisor, Mr. Hardy. However, as soon as Mr. Windibank arrived, he

They forced my mother to sell the business because he was a hotel salesman and sold wine. He felt good about himself. They sold the business together with the goodwill and interest, and got a total of 4,700 pounds. And if my father still had

If I were alive, I would definitely sell more than this amount."

I thought Holmes would be bored by this woman's introduction and narration, but to my surprise, on the contrary, he listened very carefully.

He asked: "Does your personal income also come from this business?"

"Ah, no, sir. It comes from another source of income, which is New Zealand shares bequeathed to me by Uncle Ned in Auckland. Although the value of the shares is £2,500 and the interest rate is four and a half per cent, I can only

Use the interest.”

Holmes said: "I am very interested in your situation. Since you can withdraw 100 pounds from that huge sum of money every year, plus the income from your work, life should be no problem. You can even often

Traveling and living a very comfortable life. I think that for a single woman, she can live a good life with only an income of 60 pounds."

"Even if it is far below this number, Mr. Holmes, I can live a contented life. However, as you can imagine, I do not want to be a burden to others at any time, so when I live with them, they

I have been spending my money, but fortunately this is not a temporary solution. Every quarter, Mr. Windibank will withdraw the interest from the stocks I inherited and give it to my mother. But I actually only rely on typing.

I can live very well with my income. I charge two pence a piece for typing, so I can usually type 15 to 20 pieces a day."

Holmes said: "Well, I have almost understood your situation from your description. Let me introduce to you, this is my friend-Dr. Watson. You don't need to be restrained when he is here. You have to be in front of me."

Same. Now please give us a detailed introduction to the relationship between you and Mr. Hosmer Angel!"

Miss Sutherland's face immediately turned red, and she unconsciously stroked the hem of her jacket with her hands, looking very reserved. She said: "Speaking of our first acquaintance, it was at a gas fitter's party.

Before my father died, they would give him tickets. After my father passed away, they still managed not to forget us, and then gave the tickets to my mother. Mr. Windibank was always reluctant to let us go to the ball.

No matter where we go, he doesn't approve. Even if I want to go to church, he will be very angry. But that time I made up my mind to go to this dance because I don't think he has the right to stop me.

But he said that all my father's friends would be there and it would not be appropriate for us to get to know them. He also said that I had no suitable clothes to wear. But I had almost never worn the purple plush clothes.

It was kept locked in the cupboard! Finally, he had no choice but to go to France on a business trip for the company, so my mother and I went with Mr. Hardy, the former director of my father's company.

At the ball, Mr. Hosmer Angel and I met."

Holmes said: "If I am not mistaken, Mr. Windibank must have been very angry about you going to the ball after returning from France?"

"Well, yes. But his attitude was okay. I remember he just smiled, shrugged, and said it seemed futile to stop a woman from doing what she wanted to do, she was always so willful.

"

"Oh, I see. In other words, you met Mr. Hosmer Angel at the gas fitters' dance."

"Yes, sir. It was that night that I met him. The next day he came to visit us and was very concerned about whether we got home safely. Since then, we have met several times... Mr. Holmes,

I mean, I went for a couple of walks with him, but soon my stepfather came back, and since then it's been inconvenient for Mr. Hosmer Angel to come to my house again."

"inconvenient?"

"Yeah, you know, my stepfather doesn't like this. As long as he can, he will always try to prevent all guests from visiting. He has always told us that women should feel at home with their families.

Together, but I have always told my mother that as a woman, she must first have her own life circle, but I don't have that."

"So, what happened to Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he find a way to come see you?"

"Oh, no. Because my father will be on a business trip to France again within a week. So, Hosmer wrote to me and said that before my stepfather left, for the sake of safety, it is better not to meet. However, we can

During this period, we continued to correspond, and he insisted on writing to me every day. Every day, I collected the letters early before my father saw them, because I felt there was no need to let my stepfather know."

"Were you engaged to that gentleman at that time?"

"Well, engaged, Mr. Holmes. Just after our first walk together, Mr. Hosmer Angel... is cashier of a firm in Leadenhall Street, and..."

"What company?"

"Mr. Holmes, here lies the biggest problem in this matter. I don't know anything about it."

"Then do you know where he lives?"

"He lives in the company."

"Does that mean you don't even know his address?"

"Yes, I don't know... I just know it's in Leadenhall Street." "Then where do you send your letters to?"

"Send it to the post office on Leadenhall Street and ask me to pick it up in person. He said that if he sent it to the company, his colleagues would laugh at him for corresponding with women. But when I suggested that he print out the letter on a typewriter and then send it to

When I gave it to him, he was reluctant because he said that a letter written by me would be better. It would be like having a face-to-face interaction with me, while a typed letter always makes people feel alienated.

It's like there is a machine between two people. Mr. Holmes, doesn't this just show that he loves me very much? He can consider even such small things so thoughtfully."

Holmes said: "This is the best reflection of the nature of the matter. I have long maintained that the little things are often the most important. So what other little things can you recall about Mr. Hosmer Angell?

?”

"Mr. Holmes, he is a relatively shy person. He would rather walk with me at night than during the day because he said that he is a person who does not like to be noticed. Everything he says and does is so...

He is a gentleman with a generous manner and a soft voice. He once told me that he had tonsillitis and cervical adenopathy when he was a child. After recovering from the disease, his throat has been unable to speak, and he always dared not speak loudly. He

He is quite concerned about his appearance. He is always very well-dressed and pays attention to neatness and elegance. However, his eyesight is the same as mine, a bit short-sighted, so he always wears a pair of light-colored glasses to block some too strong sunlight.

Bright light.”

"Okay, so your stepfather, Mr. Windibank, later went to France. What happened to you then?"

"After my stepfather left, Mr. Hosmer Angel came to my door again and proposed that he wanted to marry me before my stepfather came back. At that time, he told me seriously and asked me to put my hand on the Bible and swear,

No matter what happens, I will always be loyal to him. My mother said that he was right in making me swear, which shows that he is very enthusiastic. From the time we first met, my mother has always liked him, even more than she likes him.

Worse than that. So, when he and my mother were discussing the wedding within a week, I also mentioned my stepfather to them, but they both said that there was no need to worry about my stepfather.

Just explain it to him afterwards. My mother also assured me that she would be responsible for negotiating this matter with my stepfather. But, Mr. Holmes, I am actually reluctant to do this, because my stepfather is actually not much older than me. If I must

It would be ridiculous if I could only get married with his permission. But I wanted to do it openly, so in the end I decided to write a letter to my stepfather and send it to Bordeaux, where my father’s company office is in France. However, I decided to write a letter to my stepfather.

, but that letter was returned on the morning of my wedding."

"In other words, he did not receive this letter?"

"Yes, sir. As soon as this letter was sent there, he left for England."

"Haha! What a coincidence! So, your wedding is scheduled for Friday? Was it originally scheduled to be held in the church?"

"Yes, sir. But everything was done without alerting anyone. We agreed to hold the wedding at St. Saviour's Church at Royal Cross Road. After the wedding, we went to St. Pancra's Hotel for breakfast. Howth

Mo came to greet us in a two-wheeled, two-seater carriage. But since my mother and I were two people, he let my mother and I board the carriage, and he himself got into another four-wheeled carriage that happened to pass by.

Carriage. We arrived at the church before him, and the four-wheeled carriage he was riding in followed us, but we waited for him for a long time and no one came out. Until the coachman also felt something was wrong and got off the driver's seat to take a look.

Only then did he realize that there was no one in the carriage! The coachman told us that he saw him get into the carriage with his own eyes, which was so unimaginable to him. Mr. Holmes, after that Friday, he disappeared like a stone.

No news."

Holmes said: "It is a great insult to you that he should treat you like this."

"Ah, no... that's not the case, sir. In fact, he is too gentle and considerate to me. I believe he will not leave me just now. You see, he asked me from the beginning, no matter what happens

, I have to be loyal to him. Even if something unforeseen happens and we are separated forever, I can never forget the vow I made to him. Sooner or later, he will come and ask me to fulfill this vow.

It may seem a bit unbelievable to say such words to me on the day of the wedding, but judging from what happened later, there is more to it than anything else."

"Indeed, these words should have profound meaning. So, does that mean that you yourself also think that he encountered an accident?"

"That's right, sir. I'm sure he did this because he foresaw certain dangers would happen, otherwise he wouldn't have said that. And just after that, I guess what he foresaw happened.

Already."

"But haven't you thought further about what will happen?"

"No."

"Also, what does your mother think of this matter?"

"She was very angry and told me never to mention this matter again."

"What about your stepfather? Have you told him?"

"I told him, and he seems to have the same idea as me, and thinks that something unexpected happened, but I believe there will be new news about Hosmer. Because as he said, if he takes me to the door of the church, he disappears

It would not be of any benefit to anyone. If he disappeared after he borrowed money from me, or after marrying me, and I transferred the property to him, it might still make sense, but Hosmer

He is not such a person at all. He has always been independent when it comes to money. He will not look twice at even a shilling of my money. So in this case, what other possible situation could there be? How could he be so stubborn?

Didn't you even leave a letter? Oh, every time I think about this I go crazy with anxiety and can't sleep well all night." As she said this, she took out a handkerchief from her leather glove, covered her face and sobbed.

Holmes stood up and said: "I have decided to take over your case, and I will make sure to give you a satisfactory result. From now on, let me help you shoulder this heavy burden, and you will not have to worry about it for the time being.

This is a matter of great anxiety. The most important thing to note is that you should completely forget about Mr. Hosmer, just as he will completely abandon you at once."

"Then you mean that I will never see him again, right?"

"I guess so."

"Then what will happen to him?"

"Feel free to leave the matter to me. What I wish now is a more accurate description of this man, and all his letters which you have preserved."

She said: "I published a search notice for him in the Chronicle last Saturday. By the way, this is the missing person notice. I also have four letters he wrote to me."

"Thank you! Could you please leave your mailing address?" "31 Lyon Street, Camberwell District."

"I know that you have never obtained Mr. Angel's address. So, can you tell me about your stepfather's work?"

"He is a traveling salesman who works for Westhouse Marbanks, a large importer, and is responsible for the promotion of French red wines from Fenchurta."

"Thank you! Based on your introduction, I have a very clear understanding of the whole matter. Please keep these documents if it is convenient. In addition, remember my advice. The past has become the past, don't let it interfere with your future.

Live a normal life.”

"Mr. Holmes, thank you very much, but I'm afraid it will be difficult for me not to think about this matter. I will be loyal to Hosmer and keep my promise to marry him as soon as he comes back."

At this time, although our guest was wearing a charming hat on her head, she looked dazed and lost. We were moved by her loyalty and simplicity to love, and her

We couldn't help but feel awe at her behavior. She put some documents on the table and left in a hurry. She promised us that she would come over at any time if needed.

After a few minutes of silence, Holmes still maintained the original position of holding his hands together, sitting there with his legs stretched forward, still staring at the ceiling. Later, he took down the full set of books that had been with him for many years from the shelf.

It was a greasy clay pipe. To him, the pipe was like an assistant. After lighting the cigarette, he leaned back on the chair and began to smoke in the slowly rising thick blue smoke.

Lost in thought.

After a long time, he said: "I found that this woman is quite interesting, even more worthy of study than the problems she encountered. By the way, the problems she encountered are actually very common. If you read my

In terms of cases, similar cases can be found in the Andover Index from 1877, and it just happened in The Hague last year. These are all old things, except for one or two of the plots.

Apart from the novelty, I think this woman herself is the most thought-provoking."

I said: "You seem to be able to find a lot of things in her that I haven't discovered!" He replied calmly: "It's not that I didn't find it, Watson, it's just that I didn't notice it, because you don't know the key points that need to be paid attention to, so

Ignoring some more important things, the importance of details is what I have not told you. In addition, very critical problems can be found from the thumb nails or shoelaces. Okay, now describe to me, from

What did you find about this woman?" "Oh, what I see is that judging from her dress, generally speaking, she belongs to a relatively wealthy person, and her demeanor also gives people a relatively free and leisurely feeling. Specifically,

For example, I saw that she was wearing a blue-gray wide-brimmed straw hat with a brick-red feather inserted diagonally on the hat. She was wearing a gray-black short coat studded with black beads.

The edges are also inlaid with dense black jade ornaments. The color of the inner coat is brown darker than coffee, and the collar and sleeves are inlaid with narrow strips of purple plush. The hands are wearing a pair of light gray gloves, of which the index finger of the right hand has been

It's worn out. As for the shoes she's wearing, I didn't notice. Her figure is a bit bloated, and by the way, there's a pair of gold earrings hanging from her ears."

Holmes applauded me and smiled.

"Watson, I feel from the bottom of my heart that you have made much progress than before. Judging from your description, your observation is very good. Although you have not noticed some key factors, you have basically mastered the observation.

The key. For example, your observation of colors is more acute. Dear friend, you must remember, never observe and judge something based entirely on impressions, but focus on some details. I observe people

Generally, you look at a woman's sleeves first. And if it's a man, you might look at the knees of his pants first. As you can see, this woman has plush on her sleeves, and this is the most useful detail to reveal a secret.

.There are two obvious lines on her wrist, which are caused by the typist pressing on the table when typing. In addition, there is a hand-operated sewing machine left on her left arm.

Traces like this are located on the side farthest from the thumb. However, they are not as obvious as the typing traces. They just cross the widest part. Then I looked at her face again and found that there were traces on both sides of her nose.

The dents left by wearing glasses allowed me to boldly suggest that she was short-sighted and typing, and the result surprised her."

"I'm surprised too!"

"But obviously, what I said was absolutely right. I continued to look down, and I was surprised to find another detail, because I found that the two boots she was wearing were actually different. It was probably not the same at all.

It's not a pair. Because one of the boots has patterns on the toe, but the other one doesn't. There are five buttons on each boot, and one button has the bottom two buttons, and the other one has the third button.

One, third and fifth buttons. Look, if it's you, you can tell when you see a well-dressed young woman wearing mismatched boots when she goes out, and the boots are only half-buttoned.

It may not be a great inference to suggest that she left home in a hurry!"

"What about the others?" I asked. My friends' exquisite analysis and reasoning always strongly aroused my interest.

"One more thing, by the way, I also observed something, which is the frayed area on the index finger of her right glove that you observed. In fact, if you look further, you will find that the area between her glove and index finger

They were all stained with purple ink. Based on this, I judged that she wrote a note after getting dressed and before walking out of the house. Because she was in a hurry, she inserted the pen too deep when dipping the ink.

Judging from the clear ink marks, it must have happened this morning. These may seem simple, but they are very interesting. But back to the topic, Watson, can you read for me the notice looking for Mr. Hosmer Angel?"

I took the small piece of printed paper, leaned it in front of the lamp and started reading:

"On the morning of the 14th, Hosmer Angel's husband suddenly disappeared. The husband was five feet seven inches tall, burly, with slightly yellow skin, black hair, a slightly bald head, and a thick beard on his temples. He often wore a pair of

He wore light-colored sunglasses and spoke in a soft voice. He was last seen wearing a black dress with silk trim, a black vest, gray Harris tweed pants, brown leggings, and leather boots with elastic bands on both sides. An Albert pair hung on the vest

A gold chain. Before disappearing, he worked in an office on Leadenhall Street. If anyone..."

"That's enough." Holmes said: "As for these..." He glanced at the letters and continued: "It's too common. Except for a quotation from Balzac, almost nothing about Mr. Hosmer has anything to do with it.

There are no clues. Fortunately, there is still one surprising thing worth noting."

"This is a letter typed on a typewriter." I interjected. "And that's not all. Even his name was signed on a typewriter. Just look at the neat little letters at the end of the letter: 'Hosmer

·Angel'. Although there is a date, the address only has the words 'Ledenhall Street', which gives people a very vague impression. Especially his signature is the most illustrative of the problem, and can even be said to be very important to the whole story.

Everything plays a decisive role."

"What specifically does it refer to?"

"Old man, have you not seen the important connection between this signature and this case?"

"I'm not sure if I've noticed it yet. He may have used this as an excuse not to admit that he wrote the name in case someone sues him for breaking the contract!"

"Wrong, the crux of the problem is not here. However, I believe this problem will be solved after I write two letters. One is written to a trading house in London; the other is written to the woman's stepfather, Windibank.

Sir, ask him if he can meet with us here at 6 o'clock tomorrow night so that we can get to know her male relatives first. Well, doctor, before we get a reply to these two letters, we can temporarily

There is nothing to do, so let’s put this little problem aside for now!”

I am absolutely convinced of my friend's ability. I think the reason why he shows a confident and calm attitude when others ask him to solve a case is inseparable from his meticulous reasoning ability and abundant energy. According to me

As far as I know, except for the case of the King of Bohemia and the Irene Adler photo, he has successfully solved every case so far. So when I look back on the strange cases of "The Sign of Four" and "The Scarlet Letter"

When I was researching unusual cases that were connected together, I felt that if even he couldn't solve it, then the case was too bizarre.

When I left he was still smoking his black clay pipe, and when I come back tomorrow night I am sure he will have discovered almost all the clues that will confirm the missing groom of Miss Mary Sutherland.

But on the second day, I started to be busy. First, I was busy treating a seriously ill patient, and on the third day, I was busy at the bedside all day long. It was not until almost 6 o'clock that I got free. Because I was worried that I would not be able to do it in time.

I went to help my friend solve the case, so I immediately got into a small carriage and went straight to Baker Street. When I saw Sherlock Holmes, I saw that he was the only one at home. His slender body was lost in thought.

He was curled up in a sunken armchair, and the rows of flasks and test tubes in the room were emitting the pungent smell of hydrochloric acid. From this, we can judge that he is a person who likes to immerse himself in chemical experiments all day long.

"Hey, has the case been solved?" I asked as I walked in. "Solved, it's barium hydrogen sulfate."

"No...no, I mean that case!" I shouted.

"Oh, you mean that! I'm just thinking about the experiment I'm doing. Although I once said there was nothing magical about that case, some details are still very interesting. The only thing I'm worried about is that all the laws may

We can't punish that bad guy severely."

"Who is that man? Why did he abandon Miss Sutherland?"

As soon as I asked this question, before Holmes could even bother to answer me, I was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the corridor, followed by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"It's the woman's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "He replied to my letter and agreed to come over at six o'clock today. Please come in!"

The man who walked in was a man in his 30s. He was very strong, with a medium build, his face was clean, his beard was cleanly shaved, and his skin was light yellow. The first impression you got was that he was an attentive person.

He was a person who was flattering, and his sharp gray eyes gave people an uncomfortable feeling. He glanced at us inquiringly, took off his hat, bowed slightly to us, and then put on the hat with a

The shiny round hat was placed on the side shelf, and he sat sideways on the chair next to him.

"Good evening, Mr. James Windibank!" said Holmes. "If I guess correctly, this letter typed out on the typewriter was written by you. In the letter, you agreed to meet us at six o'clock.

Is it right?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry that I'm late, but there's nothing I can do about it! I'm really sorry that Miss Salan would trouble you with such a trivial matter. I don't want this kind of thing at home.

I'm very unhappy that she came to you without permission when word got out. As you can see, this child is so impulsive and loses her temper that no one can stop her from doing anything she decides to do. Of course, I

You don’t have any objections because you have not contacted the government police. But after all, it is not a glorious thing to happen at home, so I still don’t want it to be spread to society. Besides, your efforts are in vain.

Because you can't find Hosmer Angel."

"Contrary to what you say," said Holmes calmly, "I have every confidence that Mr. Hosmer Angel will be found."

Hearing this, Mr. Windibank's body shook violently and his gloves fell to the ground. "I'm so happy to hear you say that," he said.

"The surprising thing is..." Holmes said: "The words typed by the typewriter will reflect a person's personality just like the handwritten words. The words typed by the two typewriters will not be exactly the same, unless they are new.

Typewriter. In old typewriters, some letters are more worn than others. Mr. Windibank, please look at this letter you typed. All the letters 'e' here are not very clear.

, the upper part of the letter 'r' is missing, and there are 14 more obvious features."

"As these correspondences were typed on a merchant's typewriter, it is natural that some wear and tear would occur," said our guest, with a quick furtive glance at Holmes.

"Mr. Windibank, now let me tell you what is a really interesting study." Holmes continued, "In the past few days, I intend to write a short article on the relationship between typewriters and crime. This is what I am going to do.

Title written for this purpose. Now I have four letters from the missing man, all of which were typewritten. Not only is the letter 'e' in each letter unclear, the letter 'r' is also unclear.

They are all missing, and if you are willing to take a magnifying glass to look at them, you will clearly see the other 14 characteristics I mentioned."

Mr. Windibank jumped out of his chair, grabbed his hat, and said: "Mr. Holmes, I have no time to waste on listening to such nonsense. If you can really catch that man, then

Just go and catch him, just let me know when the time comes."

Holmes took a step forward, locked the door behind him, and said, "Well, I can inform you now that I have caught this person."

"What, where are the others?" cried Mr. Windibank, his lips turning white with fright, and blinking at him like a rat in a cage.

"Oh, Mr. Windybain, there's no point in shouting anymore." Holmes said gently: "You can't escape the fact anyway. The truth has been revealed. You actually think that I can't solve such a simple matter. That's really bad."

You look down on me so much, this question is too simple! Please continue to sit down and let me tell you slowly."

The guest suddenly slumped down on the chair, his face was pale and his head was covered with sweat, and he stuttered and said: "This... this is not enough to file a lawsuit!"

"Yes, it may not be to that extent. However, Mr. Windibank, to me, this approach is simply the most selfish, cruel and inhumane trick I have ever seen in my life. Please allow me to

Please describe the matter in full first, and you can correct it at any time if there is anything wrong."

The man was completely defeated. He huddled up in a chair and his head hung limply on his chest. Holmes leaned back, stood on the corner of the mantelpiece, put his hands in his pockets, and began to speak to himself.

Talking about it...

"Because of the temptation of money, this man married a woman who was much older than him against his will," he said, "because as long as his daughter can live with them, he can spend her money openly. According to reality

Judging from the situation, this is a very considerable property, and without this property, their situation will be completely different, so for this reason, he feels that it is worth risking his life to keep it. And their daughter is

A particularly kind, gentle, and passionate woman. Obviously, with her beautiful appearance and good conduct, coupled with the property she owns, she will not worry about getting married. And once she gets married, it means

Her stepfather will lose his annual income of 100 pounds. In this case, what method should he think of to prevent this marriage? Locking her up at home, isolating her from the outside world, and not allowing her to interact with friends of the same age.

It was the most direct approach he could think of. But after a period of time, he realized that it couldn't last long because she was becoming more and more difficult to control, and she liked to insist on her own opinions more and more, so that she finally shouted that she would do it no matter what.

Go to the dance. This embarrassed her scheming stepfather. So he came up with a more vicious plan. The girl's mother actually acquiesced in her husband's actions and even acted as an accomplice to help her husband take him away.

He disguised himself by wearing a pair of sunglasses to cover up his keen eyes, and put on a fake mustache and fake beard all over his face. He deliberately lowered his voice to appear soft. Because

His daughter's eyesight was not very good, which made his disguise watertight. So, he pretended to be Mr. Hosmer Angel and appeared in front of his daughter and wooed her to prevent her from falling in love with another man."

"I was just joking with her at that time." The guest hesitated, "We never expected that she would be so infatuated."

"A joke? Is it possible? But unfortunately, the girl was a little carried away by love. She thought her stepfather was really in France, but she never thought that she had been deceived. The gentleman's attentiveness

She was intoxicated with praises and praises, and her mother's praises of that gentleman made her even more proud. Once things started, they would continue. So Mr. Angel began to visit her home. After several meetings, they became engaged.

, so as to ensure that the girl's heart will not be given to others. But the scam cannot continue forever, and it is also very difficult to pretend to be on a business trip to France. In this case, let's simply let the matter have a dramatic ending.

This will not only keep him in the girl's heart forever, but also eliminate the possibility of her liking other suitors in the future. So, they planned in advance to make a vow by pressing the Bible with their hands on the morning of the wedding.

A hint to the girl that something might happen. On the one hand, James Windibank wanted Miss Sutherland's love for Hosmer Angel to never change, but on the other hand, he did not want to give him life or death.

A definite explanation. This would at least guarantee that she would keep her heart in the next 10 years. When Hosmer accompanied her to the door of the church, the situation at that time did not allow him to go any further.

So he tried a trick of escaping from his shell, got in through this door of the carriage, got out through that door, and ran away in a big way. Mr. Windibank, this is what I judged.

What happened!”

Just as Holmes was telling the whole story vividly, our guest began to slowly regain his confidence. He stood up from his chair, with a sarcastic look on his pale face.

"True and false, Mr. Holmes," he said, "you are so smart, but it would be nice if you were a little smarter. Then you would realize that you did something illegal.

Not me. I have never done anything illegal, so no one can sue me. But just for the fact that you locked me in this room, I can charge 'attack on personal liberty and illegal detention'

Prosecution against you."

"Even as you say, the law has no effect on you." Holmes said as he opened the door: "But I still think that you are the most deserving of severe punishment. If this girl has brothers or friends, they will definitely use a whip

Break your spine! You really deserve a beating!" When he saw the man's mocking smile, his face turned red with anger: "Although my client did not entrust me to punish you, unfortunately,

, I happen to have a whip on hand, I think let me teach you a lesson on her behalf..." Holmes walked a few steps over and was about to get the whip, but before he could get it, he had already walked down the stairs.

There was the sound of banging footsteps, and the man had already escaped desperately. There was a sound of the huge hall door being closed behind him. Then we saw Mr. James Windibank from the window on the road.

Running around in a panic.

"What a shameless bastard!" Holmes said with a smile, sitting back in his armchair: "This bastard has done so many bad things. I believe that one day he will be sentenced to death for his heinous crimes. From the above, this

The case is still somewhat interesting."

"I still haven't fully figured out how you reasoned it out!" I said.

"Well, obviously, my first thought was that Mr. Hosmer Angel must have some ulterior motive for his mysterious behavior. It's also obvious that this stepfather is the only one who has any clues about this case.

A person who has benefited. Then look at the fact that Hosmer and the girl's stepfather have never appeared together. One always appears and the other disappears. This can give people a lot of inspiration. And sunglasses

His weird voice and beard all over his face make it easy for people to think that this is a disguise. In addition, he used words typed on a typewriter as his signature. From this, we can judge that the reason why he did not use his own handwriting

The signature was for fear of being recognized by people familiar with his handwriting. This unusual approach further aroused my suspicion. You see, once these seemingly isolated doubts and details are put together, they actually reflect the same thing.

"

"So how did you further corroborate them?"

"As long as the criminal is found, everything can be easily confirmed. I know the situation of the business where this person is located. When I just got the printed missing person notice, I saw the truth behind the physical characteristics described in the notice——

The so-called beard, sunglasses, and strange voice were all just illusions. Then, I sent the missing person notice to the business company and asked them to help me find this person after removing the disguise.

Noting the characteristics of the typewriter, I wrote to his office and asked him to come to me in person. As expected, he typed his reply to me using a typewriter, and from this reply, I

I saw the same characteristics of a typewriter as the other letters. And the same post office also sent me a letter from Westhouse Marbank, Fenchurch Street, telling me

I, based on the undisguised description of the person, match their employee, James Windibank, and that's the whole thing."

"What, then, is Miss Sutherland to do?"

"If I tell her the truth, she won't believe it. Maybe you still remember the Persian proverb: 'It is more dangerous to dispel the illusion in a woman than to snatch the cub from a tiger.

'"

【Legal Commentary】

The selfish and cunning stepfather - James Windibank, for his own selfish desires (interest income of 100 pounds per year), did not hesitate to disguise himself, take advantage of his daughter's short-sightedness, and achieve his goal at the expense of her marital happiness. His

What he did constituted fraud in our country’s Criminal Law.

Article 266 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the crime of fraud refers to the act of defrauding a relatively large amount of public or private property by fabricating facts or concealing the truth for the purpose of illegal possession. The criminal composition of this crime is: First

, the object of this crime is the ownership of public and private property. Second, this crime objectively manifests itself as using fraudulent methods to defraud large amounts of public and private property. Third, the subject of this crime is a general subject. Anyone who reaches the legal age of criminal responsibility,

Any natural person with the capacity for criminal responsibility can commit this crime. Fourthly, this crime is subjectively manifested as direct intentionality and has the purpose of illegally possessing public and private property.

What I want to say here is that, as James Windibank himself said, perhaps his small amount of money is not enough to meet the conditions for prosecution and he will not be punished by law. But as the saying goes, "people do it,

"God is watching", he will still receive moral condemnation. "If this girl has brothers or friends, they will definitely break your back with a whip! You really deserve a beating!" Comparing him to a tiger is nothing like it.
Chapter completed!