"A true lover of art," said Sherlock Holmes, throwing aside the advertisement page of the Daily Telegraph, "will always derive the greatest pleasure from the most ordinary and commonplace images. Watson,

I am pleased to see that my words have been corroborated by the conscientiousness with which you have documented our case, and no doubt that you have given it a vivid description from time to time. What you embellish is exactly that.

Those cases that were originally very ordinary or trivial were not the more famous cases that I had participated in, but it was these cases that gave full play to my reasoning and logical synthesis abilities. I will regard these cases as my

The scope of focused research.”

"However," I said with a smile, "I don't deny that in the case records, I inevitably adopted some exaggerated techniques." "Maybe it is really not a good idea to do so." He said while picking up a piece with tongs.

The red slag lit up his long-handled cherry wood pipe. He often used this wooden pipe when debating issues, and used a clay pipe when thinking about issues.

"The only thing worth paying attention to is the rigorous reasoning of cause and effect, but you always try to write all the records very vividly and lively. This may be where your mistake lies."

"I think I'm fair enough to you on this issue." I responded coldly, because I have discovered many times that there is a strong selfish element in my friend's character.

I'm quite disgusted with this.

"No, it's not that I'm selfish or arrogant," he replied. As before, he could see through my thoughts at a glance, so he always spoke directly to my heart. "If I were more just

If I look at my detective ability in a fair way, it is because it does not belong to me personally, that is to say, it does not belong to me. Crimes happen every day, and logic undoubtedly plays a very important role in it. So, you are

During the recording process, you need to pay more attention to the logic rather than the crime itself. But you told it as a story, which lowered its grade."

It was a cold spring morning. After breakfast, we sat face to face by the burning fire in the house. Thick fog billowed outside the window, filling the rows of dark brown houses. The opposite window

Because of the thick fog, it became blurry, and we could only vaguely see the general outline. We lit the gas lamp, and the light shone on the white tablecloth, as well as the sparkling porcelain bottles and metal utensils - because the dining table at that time was

We haven't finished cleaning up yet. Throughout the morning, Sherlock Holmes silently looked through the advertising columns of a pile of newspapers. After finally stopping reading, he criticized me with excitement about the shortcomings in my writing.

.

"At the same time..." He paused slightly while licking his

He smoked a long pipe and looked at the fire and said: "Since most of the cases you are interested in do not involve legal crimes, no one will accuse you of exaggerating. For example, I try to help

The little incident involving the King of Bohemia, the bizarre experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the mystery of the man with crooked lips, the incident of the aristocratic bachelor, etc., are not matters within the scope of the law. Although you are trying to avoid it

It's too exaggerated, but I'm still worried that you describe them too complicatedly."

"Perhaps what you said is right," I replied, "but the method I used is not old-fashioned and boring."

"Come on, my dear friend. To the apparently unobservant public, there is no way to tell that a man is a weaver by his teeth, or that he is a weaver by his left thumb.

It's a typesetter. They don't care about the small difference between analysis and reasoning! However, if your description is really too complicated, I won't do anything to you. After all, this is no longer a big case.

Times have changed. People nowadays, even criminals, no longer have the same adventurous and innovative spirit as before. The small industry I am in seems to have gradually transformed into an agency, and at most it can only be handled by people.

Some help people find lost pencils, or help young girls in boarding schools with advice. In my opinion, no matter what, my career is far worse than before. This is an irreversible reality. Especially when I received this morning

This letter may be a sign that my career has reached its lowest point, look at this!" He threw a crumpled letter to me. This letter was sent from Montague Chiles.

It was sent the night before yesterday, and the specific content is as follows:

Dear Mr. Holmes:

I urgently need your advice on whether to accept me as a governess. If you have time, I plan to visit you at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

Yours faithfully Violet Hunter

"Do you recognize this young lady?"

"I do not recognize."

"It seems to be 10 o'clock now."

"Yes, I think she is already here and is ringing the doorbell!"

"But I think this matter may be more interesting than you think. You must have remembered that the previous gem case seemed to be just a temporary interest at the beginning, but later it gradually became a very interesting thing.

A formal investigation, maybe this matter is the same."

"Well, I hope that's the case! I believe we'll find out soon. If my judgment is accurate, the person involved has already arrived."

As soon as I finished speaking, the door was opened, and a young lady walked in from the door. Although she was dressed simply but neatly, although she had some freckles on her face, her expression was vivid. At first glance, she was smart and agile.

, a woman who is independent in doing things.

"Please forgive me for my presumptuous visit!" When my friend stood up and came to greet her, she said: "The things I encountered were too strange, and I didn't have any parents or other relatives who could help me, so I

Thought of you, maybe you can help me solve this problem."

"Please take a seat, Miss Hunter! I would be honored to be of service to you."

It can be seen that the client's words and deeds left a good impression on Holmes. After looking at the young lady inquiringly, he slowly fell silent, lowered his eyelids, put his palms together, and began to listen.

The other person’s narrative.

"I worked as a governess in the family of Colonel Spence Munro for five years." She said, but just two months ago, the colonel received an order to work in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

, and then he took several of his children to the Americas, so I lost my job, so I posted job information in newspapers and applied for jobs based on the job information posted in newspapers, but all failed.

At the end of the day, all the money I had saved was almost gone, and I was at the end of my rope, with nothing to do.

There is a famous governess agency in the West End. Its name is Westaway, which is the name of the owner of this agency, but the actual person in charge there is a girl named Stopper. I visit almost every week.

Go there to find a job that would suit me. Miss Stopper sat in her office, and the women who came to apply for jobs were waiting in the front reception room and were ushered into her office one by one while she looked through the

Register and help them find jobs suitable for them.

Well, just last week, when I was brought into that office like others, I unexpectedly discovered that there was a man next to Miss Stopper. This was a very muscular man with a wide and thick chin.

, fell down and dragged it to his throat. He was sitting next to her with a smile on his face, a pair of glasses on his nose, and he carefully looked at every woman who came in.

As soon as I walked in, I saw his body shaking on the chair and quickly turning his face to Miss Stopper.

"This is fine." He said, "There shouldn't be anyone better than her. Great! Great!" He looked very warm and kind, rubbing his hands together. This kind look made people laugh.

I instantly felt good about him when I saw him.

‘Are you looking for a job, ma’am?’ he asked.

'Yes, sir.'

'Is she a governess?'

'Yes, sir.'

'What are your salary requirements?'

'When I was working for Colonel Spence Munro it was £4 a month.'

'Oh, this is really, really stingy, really stingy.' He shouted, stretching out his fat hands and waving them up and down like those who are easily excited. 'For such a great person.

How can such a charming and accomplished lady do so with so little money?'

'As for my attainments, sir, maybe they are not as deep as you think.' I said, 'I only know a little French and German, as well as music and painting...'

'Tsk, tsk!' he shouted, 'none of these are important. I think the most important thing is whether you have the qualities of speech and behavior that a cultivated woman should have. In other words, if

If you don't have these qualities, then you are not suitable to educate a child who may affect the destiny of the entire country in the future. And if you have these qualities, then how could that gentleman have the nerve to pay you for a salary of less than 3 digits?

Are you condescending to work for him? Miss, if you work here, your salary will start at 100 pounds a year.'

Can you imagine, Mr. Holmes? To me, a very poor man, such good treatment seems like a dream! But this gentleman may be aware of my suspicion,

He immediately opened his wallet and took out a banknote.

'This has become my habit.' He had a sweet smile on his face, and his eyes were almost narrowed into slits on his wrinkled face, 'I want to pay half of my salary in advance.

For my young lady, this is equal to some pocket money for traveling to work and buying clothes!'

This was almost the first time I met such a touching and considerate person. Because at that time I was still in debt to a small vendor, and this advance payment obviously solved my urgent need. But throughout the conversation,

Based on my intuition, I always felt that something was a little wrong, so I decided to wait until I learned more about the situation before taking a stand.

‘Sir, can I ask where you live?’ I said.

'Copper Beech in Hampshire, it's a beautiful rural area, it's only 8 miles from Winchester. The place couldn't be more beautiful, and there's also a very old and beautiful house there, I believe you will

I like it, my dear lady.'

'What about my job, sir? I would like to know first what exactly I do.'

'Just take care of a child - a cute little troublemaker who is just 6 years old. Oh, you didn't see him kill the cockroach with his slippers! Snap! Snap! Snap! It's so fast that you don't even have time to blink, and in the blink of an eye, he kills the cockroach.

Three cockroaches eliminated!" He leaned back in his chair and smiled, his eyes narrowed again.

I couldn't help but be a little surprised that this child had such hobbies, but his father's laughter made me think that he was joking with me!

'So,' I said, 'my job is just to look after a child?'

'No, no, there is another job, there is another job, my dear young lady,' he said loudly, 'your job also includes, I think, with your intelligence you will understand, that is

On the premise that you are supposed to obey, obey any orders from my wife. You see, there is no problem, right?'

'I'm very happy to be a useful person to you.' Great, let's talk about clothing! For example, we are people who like to follow the trend. As you know, we have a bit of a tendency to follow the trend.

But there's definitely no bad intentions. If we bring some clothes for you to wear, I believe you won't object, right?'

'No.' I agreed readily, feeling surprised at his words.

'It wouldn't be unpleasant for you to sit here or there, would it?'

'Oh! No way.'

'What if I asked you to cut your hair short before going?'

I couldn't believe what I heard. As you can see, Mr. Holmes, my hair is thicker and has a special chestnut-like luster. It is simply a work of art. I never thought of it so casually.

Cut it off as a sacrifice.

‘I’m afraid this is a bit difficult for me.’ I said. At this moment, his little eyes that had been looking at me with eagerness suddenly dimmed, and a shadow enveloped his face.

'But I'm afraid I need you to do this.' He said, 'This is a little hobby of my wife, and it is also a hobby of ladies. Miss, you should know that we have to consider ladies' hobbies.

, that means you are unwilling to cut your hair?'

'Yes, sir, I'm afraid I can't do that.' I replied without hesitation.

'Oh, well, then we can't talk any more. It's a pity. In fact, except for this, you are very good. In this case, Miss Stopper, I'd better continue to see more of you.

Here are some other young girls!'

The female person in charge had been busy flipping through the information and never said a word to us from beginning to end. But now she looked at me coldly with a very impatient expression, which made me wonder if she blamed me for refusing.

My work cost her a considerable commission.

'Do you want your name to remain on the register?' she asked me. 'If you please, Miss Stopper.'

'Alas! You gave up such a good job opportunity, and what's the use of registering your name here?' She said a little sharply, 'It may be difficult for us to find another job as good as this for you. Goodbye.

, Miss Hunter.' She rang the bell on the desk, and a waiter came in and took me out.

Oh, Mr. Holmes, then I returned to my apartment, opened the cupboard and saw that it was empty. I couldn't solve the problem of eating for the next day, and there were still two or three reminder notes on the table.

I couldn't help but ask myself, am I too stupid? In fact, although they have some quirks, they just want others to comply with their demands, and after all, they are willing to pay the price for it. You know, there are not many people in the UK who

A governess can get a salary of 100 pounds a year. Compared with this, what is the use of keeping my hair? In fact, I have seen that many people feel more energetic after cutting their hair short. Maybe I can

That kind of short hair is suitable! The next day, I began to feel that maybe I had made a mistake. The next day, I was even more sure that I was wrong. And just when I was about to let go of my pride and prepare to do it again

When I went to the agency to ask if there was still a chance of getting that job, the gentleman actually sent me a handwritten letter. You see, I brought it with me and I will read it to you right now.

Dear Miss Hunter:

Hello!

Thanks to Miss Stopper, who told you the address, so I have the opportunity to write to you here to ask you again if it is possible to reconsider your decision. My wife is very much hoping that you can come, because I heard

After I introduced your situation, she was particularly fond of you. We are willing to compensate you for the possible inconvenience caused by our quirks with a salary of 30 pounds per quarter, which is 120 pounds a year. After all, for a young woman

For children, these requirements may be a bit harsh. But my wife prefers a very dark electric blue, so she wants you to wear this color around the house in the morning. Don't worry, these clothes are

You don’t need to pay, because we have a dress originally prepared for our daughter Alice, but she can’t use it now in Philadelphia, USA. I guess it will suit you just right. Secondly, about letting you sit here or there, or wait.

I promise that my wife's order will not cause any inconvenience to you. But when it comes to your hair, it has to be a pity. Especially after the last time I met you, although the time was short,

Short, but I can't help but admire its beauty. However, I have to tell you that we really need to stick to this, and I just hope that this can increase the salary a little to compensate for the losses we have caused you. Speaking of taking care of the children

It's not worth mentioning. It will be very easy. I just hope you can come over. I will take a carriage to Winchester to pick you up. Just tell me the train schedule you are taking.

Yours sincerely, Jeffro Lukasel

Copper Beech near Winchester

"I just received this letter, Mr. Holmes. I have already made the decision to accept this job, but I think it is necessary to tell you everything that happened before leaving. I hope you can help me.

Think about it more thoughtfully.”

"Well, Miss Hunter, since you have already made up your mind, just follow your decision!" Holmes said with a smile.

"But won't you persuade me to give it up?"

"If it were my sister, I really wouldn't want her to apply for this job."

"What do you say, Mr. Holmes?"

"Oh, because I don't have enough information, and I can't tell you the specific reason. Maybe you already have some understanding of your own."

"Oh, I think I can only tell myself that from what I know, Lukasel should be a very kind and good-tempered person. But is it possible that his wife is a lunatic? Maybe because of this, he

He did this because he wanted to keep this secret. In order to prevent her from getting sick and being sent to a lunatic asylum, he took various measures to satisfy her hobbies."

"This explanation seems to make some sense. It is indeed possible. This explanation is more reasonable. However, no matter what the truth of the matter is, it is not a good family for a young lady."

"But they paid a very high salary! Mr. Holmes, the salary is quite large!"

"Well, yes, the salary given is definitely not low... It can be said to be very high, but this is what worries me. They could have chosen anyone at random for 40 pounds, but why should they give you a year?

There must be some special reason for the high salary of 120 pounds."

"I think I have told you all about my situation. I may not be able to use your help in the future. Maybe you will know the truth by then. Moreover, if I have your support now, I will feel more at ease."

Already."

"Well, you can think of it this way, I can guarantee you that your little problem will probably be the thing I'm most interested in solving! Obviously there is something strange here, if there is anything you can't solve

If you have any problems or encounter any danger..."

"Danger? Have you foreseen any danger?"

Holmes shook his head solemnly: "If I could be sure of any danger, it would not be a danger." He said, "But you can send me a telegram at any time, day or night.

I will go over and help you right away!"

"That's enough." She stood up from her seat happily, and the melancholy on her face suddenly disappeared. "Then I can go to Hampshire with peace of mind, and I will give Lucaselle

Sir, I wrote back that I will cut off my poor hair this evening and set out early tomorrow morning for Winchester." After being polite to Holmes, she hurriedly left us.

Listening to her quick and firm footsteps as she went downstairs, I said: "At least, it seems that she can still take good care of her own young girl."

"That is what she must have," replied Holmes with a serious face: "I will not forgive myself if we have not heard from her for many days."

My friend's words soon came true. Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, I found myself always thinking about her side of things involuntarily, worrying about what kind of extraordinary situation this girl would break into alone.

Misunderstandings. Incredibly high salary, weird requirements, easy work, all of this makes people feel a bit abnormal. Although I am not sure whether this is a temporary hobby or a conspiracy, this man is full of love and charity.

Home, or a deep-seated villain? Holmes often sat there brooding alone for half an hour, with a frown on his face. Whenever I mentioned this matter, he would wave his big hand.

"Materials! Materials! Materials!" he shouted impatiently, "How can I make bricks without clay?" But in the end he would always mutter that if it were his own sister, he would definitely not be able to make bricks.

Let her accept such a job.

Late one night, we finally received a long-awaited telegram. At that time, I was getting ready to go to bed, and Holmes was packing everything up and preparing to carry out his day-and-night research work. Generally speaking, whenever I

When I leave him in the evening, he will be bent over a test tube or a retort doing experiments. When I go downstairs for breakfast the next morning, I will find that he is still there. Now, he has opened the yellow letter

After looking at the envelope again and again, he threw it to me.

"Check what time the train to Bradshaw is?" he said, and then turned back to his chemistry experiment.

This is a brief but urgent call:

Please come to the Black Swan Hotel in Winchester at noon tomorrow. Be sure to come! I'm at the end of my rope.

Hunter

"Come with me, will you?" Holmes asked, raising his eyes and looking at me.

"OK."

"Then quickly check the departure time of the train!"

"There is a bus leaving at 9:30." I looked at Bradshaw I was looking for, and then answered him, "It will arrive in Winchester at 11:30."

"That's just right. It seems I need to postpone my acetone analysis experiment. You know, we still need to maintain plenty of energy tomorrow morning!"

Around 10 o'clock the next day, we were successfully on the train bound for the old capital of England. Along the way, Holmes just looked down at the morning newspaper. He didn't put the newspaper down until he passed the Hampshire border.

On the side, I began to enjoy the scenery outside the car window. It was a beautiful spring day, with white clouds floating slowly under the blue sky. The bright sunshine was a little dazzling, and the crisp air of early spring made people feel refreshed and energetic.

The mountains surrounding Aldershot present a beautiful rural scenery, with red or gray farmhouse roofs appearing and disappearing amid the verdant new green.

"The scenery here is so beautiful!" Having lived in the foggy Baker Street all day, my eyes lit up when I saw such a scenery. I couldn't help but admire it loudly, but Holmes shook his head seriously.

.

"You know, Watson," he said, "Every time I observe something, I can't help but connect it with the problem I am investigating and researching. This is a particularly realistic side of my character. In your eyes,

, these scattered houses scattered behind the trees make you feel very beautiful, but in my eyes, when I see these, I can only think of one thing, that is, because these houses are not connected to each other, some possibilities will arise.

The criminals who committed crimes there escaped the punishment they deserved."

"Oh, God!" I cried, "who could look at these lovely quaint country houses and think anything criminal?"

"Although they are simple, they keep me in a certain fear. Watson, my opinion is based on my experience. Maybe you don't believe it, even the most vulgar and darkest alleys in London are more beautiful than

There is nothing more horrific than the crime that occurred in this delightfully beautiful countryside."

"I'm going to be scared by you!"

"But this is a clear and obvious truth. In cities, the power of public opinion can even exceed the capabilities of the law. In any alley, as long as you hear the cry of an abused or beaten child, or

The sound of violent beatings by drunkards will arouse the sympathy and anger of neighbors. Moreover, because it is very close to the judicial institutions, as long as someone files a complaint, the person will be sanctioned by the relevant agencies. There is often only one step between the criminal and the defendant.

.But if you look at these houses, they are isolated. Each house is built on its own field. Most of the residents there have little knowledge of the law and are very ignorant. Think about it, ugly things may happen here year after year.

Brutal behavior, hidden evil hands, but no one can ever discover it. If the young lady who asked us for help lived in Winchester, I would not be so worried about her, but because of where she is now

She is in a rural area 8 kilometers away, so she is in danger. Of course, for now, she should be very safe."

"Yes, if she can come to Winchester to meet us, it means she has freedom of movement."

"Exactly, her body is free."

"So, what happened? Do you have any ideas about this?"

"I have imagined 7 scenarios, but only after getting the latest news can I be sure which one of them belongs. Well, the church tower is there, and Miss Hunter will tell us what happened soon.

What happened?"

"Black Swan Hotel" is a relatively famous small inn on this street, just near the train station. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we saw the young lady already waiting there. She had booked the room in advance and had lunch.

It's already on the table.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she said enthusiastically, "Thank you both for coming. I really can't think of anything else to do and I really need your help."

"Tell me what problem you encountered?"

"I was about to say it, and I had to hurry up and say it, because I promised Mr. Lukasel that I would be back before three o'clock. I asked him for leave this morning, but I didn't tell him what I was doing."

"Just tell me one by one in the order of events!" Holmes stretched his slender legs to the stove and calmly waited as if he was listening.

"First of all, generally speaking, to be fair, I was not abused by Mr. Lukasser and his wife. But it is really difficult for me to understand them, and I always feel uneasy in my heart."

"What do you find difficult to understand about them?"

That was the reason they justified their actions, but you may be able to understand it all from what I have to say. When I first came, Mr. Lukasser did come to pick me up in a carriage and took me to the copper

Beech. As he said, the environment there is very good. In fact, the house is not too beautiful. Probably due to the erosion of the humid weather, there are mottled stains on the originally whitewashed walls. The house is large and square.

Yes, there is a large area around the house, with woods on three sides and a sloping flat land on the other side. It leads to the Southampton Road about 100 meters away from the door of the house. The area in front of the house belongs to the house, and

All the surrounding woods are part of the protective forest of Lord Sotherton. This place is named Copper Beech because there is a clump of copper beech growing directly opposite the house.

My boss was still as kind as when I first met him. He took me in a carriage all the way to his home. That night, I was introduced to his wife and children by him. Mr. Holmes

, it seems that the truth is not what we thought when we were at your house. Mrs. Lukasel is not a madman, she actually looks very peaceful, much younger than her husband, only 30 years old at most,

Her husband may be over 45 years old. According to their conversation, I know that they have been married for 7 years. He was a widower before marrying this wife. The daughter in Philadelphia, USA is the only child left by him and his ex-wife.

.Lucasel once told me secretly that the reason his daughter did not live with them was because she had an inexplicable aversion to her stepmother. Since his daughter is more than 20 years old, I can imagine that

The awkward situation of two women together.

According to what I saw, Mrs. Lukasser gave me a very ordinary impression, neither good nor bad. No matter what aspect, including mind or appearance, she was very average. In my eyes,

She was an indispensable figure in the family. She loved her husband and their little son deeply, and it was easy to see that she was always paying attention to them with her pale gray eyes.

Dynamic, ready to meet any of their needs. He is also good to her, but the way he uses it is a little rough. In short, in the eyes of outsiders, they should be a very loving couple, but this woman is actually

Because of her unknown sorrows, she would often fall into deep thought with a sad look on her face. I saw her crying silently many times, and occasionally I thought that she must be so angry with her child that she was so full.

Thoughtful. Really, their child was completely spoiled by them. Such a young person has so many weird tempers. Compared with his peers, this child is shorter in stature, but his head is unusually big.

It is not in harmony with his body at all. Every day he is either mad or unhappy. His only entertainment is to torture some animals that are weaker than him. His intelligence is more reflected in catching mice and small animals.

Birds and insects. But I’ll leave this little guy alone for now, Mr. Holmes. In fact, he has little to do with my affairs.

"I'd like to hear all the details," my friend said, "even if you think they have nothing to do with it."

Okay, I will try not to miss any link. What quickly made me feel unhappy in this house was the behavior and behavior of the servants. In fact, there were only two servants in this house, one male and one female. The male

His name is Toller. He has gray hair and a beard. He looks like a very clumsy person at first glance, and there is not a day that goes by that he doesn't smell like alcohol. I only went with them twice, and both times I was drunk.

Yes, but Mr. Lukasel seems to have been used to all this and doesn't care at all. The maid is actually his wife. She is tall and strong, with a fierce look, and looks like Lu Cassel.

Mrs. Cassell is the same, she doesn't like to talk, but she is far less kind than the master's wife. This couple can be said to be "not a family without entering the same house", and they are definitely a good match. But fortunately, I rarely interact with them.

Most of the time was spent in the children's room and my room, which were connected and located in one corner of the house.

My life was very peaceful during the first two days at Copper Beech. On the third day, after breakfast, Mrs. Lukasser whispered something to her husband as she came downstairs.

'Oh, by the way.' He turned to me and said, 'Thank you so much, Miss Hunter, for at least you gave in to our hobby and cut off your beautiful hair. But I

I can tell you for sure that this does not affect your beautiful appearance at all. From now on, we are going to let you try to see if you can put on that iron blue dress, which is placed in your room.

On the bed, you can see it when you get back. If you would put it on, we would all be very grateful to you.'

The dress waiting for me to wear was the very dark electric blue dress he told me about last time. The material of the dress was a particularly good serge material, but I could tell at a glance that it had been worn by someone else.

This dress really suited me so well, it was almost like it was tailor-made for me. Mr. and Mrs. Lucaselle were very happy when they saw it, and they even lost their sense of proportion with joy. Then they returned to the living room and waited.

Me. This is a very spacious living room, almost the entire front half of the house is occupied by it. There are three floor-to-ceiling windows. In front of the middle window, a chair is placed facing us. They arranged

I sat on this chair. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Lukasel began to walk back and forth at the other end of the room, while telling me one after another particularly interesting story that I had heard for the first time. He

It was so funny, you must have a hard time imagining it. In the end, I was tired of laughing. However, Lukasel’s wife seemed to lack humor. She almost didn’t laugh and kept her hands on her knees.

I was sitting in a sitting position, but the expression on my face was clearly melancholy and anxious. About an hour later, Mr. Lukasel suddenly stopped and told me that it was time to work, and I could go change my clothes and then go to work.

Looking for little Edward in the children's room.

Two days later, the same trick happened again. I put on the clothes again, sat by the window again, and began to listen to my employer telling his endless interesting stories. I couldn't help but burst out laughing again,

Then he handed me a novel with a yellow cover, and moved the chair I was sitting on, lest my shadow would block the book. He begged me to read the contents of the book to him. I picked up a chapter.

He started to read a part aloud. I had just read the middle part of that chapter, which was about 10 minutes, when he suddenly interrupted my reading and asked me to change clothes.

You can't imagine, Mr. Holmes, how puzzled I was by their strange behavior. I noticed that they were very careful every time and always turned my back to the window, which inspired me.

I wanted to see what was happening behind me out of curiosity. At first, this idea seemed difficult to realize. But I soon got an idea. I had a small mirror that was accidentally broken, and an idea came to my mind.

In a flash, I secretly hid a broken lens in the handkerchief. When I sat in front of the window again, I took advantage of the moment of laughter to pretend to wipe my face with the handkerchief, raised the handkerchief in front of my eyes, moved my hands and feet a little, and wiped it.

I could see everything behind me clearly. At the beginning, I was actually very disappointed because I didn’t gain much. At least that was my first feeling, but when I looked again, I clearly found the figure of a man appearing behind me.

In the broken lens, this man has a mustache and is wearing gray clothes. He is standing on the Southampton Road and seems to be looking this way! This road is a very important road and is usually full of pedestrians. But this man

But I was leaning against the fence of the field, looking at this place with all my concentration. When I put down the handkerchief later, I secretly glanced at Lukasel’s wife, but I saw her looking at me with her eyes like knives.

!But she didn't say anything, but I guessed that she must have known what was in my hand, and she must have discovered everything behind me. She stood up immediately.

'Jeffro,' she said, 'there's a scoundrel on the other side of the road looking this way at Miss Hunter!'

'Not your friend, Miss Hunter?' he asked.

'No, I don't know anyone here.'

'Oh, that's so rude! Please turn your back and signal to him to go away!'

'I think it's better to ignore him!'

'No, no, he will come back again if he takes advantage of it. Please turn around and make gestures like I did to tell him to go away.'

So I had to do what he said, and at the same time, Lukasel's wife pulled down the curtains. It has been a week since that day, and from that day on, I no longer have to wear that blue dress.

He sat there, and the man standing by the roadside was never seen again.

"Please go on," urged Holmes. "Everything you say sounds interesting."

I'm afraid you will think that what I said is too confusing and incoherent! Or it may mean that these things I talked about are independent and have no connection with each other! On my first day when I arrived at Copper Beech, Luca

Mr. Searle took me to a small outhouse next to the kitchen door. As we approached the place, we heard the sound of a chain, and at the same time the sound of a large animal moving back and forth.

'Look inside from here!' Following Mr. Lukasser's instructions, I looked in along the gap between the two door panels. 'Isn't this guy very beautiful?'

At first glance, there seemed to be a pair of particularly bright eyes and a dark body curled up in the darkness.

'Don't be afraid!' Seeing me so surprised, my employer said with a smile, 'That's my Tibetan Mastiff Carlo. Although I said it was mine, in fact only my breeder, Old Toler, could

Subdue it. You can only feed it once a day. If you feed it too much, it won't have the heat of mustard. Every night, Toller will let it out. If anyone dares to break in without permission, Toller will let it out.

, if you are hit by it, you have to call God. God bless you, please don't go out at night. No matter what the reason is, if you do, it means you don't want to live.'

This warning was well-founded. After two nights, I happened to wake up around 2 a.m. and accidentally looked out the window. The moonlight was bright that night and I could clearly see the beautiful scenery outside. When I was intoxicated by the beautiful scenery

When I was in the middle of the night, I suddenly noticed something moving in the shadow of the copper beech tree. When it came out into the moonlight, I saw that it turned out to be a huge dog. It was as big as a calf, with wide and thick jaw bones.

It hung down, its mouth was black, its body was brown, and its bones were huge. It walked majestically across the lawn and disappeared into the shadows in the other corner. Seeing this scary guardian, I couldn't help but tremble in my heart, I thought

Even if I meet a thief, I won't be so frightened.

Now I'm going to say something weird. I've told you that I cut my hair short in London and put it all on the bottom shelf of my suitcase. One night, after settling in

After I was a child, I began to organize the furniture in the room and tidy up my own bits and pieces to kill time. There was an old wardrobe in this room, and the two upper drawers were unlocked.

Nothing was put there, but the lower drawer was locked. My clothes were all put in the upper two drawers, but there were still some things left, so I couldn't help but feel embarrassed because I couldn't use the third drawer.

I felt very annoyed. At this moment, I suddenly thought that maybe this drawer was locked accidentally, so I took out a bunch of keys to see if I could open it. Coincidentally, I just tried

I opened it with the first key. There is something inside. I dare you to say that you will never know what it is. It turns out to be the lock of hair I cut off!

I picked up the hair and looked at it carefully. No matter the color or density, it was exactly the same. Although it was unbelievable, the fact made me believe it. How could there be my hair in this locked drawer?

?I quickly opened my box, poured out everything inside, and found my own hair from the bottom of the box. I compared this lock of hair with the one I just found, and they turned out to be exactly the same.

.This is so weird, isn't it? I was really surprised and couldn't figure out what was going on. I still put the strange lock of hair back in its original place and didn't mention it to the Lucasels afterwards.

It, because I thought it would be disgraceful to open their locked drawer without permission.

Perhaps you have discovered that I naturally like to pay attention to the things around me, Mr. Holmes. I quickly got a general impression of this house. There is a wing on one side that seems to be unoccupied. It is occupied by the Toller family.

There is a door opposite the place that leads to this suite of rooms, but that door has never been opened. However, one day when I was going upstairs, I accidentally saw Mr. Lucaselle coming out of this door.

, and he still had the key in his hand. The face of Mr. Rourkas I saw at this time was completely different from what I usually see. His cheeks were red, his eyebrows were furrowed, and the veins on both sides of his temples were exposed due to excitement.

, he locked the door and left in a hurry, turning a blind eye to me.

I couldn't help but be curious, so when I was babysitting, I took him for a walk in the grounds and then walked in a wide circle to the other side of the house so that I could see the windows in this part of the house. There were four windows in a row on that side.

, but three of them are very dirty, and the fourth one is closed. It is obvious that these windows have not been used for a long time. I was walking back and forth here and looking at all these from time to time,

Mr. Lucaselle suddenly appeared in front of me, looking as happy as ever.

'Ah!' he said, 'my dear lady, I may have been a little offended just now, but I said nothing as I passed you by, because I was busy attending to some business.'

I told him not to worry about it, it was just a small thing. 'By the way,' I said, 'it seems there is a whole set of empty rooms up there, and the window panels in one of them are closed.'

He was obviously surprised by my words, maybe he didn't expect me to ask such a question.

'I like taking pictures.' He said, 'I use the house over there as a darkroom. But, ah ha! I didn't expect our lady to be so careful! It's really unexpected, really unexpected.' He said jokingly, but from now on

Looking at his suspicious eyes, what I saw was worry.

Oh, Mr. Holmes, once I learned that there were secrets in this room that I didn't know, I wanted to know the truth behind it even more. Although it was indeed driven by curiosity, it was not so much my curiosity.

I would rather think of it as a sense of responsibility. I have a feeling that if I find out the truth about this matter, I might have done something good! People often talk about women's intuition problems, and I think maybe it is

I think so because of a woman’s intuition! Anyway, this feeling does exist, and I started to look for opportunities to break into this forbidden place.

Until yesterday, I finally had an opportunity. Let me tell you, not only Mr. Lukasel has been to this empty room, but Toller and his wife have also been there. Because once I saw Toller coming from that empty room.

He came out of the room with a big black bag in his arms. He has been drinking very hard recently, and he was even drunk last night. When I went upstairs, I found the key was still inserted in the door. I was sure that it must have been him. At that time, Lu

Mr. Cassel, his wife, and children were all downstairs. I found this was a rare opportunity, so I used the key to open the door gently, and then sneaked in secretly.

A small aisle without paper or carpet appeared in front of me. At the end of the aisle was a right-angle turn. After turning this corner, I saw three doors side by side, among which the first and third doors were open.

Inside each door is an empty room, which is dirty and dark. One room has two windows, and the other has only one window. Because the windows are covered with dust, it is difficult for light to come in.

The door of the middle room was closed, and there was a thick iron bar on the iron bed across the outside. One end was locked to a ring on the wall, and the other end was tied to the wall with a thick rope. This door was also locked.

I went up, but I didn’t see the key. This door that was so tightly sealed was obviously the room with the closed window seen from the outside. Through the faint light below, I could still vaguely see the room.

The scene inside is probably because there is a skylight inside, allowing light to shine in. I stood in the corridor, staring at the door full of dangers, imagining what secrets were buried inside. At this moment,

Suddenly there was a sound of footsteps in the room, and in the dim light coming from the crack of the door, a figure appeared in front of me, walking back and forth. Everything in front of me made me feel particularly scared. Mr. Holmes, this is

At that moment, I simply couldn't control myself. I turned around and ran away. As I ran, I always felt like someone behind me was grabbing my clothes. After running all the way, I crossed the door and ran into it.

In the arms of Mr. Lukasel who was waiting outside.

'Yes.' He said with a smile, 'It's really you. I guessed it was you when I saw the door was open.'

‘Oh, you scared me to death!’ I said, gasping for air.

'My dear young lady! My dear young lady!' he said with unusual thoughtfulness and enthusiasm, 'what happened to frighten you, my dear young lady?'

But he was just like coaxing a child, which made me feel that it was a bit too much, so I became even more wary of him.

'I don't know what happened, but I accidentally walked into the empty house over there.' I replied, 'But it was too dark there, making people feel eerie and scary! It scared me so much that I ran out quickly.

.Ah, it's so scary in there!'

‘Is that all?’ he asked, staring at me closely.

'What do you mean? What else do you think?' I asked him. 'Do you know why I locked this door?'

'I don't know.'

‘It’s just to prevent idlers from entering, do you understand?’ His expression was still very friendly.

'If I had known this earlier, I would have...'

'Well, you should know now! If you dare to cross that threshold again...' At this point, the smile on his face has been replaced by a terrifying grin, staring at me like a devil, 'I will

Throw you to that mastiff.'

I was so shocked that I didn’t even know how I left. I probably ran away from him and back to my room. When I woke up, I found myself lying on the bed, shaking all over. Then I immediately

Thinking of you, Mr. Holmes, I could not dare to stay there for a moment if no one could help me. I began to be filled with fear of everything there, that house, that man, that woman,

Those servants, even the child, everyone makes me feel scared. If only you could go there with me. Of course I can escape from there, but while I am afraid, my curiosity is still driving me.

I didn't want to give up, and soon I had an idea. I wanted to send you a telegram, so I put on my coat and hat and went to the telegraph office about 8 kilometers away to send a telegram. On the way back, I finally felt more at ease.

But as soon as I walked in the door, my heart began to panic again, because I was afraid that the dog would be let out. But I immediately remembered how drunk he was last night, and I also knew that because he was the only one in the family who could subdue this dog.

It was a wild Tibetan Mastiff, so I felt a lot more relieved. I knew no one would dare to risk letting it out. So I sneaked into my room. Fortunately, nothing happened. I lay in bed at night and

I was so excited at the thought of seeing you soon that I stayed awake until midnight. I successfully took leave this morning and came to Winchester. However, because Mr. Lukasser and his wife were going to

I'm away for a visit and I'm not at home tonight. I have to go back and help them look after the children, so I have to go back before 3 o'clock. I've told you everything, Mr. Holmes. If you can help me explain all this

What is going on? I will be very happy. Moreover, the key question now is, what should I do next?

We were both fascinated by this fantastic story, and my companion stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and walked up and down the room with a serious look on his face.

"Toller hasn't woken up yet?" he asked.

"Yes, I heard his wife say to Mrs. Lucassel this morning that there was nothing she could do about her husband."

"That's great. Also, are the Lucasels going out tonight?"

"right."

"Does their home have a basement, and can they find a stronger lock?"

"Yes, the cellar where the wine is stored is the basement."

"Miss Hunter, in my opinion, you have shown extraordinary bravery and wit in handling this matter. Do you want to do another more amazing thing? The reason why I ask you is because

I think you are an amazing woman."

"I'm definitely willing to give it a try. What are you going to let me do?"

"My friend and I will arrive at the Copper Beech at 7pm, by which time Mr. and Mrs. Lucaselle have already gone out. As for Toller, I hope he is not awake by then. And then only Mrs. Toller will be left, for

To prevent her from calling the police, you'd better send her to the cellar to do something and then lock her in, which will ensure that the matter can go smoothly."

"I will do as you say!"

"That's great! Let's investigate this matter carefully! There is only one possibility for this matter now. You were hired into their home as a substitute, and the person you replaced is now being imprisoned.

In that house, it was already clear. And who could this locked person be? According to my inference, it should be the daughter named Alice Lucas. I remember Mr. Lucas said

, she went to the United States, and the reason why you were selected by them was obviously because your body shape, height and hair color were exactly the same as hers. You have such good hair but it was cut off, I guess.

Because you have suffered from some disease before, this will inevitably require you to sacrifice your hair. As for the lock of hair that you found, it must be purely a coincidence. Moreover, the man looking over here on the road is very

It's obviously some friend of hers, or maybe even her fiancé. Because the iron blue dress you are wearing may look very much like her, and he regards you as his girlfriend. So every time he sees you

When he was with you, he knew from your words and deeds that his girlfriend was happy and made him feel that she did not need his care. Also, the dog was released at night to prevent him from

Meeting her secretly. All of this was clearly shown in front of us, and the most critical point of this matter was the child's weird character."

"How come it is connected with this child?" I exclaimed. "My dear doctor, think about it from your professional perspective. A child's personality and hobbies are often related to his parents, but if the opposite is true,

Let's talk about it, isn't it the same? By studying and understanding the child's personality, we can have a general understanding of the character of his parents. This child has a particularly cruel personality and even abuses small animals as his hobby. According to my speculation,

No matter which side of his parents his character comes from, it is a disaster for the girl who is locked up."

"I absolutely support your point of view, Mr. Holmes." Our client said loudly, "Looking back at what happened now, I am even more convinced that you are right. Let's act quickly and rescue the poor man.

Girl!"

"We must be careful, knowing that our opponent is a particularly cunning person. We can't do anything before 7 o'clock. We can only wait until 7 o'clock to meet you again. I believe we will be able to solve this mystery soon.

"

True to our word, we arrived at Copper Beech on time at 7 o'clock, and parked the buggy at a small inn by the roadside. Although it was already dark, from among the sparkling leaves on the tree,

We still recognized the house, not to mention Miss Hunter standing on the doorstep to greet us with a smile!

"Is everything going well?" asked Holmes.

Suddenly there was a loud crash somewhere downstairs. "That's Mrs. Toller in the cellar," she said. "Her husband is still sleeping soundly on the kitchen carpet! This was taken from him.

A set of keys identical to those belonging to Mr. Lucaselle."

"You have done a great job!" Mr. Holmes praised in admiration. "Now you come and lead us! We will soon unravel the mystery of this evil deed."

We went upstairs, opened the outer door, and walked along the passage until we came to the obstacle Miss Hunter had mentioned. Holmes cut the piece of rope, and then removed the piece of rope.

Blocking the thick iron bars, I started to use keys to open the door, but none of the keys could open it. There was no sound at all in the room, and in the silence, Holmes's face immediately became extremely serious.

"I think we arrived just in time!" he said. "Miss Hunter, I think you'd better stay outside! Watson, as it is now, you can knock on the door and see if you can open it."

The door was already a little shaky and the door panel was rotten. With the combined efforts of the two of us, the door was knocked down. We rushed into the house and found that the house was empty. There was only a simple door.

There was a small bed, a small table, a basket of clothes, and no other furniture. There was an open skylight on the roof, and the imprisoned person had long since disappeared.

"Something's not quite right," Holmes said. "It seems that this guy may have guessed what Miss Hunter was thinking and moved the victim one step ahead of time."

"How did you transfer it?"

"It should be from the skylight, we knew it right away." He climbed to the roof. "Oh, it's true." He shouted, "There is a long light escalator here, one end leaning on the eaves, and he used this

There is no way to transfer it."

"Impossible!" Miss Hunter said: "I didn't see the escalator when the Lucasels went out!"

"He came back to move it again. I told you, this man is very cunning and dangerous. I have heard his footsteps. It is definitely him. Watson, I think you'd better prepare your pistol."

As soon as he finished speaking, a man was already standing at the door. This man was fat and relatively strong, with a thick stick in his hand. When Miss Hunter saw it, she was so frightened that she immediately screamed,

He leaned against the wall tightly. But then Sherlock Holmes jumped over and looked at him calmly.

"You bastard!" he said, "Where did you hide your daughter?"

The fat guy looked around and then looked up at the open skylight above.

"I should be the one to ask you!" he shouted in a high-pitched voice, "Thieves! You bunch of thieves detectives! Let me catch you, let's see how I deal with you!" He quickly turned around, "

He ran downstairs with a bang.

"He must have gone to let the dog go!" Miss Hunter said loudly. "It's okay, I have a revolver in my hand!" I said.

"It's better to close the door more safely." Holmes ordered. So we rushed downstairs quickly, but before we reached the hall, we heard the barking of hounds. Then we heard a human scream and an extremely terrifying hound.

The sound of biting made our skin crawl. At this moment, a man staggered in from the door. This man was the drunk Toller.

"Oh, God!" he shouted loudly, "Who let the dog out? It hasn't eaten for two days. Hurry, hurry, or it will be over!"

Holmes and I ran out quickly, and Toller followed closely behind us. Around the corner of the house, a huge hungry beast opened its black mouth and bit hard at Mr. Lucaselle's throat, while he was

The ground rolled and wailed. I ran forward and quickly fired a shot, hitting its head. It fell down. But its sharp white teeth were still biting his fat and wrinkled neck.

He refused to let go. It took us a long time to rescue the man from the dog's mouth and carry him into the house. Although the man was not dead yet, he was already a bloody mess. We put him on the sofa in the living room.

And sent Toller, who was so frightened that he was sober, to report the news to his wife. I used my doctor's instinct to try my best to treat his wounds to relieve his pain. Everyone gathered around. At this moment, one after another

The tall, thin woman opened the door and walked in.

"Mrs Toller!" cried Miss Hunter.

"Yes, miss, Mr. Lukasel let me go as soon as he came back, and then went up to find you. Ah, miss, if you had told me your plan earlier, you wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble."

"Ha!" Holmes said, looking at her sharply, "it seems that Mrs. Toller is the one who knows the best about this matter!"

"Yes, sir, I know it very well. I'm just about to tell you everything!"

"Okay, everyone, let's sit down and listen to what she has to say. There are indeed some things about this matter that I still don't quite understand!"

"You will understand soon." She said, if I could come out of the cellar earlier, I would have told you a long time ago. If this matter really alarms the court, please believe that I will treat you as a friend when the time comes.

I support your side because Miss Alice is also my friend.

In this family, she has never been happy. It can be said that her unhappiness began when her father remarried. At home, she had no right to speak, and no one took her seriously. However, she did not meet

Before her boyfriend Mr. Fowler, her situation was pretty good. Because according to the information I heard, Miss Alice originally had certain rights according to the will. But she was too introverted and too tolerant.

, didn't care about this at all, and entrusted all this to Mr. Lukasel. He knew that there was no need to worry about this daughter, but if Alice got married, that would not be the case.

The father felt that he needed to prevent this from happening. So he asked his daughter to sign a note for him, stating that regardless of whether she was married or not, he could still control the property in her name. Because she was unwilling to sign the note,

He kept torturing her, and in the end she suffered from encephalitis for six weeks and almost died. But in the end she gradually got better, but she was already extremely thin, and because of the illness, she lost her beautiful hair.

Her hair was also cut off, but her boyfriend did not change his mind because of this. He loved her deeply as always!

"Ah!" said Holmes. Thanks to your kindness, we finally know the truth of the matter. I think I can guess what happened next. "I'm sure that Mr. Lucaselle told him

Your daughter is locked up, right?"

"Exactly, sir."

"Then he went to London to hire Miss Hunter to help get rid of Mr. Fowler's persistent entanglement?"

"That's it, sir."

"But Mr. Fowler is a very persistent person, just like an excellent sailor. He monitors the movement around the house every day. Then he met you and persuaded you through money or other means.

Let you stand on his side."

"Mr. Fowler is indeed a very generous man and speaks very kindly," Mrs. Toler said calmly.

"In this way, he keeps your man drinking and asks you to prepare the escalator after the master goes out."

"You are right, sir, that is how it is."

"We should be grateful to you, Mrs. Toller!" said Holmes, "for it is you who have relieved us of all doubts in our minds. The surgeon from the village and Lucassel's wife will soon be here.
Chapter completed!