It was a summer evening. I had been newly married for several months, and my wife had gone upstairs. I myself, exhausted from the day's work, was sitting by the fireplace listlessly smoking my last pipe of cigarettes and reading a book.

I dozed off while reading the novel. I just heard the sound of the front hall door being locked, and knew that the servants had also gone to rest. Just when I was about to stand up from the chair, knock off the ashes from my pipe, and prepare to go upstairs to rest, there suddenly came

There was a doorbell ringing.

I looked at my watch, and it was a quarter to 12 o'clock. No one would come to visit so late. It was obviously a patient, maybe a patient who needed to be cared for all night! I walked to the front hall with a displeased look on my face.

Opening the door. I had no idea that Sherlock Holmes was standing on the stone steps outside the door.

"Ah, Watson!" said Holmes, "I hope it is not too late for me to come to you now."

"My dear friend, please come in!"

"You seem to feel strange, which is normal. I think you should be relieved now! Hey, why are you still smoking the Arcadia blend you smoked before marriage? This fluffy cigarette fell from your clothes.

Judging from the ashes, I must be right. People will know at a glance that you have always liked to wear military uniforms. Watson, if you don't get rid of the habit of hiding handkerchiefs in your sleeves, then it will be difficult for you to behave like an authentic person.

Like a commoner, can you keep me overnight tonight?"

“A warm welcome!”

"You told me that you have a single male guest room here. I see that there are no guests staying tonight. Oh, it was your hat rack that told me this."

"I'm glad you can live here."

"Thank you! Then, I really took up an empty hook on the hat rack. I found that a British worker had been in your house. Unfortunately, he was not a symbol of luck. I hope he was not repairing the ditch.

Right?"

"No, he's a gas repairman."

"Oh, there are two nail prints of his boots on the linoleum on your floor, which are illuminated by the light. No, thank you, I had dinner at Waterloo, but I was very happy.

Just smoke a pipe with you!"

I handed over the pipe, and he sat opposite me and smoked for a while without saying a word. I knew deeply that if there was nothing important, Holmes would not come to me at this time.

So, I waited quietly for him to speak.

"I found that you have been very busy in the medical field recently!" He looked at him with special attention and said.

"Yes, I have been busy all day." I replied, "It seems stupid to you to say this." I added, "But I really don't know how you inferred it.

"

Holmes chuckled.

"Watson, I know your habits better than anyone else," Holmes said. "If you go to the clinic on short distances, you choose to walk, and if you go to the clinics far away, you take a carriage. I found that although your boots have been worn, they are very clean.

It is not difficult to guess that you are very busy now, and you often take carriages."

"That's great!" I said loudly.

"It is very simple," said Holmes. "The conclusions of a man who is good at reasoning will often surprise those around him, because some subtleties on which the reasoning is based have not been noticed by those people. I

Dear Watson, you exaggerated a lot when writing your article, and you deliberately left some plots behind without revealing them to readers, which naturally created the same effect. Now, I am just like those readers, because there is one thing

I have got some clues about this intriguing case, but I still lack one or two points to make my theory more convincing. I believe it can be found, and I will definitely find it, Watson

!" Holmes's eyes were piercing, and his thin cheeks were slightly rosy. At this time, he put down his reserve and looked completely innocent and enthusiastic. However, this was only a moment. When I looked at him again

When he saw me, the Indian's rigid look reappeared on his face, which made many people feel that my partner had lost his normal humanity and seemed to have turned into a machine.

"There are certain peculiarities in this case which cannot be ignored," said Holmes. "I may even say that they are extremely rare peculiarities which are worth noting. I have made an investigation of the case, and I think I am close to solving it. If you can help me at this last step, you will be of great help to me!"

"I'm happy to oblige."

"Can you start tomorrow and go as far as Aldershot?"

"I trust Jackson to practice medicine for me."

"Great! I want to take the 11:10 train from Waterloo station."

"Then I'll have time to prepare."

"Oh, if you don't want to sleep very much, I will tell you now about the relevant circumstances of this case and what needs to be done."

"I admit, I was very sleepy before you came, but now I am very awake."

"I tried to tell the case as concisely as possible without missing any important details. You may have read some reports about this case. This is the case I am investigating. Mans in Aldershot The presumed murder of Mr. Buckley, Colonel of the Special Infantry Regiment."

"I've never heard of this."

Oh, it seems that this case has not attracted enough attention except in the local area. This case occurred two days ago, and the brief situation is as follows...

As you know, the Munster Infantry Regiment is the most prestigious Irish regiment in the British army. It has made great achievements in the Crimean counter-insurgency war and the Indian counter-insurgency war. It also started from that period. , it has repeatedly made meritorious deeds in every battle. This army until Monday night was commanded by Colonel James Buckley. The colonel was a wise, brave and experienced soldier. He was originally An ordinary soldier was promoted due to his outstanding performance in the battle against the Indian rebels, and has since been responsible for commanding his regiment.

Colonel Buckley had been married while still a sergeant; his wife, formerly Nancy Devoy, was the daughter of a former sergeant in that regiment. It is not difficult to imagine the young couple (for they were still very young at the time) In the new environment, they were inevitably ostracized. However, they soon adapted to the new environment. I heard that the women in the regiment liked Mrs. Buckley very much, and Buckley was also very popular among officers of the same rank. Let me add that Mrs. Buckley is very beautiful. Even now, after more than 30 years of marriage, her appearance is still graceful and pleasant.

Colonel Buckley's family life should have always been very happy. Major Murphy provided me with a lot of information. According to him, he had never heard of any conflict between the Buckleys. Generally speaking, He thought that Colonel Buckley loved his wife more than her wife loved him. If his wife was not with him for a day, Colonel Buckley would feel restless. On the other hand, although she also loved Buckley and was loyal to him, But they lack the tenderness of women. However, they are recognized as a model couple by the group. If you look at their relationship as husband and wife, people will definitely not see anything that will lead to tragedy in the future.

Colonel Buckley has a somewhat special character. He is usually a strong and lively old soldier, but sometimes he seems very rough and full of revenge. However, this temper of his has never appeared to his wife. I also I talked to five other officers, and three of them mentioned another situation, which Major Murphy also noticed, that is, Colonel Buckley sometimes suffered from an inexplicable depression. Colonel Buckley was at the dinner table When Shang was joking happily with others, it seemed as if there was an invisible hand that often wiped away the smile on his face. A few days before the disaster struck, he was in an extremely depressed mood, and his whole person was in this state of depression. This kind of depression His state and a certain superstition were considered by his associates to be the only strange thing about his character. He was said to be superstitious because he did not like to be alone, especially after dark. Of course, this child-like characteristic of his It aroused everyone's discussion and suspicion.

The Munster Infantry Regiment was originally the old 117th Regiment. The 1st Battalion was stationed in Aldershot for many years. Some married officers lived outside the barracks. Colonel Buckley has lived in the North Camp about 0.8 kilometers away from the barracks for many years.

In the small villa named 'Lachine', the villa is surrounded by a courtyard, but the west is less than 30 meters away from the main road. They employ two maids and a coachman. Since the Buckleys have no children, there are usually no guests at his home.

Therefore, only the colonel, his wife and three servants lived in the whole "Racine" villa.

Now, let’s talk about what happened in the ‘Racine’ villa around 10 o’clock last Monday night.

Mrs. Buckley seems to be a Roman Catholic. She is very concerned about the St. George Charity Society. The Charity Society is run by the Watt Street Chapel and mainly distributes used clothes to the poor. The Charity Society will hold a meeting at 8 o'clock that evening. Buck

Mrs. Leigh had a hurried dinner and went to attend the meeting. When she left home, the coachman heard her saying a few common words to her husband, telling him that he would be back soon. Then, Mrs. Leigh went to nearby Morrison

Miss Morrison's villa and invited her to attend the meeting. The meeting lasted for 40 minutes, Mrs. Buckley went home at 9:15, and they broke up when they passed by the door of Miss Morrison's house.

There is a special room in the 'Racine' villa, which is used as a morning living room. It faces the road and has a large glass door leading to the lawn. The lawn is about 30 meters wide and there is a wall with iron railings on it.

A low wall separated the lawn from the road. When Mrs. Buckley came home, she entered this room. The curtains were still open at that time, because this room was often not used at night. But Mrs. Buckley lit the lamp alone.

, and then rang the bell and asked the maid Jane Steward to bring her a cup of tea, which was completely inconsistent with her daily habits. At that time, the colonel was sitting in the dining room, and when he heard that his wife had gone home, he went to the early morning

Looking for her in the living room. The coachman saw the colonel walking through the corridor and entering the room, but the colonel never came out alive.

It took 10 minutes for the maid to prepare the tea ordered by Mrs. Buckley. When the maid approached the door with tea, she was doubly surprised because she heard the master and his wife were quarreling extremely fiercely. She knocked on the door, but no one answered.

She turned the doorknob again and saw that the door was locked from the inside. She ran back and told the female cook. Then the two maids and the coachman came to the corridor together and heard that the couple were still noisy.

They all confirmed that what came out was only the voices of Buckley and his wife. Buckley's voice was very low and his sentences were inconsistent, so none of the three of them could hear clearly what he said.

What. On the contrary, the lady's voice was loud and deep, and you could hear it very clearly when she spoke loudly. 'You coward!' she kept repeating: 'How to solve it now? How to solve it now? Give me back my youth.

.I don’t want to live with you anymore! You coward! You coward!’ These are what she said intermittently. Then, the servants heard the colonel suddenly let out a terrifying cry, and at the same time there was another bang in the room and he fell to the ground.

There was a sound, and a frightening scream from the lady. The screams kept coming from the room. The coachman understood that a tragedy had happened, so he rushed to the door and wanted to break in, but the door was locked from the inside, and he did not

How to get in. The two maids were already frightened and could not help at all. However, the coachman suddenly thought of a way. He quickly ran out from the front door and walked around to the lawn facing a French French window. A window of the French window.

It was wide open. I heard that this window was always open in the summer, so the coachman climbed easily through the window and entered the house. By this time Mrs. Buckley had stopped screaming, lost consciousness, and fell on the sofa.

while the unfortunate male host Buckley lay stiff and dead in a pool of blood. His feet were resting on one armrest of the single sofa and his head fell on the ground near the corner of the stove baffle.

The coachman realized that the man could not be saved, so he thought of opening the door first, but he encountered an unexpected and strange problem. The key was not on the inside of the door, and he searched around the house but could not find it. As a last resort, the coachman still opened the door.

He jumped out of the window and called for help from a policeman and a doctor. Of course, the lady was particularly suspicious because she was still in a coma, so she was carried into her bedroom. The colonel's body was placed on the sofa, and then

, launched a careful inspection of the scene of the tragedy.

The unfortunate Colonel Buckley received a fatal blow on the back of his head, a gash about two inches long, which was obviously caused by a blow with a blunt instrument. In fact, it is not difficult to determine what kind of murder weapon was used.

It was speculated that there was a carved hardwood club with a bone handle on the floor next to the deceased. The colonel collected a variety of weapons during his lifetime, all of which he brought back from the countries he had fought in. The police speculated that this wooden club was also

One of his trophies. The servants said that they had never found this stick before. However, if it were mixed among the many precious items in the room, it would not necessarily attract others' attention. Later in this room, the police

No other important clues were found. There was just one thing that was strange: the missing key was not on Mrs. Buckley, nor on the deceased. After searching the whole house, nothing was found. Finally, it was taken from Aldershaw.

A locksmith was specially hired to open the door.

Watson, these are the circumstances of this case. I received an invitation from Major Murphy to go to Aldershot on Tuesday morning to assist the police in solving the case. You must think that this case is already very interesting, but after careful observation, I

, I immediately felt that this case would actually be more bizarre than I initially imagined.

Before I inspected the house, I asked his servants, and they knew as much as I have just told you. Jane Steward, the maid, recalled another noteworthy detail.

You must not have forgotten that as soon as she heard the masters quarreling, she hurriedly found the other two servants and came back together. When she was alone there for the first time, she said that the voices of the two masters were very low. What was said in it?

She could barely hear anything, and she concluded that the host and his wife were quarreling, not based on what they said, but based on the tone of their voices. However, under my strenuous questioning, she recalled hearing the lady speak twice.

Say the word 'David'. This is very important in speculating on the cause of their sudden quarrel. You have not forgotten that the colonel's name is James.

One thing that impressed both the police and the servants in this case was that the colonel's face became strange. According to them, the colonel's face was so distorted by an expression of extreme horror that he could hardly move.

It looked like a normal person's face. More than one person even fainted after seeing this terrifying face. The deceased must have realized in advance that he was about to be killed, and that was why he had such extreme fear. This is naturally consistent with the police

The colonel may have noticed that his wife was preparing to murder him. The fact that the wound was on the back of his head seems to be consistent with this theory, because he may have been turning to avoid the blow. Mrs. Buckley was mentally ill due to an attack of acute encephalitis.

I'm in a daze, and now I can't understand anything from her.

I learned from the police that Miss Morrison, who went out with Mrs. Buckley that night, had no idea why her companion got angry when she came home.

After I collected these facts, Watson, I smoked several pipes in a row and tried to figure out the key points over and over again. There is no doubt that the most special and thought-provoking point of this case is the mysterious disappearance of the key to the house.

A very careful search of the room was made, but nothing was found. It was therefore clearly concluded that someone had taken the key. However, neither the deceased nor his wife took it, so a third person must have been in the room, and this
To be continued...