The practicality of Holmes' theory has once again been strongly proved. I admit, this really surprised me again, so I admire his analytical ability even more. However, there are still some doubts lurking in my heart.

, I speculated that this might have been planned by him in advance to tease me. As for his purpose of teasing me, it was difficult for me to understand. When I looked at him, he had already finished reading the letter, his eyes were blank, and he looked blank.

A thoughtful look.

"How did you deduce it?" I asked.

"What is the inference?" he asked in a low voice.

"Oh! How do you know he was a Marine sergeant?"

"I don't have time to talk about these trivial things now." He replied gruffly, but immediately smiled and said: "Please forgive me for being rude to you because you interrupted my train of thought, but it doesn't matter.

It's important. Really, can't you see that he was once a Marine Corps sergeant?"

"I really can't tell." I said honestly.

"It's not too difficult to figure this out, but it's not that simple to explain how I figured it out. If you were asked to prove why two plus two equals four, you would inevitably find it very difficult, but you know

There is no doubt about this. First of all, across the street, I found that the postman had a large blue anchor tattooed on the back of his hand, which is a characteristic of a sailor. Secondly, his behavior was military-like, and his beard was also military-style.

; therefore, I can determine that he was once a Marine. In addition, his demeanor is a bit arrogant and has the characteristics of giving orders. You must also find his strutting posture. In short, from his

On the outside, he is a dignified and stable middle-aged man. Therefore, combining all these circumstances, I can judge that he has been a sergeant."

"It's wonderful!" I shouted involuntarily.

"That's very common!" Holmes said modestly. However, judging from his expression, I thought he was very happy to see me surprised and showing admiration, and a little proud.

"Just now I said there were no serious criminal cases. It seems I was wrong - look at this!" He handed me the letter.

"Oh!" I looked at it casually and couldn't help but exclaimed: "It's so scary!"

He said calmly: "This case is indeed extraordinary. Can you please state your conviction loudly?"

Here is the text of the letter I read to him:

Dear Mr. Holmes:

Last night, a murder occurred at No. 3 Lauriston Garden Street, at the end of Brixton Road. At about two o'clock this morning, the patrol police suddenly discovered a light coming from this place. Since this house had never been occupied,

Therefore, the patrolman suspected that something was wrong. The patrolman found that the door was wide open, the front room was empty, and there was a male body in the middle. The deceased was neatly dressed and had a business card in his pocket, with "Enoch J. Derry" printed on it.

Uncle, from Cleveland, Ohio, USA." There were no signs of robbery in the house, and no evidence was found to prove the cause of death. Although there were several blood stains in the house, there were no obvious injuries on the deceased. In the empty room

Why did the deceased appear? We are at a loss to explain, and feel that this case is extremely difficult. I sincerely hope that you will come to the crime scene before 12 o'clock, and I will be waiting for you here. Before receiving your reply, everything at the crime scene is in order.

We will maintain the status quo. If you can't come, please let me know the details. If you can give me some advice, I'd be very grateful!

Enter Tobias Gregson

Holmes explained: "In the Metropolitan Police Department, Gregson is regarded as one of the most capable people. He and Leisweid are both rare talents among that group of stupid guys. Although the two of them can be said to be quick-handed, quick-eyed, brave and witty,

, but they are also very old-fashioned and very conservative. They are intrigues with each other and are as jealous as two laughing women. If both of them are involved in this case, there will definitely be some jokes. "

I was particularly surprised to see that he was still talking calmly and calmly as if nothing had happened. I shouted loudly: "Don't waste another minute, how about I hire a carriage for you?"

"To go or not to go? I haven't decided yet! I am one of the few lazy people in the world, but that only happens when my laziness comes up. Sometimes, I am also very agile."

"What did you say? Isn't this exactly the opportunity you were looking forward to?" I asked.

"My dear partner, how much does this have to do with me? If I solve this case completely, I can be sure that Leisweid and Gregson and their gang will take the credit for themselves. This

It's because I am an unofficial figure!" Holmes said with emotion.

"But Gregson is turning to you for help now!"

"Yes. He knows that he is not as good as me, and he will admit it in front of me; however, even if he cuts off his tongue, he is absolutely unwilling to admit it in front of a third party. Despite this, we can still

Go and take a look. I can investigate alone and solve the case alone. Although I won’t get anything, I can mock them and let’s go!”

He quickly put on his coat, and his hurried look showed that his mood of trying to solve the case had overcome his passive, indifferent and indifferent side.

"Put your hat on," he said.

I asked: "Would you like me to go with you?"

"Yes, assuming you have nothing else to do."

A minute later we were in a carriage and hurried towards Brixton Road.

It was a foggy and gloomy morning, and a gray-brown curtain hung over the roof, like a reflection of the muddy streets below. Holmes was full of interest, talking endlessly about violins produced in Cremona, Italy, and Stredivali.

The different characteristics between violins and Amati violins, but I remained silent and listened quietly to his talk. Due to the dull weather and this sad mission, my mood was depressed.

Finally, I couldn't help but interrupt his eloquent talk about musical instruments. I reminded him: "You don't seem to have considered the current case at all."

He replied: "There is still a lack of useful materials! It is the biggest mistake to make assumptions before understanding all the evidence, which will often bias the judgment."

"Soon, you will be able to get the materials you need." I said, pointing to the front and said to him: "If I am not mistaken, this is the end of Brixton Road, and that is the house where the accident happened.

.”

"Yeah, it's true." He quickly shouted to the coachman: "Coachman, stop the car! Stop quickly!" When we were still 100 meters away from the house, he insisted on getting off the carriage, and we walked the rest of the way.

this section of the road.

From the outside, No. 3 Garden Street, Lauriston, looks particularly like a haunted house. A little further from the street, there are four houses in total, two of which are occupied and two of which are empty. No. 3 is one of the empty houses.

There are three rows of windows on the street side of the vacant house. Since it has been unoccupied for a long time, the situation looks very miserable. "House for rent" posts are posted everywhere on the dusty glass, like white shadows on the eyes. Every house

There is a small garden in front of them, with lush vegetation. The garden separates these houses from the street. In the small garden, there is a yellow path paved with stones, clay, etc., but after a night of heavy rain,

After washing, it looked very muddy. The small garden was surrounded by a low wall, the wall was about 0.93 meters high, and a wooden fence was installed on the top of the wall. A burly policeman stood leaning against the wall, with several onlookers around him looking in.

, trying to take a look inside the house, but of course, they couldn't see anything.

At that time, I guessed that Holmes would immediately walk into the house and start researching the crime case immediately. But he didn't seem to be in a hurry. He showed an indifferent look. In this case, I thought he was a bit pretentious.

.On the sidewalk, he walked up and down, staring blankly at the ground, and occasionally at the sky, the house opposite, and the wooden fence on the wall. After checking it carefully, he slowly walked onto the yellow path.

He walked across the grass on the side of the road, staring at the ground of the yellow path. Twice he stopped, and once I found him smiling, and I heard him cheer with satisfaction.

The clay ground was wet and muddy, and there were many footprints on it. However, because the police had already stepped on it, I really don’t know how he expected to find any clues from it. However, I still haven’t forgotten that he

He has brilliantly demonstrated his keen observation skills, so I firmly believe that he can see many details that I cannot see.

At the door of the house, a tall man with a fair face and fair hair came to greet Holmes. He held a notepad in his hand, ran forward, took Holmes's hand with great enthusiasm and said: "You are here.

, It’s great! We have kept everything here as it is.”

"Well, except that!" Holmes pointed to the yellow path and said: "Even if the cattle passed by there, it wouldn't be worse. But no problem, Gregson, you must think you have it.

Conclusion, that’s why the police are allowed to do this!”

"I'm busy in the house, and my colleague Mr. Leisweid is also here. He is responsible for all the outside matters." Gregson said evasively.

My partner glanced at me, raised his eyebrows, and said mockingly: "Gregson, with two people like you and Leswidt present, of course, it will be difficult for the third person to find any clues."

Already."

"I think we have done our best. There is really not much information in this case, and I understand that this is just what you want." Gregson rubbed his hands and said proudly.

"Didn't you come in a carriage?" Holmes asked Gregson.

"No, sir," Gregson replied.

"Didn't Leithward come in a carriage either?"

"He didn't come in a carriage either, sir."

"Then, let's go into the room and have a look!" After asking these incoherent questions, Holmes strode into the room.

He was followed by Gregson, who had a surprised look on his face.

A short corridor leads to the kitchen. There is no carpet on the floor of the corridor, and the floor is covered with dust. There is a door on the left and right sides of the corridor. It is obvious that one of the doors has not been opened for several weeks.

The other door was the entrance to the restaurant, where the murder took place. Holmes walked into the restaurant, and I followed him. I felt particularly sad. This bad mood was caused by the dead body.

This large room is square in shape and looks very spacious because there is no furniture. Cheap floral paper is pasted on the walls, and some places are already stained with mildew and spots; some places are peeling off in large areas, and the inside is yellow.

The whitewashed wall is exposed. There is a beautiful fireplace opposite the door. The fireplace frame is made of white fake marble, and a red candle end is placed at one end of the stove. There is only one window in the room, and the air is

It was dirty, the light in the room was dim and dark, and everything was cast a dull color. The dusty soil in the room only deepened people's bad mood.

But these scenes were noticed by me only later. When I first entered, my attention was completely attracted by the horrific corpse. On the floor, the deceased lay on his back, staring blankly at the faded ceiling.

He is about forty-three or four years old, with broad shoulders, medium build, a head full of curly black hair, and a short, stiff beard. He is wearing a vest and a thick black woolen dress coat with a stiff collar and white cuffs.

, the pants are light-colored, and there is a neat top hat on the floor next to him. He clenched his fists, stretched his arms, and crossed his legs. It seemed that he had a painful experience before he died.

Struggling. A look of terror remained on his stiff face. According to me, it was also a look of extreme resentment that I had never seen in my life. His face was ferocious, and the grinning look was really scary.

, coupled with his low forehead, flat nose, and protruding lower jaw, he looks like a flat-nosed ape at first glance, which is weird. In addition, his extremely nervous and painful writhing posture makes his entire appearance more and more...

It was horrifying. I had seen dead people of all kinds, but I had never seen anything more horrifying than this dark, dirty house on a suburban London road.

Leisweid, a thin man with a detective demeanor, was standing at the door of the restaurant and greeted Holmes and me. He said to Holmes: "This case will definitely cause an uproar in the city, sir. I am not without a job."

I am a newbie with experience, but I have never seen such a clueless case.”

Gregson asked: "No clues found?"

"Not at all!" replied Leithward.
To be continued...