During the year 1895, a number of interrelated events occurred, which caused Holmes and me to stay for several weeks in a well-known university town, and the events I am about to relate took place at that time.

Although it is not a very important thing, it is of great educational significance. But in order to let those unpleasant rumors disappear on their own, without letting people who read this article find out which college it happened in and who happened it.

When recording such things, I will try to avoid using sentences that can easily lead others to speculate. I will only objectively and carefully recall the incident itself, and use this story to prove the extraordinary temperament of my friend Sherlock Holmes.

At that time we were both living in a furnished rented house near the library, and Holmes was making an intensive study of the early charters of England, which he was doing so well that it might one day become the subject of my records.

One evening, our old friend Mr. Hilton Soames came over to visit. Mr. Soames is a tutor and lecturer at St. Luke's College. He is tall and silent, but he gets easily excited and nervous. I understand that he has never been emotional enough.

Stable, but now he seems particularly excited and can hardly control himself. Then something extraordinary must have happened.

He said: "Mr. Holmes, please give me an hour or two of your precious time. A very sad thing just happened at St. Luke's College. I happen to know that you are in the city. Otherwise, I really don't know what to do."

what to do!"

Holmes replied: "I'm very busy now and don't want to be disturbed. I think you'd better ask Mr. Police for help!"

Mr. Soames said: "No, dear Mr. Holmes, this kind of thing cannot alert the police. If it is handed over to the official hands, there will be no way to recover it! Because this matter is likely to damage the reputation of the college, no matter what

We cannot let outsiders know. I know that you are very powerful and tight-lipped, so I can only ask you to help. Mr. Holmes, I really implore you to use your ability!"

After leaving the comfortable environment of Baker Street, my friend's temper became worse. Once he left his newspaper excerpts, chemicals, and messy bedroom, he became very uncomfortable. Now he shrugged helplessly,

It seemed that he agreed. Our guest hurriedly recounted the story, and he still seemed very excited when he spoke.

Mr. Holmes, tomorrow is the first test of our college’s Ford Scholarship Examination. As one of the examiners, the subject I am taking the test is Greek. The first question on the test paper is a Greek translation that is unfamiliar to students.

It is required to be translated into English. This paragraph has already been printed on the test paper. However, if the students know this Greek paragraph in advance, they will have an advantage during the test, so I am very careful about the confidentiality of the test paper.

At 3 o'clock this afternoon, the printing house sent over a sample of the test paper. The first question asked for the translation of a section of Thucydes' works. I carefully proofread the proof, because the original text must be very accurate. By 4 o'clock

When I was 30, I hadn't finished proofreading, but I had already agreed with a friend to go to his house for tea, so I put the proof of the test paper on the table and left. The round trip only took a little more than 30 minutes.

Our college has double doors. The inner door is wrapped in green tablecloth and the outer door is made of oak. When I came back, I was very surprised to see a key inserted in the outer door. At first I thought I had left by myself.

I forgot to pull it out, but when I touched my pocket, I found that the key was still inside. Then I understood that the other key was in the hands of my servant Bannister. He has been cleaning my house for 10 years. He is absolutely honest and reliable.

The key must be his. I guessed that he must have gone into the room to see if I wanted to go out for tea, and then he forgot to take the key with him when he went out. He must have come here just a few minutes after I left.

, usually such a thing would have nothing to do with it, but today, the consequences are very serious.

As soon as I walked in and saw my desk, I immediately knew that someone had turned over these test papers. The proof papers were printed on three long strips of paper. I originally put them together, but now one is on the floor and the other is on the floor.

On the table next to the window, the last one is still in its original place.

Holmes gradually became interested and said: "So the one on the floor is the first paper, the one on the table by the window is the second, and the one standing still is the third!"

"Mr. Holmes, you surprise me! How do you know this?"

"Please continue telling this interesting thing!"

At first, I thought it was Bannister who did it, which is unforgivable. But he said sincerely that it was not him, and I believe he was telling the truth. There is another explanation, maybe someone passing by saw it.

The key was inserted in the door, and knowing that I was not in the room, he came in and peeked at the test papers. The scholarship amount this time was very high, a lot of money, so maybe there was a shameful person who wanted to take the risk and peek at the test papers in order to win the scholarship.

Bannister was so disturbed after this incident that he almost fainted after realizing that the test paper must have been read by someone. I gave him a little brandy, and then he slumped down in his chair while I began to examine the entire

In addition to the crumpled test papers in the room, I quickly found other clues left by this uninvited guest. On the table by the window, there were scraps of wood left by pencil sharpening, and the end of a broken pencil lead. It was obvious.

, the cheater copied the test questions in such a panic that he broke the tip of his pencil and had to sharpen it again.

This case gradually made Holmes more interested, and his mood gradually improved. He praised: "You said it very well! Congratulations, there is great hope of solving the case!"

Mr. Soames also said: "There are other marks. The top of my new desk is made of beautiful red leather. Bannister and I both confirmed that the top is smooth and has no stains. But now I see that the top of the desk is made of beautiful red leather."

There were very obvious knife marks, about 3 inches long. They were not left by rubbing something, they were definitely knife marks. I also saw a small black mud ball on the table, which seemed to be a flour ball. There were also marks on the ball.

There are some spots, maybe sawdust. I dare say these marks are left by the guy who messed up the test questions, but there are no footprints or other evidence to identify this person. Just when I was worried, I suddenly remembered that you were still there

Here, I am coming directly to ask for your help! Mr. Holmes, please help me. Now you should also understand my dilemma. Either catch this person immediately, or you can only postpone the exam and wait for a new one to be printed.

Test questions. However, this definitely needs to be stated to the students. Changing the test questions will not only cause rumors, but also damage the reputation of the college and even our university. So I very much hope that this problem can be solved quietly and carefully.

!”

"I am very happy to help you with this, and I am willing to express my opinion as much as possible!" Holmes stood up and put on his coat. "This case is very interesting. Has anyone been to your room since you got the test paper?"

"There was one named Daulat Rais. He was an Indian student who lived in the same building as me. He came over and asked me how to take the exam."

"Is this just why he came to you?"

"Is such that."

"So were the test papers on your desk at that time?"

"Yes, but it should have been rolled up by then."

"Is it possible to tell that it's a proof copy of the test paper?"

"It's possible."

"Is there anyone else in your room at that time?"

"there is none left."

"Who else knows that the proof samples are going to be sent to you?"

"No one knows except the printer."

"Does Bannister know?"

"He absolutely doesn't know, and no one knows."

"Where is Bannister now?"

"He felt uncomfortable and slumped on the chair. I rushed to find you as soon as possible!"

"Is your door still open now?"

"I have locked up all the test papers now."

"Then Mr. Soames, can you say that the person who messed up the test paper just happened to pass by by chance and didn't actually know that you put the proof of the test paper on the table?"

"I think it should be like this."

Holmes smiled inscrutably.

He said to me: "Then let's go over and have a look, Watson. Although this is not your major, this is not a physical problem but a psychological problem, and if you are willing, come together! Mr. Soames, we all

Listen to you."

Mr. Soames's sitting-room faced the moss-covered garden of the college. The windows of the room were large and low, with tracery latticework, and a stone staircase behind a Gothic arch.

It looked like it had not been used for a long time and was damaged. Mr. Soames's house was on the first floor, and there were three other college students living on the same floor. It was already dark when they got there, and Holmes stopped and looked.

Looking at the window, he then walked closer to the window and stood on tiptoes, craning his neck to look inside.

The knowledgeable client said: "This person definitely entered through the gate, because there is no other entrance except this window."

Holmes glanced at Mr. Soames, smiled strangely, and said, "Well, if we can't figure out the situation here, let's go in!"

The tutor opened the door and led us into his room. On reaching the door, Holmes examined the carpet.

He said: "I don't think there should be any clues here. The weather is very dry and clues are hard to find. Your servant should have almost recovered. You said he was sitting on a chair. Which chair was it?

?”

"It's the one near the window!"

"Really? It's next to this small table? Come in now, I've already checked the carpet. Now look at this table, I already know what happened. This person entered the room, from this place in the middle of the room

I picked up the test papers page by page on a small table and brought them to the table next to the window, so that I can easily observe that if someone comes from the garden, he can escape immediately."

Mr. Soames said: "If that's the case, he won't be able to escape. I will always come through the side door."

"That's very good! But no matter what, this is what the person imagined. Now I look at these three proofs. They are clean and have no fingerprints. He took this page first and copied it. How long did it take to copy it? Even if

No matter how fast it was, it would still take 15 minutes. Then he threw away this one and took another one. At this time, you went back to the house. So he was in a hurry to escape and had no time to put the examination papers back where they were. Then you came in

At that time, did you hear panicked footsteps on the stone staircase?"

"I didn't hear that."

"Because he was copying in a panic, he broke the tip of the pencil, so he had to sharpen it again. It is worth noting that this is not an ordinary pencil. It is thicker, made of soft lead, and has a dark blue pen barrel mark.

It bears the silver manufacturer's name, and has been used until it is only an inch and a half long. If you can find this pencil, Mr. Soames, I can tell you, you have found the man, and one more thing.

His pencil sharpener is larger and not sharp, so you have two clues."

Mr. Soames was a little confused about what Holmes said. He asked: "I can understand other things you said, but how do you know the length of the pencil..."

Holmes picked up a small piece of sawdust from a pencil, with the letters nn on it.

"Look at this."

"What's wrong with this? I still..."

Holmes turned to me: "Watson, I know you are more capable than I thought. So, what does nn mean? They are the last two letters of a word. Johannfaber, this is the most widely sold pencil name. Now I understand

Are you done? The pencil has been used up to the johann part." Holmes pulled the small table under the lamp again. "I hope the copy paper he used is thinner so that it can leave marks on the table. But,

You see, there are no traces, nothing can be found. Look back at the table in the middle. Well, this small ball should be the dough that the instructor mentioned. The shape is a bit like a pyramid, and it is still vacuum, just like you

It's the same thing, stained with sawdust. It's funny, there is indeed a scratch on the table. It started as a neat scratch mark, then ended up as a small hole with a rough edge. Thank you, Mr. Soames, for bringing it to me.
To be continued...