There were still many details for the three detectives to investigate, so I returned to our residence, the country inn, alone. Before leaving, I stopped for a while in the garden and took a walk. This garden is located next to the manor and is used by several people.

The garden is surrounded by rows of ancient yew trees trimmed into strange shapes, exuding an antique charm. The ground of the garden is covered with green grass, and there is an antique sundial in the center of the lawn. The scenery in the garden is elegant, quiet and pleasant, and I can't help but feel nervous.

My nerves relaxed and I felt relaxed and happy. In such a quiet and elegant atmosphere, I was finally able to temporarily regard the eerie study and the bloody corpses lying on the ground as a nightmare, and forget about it when I woke up. However, when I

While immersed in the pleasant environment of the garden with the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, a strange thing happened suddenly, which made the scene of the murder reappear in my mind, giving me an ominous premonition.

As I described, the garden is surrounded by rows of yew trees. At the farthest distance from the manor buildings, the yew trees grow extremely densely, forming a continuous and dense fence. Behind the fence, there is a

There is a hidden stone bench that cannot be seen from this side of the building. When I got close to it, I heard the sound of two people talking, a man talking in a low voice, followed by a woman's coquettish laughter. I walked to the fence

At the far end, I was surprised to recognize that it was Mrs. Douglas and Buck, but neither of them noticed my presence. Mrs. Douglas changed her calmness and restraint in the restaurant at this moment, and there was no trace of sadness or sorrow in her expression. Her expression

His eyes were shining with joy, and he was laughing so hard in the laughter with the man that his crow's feet were rippling at the corners of his eyes. Buck sat opposite him with his hands clasped, his body leaning forward slightly, and his elbows on his knees supported his smile.

The two of them immediately put on serious masks when they saw me - but it was too late. After the two of them hurriedly said a few words, Buck stood up and walked to me and asked: "You

OK, are you Dr. Watson?"

I didn't hide my inner feelings and nodded to him coldly.

"We guessed it was you, for everyone knows you are a friend of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Would you like to sit here and chat with Mrs. Douglas for a while?"

I followed him and walked over, with a very gloomy and ugly face. The body on the floor with its head almost smashed clearly appeared in my mind. And just a few hours after the tragic murder, the victim's wife turned out to be with his best friend.

My friend was chatting and laughing among the trees in her garden. Just now in the restaurant, I felt sad for her misfortune, but in the face of her pleading eyes, I just said hello indifferently.

"Do you think I am a cold-hearted woman?" asked Mrs. Douglas.

I said nonchalantly: "This has nothing to do with me."

"If one day you know the truth, then maybe you will treat me fairly..."

"Dr. Watson doesn't need to know anything." Buck interrupted hastily. "He said it himself. It has nothing to do with him."

"Yes." I said, "I'm going to take a walk for a while, so I'll say goodbye first."

"Please wait a moment, Doctor Watson." The woman shouted earnestly, "There is a question that only you can give me the most authoritative answer to, and I need this answer very much. You are the person who knows Mr. Holmes best.

The relationship between the police station and the police station is also the clearest. If someone reveals a secret to him, is he sure and must tell the police?"

"Ah, this is the key." Buck also said sincerely, "When dealing with problems, does he work independently, or does he have to cooperate with them?"

"I'm not sure I should talk to you about this issue."

"Please, Mr. Watson, please tell me. As long as you give us a little guidance, it will be a great help. I believe you will definitely help us."

Seeing Mrs. Douglas's sincere attitude, I felt so moved that I forgot her frivolous behavior just now and complied with her request involuntarily.

"Mr. Holmes always solves cases independently." I replied. "He decides everything by himself and handles cases based on his own judgment. Of course, at the same time, he will give enough respect to the official personnel who are handling the case together, and he will respect the officials who can handle the case."

He will never conceal anything from the authorities that is useful to the arrest of criminals. I can only tell you this, and if you want to know more details, you should talk to Mr. Holmes himself."

After that, I raised my hat and left. When I walked to the other end of the fence, I turned around and saw them still sitting there, staring at me and discussing something enthusiastically. It was obvious that they were discussing

The content is related to the conversation I just had.

Holmes and the other two detectives were busy discussing the case in the manor all afternoon, and did not return until after 5 o'clock. I had some snacks brought up, but he was very hungry and wolfed them down.

I told him what happened in the afternoon, and Holmes said: "Watson, I hope they won't reveal any secrets to me. There are no secrets here. If we arrest them on charges of conspiracy and murder, their situation will be very different."

Very embarrassing."

"Do you think this is going to end like this?"

Holmes was full of interest and said humorously in a pleasant tone: "Dear Watson, let me solve this fourth egg first and promise to tell you everything. Although I can't say that the truth has been revealed - in fact it's not even close.

Far away, but as we investigate the missing dumbbell..."

"dumbbel?"

"Watson, did you really not see that the missing dumbbell is the key to this case? Well, there is no need for you to be discouraged. Let's just talk. I guess Officer Mike and the capable local

The detective did not expect how special and important it is. Watson, think about it, why is there only one dumbbell? If an athlete only has one dumbbell, it will cause the risk of deformed curvature of the spine. Watson, this is very unfair.

It’s normal!”

He sat there biting the bread and looking at me speechless with his mischievous eyes.

Holmes has such a big appetite, which shows that he has a plan in mind. I still clearly remember those days when he had no appetite. Whenever he concentrated on solving various confusing and difficult problems, he would become restless and ascetic.

The thin face became even thinner and haggard due to the desire for success.

After eating, Holmes sat by the old-fashioned stove in the country inn and lit his pipe. He talked about the case calmly and casually, as if he was reminiscing about the past to himself rather than telling the case thoughtfully.

"From the beginning, what we encountered was a lie. Watson, the beginning of the matter was a huge, exquisite, and out-and-out lie. Not a word of what Buck said was true, and it was subsequently confirmed by Mrs. Douglas's words and deeds.

In my judgment, therefore, both of them are lying and colluding. So the problem we have to solve is very clear, which is to find out why they lie and what truth they go through so much trouble to lie to cover up?

Watson, let's try to see if we can find out the truth behind the lies."

How do I know for sure that they are lying? Because their lies are so crude and completely contradictory to the facts. Think about it, they said that the murderer put the finger on the deceased within less than 1 minute after killing him.

Take off the ring, and there is another ring above this ring. After taking off all the rings, you have to put the ring on it back - no one can do this. Maybe you will say, that ring may be on

The deceased was removed before he was killed. But, Watson, I am quite sure that you have enough sense not to say such a thing. The candle burned for a short time, which shows that the meeting between the murderer and the deceased was not long. It is said that you have enough judgment to say such a thing.

Douglas is a very courageous person and would not be able to resist threatening and hand over his wedding ring. Can you imagine him voluntarily compromising and handing over the ring? It is simply impossible. So, Watson, the murderer walked alone with him after lighting the lamp.

After spending some time with the deceased, I have no doubt about this judgment.

But the cause of death was obvious, it must have been gunshot. So the shots were fired much earlier than they claimed. That's what happened, that's for sure. So, what we have before us is premeditated murder, and the murder of two

The people who claimed to have heard the gunshot - Buck and Mrs. Douglas. But only I can prove that the blood mark on the window sill was deliberately put there by Buck to create a false clue for the police. You will also agree that in this way

, the development of the case will be very detrimental to him.

At present, the next question we want to ask is: at what time was the deceased murdered? At 10:30, there were still servants busy in the room, so it definitely did not happen before 10:30. The servants were at 10:30

Back to their residence at 1:45, Ames was the only one in the dining room. After you left in the afternoon, I did some tests. I found that as long as the doors were closed tightly, no matter how much noise MacDonald made in the study

, I couldn’t hear it at all in the restaurant.

However, the exception is the housekeeper's room. Her bedroom is very close to the corridor. If the sound is loud, vague sounds can be heard in this room. A shooting at an extremely close range like this case will definitely occur within a certain period of time.

It can eliminate the sound to a certain extent, so that it will not be too loud when shooting. But the night is very quiet, and Mrs. Allen can completely hear it in her bedroom. Although she is somewhat deaf, the testimony shows that she mentioned that half an hour before the alarm was sounded,

, she once heard a "bang" sound similar to a door closing. I believe what she heard was the sound of gunshots. It should have been 10:45 half an hour before the alarm was sent, and that was the real time of the death of the deceased.

If this is really the case, then we must make one thing clear: if the murderers were not Mr. Barker and Mrs. Douglas, then they came downstairs after hearing the gunfire at 10:45 and ringing the servant bell at 11:15

, what are they doing? Why didn't they call the police immediately? These are questions we need to study. Once we find the answers to these questions, we will be a big step closer to solving the case.

"I also think they are colluding." I said, "Mrs. Douglas was able to chat happily with Buck when her husband's body was still cold. She must be a cold-hearted woman."

"Yes, and when she stated the case, she didn't look like a murdered woman at all. Watson, you know that I am not a person who worships women, but my experience in life is that if a woman

If she gives up visiting her husband's body under the persuasion of others, then she definitely doesn't take her husband into her heart. Watson, if I marry my wife, I will definitely instill this thought in her - if my body is lying on the ground

, she will definitely not leave with others. What they did is really stupid. Even if a detective is inexperienced, he will still be suspicious because he cannot see the scene of the woman crying in grief. Even if there are no other factors,

From this alone, I can tell that this murder was premeditated."

"If that's the case, are you sure that the murderers are Buck and Mrs. Douglas?"

"You are so direct in your question." Holmes gestured at me with his pipe: "It was like a bullet and it was shooting directly at me. If you think that Mrs. Douglas and Buck knew the truth of the case and joined forces to conceal it, then I really don't know what happened."

I admire you from the bottom of my heart, that's how it is. But although your hypothesis is spot on, it's not clear and specific enough. Now, let's first study these problems that hinder our progress!

We made a bold guess, assuming that the two of them were having an affair, and then decided to remove the stumbling block. But from the information we obtained through rigorous investigation of the servants and everyone else, the Douglass were in a good relationship and were a loving couple.

"I bet it's an illusion," I said, remembering Mrs. Douglas's laughter in the garden.

"Okay, but at least they left this impression on outsiders. Then, we assume that the two of them deliberately deceived the public on this point, and joined forces to kill Douglas when he was in danger..."

"Those are just one-sided words from the two of them!"

Holmes thought for a moment and continued: "Watson, I understand what you mean. You are saying that the words in their mouths were fabricated from the beginning. In your opinion, the so-called hidden dangers, secret societies, uncanny valley, and leader McGinn

None of these things exist at all. Yes, your idea makes sense. So, let’s follow your line of thought and see what conclusions we can get! First, they make up stories to explain the motives for the crime, and then in order to cover up the lies,

They abandoned a bicycle in the garden to show that the murderer came from outside. Likewise, the blood stains on the windowsill were faked, and the card on the body was probably written in the room, which is consistent with your imagination.

Yes, Watson. However, the following questions are more difficult to explain: Among all the weapons, why did they choose a truncated American pistol? How could they be sure that the sound of the gunshot would not alarm others but themselves?

Were they discovered? It was so accidental that Mrs. Allen mistook the sound of a gunshot for the sound of a door closing. Watson, do you think they would be so stupid if they were two criminals?"

"Well, I really can't explain these problems."

"Also, even if this woman collaborated with her lover to murder her husband, how could they take the wedding ring off the body and let everyone know that they were showing off their victorious crime? Watson, do you think this is possible?"

"Well, that's really unlikely."

"Also, if you think about leaving the bicycle hidden outside, what's the point of doing so? Even the most inexperienced detective will see that this is a hoax, because the bicycle is the most important thing when the murderer is running for his life.

Tool!"

"I really don't know how to explain it."

"However, human wisdom cannot explain a series of related events. This is simply impossible. Let me talk about my ideas, whether correct or not, just as a brain exercise. I admit that this is just imagination, but it is true.

Doesn’t life originate from imagination? We assume that Douglas did commit crimes in life and has always hidden his shameful crimes. This is the fundamental reason why he suffered a murder and attracted enemies from the outside. But I haven’t yet

Think clearly why the murderer took away his wedding ring. Maybe their grudge was forged when he got married, so he did this."
To be continued...