"I'm glad you asked this. I thought so at that time. It turned out that this female worker, who always took off her boots and changed her cloth slippers in the janitor's room."

"I get it, so, even though it rained that night, she didn't leave any footprints, right? This series of details is important. What did you do next?"

"We then carefully checked the office. My office had no secret doors, two windows were thirty feet above the ground, and the latch was also inserted from it. The floor was covered with carpet, and it was impossible to have authenticity. The ceiling was brushed with ordinary white gray. I dared to guarantee my life that he could only escape from the only door."

“What is the fireplace?”

"There is no fireplace there, only one stove. The electric bell is on the right side of my desk. When I press the bell, I press it to the right side of my desk. But why do the criminals ring the bell? It's strange."

"It's really a bit strange. What did you do next? I think you checked the door and saw if there were any traces left by the thief, such as cigarette butts, gloves, hairpins or something else, right?"

"Nothing you said."

"Didn't you smell anything?"

"Oh, we didn't expect this."

"In such cases, even a little smoke on site is very helpful to us."

"I don't smoke, so even a little smoke smell, I can smell it. But there is no smoke smell in the office. The only suspect is the wife of the janitor, the woman named Mrs. Tangai. She walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a panic. The janitor didn't know why she left so in a hurry. He only knew that his wife usually went home at this time. The police and I both thought that if the documents were indeed taken away by her, we'd better catch her while she hadn't taken them off.

"At this time, the police station had received the report. Detective Mr. Forbes rushed over and took over the case with confidence. We rented a two-wheeled and two-seater carriage. In half an hour, we arrived at the place the janitor told us. Mrs. Tangay's eldest daughter opened the door for us. She said that her mother had not returned yet, so she asked us to wait in the living room.

"Ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door. At this time, we made a serious mistake - it was only our own fault - we did not open the door in person, but asked the girl to open it. We heard her say, 'Mom, two people came to the house, waiting to see you.' Then, we heard a burst of rapid footsteps walking into the aisle. Forbes pushed the door open and we followed it to the room behind, the kitchen, but the woman ran in first. She looked at us with hostility. Later, she recognized me and looked surprised.

"'Oh my goodness, isn't this Mr. Phelps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?' she cried.

“‘Hey, who do you think we are? Why do you hide from us?’ Forbes asked.

“‘I thought you were thrifters,’ she breathed a sigh of relief, ‘We have a tangle with a businessman.’

“'Don't lie,' Forbes said, 'We think you took a significant document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and wanted to deal with it here. You have to go to the police station with us for investigation.'

"She protested and refused to go, but we didn't care. We called a four-wheeled carriage and all three of us sat in. Before we left, we checked the kitchen first, especially the stove, to see if she threw the documents into the fire after she ran here first, but there was no trace of debris or ashes in the stove. As soon as we arrived at the police station, we handed her over to the female searcher for search. I waited anxiously and finally waited for the female searcher's report, but the report said that no documents were found.

"It was only at this time that I truly realized how terrible my situation was. Before that, I was only looking for documents, and I didn't think about the consequences. I always thought that I could find the documents quickly, but I didn't consider what the consequences would be if I couldn't find them. It was not until I read the report of the female searcher that I suddenly remembered the consequences of the matter. My situation was very bad. Watson may have told you that when I was in school, I was a timid and sensitive person, and that was my personality. I thought of my uncle and his colleagues in the cabinet, the shame I brought to him, the shame I brought to myself and my relatives and friends, it was nothing I could have become a victim of this bizarre accident, but the bad thing was diplomatic benefits.

It is of great importance and no accidents are allowed. My future is ruined, and it is very decent. I don't know what I did at that time. I think I must have made a lot of foolish things. I vaguely remember that several colleagues surrounded me and tried their best to comfort me. A colleague accompanied me to Waterloo and took me on the train to Woking. The colleague who was going to take me home saw my neighbor Dr. Ferrier took the same train as me, so he took me to the train and left. Dr. Ferrier took care of me very thoughtfully. Thanks to him taking care of me like this, otherwise I would not only faint at the train station. When I got home, I almost became an incoherent madman.

"You can imagine how sad they were when Dr. Ferrier rang the bell to wake my family from his sleep. Poor Miss Harrison and my mother were almost heartbroken. Dr. Ferrier told my family the reason he heard from the detective at the station. But they were still very sad because they knew that my illness would not be cured for a while. They asked Joseph to free up his beloved bedroom and change it to

My ward. Mr. Holmes, I have been in this room for nine weeks, unconscious and my mind is in chaos. If it weren't for Miss Harrison's careful care and doctor's concern, I would probably not be able to talk to you now. Miss Harrison took care of me during the day and hired a nurse to protect me at night, because when I got crazy, I could do anything. My mind gradually became clear, and by three days ago, my memory was completely restored

——Sometimes I think how good it would be if it was not restored. I first sent a telegram to Mr. Forbes, who was in charge of the case. He came here to tell me that although he tried everything he could, he could not find any clues. At first, he used various means to ask the janitor and his wife, but he found nothing. Then the police suspected that young Gorot, who was the one who had been in the office for a long time after get off work. In fact, he only had two o'clock.

Suspicious, one is that he left late, and the other is that he has a French name. However, before he left, I had not started copying the agreement; although he was of French descent, he had the habits and feelings of the British like us, and could not find any solid basis to implicate him--and later, the case was left unresolved. Mr. Holmes, now I will depend on you. If you disappoint me, my reputation and status will be ruined forever."

Phelps felt very tired because he spoke a lot and leaned back to the mat. Harrison immediately poured him a cup of sedative. Holmes closed his eyes slightly and his head leaned back and sat there silently. Unfamiliar people would think he was careless, but I knew he was thinking very nervously at the moment.

"You explained it very clearly," he finally said, "you almost said everything I need to know. But there is one of the most important questions, and I want to ask you, have you told you about your special task?"

"No one told me."

"Did Miss Harrison tell me?"

"No. I haven't returned to Woking during the period of accepting commands and executing tasks."

"Didn't your relatives and friends happen to see you?"

"No."

"Does any of your relatives and friends know how to get to your office?"

"Yes, I told them."

"Of course, you haven't told anyone about the agreement, so it's useless for me to ask."

"I haven't told anyone."

"Do you know the gatekeeper?"

"I just know he turned out to be a veteran."

“Where did you serve?”

"Well, I think I heard that he had been in the Colstrim Guard."

"Thank you. I think I can get some situations from Forbes. Official detectives are very good at collecting situations, but they are not good at using them - ah, how cute these roses are!"

He walked around the couch, walked to the open window, reached out to support a low-hanging rose branch, and admired the red flowers and green leaves. In my opinion, this was a new aspect of his character, and I had never seen him show such a strong love for things in nature.

"There is nothing in the world that needs reasoning more than religion." He leaned his ankle against the blinds, "The reasoning can be gradually interpreted into a sophisticated discipline. According to the reasoning method, according to my opinion, our highest belief in God's kindness should be placed on flowers. Everything else: our ability, our hope, our food, they are first for the need for survival. And flowers are different. Its fragrance and color are embellishments of life, not the conditions for survival. These extraordinary qualities are only produced from kindness. So I say again that flowers can bring us great hope."

Percy Phelps and Miss Harrison felt very surprised and disappointed after hearing the discussion of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes held the rose and pondered for a few minutes, and Miss Harrison finally couldn't help but break the silence.

"Do you say there is hope for this mystery to be resolved? Mr. Sherlock Holmes." She asked in a somewhat harsh voice.

"Oh, this mystery!" Sherlock Holmes was stunned for a moment before returning to reality and said, "Well, if this case is not complicated, it must be nonsense. But I promise you that I will investigate this matter in depth and tell you everything I know."

"Do you have any clues?"

"You have provided me with seven clues. Of course, I have to check it first to know which clue is useful."

"Do you have a partner of doubt?"

"I doubt myself."

"What?!"

"I suspect my conclusions were drawn too quickly."

"Then go back to London to test your conclusions."

"Your advice is good, Miss Harrison," said Holmes, "I think, Watson, we have no better way. Mr. Phelps, don't have too much hope. This is complicated."

"I hope to hear from you soon," Phelps said eagerly.

"Okay, I will come to see you at this time tomorrow. Although it may not bring you any good news at that time."

"May God bless you to succeed," cried Phelps, "I know you will do your best, and now I have hope again. Oh, by the way, I have received a letter from Lord Holdhurst."

"Ah! What did he say in his letter?"

"He spoke in a cold tone, but not harsh. I think it must be because I was recuperating, that he did not blame me harshly. He just repeatedly said that it was important, and said that in addition to my recovery, he had the opportunity to remedy my faults. Otherwise, my future—of course, he means that I was dismissed—will be completely finished."

"Well, it's reasonable for him to say this, and he's thoughtful," said Sherlock Holmes. "Let's go, Watson, we're going to have a day in the city."

Mr. Joseph Harrison took us to the train station in a carriage, and we soon took the train to Portsmouth. Sherlock Holmes came in and pondered and said nothing. He didn't speak until he passed the Claptop hub. "It's a pleasant thing to enter London from these elevated railways, because you can see the houses below condescendingly."

I thought he was joking because the scenery was too ugly, but he immediately explained: "Look, that big house stands alone on the bluestone, like a small island made of bricks and tiles in a lead-gray ocean."

“That’s some boarding schools.”

"That's the lighthouse, my man! The lighthouse of the future! Each lighthouse contains hundreds of brilliant little seeds. In the future, Britain will be more wise and prosperous in their generation. I think Phelps won't drink wine?"

"I don't think he doesn't drink."

"I think so, but we should have expected everything possible. This poor man is so unlucky, and now we can help him. What do you think of Miss Harrison?"

"She is a strong girl."

"Yes, she is also a good person, or I'll misunderstand it. She and her brother are the only two children of an iron manufacturer near Northumberland. Phelps was engaged to her when she was traveling last winter. Her brother accompanied her to meet Phelps' family. She happened to catch up with this unfortunate incident and stayed to take care of her fiancé. Her brother Joseph Harrison thought it was good, so she stayed there too. Look, I've done some separate investigations. But today, we have a lot to investigate."

"My medical..." I said.

"Ah, if you think your business is more important than my case..." Sherlock Holmes said with some displeasure.

"I mean my medical service can be put on for a day or two, because it's the lightest time of the year."

"Great," said Holmes, and he was happy again, "then let's investigate the case together. I want to visit Forbes first. He might be able to tell all the details we need, and then we know how to get started."

"Didn't you say, you already have a few clues?"

"Yes, we have several clues, but we need to investigate further to know whether they are useful. Cases without criminal motives are the hardest to investigate. But this case is not without criminal motives. Who can get the benefit from it? The French ambassador, the Russian ambassador, the man who can sell the agreement to any of them, and Lord Holderhurst."

"Lord Holdhurst!"

"Yes, a politician will take the opportunity to destroy such a document out of need."

“Isn’t Lord Holdhurst a Cabinet Secretary with a glorious resume?”

"This is just doubt, but we cannot ignore this. Let's visit this noble Lord today to see if he can tell us something. You don't know yet, my investigation has begun."

"It's already started?"

"Yes, I sent a telegram to all the evening newspapers in London at Woking Station. Every evening newspaper will publish such an advertisement."

Sherlock Holmes handed me a piece of paper, which was torn from the diary, and written in a pencil:

On May 23, a carriage will be sent to or near the diplomatic department entrance of Charles Street. Insiders are asked to inform No. 221 Baker Street of the carriage number, and the bounty will be ten pounds.

"Can you be sure that the thief came in a carriage?"

"It's okay if it's not. If there's no hiding place in the office or corridor as Phelps said, then the thief must have come in from outside. You think it was raining outside and he checked a few minutes after leaving, and he didn't find wet footprints on the painted cloth, then there's a great possibility that he's coming by car, not just very much. I can be sure that he must have come by car."

"You seem to make sense."

"This is one of the clues, which allows us to draw some kind of conclusion. Of course, there is the ringtone, which is the strangest part of this case. Why ring the bell? Is that thief really so arrogant? Or is it that someone came in with the thief and deliberately rang the bell to prevent the thief from stealing, or did he accidentally hit the bell? Or..." He fell into the nervous thinking just now. I knew his mood very well. He must have suddenly thought of some new possibility.

When we got off the bus, it was already 3:20 pm. We had lunch in a small restaurant and rushed to the London Police Department. Because Sherlock Holmes had already telegrammed Forbes, he was waiting for us in the police station. This man was not tall, with a sarcastic and sarcastic attitude, and was not friendly to others at all. Especially after hearing what we were doing, he became even colder to us.

"Mr. Holmes, I've heard of your behavior," he said sarcastically. "You often use all kinds of information provided by the police to you, and then solve the case yourself, to embarrass the police."

"On the contrary," said Holmes, "I have solved fifty-three cases in the past, but only four cases have signed my name, and the honors of the remaining forty-nine cases have been given to the police. You don't know these, you are still young and have no experience, and I don't blame you. But if you want to make progress, you'd better work with me and not go against me."
To be continued...