\t\tThe second blood mark

I originally wanted to use the article "The Kidnapping of the Abbey Public School" to end the story of my friend Sherlock Holmes' extraordinary thrilling case. The reason I did this is not because I have less and less information about the facts of Sherlock Holmes, nor is it because my readers are not interested in the life of my friend Sherlock Holmes. You know, there are still many Sherlock Holmes I have in my current hands that have never been revealed to readers. In fact, I have no right to reveal the truth of these cases to the outside world. Sherlock Holmes is the one who really has the right to say about the truth of these cases. He has always opposed it.

Posting his detective experience to me. His unprotective personality destined to live a life of indifferent fame and fortune throughout his life. His position is very firm, and I had to tell him the fact that I had promised readers to publish "The Second Blood Stone" if conditions permit. He did not appreciate my eloquence. I was facing a taciturn person. I made up many reasons for publishing "The Second Blood Stone". He may feel that whether to publish "The Second Blood Stone" was boring and wasted his working time, so he gave in and he agreed to my approach.

One early Monday morning that autumn (I can't tell the exact date of the incident), we received two famous European figures in our small room. One was Lord Bellinger, who was twice re-elected British Prime Minister, a very solemn and serious person. The other was the British Foreign Secretary Triffiny Hope, who is an outstanding figure in the current political circle of Britain. He was specialized in European affairs and had a high reputation in the UK. He was the most promising politician in Britain. Mr. Hope was well-known in his facial features, elegant conversation, and was less than middle-aged. As soon as these two important officials of the country entered the door, they couldn't wait to look at Sherlock Holmes. I saw their faces full of anxiety and panic, and their eyes were all on Sherlock Holmes, as if Sherlock Holmes had the answers they needed.

Mr. Hope said anxiously to Sherlock Holmes: "Dear Mr. Holmes, something very worrying happened at 8 o'clock this morning. The matter is very serious, and I immediately reported it to the Prime Minister. He thought that you might be able to help, so we hurried to find you."

"Didn't you call the police?"

Prime Minister Bellinger immediately intervened and said: "This matter is extraordinary, it is not an ordinary case. If there is a mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable. Once the police are called, the matter will be known sooner or later. We do not want to get such a result."

"Prime Minister, why do you say that?"

"Mr. Hope lost a state secret document. If state secrets are leaked, it will affect peace in Europe. This is not an exaggeration of its negative impact, but it is indeed the case. If this state secret is not recovered through secret channels, it does not matter whether it calls the police. The fact is right in front of you, and the thief's attempt is to publicize the document."

"I get it. Mr. Trifinney Hope, please tell me in detail how the documents were stolen."

"Mr. Holmes, what I must tell you is that this document was a letter sent to the cabinet by a foreign king, and we received it a week ago. This letter is quite a bit of a shame. I don't think it's safe to put it anywhere. There is no way, so I had to take it back to my home every night and lock it into the file box in my bedroom. I read it very much last night and it was still safely hidden in the file box. But when I got up to check this morning, it was gone. You know, the file box was always next to the mirror of my bedroom dressing table last night. My wife and I slept very clearly, and no one entered our bedroom last night. But the reality is cruel, and the file is indeed not in the file box."

“When is your dinner time?”

"Seven half past seven."

"When will you turn off the lights and rest?"

"My wife went out to see the show, and I kept waiting for her. We didn't go back to the bedroom until half past eleven."

"As you said, the file box has been in unattended for four hours?"

"There are only two people who have the privilege of entering the bedroom, one is my servant and the other is my wife's servant. They have been following us for many years and are loyal. They are unaware of it, not at all."

"Does anyone know this letter?"

"I am the only one in the family who knows it."

"Your wife knows it, too?"

"She didn't know. I told her only after the documents were stolen."

Prime Minister Bellinger nodded at Mr. Hope with praise.

Prime Minister Bellinger said: "I have always trusted Mr. Hope. Mr. Hope has always been meticulous in his work and he has always put national affairs first."

Mr. Hope said modestly: "Prime Minister Bellinger, you have been awarded. I have never submitted this letter to my wife after this document is kept by me."

"Can she guess?"

"That's impossible. Mr. Holmes."

"Have you lost the files?"

“Never.”

"How many people in the UK know about this letter?"

"The cabinet members all knew about this letter yesterday. Every time the cabinet meeting was held, the Prime Minister asked everyone to keep the secrets strictly. God! Now I lost the state secrets!" He said, frantically inserting his hands into his thick curly hair. His face was distorted by pain and worries. In our eyes, Mr. Hope was an overly excited person. After a while, he returned to his original expression. He began to calm down. He said: "In Britain, only the cabinet ministers and three officials know, I can guarantee it."

“Where is abroad?”

"I firmly believe that no one abroad knows this letter except the king who wrote the letter. I always believe that he did not inform his ministers. He sent it secretly."

Sherlock Holmes frowned a few times.

"Mr. Hope, I want to figure out the whole content of this letter. How much negative is it?"

Prime Minister Bellinger and Foreign Minister Mr. Hope quickly handed over each other's winks. Prime Minister Bellinger immediately became serious.

"Oh, that's right. The envelope of the letter is light blue, long and thin, with red varnish on it, and a mighty lion is printed on it. The words on the envelope are large and eye-catching, and the recipient is..."

Holmes interrupted Mr. Hope, saying, "Sorry, Mr. Hope, I am concerned about the content of the letter. Please forgive me for your rudeness."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes, I have the right not to answer your request. You must know that this is a state secret and very important. Not everyone can know it. If you can find this letter, our motherland will not forget you, and the British government will not treat you badly."

Holmes's face stretched out. He said to the two British officials seriously: "Everyone is very busy. You are busy with national affairs, but I am busy with the cracking of various cases I took over. Everyone is working against time. We are no exception. Sorry, we should not waste each other's time."

Prime Minister Bellinger couldn't help but be furious after hearing what Holmes said. He looked like a volcano that was about to vomit. He pointed at Holmes' nose and said, "I say, Mr. Holmes, I think you lack personal cultivation." He immediately realized his rudeness and quickly calmed down again. In this way, they were silent for three minutes.

"Mr. Holmes, I'm sorry, I apologize to you for my misogyny just now. We should do what you said. We trust your character and ability."

Mr. Hope also said: "I agree with Prime Minister Bellinger's view."

"We have 100% trust in you and your colleague Watson because you are excellent patriots. The reason we act so cautiously is that we are worried about the future of the country, and we hope that you two can understand us."

"We love our country as much as you two ministers."

——"This is a secret letter from a foreign king to the British cabinet. He was very dissatisfied with our country's colonial expansion policy. He hurriedly finished the letter. It can be said that this was his own protest. After our close investigation, his ministers under him were unaware of this matter. This letter was written very much that the noble identity of his king, and some words were written too much, with traces of excessive words. If the content in the letter was leaked, it would definitely cause the British people to be strongly dissatisfied with the king. The situation would be very serious, and no one could stop the absurd patriotic war from this matter."

Sherlock Holmes immediately wrote a name on the paper and handed it over to the Prime Minister.

"Yes, it's him. This letter is related to the lives and property of the British and even the European people, and the situation is very serious."

"Did you tell the king about the situation?"

"We sent him a password telegram."

"In this way, his wish will be fulfilled, and he wishes that our UK is in such a situation."

"It's not like that. We think he should also realize that he will pay a heavy price for this matter. If this letter he wrote was published to the public, he and his country would suffer a more severe blow than our country."

"As you say, who is the person who makes the most profit after this letter is published? What are the intentions of the thief?"

"Mr. Holmes, this has to be involved in complex international relations. The current situation in Europe is at a moment of rupture, and wars may break out at any time. There are two major military camps in Europe now, and the United States is neutral. As long as Britain joins any military camp, the victory or defeat of the war will be decided immediately. Is it clear?"

"I have now figured out what sinister intentions and despicable attempts this man with ulterior motives have. He was the enemy of the king first, and the result he wanted to see was to provoke Britain to launch a war against their country and use the British hand to destroy the king."

“That’s it.”

"If this letter fell into the hands of an enemy, who would he give it to?"

"The military ministers of any European country will accept this gift. Perhaps this letter is on the way to the destination at this moment."

Mr. Trifinney Hope lowered his head and sighed in despair. Prime Minister Bellinger patted his shoulder a few comfortingly and said softly: "Don't be too sad either. It can't be your fault, you have tried your best. Mr. Holmes, that's what's going on, what can we do now to make up for it?"

Sherlock Holmes was a little embarrassed.

"Prince Bellinger, will the consequences of the situation really be as you said, a catastrophic war break out?"

"That's how I think."

"Sorry, we in Britain should be ready to deal with this war."

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, it's not like you said."

"I have a clear idea. Let me analyze the case. Mr. Hope and his wife returned to the bedroom at 11:30 pm and then slept until 7:00 the next morning. During this period, the thief could not succeed. The exact time of the case was between 7:30 and 1:00 last night, and it was very likely around 7:30 pm. The thief was very familiar with the environment of Mr. Hope's home. He (she) had known where the letter was placed, and naturally, he would have the desire to steal it as soon as possible. After the letter was stolen, the thief would immediately send the letter to the person who needed the letter. The facts were in front of us. We are currently working on the job of looking for a needle in a haystack. Aren't we?" Prime Minister Bellinger nodded. He said: "Mr. Holmes, your reasoning is very correct. As you said, we are currently working on looking for a needle in a haystack."

Sherlock Holmes continued: "Let's assume that the maid or male servant who took the letter..."

"Impossible, they are loyal to me and will not do such things."

"You once told me that your bedroom is on the third floor and there is no door leading out. If someone enters the house, he will be discovered immediately. There is no doubt that the person who took the letter must be from your family. After this person steals the letter, he will definitely hand it over to international spies or secret agents. Fortunately, I am very familiar with these people. There are three people who are specializing in this line. I must investigate and see if they are all there. If anyone is not here last night, this document will be settled."

Mr. Trifinney Hope asked: "Why isn't he here? He can hand over the letter to the embassy of a certain country in London."

"They won't do this. These international spies have always acted alone, and they have a bad relationship with the embassy."

Prime Minister Bellinger's face improved again, and he said to Sherlock Holmes: "Mr. Holmes, I appreciate your abilities and your knowledge. I hope this is the case. Those spies will carefully hand over this important confidential document to their headquarters. I will trouble you about this matter, Mr. Holmes. Whenever there is any situation, we will contact you immediately!"

Prime Minister Bellinger and Foreign Minister Mr. Hope left our room with a serious look on his face.

After we sent off these two famous European politicians, the atmosphere in our room did not relax. Sherlock Holmes bit his pipe that symbolized thought tighter. The smoke was very dense and had been wrapped around his head for a long time. I was reading the Morning News about a murder that happened in London the day before. Sherlock Holmes called at this time, and he stopped vomiting. He said with a serious look: "This is indeed a bit helpless. I have never encountered such a bad case.

But my self-confidence has always made me fearless and difficult, which is enough. Now the secret letter must still be in London. The purpose of the letter thief is of course to blackmail a lot of money. They are very smart and the British government will not be stingy with this ransom money. I don't rule out that the letter thief has been waiting for the buyer who is willing to pay a higher price to buy the letter. He is very cunning. I think nothing more than these three guys: Oberstein, La Rossell, and Edvador Lucas. I will not let them go."

I couldn't help but take a look at the morning newspaper in my hand.

"You're talking about Edvado Lucas who lives on Goldfen Street?"

"good."

"He's in a very bad situation!"

"how?"

“He was killed at home last night.”

When he heard me telling the news that Lucas was killed at home last night, his surprised eyes never left me. Then the newspaper in my hand was snatched by him, and he looked at the report with all his attention:

Westminster Murder

Last night, a strange murder occurred at 17 Goldfen Street. The crime occurred in a row of old-fashioned houses of the eighteenth century. It was located between the Thames and Westminster Temple, next to it. Mr. Edvador Lucas lived in this exquisite building for many years. Mr. Lucas is a well-known social figure and is a respected person. Mr. Lucas is thirty-four years old, unmarried, and only one elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Pringer and a servant, Medon. Mrs. Pringer slept on the top floor and slept very early. The servant Midon was not at home that night and went to visit a friend in Humlsmith. After ten o'clock in the evening, there was only Mr. Lucas in the room. What happened during this period is still under investigation. 11:45

When Officer Barret patrolled by Goldfen Street, he found that the No. 17 door was half-closed. He first knocked on the door, but no one made a sound. Then he saw the lights in the living room, so he walked into the aisle and knocked on the door of the living room. But no one agreed. So he pushed open the door of the living room and walked into the living room. At this moment, the living room was in a mess, and the decorations in the house were all on the side of the room, and a chair fell in the center of the room. Next to it was the dead Lucas, who was still holding the legs of the chair tightly. The murder weapon was an Indian dagger, pulled out directly from the scabbard used as decoration on the wall and inserted into Mr. Lucas' heart. Mr. Lucas was killed. The motive for the murder seemed not to be robbery, because the valuables in the house were not taken away. The police were all investigating the murder case with all their might.

After a long time, Holmes asked me: "Warson, what do you think of this murder?"

"It's so coincidental, it's so perfect."

"I don't think so. I suspect that there are three spies related to the theft of Mr. Hope's documents, and Lucas is one of them. But at this time he suffered a tragedy. I don't think this is a coincidence. There must be a lot of articles in it. Lucas's murder must have something to do with the theft of confidential documents."

"The police may have known it."

"Impossible, their investigation results have not come out so soon, and their investigation has not left Goldfen Street. At present, they certainly do not know that Mr. Hope's documents were stolen. Now they do not know, and they will not know in the future. In other words, only us are the ones who have been stolen in the detective documents. I suspect Lucas is because Lucas's house is closest to Mr. Hope's house, and the other two spy leaders Oberstein, Ossell's residence and Mr. Hope's house are separated by a street. Lucas has an absolute advantage in geographical location. But these two things happened within a few hours, which may be very important. Well, see who is coming?"
To be continued...