Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 66 Adventure History 26
"No, I don't think so. But there may be some more specific reason. We must leave you now, Miss Stoner, or the operation will be in vain if Dr. Roylott sees us when he returns." Goodbye, be brave, as long as you do what I tell you, just rest assured that we will guarantee your safety."

Without trouble, Holmes and I took a sitting-room and a bedroom at the Crown Inn.Since the room is on the second floor, we can look down on the gate of Stockerland Manor and its inhabitant's wing from the window very clearly.At dusk we see Dr. Roylott's carriage passing by.After a while, a light came on in a living room.

"Did you know, Watson?" said Holmes, as night fell, "that we should indeed have some apprehensions in coming here tonight, for there is a clear element of danger there."

"Can I help?"

"Of course, having you on the scene may have played a very important role."

"Well, of course I should come."

"Thank you very much for coming."

"The dangers you just mentioned, obviously, you see a lot more in those rooms than I know."

"No, but I think there might be a little more to infer. I think you saw everything, too."

"I saw nothing of note, except the bell-rope. What use it was for, I cannot conceive."

"At the same time, you also saw the vent hole?"

"Yes, but I think there is nothing unusual about a small hole between two rooms. And the hole is so narrow that not even a mouse can get through it."

"Actually, even before I came to Stockerland, I was sure that a vent would be found."

"Oh, Mr. Holmes!"

"Yes, I do. Do you remember in her account that her sister was able to smell Dr. Roylott's cigars. This suggests that there must be a passage connecting the two rooms, but It must have been very narrow, or it would have been mentioned in the coroner's inquiry. So I reasoned that there must have been a vent."

"But even so what's the harm?"

"Well, at least there was a wonderful coincidence in timing. A vent hole was cut in the wall, a rope was hung, and then the lady sleeping on the bed died. Isn't that enough to attract your attention?"

"At least so far, I don't see any connection between them."

"Did you notice anything special about that bed?"

"No."

"That bed is fixed to the floor with screws, have you ever seen such a fixed bed before?"

"I don't think so."

"It means that the lady cannot move her bed, that is, the bed must remain in the same corresponding position, facing both the air-hole and the bell-rope-though it has never been used as a bell-rope. "

"Holmes," I cried, "it seems to me that you are implying that we have just had time to prevent some crime from being committed."

"Indeed. If a doctor goes astray, he is instantly a culprit. He has knowledge and guts. Palmer and Pritchard were at the top of their line, but this man is more impressive." Unfathomable. But, Watson, we are certainly wiser than he. We have much more to worry about, especially before dawn. Let us smoke a pipe and refresh our minds. During this leisurely time , think of something happy."

At nine o'clock the lights in the bushes went out, and it was dark beyond the manor house.At about eleven o'clock, a single lamp appeared directly in front of us.

"That is our signal," said Holmes, jumping up suddenly. "The light comes from the middle room."

As we were leaving the hotel, he explained to the innkeeper that we had to go overnight to visit a friend, and that we might not be back tonight.

The gable was here and there broken from disrepair, so we entered the courtyard easily.Just as we were about to climb into the house through the window, something jumped out of the laurel tree, jumped onto the lawn, then ran across the lawn and disappeared.

"My God!" I yelled in a low voice, "Do you see what that is?"

At this moment, Holmes was equally startled.Then he grabbed my wrist with his hand, laughed softly, and brought his mouth to my ear.

"What a wonderful family," he whispered. "This is the baboon."

I had forgotten that one of the doctor's pet animals was a cheetah!The baboon could suddenly land on our shoulders at any moment.I took off my shoes with Holmes and went into the bedroom.Only then did I feel a little relieved.Holmes closed the shutter softly, moved the lamp over the table, and looked around the room. Everything in the room was as it had been seen during the day.He walked up to me quietly and whispered into my ear, "Even the smallest sound can ruin our plans."

I nodded in agreement.

"We had to sit in the dark, or he'd see the light through the vent."

I nodded.

"You must not sleep. Your life is at stake. Keep your pistol ready in case we need it. You sit in that chair over there and I sit by the bed."

I drew out my revolver and set it on the corner of the table.

Holmes brought a slender cane whip, which he placed on the bed beside him.Beside the bed was a box of matches and a candle stub.Then, the lamp was blown out.

Either way, I can't forget that vigil.We couldn't hear a sound, not even a gasp.I knew that my partner was sitting very close to me, staring, and that his nerves were equally on edge.The shutters shut out any light that might reach the room.In the dark night, we waited slowly.Once there was a cat-like whine right in front of our window, it was the cry of a cheetah.We could still hear the church bells in the distance, striking twelve, one, two, three, and we waited for everything new to happen.

Suddenly there was a fleeting flash of light in the direction of the vent, followed by a smell of burning kerosene and heated metal.Someone in the next room lit a blackout lamp.I heard a slight movement, and then silence returned, and I sat for half an hour, listening intently.Suddenly, I heard another voice--a very soft and gentle voice. At the instant of hearing this voice, Holmes jumped up from the bed, struck a match, and with his A cane whip lashed hard at the bell-rope.

"Do you see that, Watson?" he cried.

Too bad I didn't see anything.Just as Holmes struck a match, I heard a whistle.But the sudden bright light made it impossible for my eyes to see what my friend was whipping.But what I can see is that his face is pale, full of terror and loathing.

After a while, he stopped whipping and looked at the vent.Suddenly there broke out a terrible scream, which grew louder and louder, and was accompanied by a hideous shriek of pain, fear, and rage.It is said that people in the village and even in the parish were awakened from sleep by the scream.I stood motionless, gazing at Holmes, and he gazing at me, until the last echo died away and all was restored to its original silence.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked anxiously.

"The matter is over," said Holmes. "And, it may be said, it is for the best. Let us go to Dr. Roylott's room. Don't forget your pistol."

He lit the lamp and walked down the aisle.He knocked on the bedroom door twice, but there was no answer.He turned the door open and entered the bedroom.I followed, the trigger of the pistol in my hand.

A strange scene unfolded before us.There was a blackout lamp on the table, which was half turned on, and a bright light fell on the iron safe with the door half opened.In that wooden chair by the table sat Grimsby?Dr. Roylott, he was wearing a gray jacket, his bare ankles were exposed under his pajamas, and he was wearing red slippers.Across his knees lay the short-handled long whip we saw during the day.His eyes were fixed on the corner of the ceiling with terror and rigidity.A yellow band with brown spots was wrapped around his forehead, and that band was tightly wrapped around his head.He neither made a sound nor moved as we approached him.

"A speckled tape!" said Holmes.

As I took a step forward, the headdress began to squirm, and a poisonous snake emerged from the middle of his hair.

"It is the most venomous snake in India!" cried Holmes. "It dies within ten seconds of being bitten. Evil comes around, and the conspirators have fallen into a trap they have dug themselves. Come, let us take this Get the animal back to its original nest, and then ask Miss Stoner to move to a safe place, and then notify the local police, and let them deal with the rest."

As he spoke, he took the dog whip from the dead man's knee, put a slipknot around the reptile's neck, pulled it up from the doctor's head, threw it into the iron cabinet, and closed the cabinet casually.

This is Grimsby?The whole process of Dr. Roylott's death.As to this long enough account, and how the sad news was given to Miss; how to get to Harrow, and to be looked after by her aunt; There is no need to repeat it here.On the way back to the city the next day, Holmes related to me some circumstances which I still do not understand.

"Watson," said he, "I have come to a false conclusion, showing how dangerous it is to reason without sufficient evidence. Those gypsies, the poor lady's use of the word 'band', shows that she What I saw under the blinding glance of the match light led me entirely into a faulty reasoning. When I finally realized that the threat could not have come from the window, much less the door, I reconsidered my thoughts. , quick switching is the main aspect of success. As I said, I was attracted by the strange air vent and the bell cord hanging from the head of the bed. After I found out that the bell cord was just a cover and the bed was When fixed, it aroused my suspicion.

I thought the rope was just a bridge for something to come through the hole to the bed, and then I thought of snakes, because the doctor had brought a bunch of pets from India.Connecting these things, I knew I was on the right track.Using this kind of poison, which cannot be detected by chemical tests, can only be thought of by an educated, smart and ruthless man.It was also desirable, in his opinion, that the poison should act quickly.But if the coroner has a keen eye, he should be able to detect the two black holes that have been bitten by poisonous snakes.Of course, at dawn, the snake should be called back to prevent being found, so I thought of the whistle.There's a good chance he used the milk we've seen to train to recall that snake.When the time came, he would send the snake to the vent, and the snake would of course crawl up the rope to the bed.The snake may not bite right away, maybe she will get away with it for a week, but in the end she cannot escape.

"Before I entered his room, I had drawn conclusions. Looking at his chair, he often stood on it so that he could reach the air vent. When it came to the safe, all doubt remained. Eliminated by a saucer of milk and a slipknot of whip rope. The metallic clang heard by Miss Stoner was from his stepfather as he locked his poisonous snake in the safe. Once you have an idea, you'll know what I've taken Steps to verify it all. When I heard something hissing, as I'm sure you must have heard, I lit the lamp and whipped it."

"It ended up driving it back through the vent."

"As a result, it turned back and pounced on its owner at the other end. My few lashes with the cane whip aroused its viper nature, so it bit the first person it saw. There is no doubt that I am indirectly responsible for Dr Roylott's death. But in good conscience, I do not feel guilty about it."

(End of this chapter)