Chapter 15 end of fourteen

We have all been given advance notice to appear in court this Thursday.But when Thursday came, there was no longer any need for us to testify.A higher judge has taken up the case, and Jefferson Hope has been summoned to another court, to give him a fair trial.It turned out that on the night of his arrest, his aneurysm burst.The next morning, he was found lying dead on the prison floor.There was a peaceful smile on his face, as if when he was about to die, he had not wasted looking back on the past years, and the great cause of revenge had come true. Next evening, when we were chatting about the matter, Holmes said: "Gleason and Lestrade must be mad with rage when they know that this man is dead. It would not be worth their while to brag. Is it over?"

I replied, "I don't see how much the two of them have done to catch the murderer." My partner said bitterly: "It doesn't matter what you do in this world. What matters is how you can make people believe that you have done something." After a pause, he went on again. Say lightly: "It doesn't matter. Anyway, I will not let this case go. In my memory, there is no more brilliant case than this one. It is simple, but there are several points in it. It is worthy of deep training.” "Easy!" I couldn't help exclaiming. "Yes, it is indeed simple. It is difficult to describe it in other words," said Sherlock Holmes.Seeing the surprised expression on my face, he smiled unconsciously. "You think, without anyone's help, just after some ordinary reasoning, I actually caught this criminal within three days, which proves that the case is actually very simple."

I said, "That's true." "I have already told you that unusual things are generally not obstacles, but a clue. When solving this kind of problem, the most important thing is to be able to use reasoning methods to reason back layer by layer. This is a very useful skill, and it is also very easy, but people do not often use it in practice. In daily life, the method of reasoning forward is more useful, so people tend to ignore backtracking The level of reasoning. If there are fifty people who can make comprehensive reasoning from all aspects of affairs, then it is only a handful of people who can use analytical methods to reason.”

I said, "To be honest, I don't quite understand what you mean." "It's also hard for me to expect you to figure it out. Let me try and see if I can make it clearer. Most people are like this: if you give them a series of facts, they can Tell you the possible results, they can connect this series of facts in their minds, and after thinking, they can get some results. However, there are a few people, if you tell them the results, They can deduce, through their inner consciousness, what the steps were that led to the result. This is the faculty I mean when I speak of 'retrospective reasoning' or 'method of analysis'."

I said, "I see." "Now this case is an example of the fact that you only know the outcome, and everything else must be discovered by yourself. Well, now let me explain to you as best I can the various steps of my reasoning in this case. I Let's start at the beginning. As you know, I went to the house on foot. At the time, no preconceived notions were in my mind. Naturally, I started by checking the streets, as I have already explained to you. I saw clearly in the street the marks of a wagon wheel. After researching, I was sure that this mark must have been left at night. Since the distance between the wheels was narrow, I concluded that it was a Hire carriages rather than own carriages, as generally all hire carriages in London are narrower than own carriages.

"That was the first observation I made. Then I walked slowly up the path in the garden. It happened to be a clay path, which is particularly prone to markings. There is no doubt that in your It seemed that the path was nothing more than a well-trodden dirt road. But to my trained eyes, every mark on the path had a meaning. Detective Of all the branches of science there is none so important and so neglected as the art of footprinting. Fortunately I have always attached great importance to this science; and after much practice it has become my It was second nature. I saw the heavy boot-prints of the policemen, but I also saw the tracks of the two men who first passed through the garden. It is easy to explain that their tracks preceded those of the others. ; for it can be seen from some places that their footprints have been trampled by the footprints of those who came after them, and have completely disappeared. Thus my second link is formed. This link tells me that there were two night visitors, one One was very tall, as I judged from the length of his stride; the other was well-dressed, as I judged from the small, dainty boot-prints he had left.

"As soon as I entered the house, the inference was confirmed. The gentleman in the fine boots lay before me. If it was a murder, the tall man was the murderer. There were no wounds on the body, But the tense and excited expression on his face convinced me that before he died, he had foreseen his fate. If it was due to a heart attack or other sudden natural death, in the Under no circumstances would such agitated expressions appear on their faces. I sniffed the dead man's lips, and there was a sour smell, so I came to the conclusion that he was forced to take poison and died. Died. Besides, from the look of resentment and fear on his face, I said he was forced. It was by this method of weeding out all unreasonable assumptions that I finally came to this conclusion, because No other hypothesis can be reconciled with these facts. Do not think that this is an unheard-of theory. Compulsory drug use is recorded in the annals of crimes, which is by no means news. Any toxicologist will immediately think of Dolsky in Odessa and that of Ray Turier of Mompelier.

"Now comes the big question of 'why'. The purpose of the murder was not to rob, for there was nothing short of the dead man. Is it a political case, then, or a murder of love? That is The problem I was facing at the time. My thinking was more on the latter. Because in a political assassination, the murderer must run away immediately once he succeeds. But this murder case was the opposite. It was done very leisurely, and the murderer was still in the house His footprints are left everywhere. This shows that he was there all the time. Therefore, this must be a vendetta, not a political one. Only vendettas require such deliberate revenge. .When the blood on the wall was found, I became more convinced of my own opinion. This is a suspicious situation, and you can tell it at a glance. When the ring is found, the problem is settled. It is obvious that the murderer The ring has been used to remind the victim of a dead or absent woman. On this point, I asked Gregson if, in his telegram to Cleveland, he asked about Drebber's past. Didn't have any outstanding problems in his experience. As you may recall, he replied that he had no problems.

"Afterwards, I began to conduct a careful inspection of this room. The results of the inspection made me believe that the murderer was a tall man, and I also found some other details: such as Indian cigars, the murderer's long nails and so on. Because there was no sign of a struggle in the house, I came to the conclusion that the blood on the floor was the murderer's nosebleed when he was agitated. I found that wherever there was blood, there were his footprints Unless it is a person with strong blood, generally few people will bleed such a large amount of blood when they are emotional. Therefore, I boldly think that this criminal may be a strong and red-faced man. Later, the facts really proved that my judgment is correct.

"After leaving the house, I did what Gregson had neglected to do. I sent a telegram to the Chief of Police of Cleveland, asking only about Enoch Dreb's marriage, and the reply was clear. The telegram said, Drebber had accused and pleaded for legal protection against an old rival named Jefferson Hope, who is now in Europe. I knew it then, and I had a lead in this secret case. All that remains to be done The only thing is to catch the murderer firmly. "At that time, I had already decided in my heart: the person who went into that room with Drebber was none other than the driver of the carriage.

"Because I can see from some traces on the street that the horses pulling the carts have moved casually. If someone is driving, this is impossible. If the driver is not in this house, where can he go? Go? And one more thing, it is absurd to think that any sane man would commit a long-planned crime in this way in the presence of a third party who is sure to reveal his secret. Lastly, If a man wants to follow another man around London, is there any better way than being a coachman? After considering these problems, I have come to this inevitable conclusion: Jefferson For Hope, he must be sought among the cabbies in the capital. "If he'd been a coachman, there's no reason to believe he'd quit. On the contrary, a sudden change of job would be more likely to draw attention to him on his part. He'd have to, at least for a while , to carry on with his business. It would be unreasonable to think that he is now using a pseudonym; why would he change his name in a country where no one knows his real name? So, I Formed my company of scouting boys from the streets, and sent them out in order to every coachyard in the City of London, until they found the man I was looking for. How well they did it, I You remember well how quickly and conveniently this team was used. As for the murder of Stangerson, it was indeed a totally unexpected event. But these accidents, no matter what the circumstances , are very difficult to avoid. You already know that in this case, I found two pills. I have long suspected that there must be such a thing. You see, the whole case is a logical A continuous, uninterrupted chain.” "Excellent!" I exclaimed. "Your skills ought to be published for all to see. You should publish the case. If you don't want to, I'll publish it for you." "Do what you like, doctor," he answered, "and look at this!" he said, handing me a newspaper. "Look at this!" Here is today's Les Echos, and the passage he refers to reports the case we are talking about. The papers said: "As a result of the sudden death of the man Hope, the public has lost a sensational discussion material.Hope was a suspect in the murders of Mr. Enoch Drebber and Mr. Joseph Stangerson.Although we have learned from the relevant authorities that this is a long-standing criminal case of sexual disputes, which involves issues such as love and Mormonism.But the insider truth of this case may never be revealed now.It is reported that both victims were Mormons when they were young.The deceased prisoner Hope was also from Salt Lake City.If this case serves no other purpose, at least it serves as an outstanding example of the speed with which our detectives solve cases, and is sufficient to serve as a warning to all foreigners; they should settle their disputes within their own country. , it would be better not to bring these strife to British soil.It was an open secret that the swiftness of the case was entirely attributable to Messrs. Lestrade and Gleeson, eminent officers of Scotland Yard.It is reported that the murderer was arrested at the home of a Mr. Sherlock Holmes.As a private detective, Sherlock Holmes also showed certain talents in investigating cases. Under the guidance of such two mentors, he presumably will be able to achieve certain achievements.It is generally expected that the two officials will be honored with some kind of award, as a recognition of their merits and so on. Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Didn't I tell you so at the beginning? That's all we've got from our studies in Scarlet: earned them a prize!" I replied, "It doesn't matter, the whole facts are in my notebook, and the society will know the truth. Now that the case is solved, you should be satisfied, as the Roman miser said." : Laughing and scolding is up to you, I will do it myself; There are thousands of treasures in the family, and I am the only one who rewards them. "