the next day,
early morning.
Strand Street, Strand Street, Strand Street, Editorial Office, Strand Street Magazine.
Doyle slowly woke up from his sleep, yawning,
"Ah……"
He straightened his body and wanted to stretch.
Unexpectedly, I felt a numbing pain in my right arm, and there was even a soft "click" sound in the joint, as if I had been in a very awkward posture all night.
At the same time, a man's voice came from his ear: "Arthur, are you awake?"
Doyle couldn't help but tremble.
"who!?"
He stood up suddenly.
"It's me, Herbert."
Herbert Greenhoff Smith, editor of the Seaside Magazine.
He was standing in front of Doyle, holding a cup of steaming hot drink in his hand. He handed it over and said, "Are you still awake?"
Doyle took the cup and took a sip.
The warm tea flows down the esophagus and falls into the stomach bag, making the body extremely comfortable.
Only then did he wake up completely.
Looking around, I saw that it was just dawning, and the dirty morning fog from London was blowing on the windows, seeming to want to drift in through the cracks in the windows, creating an unspeakable atmosphere.
The "bed" under Doyle is made of six chairs with backrests, facing each other.
He couldn't help but mutter: "No wonder it's so uncomfortable to sleep..."
Herbert looked helpless,
"I told you to go home and sleep, but you didn't listen."
Of course Doyle couldn't go home;
In "The Dancing Little Man", he used the format of case chapter + secret chapter for the first time. Whether it can be successful depends on the feedback of readers.
Looking at it now, it seems very good.
At least those last minute supplements of Seaside Magazine were sold.
Herbert on the other side sat behind his desk, took out a small wooden box from the drawer, opened it,
There's actually butter in it,
Then he opened the biscuit tin and spread butter on the biscuits with a butter knife heated by a match.
Doyle looked shocked.
"Is the butter going bad if you put it in this way?"
Herbert said: "Of course it will go bad. However, since you started serializing "The Hound of the Baskervilles", I have stayed up all night, so I will finish the butter before it goes bad. It is so cold in London now ,no problem."
Doyle doubtfully took a piece of biscuit, spread it with butter and ate it.
I didn't expect it to taste pretty good.
The two feasted happily.
Suddenly, Herbert asked: "Arthur, why did you ask me to publish the supplement on Monday this time instead of putting the two split articles on two Wednesdays? You know, it's because you informed us too late. We Only 9,000 copies have been printed, so the supply is seriously insufficient."
Doyle stopped chewing.
"You ask me? Could it be that you really don't know the reason why I arranged this?"
Herbert smiled and gave no clear answer.
The silence speaks,
No answer is the best answer.
Doyle's reason for requesting Monday's supplement is simple -
Not confident in subterfuge.
The code that appears in "The Dancing Man" is not difficult to crack;
The British Empire is full of talented people, especially in top universities. Most professors in science and engineering can solve the code.
Therefore, if the interval between the case chapter and the secret chapter is extended to one week, the story will inevitably be broken and everything will be ruined.
Moreover, because temporary supplements are printed in small quantities, they are less disseminated, which can also reduce the possibility of being broken.
You can even engage in hunger marketing to expand public opinion.
When "Seaside Magazine" releases the reveal on Wednesday, reports such as "Dr. Doyle stumped the whole of London" will inevitably be noisy, and the reputation of the Sherlock Holmes series will surely hit a new high.
Doyle couldn't help but snort in his heart,
"Lu Shi, didn't you say that I can't write good plots? I want to see why you fight me!?"
After Herbert finished eating the biscuits, he picked up the magazine manuscript beside him and flipped through it.
"I have to admit, this "Dancing Little Man" is indeed very exciting. Even though I have read it many times, I still feel... um..."
He suddenly fell silent.
Doyle was surprised,
"how?"
Herbert asked curiously: "By the way, why did you arrange Holmes's failure in this short story?"
In "The Dancing Little Man", Holmes received a commission, but ultimately failed to save the lives of the client and his wife.
Judging from the results, this is indeed a failure.
Doyle pondered,
"I don't know what I think."
Herbert looked confused;
"ah?"
Doyle nodded sincerely and said, "Maybe it's because I want to give Holmes a trace of sadness..."
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door outside.
"Editor-in-Chief! Dr. Doyle!"
Herbert frowned;
"It's so early in the morning, why are you panicking!?"
He walked over and opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, a clerk rushed in, holding on to the back of a chair to stand steady.
Herbert asked: "What's the matter?"
The clerk swallowed hard and said, "No...that's bad, the Manchester Guardian actually...Editor-in-Chief Smith, you'd better read it in person."
As he spoke, he handed over a crumpled copy of the Manchester Guardian.
Herbert and Doyle could not help but look at each other;
Faintly, a bad premonition arose in both of their hearts.
Herbert asked: "Which page?"
The clerk immediately replied: "The book review edition."
Herbert turned to the book review page,
Then, he suddenly opened his mouth wide and maintained this jaw-dropping expression for a full minute.
Doyle said, "What's going on?"
He also moved forward.
This time the "Manchester Guardian" did another trick,
I saw that the book review page was as clean as the last time the sales volume of "The Scotsman" was announced, without even a single English letter.
replaced by……
"Dancing... turned out to be a dancing villain..."
Doyle muttered.
thump--
He sat back in his chair, looking as pale as a ghost.
"Arthur," cried Herbert.
Doyle didn't respond, still looking as lost as ever.
Herbert raised his voice:
"Ah! Se!"
Doyle suddenly came back to his senses and looked at Herbert, but his eyes were full of confusion, as if he couldn't focus.
He asked: "How...what?"
Herbert said: "Don't panic yet! Maybe the dancing villains in this group have no meaning at all, they are just trying to trick people!"
Of course it can't be a scheming,
Because Doyle will publish a reveal sooner or later. When the time comes, readers will compare it with the book review of the "Manchester Guardian", and the conspiracy will immediately turn into self-destruction.
But at this time, Doyle could no longer think about that much.
No matter what, he must hold on to the last straw!
He turned to the book review page again, ran his fingers over the dancing figures, translated them one by one, and muttered: "I...cracked...the..."
There was an eerie silence in the room,
"..."
"..."
"..."
After a long time, Doyle read out the complete sentence:
"
'I cracked the code. Your loyal fellow traveler, Lu. '
"
Doyle seemed to have had all his strength taken away from him, and slumped into the chair again.
(End of chapter)
