The briar pipe first appeared in Mavey's sight, and then a young man wearing a deerstalker hat and carrying a round-headed cane walked into the room.
He has a hooked nose, a long back, sharp cheeks, a slender figure, a plaid cloak on his shoulders, and a pair of gray eyes that remain unchanged. Everything is the same as a year ago, and it seems that there has been no change.
"Holmes, this is Mr. Nicholas von Manstein, these two are his brothers, and his daughter Emma..."
Seeing Holmes return, Watson immediately stood up and introduced: "They have a very important case that they have entrusted you to investigate."
"oh...."
Holmes took off the deerstalker hat on his head and hung it on the hanger behind the door. He looked at Ma Wei and the others in the room, examined them for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "Mr. Nicholas...please allow me to call you this, What specific case is it?"
"That's it." Ma Wei cleared his throat and said in Windsor with a hint of Frederick's accent: "We bought a restaurant on Flower Street, but there seemed to be unclean things in that restaurant, so we thought Please do some on-the-spot investigation."
"Dirty things..." Holmes held the pipe and said, "For this kind of thing, you should go to the Church of the Three Destinies, not me."
"Father Michel from Whitechapel has already gone to check and found no problems. I suspect that someone is behind the scenes."
Holmes nodded slightly: "What's wrong with that restaurant?"
Ma Wei told the story of Mr. Hamlai's family's experiences in detail. Although he heard these stories from the tavern owner, there may be exaggerated descriptions in them, but the general direction of development should be correct. , has certain reference value.
After listening, Holmes frowned slightly. He held his pipe in his mouth and smoked it. He seemed to have some guesses: "What happened to the original owner of the restaurant, Mr. Hamlet Fouts, and his family is indeed a bit bizarre."
"My wife was killed by a falling pillar, and my children died of illness one after another, and the causes were different..."
"Well, if this phenomenon is man-made, then the perpetrator must be a doctor or pharmacist who is proficient in various medicines, and maybe also understands some architectural structures."
"So I would like to ask Mr. Holmes to go to Flower Street in person and catch the prisoner hiding behind it." Ma Wei said with great sincerity.
Holmes stared at Mavey's eyes for a long time, raised the corners of his mouth with a meaningful smile, and asked: "Now?"
"Now, we're anxious."
"Okay, let's set off immediately, Watson, you come with me."
"knew."
Putting on his coat, Watson followed Marvey and Holmes and boarded the carriage heading to the Whitechapel area of Flower Street. Under the night, the streets of London were filled with white mist, and the gas lamps standing on the street looked like monsters. His eyes couldn't see the distant scene clearly.
clang--
clang--
When driving to Westminster in the central district, Big Ben, located on the bank of the Thames River, rang. The clear and crisp bells mixed with a hint of thickness echoed in the city of Westminster. From the melody, it should be the hourly bell - —It’s already 6 o’clock in the evening.
Ma Wei took out his pocket watch and calibrated the time according to the sound of the bell. Big Ben is an absolutely authoritative timepiece. Its fine structure and perfect maintenance and repairs ensure that its error will not exceed two seconds. Many people will calibrate the time according to the sound of the bell.
While the bells continued, Holmes' right fingers gently tapped his knees according to the melody, perfectly matching the bells.
"Is this the first time Mr. Nicholas has come to London?" Holmes suddenly asked after the bells stopped ringing.
"Yes, we three brothers have only heard of this city from other people's mouths before. We just arrived in London yesterday by steam airship."
"good idea."
"what did you say?"
"Oh, I said Mr. Nicholas, your idea of choosing to come to London by steam airship is very good." Holmes smiled and said: "This allowed you to successfully meet Baron Frederick, didn't it?"
His eyelids twitched slightly, Ma Wei smiled and said: "How do you know that I am the sturdy Baron Frederick on the steam airship?"
"I want to wait for Mr. Nicholas to tell me the answer to this question in person." Holmes glanced at the letter sitting next to Ma Wei, "Your brother seems to have some opinions about me. Have we met somewhere?" "
"...No." The source looked away, clutching the walnut cane tightly and said, "We have never seen it before."
Holmes turned to look out the window, and sighed intentionally or unintentionally: "Winter has come."
"Are you cold?" Ma Wei asked.
"Cold, but..." Holmes narrowed his eyes and said, "I haven't lost my fighting spirit and hope."
"It's really something to celebrate."
"I think there are more joyous events worthy of celebration than this."
Daniel looked serious as he listened to the riddle conversation between Marvey and Holmes. As the first crown prince who has been involved in politics for a long time, he knew the meaning behind these riddles very clearly. The conversation between Marvey and Holmes was by no means as simple as the literal meaning. ....
Daniel couldn't understand. He knew that these conversations had a deeper meaning, but he still couldn't decipher it. What Mavey and Holmes were talking about seemed to be secrets that only they knew.
Not long after, the carriage came to Flower Street again and stopped in front of the door of Restaurant No. 27. The tavern across the street was already open for business. The streets at night were less busy and noisy during the day and more relaxed and quiet at night.
"Is this the restaurant?"
After getting out of the car, Holmes looked at the restaurant storefront that was completely nailed down with wooden boards and was airtight, and began to observe the surrounding environment.
In the dark alley, some women wearing short skirts with exposed ankles held a cigarette and stared at the people passing by. Whenever a customer came to the door, they would throw away the cigarette, hold the customer's shoulders and walk into the dimly lit hotel behind them. This phenomenon is very common in East London. Even the St. James Street area, which is the only high-end residential area, is home to many prostitutes kept by wealthy people.
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"It's not safe to open a shop here. Nobles will not live in such a place." Holmes said with his pipe in his mouth: "But this should not be a problem for you, Mr. Nicholas."
"I'm not a nobleman. I'm content with having a place to live in London." Mavey said, "Felix, knock on the door."
Lai Wen stepped forward and just as he was about to knock the door, the door opened inward. Edward's figure appeared at the door and bowed slightly to Ma Wei: "Master."
"How is the situation?" Ma Wei walked into the house, and the floor creaked: "Has Mr. Hamlet moved out yet?"
"Not yet." Edward replied: "Half an hour ago, his youngest son went crazy again and hid in the room and refused to come out. Mr. Hamlet was helpless and was trying to persuade him."
"Don't worry, I have invited the great detective Sherlock Holmes. He will definitely be able to solve the problem. Go upstairs and have a look."
Stepping on the narrow stairs that could only accommodate one person, Ma Wei and the others went to the second floor. Seeing that there was no one on the second floor, they went up to the third floor. At the door of the room in the corner, they saw Ha, who was holding a kerosene lamp and was very anxious. Muller Fouts.
"Mr. Nicholas..." Seeing Mavey, Hamlai sighed: "Quinto refuses to come out, I still need a little time."
Quinto is the name of Mr. Hamlet's youngest son. Every time he gets sick, he will lock himself in the room and yell whenever anyone approaches. For this reason, Hamlet often receives complaints from his neighbors.
"This is Sherlock Holmes, Diloch Holmes." Mavey introduced: "Let him check it out."
"Holmes?"
Hamlai's cloudy eyes stared directly at Holmes, shook his head and said: "Even Father Michel can't cure my son, what can Holmes do? Mr. Nicholas, I have already thought about it. Tomorrow at the latest, When my son's condition improves at dawn, I will take him away immediately and never come back!"
"It's useless to escape, Mr. Hamlet." Mawei said earnestly: "If your son is really entangled by the devil, it will be useless even if you escape to the ends of the earth. How do you know that the devil will not follow Quinto? Go? If the cause of your son's madness is not evil, why not let Mr. Holmes investigate? It may be related to the deaths of several of your other children."
Hamlai was silent for a while and said in a hoarse voice: "Okay, but you must not provoke Quinto. His mental state is very unstable now. I'm afraid he will do something irrational."
Hamlai held the kerosene lamp and backed away. Ma Wei and others came to the door, looked at the ancient and decayed wooden door, and knocked lightly a few times.
Winter winter winter!
"ah!
! "
Suddenly a man's sharp roar sounded in the room: "Don't come here! You're not allowed to come here! Get out! Get out! This is... my territory!"
! "
The magic wooden box in their arms buzzed and vibrated, sounding a warning. Junia and Edward felt the sudden evil aura in the room and looked at Mavey at the same time.
Ma Wei remained calm, as if he didn't know that the magic wooden box in his arms was vibrating as a warning. Ignoring the gazes of Yunia and Edward, he stepped aside and said to Mr. Holmes:
"Mr. Holmes, what do you think we should do next?"
