Holmes came back at dusk. He rushed into the room without saying a word. After a while, the high and low sound of the violin came from his bedroom. He completely ignored the feelings of the audience, probably After torturing the ears of the people outside for a quarter of an hour, he stopped, put down his violin with satisfaction, and then said to Zhang Heng beside him, "Tonight's meeting with Vuillard has been cancelled. I informed him that there will be no appointments in the afternoon." I got too much useful information and couldn’t talk about anything when we met.”
"Just in time, I also want to tell you that I may have something to do and I won't be able to go there tonight." Zhang Heng took out the two opera tickets. "A friend gave me two tickets and asked me to go to her performance tonight."
"Ha, is there a new opera coming out at the Queen's Theatre?" Holmes was as sharp-eyed as ever, "Then do you have a companion?"
"As you know, I just arrived in London not long ago. I'm not very familiar with this place and don't have many acquaintances, so..."
"That's a coincidence. I was also planning to go to the Queen's Theater tonight." Holmes smiled.
"In addition to being interested in the violin, do you also like opera?"
"I quite like opera, but tonight is not just for listening to opera." Holmes said, "If we want to catch Mr. M, we have to know who his target is. He has been operating in France before. Going all the way to London is obviously not a small business."
"So you have a range?"
"Well, I visited a few friends this afternoon and compiled a list, arranged from top to bottom, of people he may be targeting. Although he hasn't taken action yet, if I were him he should I have already begun to study the target. It just so happens that the characters numbered 1, 3, and 5 on my list will all appear at the Queen's Theater tonight. I have a relationship with the theater's chief makeup artist, and I originally wanted to ask him to help me get it. You need a ticket to get in, but it’s best if you have a ticket in your hand now.”
…………
After dinner, Holmes and Zhang Heng changed into formal clothes.
Holmes looked a lot more energetic after shaving and tidying up his beard. With his aquiline nose and strong facial lines, although he may still not be considered a handsome man, he is definitely not ugly either.
Then Holmes picked another cane with tortoise shell as the handle and rosewood as the body. At the same time, he said to Zhang Heng, "My oriental friend, now that you have money, you should buy a cane that suits you."
Zhang Heng probably doesn’t understand European men’s crazy love for canes. In the so-called gentleman class in London, almost no one does not have a cane, and usually there is more than one. For example, when walking the dog in the morning, they will take an all-wood cane with them. It will be replaced with a silver cane, and at the dinner, the rich will hold a cane with a gold cane.
In addition, there are also special canes for occasions such as working and watching operas. When Balzac was at his most depressed and heavily in debt, he still did not hesitate to spend 700 francs to buy a cane inlaid with agate stones. Luxurious walking sticks, this kind of consumption desire has completely overwhelmed most of the 618 shoppers. Looking at it today, it even feels like selling a kidney to buy apples.
However, it has always been Zhang Heng's virtue to do as the Romans do.
The 19th century was probably the golden age of walking sticks, and even many famous jewelry brands couldn't help but get a piece of the pie. Tiffany and Cartier have launched corresponding walking sticks. Zhang Heng is not very interested in these brands of walking sticks. Not only because of their high price, but also because Zhang Heng’s selection criteria are different from those of most people. In addition to status, walking sticks In addition to being a symbol, it can also be used as a self-defense weapon when necessary.
Therefore, Zhang Heng is more concerned about the weight and strength of the cane, and whether it is qualified as a weapon, rather than the appearance. He plans to go to the flea market tomorrow when he has time.
When the two arrived at the Queen's Theatre, it was still half an hour before the show started. The ticket sent by Irene Adler was in a good location, right in the middle of the second row. As for the targets that Holmes was paying attention to, they were in the boxes on the second floor.
Only then did Zhang Heng find out that one of them was actually the current British Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury. Before the performance started, he walked into the box accompanied by several people with a shy belly and a cigar in his mouth.
Holmes is also watching the people on the list, or rather the people around the Prime Minister, but so far he has found nothing.
As the audience finished entering one after another, the theater lights dimmed, the music started, and the curtain slowly opened.
In the last two minutes before the opera started, Zhang Heng said to Holmes, "I figured it out."
"Well, what have you figured out?"
"I want to know where the oil painting is."
"Oh?" Holmes smiled when he heard this, "Tell me about it."
"The key point is that the canvas of the oil painting disappears, but the frame is still left in the room," Zhang Heng analyzed. "This is what I was a little surprised about before. Taking the painting away directly is comparable to taking the painting off the frame and then It’s much easier to take away, so there’s something wrong with my previous reasoning. If the housekeeper and the maid colluded, then the former could have taken the painting out and put it in the latter’s place first, but the maid still took the painting down, which means that the housekeeper There is indeed no suspicion in this matter. She did this to facilitate the hiding of the painting. Since she was searched and not found, the painting was not hidden on her body, so there is only one possibility left. The painting is still there. in the room.
"Many people have a misunderstanding, thinking that Mr. M must get something before he can blackmail the owner. But in fact, he does not need to do this step. There is an easier way, as long as the other party thinks that he has stolen the object. Items are enough. This is also the purpose of the arrogant-looking letter with the title of the book. When he got up in the morning, the Viscount found that the oil painting was missing, and at the same time, Mr. M's signed letter was left on the ground. Of course, everyone would combine the two. It is logical to think that Mr. M stole the oil painting."
"That's right." Holmes clapped his hands and praised, "It is not ruled out that some criminals deliberately disturb the scene, but most of the time everything left by the criminals has a purpose, especially for such an extremely shrewd old thief. , just like an artist, he will rarely add a few extra strokes to an already perfect painting... Then, if you go further, I ask you where the oil painting is hidden in the room, you Can you still deduce it?”
"In that porcelain bottle," Zhang Heng said decisively, "Viard is indeed a very conscientious detective. He collected more information and basically searched every corner of the room, except That porcelain vase, I looked at the picture in my notebook. The mouth of that porcelain vase is very small, but the belly is very big. If you put the oil painting in and it is close to the body of the bottle below, you can't find it from above."
Xiao Dai Zhao said
Thanks to Hua gang leader Zi Rong for the reward~ Then, please ask for some monthly tickets at the beginning of the month~
