Chapter 490 Report From the Les Echos

Zhang Heng got up early the next morning and took a record - the case of the crippled Ricotte and his abominable wife. If Zhang Heng remembered correctly, this was the first case Holmes solved during his tenure as a detective. The case was mentioned in the original work, but there is no detailed content.

When Zhang Heng came to the restaurant, Holmes had already been sitting there early, enjoying his toast and coffee. The two greeted each other, and then Zhang Heng also sat down opposite.

Holmes glanced at the things in Zhang Heng's hand, "Oh, this case is quite interesting, although it is not difficult, but because I had just started working as a detective at that time, it took me three days to complete the investigation. , as long as one morning is enough."

Zhang Heng smiled. He doesn't dislike the self-confidence of Holmes. In other words, it is this kind of self-confidence that makes Holmes a character with great personality, which is sought after and loved by thousands of readers. In fact, in daily relationships, Holmes He is a very humble person, but once it involves his professional field, he will patrol his territory like a lion proudly.

Zhang Heng finished drinking the milk when there was a sudden knock on the door downstairs.

Mrs. Hudson opened the door and saw Gregson standing outside. The latter swept away the previous anxiety, and the whole person seemed to be in a good mood. He floated in like a puff of smoke and said in a loud voice, "Did you watch the morning show?" Newspaper?"

"Not yet." Holmes looked at him with interest.

Gregson handed over the "Echo" in his hand, "You can take a look, it's just out of the oven."

Hearing this, Zhang Heng took the newspaper, turned to a report on the front page, and read it out word by word.

The reporter first introduced the unnamed female corpse found on the Thames yesterday, and then talked about how Sergeant Gregson cleverly found the factory where the female corpse was located, and then confirmed the identity of the female corpse. And so on with the assistance of the police, but the full text only has this one sentence. On the contrary, there are several paragraphs praising Sheriff Gregson for being wise and alert.

Gregson blushed a little when he heard this, and argued, "You gave me a lot of help, especially the clues about the John Textile Factory, but what you said is not all right, and the previous one is not the point... Please continue reading go down."

Holmes laughed it off and was not angry. He seemed to be used to it. In fact, this was why the policemen in Scotland Yard liked to come to him for help. He didn't care much about fame and wealth, and he wouldn't be the policeman who would end up handling the case just because of the limelight. On the contrary, he was more interested in those weird cases than anything else.

Zhang Heng continued to read. It said that after Gregson got the clue, he immediately led people to the textile factory, and quickly confirmed the identity of the unknown female corpse. Her name was Molly, and she came from the countryside a year ago. She went to London to join one of her aunts, and it was her aunt who helped her find a job in a textile factory.

Because she is not a skilled worker, Molly's wages are pitifully low, but her daily workload is quite high. She works hard, and the money she earns is just enough to make ends meet, because her aunt also has four children to support. The help that can be given to her is limited, and the only thing Molly can rely on in this city is herself.

Until she met Paul, who was one year older than her, but came to London three years earlier than her, and worked in the chemical factory next door. Although he was young, he was already an old fritter in the chemical factory. He often caused trouble. The reporter described Paul as Becoming a cunning, cunning, lazy villain, coaxing the inexperienced Molly with sweet words, and finally couldn't help showing the fox's tail the night before.

After a little investigation, Gregson discovered that Molly went to find Paul after get off work that night, and then he led a raid on Paul's residence, where he found Molly's clothes, which were identified by witnesses as what Molly was wearing that night. This time the evidence was so convincing that Paul could no longer deny it.

The reporter wrote emotionally in the following article-it only took half a day for police officer Gregson to solve such a strange case. It is really a blessing for the people of London to have such an outstanding police chief. In the future, we will cooperate with the investigation of the police station, actively provide relevant clues, and jointly maintain the law and order of the city.

Gregson's face was also very excited at this time, and he said to Holmes, "I don't mean to disrespect you, but with all due respect, no matter how smart people make mistakes, you are already very powerful, and you can see it from the corpse alone. She came out to work in the John Textile Factory, and it is normal for her to have some discrepancies in her inferences about the murderer, and in the end, we still have to rely on our police to help."

Holmes was noncommittal and asked, "That boy named Paul is different from what I said?"

"There are some gaps," Gregson said with a smile. "There is nothing wrong with acquaintances. It is certain that there are unreasonable thoughts. When we went to his residence, we found not only those clothes under the bed, but the little one The bastard has been thinking about that for a long time, but it's not unusual. Many cases I have handled are because men can't control the lower body, but it's a pity that the child named Molly is so young. ..."

Holmes interrupted the sheriff, "What about other aspects?"

"The height is not right, that little bastard is not six feet, at most five feet five, he is quite wild, the two of us hold him down, he is still struggling, and wants to bite the ear of one of our police officers, there is no way, I can only give him a ruthless blow to make him calm down, but his strength can only be said to be so-so. It is definitely better than Molly, but it is not much better than ordinary people. Minor injuries, left over from the previous fight, but there is no scratch on the arm."

"You have arrested the wrong person," Holmes said after hearing this.

Gregson let out a chuckle, "Look at what you said, I know that your previous inferences are a bit problematic, and you may be a little embarrassed, but no one in our business has made mistakes, and no matter how powerful people are, they will stumble. At the time... that's why we often say that the most important thing in handling a case is to talk about the evidence."

"It is correct to talk about the evidence, but you have arrested the wrong person." Holmes shook his head and said, "That kid named Paul is not the murderer."

"How is this possible? Are you thinking of me as a rookie who just entered the police station?" Gregson disagreed, "I have been a policeman for so many years, and I have handled many cases. There can be no problems with such conclusive evidence, and That little bastard couldn't help admitting this morning that he did have thoughts about Molly."

"Having ideas and not breaking the law," Holmes said, "What's more, they are all at this age, when they are curious about the bodies of the opposite sex, so they cannot be identified as the murderer."

"The clothes, how to explain the clothes, but there are bloodstains on them." The sheriff spread his hands.

This time, Holmes did not answer in a hurry, but looked at Zhang Heng, "Are you free in the morning? In order to prevent innocent souls from struggling in the prison, and to prevent the real villains from going unpunished, it seems that we have to run again." It's been a trip."