Chapter 504 The Whereabouts of the Oil Painting

Holmes came back at dusk. He rushed into the room without saying a word. After a while, the sound of the violin came from his bedroom. He didn't care about the audience's feelings at all. After tormenting the ears of the people outside, it took a quarter of an hour before he stopped, put down the violin contentedly, and then said to Zhang Heng who was beside him, "The meeting with Vuillard tonight is cancelled. I informed him that there will be no I get too much useful information, and I can't talk about it when we meet."

"Just right, I also want to tell you that I might not be able to go tonight due to business." Zhang Heng took out the two opera tickets, "A friend gave me two tickets and asked me to go to her performance at night."

"Ha, is there any new opera coming out at the Queen's Theatre?" Holmes was as sharp-eyed as ever. "Then do you have any companions?"

"You know, I haven't been in London for long, and I'm not very familiar with it, and I don't have any acquaintances, so..."

"That's a coincidence. I'm also planning to go to the Queen's Theater tonight." Holmes laughed.

"Apart from your interest in the violin, do you also like opera?"

"I really like opera, but tonight is not just for listening to opera." Holmes said, "If we want to catch that Mr. M, we need to know who his target is. He has been active in France before, and suddenly Traveling all the way to London, obviously it can’t be a small business.”

"So you have range?"

"Well, I went to visit a few friends this afternoon and sorted out a list, arranged in order from top to bottom, all of them are people he may target. Although he hasn't done anything yet, if I were him, I should I have already started to study the target. It just so happens that the characters numbered 1, 3, and 5 on my list will appear in the Queen's Theater tonight. I have a relationship with the theater's chief make-up artist. It's 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 their formal attires.

After Holmes shaved his beard and tidied up, he looked more energetic. With his aquiline nose and resolute facial lines, although he might still not be considered a handsome man, he definitely wasn't ugly either.

Then Holmes picked another cane with a tortoiseshell handle and a rosewood body, and said to Zhang Heng, "My friend from the East, now that you have money, you should also buy a cane that suits you."

Zhang Heng may not understand the crazy love of European men for canes. Almost no one in the so-called gentleman class in London does not have a cane, and generally there is not only one. It would be replaced by a silver-tipped cane, and the rich man at the dinner party would hold a gold-tipped cane.

In addition, there are special corresponding canes for occasions like office work and opera watching. When the great novelist Balzac was the most down-and-out and heavily in debt, he still did not hesitate to throw 700 francs to buy a cane inlaid with agate. Shi's luxurious cane, this kind of consumption desire has already exhausted most of the 618 shoppers. Looking at it today, it is even a bit like selling a kidney to buy an apple.

However, doing as the Romans do has always been Zhang Heng's virtue.

The 19th century was probably also the golden age of walking sticks, and even many famous jewelry brands couldn't help but take a share. Tiffany and Cartier have launched corresponding canes. Zhang Heng is not very interested in these brands of canes, not only because of their high prices, but also because Zhang Heng's selection criteria are different from most people. In addition to the symbol, it can also be used as a self-defense weapon when necessary.

Therefore, Zhang Heng pays more attention to 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, there was still half an hour before the show started. The tickets given by Irene Adler were in a good position, right in the middle of the second row, but the targets that Holmes was concerned about were in the boxes on the second floor.

It was only when Zhang Heng found out that one of them turned out to be the current British Prime Minister, the Lord of Salisbury. Before the performance started, he walked into the box with a cigar in his stomach, accompanied by several people.

Holmes was also watching those on the list, or rather those around the Prime Minister, but so far he had found nothing.

As the audience finished entering the arena one after another, the lights of the theater were also dimmed, the music sounded, 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 do you want to understand?"

"I want to know where the oil painting is."

"Oh?" Holmes smiled when he heard that. "Let's hear it."

"The point is that the canvas of the oil painting has disappeared, but the frame is still in the room," Zhang Heng analyzed, "This is also what I was a little surprised about before. Taking the painting away directly is comparable to taking the painting off the frame and putting it on again." It is much easier to take it away, so my previous inference is problematic. If the housekeeper and the maid conspired, then the former brought the painting out and put it in the latter's place first, but the maid still took it down, indicating that the housekeeper There is indeed no suspicion in this matter. She did this for the convenience of hiding the painting. Since she was searched and did not find it, then the painting is 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 to 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 stole the target Items are enough, this is also the function of the arrogant-looking letter. When he woke up in the morning, the Viscount found that the oil painting was missing, and at the same time, Mr. M’s signature letter was left on the ground. When the two are combined, of course everyone will It is logical to think that Mr. M stole the oil painting."

"That's right." Holmes clapped his hands in praise, "It's not ruled out that some criminals intentionally disrupted the scene, but most of the time, everything left behind by the criminals has a purpose, especially this kind of shrewd old thief. , just like an artist, he hardly adds a few extra touches to an already perfect painting... Then, if I go further, I ask you where the oil painting is hidden in the room, you Can you figure it out?"

"In that porcelain bottle," Zhang Heng said decisively, "Vuillard is indeed a very conscientious detective. He collected more information and basically searched every corner of that room. That porcelain bottle, I looked at the portrait in the notebook, the mouth of that porcelain bottle is small, but the stomach is big, if you put the oil painting in it and stick it to the bottom of the bottle, you can’t find it from above.”

Thank you Zirong, the leader of Huabang, for your reward~ Then, ask for a monthly ticket at the beginning of the month~