Holmes has a firm willpower to control his personal emotions. Within two hours, he seemed to have forgotten the strange things we were entangled with. He concentrated on admiring the paintings of modern Belgian masters. From the time we left the art gallery

Until the time he stayed at the Norwegian Boland Hotel, he would not talk about any other topic except art. In fact, his views on art were quite superficial.

When Holmes and I went to Henry's appointment for lunch, "Sir Henry Bascowell is waiting for you upstairs," the accountant said. "He asked me to take you up as soon as you arrive."

"I would like to take a look at your passenger register. Do you have any objection?" said my companion.

"No objection, no objection," the accountant said repeatedly.

It can be found from the passenger register that two more groups of guests came after Henry. The first group was the Shawfield Johnson family from Newcastle; the second group was Omo from Hayloki Town, Australia.

Wife and maid.

"This must be the Johnson I am familiar with!" said my companion to the accountant. "He is a lawyer, isn't he? His hair is gray and he walks with a limp."

"Sir, no, this Mr. Johnson is a gentleman, a coal mine owner, very active, and no older than you."

"You must have mistaken his industry, right?"

"Sir, I am not mistaken. Mr. Johnson has lived in our hotel for many years, and we know him very well."

"Okay. And Mrs. Omo, I seem to remember this name. Please forgive my curiosity. When visiting a friend, you often meet another friend. This is a common thing!"

"Sir, she is a sick lady. Her husband was once the mayor of Gloucester. She always comes to stay at our hotel when she comes to London."

"Thank you! Then I'm afraid I can't say that Mrs. Omer is my friend."

"The questions I just asked have proved a very important fact, Watson." As we went upstairs together, Holmes continued to whisper: "Now, we know clearly that the person who is very important to our new friend

The person of interest did not stay in the same hotel as our new friend. In other words, although he was as keen on tracking our new friend as we saw, he was also

Worried about being seen by our new friends. Oh, that's a particularly telling fact."

"What does this mean?"

"That means—God, my dear friend, what is going on?" Holmes suddenly changed the subject.

It turned out that when we were almost at the top of the stairs, we happened to meet Henry walking towards us. He was very angry, his face was red with anger, and he was holding an old high-top leather shoe in his hand, which was full of dust. He was so angry that he could hardly speak.

When he spoke, his voice sounded higher than in the morning, and his American Western accent was also thick.

"Do the people in this hotel think I'm easy to bully?" Henry shouted in a high-pitched voice, "Let them be careful, otherwise, they will understand that they are joking with the wrong person, how unreasonable! What if they can't find me?

If you lose your new shoes, then they will be in trouble. Mr. Holmes, I am usually the least afraid of joking, but this time they have gone too far."

"Still looking for your leather shoes?"

"Yes, Mr. Holmes, I must find it." "But you said this morning that what you lost was a new high-top brown leather shoe!"

"Yes, Mr. Holmes. But now, I have lost an old black leather shoe."

"Why, did you mean..."

"I just want to say that I have three pairs of shoes in total - the old black one, the new brown one, and the pair of patent leather shoes I am wearing now. Someone took one of my new brown leather shoes last night and stole it again today.

I got an old black one." Henry said to the waiter: "Hey, did you find it? Tell me, don't just stand there stupidly!"

A German waiter came and looked panicked.

"Not found, Sir. I asked everywhere in the hotel, but no one saw your shoes."

"Okay, you must find the shoes for me before the sun goes down! Otherwise, I will go to your boss and tell him that I will leave this hotel immediately." Henry said angrily.

"You can definitely find it, Sir. I just need you to be patient. I promise, you can definitely find your shoes."

"I hope so. I don't want to lose anything more in this den of thieves - Mr. Holmes, please forgive me for bothering you with such a trivial matter..."

"I think this is something that deserves special attention!" "Oh, don't take this too seriously, it's just a trivial matter."

"How do you understand this little thing?"

"I don't want to understand it at all. But it seems that, of all the things I have ever encountered, this is the most angry and weird thing that makes me angry."

"Perhaps, this is the strangest thing..." my companion said meaningfully.

"Mr. Holmes, what do you think of this matter?"

"Oh, I dare not say that I have a complete understanding. Sir Henry, this case is quite complicated! Connect this matter with your uncle's death. I dare not say that in the case I have handled,

Among the 500 important cases, is there one case that is so tortuous and bizarre? But we have already grasped several clues, and we expect that one of them will help us discover the truth. Perhaps, we will also waste some time on the wrong path.

, energy, but sooner or later we will always be able to sort out accurate clues."

We had a very pleasant luncheon, during which little talk was made of the case, and after lunch my companion asked Henry in the drawing-room what his intentions were.

"I'm going to Bathcowell Hall," said Henry. "When?"

"this weekend."

"In general..." my partner said: "Sir Henry, I feel that your decision is very wise. I can fully prove that you have been monitored in London, in such a huge city.

, in the vast sea of ​​​​thousands of people, it is difficult to distinguish who this person is or what purpose he has. If he has malicious intentions, he is likely to bring misfortune to you, and we may not be able to prevent unfortunate events from happening.

.Dr. Mortimer, do you know that you two have been followed since you came out of my house this morning?"

Dr. Mortimer was shocked and said: "Being followed! Being followed by who?"

"Unfortunately, that's something I can't tell you at the moment. Are there any acquaintances of yours on Dartmoor who have thick, black beards?"

"I don't think so," said Dr. Mortimer. "Let me see—ah, by the way, Sir Charles' steward Barrymore has a black beard."

"Where is Barrymore now?"

"He must be looking after the manor!"

"We'd better confirm whether Barrymore is indeed staying in the manor. Maybe he is in London!"

"How do you prove this?"

"Please give me a telegram. 'Is everything ready for Henry Bathcowell?' That will do. To Mr. Barrymore at Bathcowell Hall. Telegram near the estate.

Where is the office? Is it Greenpen? Excellent, let's send another telegram to the postmaster at Greenpen, saying: 'Mr. Barrymore's telegram, be sure to give it to me. If I'm not here, please call back and let us know.

Sir Henry Bascowell, Samborland Inn. 'That way we can find out, without leaving it till night, whether Barrymore is indeed at his place of employment at the present time."

"That's very good." Henry said: "Doctor Mortimer, what kind of person is this Barrymore?"

"Oh, he is the son of the late old housekeeper. Their family has been responsible for taking care of Bascoville Manor for four generations. As far as I know, the couple are very respected in the countryside."

Henry said: "It is very clear that these people are simply too comfortable once there are no members of our Bascowell family sitting in the manor."

"That's the truth," said Dr. Mortimer.

"What benefit does Barrymore have to gain from Sir Charles's will?" asked my companion.

"The couple will get £500 each," Dr Mortimer said.

"Oh! Do the couple know that they are going to get this money?"

"They knew because Sir Charles was very fond of talking about the contents of his will."

"This is very meaningful."

"I hope, Mr. Holmes," said Dr. Mortimer, "that you will not regard as a suspect every person who has benefited from the will of Sir Charles, who also left me £1,000!"

"Really? Who else got the benefit?"

"And besides, large sums of money are given to public charity, many small sums are distributed to some individuals, and the remainder belongs entirely to Sir Henry."

"How much is Sir Charles' remaining estate?" "740,000 pounds!"

My partner shrugged his eyebrows in surprise and said, "I didn't expect that there was such a huge wealth."

"Sir Charles is famous for being one of the richest people in the world, but before we counted his securities, we didn't know how rich he really was. It turned out that the total value of his entire property was over 1 million pounds."

"God! No matter who sees such a big bet, he will definitely bet on him desperately, but there is another important question..." Holmes pointed at Henry and said: "Doctor Mortimer, suppose our young friend

Misfortunes have occurred—please pardon my unpleasant supposition—who else is entitled to inherit this huge fortune?"

"Sir Charles's brother Roger died before he was married, so the property passed to his distant cousin, James Dythman, a native of Wysmorland.

Older priest."

"Thank you. All these details are very worthy of attention. Have you met James Daismen?"

"I have seen him. He came to see Sir Charles once. He is a solemn man and lives a holy and simple life. I also know that he refused to accept any property from Sir Childs. Sir Childs once forced him to

He receives a fortune."

"Can this person with no hobbies actually become the heir to Sir Charles' huge fortune?"

"He is likely to become the heir to Sir Charles' huge fortune, as stipulated by law. Unless the current owner, Sir Henry, makes a new will." Dr. Mortimer said.

"Sir Henry, do you intend to make a will?" asked my companion. "I have not yet, Mr. Holmes, I have not time to spare! I did not know the truth of the matter until yesterday. But in any case,

Next, I always feel that money should not be separated from title and property. This is my uncle's legacy. If the owner lacks the money to maintain the property, how can the reputation of the Bathcowell family be restored? Real estate and money must not be

Separation."

"You are right. Oh, Sir Henry, I agree with you that you should go back to Devonshire immediately. However, there is one condition. You must not go back alone."

"Dr. Mortimer is coming back with me."

"However, Dr. Mortimer has his own work, and his home is several kilometers away from the manor. Although he has great kindness towards you, he may be beyond his reach and unable to take good care of you. This will not work.
To be continued...