Well, I just told you that there is a small villa near the villa where we live. There is a field in between, but if you want to go to the small villa, you need to walk along the avenue to the opposite side, and then go around to a small road.

There is a lush Scotch fir tree next to the cottage. I usually like to go for a walk there. Yes, walking in the forest always makes people refreshed. The cottage has been empty for 8 months.

It was such a pity. The little two-story villa was beautiful, with an ancient verandah and honeysuckles blooming all around. I often stayed there, and often thought it would be great to live there.

Last Monday evening, I was walking on this road and saw an empty car turning onto the path. At the same time, I saw some carpets and other things piled up on the grass next to the verandah. Apparently, this small villa was finally rented.

. I walked forward and looked around casually and curiously, wanting to know who lived here. After all, it was my nearest neighbor. But while I was looking around, I suddenly felt that there was a face in the window above.

He is also watching me.

Mr. Holmes, I didn't know what this face looked like at the time, but I felt like a cold sweat was running down my spine. I was standing a little further away, so I couldn't see the face clearly, but this face was very unnatural.

It didn't look like a human face, that was my impression at the time. I walked forward, hoping to see the person peeping at me clearly. But when I got closer, the face suddenly disappeared, as if it had been quickly

I was pulled into the darkness of the room. I stood there for 5 minutes, thinking about the matter carefully, and preparing to analyze the impression I received. This face was too far away from me, and I couldn't tell clearly whether it was a man's face.

It was still a woman's face, but the color of this face impressed me deeply. It was like blue-gray chalk, and it looked stiff and unnatural. It was very scary. I felt a little uneasy, so I decided to go and take a look at this small town.

The new resident of the villa. I walked to the door and knocked on the door, and immediately a thin but tall woman came out. It was she who opened the door. This woman's face was very ugly, which made people look a little scared.

'What are you going to do?' she asked with a northern accent. 'I live across from you.' I nodded my head towards my residence and continued: 'I see you have just moved in, so I thought

Is there anything you can do to help...'

'Hey, we will invite you when we need you.' She said and actually closed the door. I was very angry after receiving such a rude rejection, so I turned around and went home. Throughout the night, although I tried hard not to go

I was thinking about this, but the image of the weirdo and the rude woman at the window could not be erased from my mind. I decided not to tell my wife about this because she was timid and easily excited, and I didn’t want her to suffer the unpleasantness I encountered.

Share. However, before I went to bed, I told her that the small villa was now occupied, but she made no response.

I usually sleep very deeply, and my family often makes fun of me, saying that nothing can wake me up at night. But this night, because of this or other reasons, I don’t know, I didn’t sleep at all.

As heavy as usual. Half asleep and half awake, I vaguely felt someone moving in the room, and gradually realized that my wife was fully dressed, put on a cloak, and put on a hat. I murmured a few words of surprise.

I objected to her untimely move. When my sleepy eyes suddenly fell on my wife's face under the candlelight, I was so surprised that I couldn't speak. I had never seen her like this before.

Her expression was definitely not fake. Her face was as pale as a dead person, and her breathing was very rapid. When she fastened her cloak, she secretly looked at me on the bed to see if I had been awakened. Later, I thought I was still there.

In her sleep, she quietly slipped out of the house. Soon, there was a sharp creaking sound, which was obviously the sound of the door hinges. So I sat up from the bed and opened the door with my hands.

I tapped on the bedrail, wondering if I was really awake. Then I took out my watch from my pillow and saw it was 3 o'clock in the morning. Oh, my wife went outside at 3 o'clock in the morning. What on earth was she going to do?

I sat there for about 20 minutes, thinking about this matter, trying to find some possible explanations. The more I thought about it, the more bizarre and inexplicable it became. While I was thinking hard about it, I heard the door gently closing again, and after a while, my wife

Come upstairs.

‘Where have you been in the middle of the night, Effie?’ I couldn’t wait to ask as soon as she came in.

As soon as I told her, she turned pale with fright and suddenly screamed. This startle and scream troubled me more than anything else, because it contained an indescribable sense of guilt. My wife's temperament has always been sincere and sincere.

Frankly, I saw her sneaking into her house secretly, and when her husband asked her questions, she actually screamed, cowered, and felt uneasy. This made me very chilled.

'You're awake, Jack!' she said loudly with a forced smile, 'I thought nothing could wake you!'

‘Where have you been?’ I asked more sternly.

'No wonder you're surprised,' she said. I noticed that her fingers as she unbuttoned the cloak were trembling: 'Well, I've never done anything like this before. In fact, it's like this: I feel a little angry.

I felt so stuffy that I just wanted to go out and breathe fresh air. If I didn't go out, I really felt like I would faint. I stayed outside the door for a few minutes, and I feel better now.'

When she said these words, she kept avoiding my eyes, and her tone of voice was completely different from usual. It was obvious that she was lying. I said nothing more, and turned my face to the wall very sadly, with all kinds of malice in my heart.

speculations and suspicions. What did my wife hide from me? Where did she go during this strange outing? I think I will not be able to gain real peace until I find out the details of this matter.

However, after she lied to me once, I had no interest in asking her any more questions. I couldn't sleep that night. I kept tossing and turning, feeling uneasy, and guessing over and over again, but the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't figure it out.

I was supposed to go to the city the next day, but I was too distracted to take care of business. My wife seemed to be just as confused as I was. She kept paying attention to my face, and her doubtful eyes showed that she

It was obvious that I doubted what she was saying, and now I was at a loss as to what to do. Neither of us said a word during breakfast, and then I immediately went for a walk, hoping to think about it in the fresh morning air.

I walked as far as Crystal Palace and stayed there for an hour. It was already one o'clock when I returned to Norbury. I happened to pass the little villa and stopped to look at the window.

Let's see if we can see the face of yesterday. Mr. Holmes, you can't imagine how surprised I was. While I was standing there, the door of the cottage suddenly opened, and my wife came out.

When I saw her, I was so shocked that I couldn't speak. But when our eyes met, my wife looked more shocked than me. In an instant, she seemed to be ready to retreat to the villa again.

Later, realizing that she could no longer hide it, she stepped forward with a pale face, her eyes full of fear. Although she forced a smile, it was obviously not appropriate at all.

'Ah, Jack!' she said, 'I just came to see if the new neighbor needs any help. Why are you looking at me like that? Jack, are you angry with me?'

'So...' I said, 'this is where you came last night.'

'What do you mean?' she shouted.

'I have every reason to believe that you came here last night. Who are the people living here? You actually came to visit them in the middle of the night?'

'This is my first time here.'

'Why are you lying to me?' I shouted loudly, 'your voice has completely changed. What did I hide from you? I must go in and find out everything about this matter.'

'No... no, Jack, for God's sake! Don't go in.' She was so excited that she couldn't control herself and said breathlessly. When I walked to the door, she grabbed my sleeve hard and pulled me

Went back.

'I beg you, don't do this, Jack,' she shouted. 'I promise you, I will tell you everything in a few days. If you insist on entering this villa, you will only be asking for trouble and nothing else.

A little benefit.' Later, I broke away from her hand, but she held me tightly, begging me like crazy.

'Please believe me, Jack!' she shouted, 'even if you believe me just this once, you will not regret it. You must understand that if it is not for your own good, I will not hide it from you.

, This directly affects our entire life. If you go home with me, everything will be fine. If you insist on entering the villa, then everything will be over between us.'

Her attitude was so sincere and so desperate that I had to stand in front of the door hesitantly.

'There must be one condition, and one condition only, for me to trust you,' I finally said, 'that from now on, you must stop this secret activity. You have the right to keep your secrets, but you must

Promise me that you will never go out at night or do anything without telling me. If you can promise me that nothing like this will happen again in the future, I will forget everything that happened before.'

'I knew you would believe me.' She breathed a sigh of relief and said loudly, 'I can completely follow your wishes. Come on, ah, leave here and go back to our house.'

She never let go of my sleeves and pulled me away from the villa. When I left, I looked back and saw a leaden face looking at us from behind the window above the villa. This weirdo and I

What does it have to do with my wife? What does it have to do with the rude and ugly woman I saw yesterday? This is a strange mystery. I know that until I solve this mystery, I will not be able to understand my mood.

Calm.

After that, I stayed at home for two days, and my wife faithfully kept her promise and did not go out again. But on the third day, I had sufficient evidence to prove that her promise was invalid, and she could not get rid of the mysterious attraction, which made her

She turned her back on her husband and her responsibilities.

I went into the city that day, but instead of taking the usual 3:36 train back, I took the 2:40 train instead. As soon as I entered the house, the maid ran into the living room with a panicked look on her face.

‘Where is my wife?’ I asked.

'I think she should go for a walk outside,' she replied.

Suspicious clouds instantly arose in my mind, and I ran upstairs to confirm that she was indeed not in the house. At this time, I inadvertently looked out the window and saw the maid running across the fields towards the small villa. Naturally, I knew this very well at that time.

What happened? My wife went there again and told the maid to call her as soon as possible if I came home. I was so angry that I trembled all over, rushed downstairs and went straight to the villa, determined to investigate the matter.

The truth came to light. I saw my wife and maid walking back along the path, but I didn't stop to talk to them. There was a hateful secret hidden in this little villa, which affected my happy life. I made up my mind to...

No matter what, I couldn't let it continue. I walked directly to the house, turned the door button and rushed into the corridor without even knocking on the door.

There was silence downstairs, the kettle on the stove in the kitchen was hissing, and a big black cat was lying in a basket. I found no trace of the woman I had seen before. I rushed into another room.

, there was also no one. I ran upstairs, and there was no one in the other two rooms. It turned out that the villa was empty. The pictures and furniture in the room were very ordinary, even vulgar, except for the room where I saw the strange face from the window.

The bedroom looked quite comfortable. Oh, there was a full-length photo of my wife hanging on the mantelpiece. The moment I found it, all my doubts burned into a painful flame. That was what I gave her three months ago.

Photographed!

I stayed indoors for a while, and after making sure no one was there, I walked out. My heart was filled with a heaviness I had never felt before. When I entered the house, my wife walked into the front hall, but I was very sad and very sad.

I was so angry that I didn't want to talk to her, and rushed straight past her into my study. But she followed me in before I closed the door.

'I'm very sorry for not keeping my promise, Jack,' she said, 'but if you knew the whole truth, I'm sure you would forgive me.'

'Then tell me all this!' I said.

No, Jack, I can't!' she shouted. 'If you don't tell me who lives in that villa and who the person you sent the photo to is, we can no longer trust each other.

'Yes,' said I, walking away from her, and out of the house. This happened yesterday, Mr. Holmes, and I have not seen her since. All I know of this strange thing is

So much. This is the first time there has been discord between us, which shocked me very much. I don’t know what to do. This morning, it suddenly occurred to me that you could help me guide me, so I hurried to you.

Okay, I'm all in charge of you. If there's anything I can't explain clearly, just ask me. But please tell me what to do as soon as possible. I really can't stand the pain.

Holmes and I listened with rapt attention to the strange story. The man was very excited and spoke fitfully. Holmes rested his chin on his hand and sat quietly, thinking.

"Tell me," said Holmes at last, "whether the face you saw at the window was certainly that of a man."

"Every time I see this face, it's far away, so I can't guarantee it."

"But your impression of this face is obviously very bad." "The color seems very unnatural, and the appearance is strangely dull. But when I got closer, it suddenly disappeared."

"How long ago did your wife ask you for £100?" "About two months ago."

"Have you seen the photos of her ex-husband?"

"Never. Shortly after his death, there was a fire in Atlanta and all her papers were burned."

"But she had a death certificate in her hand. You said you saw it, right?"
To be continued...