前景提要：夏洛克收到在银行任职的大学同学的一封E-mail，偕同正手头拮据的华生前往银行。在头天午夜有人闯入为纪念前银行主席而保留的办公室，在一分钟之内用黄色涂料涂下一个符号。调查开始了......
W：OK. So do you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer? 好吧。我们还要在这里再逗留一会吗？
S：Got everything I need to know already, thanks. That graffiti was a message. Someone at the bank, working on the trading floors. We find the intended recipient and... 该查的都已经查清楚了，多谢。涂鸦是想传达一条讯息。是留给在银行交易大厅里工作的某人。一旦找到信息接收方...
W：They'll lead us to the person who sent it? 就能顺藤摸瓜找到留信的人？
S：Obvious.很显然。
W：Well, there's 300 people up there, who was it meant for? 交易大厅里有300名工作人员，会是谁呢？
S：Pillars. 柱子。 W：What? 什么？
S：Pillars and the screens. Very few places you could see that graffiti from. That narrows the field considerably. And, of course, the message was left at 11:34 last night. That tells us a lot. 有柱子和屏幕挡着。只有很少几个地方能看到那信息。大大缩小了范围。还有，信息于昨晚11点34分留下。这就说明了很多。
John: Does it? 是吗？
S：Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. That message was intended for somebody who came in at midnight. Not many Van Coons in the phone book. 交易大厅每小时都有人轮班。跟香港方面的交易就得在午夜进行。那信息就是专门留给午夜来上班的人。电话黄页中姓Van Coon的可不多。
W：So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back? 那现在怎么办？坐等他回来吗？
S：Just moved in.刚搬来的。 W： What?什么？
S：Floor above, new label.他楼上这家，标签还是新的。
W：Could have just replaced it.可能是刚换过。
S：No-one ever does that. 没人换这个。
Woman A: Hello? 你好哪位？
S：Hi, um, I live in the flat just below you. I don't think we've met.你好，我就住你家楼下。但好像没见过你。
Woman A: No, well, er, I've just moved in. 是没见过，我刚搬来。
S：Actually, I've just locked my keys in my flat. 其实是这样的，我钥匙忘家里了。
Woman A: Do you want me to buzz you in?要我放你进来吗？
S：Yeah. And can we use your balcony?对。能借用下你家阳台吗？
Woman A: What?! 什么？！
W：Sherlock? Sherlock？Sherlock, are you OK? Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in! Do you think he'd lost a lot of money? Suicide is pretty common among City boys. Sherlock，你还好吧？好吧，差不多了就让我进去！你觉得他是因损失大笔钱而自杀吗？城里年轻人自杀现象非常普遍。
S：We don’t know that it was suicide.还不能确定是自杀。
W：Come on. The door was locked from the inside, you had to climb down the balcony.拜托。门从里面锁着，你还得从楼上阳台爬下来。
S：Been away three days judging by the laundry. Look at the case, there was something tightly packed inside it.从待洗衣物来看出差过三天。看他的箱子，还有几件衣服叠得好好的。
W：Thanks. I’ll take your word for it.take your word for it:相信你的话，谢了。我听你的判断就行了。
S：Problem?有问题吗？
W：Yeah, I'm not desperate to root around some bloke's dirty underwear.我还没绝望到要去翻找某人的脏内衣裤。
S：Those symbols at the bank, the graffiti, why were they put there?银行里的那些符号，为什么要涂在那儿？
W：Some sort of code?是某种暗码？
S：Obviously. Why were they painted? Want to communicate, why not use e-mail?显然是。问题是为什么要涂上？想联系干嘛不用电邮？
W：Well, maybe he wasn't answering.可能他不回邮件吧。
S：Oh, good, you follow.很好，你总算跟上思路了。 W：No.还没。
S：What kind of a message would everyone try to avoid? What about this morning? Those letters you were looking at?哪种信息会让大家避之不及？像你今早看的那些如何？你今早看的那些信吗？
W：Bills? 是账单？
S：Yes. He was being threatened.对。他被威胁了。
W：Not by the Gas Board.肯定不是煤气公司。
Officer A: ...see if we can get prints off thisglass. 看能否在杯子上提取到指纹。
S：Sergeant, we haven't met. 警官，初次见面。
D: Yeah, I know who you are and I would prefer it if you didn't tamper with any of the evidence.我可久仰你大名了，你最好没乱动任何证据。
S：I phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way? 我给Lestrade打过电话。他来了吗？
D: He's busy. I'm in charge. And it's not Sergeant, it's Detective Inspector Dimmock. We're obviously looking at a suicide.他很忙。这里由我负责。我不是什么警官，而是Dimmock探长。显然是自杀事件。
W：It does seem the only explanation of allthe facts. 这是现场所有证据的唯一解释。
S：Wrong, it's one possible explanationof some of the facts. You've got a solution that you like, but you arechoosing to ignore anything you see that doesn't comply withit. 错，这是现场某些证据的一个可能解释。你得出自己喜欢的结论，然后就一叶障目，忽视所有对自己结论不利的证据。
D：Like?比如？
S：Wound’s on the right side of his head. 致命伤在头部右侧。
D： And? 然后呢？
S：Van Coon was left-handed. Requires quite a bit of contortion. 身体得扭曲成啥样才能自杀。
D：Left-handed? 他是左撇子吗？
S：I’m amazed you didn’t notice. All you have to do is look around this flat. Coffee table on the left-hand side, coffee mug handle pointing to the left. Power sockets, habitually used the ones on the left. Pen and paper on the left of the phone. Because he picked up with his right, took messageswith his left. Do you want me to go on?你竟然没注意。这屋里到处都是证据。咖啡桌在左手一侧，咖啡杯柄朝向左侧。电源插座，日常惯用左侧那几个。纸笔都放在电话左侧。因为他用右手接电话，左手写留言。要我继续说吗？
D：No,I think you’ve covered it. 不用，够了。
S：I might as well, I'm almost at thebottom of the list. There's a knife on the breadboard with butter on theright side of the blade because he used it with his left. It's highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in theright of his head. Conclusion, someone broke in here and murdered him only explanation of all of the facts.我还是继续吧，反正也快说完了。案板上有把餐刀黄油涂在刀口右侧因为他惯用左手拿刀。实在不大可能一个左撇子会用右手开枪自杀。结论就是，有人闯入并谋杀了他，这才是现场所有证据的唯一解释。
D：But the gun? 但那枪呢？
S：He was waiting for the killer. He’d been threatened.他那是在等凶手。他被威胁了。
D：What? 什么？
W：Today at the bank, sort of a warning. 今天银行的涂鸦，就是种警告。
S：He fired a shot when his attacker camein. 凶手闯入的时候他开过一枪。
D：And the bullet? 子弹呢？
S：Went through the open window.从开着的窗户飞出去了。
D：Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?!得了！ 这几率多小你知道吗？！
S：Wait until you get the ballisticsreport. The bullet in his brain wasn't fired from his gun, Iguarantee it.那你就等着看弹道报告吧。我敢担保，他头部中的子弹不是自己枪里的。
D：But If his door was locked from theinside, how did the killer get in? 但门从里面锁住，凶手是怎么进来的？
S：Good, you're finally asking the rightquestions. 很好，你总算问到点子上了。
Sebastian: He's left trying to sort of cut hishair with a fork, which of course can never be done.他留在那儿想用把叉子剪自己头发，那当然是不可能的。
S：It was a threat, that's what the graffiti meant.那涂鸦是在威胁人。
Sebastian: I'm kind of in a meeting. Can you make an appointment with my secretary?我们在开会呢。你能跟我秘书另约时间吗？
S：I don't think this can wait. Sorry,Sebastian. One of your traders, someone who worked in youroffice, was killed.这事可不能等。抱歉，Sebastian。你们办公室里的一名交易员，被谋杀了。
Sebastian：What? 什么？
W： Van Coon. The police are at his flat. 范孔，警方正在他公寓。
Sebastian：Killed?! 谋杀？！
