As he spoke, he took a tape measure and a large round magnifying glass(放大镜) from his pocket.
With these two tools he walked noiselessly about the room, sometimes stopping, occasionally kneeling(跪下), and once lying flat upon his face.
So focused was he upon his task that he appeared to have forgotten our presence.
As I watched him, I was reminded of a pure-blooded(纯种的) well-trained foxhound(猎狐犬) as it ran backwards(向后) and forwards, being hidden, until it comes across the lost scent(气味).
For twenty minutes or more he continued his researches.
In one place he gathered up(收拢) very carefully a little pile of grey dust from the floor, and packed it away in an envelope(信封).
Finally, he examined with his glass the word upon the wall, going over every letter carefully.
This done, he appeared to be satisfied, for he replaced his tape and his glass in his pocket.
“They say that genius(天才) is an infinite(无尽的) capacity(能力) for taking pains,” he remarked with a smile.
“It’s a very bad definition(定义), but it does apply to detective(侦探) work.”
Gregson and Lestrade had watched the movements of their amateur(业余的) companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt(轻蔑).
They failed to appreciate the fact that Sherlock Holmes’ smallest actions were all directed towards some definite(明确的) and practical end.
“What do you think of it, sir?” they both asked.
“It would be taking your credit for the case if I was to help you,” remarked my friend.
“You are doing so well now that it would be a pity for anyone to interfere(介入).”
There was a world of contempt(轻蔑) in his voice as he spoke.
“If you will let me know how your investigations(调查) go,” he continued, “I will be happy to give you any help I can.
In the meantime(同时), I should like to speak to the officer who found the body. Can you give me his name and address?”
Lestrade glanced at(浏览) his note-book. “John Rance,” he said.
“He is off duty now. You will find him at 46, Audley Court, Kennington Park Gate.”
Holmes took a note of the address.
“Come along, Doctor,” he said, “we should go and call on him.
I’ll tell you one thing which may help you in the case,” he continued, turning to the two detectives(警探).
“There has been murder done, and the murderer was a man.
He was more than six feet high, was in the prime of life.
He had small feet for his height, wore rough, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar.
He came here with his victim in a four-wheeled cab(马车).
The murderer was likely to have a reddish face, and the finger-nails of his right hand were remarkably long.
These are only a few indications, but they may help you.”
Lestrade and Gregson glanced at each other with a doubtful smile.
“If this man was murdered, how was it done?” asked the former.
“Poison,” said Sherlock Holmes, and walked off.
“One other thing, Lestrade,” he added, turning round at the door
“ ‘Rache’ is the German for ‘revenge(复仇)’, so don’t lose your time looking for Miss Rachel.”
Then he walked away, leaving the two rivals(对手) open-mouthed behind him.
It was one o’clock when we left No. 3, Lauriston Gardens.
Sherlock Holmes led me to the nearest telegraph office, where he left a long telegram.
He then called a cab(马车), and ordered the driver to take us to the address given by Lestrade.
“There is nothing like first-hand evidence,” he remarked, “as a matter of fact, my mind is entirely made up upon the case, but still we may as well learn all that is to be learned.”
“You surprise me, Holmes,” said I.
“Surely you are not as sure as you pretend to be of all those details(细节) which you gave.”
“There’s no room for a mistake,” he answered.
“The very first thing which I observed on arriving there was that a cab(马车) had made two grooves(车槽) with its wheels close to the curb(路边).
Now, up to last night, we have had no rain for a week, so that those wheels which left such a deep impression must have been there during the night.
Since the cab(马车) was there after the rain began, and was not there at any time during the morning—
I have Gregson’s word for that—it follows that it must have been there during the night.
Therefore, the cab(马车) brought those two individuals to the house.”
“That seems simple enough,” said I, “but how about the other man’s height?”
“Well, the height of a man, in nine cases out of ten, can be told from the length of his step.
It is a simple calculation.
I had this fellow’s footprints both on the clay outside and on the dust within.
Then I had a way of checking my calculation.
When a man writes on a wall, his instinct(本能) leads him to write about the level of his own eyes.
Now that writing was just over six feet from the ground. It was child’s play.”
“And his age?” I asked.
“If a man can step four and a half feet without the smallest effort, he can’t be that old.
That was the range of a puddle(水坑) on the garden path which he had obviously walked across.
Leather(皮质的) boots had gone round, and square-toes(穿方头鞋的人) had jumped over.
There is no mystery(谜) about it at all.
I am simply applying to ordinary life a few of those methods of observation and deduction(推理) which I recommended in that article.
Is there anything else that puzzles(困扰) you?”
“The finger-nails and the Trichinopoly,” I suggested.
“The writing on the wall was done with a man’s forefinger(食指) dipped in blood.
My glass allowed me to observe that the plaster(灰泥) was slightly scratched(划掉) in doing it, which would not have been the case if the man’s nail had been cut.
I gathered up some scattered(散落的) ash from the floor.
It was dark in color and flaky(薄片状的)—such an ash as is only made by a Trichinopoly.
I have made a special study of cigar ashes, so I can distinguish(辨别) at a glance the ash of any known brand(品牌).
It is just in such details(细节) that the skilled detective(侦探) differs from the Gregson and Lestrade type.”
“And the reddish face?” I asked.
“Ah, that was a more daring guess, though I have no doubt that I was right.
You must not ask me that at the present state of the affair.”
I passed my hand over my forehead.
“My head is in a spin(眩晕),” I remarked, “the more one thinks of it the more mysterious(神秘的) it grows.
How did these two men—if there were two men—come into an empty house?
What has become of the cabman(马车夫) who drove them? How could one man compel(强迫) another to take poison?
Where did the blood come from? What was the aim of the murderer, since robbery had no part in it?
How did the woman’s ring come there?
Above all, why should the second man write up the German word RACHE before leaving?
I confess(承认) that I cannot see any possible way of connecting all these facts.”
My companion smiled.
“You sum(总结) up the problems of the situation briefly and well,” he said.
“There is much that is still obscure(模糊的), though I have quite made up my mind on the main facts.
As to poor Lestrade’s discovery, it was simply a criminal intended(意图) to put the police upon a wrong track.
It was not done by a German.
The A, if you noticed, was printed somewhat after the German fashion(样式).
Now, a real German invariably prints in the Latin(拉丁语的) character, so that we may safely say that this was not written by a German, but by an awkward(拙劣的) imitator.
It was simply a trick to distract(转移) inquiry(调查) into a wrong direction.
I’m not going to tell you much more of the case, Doctor.
You know a performer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick,
and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion(结论) that I am a very ordinary individual after all.”
“I will never do that,” I answered.