The pleasant cocktail party did not last long before it was interrupted by an uninvited guest. It was a tall man with a fair complexion and grayish-yellow hair. However, he looked a little worried now. "Something happened," he said as soon as he entered the room.
"Every time you come to me, it's because something happened," Holmes said as he sat on the sofa. He was not in a hurry at all, and he even introduced Zhang Heng to him.
"Gregson, the leader of Scotland Yard. Of course, compared to his companions," he then looked at Gregson. "Zhang Heng, my mysterious and lovely new roommate from the East. We are discussing the impact of professional opponents, and at the same time, we are going to finish off my collection of port wine. You came at the right time. Would you like to have a drink with me?"
"I'm afraid this is not a good time to drink," the sheriff said, glancing at Zhang Heng at the same time.
"Don't worry. My friend here is very tight-lipped. He won't tell anyone," Holmes said. "So, you can say whatever you want to say."
"Okay." It was obviously not Gregson's first time dealing with Holmes. When he heard Holmes's words, he no longer entangled himself in Zhang Heng's question. "I have encountered a very difficult case."
"I doubt it, but you can go on."
"In the afternoon, a police officer on patrol found a body on the Thames River. He asked a nearby boatman to help him salvage the body. It was a young girl, but we have no other clues. The poor child had no clothes, jewelry, or anything else to prove her identity. We don't know her name, where she lives, what she does, and whether she has any friends or relatives. To put it simply, we know nothing about her, and no one has reported her missing recently. You said that you are most interested in this kind of unsolved case, so I came to you immediately."
"Wise move." After listening to Gregson's description, a touch of excitement appeared on Holmes's face. He then turned to Zhang Heng and said, "My friend, I'm sorry that our cocktail party has to end early."
"It's okay. Work is more important." Zhang Heng expressed his understanding.
Holmes got up and put on his coat again. Then he said, "Where is your hat? The theory course is over. Next, it's time for us to put it into practice."
Zhang Heng was a little surprised. He could see that Gregson didn't really want him to participate in this case, and he had only known Holmes for less than two hours. Although they had a good chat before, there was no need for Holmes to be with him when it was time to get down to business.
Although Zhang Heng had a main mission to complete, he did not expect to run into an opportunity on the first day. Holmes was a very observant person, and Zhang Heng happened to have a lot of secrets on him. Hence, the last two hours were not easy for him. Even though he mentioned that he wanted to learn from Holmes, Zhang Heng did not want to appear too eager, lest he went too far.
But now, it seemed that Holmes's habit of dragging his roommates with him was as serious as in the original novel. Not long after he met Watson, he dragged the latter to the crime scene. If Zhang Heng remembered correctly, Watson had lived with Holmes for a few weeks at that time, and they had figured out each other's temperament and temperament. This time, he and Holmes were just a little better than strangers.
The sheriff on the side opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.
Seeing this, Zhang Heng naturally didn't stand on ceremony. He followed Holmes out, and the three of them got into a four-wheeled carriage parked outside the door.
Most of the stories in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" took place in the late 19th century. At this time, England was in the Victorian era. During this period, England completed the Industrial Revolution, and at the same time, it expanded its colonies overseas. Its politics, economy, and culture developed rapidly, and its industrial production capacity was more than that of the rest of the world combined. At this time, the sun never set was truly the center of the world.
As the capital, London, with a population of more than six million, was undoubtedly the world's largest city.
However, the gap between the rich and the poor was also huge. In the opening words of Dickens in "A Tale of Two Cities," this was the best of times, and the worst of times.
The rapid expansion of the population in a short period of time made the city of London extremely crowded. Zhang Heng still remembered a certain statistic he saw in his later life. In an area about 1,200 feet wide, a total of 2,795 families lived, more than 10,000 people. Three generations of grandparents and grandchildren were squeezed into a small house, like pigs in a pigsty.
The average worker's annual salary was less than ten pounds, and most of it went into the landlord's pocket. They ate low-quality bread mixed with expired flour, potato flour, and even alum and chalk. They didn't dare to get sick, and they didn't have the money to buy clothes or toys for their children. It was also difficult for them to get enough rest.
In contrast, take Watson, who was a military doctor in the book as an example. Although he wasn't a rich man, he could live a comfortable life in London, receiving an allowance of 11 shillings and six pence a day. That would mean an income of almost 17 pounds a month. As for the big landowners and factory owners, they had even more money in their pockets. Every day, they wandered around various balls and theatres, changing their bedmates again and again.
…..
As the carriage drove towards the River Thames, Holmes was in a good mood. He talked non-stop about the concert he had attended, but unfortunately, it was difficult for his two companions to have much in common on the topic. Sergeant Gregson was still having a headache over the case at hand, and he seemed a little absent-minded. Although Zhang Heng had practiced the piano for a while, his understanding of nineteenth-century musicians was limited to the more famous ones.
"I like music. It's one of the few things in this boring world that can excite my nerves. Other than that, there are all kinds of cases. The more bizarre the code, the more complicated the analysis, the happier I feel. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer criminals these days who use their brains." Holmes seemed to be in high spirits.
"You can actually find similarities or similarities in most of the cases that have happened in the past. So when you're at a loss, you can always find something useful by looking through the old files of the past."
"Why, did you build an archive where you live?" Gregson interjected.
"I do have the habit of collecting newspaper clippings to record difficult and miscellaneous cases, but most of the records are here." Holmes pointed to his head and laughed.
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