Zhang Heng briefly dealt with the skin wounds on his body, then returned to the Queen's Theater and sat back in his seat.
The opera was about to come to an end.
In the square outside the bullfighting arena, Escamilio and Carmen parted ways. Surrounded by the crowd, he walked into the arena with his head held high, while Carmen stayed outside. At this time, a ragged Don Jose came to her, begging her to reconcile with him. However, Carmen was indifferent. At the same time, cheers could be heard from the arena.
Escamilio defeated the bull, and Carmen happily took off the ring that Don Jose gave her and threw it on the ground. She wanted to rush into the arena to share her joy with her lover, but the desperate Don Jose pulled out a dagger from his arms and stabbed it at Carmen. When the crowd walked out of the arena, all they saw was Carmen lying in a pool of blood.
Don Jose shouted, "I killed her, Carmen, my dear Carmen!"
At this point, the play came to an end.
After that, all the actors walked to the stage, the lights came on, and the theater was filled with thunderous applause. There was no doubt that the first performance of the new play 'Carmen' in London was an unprecedented success.
Zhang Heng also stood up and applauded with the people around him.
When the performance was over, Zhang Heng went backstage to congratulate Irene Adler.
The place was crowded with congratulators, and even the prime minister's wife walked down the stage.
Zhang Heng did not fight with the people inside. Instead, he stood quietly on the side until almost everyone had left. Irene Adler's dressing table was surrounded by flowers. Because there were so many of them, even the seats next to it were filled. On the other hand, the others only had a few bouquets of flowers.
"Now I know how much Londoners like you," Zhang Heng said.
"Really? It's a pity that you are not from London. I saw you leave halfway through the performance," Irene Adler said.
"Uhh … my friend and I have something urgent to deal with."
"Well, I can see how urgent you are." Adler raised her eyebrows and pointed at Zhang Heng's suit. "You look terrible. You are almost as bad as Don Jose in the drama."
"Actually, I just went to the barbershop."
"I can see that their service is rude. Give me the name of the barbershop, and I will avoid it in the future." The female singer laughed.
"…"
As someone who had read the original novel, Zhang Heng was naturally wary of Irene Adler. However, he had to admit that the latter was indeed a very charming person. No wonder the King of Bohemia couldn't forget her.
Strictly speaking, it was the king who made the mistake in the first place. He abandoned Adler for the sake of his own status and married a Scandinavian princess, which led to the photo scandal. Judging from Holmes's attitude, he was actually more inclined towards the female singer and was quite contemptuous of the king's actions.
That was why he only asked for Adler's photo as payment and refused the King's handshake.
Zhang Heng could probably understand Holmes' appreciation for the female singer. She was indeed a smart and interesting woman. So when it came to how to treat Irene Adler, Zhang Heng chose to go with the flow. He did not deliberately alienate her, nor did he try to be too enthusiastic about her.
As strong as Holmes was, he didn't always fight alone. He had the Baker Street Squad, the connections he accumulated when he helped the police solve cases, and friends from all walks of life. If Zhang Heng wanted to win against him, he would need the help of friends.
As one of the only four people who had defeated Holmes, Irene Adler might be a good choice.
"Although … although I was a little angry that you left halfway through, seeing that you came back at the end, I'll let it go. Also, thank you for waiting outside the house to congratulate me, even though you didn't bring any flowers," the female singer said, winking at him.
…
It was a long night for many. When Zhang Heng returned to 221B Baker Street, Holmes was still awake, fiddling with an Amazon blowdart in his room.
Although he had just taken a trip to the gates of hell, he looked even more excited than before.
As he said, the more difficult a problem was, the more energetic he would be. On the contrary, a dull life was equivalent to killing him. When he saw Zhang Heng enter the door, he said, "Interesting. You didn't send her home."
"I don't think our relationship is that good," Zhang Heng said. "And don't worry. She and I are not in the kind of relationship you think."
"That's good. Otherwise, the world would have one more mediocre person in love and lost an excellent detective," Holmes said.
"Did you get anything from the barbers?" Zhang Heng did not continue the topic.
"I'm glad that you still remember our case, but unfortunately, as I guessed, they don't belong to Mr. M's criminal gang. But at least I know who the guy who beat us up in the theater tonight is."
"He beat you up, but I beat him up. Thank you," Zhang Heng corrected. "It doesn't matter.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't make any difference to me. Anyway, that guy's name is Carlson. According to him, he works in a gun factory, but these two pieces of information are most likely false. He met the group of barbers while they were drinking. Like I said, the Prussians in London like to stick together. He ran into the barber shop and said that there was a bad guy chasing him. So, the barber shop closed the door and fought you."
"Wait, they don't actually know that guy very well. Doesn't that mean you didn't get anything out of them?" Zhang Heng frowned.
"Yes, but fortunately, I fought him before. My neck wasn't strangled for nothing."
"Huh?"
I saw the watch on his right hand. That watch should be worth a lot of money, but there are pawn ticket numbers on it. Oh, this is a London pawnshop custom. They use a needle to engrave the ticket numbers on the back of the watch. This method is similar to hanging a sign, and it can prevent the risk of the numbers getting lost or messed up. It's hard to see with the naked eye, but I felt it when I was struggling. There were at least three numbers on it, which means that he pawned it three times in total, but he redeemed it later. This means that he would receive a large sum of money every once in a while. So the question is, where did this money come from? "
"Mr. M?"
"Yes, let's go to the casino tomorrow. I have a hunch that we are very close to the main character," Holmes said.
。
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