After returning to London,
Anne and Shylock did not mention the "unexpected nightmare" again. Life seemed to have returned to its previous stability and peace.
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were the best partners. The cases they took on never stopped,
Although Shylock uncharacteristically refused to be photographed and interviewed by the media, the news of him and Watson appearing at the crime scene together and cooperating with Scotland Yard to solve strange cases still made the headlines of the major media.
Anne no longer paid attention to the news,
At first, Billy and the other colleagues in the restaurant,
From time to time, they would show her the news about Shylock in the newspaper. Anne always smiled,
She said "Hmm" faintly and did not say anything. Gradually, the enthusiasm of the colleagues was gone.
One day,
When she came back from her morning run,
Anne saw someone setting up an easel by the side of the road to help someone draw.
The Thames in the morning was as quiet as a beautiful oil painting. Anne stopped to look at it for a while, and Shylock's outline automatically appeared in her mind.
She went to a shop.
She bought a full set of drawing tools and brought them home.
When she opened the door of 221B, Shylock happened to be coming down the stairs. Annie stopped with the things in her hands, but before she could say anything,
Shylock had already walked in front of her with his long legs,
He held her slightly cold cheeks with both hands,
He kissed her heavily on the lips.
Oh,
He looked very happy. There must be another interesting case.
Shylock finished kissing happily,
He simply put his hands under her armpits,
He moved her away from the door,
As he walked out, he said, "I might be late. You take care of your lunch. We'll go for Chinese dinner tonight."
Anne agreed and saw that he had already rushed out of the door. His tall and thin figure stood by the roadside and raised his arm to call for a taxi.
Doctor Watson fell behind and was forced to watch the whole process. Only then did he have the chance to say goodbye.
Anne didn't have to go to work today, but two days ago, Angelo had just introduced her to a part-time job — teaching piano to a neighbor's child.
According to Angelo, it was a sad story. His neighbor, Benson's family, was originally a very happy family. However, three years ago, Benson's youngest son, who was only 13 years old, suddenly went missing. Scotland Yard conducted multiple investigations, and Benson's family also exhausted all means to search, but in the end, they still found nothing.
There was no doubt that this was a fatal wound to any family.
Fortunately, this story took a turn for the better more than a month ago. Mr. Benson suddenly received a call from the Spanish police, claiming that there was a 15 or 16-year-old British boy who might be their long-lost child.
Benson and his wife had seen the photo sent by the police and confirmed at a glance that this was their child.
However, the little boy might have suffered unimaginable harm during his disappearance. He had become silent and introverted, and even lost his memories of his family. The enthusiastic Angelo remembered that he used to often hear little Nick play the piano. He suggested that Mr. Benson find a piano teacher for him, hoping that this could open the child's heart and awaken his previous memories.
After listening to Angelo's explanation, Anne thought about it and accepted the part-time job.
The piano lesson was in the afternoon. Anne arrived at Benson's house ten minutes early.
Benson and his wife were very polite and amiable, and were very satisfied with the gentle and quiet Anne. The three of them drank a cup of hot tea in the living room. Benson's wife introduced the child's situation to Anne in detail, and then led her to the bedroom on the second floor.
As Angelo and Benson said, the little boy was very introverted and timid. However, he was not as thin and weak as Anne had imagined. His body shape looked normal. However, when he saw strangers come in, his eyes subconsciously shrank, and he lowered his head, not daring to look at people.
Because the little boy named Nick refused to sit in front of the piano, Anne played the piano for almost an hour in the first lesson. During this time, Anne asked her students what songs they could play or what songs they liked to listen to. Unsurprisingly, she did not get any response.
Fortunately, Anne had a good temper and was very patient. The first lesson ended quickly and quietly. When they left, Mrs. Benson asked Nick to send Anne to the door with her. Anne got a whisper of "Goodbye" from the little boy. It was not a bad result.
However, Anne thought that she would not come a second time.
After leaving Benson's house, Anne took out her phone to look at the time. She wondered if Shylock was done with his work.
Just as this question flashed through her mind, a text message came in at the right time. She clicked on it.
"At Scotland Yard — SH."
Anne chuckled. She had reason to suspect that Mr. Holmes's mind-reading skills had now reached the peak of perfection. He could even know what she was thinking without seeing her face to face.
Putting her phone back in her bag, Anne walked out to the road and extended her arm to call for a taxi. She did not realize that her current actions and expressions were very similar to Shylock's.
When Anne arrived at Scotland Yard, she saw that Shylock was stopped by Inspector Lestrade at the door. Watson saw her first and greeted her.
Anne walked over and heard Lestrade say, "You can't just leave like this, Shylock! Not only are all the news media in London waiting inside, even the chief of Scotland Yard is here. Can't you just cooperate … "His tone sounded like he was trying his best to persuade him.
Shylock had also seen Anne. His originally stiff expression softened. He even smiled at poor Lestrade and said in a rare gentle tone, "Let me think —"
Inspector Hua thought there was hope, but he saw the person opposite him instantly stop smiling and change his expression in the next second. He spat out a word coldly, "— — No!"
Shylock had a lot of fun.
Inspector Hua almost could not catch his breath.
The poor inspector slapped a gift bag on Shylock. "We even prepared a gift for you!"
Shylock had solved many cases and saved many people. He had also received many gifts from the people he had helped. Usually, Mr. Holmes could guess what the gift was just by looking at it.
However, this gift from Scotland Yard obviously surprised the detective who could always see through everything.
They had given him a deerstalker hat.
Shylock's first photo in the newspaper was of him wearing a deerstalker hat, which gradually became a symbol of Sherlock Holmes.
However, Shylock hated this hat. He had even been angry because Watson had posted a photo of him wearing the hat on his blog.
It had to be said that Mr. Holmes was sometimes very narcissistic and cute, just like … he always liked to put up his coat collar to look cool.
There was no doubt that this must be Donovan and Anderson's idea. Shylock was very dissatisfied with this gift.
Anne said, "The hat is very cute."
Shylock glanced at her expressionlessly. He raised his hand and put the hat on her head.
Anne's small head and small face were covered by the hat, and her eyes could not be seen.
The detective stood aside and admired it for a while. Well, looking at it like this, it was indeed … cute.
…
In the end, Shylock didn't attend the press conference at Scotland Yard. He returned to Baker Street with Anne and Watson.
It was still early. Remembering that Shylock had said that he wanted to eat Chinese food for dinner, Anne looked at him eagerly. "How about we make it ourselves?"
Shylock didn't object. Anne asked them what they wanted to eat and turned to walk to the nearby supermarket alone.
She didn't even ask Shylock if he wanted to go with her, because she knew that he didn't like it.
However, she had only taken two steps when she heard a sound next to her. Turning her head, she saw a tall and thin figure following her.
Anne stopped and looked at him in surprise. "You're coming with me?"
Sherlock calmly took her hand and held it. He lowered his head and glanced at her. "What else?"
He stood tall in front of her. When he looked down, Anne looked straight into his eyes.
His eyes were especially beautiful. Sometimes, they were as light as a child's, without any impurities. Sometimes, they were as deep as the blue sea, as if they were surging with strong emotions that couldn't be seen through.
However, no matter what, he was very likable.
Anne felt warm in her heart. She smiled at him and turned around to continue walking, but the corners of her lips never stopped curling up.
It was great to see Shylock like this!
They had never gone to the supermarket together, nor had they gone shopping or watched a movie together. The only time they had gone to a clothing store was when she had been hit by a reckless passerby and been spilled coffee all over her.
Actually, Anne didn't care about any of that. She just wanted to spend more time with him, and it didn't matter what she did.
Even if he just sat by her side and let her watch without moving for an entire day, that was more than enough for Annie.
Shylock didn't miss the smile on her face, and he couldn't help relaxing.
He stroked the back of her hand with his slender fingers. She was so easily satisfied and easy to coax, which made him, who had always been conceited and cold, feel a bit … guilty? Unfamiliar words and unfamiliar emotions.
…
During dinner, Anne talked about Benson and his wife, who she had gone to teach piano in the afternoon.
Shylock skillfully picked up a shrimp with his chopsticks and asked without looking up, "Do you think there's something wrong with them?"
Dr. Watson clumsily held his chopsticks, and the green vegetables slipped from his chopsticks for the third time. The doctor watched enviously as Sherlock swung his chopsticks again and accurately placed a fragrant meatball into his mouth.
Mrs. Hudson was also out of sight but not out of reach.
Anne didn't say anything. She got up and took two white porcelain spoons from the cupboard and placed them next to Watson and Mrs. Hudson.
After doing that, she slowly said, "Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I don't think Nick looks like a 16-year-old boy."
Anne ignored the uncomfortable look the boy, who was supposed to be timid and introverted, suddenly looked at her when she took off her coat. She just said, "I didn't see a single photo of Nick in the living room or bedroom of Benson's house. Isn't that strange? If it was because Nick went missing and they were afraid of being reminded of the scene, it would make sense. But now the child has been found, and for some reason, he has memory loss. Shouldn't the normal thing to do be to use some photos or something to help the child recover his memory as soon as possible? "
Dr. Watson finally got his wish to eat a small ball, and he happily immersed himself in the discussion.
"Is it the child named Nick Benson? I read about him in the newspaper. He went missing for three years and was rescued by the Spanish police. Maybe we can ask Greg to help investigate. "
Shylock looked up from his plate. "Greg? Who? Is it a new friend you just met? "
Anne sat up straight in an instant. Ah, it was finally here.
Watson explained helplessly, "Greg is the name of Detective Lestrade. You know him before I do. How can you not even remember his name?"
Dear Dr. Watson, are you sure you're not showing off?
Mr. Holmes frowned in confusion. "Lestrade? Isn't his name Kevin or Ron or something? " Finally, he said, "Frege … I think one of his parents must be very fond of mathematics or philosophy."
Dr. Watson didn't want to correct him anymore. He turned to Anne and said, "I think you shouldn't go to Benson's house before Lestrade figures it out."
Anne thought so too. She was about to nod when Shylock asked in confusion, "Why not? You were introduced by Angelo. Even if this fake Nick is a psychopathic killer, he wouldn't be stupid enough to kill someone he knows. "
Anne and Watson were speechless.
-
After dinner, Mrs. Hudson went downstairs early to rest because her hip problem was acting up again. Dr. Watson received a call from his girlfriend and went out on a date. Now, even Anne couldn't remember the name of the doctor's girlfriend.
Anne finished washing the dishes and walked back to the living room. She saw that Shylock had made her a cup of tea and was attentively serving it to her.
Shylock rarely made tea, so Anne couldn't help but be suspicious. After all, the last time he personally made coffee for Watson, it was to experiment on the poor doctor.
Shylock was displeased by her expression. He snorted and said, "If you have any doubts, I can tell you with certainty that this is just a cup of very ordinary English black tea." He sounded very displeased.
Anne reached out to take the teacup and smiled. "Maybe if you make it a few more times in the future, I won't be so surprised."
She lowered her head and took a sip. Yes, there was milk and half a teaspoon of sugar. It was her favorite flavor.
Shylock had already judged from her expression. The corners of his lips curled up arrogantly. He made it himself, so of course it suited her taste.
Anne finished the tea and put the cup and saucer on the table. Just as she turned around, Shylock picked up the teapot and refilled her cup.
…
It was a little strange.
Anne didn't say anything. She took a book and sat on the sofa. But she had to admit that Mr. Holmes in a black suit looked very pleasing to the eye.
She wanted to see it again.
So, Anne finished the tea in the cup again.
That slender and beautiful hand picked up the teapot and slowly poured the orange-yellow tea into the cup. Then, he added some milk … In the end, he even used a small silver spoon to carefully stir the tea for her.
The fire in the fireplace flickered.
"Shylock." Anne's voice was gentle and light.
"Yes." Shylock responded in a low voice and glanced at her.
For a moment, Shylock felt as if he saw a quiet flame in Anne's eyes, soft and bright. And at the center of the hottest flame, it was filled to the brim with him.
Mr. Holmes had fully grasped Anne's different tone and purpose every time she called his name. For example, when she called him in such a low and gentle voice, it usually meant that she was very happy and just wanted to call his name.
Shylock stared at her fair and delicate profile and suddenly said, "I think I have time to accompany you to the supermarket tomorrow. Of course, if you want to go shopping or watch a movie, that's fine too. Although in my opinion, these are meaningless and a waste of time."
But if you're happy, I can do these with you.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
