(Story 7 of Sherlock Holmes's Expedition)
A couple of Christmas later in the morning I went to greet my friend Sherlock Holmes. Holmes sat reclining on the sofa in his purple-colored dressing gown. To his right was a pipe shelf and a handful of newly read morning newspapers scattered around. A dilapidated old felt hat was hanging on the chair next to the sofa. The hat cracks in places - unusable. Looking at the lens and forceps on the chair, I realized that it was hung in such a way to test it well.
I said, “You look busy. I may have come and stopped the work. ”
“Not at all. It's a pleasure to talk to a friend like you about my decision. It's very small. " He then pointed to Tupiter and said, "But there are some things involved with that thing that are not only beautiful, but also quite instructive."
It was snowing outside. The window glass was covered with a thick layer of ice. Sitting in the armchair, roasting my hand in the blazing fire of the fireplace, I said, "Looks like there's a lot of mercurial story going on with this simple-looking Tupita, and you're thinking of punishing the culprit by solving the mystery."
Holmes laughed and said, “No no, not a crime. In fact, some strange things happen when forty million people struggle within a few miles. This is one such case. In the reactions of so many people, there are so many small incidents in so many possible incidents, which are very significant and strange, but there is not always any crime added to it. We have seen such incidents happen before. ”
I said, “I haven't seen it again! Of the last six cases I have noted, three have nothing to do with what is called a crime in the eyes of the law. ”
"You are right. You're talking about the rescue of Irene Adler's paper, the unprecedented case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and the mystery of that crooked-lipped man. I can say that this matter is equally innocent. Do you know Commissioner [*] Peterson? ”
"Yes, sugar cane."
"That's the thing he did."
"Is it Peterson's hat?"
"No, Peterson picked it up. The identity of the owner is unknown. Take it in hand. Don't cut off the leaky hat. Zeno, this is also an intellectual problem. Oh yes, listen to the history of its arrival here first. On Christmas morning, Peterson appeared with a beautiful swan and this hat. The duck is most likely now in Peterson's kitchen oven. Here is what happened: At four in the morning on Christmas day, Peterson was returning home from Tottenham Court Road. In the gas light on the street in front, he saw a tall man staggering a little. The man had a white duck on his shoulder. The man got into trouble with a group of thugs as he approached the corner of Goose Street. A thug took the hat off his head. The man went around swinging his stick over his head in self-defense. But the glass of the shop window behind him was shattered. You know, Peterson is an honest boy. He ran to save the man from the mob. Meanwhile, the man broke the window glass and got scared. At that moment, a uniformed policeman saw the man running and dropped the duck and ran towards the labyrinth in the small alley behind Tottenham Court Road. The mob also fled after seeing Peterson. Peterson rescued the torn hat and the perfect Christmas party from the spot. ”
"And then surely things got delivered to his owner?"
"That's the problem, friend. The duck had a small card stuck to its left leg. It read, "For Mrs. Henry Baker." ‘H. on Tupiter lining. B. ’writing is also clear. But there are thousands of unemployed people in our city, at least hundreds of them named Henry Baker. It's not a small thing to hand over this lost property to its rightful owner! ”
“Oh! So Peterson brought the duck to you? ”
“Peterson knows I'm interested in small things. So he brought me a duck and a hat on Christmas morning. The duck was here with me till today. But I saw that the thing was rotting despite the cold. So without further ado, I gave the person who picked it up the responsibility of using it well. The poor gentleman's Christmas dinner died on the field. I left the hat. Now let's see if it can at least be returned to him. ”
"Didn't the gentleman advertise the loss-gain?"
"No."
"Then what formula did you get?"
"As much as can be guessed by observation."
"Observe this hat?"
"Yes."
“Are you kidding? Listen to what you guessed from looking at this old leaky hat! ”
“You know my method. Take this lens. See what you think about the owner by observing the thing. ”
I took the thing in my hand and looked at it upside down. A very round black hat. Strong, but very bad. The color inside is red silk lining. No manufacturer name. However, as Holmes put it, ‘H. B. ’The initials are written in very rough letters in one corner. Caps on both sides. However, the elastic is torn. Torn, dusty hat. Spots in places. Attempts have been made to cover the spots with ink again.
I returned the hat to my friend and said, "I can't see anything."
"You're wrong, Watson, you've seen it all. Just didn't know you saw it. In fact, you can't match the causes properly. ”
“Then please tell me what works with this hat
So interesting