Finally, just after nine o’clock, a messenger arrived with a note:

“I am at Goldini’s Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Come quickly. Bring a crowbar, a lantern, a chisel, and a gun. — Sherlock Holmes”

“Great,” I muttered to myself sarcastically. “Just the kind of things a doctor should carry through the foggy streets of London!”

Crowbar 铁锹

Chisel 凿子

Muttered 嘟囔，喃喃自语

Sarcastically 挖苦地

I sighed, but did as Holmes asked. I hid the tools in my coat and took a cab straight to the restaurant. Holmes was sitting at a small round table near the door.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Then have a coffee with me. Did you bring the tools?”

“Yes, they’re in my coat.”

“Excellent. Now, let me update you. Be clear, Watson—someone placed Cadogan West’s body on the roof of the train. That’s a fact.”

“Couldn’t it have fallen from a bridge?” I asked.

“No, that’s impossible. Train roofs are rounded, and there are no railings. The body would have rolled off. So someone had to place it there.”

“How could they have done that?”

"That was the question we had to answer. And there is only one possible answer. You know that in some parts of the West End, the Underground trains run outside the tunnels? Well, I remember seeing windows very close to the train when I last went that way. They were the windows of houses built along the side of the train tracks. Now, imagine if a train stopped under one of those windows. Would it be hard to put a body on top of the train?"

"That seems unlikely."

"Yes, it might sound strange. But there’s an old saying, Watson: if every other explanation is wrong, then the one that is left—no matter how unlikely—must be the truth. In this case, every other explanation has failed. I think you were surprised when I got excited looking at Mycroft’s list of addresses. It was because of the spy—the big international spy who had just left London. He lived in one of the houses next to the Underground line."

Railings 围栏，栅栏

Train tracks 火车轨道

Spy 间谍

"Oh, so that’s why?"

"Yes, exactly. His name is Hugo Oberstein, and he lived at number 13, Caulfield Gardens. He’s the main suspect in this case. I started at Gloucester Road Station. A helpful railway worker walked with me beside the train tracks. I needed to check if the back windows of Caulfield Gardens looked out onto the tracks. They do. Even better, the trains often stop there for a few minutes because of train traffic."

"Brilliant, Holmes! You’ve got it!" I said.

"We are making progress, Watson, but we haven’t solved it yet. After I checked the back of the house, I walked around to the front. I was sure Oberstein had already left. It’s a big house, and he lived there with one personal servant and a few maids. The servant probably helped him with the crime. We know that Oberstein left for the Continent to sell stolen items—not to run from the police. He wasn’t worried that anyone would search his house. But that’s exactly what we are going to do."

"Can’t we get a search warrant and do it legally?" I asked.

"Not with the little evidence we have," Holmes replied.

Suspect 嫌疑人

Servant 佣人

Maids 女佣

Warrant 搜查令

Evidence 证据

"What do you expect to find there?"

"Maybe some letters."

"I don’t like this, Holmes."

"My dear friend, you’ll keep watch outside while I do the risky part. This isn’t the time to hesitate. Remember Mycroft’s note, the Admiralty, the Cabinet, and even the Prime Minister. They are all waiting for answers. We must go."

Hesitate 犹豫

Admiralty 海军部

I stood up from the table.

"You’re right, Holmes. Let’s go."

He jumped up and shook my hand.

"I knew you wouldn’t say no," he said. For a moment, I saw a warm look in his eyes. Then he quickly went back to making plans.

"It’s almost half a mile, but there’s no rush. We can walk," he said. "Please don’t drop the tools. It would be bad luck if you were arrested before we even broke into the house."

Caulfield Gardens was a row of old, flat-fronted Victorian houses. At the house next door, there was a children’s party. We could hear the happy sounds of kids and the music of a piano in the night.

The fog was still thick, and it helped hide us. Holmes lit his small lantern and held it in front of the large door.

"This is a problem," he said. "It’s both bolted and locked. The basement door might be easier. There’s also an archway down there where we can hide if someone walks by. Help me, Watson."

A minute later, we had climbed over the railings and were at the basement. We quickly moved into the shadow of the archway just in time to avoid a policeman. We heard his heavy footsteps pass by and fade into the distance. Holmes started working on the door. I watched him as he worked hard, until finally the door opened with a loud snap.

Bolted 上了闩的

Basement 地下室

Archway 拱门

Fade into the distance 逐渐消失

He rushed inside and I followed, even though my brain was telling me not to. We were in a dark hallway. I closed the door behind us. Holmes led the way up the curving stairs with no carpet. We entered a room where the light from Holmes’s lantern shone on a dirty window.

"This is the one, Watson," he said.

He opened the window. At that moment, we heard a low noise. Then it grew louder as a train rushed past in the dark, sending steam and smoke into the room.

Holmes shone his lantern on the windowsill. It was covered in black soot from the trains. But some areas were smudged.

"You can see where they placed the body. And look here—this must be a bloodstain," he said, pointing to a faint red mark on the wood.

"Let’s wait until a train stops."

Hallway 门厅，走廊

Shone on 照在

Windowsill 窗台

Soot 煤灰，煤烟

Smudged 弄脏

Bloodstain 血迹

Faint red 淡红色

We didn’t wait long. Another train came out of the tunnel and then slowed down and stopped right below us. It was so close we could almost touch it.

Holmes quietly closed the window.

"So far, our theory is correct. What do you think, Watson?"

"It’s brilliant. You’ve done it, Holmes."

He gave a small smile and shook his head.

"I don’t agree, my dear friend. Once I thought of the body on the roof, the rest was easy. If this were an ordinary case, we’d be finished. But we still have more work to do."

He went up the stairs to the rooms on the first floor. The first room was a cold, boring dining room. Nothing useful there. The second was Oberstein’s bedroom. Again, nothing helpful. The third room looked more interesting. It was full of papers and books and was clearly a study.

Holmes searched drawer after drawer and cupboard after cupboard. But he didn’t look happy. After an hour, we had no new clues.

"The clever man has hidden his tracks," Holmes said. "This is our last hope."

He pointed to a small metal cashbox on the desk. He picked it up and opened it with his chisel. Inside were rolls of paper with numbers and calculations, but no note to explain them. There were words like “water pressure” and “pressure per square inch,” which might be about submarines, but we couldn’t be sure. Holmes threw them aside.

All that was left was an envelope with newspaper cuttings. Holmes tipped them out, and suddenly he smiled.

Drawer 抽屉

Clues 线索

Tip out 将...倒出

"This might be something, Watson! These are secret messages hidden in newspaper ads. Looks like they’re from the Daily Telegraph. No dates, but this must be the first one:

‘Hope to hear sooner. Terms agreed to. Write fully to address on card. Pierott.’

Then:

‘Too complex for description. Must have full report. Stuff awaits you when goods delivered. Pierott.’

And finally:

‘Monday night after nine. Two taps. Only ourselves. Do not be so suspicious. Payment in cash when goods delivered. Pierott.’

"A full record, Watson! If only we knew who he was writing to."

He sat quietly, thinking deeply and tapping his fingers on the table. Then suddenly, he stood up.

"Maybe it won’t be so hard after all! Come on, Watson, let’s go to the offices of the Daily Telegraph. We’ve done a good day’s work."

The next morning after breakfast, Mycroft and Inspector Lestrade came to see us. Holmes told them what we had done the day before. Lestrade shook his head when he heard about the burglary.

"We can’t do things like that in the police force, Mr Holmes," he said. "It’s no wonder you get better results than we do. But one day you’ll go too far, and you and your friend will get into trouble."

Holmes made a disapproving sound. "Protectors of the country, eh, Watson? What do you think, Mycroft?"

Burglary 入室盗窃

Disapproving 反对的，不赞成的

"Excellent work, Sherlock! Really good. But what will you do with the clues you found?"

Holmes picked up the Daily Telegraph from the table.

"Did you see Pierrot’s advertisement today?"

"What? Another one?" Mycroft asked.

"Yes, here it is."

"Tonight. Same hour. Same place. Two taps. Most important. Your own safety at risk. Pierrot."

"Good heavens!" Lestrade shouted. "If he answers that ad, we’ve got him!"

"That’s why I put it there," Holmes said. "Can you both come with us to Caulfield Gardens tonight at eight? I think we’ll solve the mystery then."

That night, Lestrade and Mycroft waited for us near Gloucester Road Station. The basement door of Hugo Oberstein’s house had been left unlocked the night before. I had to go inside and unlock the front door because Mycroft refused to climb over the fence.

By nine o’clock, we were all sitting in the study, waiting for someone to come.

One hour passed, then another. At eleven o’clock, the church clock chimed loudly. It felt like our hopes were gone. Lestrade and Mycroft kept checking their watches and moving in their chairs. Holmes stayed quiet and calm. Then, suddenly, he lifted his head.

"He’s coming," Holmes said.

We heard quiet footsteps, a soft walk, and then two sharp knocks on the door.

Holmes stood up and told us to stay seated. He walked to the door, opened it, and welcomed a dark figure inside. The figure walked past him silently like a shadow, and Holmes closed the door.

"This way!" Holmes said. A moment later, the man stood in front of us.

He cried out in surprise when he saw us. He turned to run, but Holmes grabbed his collar and pushed him back into the room. In seconds, Holmes had closed the door and was standing in front of it.

Chime 钟鸣响

Cry out 大声叫

Grabbed his collar 抓住衣领

The man looked around in shock, then fainted and fell to the floor. His big hat fell off, and his scarf slipped down. Underneath, we saw a long light beard—and the handsome face of Colonel Valentine Walter.

Holmes gave a surprised whistle.

"Well, Watson," he said. "This is not the man I expected."

"Who is he?" Mycroft asked eagerly.

"He’s the younger brother of the late Sir James Walter," Holmes said. "Sir James was the head of the Submarine Department. Now I understand. He’s waking up. Let me question him."

We carried the man to the sofa. He sat up and looked around in fear. He touched his forehead.

"What’s going on? I came here to visit Mr Oberstein."

"We know everything, Colonel Walter," Holmes said. "I can’t believe an English gentleman would act like this. We know about your work with Oberstein. We also know how Cadogan West died. If you confess and show some regret, we might think better of you."

The man groaned and covered his face with his hands. He stayed silent.

"Don’t try to deny it," Holmes said. "We know you needed money and that you copied your brother’s keys. You contacted Oberstein, the spy. He replied through the personal ads in the Daily Telegraph. You went to the Arsenal on that foggy Monday night. Cadogan West saw you and followed you. He thought you were taking the papers to your brother, so he didn’t call the police. He left his fiancée in the fog and followed you here, because he was a good citizen. He confronted you, and you killed him. You murdered an innocent man."

"I didn’t! I swear I didn’t!" the colonel cried.

"Then tell us how Cadogan West died before you put his body on the roof of a train."

"I will. I swear it. I did everything else. I confess. It’s just like you said. I needed money badly. Oberstein offered me five thousand pounds to steal the plans. But I didn’t kill Cadogan West."

"What happened then?" Holmes asked.

"Cadogan West followed me here, but I didn’t see him until I was at the door. I knocked, and Oberstein opened it. West ran up behind me and demanded to know what we were doing with the papers. Oberstein had a walking stick. When West pushed his way into the house, Oberstein hit him on the head with the stick. He died in five minutes. We didn’t know what to do with the body. Then Oberstein had an idea. He remembered that trains stopped under his back window. But first he looked at the stolen papers. He said he needed to keep three of them."

Confess 坦白

Groan 叹息

Confront 对峙

Innocent 无辜的

Walking stick 手杖

"‘You can’t keep them,’ I said. ‘If they don’t go back to Woolwich, the government will know they’ve been stolen. They’ll catch us quickly.’"

"‘I must keep them,’ he said. ‘They’re too complex to copy.’"

"‘No, we must return all of them tonight,’ I told him."

"He thought for a while and then said, ‘I’ll keep three. We’ll put the rest in West’s pockets so people blame him.’"

"I didn’t see another way, so I agreed. We waited at the window until a train stopped. The fog was so thick that nobody could see us. We lowered West’s body onto the train, and that was it. Or so I thought."

"And what about Sir James?" Holmes asked.

"My brother never said anything, but I think he knew. He died from the shame. I caused that."

There was silence in the room. Then Mycroft spoke.

"Can’t you try to fix what you’ve done? It might help you get a lighter punishment."

"How can I do that?" Colonel Walter asked.

"Where is Oberstein with the papers?" Mycroft replied.

"I don’t know."

“Didn’t he give you an address?”

“He told me to send letters to the Hotel de Louvre, Paris.”

“Then you can still fix this,” said Holmes.

“I will do anything I can. I owe Oberstein nothing. He has ruined my life,” said the colonel.

“Here is some paper and a pen. Sit at this desk and write what I say,” said Holmes. “Write the address on the envelope.”

Walter sat down and wrote while we all watched.

“Dear Sir,

You have probably noticed that one important part of the plans is missing. I have that part.

Getting it was very dangerous for me. I need another five hundred pounds. I won’t trust the post, and I will only accept gold or paper money.

I can’t come abroad because it would look suspicious if I left the country.

So I will meet you in the smoking room of the Charing Cross Hotel at noon on Saturday.”

“That’s perfect,” said Holmes. “I think this will bring our man.”

And it did! Oberstein believed the letter was real. He came to the hotel, where the police arrested him. He was sent to prison for fifteen years. The Bruce-Partington plans were found in his luggage. He had tried to sell them to countries all across Europe.

Colonel Walter was also sent to prison. He died there during his second year.

A few weeks later, after the case was finished, Holmes went to Windsor Castle. When he came back, he was wearing a beautiful emerald tiepin. He said it was a gift from someone very important to thank him for his work.

Arrest 逮捕

Sent to prison 被判入狱

Emerald tiepin 绿宝石领带别针

He didn’t say who gave it to him, but I think I know. A tiepin like that could only come from one person—Her Majesty the Queen herself.