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波西米亚丑闻-3
Through the smoke, I saw people moving quickly in the sitting room, and soon I heard Holmes’s voice saying it was a false alarm.
I moved through the noisy crowd and went to the end of the street, where I waited for Holmes. Ten minutes later, he showed up. We walked quickly and quietly for several blocks until we reached a quiet street off Edgware Road.
“You did very well,” Holmes said. “Everything went according to plan.”
“Do you have the photograph?” I asked.
“I know where it is,” Holmes replied.
“How did you find out?” I wondered.
“She showed me, just as I planned,” Holmes said with a smile.
“I still don’t understand,” I said.
Holmes laughed. “My plan was actually very simple. You saw how everyone in the street helped. Thanks to the king of Bohemia and his generous payment, they all got a little richer today.”
“I guessed that,” I said.
“When the fight started, I squeezed some red paint onto my hand. Then I rushed forward, fell down, and put my hand on my face to look like I was badly hurt. It’s an old trick,” Holmes explained.
“I figured that out, too,” I said.
“Then they carried me inside. I knew Mrs. Norton wouldn’t leave me hurt on the street. I was taken into the sitting room, which I suspected had the photograph. The king’s men must have tried to break into her bedroom, but Mrs. Norton is too smart for that.”
“They put me on the couch, I asked for some air, the maid opened the window, and you did your part.”
“How did that help?” I asked.
“It was very important. When people think their house is on fire, they instinctively try to protect what they value most. It might be a child or a valuable item. For Mrs. Norton, the most valuable thing was the photograph.
“The ‘fire’ was very convincing—all that smoke and noise made it seem real. Mrs. Norton acted just as I hoped. The photograph was hidden behind a sliding panel. She went straight to it, and I saw her pull it out through the smoke.”
