After a morning of getting along, Zhang Heng could already confirm that this Mr. Vial was indeed an avid fan of Sherlock Holmes.

His words and the way he looked at Holmes confirmed this fact.

On the other hand, although Sherlock Holmes doesn't say it, it can be seen that he actually enjoys this kind of worship in his heart, and no matter how withdrawn and high-minded the artist is, he also hopes that his works can be accepted by the world, although Sherlock Holmes is not an artist in the traditional sense, but his attainments in criminal investigation can indeed be called a Victorian artist.

Of course, Holmes focused more on what Vial was talking about.

It was evident that he was also interested in this honorary thief.

In the carriage, he asked the red-haired youth, "How much information do you have about him now?" ”

A look of shame appeared on Vial's face when he heard this, "I tried my best to investigate, but I didn't get much information, mainly because it was not easy to find the victim, and most people didn't want to mention what happened back then, that guy...... Anyway, in a sense, it's quite a gentleman, as long as you pay the ransom, he will keep his promise to return the things to you, and he won't come to harass you again, so the vast majority of people pay obediently. ”

"It's okay, a big thief can even manage his reputation." "It seems that our friend has made this business his life's work," said Holmes, "and how could we not go to such an interesting man." ”

Vial was in high spirits, rubbing his palms and excitedly, "So you are planning to make a move, it's good, as long as you are willing to go out, that thief will probably be planted here this time, he must not know that you are in London, otherwise he will definitely not come here." ”

"My friend, you're exalting me too much." Sherlock Holmes laughed, "Let's talk about the case first." ”

"Don't worry, I know it's not convenient for you to go to France, I've almost surveyed the scene, and collected all the information that seems useful and useless on the surface for your reference."

Vial said as he pulled out a small notebook from his suitcase.

Zhang Heng glanced at it, almost every page on it was filled with dense notes, and even carefully drawn pictures, even Sherlock Holmes was full of praise after getting it, "In terms of this level of carefulness alone, Vial has surpassed most of your peers." ”

"Hehe, it's nothing, I just believe that diligence can make up for it." Vyal scratched his head and said, his face was happy to be appreciated by his idol.

Sherlock Holmes quickly flipped through the notebook, then spent another half an hour reading it carefully from beginning to end, and handed it to Zhang Heng, "You can also take a look, it's quite interesting." ”

Zhang Heng took the notebook and roughly looked at the contents on it.

Mr. Viscount's oil painting of Canaletto was thrown away half a month ago, because of the particularity of this painting, he did not put this oil painting in the collection room like other collections, but specially found an inconspicuous small room to store it, and at the same time stored a delicate large porcelain vase from China, compared to the large porcelain vase is more valuable, but the other party did not move at all, only took the oil painting, obviously did a lot of homework beforehand.

"What do you think?" Sherlock Holmes asked Zhang Heng.

The latter pondered for a moment and said, "There are a few problems, first, even if this painting is lost, no one can prove that it ever fell into the hands of Mr. Viscount." ”

"Oh, that's right, Monsieur Viscount has a little quirk, he likes to sign the back of the oil paintings in his collection, and although he knows that the origin of the painting is a bit unclean, he can't help but sign his name on it," said Vyal a little helplessly, "otherwise I wouldn't have had to chase it all the way from Paris to London." ”

"The second question is, who are the people who knew that he had secretly traded this oil painting?"

"You're getting to the point," Holmes nodded, "the most interesting part of this case is also here, you also said before that Mr. Viscount secretly completed the transaction through an intermediary, how did the honorary thief know about it after so many years, and in the same way, there are other victims, since he is specifically staring at the secret that is the most unbearable in a person's heart and does not want to be known, first of all, he himself needs to dig out this secret first." ”

"This is also what puzzles me the most," said Vial, "I have no clue about this, just imagine that even if he learns a person's secret by chance, there is no reason to know about other people's, otherwise this person is a little too godly, can he have some black magic, can directly see through a person's eyes what he thinks, then our opponent this time is inevitably a little too terrifying." ”

"I don't believe in the Witch Doctor's Dark Arts," Sherlock Holmes scoffed, "in all the cases I've dealt with, all the things that seem mysterious and counterintuitive on the surface, as long as you are willing to study them patiently, will eventually get a reasonable explanation, eliminate those impossible answers, and the rest is the truth." ”

"You're right, teachable." Vyal said modestly, he looked like a primary school student listening carefully in class at the moment, which made Holmes a little crying and laughing, he could only say to Zhang Heng, "Go on, my friend from the East." ”

"Third, it involves the problem of modus operandi," Zhang Heng said, "The night before, Mr. Viscount also went to see the oil painting, and then the maid who cleaned up early the next morning found that the oil painting was missing, that is to say, the time of the crime was in between, but the Viscount's mansion was closely guarded, and there were a few hunting dogs, and the hunting dogs did not make a sound that night, and the notes said that there were no other visitors to visit during this time, and there was a small garden behind the house, and there was a light rain in the morning, the soil was loose, and there were no footprints on it, And the main door was to the butler's room, and he did not hear any unusual sound at night, so how did the honorary thief enter the Viscount's mansion and take the painting out before dawn? ”

Vial also said distressedly, "Yes, this guy is really powerful, he came and went without a trace, the maid cleaned up in the morning, and found that the frame was still there, but the oil painting inside was missing, and the guy also left a letter signed Mr. M on the ground, and proudly commented on the decoration of the Viscount's Mansion, which was simply regarded as his own backyard, which really made people angry." ”