October 30, 1902

It's another Thursday.

Because the next day is Halloween, many families have already prepared Jack's lanterns.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the material used for the lantern was not pumpkin,

turnips, beets, potatoes......

These relatively inexpensive ingredients are carved into terrifying faces and scattered across the streets, adding to the festive atmosphere.

A horse-drawn carriage made its way through the morning fog towards Westminster.

In the car sat Winston Churchill,

At this moment, he was carefully reading a document in Japanese and English, frowning,

Unfortunately, the road is bumpy, and every shaking of the carriage makes the text seem to dance, which is difficult to capture and dazzling.

He exhaled depressedly,

"Whew~"

Gave up.

After closing his eyes for a moment, the carriage slowly stopped,

The voice of the coachman was heard outside:

"Sir, here we are."

Churchill cleaned up and jumped out of the carriage.

Just then, John Wardhouse came from across the street,

The two took a look at each other.

Wardhouse said, "Winston, have you read the paperwork that Japan submitted three days ago?" ”

Churchill shook the documents in his hands,

"Roughly look at it."

With a wave of his hand,

"Go to your office and say."

Wardhouse snorted softly like a mirror in his heart,

"You kid, I'm afraid you want to go to my office and ransack it, right?"

Churchill was very thick-skinned and said with a smile: "It's just a few cigars, there's no need to use such a serious word as 'looting', right?" Besides, I can't draw a few. ”

Wardhouse gave the other a blank look,

"Only ghosts will believe!"

The two chatted and headed straight to Wardhouse's office.

The layout here has basically not changed,

Desks, armchairs, sofas, wine coolers, cigar cabinets......

Balance life and office.

There is also a fish tank, which was originally used to raise turtles and lazy, because the little lazy was given to Lu Shi, so it was empty at this time.

Churchill still did the same, taking a few cigars and putting them in his cigarette case, then lighting one and sitting in his armchair to swallow the smoke.

Wardhouse has long been numb to Churchill's behavior, and continues the topic:

"What do you think of that document?"

Churchill spreads his hands,

"What else can you see? The Japanese side wants to expand the content of the alliance treaty, and it is a pipe dream. ”

In fact, Britain and Japan signed an alliance at the beginning of the year.

The Treaty guarantees:

If one side of the alliance found itself had to defend its interests in the Far East by war, then the other side had to neutralize in good faith.

And now, the Japanese side has asked for one more article:

If one of the Central Powers is fighting against two or more other States, the other side shall provide military assistance.

In real history, these two articles were signed at the same time,

But because of the appearance of the land time, the world line changed, and the whole of Europe became a pot of porridge.

Britain and France have a tendency to reconcile;

Russia slowed down its expansion into the Far East;

Germany-Britain friction in Morocco suspended;

……

In this case, Japan became less important to the United Kingdom.

In addition, Prime Minister Arthur James Balfour read "The Nature of Japanese Civilization" and was afraid of being stabbed in the back by the Japanese side, so he gave relatively conservative conditions when the two sides were allied.

Wardhouse spreads his hands,

"So, literati can really influence politics."

Churchill nodded,

"Isn't that right? I'm an example of that. Reporter from politics, hehe~"

"Tsk......"

Wardhouse stumbled slightly,

Thought

I clearly said that Lu Shi, and Winston's face is too thick.

Churchill stretched,

"I don't know when Sir Lu will write academic works like "The Nature of Japanese Civilization" and "The Inconsequential Year 1587" again. I'm out of books. ”

He grabbed his cigar and picked up the "Mirror" on the table.

"Or, the third part of "Harry Potter" can also be used~"

Wardhouse said, "You don't have to look for it, it's not updated this week. I asked Lu and he said next Thursday. ”

Churchill couldn't help but sigh,

"It's boring."

Wardhouse pulled a book out of his briefcase -

"Gradient".

He handed it over and said, "Winston, look at this, I promise not to be bored." ”

Since Lu Shi was the co-author, Doyle's book was naturally handed over to the publishing company of the Mirror.

So, Wardhouse got his hands on it the day before,

He's been reading it all night.

Churchill looked curiously at the cover,

I saw the book written on the waist:

——

The smartest detective in the world!

The most mysterious case in the world!

Sherlock Holmes returns, leaving criminals with nowhere to hide!

——

This recommendation is also exaggerated enough.

Churchill was disappointed,

"Sherlock Holmes?"

Wardhouse prompted him: "If you look at the author column, it's absolutely unexpected. ”

Churchill looked,

Half a second later, he had a shocked expression as two names were written in the author column at the same time:

Arthur Conan Doyle,

Lu。

Churchill looked confused,

"What is this? The Great Reconciliation of the Century? ”

Although Lu Shi wrote "Sherlock Holmes, the setter of detective standards and the practitioner of reasoning standards" before, the two sides have already laughed and hated,

But the co-authors are true of an unenvisioned path.

Churchill said: "Sir Lu is worthy of being engaged in the media, and he makes big news at every turn. ”

He couldn't wait to open the book,

The style of the text in "Gradient" is very similar to that of the Sherlock Holmes series, and it is clearly written by Doyle.

Unlike in the past, this time the format is a diary, and each chapter is a date.

The first-person perspective is also no longer Watson, but the character in the case.

Seeing this, Churchill elements perceived,

"Is it a narrative ruse? Diary is best used for narrative. ”

Waldhouse was noncommittal,

"See for yourself."

Seeing him like this, Churchill became more and more sure in his heart, and with the answers, he looked for clues to the narrative as he read,

So, all kinds of corroboration appeared,

"I" have many doubts,

When describing the sky, it is always said to be gray;

When eating melons and fruits, you will bite the skin at every turn, as if the boundary between the flesh and the skin of the melon and fruit is not obvious;

I didn't know that the color of the mailbox had changed;

(PS: The British mailbox was originally green, but because London was rainy and foggy, the green was not eye-catching, and it would even be accidentally bumped into when walking, so it was changed to bright red in 1874)

……

These all point to one point:

"I" am colorblind.

Churchill sighed,

"John, 'I' have to be colorblind, right?"

Wardhouse asked, "Where do you see it?" ”

Churchill flipped a few pages forward and replied, "Chapter five, here is the second murder." I think the next plot is for 'me' to deal with Sherlock Holmes, and maybe even commit one or two more cases and finally get caught. ”

Wardhouse smiled mysteriously,

"Let's keep looking."

It's an interesting attitude.

Churchill was also aroused by curiosity, continue reading,

Who would have thought that just after the sixth chapter, the fact that "I" am a person with color blindness will be exposed.

Churchill was stunned,

How do you write it later?

"Roger's Mystery" didn't reveal the answer until the last chapter!

Churchill was mad,

"How so? Am I falling into the trap designed by Dr. Doyle and Lu? ”

Wardhouse laughed,

I thought to myself,

It's so cool to see a smart guy like Winston being played!

"You should know that it is impossible for Lu to make a low-level mistake," he said. ”

Churchill wondered,

"Low-level errors? What do you mean? ”

Waldhouse replied, "Lu once told me that when a writer writes reasoning, he must not take the reader for a fool. ”

Churchill suddenly realized,

"So, such obvious symptoms of color blindness as 'I' were actually smoke bombs deliberately put by Dr. Doyle and Lu? Is the purpose to confuse the reader? ”

He fell into deep thought,

"Since it is to confuse the reader, it means that 'I' am not the murderer. However, judging from the first six chapters, 'I' shouldn't have known that I was color blind...... Shiit！ Fxxk！ Am I the murderer? ”

Churchill was devastated.

Wardhouse blinked mysteriously again, not answering.

This expression is so hateful!

Churchill is on fire,

"I'll have to go back and see!"

As a result, I flipped through it twice before, but I didn't find any useful clues.

He felt like his IQ was being crushed.

Wardhouse chuckled,

"Okay, you can go back and look back. In this case, it's hard to guess the trick. ”

Churchill helplessly,

"It's really hard."

The reason lies in the previous behavior of shooting arrows first and then drawing targets:

Because he has presupposed, this book is a narrative ruse, so when he reads, he will go to this goal.

So, whenever he found a clue that Lu and Doyle deliberately revealed, he would be delighted, and at the same time mock in his heart: "How can such a simple question stump me smartly?" ”

And that's exactly what Lu and Doyle wanted.

In a duel of wits, Churchill was completely defeated.

He was convinced and continued to look back.

Unexpectedly, the plot of "Gradient" is far more complex than imagined,

Then two more murders,

The writing is excellent and the plot is engaging.

Finally, in the last chapter of the puzzle chapter, the murderer is "my" brother.

Churchill pinched his chin gently,

"Frankly, I've considered this possibility before."

Waldhouse was curious,

"Why?"

Churchill said: "Normally, if one of the brothers is colourblind, the other is not immune." This was the case with John Dalton, who first discovered color blindness, and he and his brother had different color vision than normal people. But ......"

"No clues."

He began to flip through again,

"In the following chapters, I can't tell that 'my' brother is color blind."

Wardhouse laughs,

"You're in the wrong place, the clues are in the first few chapters."

"Ah......h

Churchill was a little confused,

"It doesn't make sense. Since I'm not the murderer, there's no need to lie...... Not...... There's no need to lie......"

He seemed to think of something, and fell into deep thought,

After a long time, his eyes widened in surprise and said, "The nesting of narrative tricks? ”

The first six chapters,

"I" didn't know I was colorblind, so it was real when I wrote my diary,

And the reader and "my" brother know about it;

After Chapter 6,

"I" knew that I was color blind, so I guessed that my younger brother was also color blind and might be the real murderer, so I concealed it when I wrote my diary, deliberately avoiding the clue that my younger brother was color blind.

And the reader doesn't know about it.

Churchill was shocked,

"The strategy of the narrative has changed!? Can you still write like this!? ”

Wardhouse nodded,

"You get it."

As he spoke, he walked out from behind his desk, took "Gradient", and turned to the second chapter,

"Look here...... 'It's cloudy, a carriage is coming, he's squinting at the blue of the roof, as if he's confused'......'"

Churchill reacted,

This detail he hadn't noticed before, and now that he thinks back, it was indeed a clue.

Wardhouse continued to flip through the book,

"Also, here...... Here......"

Churchill smiled bitterly, but he didn't expect that he was completely led by the nose by Lu and Dr. Doyle.

"It's not a question of writing techniques, it's also about the application of psychology," he said. Lu shifted a thousand pounds in four or two, and the readers were pinched to death. ”

Waldhouse was curious,

"How can you be sure it's Lu's trick?"

Churchill shrugged,

"It can't be Dr. Doyle,"

"Ah......h

Wardhouse was slightly embarrassed and said, "That's true, the core trick was come up with by Lu. ”

Churchill looked out the window,

Before you know it, it's past noon,

The sun shines through the sparse clouds and falls on the ancient streets,

The faint mist intertwines with the autumn sun, giving it a hazy and mysterious feeling.

Churchill muttered: "With such big news as 'Gradient', I believe that Sir Lu doesn't have to worry about 'Harry Potter' being urged to change for the time being." ”

……

Fleet Street,

The Times' editor-in-chief's room.

"Whew~"

George Earl Buckle put down the book in his hand, let out a long breath, and said, "What a good writing! The Sherlock Holmes series has a second spring. ”

The clerk next to him complimented: "Editor-in-chief, if you say it's a good book, then it must be a good book!" ”

Bakr is very useful,

"Of course!"

He looked at the aspect of "Gradient" again,

"I have to admit that the core trickery of this book is very subtle. It's a pity that under my fiery eyes, nothing is hidden. By the time I read the third chapter, I knew who the killer was. ”

The clerk nodded,

"You're talking about it!"

But I thought to myself,

The editor-in-chief of his own house is really shameless, and he doesn't even make drafts if he brags.

"Still, I'm surprised that Lu would work with Dr. Doyle. You know, the Sherlock Holmes series was killed by "No One Survived" and "The Mystery of Roger". ”

Last year, Lu revealed the story of "The Dancing Man" in the Manchester Guardian.

Now it's good that Sherlock Holmes has come back to life.

What is the reason for such a great reconciliation of the century?

"Can't figure it out......"

Bakker sighed,

"I just can't figure it out."

The clerk speculated: "Could it be because Sir Lu doesn't want the Sherlock Holmes series to fall?" He was an open-minded man and loved literature......"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Bakker,

"Open-minded? Come on! The Mirror is on the verge of crippling The Times. ”

"Mirror" whale swallows the market,

The current "Times" is indeed surviving.

The clerk thought for a moment,

"Perhaps, the Mirror is not targeting us. It's just a consequence of pushing the boundaries of itself, and destroying other newspapers. ”

This is equivalent to:

"I'm not targeting anyone, I'm saying that everyone here is spicy chicken."

Backer's face turned green,

"If you can't speak, you don't have to speak! No one is when you're dumb! ”

"Hmm......"

The clerk honestly shut up.

Bakker glared at him again, then got up and put on his clothes, ready to go to the door of the Mirror newspaper.

In the past few days, he is particularly fond of "spying on the enemy",

Watching the "Mirror" newspaper under siege, readers shouted "Plus more!" every day. The appearance made him feel like he was breathing a bad breath.

He walked briskly out of the Times headquarters and across the street.

There are many people besieging today,

I saw that they surrounded the gate of the "Mirror Newspaper" newspaper building, and they all looked like they would not give up when they did not see the land.

But strangely, no one took the lead in shouting slogans,

Instead, whispering,

"Did you read Gradient? Reverse and reverse! That's so well written! ”

"But Lu didn't write Harry Potter honestly, I always felt very uncomfortable."

"'Gradient' isn't bad."

"That's right. I'm more curious, though, why did Lu work with Arthur Conan Doyle? Aren't the two of them at odds? ”

"Their relationship has eased before. However, being able to create a joint creation illustrates the relationship between the two...... Hiss...... You say, Dr. Doyle isn't paying any price, is it? ”

"You mean, Dr. Doyle sells meat...... Hiss ......"

……

No one was talking about the Harry Potter update.

Bakker's brow furrowed,

Faintly, he guessed the reason for the reconciliation of the century.

I think Lu Shi didn't want to update, so he deliberately created a news to divert attention.

This kid......

"It's really born to be media material!"

Bakir had to praise.

￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

Do you like mystery works?

I found that I had read a lot, and it seemed that there really wasn't a shift in narrative strategy.

Either "I" am the murderer, deceiving the reader from the beginning to the end;

Either "I" am not the murderer, and I am being used from beginning to end.

Did I find a new way to write it......

(End of chapter)