《福尔摩斯探案集·红发会》第36节
“You see, Watson,” he explained in the early hours of the morning as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, “it was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the League, and the copying of the Encyclopædia, must be to get this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was no doubt suggested to Clay’s ingenious mind by the colour of his accomplice’s hair. The £ 4 a week was a lure which must draw him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the situation.” “But how could you guess what the motive was?”
注释摘要
凌晨时分，贝克街的客厅里，威士忌和苏打水摆上桌面，福尔摩斯开始向华生拆解整个红发会的谜底。这是他惯常的尾声时刻——案件结束之后，由他向永远慢一拍的伙伴把拼图一块块拼回去。 他开口的第一句话就点明了整个事件的核心逻辑：红发会那则荒唐的广告，抄写百科全书那份毫无意义的工作，这一切只有一个目的——把那个不怎么聪明的当铺老板每天支开几个小时。方法看似怪异，但福尔摩…