Шерлок Холмс (Sherlock Holmes)Sherlock Holmes. The empty House.
page 1
Chapter One
It had been three years since my friend, Sherlock Holmes, disappeared over the Reichenbach
Falls in Switzerland along with his enemy, Moriarty.
I shall always remember that dreadful day. I had been tricked into going back to the hotel, leaving Holmes alone and page 2 in danger. By the time I had returned to the waterfall, the fatal fight was over. All that was left were the few items Holmes had meant for me to find: his walking stick, his cigarette case and a note. The words are etched on my brain.
// My dear Watson,
Professor Moriarty has been kind enough to let me write these few lines. He is waiting until I am finished for us to discuss the problems that lie between us.
page 3
... my career has, in any case, reached its end. And no possible ending could be any better than this. I was quite sure that the letter calling you back to the hotel was a trick. I let you leave knowing that something like this would follow ...
I still missed him very much.
There wasn’t a corner of London that did not remind me of him.
I once thought I saw him. I had been walking home from visiting a patient and as I turned onto page 4
Regent Street I saw the shadow of a man cast on the wall. It was a tall, thin figure with a hawk-like face. I was so sure it was Holmes.
I almost cried out to him, but then the man stepped out into the light and I could see that, of course, it wasn’t him. I felt like a fool. I needed to face the truth.
My friend, Sherlock Holmes, had gone forever.
page 5
Chapter Two
I still took an interest in police investigations, and I often came across cases that I knew Holmes would have loved to solve. I sometimes found myself thinking of the list of his talents I had written when I was first getting to know him. I tried to mimic those skills to unravel the cases, but I would never be as good as him.
page 6
Sherlock Holmes
Knowledge
· Chemistry – extensive. Does a lot of experiments
· An expert on plant-based poisons but ignorant of gardening
· Can tell different soils and muds from one another
· Expert boxer and swordsman
· Knows a lot about human and animal anatomy
· Expert in British law and criminal history – knows every detail of every horror committed this century