My name's dr. Watson and I'm a good friend of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. A two days after Christmas last year, I went to his house a 221 B Baker Street I wanted to say happy Christmas to him, when I arrived I found him in the sitting-room he was by the window with some newspapers next to him there was an old hat on a chair near him and he had a magnifying glass in his hand. “You're working on something” .“I said shall I go”?
“no ”said Holmes.
Sit down and look at that interesting old hat over there.
I sat down it was cold out in the street but it was nice and warm in Holmes's sitting-room.
why are you interested in that old hat?
“is it something to do with a crime ?” I asked. Holmes laughed not a crime no he said I got it from Peterson the doorman at the Baker Street Hotel ,he found it in the street and brought it here on Christmas Day for me to look at he also brought a dead bird with him a good fat Christmas goose at the same time I gave the goose back to him this morning.
He is cooking it at his house now 🍗😉
and he is going to eat it for dinner tonight.
‘Oh first it was a hat and now you're talking about a goose’ I said
‘I don't understand’
“then let's begin when it all began” said Holmes .
At about four o'clock in the morning of Christmas Day the Petersons went home after work. When he got to Tottenham Court Road he saw in the street in front of him a tall man with a goose over his shoulder . Peterson walked behind him for some time, there was some young men in the street in front of them suddenly one of them hit the tall man's hat off his head and it fell into the road then the tall man tried to hit the young man with his walking stick but by accident he broke the window of a shop behind him at that moment. Peterson ran to the man to help him but the tall man ran away perhaps he felt bad about breaking the shop window, perhaps he thought that Peterson in his Dorman's coat and hat was a policeman when he ran he left his Christmas bird in the street next to his hat .The young men ran away at the same time so Peterson took the goose and the hat home with him and the next day he brought them here. There was an interesting little ticket on the gooses left leg homes it said a for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Baker we can find the letters HB in the Hat — oh so the owner of the Hat and the goose is called Henry Baker
I said yes..
answered Holmes but my ‘dear Watson this doesn’t help us very much there are hundreds of Henry bakers in London’ ‘I gave the goose back to Peterson this morning he went on and I said to him have this for your dinner I didn’t want it to go’.
bad you know
“did Mr. Baker put an advertisement in the newspaper about his hat and goose” I asked
“no answered” Holmes
then how can we find him well perhaps his hat can help us.
who said Holmes here’s my magnifying glass Watson now you be a detective for a minute or two what can you tell me about the owner of this hat?
I took the magnifying glass and looked at the Hat. it was black but old and very very dirty
I saw the letters HB in it but for me. it was no different from any other old black hat . I can see nothing I said and I gave the hat back to my friend
excuse me Watson you do see about you
don’t think about what you see mmm….
All right I said what can you see in this hat the owner of this hat is an intelligent man , as said Holmes he was once rich and is now poor his wife loved him once but she doesn’t love him now and he is 30 or 40 years old well
perhaps I’m slow Holmes but I don’t understand
I said “why is he an intelligent man do you think ”
Holmes put the Hat on his head, it came down to his nose this is a big hat a man with a big hat has a big head and a man with a big head has a big brain a man with a big brain thinks a lot but you say he was once rich and is now poor .
why the hat is three years old?…
I remember these hats were in all the shops. Then they were very expensive two three years ago this man bought a good hat so he was rich then but he has no money to buy a new hat now so these days he is poor all right I said but you say he is in his 30s or 40s.
“how does the hat tell you this well ?”
when I looked carefully at the Hat with my magnifying glass I could see some gray hairs in it a people usually get gray hair in their thirties or forties I see but what about his wife you’ll say she doesn’t love him because the Hat is very dirty when a woman loves her husband she cleans his hat for him hmm….
perhaps he hasn’t got a wife yes he has
Remember the ticket on the gooses leg
‘ ah.. yes’ I said . You have an answer for everything at that moment the door opened and Peterson the hotel doorman ran into the room he looked very excited.
“The goose Mr. Holmes the goose” he said.
‘what’s the matter with a goose’ asked Holmes
did it come back from the dead and fly off through the kitchen window?
Now Mr. Holmes my wife found this in the bird Peterson opened his hand there was a beautiful blue diamond in it chapter 2 the blue diamond
when Sherlock Holmes saw the diamond in the Dorman’s hand he set up well well..
Peterson he said what a wonderful thing to find in a goose do you know what you have in your hand I think it’s a diamond
Mr. Holmes is it expensive?..
‘ yes it is’ said Holmes.
‘ This is the Countess of morcar’s blue diamond it disappeared a week ago’
‘how do you know that?’ I said
Watson you must read the newspapers more often there’s an advertisement in The Times today about it here look Holmes gave the advertisement to me then Holmes spoke to the doorman it’s a very expensive jewel Peterson the countess paid about 20,000 pounds for it last week someone took it from her rooms in the Cosmopolitan Hotel now the countess wants to get her Diamondback she says that she’s going to give a thousand pounds to the finder a thousand pounds cried Peterson excitedly then without saying more he sat down in the chair between us first he looked at Holmes and then he looked at me the diamond disappeared five days ago I think I said yes answered Holmes they say a young man John Horner took it here’s a newspaper report about the case Holmes gave an old newspaper to me and I read the report a diamond disappear is from the Cosmopolitan Hotel the Countess of morcar’s blue diamond disappeared from her room at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on the 22nd of this month the police think John Horner 26 years old took the diamond from a jewel box when he went to repair the window in the room a James Ryder the assistant manager of the hotel who told the court I took Horner to the countess’s room but then I went away for some time when I came back Horner wasn’t there and I found the open box without the jewel in it on the table next to the bed hmm a Catherine Cusack the countess is maid spoke next i heard Mr. Ryder call and I ran to the countess’s room there I found Ryder with the jewel box in front of him the police found Horner at his home later that day but they couldn’t find the diamond later detective Bradstreet spoke to the court when I said you’re a diamond thief Horner hit me soon after that Horner told the court angrily you’ve got the wrong man I didn’t take the countess’s diamond I’m not a thief a Bradstreet then told the court horno went to prison once before for being a thief I say he took the diamond the case goes to the High Court next week well that’s the newspaper report about the diamond who said homes now we need to understand how the jewel left the Countess of morcar’s room in the Cosmopolitan Hotel and arrived in Tottenham Court Road in a goose you see Watson there is a crime in this case here’s the diamond the diamond came from the goose and the goose came from Mr. Henry Baker the man with the old hat I know you felt a little bored when I told you all about Mr. Baker but now we must find him where and how does he come into the case of the Blue Diamond the answer to these two questions is most important but how can we find him I asked through a newspaper advertisement answered Holmes he took a pen and began to write did you lose a goose and a black hat some days ago in Tottenham Court Road are you called Henry Baker please come to 221 B Baker Street this evening at 6:30 to get your things there that says it all I think said Holmes yes but is he going to read it I asked yes Watson I think he is he’s a poor man remember at the time he was afraid because of his accident with the shop window but now I believe he feels very sorry about running away and thinks why did I leave that bird in the street perhaps he looked for a newspaper advertisement about it yesterday I think he’s going to look again today what’s more we’ve got his name in the advertisement so I believe his friends are getting to see it and tell him about it yes I see I said Holmes gave some money to the doorman and said Peterson please go down to the newspaper offices and put this advertisement in all the evening newspapers very good sir and shall I leave the diamond with you sir yes Peterson and I say Peterson after you leave the newspaper offices can you buy a goose and bring it back here we need a new bird for Mr. Henry Baker when he comes your family is eating the old one for dinner today so he can’t have that the doorman went out of the door and down the street
Wait and follow me for PART 2 😀