A Case of The Beryl Coronet 在社會上頗有地位的一名貴族，迷你倉以綠寶石皇冠作抵押，向Holder借了50,000英鎊……文︰Dr. Vicki OoiEpisode 1 One morning a man of about fifty, tall, with a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure rushed into Sherlock Holmes rooms. "I see that you have had some great trouble," said Holmes. "God knows I have, but it is not I alone. The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way is found out of this horrible affair." "Please compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a clear account of what happened to you." "I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson. I feel that time is of value," said he, "that is why I hastened here and I will put the facts before you." "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a man of one of the highest, noblest, most exalted names in England came to see me." "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the habit of advancing money.'" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. 'I should be happy to advance it without further parley but in your case, every businesslike precaution should be taken.'" "'I should much prefer to have it so. You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?'" "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' said I." "'Precisely.' He opened the case he was carrying and revealed the coronet made of thirty-nine enormous beryls." "'Is the security sufficient?'" "'Ample.'" "'Any injury to it would be almost as serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the world to mamini storagech these, and it would be impossible to replace them. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall call for it in person on Monday morning.'" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty thousand pounds in cash." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave so precious a thing in the office behind me. I determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might never be really out of my reach. I called a cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel with me. I took it upstairs and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room." Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.Glossaryberyls (n) - 綠寶石imprudence (n) - 疏忽Q&A1. How did Holder get hold of the famous Beryl Coronet?2. Why did Holder take the Beryl Coronet back home with him?Answers1. A very distinguished lord used it as security to borrow 50,000 pounds from Holder's bank.2. He thought it would be safer than locking it in his office safe.Dr. Vicki Ooi (黃清霞) has a B.A. degree from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and a Ph.D. in drama from Bristol University. A professor of literature, drama and English at HKU for 30 years, Dr Ooi is also a renowned theatre director and founder of Shakespeare4All and Seals Players. After retirement, she established EduartsR to teach gifted and talented kids in the arts.email: info@eduarts.com.hk儲存
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