"The Widow" Bertha

"Don't move," he whispered in Bertha's ear, "do as I say."

Most of Mycroft's body leaned forward, and there was almost a thin layer of sheets between the two of them. The man's breath hit Bertha's shoulder, probably due to the night, when the smell of aftershave on his body weakened. Much lighter.

The smell of soap is blowing over my face, but more of it is pure heat, which is impeccably clean.It's like an invulnerable soldier takes off his armor, revealing the truth wrapped in steel.

Bertha raised her head, her forehead rubbed against the man's chin, almost intimate: "You heard that too?"

Mycroft: "Out of the window."

On the bed, a man and a woman embrace each other, which seems to be a very common scene of a loving couple. This provides Bertha with an observation angle. With Mycroft as a cover, she can turn around freely without being secretly spied on. creature discovers gaze.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, Bertha glanced towards the window, just in time to catch a glimpse of something that looked like a figure flashing past the window.

— You know, their bedroom is on the second floor!

The black shadow hanging by the window is facing straight, and the possibility of hanging upside down from the roof can be almost ruled out.

So... is it a person, or something else?

"What to do next?" asked Bertha.

"Take out the gun you have under your pillow, ma'am."

"..."

So the fact that she hid the gun, Mycroft knew all along.

He was perfectly at ease living with a lady with a gun hidden under her pillow.

Bertha stretched out her hand from the quilt, touched the gun, and felt much more at ease in her heart.

"Whatever it is," she whispered, "must have come from the roof."

"Oh? What do you think, madam?"

"After all, the apartments on the front and back streets are all your people, and the windows are open every day. If there is something wrong on the street, they will give an early warning." Bertha seemed to fight back for his behavior of searching the bed earlier. "The neighbors on the left and right are Ordinary people, if they want to come over quietly, they can only go on the roof."

"It turns out that Madam has already identified it."

Mycroft complimented not very sincerely: "Admiration."

Bertha smirked softly in his arms: "You are so humble, my dear. Do you want to inform your subordinates?" He must have a backup early warning plan.

"Not urgent."

Mycroft lowered his head, his lips were almost touching Bertha's forehead: "The bullets can be loaded."

Bertha would have done the same without his telling.

She didn't dare to make too much movement, so she could only carefully move the gun under the quilt. Bertha's arm was moving in the little gap between the two of them. Before she could touch the barrel, she heard the man in front of her muffle With a snort: "Ma'am, you hit me."

Bertha: "..."

Why does this line feel weird!

She raised her eyes.

So close, even in dim light, Bertha could clearly see the faint lines in Mycroft's black pupils.

Facing her eyes in the darkness, Bertha smiled brightly at the face close at hand: "Honey, bear with it, and you will be comfortable in a while."

Mycroft: "..."

Bertha: "The next time you and I say this kind of dialogue in bed, it would be great if we could change to another 'gun'."

After the words fell to the ground, Bertha pulled up the barrel of the gun, and the sound of "click" was very clear in the dark night.

This is certainly a signal both indoors and outdoors.

——The next moment, the black shadow hiding near the window on the second floor broke through the window.

Almost at the moment when the broken glass hit the ground, Bertha and Mycroft moved simultaneously.

She stood up abruptly, and pulled the trigger on the intruding shadow!

Even though Bertha held a gun, she did ask her boys for shooting lessons, but it is still almost impossible to directly hit a prepared opponent in a hurry.

But Bertha still shot without hesitation.

The gunpowder exploded in the gun, and the crackling sound was deafening, completely breaking the tranquility of the residential area in the middle of the night.

If you can't hit, you have to shoot.

One warning, two...

Mycroft Holmes asked her to do it, and Bertha carried it out without hesitation.She knew that the man beside her must have some tricks.

Sure enough, the black shadow rolled immediately after landing, and the dark creature that looked like a human figure was much smaller than a living person, like a child.He deftly dodges Bertha's shot, but the shot is just a cover.

What is needed is the timing of the opponent's dodge.

Mycroft had already picked up the cane beside the bed.

He rolled over and got off the bed, and just before the black shadow rushed towards Bertha, the cane without any decorations flashed a silver cold light in the darkness——

If Sir Ward had been brought down with the purpose of incapacitating him, Mycroft Holmes had left no room for turning back.

As soon as the cane was raised, it blocked the path of the black shadow's straight attack, and then Mycroft turned his wrist, and the cane turned in his palm.

There are no fancy techniques, and there is no back and forth. The man's movements are very simple: raise his hand, and then drop his cane.

But it landed on the black shadow's skull accurately.

It can be described as a simple and unpretentious killing technique.

Bertha swore that she heard the sound of bones shattering after being hit by a heavy object, and the black shadow under the attack let out a wail, which in turn made her relieve the faint sense of urgency she was carrying: this sound was indeed a human being wrong.

Knowing that he had miscalculated, the shadow staggered a few steps back, he hit the edge of the broken glass and fell headfirst.

"Dead?" asked Bertha coldly.

"uncertain."

Mycroft got up from the bed. He strode over to the broken bed and looked down. Under the starry sky, all the surrounding apartments lit up with a gunshot, but there was no sign of any creature on the empty street.

This was not what Mycroft wanted.

He frowned slightly, then turned around, and his eyes fell on Bertha.

The Jamaican girl who also stood up was wearing a silk nightdress, her exquisite curves looming under the thin fabric.Mycroft paused slightly, then he returned to the bed, picked up his overcoat, and covered Bertha tightly.

Bertha:?

Before she could tease her, there was a knock on the door downstairs, and the postman's voice came together: "Sir? Ma'am? Are you all right?"

Ok.

Seeing the back of Mycroft who turned and went downstairs without saying a word, Bertha gathered the coat on her body and raised a smile.

Definitely won't be able to sleep well tonight.

Bertha just went downstairs in Mycroft's coat, and found that besides the Mr. Postman she knew waiting in the living room, there was also the butler from Pall Mall Street.After confirming that the master pretending to be a couple was safe and sound, the two subordinates let out a long sigh of relief.

"Already pursued, sir," explained the postman, "he is badly wounded, and cannot escape very far."

Mycroft just nodded in response, it could be seen that he was not in a good mood because of the sneak attack.Such a cold attitude vaguely blamed his subordinates for their lack of care.

But Bertha thought nothing of it. Didn't they move here just to wait for the Truth Society to attack?

"Clean up the traces on the street," so she urged on her behalf, "don't scare the nearby residents."

"I see."

The postman opened his eyes and said nonsense: "It's just that the drainage channel burst in the middle of the night. The movement is a little louder. Just find someone to repair it."

That's more or less.

No matter what Mycroft thought, at least Bertha was quite envious of him being able to recruit such a group of quick-responsive and clever men.The boys in Thames are all good seedlings, but the seedlings always need to be cultivated. Where there are tall trees that have already towered to the sky, it is convenient to enjoy the shade.

There is still a long way to go.

but……

"They have been silent for so long," Bertha tilted her head, "Why did they suddenly attack tonight?"

"Maybe it's just grabbing a sore foot."

Mycroft's voice was very soft, making Bertha's ears itch: "I just want to attack before you and I make the next move."

is it?

Bertha put a question mark in her heart.

To be reasonable, the people of the Truth Society are not stupid, otherwise it would be impossible for Mycroft Holmes to track it down for many years and still not uproot it.The door-to-door threat has been there for a long time, but the other party has been slow to act, and why did they wait until the root cause of the magazine was investigated?

If you want to prevent them from pursuing them by means of an attack, wouldn't it be a warning to the snake if you threatened them in advance.

Especially after Charlie gave a kind reminder during the day... Now Bertha felt that Mycroft was hiding something from her.

Bertha suppressed this thought for a while after going through it in her heart.Mycroft looked away, and finally gave the postman and the housekeeper a straight look: "Just do as Madam tells you."

Postman: "Please allow us to mend the window before leaving."

Mycroft: "Go ahead."

After getting the approval, the two subordinates grabbed their things and went straight to the bedroom on the second floor as if they were granted amnesty.

Suddenly only Bertha and Mycroft were left in the living room.

The gentleman then turned to look at her: "What did you want to say just now?"

I want to say that you are hiding something from me, but what's the use of saying it.

So Bertha just smiled, she stretched out her hand from the man's heavy overcoat, and gently grabbed the empty sleeve, as if doing so would provide a sense of security: "You were so handsome just now, Mike."

The Jamaican girl said these words in a hoarse voice. Her long black hair was scattered on the edge of the wide coat, which made the usually aggressive Bertha show a bit of pity.

The lingering whisper seemed to be pouring out his heart to the hero who saved him: "Don't blame Mr. Postman, you said it too, the Institute of Truth couldn't hold back, the attackers couldn't run far, and they must have left a lot of clues nearby. "

If it hadn't been her who had decisively opened the gun a few minutes ago, Mycroft might have believed that the tenderness in Bertha's eyes was genuine.

But now, he just smiled and didn't continue to ask.

The gentleman raised his hand, and helped her close the thin long hair that covered her eyes: "You are right, this matter is a breakthrough."

As for the postman?Afterwards, thank Bertha for an understatement of persuasion, and give him another chance.

***

But Mycroft was seldom kind, and it was unlikely that those around Bertha would respond in the same way.

The next morning, the news that his wife was attacked by her lover quickly spread in the office. Mr. Postman, who has been trying to be a transparent person, once again received the glares of all the Thames boys.

If Mrs. Thames hadn't scolded a few young people who wanted to bump into them to make trouble, they really wanted to drag out the bodyguards who followed Mrs. Thames and beat them up.

——They all want to show off in front of the big sister, but it's fine if they don't have a chance, and a stranger is needed!

——Forget about strangers, you didn't take care of them!

If something goes wrong, who cares what your background is, can you afford to be responsible!

Facing the tons of eyes, Mr. Postman said: He really can't afford the responsibility.

Bertha couldn't laugh or cry about this, she could not make her younger brothers not find fault, and she couldn't make them fall in love with the postman quickly.I had to pretend that I didn't see it, and stopped Ned, "Since they know where I live now, don't hide it. You send a few people to guard near the safe house."

The little accountant Ned showed a bit of reluctance: "Where are you going to live, ma'am?"

Bertha: "What?"

Ned: "...It's nothing, the people have already prepared, and I'll tell them to wait in advance."

Obviously, he prefers that his wife move back to Nan'an Street, or simply stay in the office permanently.Ned Morrison didn't know who Bertha's lover was. Even if he set up a net, would it be safer to have his own base camp?

"I understand what you mean," Bertha said kindly, "but since the address of the safe house has been exposed, it's better to settle this matter completely. I'm afraid that if I die halfway back, it's not a waste of clues sent to the door. "

"I see."

Ned helped the mirror frame and nodded helplessly: "Do we need to start an investigation?"

Bertha: "It's better to save some face for my family."

He swears that it is safe enough, but he is still attacked by an assailant who doesn't know what it is and tells him to run away. The reason why Mycroft is unhappy is because he was slapped in the face.It's better for him to investigate this matter first.

That's the end of the subject of the attack.

Although Ned was hijacked halfway to join the ranks of Thames, he had already figured out Bertha's temper: so to speak means that the lady has her own plan.

So he didn't continue to insist, but turned out the notebook he carried with him: "Then I won't ask questions, madam. As for our side..."

"Is something wrong?"

"There's a visitor," Ned replied. "Katie, do you remember? She came by last night and said she wanted to see you. She has an important clue."

Katie?

Of course Bertha remembered Katie, who had first revealed the existence of an eyewitness to the Jack the Ripper case.It seemed that this girl was determined to clean up and go ashore, and after a while, she got another useful clue.

"Then ask her to come over."

She smiled and said, "It's not good every time I see Katie. I'll see what bad news she can bring today."