Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

Have you enjoyed a peaceful and warm Christmas Eve this year?

Kelsey nodded without hesitation, "Sunshine, sandy beach, blue sea, thanks to Marseille, France, for giving me an unforgettable Christmas. Tom, you don't have to be envious. Family dinners and sea vacations have their own advantages. If you also Longing, then..."

Sherlock smiled, and Kelsey dared to say, 'Sunshine?beach?blue sea? '

The sun is the bloody setting sun shining on the dead prison island of Château d'If.

On the beach, there are two corpses who killed each other on the shore full of gravel.

The blue sea is a cargo ship from the port of Marseilles carrying fugitives and disappearing into the sea.

"What if I yearn for it too?"

Sherlock asked knowingly, and it was impossible for Kelsey to replicate a massacre in the Chateau d'If prison.

The so-called, the shorter the news, the bigger the matter.

Three days later, the news about the Chateau d'If prison in the newspapers is still that the robbers and escapees have not been captured yet, and the details are yet to be investigated.Not a word was mentioned that there were no living people on that island.

Mycroft received some news on the night of December 12th.

In the Chateau d'If prison, a total of 179 prison guards and prisoners were killed.

Among them, 175 people were poisoned and four others were shot wounded.Svoboda and Stephen were suspected of killing each other, Alvin was shot in the head in the telegraph room, and Bolton had bled to death when he was found in the corridor of the lounge.

In addition, on Christmas Eve, two supply boatmen were shot dead in the back kitchen of the prison.

On Christmas Eve, which was supposed to be a night of celebration and reunion, the small island a few miles away from Marseille Port has become a cemetery full of corpses.

Of course, the French side strictly prohibits the media from reporting the real situation in the Chateau d'If prison.

Mycroft learned about some escaped prisoners, but Sherlock received a telegram sent to the old house without any other on-site information.

The telegram was sent from Paris to Yorkshire on the afternoon of the 25th, and reached the manor of Holmes' old house on the morning of the 26th.

A few words, "Tom, I wish you a Merry Christmas Eve, and I traveled to the old place in Paris. By Jerry who doesn't miss Tom at all."

The news reports were vague and did not specify at all who were involved in the massacre in the Chateau d'If prison.

According to the intelligence received by Mycroft, three boatmen landed on the island to replenish supplies, two died and one was missing. The supply ship was found in Toulon Port the next day.

So far, Sherlock has not confirmed that the prison massacre is related to Kelsey.

Could it be that he just guessed that dear Jerry was involved in the massacre just because of luck?

However, as soon as this ordinary telegram appeared, Kelsey almost made it clear.

what?

The telegram was not straight to the point, it was clearly vague.

Sherlock said that no one else needs to understand, as long as he understands the meaning of the telegram-Kelsey is waiting for him at the hotel where he changed into women's clothes last time.

Just a day and a half.

Sherlock came to the old place in Paris, and the hotel was booked by Kelsey.

As soon as the two met, it seemed that they really chatted about vacationing at sea.

"Sunshine, sandy beach, blue sea."

Kelsey said to Sherlock just now:

"If you are looking forward to it, although I can't reproduce the novel experience of the small island on the side of the Marseille port, I can customize another interesting sea vacation route for you."

Sherlock had a suspicious expression: Are you sure it's a vacation route, not looking for someone to do coolies?

Kelsey looked certain: Of course it wasn't a coolie.

"Time is in a hurry, you probably won't have time to return to London, and you haven't seen the invitation letter I stuffed under your door." Kelsey handed out Joan's suicide note, "This is the original, please have a look."

Sherlock did not return to London, but sailed to Paris from the Yorkshire port.

He took the letter and read it carefully, contacting the development and changes of the situation before and after.

A few minutes later, a coordinate was reported: "42 degrees north latitude, 9-10 degrees east longitude, there is a treasure hidden there."

"As expected of Mr. Holmes, who is so good at predicting things, your guess is right."

Kelsey had already said that Sherlock couldn't hide the treasure, but sooner than she assumed, Sherlock knew that the introduction was in lines 9-10. "Have you read "The Dead Are Watching You"?"

"Yes. Terrence Smith read it in Turin."

Sherlock recalled the days when he held a seminar in the Egyptian Museum, "Professor Joe needs to read a lot of books related to Egypt. As a good student of Professor Joe, Terrence helped the teacher filter out some books that have no reference value, among which are these The Dead Are Watching You."

Sherlock asked with a smile, "Bringing this matter up, Professor Joe has never praised Terrence, he has accomplished the task assigned by the professor excellently."

Kelsey: Praise for what?

I'm writing a thesis for a seminar and you've screened the books and gone off to read?You read it quite carefully, and you can even remember the position of the sentence in the whole book.

"Then treat you to a cup of milk tea and express your thanks."

Kelsey fetched an empty cup, picked up the porcelain teapot that was boiling on the small stove on the table, and poured a cup of homemade milk tea for Sherlock.

In the winter garden, the fire is warm.

The milk tea in the cup was blown by the cold wind, and soon it was no longer hot.

Sherlock picked up the teacup and tasted it. There was no sugar, only the blend of tea and milk.

In other words, it's slightly bitter, Kelsey's way of brewing milk tea from time to time.

Why does a person bring candy with him, but the milk tea he boils does not add sugar, and there is no option to add sugar to others?

Don't ask, it's a personal habit.

Xieluo has also adapted to some of Kelsey's habits, such as occasionally making some strange-smelling perfumes.He guessed it was a spice concoction failure, but Kelsey would still use it and see how people reacted to strange flavors.

At the moment, Sherlock tasted the slightly bitter milk tea, and did not immediately agree to the so-called sea vacation voyage.

He took out the telegram from his pocket, pointed to the signature "by Jerry who doesn't think about Tom at all", and said to Kelsey seriously:

"It's so similar. Tom doesn't miss Jerry at all. The reason why I came to Paris has nothing to do with the scenery on the sea, but to meet my mother's friend Mrs. Bobby at the request of my mother."

"I see."

Kelsey didn't point it out, and nodded understandingly, "It seems that you have something to do?"

"Whether it's important or not, we'll know when we see Mrs. Bobby tomorrow."

Sherlock is not yet clear about the specific content, only that Mrs. Bobby is not a client, but a messenger.

The client, Mrs. Claire, was far away in Italy.Her physical condition is not good, not to mention coming to the UK, even daily walking is a problem.

She hoped to find a good detective and investigate her only son, Claire.After several rounds, I hope to invite Sherlock after being recommended.

And what did Krell do that caused his mother to send detectives to investigate him?

Tomorrow, Sherlock will ask Mrs. Bobby about the matter.

But now he just took this opportunity to show Kelsey that he came to Paris quickly, not to find out the whole story of the massacre in the Chateau d'If prison.It's even more unlikely to meet Jerry who doesn't miss Tom.

Kelsey went on drinking tea, doing what Sherlock said as long as he was happy.

into the night.

Dantès and Father Faria returned to the hotel.

After resting for two days, the two of them didn't want to continue resting today, and went out to visit the normal world they had been separated for a long time.

Paris has changed a lot, changing flags and changing rulers.The entire city is undergoing major reconstruction, and it is no longer what it looks like in memory.

Because of Kelsey's guarantee in advance, when the two saw Sherlock, they did not show overly cautious scrutiny.Whether you trust in your heart or not depends on the fact of getting along to verify.

"Two news, I think you should tell the two of you."

Sherlock didn't beat around the bush, "The first news, I observed it when I got off the ship and entered the customs today. The inspection is stricter than before, especially the inspection of the people who leave the customs."

Although the tragedy in the Château d'If prison was not reported in the newspapers, both customs and border inspections took action.

According to known information, the French police received a telegram that Svoboda had revealed his identity as the mastermind, and the lunatic was dead.

Just because the dead are dead, there are still 179+2 people dead, so people who are still alive must be caught.

Now the French police are fully tracking down the traces of the three people who left by boat. Regardless of whether the three are victims or accomplices of the prison murder, they must be caught before they can give an explanation to the higher authorities.

"In this way, it is best to dispel the idea of ​​sailing from the French port to find treasure in the near future. The coast is more tightly checked than the inland, and it is likely to be exposed."

Sherlock drew a sketch of the location of the treasure in the Tyrrhenian Sea between France and Italy. "If you don't want to wait a year and a half before the limelight dies down, it's better to go to Italy first, and then sail from Italy."

Since Kelsey was accidentally involved in the Chateau d'If prison case, and incidentally helped two people escape from prison, Sherlock did not want Dantès and Father Faria to be caught by the French side.

Traveling to Italy also requires a false identity.

Recently, the rumors are tight, and there is no flaw in how to deal with it. Those matters will be discussed later.

Sherlock said another piece of news, "Last year in the Paris Commune movement, some buildings were destroyed, such as the court archives and the list of prison inmates. These include the admission data of the Château d'If prison before 1855."

In other words, Father Faria's specific sentence and sentence are missing.

"I think it is good news, it is more difficult for people to speculate on your origin, Father."

Sherlock said to Father Faria, "That can prevent people from finding out the conflict between you and the cardinal, and trace back to the source to find out that the Spada family's grievances with the Pope 200 years ago were actually related to a secret treasure." related."

Father Faria: It is really not something that ordinary people can find out about what happened more than 200 years ago.It's just that I didn't expect unusual people to appear one after another this year.

After the two messages were finished, Sherlock shook his head regretfully at Dantès.

"Your situation is different. You were imprisoned for the letter forwarded to Napoleon, and you belonged to the ranks of political criminals. Those files were not burned.

I heard from Mr. Bennet that you said that you were framed, but it is not easy to reverse the case. The key is that you do not have any evidence. "

"Thank you for your investigation. I have decided to avenge myself. No matter how many years it takes, I will let them pay the price one by one."

Dantès no longer expected to easily overturn the case from the law. The 14 years of imprisonment made him think clearly about what to do. Only by doing it himself can he eliminate the hatred in his heart.

Sherlock nodded slightly, "Okay, you can do it yourself. And revenge must have a certain amount of money, and you must dig out the treasure. It's best to do it as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams."

This circles back to that question.

——France is very hot now, how can it be timely, safely and quickly for the two jailbreakers to forge their identities to go to Italy?

The next day.

Sherlock visited Mrs. Bobby, and asked Kelsey to listen together. What case made the mother want to investigate her son?

"Oh! Mr. Holmes, you have come with your friends."

When Mrs. Poppy saw the two, she looked them up and down, her eyes brightening. "Great, you guys are very suitable for lurking into that club."

Sherlock: Mother's friend, it's true.He didn't say anything about the case, and he didn't promise to accept the commission.

Mrs. Poppy quickly realized her gaffe, invited the two to sit down, and started talking about Mrs. Clare's commission from the beginning.

"Actually, the old Mrs. Krell didn't know what happened to her son. According to an envelope, it was suspected that Krell was infatuated with someone he shouldn't be infatuated with. He even joined a special lover's club."

A year and a half ago, Krell was 27 years old, reaching the age where he could consider marriage.

At first, old Mrs. Clare finds her son falling in love and thinks he will bring home a lady soon.

Unexpectedly, after waiting and waiting, the son seemed to be in love with more and more obvious signs, but when asked about the situation, he only vaguely passed it.

"Old Mrs. Krell didn't urge her, thinking that Krell hadn't fully won the lady's favor. Unexpectedly, in December this year, she accidentally found an envelope under the sofa in the living room."

Bobby put the envelope on the table, "The invitation card inside is gone, and the recipient on the envelope is Krell."

The graphic of the envelope can make people feel a strong desire rushing to the face.

Blossoms of red roses form abstract two human figures, two naked people hugging and forming a letter O.

"At that time, the old Mrs. Krell showed the envelope to Krell, and she keenly caught the abnormal expression on her son's face.

She asked about the origin of the envelope, and Claire only said that she collected it for a friend.I asked my son if he had a lover outside, and got a perfunctory answer again. "

Bobby mentioned that old Mrs. Krell was in poor health, but in fact he never restrained his only son too much. If Krell had a lover outside, he could say it openly.

The more Krell concealed it, the older Mrs. Krell became suspicious.Then she began to inquire about it, and learned of a lover's club named "O".

That is, only couples or couples in pairs can join the club.

Either they are very different in age and status, or they have special hobbies, which surprise or even tolerate the secular world anyway.

The O club provides these people with a place to communicate, allowing them to have a secluded space to meet friends, and they are no longer aliens in the club.

"Old Mrs. Krell is very worried about her son going astray, and she has communicated with Krell many times to no avail. She hopes to find detectives to sneak into the O Club and investigate what happened to Krell."

Bobby explained the cause and looked at Sherlock and Kelsey.

"Old Mrs. Clare came to me, and I thought of the two detectives who solved the underground murder in Paris. What a coincidence, Mr. Holmes, your mother and I are friends, so I mentioned this to her."

In fact, the old Mrs. Holmes had made it clear that she could not decide whether her youngest son would accept the investigation commission.

Bobby thought that Sherlock would not come to Paris, but he didn't expect that not only did he come, but he even came before spending New Year's Day at home.

People can't help guessing that Sherlock should be interested in taking over this commission.Moreover, today he brought a companion, also a detective.

Detectives and detectives directly constitute the conditions for being able to enter the O Club - they must be in pairs.

Mrs. Bobby looked at Sherlock and Kelsey, and kept showing sincere and expectant looks:

"Professional detectives should be able to adapt to disguise as a woman, and pretend to be a couple to investigate cases, right? You two, please give an answer quickly, will you accept the investigation commissioned by the old Mrs. Claire?"