Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

"Please give me the bench in your hand, thank you."

Kelsey skipped the shared bath (barrel) issue directly.

During the on-site inspection, will she diverge her thinking to imagine a bathtub structure suitable for shared bathing?

What kind of wood should be used for wood, and what patterns can be fired for porcelain?Maybe it would be nice to have a bath too, she hasn't had the pleasure of swimming since she came to the 19th century.

At the moment, Kelsey's expression was the same, and he never admitted how far his thoughts drifted in a moment.

She acted rigorously to avoid damage to the evidence of the tub, and jumped out without supporting the side edge of the tub.

Securely place the bench back into the tub.

One foot stepped on it, and the other stepped out of the bathtub and onto the low stool outside.

It is not convenient to get in and out of the tall and narrow wooden bathtub, let alone stretch your body in it.

"Auer is 57 years old, and his movements are not as flexible as when he was young. He chose this kind of bathtub instead of a short and wide bathtub, perhaps because he could not move his body freely in the bathtub."

Kelsey tried to speculate on Orr's habitual preferences, "If he fell asleep in the bath, his body wouldn't slide down into the water."

"There is another possibility that Orr likes the feeling of being physically imprisoned."

Sherlock didn't seem to have mentioned sharing the bath, and speaking of the preliminary autopsy findings, "first of all, it can be clearly ruled out that it was not drowning, but it is difficult to judge trauma."

Because Orr has trauma all over his body.

There were deep and shallow welts and strangle marks, some brownish purple bruises did not subside, and some even left scars.

"Before, the priest mentioned that Auer was masochistic. Auer and Julia, the former is M and the latter is S. Auer insists on marrying Julia because it is difficult for him to find such a suitable S."

Sherlock speculates that Orr's two sons understand their father's hobby to some extent, and Beavis and Henry can confidently insist that Julia must be responsible for Orr's death.

The Angus brothers did not specify in a group of family and friends, but had just voiced their doubts about Julia to him.

Orr is very old, and at 57, it is bound to be bad for his health to do whatever he wants when he is young, but his married life with Julia is obviously not well controlled.

"Auer's left calf has fresh wounds with open skin, and there are fresh bloodstains on both arms. The bedside table has the whips and bandages he used, and some of them have soft thorns."

From this, Sherlock can see, "Julia usually has a tough hand, and Orr enjoys the pain and restraint. It's not surprising that he chooses a bathtub that can't stretch his body."

From this point of view, Bivis and Henry believe that Orr's sex with Julia has caused his health to deteriorate, so Julia has a major responsibility for Orr's sudden death.

Although the brothers have no proof, their assumptions are not entirely unfounded.

Assuming that Julia intends to seek Orr's inheritance, if she continues to lure Orr to indulge in sex, it is very likely that she will achieve her goal of playing Orr to death one day.

Sherlock cannot deny the hypothesis of the Angus brothers because Orr and Julia are well aware of the dangers of excessive indulgence.

The couple are old members of the O Club, which has always emphasized the need for healthy and safe sports for couples, and apparently they did not accept the advice.

Orr's deliberate crime, is it because of his poor self-control or because he was seduced by others?It is difficult for outsiders to give accurate judgments about the privacy between husband and wife.

Sherlock was not sure, but stepped into the bathtub to observe the scratches on the bottom of the inside.

The scratches left by Orr's fingernails before he died are indeed like pentagrams that have not been drawn.

Here comes the problem.

Al took a bath in the bathtub, did he realize that he was extremely unwell?Did you call for help again?What do these scratches made with fingernails indicate?

The layout of Angus's house:

The first floor is the servant's room, kitchen, utility room, etc., the second floor is the dining room and auditorium, the third floor is the room of Beavis and Henry, and the fourth floor is the residence of Orr and Julia.

Following Orr and Julia's orders, there are generally no servants on the fourth floor.

The valet, Johnny, also lives on the first floor, and only comes upstairs when Orr, the master, calls him by the rattle mechanism.

Last night, Johnny hadn't heard the ringing of the bell in less than half an hour since Al started to take a shower and found him dead.

"Julia next door also said she didn't hear the shouting."

Kelsey will check with everyone later, and now has another question about the cause of death, "Did Al show signs of poisoning? Was he conscious before he died?"

Orr drank a lot of wine at the ball, went to bed when he was drunk, and got up to take a shower in the early morning.

At three o'clock in the morning, is he sober?In Venice at the end of January, the temperature is not too warm, why not simply sleep until dawn before taking a bath?

Johnny the valet didn't notice anything wrong.As far as he is concerned, the master Orr often has various whims.

However, Kelsey needs to figure out Orr's mental state. If he is confused, he cannot use common sense to infer the meaning of the mark he left.

"Whether Orr was poisoned, that's a good question."

Sherlock got out of the tub and went to the shelf beside the bathroom mirror.His eyes swept over several bottles and cans, and he took out a small glass bottle.

Check the label and open it for a detailed sniff.

Sherlock handed the glass bottle to Kelsey, "Al used it yesterday or earlier."

"It's belladonna eye drops."

Kelsey knew the Venetians were no strangers to this.

The common name of belladonna is the beautiful woman (belladonna) in Italian. During the Renaissance, from Venice to Italy, the water spirit and big eyes were regarded as beauties.

Ladies use belladonna extract as eye drops.It has the effect of dilating the pupil, and it can be said to be a popular liquid cosmetic contact lens product.

Although Kelsey knew that belladonna extract, namely atropine, was also used in ophthalmic treatment in later generations to intervene in children's myopia, he did not dare to use today's eye drops lightly.

Belladonna is highly toxic, and the dosage and concentration need to be carefully controlled, and different people have different allergic symptoms.

"I have used it. I configured it myself, and the effect of mydriasis is obvious."

Sherlock mentioned that he used belladonna eye drops in a special disguise, and the bottle in front of him can be seen from the O club from the label.

Kelsey wasn't surprised that Sherlock would use belladonna eye drops.

Even if it is not a disguise, the curious Mr. Holmes will personally experiment with various potions.

Just why is Orr using eye drops?

"Maybe Orr wants to have a pair of watery eyes?"

For the time being, Sherlock couldn't judge who made Orr's hobbies different.

"Although the couple sometimes sleep in separate rooms, there are quite a few of Julia's personal belongings in this bedroom. Theoretically, this bottle of eye drops belongs to Julia, and Orr thinks it's interesting to experiment?"

Kelsey smiled back.

She couldn't tell the reason for this, and she would ask Julia about it later, including whether Orr was allergic to belladonna.

Prior to this, Sherlock first found out the powder for extracting fingerprints from the toolbox, and extracted the fingerprints on the glass bottle of eye drops one by one.

As for whether Orr was poisoned by other drugs?

Sherlock misses British laboratories, and those tests are lacking in Venice.Based on the preliminary autopsy this time, it can only be said that no conclusive poisoning reaction was found.

The red, swollen or bruised wounds on Auer's body are also great interference items, and it is impossible to accurately determine whether they are residual traces of trauma or certain symptoms caused by poisoning.

"Venice is no better than London, it lacks drug testing equipment."

Sherlock bluntly speculated, "Those three members of the Angus family agreed to our investigation, and it is possible that they have guessed this."

There is such a possibility, and a three-day deadline was given.

Although it is not clear what will happen if there is no investigation for three days, interference with the investigation is inevitable.

"There are not enough detection methods, so check everything that can be checked first."

Seeing Sherlock put the extracted fingerprint plate back into the toolbox, Kelsey winked at him, "Tom, are you ready?"

what to prepare?

Sherlock understood Kelsey instantly, and he nodded solemnly.

Finally, it was time to overthrow the single bathtub, and it was useless to keep the bathtub that they could not bathe together.

The above is just a joke.

"Johnny shouldn't have drained the bath water, there might be important clues in the water."

As Sherlock spoke, he joined forces with Kelsey, and the two gently removed the heavy wooden tub to check whether there was residue on the drain hose and the drain.

Kelsey fetched a kerosene lamp for lighting, and Sherlock found one thing that had nothing to do with the bathroom.

—Seaweed, a small piece of seaweed hooked to the drain mouth.

The two stared at the seaweed.

This thing is not uncommon in the Adriatic Sea, and it sometimes floats in the waterways of Venice with the current.

"But it shouldn't be in the tub. Does Orr have a habit of adding seaweed to his bath water besides his hobby of eye drops?"

Kelsey was puzzled, "I'm so ignorant. I've only heard of ladies taking milk petal baths, but there's also seaweed baths?"

"Then I'm probably not seeing more. I also don't think it's normal to sprinkle seaweed in the bath."

Sherlock packs the seaweed into the evidence box.Since the seaweed is not used for bathing, Al must have got it from somewhere, and the nearest place is the creek that passes by Angus' house.

Yes, Xiaohe.

The two thought of a reason for Orr to take a bath in the middle of the night. Did Orr get dirty by going to the river?

Looking through the clothes Chaall wore yesterday, there was no obvious trace of dirt from the coat to the pajamas.However, there were mud stains on the soles of his slippers, which were soiled by the river.

Every day the servants clean the bedroom and wash Orr's clothes and shoes.

When did Orr go to the river in slippers yesterday?

All day yesterday was Julia's birthday celebration, and Orr was in formal attire.

Even if he had changed into his slippers during his break, he would not wear them to the river during the day. If he bumped into a guest who was impolite, he would go there when he woke up in the middle of the night.

Doubt came again.

Al woke up in the middle of the night, why did he go to the river?Or was there a man who went to the river in Orr's slippers?

This is strange.

Just as the scratches left by Orr before his death are like unfinished pentagrams, something must have happened in this house last night and early morning to cause these strange things.

"Go down first."

Sherlock raised the toolbox, "Maybe we can find clues to answer the doubts from the people downstairs."

"hope so."

Kelsey looked away from the bedroom window.

Looking down from Orr's bedroom window, I could see half of the creek, but it was almost dark outside at midnight.

Overlooking the small river, there is no other scenery except for the reflection of stars.

Leave Al's bedroom.

The corridor outside was already quiet.The unrelated people have left, and those who are left are gathered in the lobby on the second floor.

The two descended from the fourth floor and were about to turn around the stairs on the third floor.

He only heard a slight click of the door, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the door of a room on the third floor was pushed open a crack.

who is it?

It is said that only Bivis and Henry lived on the third floor.The next moment, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl poked her head out.

The girl, with a pale and thin face, looked at the two people at the stairs.

When her eyes glanced at Sherlock, her body couldn't help shrinking back, like a child who is very afraid of seeing an adult with a stern face.

The girl only dared to look at Kelsey with a gentle face.

She pursed her lips and asked, "I, I, can I ask you something? Father, have you become a star like your mother?"

"Are you the daughter of Mr. Al Angus?"

Kelsey walked towards the girl and took a closer look. The expression on the girl's brows did not match her apparent age, and she felt silly.

"Nicole, I'm Nicole. The youngest daughter of my father and mother, and the little sister of my brothers."

Nicole said while counting her fingers, "There are five of us, a family of five. When my mother dies, I become a star. I heard them arguing last night, saying that my father died too. Become a star? I'll never see my father again?"

Kelsey could only nod to Nicole, Al was dead, and no one could be fooled.

Immediately, she turned her head and exchanged glances with Sherlock at the stairs, "Did you hear that Angus has a little daughter?"

Sherlock shook his head, he had never heard of it.

It seems that Nicole, who has some mental problems, is the invisible person of the Angus family.

Invisible or not, stupid or not, Nicole herself has no feeling.

Nicole got an affirmative answer and made no secret of her sadness.

"Father has also changed into a star, and no one plays with me anymore. Why did he change into a star? Is it because I was disobedient and didn't go to bed early yesterday, so I saw stars at night?"

The logic of this statement is a bit strange, and even stranger is another point.

Because the sky was overcast last night, there was no moonlight or stars in the sky at all.Where did Nicole see the stars?

Kelsey and Sherlock are puzzled, and the Angus family and Xingxing are on the same page?

Why did Orr draw a five-pointed star when he was dying?And what kind of star did Nicole see last night?