Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

"God bless! We are finally in America!"

Bentley sighed excitedly to Darcy after getting off the boat: "Thirteen days ago, I never would have imagined that this vacation would be so colorful and thrilling. Fitzwilliam, I'm sure you will agree with me this time, even if There are not many times when we are completely in agreement."

Darcy looked sideways and made sure that Elizabeth was within two meters of her family and was about to call a carriage into the city.

He took the time to respond to Bentley, "Two days ago in the early hours of the morning, your wording was still frightening, and now you have changed it to thrilling. Why do I feel that you still want to find more excitement?"

Bentley's eyes widened, what terrible words he heard!

Just as she was about to refute, Jane smiled. Jane must have heard their conversation.

Then it is even more necessary to refute and clarify!

Bingley didn't want to impress Jane as a thrill-seeker.After this catastrophe, he must have become more mature and stable.

To defend, Bentley was interrupted again.

"Mr Bingley."

When Kelsey went ashore, she went to the pier to inquire about the situation of the other ships of the search and rescue team. "I have news about your sister. She arrived in Florida safely."

"That's great!"

It was about Caroline's safety, and Bentley also put aside other chats, "Do you know more?"

Kelsey reported the addresses of two or three hotels, "The other search and rescue ships arrived in Florida two days ago in the early hours of the morning, and there were no casualties.

Victor Shipping Company is handling the shipwreck claims and other matters.After disembarking, all the passengers lived in those hotels temporarily.Just ask and you'll know. "

The "Lucky One", a luxury cruise ship known as unsinkable, sank into the Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage.

If the Monte Cristo search and rescue team did not arrive in time two days ago, more than 2000 people would have died under the sea.

In the past two days, the shipwreck has dominated news headlines in Europe and the United States.

Some explored the cause of the sinking of the cruise ship, some praised the timely action of the Monte Cristo search and rescue team, and some accused the shipping company of negligence. All kinds of reports let almost everyone know that a big ship that claimed to be very lucky sank.

As the city of Jack Wilson where the search and rescue team stopped, most of the dockers and coachmen knew where the shipwreck survivors temporarily lived.Bentley asked anyone casually, so he didn't have to worry about finding a hotel.

At this moment, Bingley wanted to go to the hotel first to make sure Caroline was safe, so he looked at Kelsey excitedly.

"Mr. Bennet, the search and rescue ship you brought us this time allowed us to escape from death. I really have too many thanks and I don't know how to express it."

In fact, there is no time to thank you.

It's not that Bentley doesn't have time, it's that Kelsey doesn't have time.

During the two days on the island, Bentley and Darcy looked for Kelsey several times, but they didn't see anyone.Ask the owner of the inn, and I heard that two detectives are constantly looking for some kind of bat monster.

"Everyone is familiar with it, so you don't have to be polite."

Kelsey has no time to entertain a few people for the time being, "I will hand over the search and rescue team today, and I will rush to New Orleans tonight. You might as well wait until you return to London to catch up on the past, but you may have to wait for a long time, and I will not return to England in half a year .”

However, Bentley said that he would not return to the UK for the time being. "In the near future, at least within one or two months, I don't want to take a boat for the time being. It's a rare trip to the United States. It's not bad to take a carriage to New York and enjoy the scenery along the way."

Bingley took a peek at Jane as he spoke. He wasn't the one who had a fear of cruise ships in the short term, but Jane's expression was normal when she landed.

"That's all right. See you in New York, if things get settled down south."

Kelsey didn't point out who's afraid of going to sea.Although there are not many beautiful scenery worth admiring in the United States at present, traveling slowly is also a good choice to escape the shadow of death.

On the side, Darcy directly finalized, "At that time, we will have afternoon tea together in New York."

Darcy decided to invite afternoon tea first, then dinner, and then participate in several New York exhibitions to take pictures of Kelsey's favorite items as thank you gifts.

Even the itinerary after returning to the UK has been arranged.After half a year of preparation, Elizabeth and his wedding just happened to be held, and Kelsey was also able to come to the wedding banquet.

"Ok."

Kelsey nodded, and she didn't expect how far Darcy had thought.

"Oh! Speaking of afternoon tea, I want beans from the central mountains of Colombia."

Bentley quickly entered the state of imagination, "The unique feeling of South American coffee, the acidity is medium and extends to the back of the tongue. Unlike the recent drinks on the ship that are all from Africa, the sourness of the coffee easily rises to the palate."

Bentley did not have a whim for no reason. He just came to the United States on a passenger ship and chatted with people all the way, casually talking about various coffee beans.

"I heard from Mr. Burton that in the past month, the passenger ships have provided coffee beans from Africa. It seems that the warehouse where the Colombian coffee beans are stored has suffered a fire. The coffee beans have suffered a fire, and we have been shipwrecked. This is really an uneasy September. .”

As soon as these words came out, Kelsey's heart sank slightly.

The Mr. Burton that Bingley said was a merchant traveling between New York and Florida, and he knew very well the routes from New York to various places in the south.

Burton mentioned that the passenger ship had not served coffee from South America for nearly a month.

Unlike the overwhelming news of the death of the "Lucky Man", the news of the fire in the coffee beans was not worth mentioning and did not spread at all.

Kelsey remembered that she traveled south from New York a few days ago. The passenger ship she took provided Ethiopian coffee beans, but she did not know that Colombian coffee beans were not provided for nearly a month.

Does it matter where the coffee beans come from?

Kelsey doesn't have any hobbies, what she cares about is someone's casual remarks.

How did someone rushing to New Orleans drink South American coffee that was suspended if the passenger ship didn't serve it, and the ship's passengers didn't bring their own?

This question has become a certain doubt.

The other side.

When Sherlock went ashore and heard that the other ships were safe, he asked someone to send a letter to Watson in the hotel to report that he was safe. He went straight to Dr. Edward's house first.

It was the dock doctor who treated Susan 20 years ago.Edward is still alive and well in his 70s.

"More than 20 years ago, a woman who broke her head?"

Dr. Edward's memory is not as sharp as his legs and feet.Although he saw Susan's portrait and heard Sherlock describe the situation in detail, he could not remember ever healing Susan.

"Sorry, I don't remember healing the lady."

Edward said, "On the pier, there are often injuries such as head bumps, bumps on arms and legs, and bleeding. Most of them are men, but there are also many women. The one you mentioned didn't leave a special impression on me. As for the bat monster... "

Edward was quite speechless about this statement, "The bat monster is nonsense. Florida has many merchant ships traveling to and from South America, and there are vampire bats in South America.

The so-called bat monster is just a fantasy product based on vampire bats, and it will never exist in reality.At least I have lived for more than 70 years without seeing it.

"It's a blessing not to encounter such a rumored monster."

Sherlock turned to ask Alec's four murderers, "Doctor Edward, did you heal any children who were burned more than 20 years ago? They seem to have been lynched with a branding iron, and their chest, abdomen and limbs were injured."

'Boom!Boom! '

Edward pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly picked up the crutch at hand, and hit the ground angrily.

"Burning! Yes, I remember burning."

Edward still remembers it vividly, "There were five boys in total, about five or six years old. All five of them were in shabby clothes, had a fever, and were covered in blood all over their bodies. They supported each other and knocked on the door of the pharmacy in the middle of the night."

That was the fall of 20 years ago.

Edward was awakened by a knock on the door in the middle of the night, but did not turn away the five children.Even if they don't even have a copper coin all over their bodies, they can't even talk about being able to pay for medical expenses.

"Those five children should have escaped from some terrible place. It's hard to imagine who would torture a five or six-year-old child with a branding iron. The pain of tearing apart the flesh and blood may be for the purpose of extracting a confession?"

Edward had doubts at the time, "The five children were very tight-lipped and refused to say anything that night, but they couldn't ask any more questions later."

Because at noon the next day, while Edward was out for a visit, the five of them sneaked away.

"They knocked out Colin, who was in charge of the pharmacy, and took away some wound medicine and silver coins. When I came back, there was no one left."

Edward recalled the past without much resentment, "I don't think this is a farmer and a snake. Those children were abused and beaten, and they were hostile to the outside world, especially strange adults. There was hatred in their eyes, and they would leave sooner or later."

Sherlock confirmed to Edward that the burnt parts of the five children corresponded to the scar parts of Alec's four.

The children were then asked about their physical appearance or other characteristics.

Edward indicated that they all had some Spanish blood, and that they did not know English, speaking in broken Spanish.

Now it is basically certain that the four murderers who tried to detonate the "Lucky" were the fourth of the five people who were healed by Edward 20 years ago.

In terms of time, the five people came to seek medical treatment, and it was the day after Susan was seriously injured at the pier, which made people suspect that they were related to Susan's serious injury.

Of the five children back then, four of them died because of the shipwreck, where is the other one?

Judging from the behavior of Alec and the others, they did everything they could to get revenge, and even intentionally let many innocent people be buried with them in a retaliatory manner.

It is impossible to say 100% that Susan must have been seriously injured by the five people, but they attacked Colin, a helper in the pharmacy, and robbed the wound medicine. Those are the facts of the evidence.

"Did you and your clerk never see those five people again?"

Sherlock couldn't help guessing whether Alec and the five had thought of killing Edward and Colin.

Edward shook his head, showing a relieved smile again.

"People, I never saw them again, but I think they are doing well. Eight years ago, my old man and I both received a big gift. Although I didn't specifically sign it, I know it was a gift of thanks and apology."

They are a box of precious herbs and a set of exquisite silverware.

The gifts are valuable, and more importantly, they are things that Edward and Colin like, which can be said to be a gift to the heart.

Colin has moved out of Florida, unable to borrow silverware from him to see what happened.

The medicinal materials Edward received had also been used up, but he still kept the letter accompanying the gift.

It was a letter typed on a typewriter.

No signature, just a simple sentence. "Thank you for your benevolent healing 12 years ago, and I also apologize to you and your staff for my offense back then."

Edward must have been a gift from those kids. "Twenty years ago, I don't recall any other disrespectful patients other than those five children."

This is unexpected.

Alec's four thugs are nothing like people with clear grievances, otherwise, how could they blow up the ship frantically.

Sherlock stared suddenly.

This thank-you letter was typed with a typewriter. The method of not wanting to be discovered is the same as the threatening letter, and there is a thought-provoking place in the letter.

- The sender used "I" instead of "we".

A total of five children, Alec four attempted to blow up the ship and died.

Will the last remaining one be the sender?Perhaps, he didn't just send a thank you letter to Edward and Colin.

Back to the hotel.

Sherlock went to look for Kelsey first, but unexpectedly he was not there, so he went to the front desk and asked which room Watson was in.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Holmes. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Watson opened the door to invite Sherlock to come in, and in the living room was Kelsey who had just sat down.

Sherlock took a quick look at Watson to make sure he was not injured. "I am relieved that you are safe and sound."

Watson couldn't help but feel happy. Kelsey said the same thing a minute ago.

His detective friends are a little cold to the outside world, but in fact they attach great importance to friends.Right in front of him is the best proof, the first thing they did when they returned to the hotel was to care about his current situation.

However, the two people who met in Watson's guest room did not ask Watson how the search and rescue boat he was on that night was running.

Kelsey: "I have a suspect about the threatening letter."

Sherlock: "I may have found the man who wrote the threatening letter."

The two spoke at the same time, and then shook their heads slightly with complicated expressions.

Watson: Did you agree that the two of you are here to care about him?Why did the two tacitly say something that he couldn't understand when they met?

Sure enough, it was just my own illusion.

Facing the detective times two, he still has to keep smiling today.