Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

In the night, a carriage galloped towards New Orleans.

After a hasty dinner, the three left the hotel.

Watson was finally able to ask about the recent discovery of the murder, "You two, who is the number one suspect you found?"

Kelsey reported the suspect's name, "Hugh Bono, you should remember him."

"Oh! Yes, I remember. The young paleontologist who received the fifth threatening letter."

Watson remembered this person. It was Bono who took the initiative to find Kelsey, saying that he wanted to find his friend Jules. "Is Bono actually responsible for this series of cases?"

Sherlock corrected the deviation in Watson's understanding, "Pay attention, now that Hugh Bono is suspected, it does not mean that he is in charge of everything. This person is the main suspect in the threatening letter & the Bat Monster case, but he did not intend to create "Lucky" The shipwreck of the "Sorcerer". "

"On the contrary, Bono did not cause the sinking, but wanted to prevent it from happening."

Kelsey added, "Because of the intertwining of these two cases, it gave me a weird feeling when I was investigating the trajectory of Juul's disappearance."

Things have to start from the beginning.

Twenty years ago, a group of pirates broke into an island that seldom communicates with the outside world due to storms at sea.

The island has a distinctive bat cult, and some variants of giant bats may exist.

The people on the island have mastered the secret of manipulating bats through some secret methods to resist foreign enemies, and they usually don't easily set foot in the habitat of giant bats.

The pirates pretended to be innocent shipwrecks and stayed temporarily on the island, waiting for another ship to come.

The islanders did not reject well-disguised pirates, as they had a history of intermarrying with Spanish and other European visitors.

"Alec's four are slightly Spanish, and Bono is like English and French. These make me guess that there are descendants of European immigrants hundreds of years ago on Bat Island."

Kelsey refers to the development of maritime trade in European countries for more than 300 years after Columbus discovered America in the fifteenth century.One or several groups of Europeans strayed into the Bat Island, and they never returned.

Combined with the ignorance of Bahamian sailors about Bat Island, the island is likely to be in a very special geographical environment, and people on the island can only enter and exit through ocean currents during certain periods of time.

Sherlock received, "The former settlers did not leave the island anymore, but the pirates 20 years ago were different. They discovered a large amount of treasure hidden on the island, and their greed made them no longer afraid of giant bats. The pirates pretended to leave first, but Soon, he returned to the island and massacred all the islanders."

Treasures are hard to get.

Only the residents of the island can control the attack of giant bats, and step into the territory of bats to solve the maze of intricate mechanisms.

"That caused the burns on the four of Alec. They were tortured and asked to explain how to enter the treasure."

Sherlock couldn't help frowning, and Dr. Edward described in detail the injuries of the five children 20 years ago.To what extent do the pirates have to be vicious and vicious to create a massacre on the island, and even to extort confessions from five or six-year-old children.

Sometimes the power of hate is so terrifying that the victim becomes the perpetrator 20 years later.

The four of Alec also became frenzied during their revenge. They chose to blow up the "Lucky" and buried Kantan with the lives of more than 2000 people.

"I see."

Watson understood the reason why Kang Tan was brutally retaliated by Alec and the others.

Sherlock also pointed out that a total of five children escaped from the island, and the other was slightly different from the four of Alec.He was not completely corrupted by hatred, and would be grateful to Dr. Edward who had healed them.

"It sounds like the remaining one is different from Alec and the others, but why do you say he sent a threatening letter?"

Watson was puzzled, "Don't forget, Kang Tan, Jules, Pee Wey, and Ethel, they didn't panic after receiving the threatening letter. This is not a reaction to a letter from a stranger. How do you explain this strange contradiction? point?"

"The contradiction is because the six letters were not written by the same person."

Kelsey sorts out the timeline for Watson.Juul's notepad stopped at the end of June, and he said he would go to the United States to gather folk songs.

Juul's passport has not been found, and it is impossible to determine when he entered the United States, but it can be speculated that he most likely arrived in New Orleans in July.

After hearing the news that the Oak Manor was going to be auctioned, Jules first discovered the treasure map of the stele hidden in the basement.

In early August, Jules arrived in New York and sent four contact letters in the form of threatening letters to himself, Kantan, Peavy, and Ethel from New York.

——"Swear you will not go to Harvest Oak Manor, or the voodoo doll will take your soul."

Kelsey pointed out that Oak Manor is the destination, and if he doesn't want to be taken away by voodoo dolls, he must stay in G Hotel, which is the cleanest in the area and is not infested by evil spirits.

"Based on the letter, the pirate group that has not been together for many years is reunited in New Orleans, and the operation time is from late September to late October."

"Wait a minute." Watson also felt that the four of Jules knew about the threatening letter. He also agreed with the contact signal, but there was one thing he didn't understand.

"The letter didn't mention the specific time, how can we confirm that the action time is from September to October?"

Sherlock reminded, "Don't just look at the contents of the letter, please don't ignore the envelope."

The threatening letters received by the four Jules are significantly different from the other two.The former was sent through the postal system, while the latter was forwarded without a stamp.

Another feature, the Juul Four envelopes all have a scale pattern.

"That is a common pattern envelope in New York in recent years, with the twelve constellations as the background color of the pattern."

During the years of correspondence between Sherlock and Kelsey, she had seen similar envelopes several times. "Juul's use of the envelope with the sign of Libra alludes to the time period that the four will be active under the sign of Libra."

It was said that when Watson slapped his thigh, why did he ignore it.

So the six letters were sent by two different people.

Of the last two, one was sent to Sherlock to warn of possible accidents on the Lucky One, and the other to Bono, warning him not to go after Drew who was missing in New Orleans.

"Assuming Bono hadn't received the threatening letter, there would be no reason for him to ask Mr. Bennet to find out about Juul's disappearance."

Watson understood the logical relationship. "Mr. Bennet didn't go to New Orleans to investigate the disappearance of Jules, so he wouldn't go to Oak Manor to find the underground stele. He didn't see the curse of the stele, he didn't find Jules' tragic death, and he didn't go to sea to rescue him." .”

Sherlock: No, Watson only half understands.

Even without Drew missing, dear Kelsey would have prepared a rescue team ahead of time.There's no need to show off these things.

Watson suddenly felt an itchy nose.

It made him want to sneeze, but he didn't respond quickly.

It must be too windy at night.

It's hard to drive at night.

Watson ignored Night Breeze, what he wanted to know was why he suspected Bono.

"Judging from the development of the situation before and after, Bono is suspected of writing and directing himself, but is there any other evidence to prove that he is suspicious?"

"It's coffee. I met Bono in New Orleans, and he casually mentioned drinking Colombian coffee on the boat going south."

Kelsey was just chatting with Bono.Because of the time constraints of investigating Juul's whereabouts and figuring out the direction of the "Lucky One", she did not specifically check the coffee supply of the passenger ship going south.

This morning, hearing that the passenger ship only provided coffee beans from Africa in the past month, Kelsey immediately remembered the loophole in Bono's words.

Colombia is in South America, and Bat Island is also in South America, like the last two threatening letters specifically warning.

The combination of the three makes people doubt Bono's true origin.

Kelsey said, "99 percent of the time, it's a loophole that Bono left on purpose."

The search and rescue ship encounters a storm and diverts to the Bahamas, and then encounters a hysterical Susan on the island.

Then track down from Susan's absurd story to Dr. Edward.Thanks to Edward's longevity, he was able to learn from him that the five children had been tortured and burned.

The pursuit of the above clue must have the blessing of luck once in a lifetime to complete.

Under normal circumstances, after the four Alecs are dead, who can tell whether they have other accomplices or old friends?

Even if Kelsey suspects that someone else knew about the shipwreck plan in advance because of the two threatening letters, Bono can greatly reduce his suspicion by not mentioning what kind of coffee he drank.

Kelsey felt a little complicated about this, "Colombia coffee, whether Bono slipped it on the tongue or he did it on purpose, we will have the answer tomorrow morning."

The so-called answer depends on whether there are murders in New Orleans.

There was a person who went to New Orleans two days ago, and it was Kang Tan who the Acrylic four wanted to kill.

After Kan Tan went ashore on the search and rescue ship, he rushed to New Orleans immediately regardless of the loss of Victor's shipping this time.

For Quentin, Oak Manor meant a hidden treasure, perhaps just enough to replace the stock he had lost on the Lucky One.

He didn't know he was going to New Orleans, and he was most likely heading for the arms of death, because the giant vampire bat that killed Jules was circling around Oak Manor.

Taking advantage of the old pirates gathering at the Oak Manor, the remaining Avengers will kill Peavy, Ethel, and Kantan.

Yep, Bono is also an Avenger, that's why Juul was killed by the bat.

From this, Watson began to associate that Bono was a young paleontologist who knew the habits of certain animals very well.

Now I don't know whether Bo Nuo's success at a young age was taught by someone since he was a child, or he is desperately learning relevant knowledge in order to create a perfect kill.

"Gentlemen, do you think there is a possibility that Juul's use of the threatening letter as a means of contact was also hinted by Bono."

Watson went back to the whole case, "As soon as the news of the auction of Oak Manor came out in July, many people went to New Orleans for on-the-spot investigation. Those people more or less encountered ghosts, did Bono secretly try to scare them away?"

"It's very likely."

Sherlock gave a guess, "Even the treasure map of the basement stele was made by Bono. From the beginning to the end, Bono carefully laid out a perfect revenge."

Bono met Jules five years ago.

As the two gradually got to know each other, Bono figured out Juul's logic and thinking habits.

Oak Manor has long been taken over by the state government, and it is bound to be auctioned off in the next few years.

Why not use this as a base to move the hidden gem stele to the basement of the manor.Then induce Zhu Er to find the treasure map, the greedy people will definitely not let this treasure go.

"The nature is hard to change, and the appearance of the treasure map is most likely to summon the former pirates."

Sherlock speculates that Bono did not originally kill Jules in New Orleans. "When the four of Zhu Er went out to sea and set foot on the so-called treasure land, death would slowly come."

The four of Zhu Er went out to sea to hunt for treasure, as if yesterday happened again.

This time, there are no enthusiastic islanders, and the old pirates are greeted with murderous intentions every step of the way.

There are siege attacks by bats on the island, but the four of them have nowhere to escape, and the boat when they came will be destroyed by an accident.

Lonely and helplessly, the pirates are most likely to start killing each other, and they will watch their lives come to an end after being tortured.

This kind of revenge kill was almost perfect.

But things take a turn for the worse, and Bono's old friend takes a different, extreme vengeance.

The sinking of the Lucky One would have killed more than 2000 people.

Bono couldn't just watch innocent people die, so he had to change his revenge plan midway.

Perhaps, Bono didn't want to hurt innocent people from the beginning, and that's why there was the fifth stone tablet in the basement.

That's a warning.

Bono frightened off other prospectors of the estate, and erected a stele about the curse.In case someone else stumbles into the basement by mistake, it can dissuade those who have nothing to do with the pirates.

Of course, if someone insists on going to sea without fear of the curse, greed will have to pay a corresponding price.

Watson agreed with this speculation very much, "I also think that someone fabricated the existence of the treasure map. Anyway, I don't believe that someone can be lucky enough to be hit by a huge treasure casually."

"Mr. Watson, you are too wise. The luck of bumping into a huge treasure is so incredible that it is almost absurd."

Kelsey first expressed that he highly agrees with Watson's point of view, and then glanced at Sherlock inadvertently.

Sherlock nodded solemnly at once.

Kelsey did not lie, the four of them did not find the treasure casually, and the other side proved that their luck was almost ridiculous.

What if there is no near-absurd luck?

The next day, New Orleans.

On the way back to G Hotel, I heard a piece of news.

Pee Wei, Ethel, and Kang Tan died.Two days ago, the three were attacked by a bat monster and died in the woods outside Oak Manor.