Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

What does the "C" that Sherlock secretly wrote down represent?

Kelsey also has the same guess, C is Circus, there is a suspicious circus haunting Chicago.She asked Ke Wen: "When I was a child, was Ms. Alyssa a frequent visitor to the circus? Did she like clown performances?"

The time period was limited because Alyssa later concealed her curiosity.

Kirwan gave an affirmative answer, "Yes, my cousin used to like circus performances, and took me to see a few of them. My cousin likes clown shows the most. If it is a clown who is as tall as a dwarf, it will make her happier .”

This kind of happiness does not meet the standards of a lady. It is more or less pleasing oneself with the pain of others.

Even with the prevalence of circus performances nowadays, it is impossible for Alisa to openly express her eccentric aesthetic preferences.

If you can’t show it publicly, then watch it secretly.

Alisa is surrounded by servants who have followed her for many years. The four servants will not easily reveal her whereabouts, so that she can watch the circus performance without attracting the attention of others.

Given the circumstances of his stealthy actions, the show was probably more explosive than normal—a freak show.

As the name suggests, freak shows feature strange-looking people or animals.

Not to mention animals, there are two cows, one-eyed pigs, etc., and people are also in strange shapes.

Some are as furry as beasts; some have goat-like horns protruding from their heads; others have three legs or four arms like a polyclaw, or twins whose bodies are connected.

People's desire for novelty kept the popularity of freak shows high.

Assuming Alisa was trapped by a freak show circus last year, that would explain that the seven dwarfs she encountered were gnomes.

The werewolf Lexi saw in the mirror this year was a hypertrichosis that looked like a beast.

The problem is coming.

Whether it is a dwarf or a hypertrichosis, it is not surprising that they haunt the circus.

However, why did one appear in the case of Alisa's disappearance, and the other went to spy on Lexie?This shows that a certain circus is very suspicious.

Whether this inference is correct must be verified as soon as possible.

Nowadays, circuses are mostly touring performances and stay in one place for a long time.Even if someone committed a crime, leaving quickly after the performance will take away the evidence.

The so-called werewolves have already appeared. If you go late, maybe the circus has moved elsewhere.

The two detectives declined Kirwan's invitation to lunch and returned immediately to Chicago to find Edwards.Based on the information of its detective agency, it can quickly identify the list of circuses that appeared at the same time last year and this year.

Bingli sent the two of them a little way, taking this opportunity to clarify his doubts.

"You two, don't you doubt Ke Wan? I mean he likes making artificial dolls. Does it mean that he has some psychological problems?"

"If a person has committed a crime, contacting him may reveal suspicious points in him."

Sherlock does not deny that Kirwan's hobbies are different from ordinary people, but there is currently no evidence that he is a criminal.

"I think it's rash to judge someone who has not committed a crime just by seeing him once will do so in the future."

Kelsey agrees with Sherlock, and whether there is a problem with Kirwan needs to be discussed after verifying the clues from the circus.

I can be sure of one thing now, "Ke Wan chose Miss Bingley, as he said, because he took a fancy to Miss Bingley's own characteristics. At least two points are in line. The first point is that Ke Wan prefers this type of appearance; the second point, oh , I don’t know if I should say it.”

The three stopped at the intersection.

Bingley also didn't want to delay the detectives' investigation, "Please speak freely, I know the truth is not pleasant, and I'm already mentally prepared."

Kelsey was blunt: "Mr. Bingley, according to your description, Kirwan easily gained your sister's understanding last night, and he liked him even more.

Kirwan loves making dolls, and your sister is nothing more than a doll to him.Ke Wan's wife doesn't need to be smart, she just needs to be able to be controlled by him. "

Will Kirwan's desire for control cross the line and lead him on the road to crime?

It is useless to ask God about this matter, it must depend on the mood of Death.

"In short, it is very unreliable to make a marriage contract in less than a month. Such a flash marriage is very unreliable."

Kelsey offers her opinion, but Caroline cannot be held at gunpoint for advice.

"Of course, it's not without a match made in heaven. It's love at first sight and a happy life. This matter can make a wish to God."

Bentley: Oh my God!He had to start praying now, praying for Caroline's luck in the rest of her life.

How Caroline's luck will take time to test.

The detectives, on the other hand, were not so lucky.

According to detailed statistics, there are 38 circuses that came to Chicago to perform at the same time last spring and this fall.

Leaving out the normal shows, seventeen circuses had freak shows, all of which included dwarfs and hirsuts.

It seems that people with physical disabilities from all over the European and American continents gather here.

"It's normal. These people can't make a living elsewhere. Most of them can only make a living in the circus."

Edwards said so, looking at the red circles on the map.

Most of the circus performances are in the suburbs, where there is an open space where the circus's super tent can be placed.

Edwards pointed out: "Coincidentally, last year's circus camp did not appear on Alisa's only way to Orr's farm, and this year it did not choose to be near Lexi's country house."

Is it really a coincidence?

If Alisa wanted to avoid people's eyes and ears and go to the circus, she would choose the opposite direction from Orr's farm.

The "Werewolf" must also be prepared to deliberately stay away from the circus he belongs to. He haunts near Lexie's house where there is no performance, in order to prevent people from easily guessing his origin.

"It is imperative to identify which circus or circuses are problematic."

Kelsey frowned slightly, "The circus is a bit special, and it will hinder the investigation."

The circus welcomes the audience very much when it performs externally, but it is a relatively closed group during the rest of the time, and strangers are not welcome.

If detectives want to find clues, they must sneak into it secretly.

Edwards said, "Most of the time, the circus is very busy and understaffed. When they go to a new show, they will hire local people to do temporary labor and do some chores. This is our opportunity."

However, the number of seventeen circuses is a bit more.

Even with the help of members of the detective agency, there are still insufficient manpower, and the scope must be further narrowed down.

Separate outfits.

Edwards asked what kind of temporary workers those circuses recruited, while Kelsey and Sherlock went to the outside of the circus to spy on the situation.

Two days in a hurry.

Sherlock brought good news.

"I found out why Alisa kept dancing."

Sherlock was slightly excited and poured out the contents of the paper bag, and there were three fresh mushrooms lying on the table. "Picked in the woods, this thing can make people see elves."

Some boletus are cooked improperly, and people will be poisoned and have hallucinations after eating.

"There is a kind of hallucination. The eyes of the poisoned person are colorful, and many villains are dancing non-stop."

Sherlock maps this to Alyssa's statement, "Alyssa mentions that she fled to the woods and couldn't stop dancing with the dwarves."

Some dwarves reached her waist, while others were as big as a thumb.

Sherlock sorted out Alyssa's confused logic, "That's because Alyssa mixed circus dwarves with phantom puppet. For her, both kinds of dwarves appeared, and after poisoning her It's hard to separate reality from illusion."

Plus, Alisa is crazy.

Her memory was even more chaotic, and she couldn't clearly restore the scene at that time.

"awesome!"

Edwards couldn't help but admire, "This discovery has narrowed the scope by more than half."

Sherlock found the poisonous boletus in the woods surrounding seven circuses, but none in the vicinity of ten others.

"Just seven is still a little bit reluctant."

Edwards collected temporary recruitment information from seventeen circuses, but with their hands they sneaked into at most four circuses.

Kelsey took out ten advertisements and excluded seven of them based on Sherlock's narrowed range. "The remaining three are our primary targets."

One corner of the advertisement was circled with a pen, all of which were propaganda about distorting mirrors.

"Alyssa mentioned more than one magic mirror. She thinks some magic mirrors are big and some are small. Combined with the amusement facilities in the circus, the so-called magic mirror is probably a distorting mirror with uneven mirror surface."

The advertising paper that Kelsey got has clearly stated the fun of the distorting mirror-whether you want to become bigger or smaller in the mirror, and you can have fun by looking at the concave distorting mirror.

In this way, the scope is given, and the existing manpower is sufficient.

Edwards' expression was indescribable. He found that the problems were solved one after another.

"The first two, my detective agency members and I can infiltrate as temporary workers. But the latter one does not recruit temporary helpers, but recruits temporary skilled workers."

Technician?

It was written in the temporary recruitment sheet that a man and a woman need to be recruited to perform knife throwing performances.

That is, one person is tied to a wooden plank while standing, and another person uses it as a target to blindly throw a throwing knife.

Every time the knife narrowly brushed the body of the bound person, the tip of the knife went straight into the wooden board.If you can accurately throw a knife without blood, this is a perfect performance.

"The recruitment requirements of the Moon Bay Circus are for homeless acrobats."

Edwards inquired about the circus and started performing four days later, and the news of the flying knife performance was publicized as a selling point, but something happened to the two performers.

"The specific situation is unknown, but unlike handymen who can easily disguise, where can we find professional knife-throwing performers temporarily? They also need to be reliable enough to help sneak into the circus to find information?"

"We might be able to give it a try."

"Maybe let us try."

Kelsey and Sherlock both chose to give it a try.

"You two, are you sure?"

Edwards asked uncertainly, "First, you must have a man disguised as a woman without revealing his flaws. If this can be compensated by acting skills, but throwing knives is extremely dangerous, are you sure you have excellent skills?"

"The probability of finding reliable flying knife acrobats within four days and asking them to inquire about information is too low."

Sherlock would not bet on the lives of the two of them, "Just throwing the throwing knife, the directional target is not a problem. Now the requirement is to target the 'human', so you have to try it before you know."

Edwards also knew that he couldn't find a suitable candidate at the moment, "Well, that's the only way to go. You two might as well practice first, and don't force yourself if it doesn't work.

During the performance, a sharp knife is used, and when one person misses, the other person will have a bloody hole.If it hits a deadly part, I don't need to talk about the consequences. "

The two solemnly promised to pay attention to safety.

Saying goodbye to Edwards, he even changed to another hotel so that no one would discover his identity.

This is to simulate the knife throwing performance in the hotel.

Before conducting the flying knife experiment, it is necessary to finalize the division of labor.

A man and a woman, one was tied and the other threw a knife.

Who changed the women's clothes?And who is being targeted?

"Jerry, it's a good choice this time."

Sherlock said with reason, "One person once. A few years ago, I changed into a woman's clothes and sneaked into the O club. This time it's your turn, isn't it fair?"

Kelsey didn't retort, "Okay."

Sherlock then said, "Then you must agree to one thing. Because you have stayed in the United States for too long, the solo performance you promised to me has been delayed. For this, I should charge some interest or something of."

Kelsey was speechless, "Tom, do you think this is a collection?"

"Look, you are silent, which means you acquiesced."

Sherlock quickly grabbed the words, with a relaxed and natural tone: "Therefore, I have the right to make a request once, and you must agree to it. This time, I take the initiative to ask to be tied up. Which position do you like?"

When people who don't know hear the initiative to be tied up, they can't imagine the risk of being poked bleeding holes.