Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

For the sake of caution, all suspicious characters appearing in the Moon Bay Circus must be screened and investigated.

Kelsey added to the secret letter to Edwards, describing the disappearance of Paul Goodman four years ago during a gang fight outside a New York casino.

Therefore, there is reason to suspect that Goodman joined a gang.The long-lost person came to the circus with duplicity. Who can believe that Goodman is just an ordinary audience?

Edwards took away today's secret letter, and the reply he sent also showed that the situation was moving in the direction of the worst speculation.

"Since October 26, the Chicago hospital clinic has not seen the young woman whose ears were cut off, and the doctors in the pharmacies have never encountered a patient who fits Anna's image."

Under normal circumstances, a person who has no problem with his status will go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible if his ear is injured.

Even if Anna considers that the news of the injury will affect the ticket sales of the circus performance, she will at most conceal her identity but will not let the injury worsen.

In this regard, the head of the circus, Andre, once said that Anna went to Chicago for medical treatment, and did not mention that she was asked to keep her itinerary secret, or that the circus did not allow her to reveal her identity, etc.

"Andre lied to us from the beginning. There are no medical records of Anna in Chicago, and you found bloody teeth in the animal training area. Now it is almost certain that Anna has been killed."

Kelsey was not sure where Anna's remains were dumped.After all, the woods on the side of the circus are not small, and it will take enough time to thoroughly investigate.

Sherlock agrees with this speculation. The question is why did Anna get killed?Did she anticipate the approaching danger and leave evidence in advance?

I hope that after today's secret letter is sent out, the Count of Monte Cristo in New York can use his strengths to find the dentist who treated Anna's teeth as quickly as possible.

When it comes to secret letters, I have to say Goodman.

Sherlock remembered an impromptu addition by Kelsey after the show.

"Jerry, are you familiar with Paul Goodman's dynamics? Why didn't you mention him in your previous letter?"

Sherlock looked at Kelsey.The correspondence between the two of them in the past three and a half years almost mentioned all the large and small cases that they have personally solved or heard about, and there is no Goodman who disappeared in the gang fight.

"Little people, not worth mentioning."

Kelsey was unperturbed, "I heard about Goodman by the way when I was investigating the Red Shirts in London. He was a gambler who died in a shipwreck. When I was investigating in New York, I heard that a man with the same name was haunting the casino. I wondered if someone came back from the dead. But I found out that they were similar in appearance, but I couldn’t witness it. When I came to New York, Goodman had disappeared in a fight between two gangs.”

Sherlock also knew that Kelsey was investigating the Red Shirts, so she did a good job and sent Wickham, who had deceived countless people, to prison.

At the moment, what Kelsey said about Paul Goodman sounded very logical at first glance.

It is quite normal for a person with a strong curiosity and an excellent memory to check up strange experiences of strangers in his spare time.

"Goodman has abandoned his previous identity, and he is very addicted to gambling. In addition, he disappeared in a gang fight. Like him, it is very likely that he joined a gang in order to survive."

Sherlock infers from this, "Gang activities, combined with Merton's previous mention of the mermaid, and the missing little sister Peter, the circus may be a cover for some kind of black market transaction."

At the moment, Sherlock didn't delve into whether Kelsey avoided the important ones.

As he once said, he was gentle enough to dear Jerry not to settle accounts unless necessary.

The urgent task now is obviously to dig out the inside story of the Moon Bay Circus.

Tonight, the Moon Bay Circus was exceptionally quiet.

Although the lights were turned off before midnight in the camp two days ago, more or less people who move slowly will sleep a little later.

After the performance tonight, the performers of the circus were all in a hurry.They didn't say a word to each other, and they all walked back to the tent quickly after fetching water.

The two detectives chatted about the case for a while, and then went out to fetch water a little later.

Along the way, I met people from the circus oncoming, and I saw that each of them had different expressions.In addition, the magician Merton who came to strike up a conversation from time to time in the past two days did not show up.

When Kelsey approached the well, she saw Dick the Clown, and she seemed to ask inadvertently:

"Hey, Dick. What's the matter with everyone tonight? They're all walking in such a hurry, like there's a ghost after them."

'Bang--'

Dick shook his hands when he heard the words, and directly knocked over the wooden barrel that was just filled with water.

He said with a pale face, "Don't, don't talk nonsense! You can't talk about ghosts and undead in the Moon Bay Circus, or you will be in bad luck."

Sherlock asked, "What's the bad luck? Could it be that ghosts still hit ghosts?"

"It's true that I will run into an evil spirit, and then I don't know how to die."

Dick didn't want to say any more, he hurriedly picked up the bucket and filled it up again before leaving. "Go back to the tent as soon as possible. Don't listen to advice. When something happens, no one can save you."

This is strange. Could it be that the ghosts of the circus show their appearance by pinching their watches?

I didn't see the actors panicked two days ago, why did they prepare with experience today?

"Has it always been like this before? By the third night of the performance, the undead appeared?"

What Kelsey was thinking about was the freak show that started on the fourth day. The so-called haunting of the undead made everyone avoid it, and it was very likely that they were deliberately covering up something. "Has your clown colleague, the departed David, ever pretended to be a ghost?"

Dick gripped the handle of the bucket tightly, his knuckles turning white with fright, but still shook his head and trot away without saying a word.

Although there was no clear answer, Dick's reaction was obvious. The previous mirror administrator, David the Clown, had hit a ghost.

David, who had run into a ghost, has left the Moon Bay Circus, but the exact way of leaving is unknown, and being killed to death is also a kind of leaving in a sense.

Kelsey and Sherlock looked at each other, and saw the eagerness to hit a 'ghost' in each other's eyes.

"Merton didn't come to fetch water. I should pay attention to him."

Sherlock thought of an excuse in an instant, and the two put the bucket back into the tent first, and then sneaked out. If they were found, they would say they were looking for Merton.

"This kind of thing should also be told to Commander Andre."

Kelsey speculates that most people in the circus don't know what's going on, and that the performers are terrorized by ghosts and undead.Andre and Merton were the few insiders, and it was necessary to immediately determine whether they were in the tent, and if not, where might they have gone?

Find an excuse and act quickly.

On the way back, the two detectives seemed to have followed Dick's advice and quickly returned to the tent. They did not arouse the slightest suspicion when they met the patrol on the way.

However, the number of inspection teams has attracted the attention of the two.

The usual eight-member inspection team had changed to three tonight, so where did the other five go?

Questions ensued.

The detectives had sneaked to the outside of Andre's tent, but there was no light inside, and the stove was not even lit.

On November nights, it would be too cold to sleep without a fire.

Obviously Andre was not in the tent, and there was no movement inside.

"I'll go in and see."

Sherlock opened the unlocked tent door and signaled Kelsey to stay outside, "Call me if there is something unusual."

Kelsey nodded, "The door is not locked here, and there should be no valuables inside, but there may be some private possessions."

What can Andre hide?

Time passed by minute by minute.

Kelsey kept a close watch on the surroundings for signs of disturbance, guarding against Andre's sudden return.

There were simply no sudden footsteps.

During the alert, even if the patrol team came once, they failed to find that the circus head's tent had been sneaked into by outsiders.

After half an hour.

Sherlock searched the entire camp, and Andre did not leave a single word, but he found a bloody letter.

On the flying knife performance equipment in the circus, there are precautions written and posted by Anna, so that others should not touch it lightly to prevent injury.

In contrast, judging from the writer's handwriting, this letter was written by Anna.

Back at their tent, Sherlock recounted the text to Kelsey:

"Honey, I can't hold back my feelings for you anymore, and I can't wait to spend the night with you. When the Chicago thing is over, let me go to your city at the end of November, and we will go to Maple Grove, New York together. Please also allow me to bring a little furry guy to see you. I love you, on October 25th."

The address and recipient have not been written on the envelope.

It was snatched from its master and fell into Andre's hands.

"At first glance, it's a love letter through and through, but there's a slightly odd twist."

Sherlock pointed out that there was no specific name in the letter, "Dear XX, OO who loves you, this is the common format. Anna's letter seems to have deliberately concealed the information of the two parties in the communication."

In case the letter fell into the wrong hands, the origin of the letter cannot be easily determined from it.

"It can be a kind of vague signal for a joint."

Kelsey guessed that Anna had something important to tell the New York dentist, "The two will meet in New York at the end of November. The location is the Maple Leaf Forest that they all know. The furry little guy is a werewolf who scares people enough. He and Anna is indeed in the same group."

There was no more content in this text message, and everything Anna wanted to say and do came to an abrupt end.

Her letter was stained with blood, and it was likely that it was found after she was killed and received in Andre's hands.

However, the two detectives have not yet been able to determine what exactly caused Anna's death.

Apart from the letter, the only thing that has been found belonging to Anna is the bloody silver tooth.

In the tent, the atmosphere was a little dull.

Sherlock broke the silence first, "Say something easy, when you get back to New York, do you want to see the Maple Leafs?"

Kelsey laughed.Dear Tom is very good at pointing out, borrowing the content of the so-called love letter, fortunately he didn't borrow the hot words in the first half of the text message.

"Maple Leaf is nice, but tonight I want to find the "little furry guy" first. "

Kelsey talked about the business, "While Andre is not in the camp, we might as well go to the forest area where werewolves have been infested overnight. If we are lucky enough to meet werewolves, many mysteries may be solved."

"It is indeed necessary to take a trip to the woods. Maybe not only werewolves, but also the so-called undead."

Sherlock also got back to business, "I suspect that Andre and others have also gone to the woods. We must track and investigate their tracks tonight."

Avoiding the patrol, the two detectives quietly headed for the woods.

It was almost midnight, and the two did not use kerosene lamps.

Traveling under the light of the full moon, and then using the fire book after entering the woods, it is easy to hide your whereabouts.

Nothing happened all the way.

There was no one in the wilderness.Don't say there are no shadows, even ghosts...

Who said there are no ghosts!

In the woods ahead, there are clusters of flames floating.

The faint green light, ups and downs.

It's like the legendary will-o'-the-wisp.

**

At this time, a certain hotel on the other side of Chicago.

Watson shares an apartment with his comrade-in-arms Leo, and the two play a special role under a slight disguise.

——Personate Detective Bennet and Detective Sherlock Holmes respectively, the former is taking care of the sick latter.Released the news of the location of the two, but also announced that the two detectives were temporarily resting due to physical discomfort.

In this way, it confuses the public.

It is convenient for real detectives to infiltrate the circus without their authenticity being suspected.

This kind of role-playing is a very novel experience.

Watson has had several experiences of pretending to investigate cases, but he has no confidence in playing the two detectives he is most familiar with.

The reason is simple, if someone asks how to reason the case, he will show his feet.Simply acting this time is a scene of caring for patients, which can perfectly avoid his weakness in reasoning.

For three days, everything was peaceful.

Unexpectedly, at midnight, there was a sudden knock on the hotel door.

"Knock Knock-"

Two hasty knocks on the door broke the peace of midnight.

Watson was suddenly alert.

He didn't open the door immediately, and listened attentively, but he didn't hear any movement outside the door.

5 minute later.

Watson and Leo held guns on guard and slowly opened the door.

There was no one in the corridor, but there was an unlocked wooden box at the door.

Watson will carefully open the box.

No hidden weapon popped out, but a bloody smell came out.

Inside the box was a bloody female head, and she lost half of her ear.

Fortunately, both Watson and Leo had experienced the battlefield, so they were not frightened by this scene, nor did they make any screams.

"There's a note."

Leo unfolded the note pasted on the inside of the box cover, "Dear detectives, this is a clue for you. The truth is in the woods next to the Moon Bay Circus. Do you dare to go and have a look?"

Leo handed the note to Watson, what should he say?Just lighthearted jokes.

"John, it turns out that this is the state of your life after you left me. It's really exciting! The daily life of a detective is to be given a midnight gift box."

Watson: No!As a part of my life, I asked Mrs. Hudson for cookies and milk for a late-night snack.Human head gift box, this bloody thing has nothing to do with me!