Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

N, Nursing Home (nursing home).

It's hard not to think of nursing homes as the 'sweet spot' place to work for an elderly person.

"Today, nursing homes are welfare institutions for the poor."

Sherlock knows the approximate number. There are nearly a hundred nursing homes of varying sizes in and around London. "Some are funded by the government, and some are donated by individuals or companies. They all have one thing in common: they are not strictly supervised. In comparison, the supervision of orphanages is stricter."

A few years ago, two detectives cracked a horrific child abuse case in an orphanage.After that, several major charitable foundations in London joined forces to increase the supervision of orphanages.

I have to admit that compared with the children who have unlimited possibilities in the rising sun, the lonely and poor old people who are dying in the western mountains get too little attention.

The times are limited, and the world is difficult.

The current nursing home is in a sense a place waiting to die.

Kelsey frowned too.The murderer was cautious and cruel this time. Judging from his skilled attack methods, it would not be the first time he committed a crime. I am afraid that nursing homes have already been brutally murdered.

"Today's robbery in the street is a manifestation of the escalation of the modus operandi. The old man living in a nursing home is equivalent to being confined, and the murderer can do whatever he wants. And he is no longer satisfied with this, and he has stepped out of his psychological comfort zone to find greater stimulation."

This can explain why the murderer prefers the old people who are dull and unattractive.

Because at the moment it is not a last resort to stay in a nursing home, there are not many energetic elderly people there, and it is normal to be weak and defenseless.

Today, if the murderer did not encounter a cross-dresser, but violated an old woman living in poverty, how likely is it that the murdered elderly would call the police or find a detective to catch the murderer?

Very helpless, the possibility of the victim daring to speak out is almost zero.

Once the murderer succeeds, his modus operandi will escalate again as time goes by.Shift the target of victimization to healthier older adults.

Sherlock then thought of the bondage technique Woolf was taught, "Wolf's mysterious instructor can't master the bondage technique out of thin air. The O club doesn't provide guided exercises, so what method does that person practice? Elderly people in nursing homes who can't resist will Wouldn't it be his experimental subject?"

"Tom, this is not a pleasant speculation, but I have to admit that what you say is very likely to be true."

From this, Kelsey deduced the cause of Woolf's death, "Wolf was hanged himself unluckily, maybe because he knew too much and was silenced. With his character that is completely contrary to being safe and reliable, it will greatly increase The possibility of the murderer committing suicide."

Sexual suffocation and presbyopia, which of the two special hobbies is more unacceptable to the public?

Woolf and the mysterious mentor get acquainted because of abnormal sexual fetishes, but Woolf has always been despicable in order to make money.Don't expect him to keep his mouth shut forever, it may only be a matter of time before he threatens the mysterious teacher with this.

So, where is the murderer hiding?

Two days later, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Scotland Yard.

Lestrade identified the deceased as a drag actor with no stage experience.

"Reed Rhodes, 24 years old, just joined the Maple Leaf Troupe at the end of last year. In half a month, the Maple Leaf Troupe will perform a new stage play, including Rhodes' 5-minute role as a poor old woman."

Lestrade sighed, "In order to play the role well, Ross has been living as an old woman every day for the past two months, going in and out of the slums from time to time to integrate into the life of the role."

As the saying goes, one minute on stage, ten years off stage.

In order to play a role with a huge difference in gender and age from his own, Rhodes tried his best as an actor, but he was targeted by a cruel and cunning murderer and lost his life.

"Look, this is Ross's temporary address. According to the troupe's memory, Ross has often visited these places recently."

Lestrade also brought the freshly released autopsy results, "According to Mr. Watson's examination, there were no common toxins in Rhodes' body, and the fatal cause of death was massive blood loss from an abdominal wound. The strangulation on the neck was severe, which may have affected the His vocal cords made it impossible for him to speak for help."

Although according to the empty and unoccupied situation of the demolition house, even if Ross's voice is loud, he may not be able to call for rescue.

"And, Mr. Holmes, you reminded me about the bug bites. The small red pimples on Ross's body were bitten by chiggers."

Lestrade thought of Watson's popular science that chiggers burrow into the skin of the human body when they bite, and if they are pulled out by force inappropriately, the head of the chigger may stay in the flesh.

Lestrade felt goosebumps again as he thought about it, and forced his attention back to the autopsy results.

"Roz has not only rashes but also eschars on his body. Judging from this, the victim has been bitten by chiggers seven to ten days ago."

The impoverished old woman played by Rhodes is set to be a cleaner who has to go to five places a day to work in order to survive, including theaters, department stores, parks and other places.

Sherlock flipped through Ross's itinerary.The victim's temporary residence was in the chaotic East End. He went deep into the role and really started a cleaner, working odd jobs across London every day.

In the past ten days, Rhodes worked the night shift at a store half an hour's walk away from the crime scene, working from five in the afternoon to nine in the evening.

April [-]st, [-]-[-]pm.

Ross was brutally murdered on his way to his evening shift.

"The murderer has been eyeing Ross for a while, and he didn't choose randomly in the area of ​​the demolition house."

Sherlock pointed out, "Wulff used despicable means of lowering the price to buy the demolition house. As his mysterious mentor, he must know the existence of the property here. Woolf chose to find the pleasure of hanging himself in the demolition house. Maybe he also invited the The instructor surveyed the terrain to make sure it was safe."

Kelsey also looked at Rhodes' itinerary. There is no nursing home near the demolition house.

At present, it is impossible to determine where the murderer targeted Ross. Has he been waiting near the demolition house?

Still started to follow Ross in another place, and found that he happened to be passing through the demolition house.This time he entered the familiar area of ​​the murderer, so he decided to target him.

"Wait a moment."

Lestrade didn't understand and asked, "The two confirmed that the murderer who killed Ross is related to Woolf's mysterious mentor? How to say specifically?"

Lestrade was curious about what investigations the detectives had been doing recently.

"Mr. Watson also said that he hadn't seen his roommates for two days. When he returned to Baker Street from the forensic room, you were all still running around."

Kelsey pulled a map from his briefcase and gave Lestrade a polite but kind smile.

"Inspector, since you asked sincerely, I must tell you everything. In the past two days, we have gone to verify the list of nursing homes in and around London, which have been marked on the map in detail."

"Huh? Nursing home?"

Lestrade had a question mark on his face, why did he check the list of nursing homes?

For the next 15 minutes, Kelsey patiently and meticulously described his speculation with Sherlock.

Several connection points from Woolf's death to Rhodes' killing, the suspect's criminal motive and the reason for his sudden rage, and the meaning of the word GN left at the death scene.

This inevitably explains the existence of presbyopia.

Quiet.

Scotland Yard, Inspector L's office was eerily quiet.

Lestrade pretended to be calm and went to fetch the teacup, but actually wanted to take a sip of water to calm down the shock.

But it would be wrong to raise the cup to his mouth and drink it. He was so stupid that he didn't realize that the tea had already run out and the cup was empty.

"Wow!" Lestrade could only put down the empty glass, and no longer concealed his stupefaction.

"Why is it that whenever I think London is chaotic enough, some new breed of criminals will always appear to challenge my cognitive ceiling. The perverts are so perverted that even the elderly will not be spared!"

Shakespeare gave the answer hundreds of years ago, 'Hell is empty, and the devil is in the world'.

Compared with emotion, Sherlock cared more about finding the murderer as soon as possible.

"Now that we have a list of nursing homes and where Rhodes works part-time, the overlap between the two may be the location of the murderer. However, Rhodes has a large range of activities, and it is impossible to determine all his trajectories from the working point."

Kelsey glanced at the time, "Now we can go near Cambridge at night, and I have an appointment to meet with old entomologist Professor Bolton tonight.

He has been paying attention to the distribution and infestation of insects in and around London, and can provide us with some clues about the areas infested by chiggers, hoping to help narrow down the search for the location of the murderer. "

Bolton is an old friend of Kelsey's mentor Egbert. After receiving the call letter, he quickly agreed to give some advice on entomology.

Sherlock has decided to go with him, and he will also bring the half-cut praying mantis found next to Ross's body to identify its species.So he asked Lestrade, "Inspector, are you interested in learning about insects from Professor Bolton?"

"Forgive me, two people are enough to go."

Lestrade hasn't rested his feet much in the past two days, and now he can lie on a chair and doesn't want to be tired, not to mention that he doesn't like bugs. "I stay in London and can receive the latest news at any time."

The choice of the detective was within the expectations of the two detectives, and there was no need for coolies to consult the professor of entomology.

In fact, Sherlock did not want a third person on this trip.

what reason?Why bother to say that he wants to enjoy the atmosphere of the two-person world, only if he is sympathetic to Lestrade's recent prosperity and fatigue.

Sherlock and Kelsey agreed not to need a coachman, and the two exchanged self-driving carriages to and fro.

At 09:30 in the evening, Professor Bolton knocked on the door of Professor Bolton's house on time.

Professor Bolton has been with natural flowers and plants for a long time and has a kind personality. He doesn't mind his old friend Egbert's student Kai visiting late at night.

I'm not being polite, I'll give answers to the questions about chiggers and praying mantises related to the case.

Chiggers like moisture and usually appear on wild lawns and crops.

Existing investigations show that being bitten by scrub bugs may cause serious diseases, which can cause symptoms such as high fever, loss of appetite, and even pneumonia and heart failure.

Of course, not everyone who gets bitten will get sick.

The victim Rhodes has been working as usual recently, and he should not be infected.

Professor Bolton gave the situation of mites activities in and around London in recent years. Under his appeal, some areas have been inspected regularly.

"In recent years, there have been no cases of death due to bites. Chiggers generally appear in summer, and basically move in grasslands or low bushes, and will not spread to higher areas. Because of environmental requirements, they generally stay in the same place to reproduce. grow."

The two detectives made a cross-comparison between the scrubby activity area, Rhodes' temporary work place and the location of the nursing home, and found four overlapping points.

"As for the half of the praying mantis."

Professor Bolton shook his head, "It's just a common breed in London. It likes shade and hates heat. You can see it in parks in London or in the garden of a certain family. The above is all I know. Sorry, more, forgive me Aimo can't help."

That means that you can't narrow down the scope of finding people with respect to Mantis.

"Professor, you are too kind. You have helped us a lot, thank you very much for your guidance."

Kelsey asked Bolton not to be sorry, and it was a great thing to be able to narrow the search area to four nursing homes.

After talking about the business, we chatted a few more casually.

For example, Kelsey talked about how his mentor Egbert was still living in the United States, and Sherlock took the initiative to talk about some insect-related topics.

It's a pity that it's late, even if the interest in the conversation has not diminished, it's inconvenient to continue to bother.

Tomorrow, Kelsey and Sherlock must rush back to London as soon as possible, and this meeting can only end in a hurry.

Say goodbye to old Professor Bolton, and head to the hotel you booked.

Along the way, the two first made an arrangement for tomorrow, which was to search for men who matched the characteristics of the suspect in the four nursing homes they were most suspicious of.

With an action plan in place, you can enjoy a short walk while you are busy.

The night is cold as water.

Kelsey took a few glances at Sherlock, who had just had a lively conversation with Professor Bolton, and they both agreed to visit the Insect Garden in a few days' time.

It was a rare occurrence that Mr. Holmes showed great enthusiasm for anything other than the case.

Sherlock is still regretting that this trip came and went in a hurry, so that he met a professional who has a lot of research on beekeeping, and he had to leave before visiting Bolton's hive.

Of course he noticed Kelsey's eyes, "Jerry, let me guess. Now you must be sighing, dear Mr. Holmes is very interested in entomology. Am I right?"

Kelsey nodded, "Yes, I was wondering, when did you like entomology?"

"To be precise, I am very interested in beekeeping. However, that is my retirement plan after many years. I just happened to meet a professional today and wanted to chat a little more."

Sherlock had previously imagined that he would live alone in the southern countryside of England without being a detective until he was five or sixty years old.The scenery there is pleasant, allowing him to be a beekeeper at ease.

The previous plan has changed.

Today, Sherlock's life plan has added a very important person.He seemed to ask Kelsey matter-of-factly, "Jerry, do you like bees? Don't you hate them?"

Kelsey: Aha!This all takes into account retirement.So, dear Tom, is it simply a matter of asking her if she likes bees?

Kelsey smiled and asked Sherlock, "What if I hate bees?"