Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

Kelsey said he would like to hear more about it, but he didn't say he would do his best.

Mrs. Robinson smiled helplessly when she heard the cautious wording: "No matter what my original intention was, it turns out that taking Angel to sea was the worst decision in my life. Once some mistakes are made, there is no possibility of correction."

After saying this, no matter how thick the makeup is, it can't hide Mrs. Robinson's sadness.

Kelsey doesn't have the same experience, so she won't say anything easily to empathize with herself. Now the comfort of words is pale and powerless.

She stepped forward to support Mrs. Robinson, and let the chair sit for a while, but don't be so sad that she has a heart attack. "Madam, why don't you rest for a while and talk about it later?"

"No need to rest, let me finish talking at once."

Mrs. Robinson straightened her back again.Her heart was shrouded in darkness, but she never thought of giving up. "The accident occurred in the Port of Liverpool."

15 years ago, on July [-]st.

The husband and wife separately arranged for the shipment of the goods at Liverpool Port. It was time to board the ship three days later, but they did not wait for their daughter.

"Angel lives in a big hotel in Liverpool, and the owner made sure that Angel would go out in the morning on the day of boarding the ship. At that time, she and the owner greeted each other good morning, did not bring servants, and said that they would go to the nearby morning market at will."

Mrs. Robinson caressed the old photo, "But afterward, Angel was nowhere to be found. From the moment I knew she was missing, I tried my best to start looking for her. I understand that the longer the time drags on, the less hope there will be."

Back in the early days of Victoria, 40.00% of world trade passed through the Port of Liverpool.

In the 19s, the UK's first passenger railway opened between Liverpool and Manchester, which caused Liverpool's population to grow rapidly.It soon became the second largest city in the UK after London.

The ominous premonition came true.

In the vast sea of ​​people in Liverpool, Angel was no longer there.

"Liverpool is no different than finding missing people in London."

Mrs. Robinson took out a large cardboard box, "After the incident, Wilson and I have been investigating in many ways non-stop. In those years, from the inland to the port, from the United Kingdom to the United States, all the possibilities have been recorded here, and they have been proved one by one. I got it wrong."

In the pain of losing their daughter, the husband and wife gradually blamed each other uncontrollably, or scolded them for not doing business in the first place, or scolded them for not having the idea of ​​taking their daughter to sea.

Three years later, the relationship between the two fell to a freezing point, and they both chose to leave each other, each looking for someone by their own ability.

"There will be no more Mrs. Wilson in this world. Robinson is my real name, and I have lived with this identity all these years."

Mrs. Robinson's eyes flashed with sorrow, and then quickly turned into peace.

"For 15 years, I have worked hard to do business, earn more money, and know more famous people, in order to have more possibilities to find Angel."

"Actually, I understand that Angel is more likely to be ill than good, and I can no longer run around. But until the last moment of my life, I don't want to give up."

Mrs. Robinson looked up, and there was a fire in her eyes like a thornbush.

"Fortnight ago, a vague lead emerged. Near Stoke-on-Trent, several boxes of waste were dug up.

Among them is a broken necklace, a popular model from 15 years ago, with an A letter engraved on the back of the gold pendant.Angel was wearing the same necklace around her neck when she disappeared. "

Inside the wooden box, there is a necklace with a broken chain.

The round coin-shaped pendant is severely worn, and the letter A can be vaguely seen engraved on the back.

Kelsey observed carefully, "Mrs. Robinson, A should be Angel's initials, but I think the engraving is mediocre.

Was it common to engrave letters on the back of this style of pendant back then?There are no other details on it that can prove that this necklace belongs to your daughter. "

Kelsey secretly thought it was a pity, if there were DNA testing methods, at least one or two could be identified.

Mrs. Robinson thought clearly, "Yes, this is a popular necklace, and engraving on the back was popular in those days. I remember that when I went to buy necklaces, many people asked craftsmen to engrave the word A.

It is for this reason that I say this clue is vague, but I am not willing to let go of any possibility.Several boxes of waste were excavated near the mass graves, perhaps Angel was unfortunately abandoned in the mass graves. "

"I have made a will. If Angel is alive, she will get half of my assets. If she dies, most of my assets will be set up as a charity to help orphanage children. Now, alive, I want to see people; dead, I want to see corpse."

After all, Mrs. Robinson took out a money order and handed it to Kelsey.

"Ten thousand pounds. Mr. Bennet, half of it is the investigation fund, and the other half is the deposit for my investigation. Regardless of the outcome of this matter, I will give you a final payment within five months."

At this point, it is not difficult to understand why Mrs. Robinson would want to conduct a test.

This kind of investigation entrustment is like a gamble, betting on the wisdom and character of the entrusted person.

Kelsey didn't go to pick up the money order. "With all due respect, Mrs. Robinson, I'm not sure. Fifteen years is too long to leave any clues."

Even in the information age, the interval between disappearance cases is too long, and it is difficult to find the missing person by means of scientific and technological identification and network positioning.

"You want me to gamble on luck."

Kelsey shook her head slightly. She didn't deny that solving a case sometimes required a bit of luck.

Good luck may be the clue to an inadvertent discovery, good luck may be the victim's close escape, but they are rare blessings of fate, never the norm.

Mrs. Robinson took a deep breath, stood up and forced the money order to Kelsey.

"Take it and take up the case. Don't feel ashamed of it. I don't want the money. What I want is the last worthwhile help. Just let me rest assured that you go to Stoke-on-Trent to investigate How about some time?"

The words have come to this point, Kelsey did not push back.

"Madam, I can only promise that I will do my best, but I cannot guarantee the result."

Mrs. Robinson nodded lightly, "I am sober and know that there is little hope. Although I don't know where the mysterious you come from, it doesn't matter to me.

What's important is that I've checked that you cracked the Ripper case and you're a duck to water in a casino.I just wish I didn't meet you 15 years ago, maybe Angel's fate would be different. "

"Mr. Bennet, please believe that I chose you after careful consideration. I can only gamble one last time, betting with fate whether I can know the truth before I die."

Mrs. Robinson said with a gloomy expression, "You might laugh at me. The reason why I run the spice business is that I dreamed of Angel in the third year after she disappeared. Although I can't see her appearance clearly, I feel that she is in the A place full of flowers."

Kelsey nodded helplessly, which involved telepathy.

In terms of scientific evidence, the induction between blood relatives has not yet been determined.She has never encountered it herself, but her colleagues mentioned one or two real cases.

"I got it."

Kelsey understood the helplessness of the mother after losing her daughter, and did not say whether she believed it or not.

With Mrs. Robinson's expectations and a large box of previous search records, she embarked on the road to the central west of England.

**

In June, midsummer night, the wind is cool.

The clouds are thick and the wilderness is wild.

Clumps of elder trees swayed as if being choked by a strong wind.When the dim starlight falls, a piece of white flower buds are reflected, shaking their heads miserably.

Going forward, there is no end in sight.

In the dark night, one can vaguely see crooked crosses inserted in a mess on the wilderness paper.

With messy brown hair on her head, Kelsey wore the most common overalls, not caring about the mud stains on her sleeves and trousers, and continued to go deep into the mass grave.

The lighting range of the portable kerosene lamp is not large, and it only illuminates the whole body for one meter.It is really helpless to choose to enter the cemetery late at night.

The mass grave where the broken necklace was dug out was sealed off half a month ago.

According to investigations, the mass grave near the side of Mindola Village has complex sources of corpses.

More than 30 years ago, the site was a charity cemetery, and its source of corpses covers towns in the West Midlands region.Later, there was no funding to maintain it, and it gradually became a mass grave.At the same time, all kinds of sundries from the corpse were buried on the spot.

Fifteen years ago, as the population of Mindola village increased, the villagers began to strongly oppose the burial of more bones in the wilderness around the village.

I don't want to let the cemetery grow bigger and bigger, which will affect the life of the village.As for the original bones, the villagers could only turn a blind eye when no outsiders paid to clean them up.

The villagers stubbornly believe that digging a grave will bring bad luck, even if it is not a corpse, but just a casually discarded item here.

In order to prevent the possibility of the mass grave being dug up randomly, there are inspection teams patrolling the periphery from time to time during the day, and this inspection may continue for a while.

Kelsey couldn't wait another ten days and a half months. She had to explore the excavation site of the necklace, and there might be clues that hadn't been discovered yet.To avoid unnecessary conflicts, and in order not to scare the snakes, they worked harder to enter the cemetery at night.

Clear the target, first find the depression where the necklace was dug out.

According to the description of the shipper, it is behind a row of tombstones, and there is a dead tree with a crooked neck not far from the side.

"It should be there."

Kelsey saw the big tree not far away through the dim starlight.The wind in the wilderness was howling, and even the steps of walking were covered.

Suddenly, a group of black shadows sprang from the dead tree, passing by at a low altitude and let out a shrill cry, "Ouou——"

No surprise, it's just an owl.

Kelsey continued to walk forward without changing his face.

But at a distance of five meters, a dim light suddenly appeared behind the dead tree.Immediately afterwards, a figure suddenly stood up in the deep pit, as if there was some fraudulent corpse.

It was dark, the cemetery, and the wind was blowing.

The two men carrying kerosene lamps took half a step back at the same time.Subconsciously, he raised his vigilance and gripped the shovel in his hand.

In the dim light, they vaguely saw each other.

The same disheveled face, the same ordinary overalls, the same slovenly appearance, and the same shovel in hand.It's like two groups of tomb robbers meeting on a narrow road.

You look at me, I look at you.

The two of them were silent, as if they were looking in a mirror.

Kelsey: Did you meet a serious grave robber?

Sherlock: Did you meet a real grave robber?

The two looked at each other, and marked each other with a word - suspicious.