Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

Soon, the Bennet family arrived.

Mr. Bennet introduced each other, "Mr. Smith, I didn't know about your arrival beforehand, so please don't dislike the simple dinner."

"You are welcome. A bowl of hot soup on a rainy night is extremely precious. I only think dinner is quite rich."

Kelsey, admiring the dishes on the table, couldn't seem to appreciate Mrs. Bennet's meal pairing more.

"Oh, it's great that you like it."

Mrs. Bennet chuckled. "Indeed, everyone says I'm good at my workmanship. I'm really glad that a well-informed gentleman like you does."

Mrs. Bennet autocompleted Kelsey's biography.

This handsome gentleman is young and holds an important position.

As a consultant to a Viscount in Wales, he can speak a fluent London accent and travels between London and Wales all year round.

Mrs. Bennet took advantage of the situation and said, "The rain won't stop immediately, so don't rush away. Mr. Smith, I have actually learned one or two Welsh specialties. How about cooking for you tomorrow?"

While talking about cooking, Mrs. Bennet's mind has gone far.

A woman should choose a husband who is older than herself. She quickly calculated the ages of her five daughters.

Jane and Elizabeth were both a few years older than this gentleman.Catherine and Lydia are both suitable, and it seems that they are two or three years apart.

The key is not two or three years old, but most successful men get married after the age of 25.

Oh, God!

Why did you arrange for this gentleman to come to Longbourn years in advance?Why torture her fragile nerves so much?

Kelsey just pretended not to see Mrs. Bennet's imagination, thanked her with a smile, and said that it is up to the customer, any kind of food is fine.

At this moment, she didn't know whether she should breathe a sigh of relief.It turns out that I fell in love at first sight the moment I entered the door. I didn't enter into a strange house by mistake, but just happened to come to the Bennet's house in the story.

At the dinner table, except for Mrs. Bennet who was always looking for something to talk about, and Lydia and Catherine who kept peeking at her, everyone else was eating normally.

Saying it is normal is not unusual.

Mr. Bennet seemed aloof, silent about the behavior of his wife and two young daughters.

The third daughter, Mary, wandered away in silence, silent in her own world, and had no tendency to make eye contact with the people around her.

Instead, Jane and Elizabeth were a little embarrassed.

As the eldest daughter and the second daughter, I can't directly dissuade my mother from asking questions familiarly, such enthusiasm will only make strangers feel at a loss.

The two turned their heads again, and winked at the two younger sisters, telling them not to be interested, but they were ignored again.

Kelsey has a panoramic view of the undercurrent, but what can she do?As a live-in guest, the Bennet family's eccentric atmosphere will not be pierced.

After all, Mrs. Bennet and her two young daughters are not too out of line, and it is not her turn to be an outsider.

It's not just time for a few meals.

How can she not be able to tolerate such small things if she was able to make a fuss with drug lords.

After the meal, Mr. Bennet finally spoke up and asked Kelsey to go to the study for a while. If you can talk about some men's topics, ladies, please stop.For example, the development of London, or the latest regime changes in France and Italy.

In this regard, Kelsey noncommittal.

If Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters to marry well, it would be better to know more about the political and economic structure.

Now in the era of social change, it is not easy to be a wife of aristocratic and wealthy families. It is impossible to be harmonious and sweet for a long time only relying on love.

It's just that as a guest, it's inconvenient to say more.

Kelsey entered the study, chatted casually for a while, and quickly took the lead in the topic.

"To be honest, this trip to Hertfordshire was not smooth. The old man whom the Viscount wanted to visit has not been seen yet. Mr. Bennet, you are familiar with Hertfordshire, have you met Mr. Hale?" ?”

Kelsey hands Mr. Bennet two portraits.One is what Hale looked like back then, and the other is to speculate on what Hale will look like 20 years later.

This kind of inquiry has been done no less than a hundred times in the past month, and she always hopes to get an affirmative answer next time.

Mr. Bennet looked at it carefully for a while, "No, I have lived in Longbourn for 45 years, and I have never met such a No. [-] person.

Don't worry though, he could be living elsewhere in Hertfordshire.In fact, it might as well have moved to London.Over the past few decades, many wealthy people have moved to live in London. "

This answer was within Kelsey's expectations. Mr. Bennet is not an enthusiastic character, and the person he can pay attention to and remember may have to make a lot of noise.

'Boom boom! '

There was a knock on the door unexpectedly, and Lydia was outside, "Father, let me bring you and Mr. Smith some fruit after dinner."

Mr. Bennet said helplessly, "Come in."

Opening the door, Lydia delivered the fruit plate to the table with a bright smile, not wanting to leave immediately.

Blame Cupid on her under the cruel hand, Cupid's arrow hit the heart.At this moment, as long as they are closer to Kelsey, the two of them can talk casually.

"Huh? Mr. Smith, are you looking for the person in the picture?"

Lydia was worrying about what to say when she glimpsed a portrait on one side and secretly thought it was indeed Cupid's arrangement. "I have seen this gentleman."

"Lydia, are you sure?!"

Mr. Bennet's tone was serious. Although the youngest daughter was beautiful, she was not really very smart.Wouldn't this be her trick to gain attention on purpose?

Kelsey stared, "But it's okay, I want to hear what Miss Lydia has seen."

Everyone has a specialty.

Lydia tends to focus on attractive men, which may bring valuable clues.

"Father, have you forgotten? I met him in a perfume shop in St. Albans Fair five years ago."

Lydia reported the specific address, "W Brand Fragrance Shop, its shampoo is the most famous. I remember the gentleman in the painting because he smells of roses."

Mr. Bennet's first reaction was disbelief, and he looked at Lydia suspiciously, "Can you remember clearly when you were nine years old?"

Lydia pouted, what happened to nine years old?It should be remembered.

"Men rarely use rose fragrance. I think Miss Lydia is very keen on fashion, so it is not impossible to remember that person's characteristics."

Kelsey affirmed Lydia in an objective tone and did not agree too much.I'm afraid that the other party will think too much, which will increase his inexplicable affection for her. "Apart from the scent of roses, does Miss Lydia remember any other details?"

As soon as Lydia was affirmed, the corner of her mouth couldn't hide her smile.Regardless of his father's face, he talked about the situation that day in detail.

"The gentleman was walking around the market with his youngest son. Owen was ten years old at the time, about the same age as me. In fact, I chatted with Owen first, and then I met his father."

Five years ago, in mid-July, St Albans Fair.

During the annual market month in Hertfordshire, the Bennet family went to the market together.

Lydia met ten-year-old Owen when she was bored halfway, and the two children who were about the same age chatted casually.

"I can't remember exactly what we talked about, but now that I think about it, I just have an impression. Owen's father is not in good health, which makes Owen feel a little depressed."

Lydia didn't hide anything, she only went to talk to Owen because she looked like a melancholy little prince.

"Owen also has a scent on his body, and it feels like it has some bitter taste. After a while, Owen's father came. He was very happy to see me. He was very happy that his youngest son had made new friends and invited me to visit him. A guest at home."

Mr. Bennet was a little surprised, "Why haven't I heard you mention it?"

"Why mention it? You don't like visiting."

Lydia asked back with confidence, "Besides, I didn't have time to agree, the eldest sister and the second sister came to find me and took me away."

The fair lasted a month, but the Bennets returned to Longborn the next day.

At that time, Lydia was a little regretful that she never saw the father and son again.

"Mr. Smith, I really remember correctly. Owen's father is the man in the painting. Especially his face is very pale. I was thinking, is he still whitening with roses in his 40s? It will be so fragrant and so white."

Mr. Bennet almost lost his teacup, the younger daughter's focus is really direct enough.

Kelsey kept smiling, but her heart sank.

Contact Angel missing in the morning market, Lydia may have escaped unharmed.

Fifteen years ago, Angel did not take her servants out to visit the morning market.This approach is not cautious enough, but from a certain perspective, she believes that the environment in the morning market is safe.

According to the testimonies of the morning market stall owners that year, no abnormal incidents were found.For example, there are no rough kidnappers, and there are no calls for help.

In kidnapping cases, there is a phenomenon that old people, children, pregnant women, etc. are used as bait to either win people's sympathy or lower people's vigilance.

This can coax the target into no-man's land before committing the crime.

Angel wouldn't leave with a grown man, but what if she met a child to help?

Kelsey estimated Owen's age. He hadn't been born when Angel disappeared, but he probably had a brother or sister. "Miss Lydia, remember Mr. Hale's specific home address?"

Lydia shook her head. She could remember Owen and his father because of their very different temperaments.

"I only know that near the St. Albans Market, the gentleman invited me to be a guest. It seems that he wants to send me some things. It seems that he is going back to his hometown to recuperate, and some things happen to be sent out."

Five years ago, Hale returned home to recuperate from illness.

Five years ago, the strange sound of mass graves never sounded again.

Kelsey had to find out if those two things were a coincidence.

The next day.

Lydia woke up from a nap and saw Catherine sitting by the bed with a sad face. "Katie, what are you doing?"

"I'm mourning the passing of my youth."

Catherine kept twisting the corners of her clothes with her hands, "Mr. Smith has left."

"what?!"

Lydia woke up completely, hurriedly dressed and ran out of the house, bumping into Elizabeth head-on.

"Running so fast, aren't you afraid of falling?"

Elizabeth supported Lydia, knowing in her heart who the little girl wanted to find. "After lunch, the rain stopped for a while. Mr. Smith was in a hurry to find someone. He took advantage of the rain to stop and hurried on his way, so he didn't have time to say goodbye to everyone."

Elizabeth thought the timing was well chosen.

After lunch, the mother and two younger sisters took a nap.Leaving without waking them up can save a long series of 'swearing goodbyes'.

Lydia was unwilling to stand on the balcony to watch, but she didn't see a trace of the carriage.

She covered her heart, "Cupid! You must be naughty again! No wonder the child is unreliable and took away my first love without making a sound."

"Please don't blame Cupid. Isn't it normal for him to get tired of hearing you say so many times a year and shoot the wrong arrow?"

At some point, Mary raised her head from the book, "One more thing to correct, it's not your first love, it's your unrequited love."

"Ah—" Mrs. Bennet had just learned that the candidate for her son-in-law had quietly left, and heard this conversation as soon as she entered the main hall.

"Mary, what time is this, and you are still picking on Lidi's words. Read books, read books, you know how to read books, and pay more attention to the matter of getting married. Do you know how worried I am? I'm afraid that you will Can't get married."

Elizabeth watched the uproar as scheduled, and exchanged glances with Jane.Quite normal, this is the daily life of the Bennet family.

Country road.

A carriage was running fast.

As long as the timing is precise enough, you can get rid of the weird luck, right?

Although Longborn is not far from London, there should be no possibility of meeting them again in the future.

Kelsey puts her run-in with the Bennets behind her.Leaving decisively without giving people hope is the best kindness for Lydia who provides clues.

Right now, she just wants to hurry to St. Albans and confirm the whereabouts of Hale and his son.

The rain was still falling, making the journey more difficult intermittently.But with a goal, sooner or later it will arrive.

**

"clang--"

The St Albans Clock Tower has stood since the Middle Ages.

The midnight bell seemed to warn the townspeople that it was time to fall asleep.

Carrying a kerosene lamp and two torches, Kelsey quietly left the hotel and headed for the edge of the town.

Once in St. Albans, there was finally good news.

The W brand fragrance shop mentioned by Lydia is still open, and the owner of the shop remembers the Hale father and son who haunted five years ago.

Hale was not a customer of the perfume shop.He has a small flower garden on the outskirts of town, but the flowers grow very vigorously.

Hale's has cooperated with the fragrance shop for 11 years, providing fresh flowers and other raw materials for making fragrance.Until five years ago, Hale and his family moved out of this place because of his health.

The owner of the store said that Hale's health should have been bad all the time, and the number of times he met him in a year can be counted on the fingers, and the housekeeper is usually in charge of business dealings.

It wasn't just Hale who rarely went out; no one ever saw his wife.At most, I have seen two boys, one big and one small, and they don't like to talk very much.

Cloudy tonight.

Along the way, did not meet a pedestrian.

Kelsey soon came to the periphery of Hale's house.

It was as described by the owner, the flower beds were abandoned and the weeds were growing taller than elsewhere.

It is said that there are corpses buried under the tree, and the flowers on the branches will bloom more beautifully.

From a fertilizer point of view, this isn't complete nonsense either.

However, Kelsey found a few bushes where the plants were particularly dense and dug up the mud, and found no abnormal phenomena such as bones underground.

In this regard, she could not say that she was disappointed or otherwise, and walked to the front of the old house through the waist-length weeds.

The gate of the old mansion was closed tightly, and the heavy rusty iron chains showed that it was in a state of desertion.

There was no light in the whole house, and when I went around, I found several windows with broken glass.

Kelsey put down the kerosene lamp, put on a mask on her head, and quickly climbed to the balcony on the second floor and entered the room through the broken window.

As soon as he entered the room, he was facing a vanity mirror, which reflected a masked man walking in the night holding a torch!

She looked away calmly, no surprise there was a mirror in the bathroom.

The place is quite humid all the year round, and you can smell a musty smell even through the mask. You can guess what room you are in the moment you open the window.

With the light of the torch, he pushed open the bathroom door.

Outside is a dark corridor.Sometimes the wind swirls through it, as if at the end of the darkness that is difficult to discern at a glance, there are some monsters lurking eagerly.

It's hard to say if there are any lurking monsters, just like if you don't check, you don't know if there are hidden secrets here.

After Kelsey stepped into the corridor, she bent down to look at her feet carefully. The ground was covered with dust and there were no obvious footprints.

After walking a full circle along the corridor and stairs, she quickly deduced the layout of the room in her mind.There must be a secret room here, and there may be more than one.

"Click!"

Choose to pry open the study door first.

There is no window in the study room. On the right side of the room is a stopped clock, and the bookshelves on both sides are empty.The desk and soft chair are in the middle, but all the files have been emptied.

Kelsey looked around, checked the clock, and then looked at the calendar flop decoration on the desk.

The rectangular metal ornaments cannot be moved and are inlaid on the desk.

It has year, month, day, a total of eight small boxes, controlled by cursors and hand cranks.Move the cursor to the card slot under a certain box, and shake the handle to turn out different numbers.

The current display is "0000-00-00"

If nothing else, this should be the mechanism to open the secret room.

Kelsey speculated based on the spatial layout that the trap door is just two rows of bookshelves, and it needs to enter the correct date to open it.

Too few hints, just hit and miss.

Let's try the position of "1852-07-03" first, which is the date of the newspaper piece in the porcelain vase.

If that fails, maybe try again with the time of Hermann's death, or the first day of the mass grave noise.

"Crack!"

Good luck this time.

When the last "3" is positioned, the bookshelves are separated from the middle.Slowly moving to both sides, a dark secret room was revealed.

Kelsey keenly noticed that there was no sound when the bookshelf moved.

Not in a hurry to enter the secret room, she first observed the track at the bottom of the bookshelf.The rust prevention of this door is done well, the material selection is one aspect, and the care is another aspect.

I'm afraid the Chamber of Secrets has more than one passage.Unlike the five years of dust accumulation in the corridors, the secret room is still regularly entered.

Kelsey raised her vigilance, lowered her footsteps and breathing again, and then carefully stepped into the secret room.

Inside are rows of iron shelves, somewhat like the layout of a library, erected at equal distances from left to right, but all the shelves are empty.

At the end of the bookshelf house is a doorway for single passage, which is linked to a winding passage.

What's behind the doorway?

Step over the gate and take a detour.

A strange smell wafted from inside, like the fragrance of flowers, with a little bleach smell.

Kelsey stretched her left hand forward, and the flames illuminated her side.

The second secret room is still a row of shelves, no longer made of iron, but all changed to wood.

The first few rows were empty.

Immediately afterwards, heads with disheveled hair came into view suddenly.Looking again, the face of each human head has no facial features such as eyes, nose and mouth.

The momentary visual impact made Kelsey hold his breath.

She didn't hold back, but walked towards the head frame instead.Taking a closer look, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out that it was not a real human head, but a row of head models without facial features, each wearing a different wig.

Wait, are they wigs?

Kelsey snapped a hair, and it didn't feel like an artifact.Then burn it with fire, this smell is really hair!

She pulled off the nearest wig, and suddenly found a whole piece of human scalp under the long hair.

In other words, this wig is skinned from a human head.So how many hair sets are there in the Chamber of Secrets, and are they all made of leather?

Just as I was about to find out, I saw a glimmer of light flashing in the corner.

There are other people in the house!

Kelsey immediately blew out the flame, slowed down her breathing, and quickened her pace to return the same way.

At this time, the flickering fire light also went out together.

The wig chamber had no windows and was plunged into absolute darkness.Knowing that there is another person in the house, they are on guard against each other at this moment, but both sides can only walk in the dark based on feeling.

In 1 minute, 2 minutes, we will reach the entrance of the curved walkway.

'call--'

Kelsey was about to turn a corner when she felt the wind blowing from the side.

He quickly bent his back, and a fist wind passed by above.

In the next second, she immediately shifted her center of gravity sideways and stabilized her right leg.Leaning up from the side, he threw a left flat uppercut.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The two began to fight each other at the entrance.Dozens of back and forth, only to hear the sound of fists and legs colliding.

A secret room where you can't see your fingers.

At the corner of the square inch, the two sides attacked quickly and fiercely, with the same goal - to capture people who should not be here.

There was another crash.

Kelsey's right fist was blocked frontally by the opponent's palm, trying to pull her forward for a backhand grab.

Immediately, she touched her lower back with her left hand and pulled out the revolver without hesitation.Taking advantage of the momentum of rushing forward, the muzzle of the gun pointed directly at the opponent's eyebrows.

At this moment, two low voices sounded at the same time:

"Jerry?" Sherlock clenched his right hand, and confirmed the touch of the palm through the glove.

He came across a triangular hard object, the same shape and position as the black gold ring Kelsey was wearing.

"Tom?" Kelsey caught a familiar whiff of tobacco.

This smell was originally concealed by the strange smell all over the room, and it was only recognized when he leaned forward.

The familiar voice let each other breathe a sigh of relief. It turned out that they had not met Hale or his son.

Both of them withdrew their hands, and they both felt the pain intensify after the collision of their arms and legs.

Light the torch.

The first time they asked in unison, "How did you find this place?"

Kelsey and Sherlock looked at each other as they spoke, with the same expressions——You are so ruthless.