Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

If you don't strike hard, you will be caught.

When you don't know the enemy or yourself, you need to make a judgment based on the worst situation.

Sherlock was a little surprised by Kelsey's action of drawing the gun—quickly and accurately, aiming at the center of his eyebrows without hesitation.

This kind of reaction should have experienced a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, but Kelsey could not find a trace of the army.

The judgment he is proud of can only see the flowers in the fog.Kelsey's name, appearance, origin, which one is true?

"See what I'm doing? I'll tell you how to find this place after I get out."

Kelsey gestured for Sherlock to check the scalp wigs, "It's probably full of flayed wigs in here."

Sherlock immediately put aside the confusion that had nothing to do with the case, "No, it's not all skinned. The direction I came from was to connect real hair to artificial hair covers."

Sherlock said succinctly that he entered the secret room through the secret door on the first floor.

I first saw a chemical laboratory, but most of the equipment and reagents have been emptied.

Immediately after going up to the second floor, there are models of human heads on wooden shelves.Based on artificial chemical fiber net, real hair is implanted on it, and weaved into a hair cover.

Sherlock estimated the value, "There are about seventy or eighty."

"So it's an incremental process."

Kelsey pointed to the empty shelves in the front row, "From fake leather to real hair, so what should the empty shelves hold?"

"Fake head, real hair, real leather, real hair, and finally real leather and real hair."

Sherlock did not say that it would eventually evolve into a complete head. "The severed heads do not satisfy him. No, it is more accurate to call them now."

The two double-checked and determined that there were 115 wigs in total.Among them, 81 are fake leather and real hair, and 34 are real leather and real hair.

According to Ishelok's identification, of the 34 real hair, half of them were skinned from carrion corpses, but the other half were skinned from fresh corpses.

The source of the fresh body, possibly bought, but more likely murder after looting.

After all, to buy a corpse, the source of goods needs to be just right, so you have to wait passively.And directly kidnap and kill, you can take the initiative to choose the target.

After confirming that there were no other clues, the two exited the triple secret room from the study, and searched the old house a few times.At about five o'clock in the morning, all the rooms were searched, and no more valuable discoveries were found.

"clang!"

St Albans Clock Tower, walk around until 05:30 am.

The two returned to the center of the town, and they were still in good spirits after a whole night of sleepless nights.

The discovery of the real hair hood confirmed the crime of Hale and the others, and the next step is to find him and his son.

"The land of the old house in the Chamber of Secrets used to belong to Herman."

Sherlock walked and said why he came to St. Albans, "I checked the "Roca Point Poster" on July 1852, 7 at the Port Association, and there was a missing list on it. The crew list of the cargo ship."

In the port of Liverpool, a large number of people are engaged in maritime transport related work.

Slightly larger maritime trade companies will register with the Port Association to register information related to going to sea, including but not limited to crew lists, ship routes, cargo lists, and so on.

"When an accident happened to the ship, the port association used the information to help the maritime trade company in search and rescue or salvage. The information registered by Herman is incomplete, only the general situation of the crew."

Through comparison, Sherlock determined that there was a person on the newspaper's missing list who had similar characteristics to the dismembered man.

"Daniel Cliff was 27 years old at the time, with a thin build and a gentle face. According to incomplete records, he worked under Herman for ten years. However, even if there was no maritime accident, Cliff's work would still be Not long."

Cliff clashes with Herman.

Sherlock conducted multiple investigations at the port of Liverpool and determined that something went wrong between the two.

Although outsiders don't know the specific conflicts between Herman and the assistant he valued in the past, more than one person has witnessed the unhappiness between the two before going to sea.

"At that time, Cliff yelled that he would cancel his crew status from the port association after he ran the last cargo.

There have been rumors in the association that it is not a loss for Cliff to be dismissed. Herman is not a stingy person.For the assistants who have followed him for ten years, he has given a lot of protection. "

That guarantee was a piece of land on the outskirts of St. Albans.

"Even if a piece of land does not include the mansion and flower garden built by Hale later, it is quite rich."

Sherlock didn't think that a simple employment relationship was worth Herman's gift of a piece of land to Cliff.

So he comes to St. Albans to dig deeper into its hidden vendettas.

"There is no Cliff here, only businessman Hale. It's strange that people don't know how Hale made his fortune. He was a rich man's pie on the first day he came."

Sherlock calculated the wages of the sailors.

No matter how generous Herman is, it is impossible for Cliff to become rich overnight with all his wealth.What's more, when Herman went bankrupt, Cliff couldn't squeeze more money from his former boss. He must have other sources of capital.

"Everyone in the town said that Hale was not in good health and was in and out of the hospital from time to time."

Suddenly, Sherlock rambles on to this point, giving Kelsey a self-understanding look.

"He sells corpses?" Kelsey immediately linked to the previous weirdness. Corpse stealing and looting of living people are two types of crimes, but there is also the possibility of simultaneous conduct.

"Corpse stealing kills two birds with one stone. It can not only practice skinning techniques, but also sell the remains of the corpse for a good price. Do you have specific evidence?"

"If there is detailed evidence, why did I sneak in in the middle of the night? Is it just to meet you, pursue excitement together, or want to practice melee combat?"

Sherlock felt a dull pain in his arms and legs again, "Hale's attending doctor, Alexander, died six years ago. Reselling corpses is usually a single-line connection. When the next person dies, this line will be broken."

Alexander, 57, died of a heart attack and his body was returned to his hometown for burial.

Because the details of the transaction were not found, Sherlock chose to go to Hale's old house at night to check for any evidence of crime, rather than travel far to dig the grave for an autopsy.

So far, the two have summarized their respective investigations and roughly restored a criminal process of more than 20 years.

From the age of 17, Cliff began to work under Hermann and became his right-hand man for ten years.

During this period, he became familiar with ocean trade, and was involved in everything from medicinal materials to porcelain. He also handled matters such as charity cemeteries.

Due to a conflict that is still to be resolved, the two parted ways, leaving Cliff with a grudge against Herman.

In 1852, Cliff disappeared with the sinking of Hermann's cargo ship, and changed his name to Hale.

With ten years of rich work experience, Hale has successfully created horror rumors such as the curse of mass graves and the curse of porcelain kiln workshops.Using this as a cover, he excavated and stole nearly 200 corpses and stumps, and was suspected of murdering Herman.

At the same time, Hale's sophisticated layout buried the traces of the crime.

He fabricated his elite status from Oxford University, and with Herman's death, no one can easily verify his past.

Since then, Hale has successfully changed his face by using corpse trafficking as capital accumulation.

For more than ten years, Hale lived in the town of St. Albans when he was not at sea, and he was a mysterious rich businessman to the outside world.

People only know that he will show up in summer, and they think that he is not in good health, and the rest of the time he spends most of his time recuperating in the mansion.No one knew of his secret crimes.

Kelsey sorts out the ins and outs, but doesn't ignore Sherlock's previous irony.What is "Is it just to meet you and pursue excitement together?"Or for actual close combat? '

She didn't want the encounter last night to happen either.Please be thankful that we met in Hale's old house. If we met unknown persons in another place, we might have seen blood.

Kelsey kept smiling after being slandered, and asked Sherlock, "Having said that, do you really want to pursue excitement?"

Solving crimes is to curb crime and to find the truth, but there is another important reason-it can bring pleasure.

Sherlock stared at Kelsey for three seconds and couldn't help but smile, which couldn't be denied.

However, Sherlock quickly restrained his smile, "Let's get down to business, now we need to find the so-called Hale who went back to his hometown. I have verified one thing. The successful passage of the "Anatomy Law" in 1832 stems from a murder case in which 16 people were killed."

40 years ago, a major case occurred, which made the "Anatomy Law" officially launched.

Four laborers in Edinburgh embarked on the road of body theft and trafficking in order to make money.

Later, in order to find a source of corpses that met the buyer's wishes, they simply killed the living, turned them into corpses, and sold them.

"This corpse-stealing murder case once caused a sensation. In order to obtain more evidence during the trial, the judge used the trick of innocence and confession. That is to choose one person to confess everything. As long as he tells the truth, he can regain his freedom. The other three were all hanged."

Sherlock briefly outlined the old case, "After 40 years, not many people still remember the names of the four principal criminals. The interesting thing is that the acquitted man was named Hale. Jerry, do you understand?"

Kelsey was taken aback, "You said Chris changed his name to Hale on purpose."

At present, it has not been verified whether Chris is related to another Hale, but he committed similar crimes of body theft, trafficking, robbery and murder, and dared to take Hale as his surname, which is very unusual.

"He is openly provoking!"

Kelsey had speculated that Hale was a conceited and vain criminal who made up All Souls' identity.Now blatantly taking Hale as his surname is not just mocking the IQ and memory of the world.

Sherlock agrees, "In fact, few people really remember that there was a Hale 40 years ago who committed the felony of stealing and killing people. However, there is a price for ego, and Chris pointed out how to find him."

"Go find a hair set company."

Kelsey said affirmatively, "Cliff puts everything on the bright side and takes advantage of people's psychological blind spots. He is bound to start a hair company."

Chris changed his surname to Hale to openly poke fun at the ignorance of the world, and he's not going to hide that he owns a room full of wigs.

At present, both men and women in London have the habit of using hair covers.Especially during the social season for prom, wigs are common for styling.

Today's wigs use real hair, not synthetic fiber wigs.

There are generally three sources of real hair, the poor sell hair, buy hair from overseas, or steal corpse hair.

Among them, the second type is the most common, and it has also become a profitable business in ocean trade.

Merchants buy hair from overseas at low prices, and then go through processes such as bleaching, dyeing, and adding spices. A perfectly shaped hair set will not worry about selling for a good price.

"Chris has extensive experience in ocean-going trade, and also knows some knowledge of pharmacology."

Kelsey sneered and shook his head, "For him, starting a hair set production company can kill three birds with one stone, making money, selling stolen goods, and covering up crimes. He really thought it through."

However, the Skynet has been restored without any omissions.

Sherlock pointed to the southeast direction, "I have checked the import and export of sea freight, such as porcelain and medicinal materials, most of them go to Liverpool Port, while hair goes directly to Thames Port.

Back in London, you will soon find Hale's hair set company.Ask for help from Mr. Wilson and Ms. Robinson. Those two have excellent connections in maritime trade, and they can find them faster than we can. "

Now the direction to find is completely clear, and it is only a matter of time before Cliff is caught.

Kelsey couldn't help thinking of another point, "Tom, do you think Angel is still alive?"

Sherlock couldn't answer, and instead pointed out a cruel fact, "Jerry, you are evading the truth. Cliff is Hale, so who is his wife? No one has ever seen the biological mother of Hale's two sons.

In terms of age, Hale's two children should be half-brothers.The youngest son, Owen, was born just one year after Angel disappeared. "

Sherlock did not go on.If Angel is alive, I'm afraid life would be worse than death.

It cannot be expected that a cruel serial killer will develop love for a robbed woman, and then develop fantasies about protecting and cherishing her.

Both of them fell silent, without the excitement that the big case was about to be solved.Even if the truth can be found, the tragedy that has already happened cannot be undone.

**

Three days later, it was early morning on Montague Street.

After two and a half months, Kelsey finally set foot on the way home, but her mood was not bright.

After Mrs. Robinson used all her connections, she found out where the owner of Hale Hair Co. was last night.

A group of people came to the door.

The identification of Chris's crime, because of the old house hair set as evidence, made him unable to refute in the end, and admitted to kidnapping and murdering Angel.

As for how it all happened, Cliff is adamant that Herman was the cause.

It turned out that Chris didn't work for Herman when he was 17, he started working for him when he was ten.

Herman also made his fortune by stealing corpses earlier, when he hired the orphan Chris as child labor.The two said it was an employment relationship, and gradually they developed a father-son relationship.

As Herman's serious business got better and better, there was no longer a need to smuggle corpses to obtain illegal funds.

Feeling guilty even more, by building a charity cemetery to make up for the mistakes of the past, and gradually separated from the past related to the tomb.

Unexpectedly, Chris gradually developed a hair fetish because of his contact with corpse robbers since he was a child, and he wanted to make different human head shapes.He began to secretly steal the hair from the corpse, and used what he had learned to realize the fantasy in his heart.

This matter was broken by Herman, and a fierce quarrel broke out between the two.

Herman sensed Chris's psychological problems and hoped he could return in time.Give Chris a piece of land, hoping that he will take his son George to live a simple life in the town of St. Albans.

But Chris has long been unable to fill his desires, and he believes that the reason why he embarked on a twisted path is all thanks to Herman.

Chris made up his mind to take revenge. From the sinking of the cargo ship to the final poisoning, he designed to destroy Herman.In this way, no one knows his past anymore, and no one can control his life.

Since then, the eldest son George's biological mother died of illness.

Chris completed his identity change from a sailor to a wealthy businessman, and he changed his name and surname to Mr. Hale.

XNUM X Year X NUM X Month.

Hale used his eldest son, George, who was only 12 years old, to coax and rob the first living Angel.

Initially robbing Angel, Hale wanted to kill and strip her hair, but quickly changed his mind.

The eldest son, George, would grow up and be too old to be bait.It's better to let Angel give birth to a child before she dies. This will result in the birth of her youngest son, Owen.

What happened after that was investigated by Kelsey and Sherlock. In 11 years, there were hundreds of body thefts, and [-] looting and murders.

Until five years ago, Chris, who was in his 40s, was exhausted and unable to continue stealing corpses.

He simply moved to London to specialize in the hairdressing business, but he lowered his looting targets and targeted the poor in densely populated places, not wanting to attract the vigilance of Scotland Yard.

Although Chris fully explained, it is difficult to say a happy word, those lives have died.

An hour ago, the hospital announced that the rescue was invalid.

Five people in Hale's family, Chris, eldest son George, youngest son Owen, old housekeeper and a servant were all poisoned to death.

The poison was given by Owen.

If a group of people hadn't come to testify against Chris, he would not have survived last night.

Many years ago, Owen became an accomplice under his father's education, but accidentally learned the truth about his life experience.As he got older, he hated the Hale family more and more, including himself.

Recently, his elder brother George plans to follow his father's lead by hunting down a woman to give birth to a child, continuing the so-called Hale family's collection of wigs.

This incident made Owen determined to prevent the crime from continuing.He deceived the four members of his family with his acting skills for many years, and poisoned the dinner, so that the master and servant of the whole family were tricked.

If Kelsey and Sherlock arrive one day late, they will no longer be able to hear Chris's own confession, but only see the confession letter left by Owen.

However, the two were still a few steps late.

As soon as Chris made it clear, the five members of the Hale family, including him, vomited black blood.I heard Owen yelling crazily, he wanted the evil Hale family to die together.

Owen succeeded.

The poison was so severe that even if they were sent to the hospital in time, the five people could not be rescued.

Kelsey rubbed the center of her brows, recalling the series of events last night, she was a little tired, and she just wanted to get home quickly and go back to sleep.

Just as he was about to speed up his pace, the crowd in front of him was crowded.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Montague Street shouldn't be so busy.

Kelsey moved forward to push through the crowd, and saw the charred exteriors of houses along the street not far away.There was a fire here.

"Good morning, Mr. Bennet."

Police officer Carter saw Kelsey first when he turned around, and came over to say hello, "Long time no see. I didn't expect to meet you here. Are you a resident of this building?"

Kelsey shook her head and pointed to the back, "Good morning, Mr. Carter. I live on the street behind. Is the situation here okay? How could there be a fire?"

"It's hard to say at the moment. The fire has affected several households. The inspector brought me not long ago, and I'm looking for various households to understand the situation."

Carter turned his head back, indicating that Lestrade was investigating.

He lowered his voice again, "One person was very unlucky. He just paid the rent the day before yesterday and was about to move in this morning. When he arrived, he found that the door of the house was burned."

Who is so unlucky?

Kelsey looked forward, and it was Sherlock who had not been separated for a long time.

After returning to London three days ago, the two changed into the viscount advisor's attire.They were separated in the hospital morgue before, but now it seems that they have reached the same goal by different routes.

It never occurred to Sherlock that he only wanted to sleep comfortably after the big case was solved, but what greeted him was that the front door of the rented house was completely burned.

"Mr. Holmes, thank you for your cooperation. I understand the situation."

After finishing the notes, Lestrade felt a chill down his spine.He turned his head stiffly and saw the acquaintance next to Carter.

Kelsey smiled and waved to the two, "Good morning, Mr. Holmes, Inspector Lestrade."

"You live nearby?"

Sherlock didn't have time to be surprised by Kelsey's appearance.Seeing him nodding, he probably understood where today's bad luck came from, and there really was some kind of strange discord between the two of them.

"Sorry, I don't have any spare rooms in my rented house. Otherwise, for the sake of the previous happy cooperation, please rest for a few days before the door is repaired."

Kelsey said it sincerely, and only thought it was strange that she would never ask Sherlock as a lodger.

Lestrade suddenly looked away, what did he hear!Devil's sorry there's no room to rest this gentleman on, God, what's their relationship?Will it harm the fish pond?

Although his house has spare rooms, please the devil ignore him, he doesn't want to add a guest.If you made a mistake once, will you make it a second time?