Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

Although Sherlock suspects that he has been attacked by strange luck, he does not believe that the carriage was hacked for no reason.

After checking the wreckage of the roof, it was found that half of the metal parts were exposed, like a small conductive rod inserted obliquely on the roof.

"The car wasn't under the influence of a demon, it was just a metal part on the roof that failed."

Sherlock looked at the driver who was still terrified, "We should be glad that no one or horse was around the car when it was smashed. The car dealer has always emphasized the importance of regular maintenance, and I hope you can abide by the rules and implement them."

The coachman showed a smile that was uglier than crying, and he didn't feel any comfort.There are tens of thousands of carriages that have not been overhauled regularly, so why was his carriage hacked?

"Oh, I swear to God, there will be regular car inspections in the future. It's just that the three of you have to wait for two or three days. I have to go to the nearest car dealership to borrow a car."

Fortunately, not long after passing the border of the Rhine, I was able to turn back and look for a car dealership.If it is to enter the mountain forest area, there is no place to get an extra carriage.

The coachman left on horseback, and the three people left behind were not having a good time.

There are no shops in front of the village or behind the village, and the only food shop is very small.The boss and his buddies share a room, which can provide a few meals and toiletries, but there is really no place to stay.

The boss pointed to the east, and he could see the edge of the forest after an hour or two of walking.

There are several wooden houses there, which used to be the residence of hunters.In recent years, small-scale wars have continued, and people have rushed to the city to make a living. Gradually, no one is hunting and the wooden houses are abandoned.

"It would be nice to have a cabin."

Kelsey shifted to pushing the flatbed cart, which was filled with supplies for the night in the field.

The three of them slapped their heads without impulsiveness and left. They bought and prepared boiling water pots, washbasins, ingredients, temporary bedding, etc. at the food shop.

Just now, Kelsey was also very surprised to see the lightning strike.Quickly glanced around, suspecting that someone was haunting nearby, but found nothing.

Normally, Sherlock should return to Yorkshire for Christmas, and she should not be paranoid.

At the moment, Kelsey put on Andy's identity, temporarily suppressed doubts, and became a complete optimist.

"When we get to the wooden house, quickly find the water source, and then raise the firewood pile, we can live comfortably for the past two days. Just wait quietly for the carriage to arrive."

Listen, this overly optimistic tone.

Sherlock glanced at his beard. He didn't expect the cabin in the woods at all.

Watson agreed, "It's much better than staying overnight in the countryside. What's more, on a cold and windy winter night, instead of facing the rustling needle forest alone, the wooden house for three people is only a little worse than the Garden of Eden."

Seeing that one was more optimistic than the other, Sherlock raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

"Don't forget, that used to be the hunter's house. There are fewer people hunting these years, please calculate what's more in the woods? Everyone is playing together in the Garden of Eden. It's a wonderful winter day."

Please stop the cold humor, don't remind me that you will be attacked by wild animals.

Watson smiled awkwardly again, he really couldn't understand the German's joke.

"Speaking of which, our destination is the same, the town of Leo under the Alps. There are not many carriages going there. According to this year's weather, we may encounter heavy snow."

Watson was a little worried. After arriving in Leo Town, would the carriage that came to pick him up the mountain go smoothly?Why can't you choose a warm place to gather, isn't the pleasant Mediterranean climate uncomfortable?

The castle hanging on the cliff, when you open the window, you can see the dazzling blue sea; or the manor by the sea, food, wine, sunshine, beach, which one is better than the uncold Alps.

However, the scene like a spring day is just a fantasy.

After an hour and a half of walking, there are only wooden houses covered with leaves.

Contrary to imagination, Orion's temporary residence is not a single-family house, but a five-bedroom and two-living room with a large wooden structure.

The lock on the front door is broken, and you can get in with a little effort.

Some of the furniture in the house are missing arms and legs, it can be seen that they were sawed off by people, and their remnants were found in the kitchen - they were burned as firewood.

Most of the glass windows in the five rooms were broken, and the cold wind passed through the holes, making wheezing noises.

“The kitchen and bathroom are barely usable.”

Watson neatly tidied up the two necessary places for the temporary stay, and found that the two companions were tossing about in the bedroom.

Just toss.

The gold-rimmed glasses may have some cleanliness and obsessive habits, otherwise the items in the house would not be grouped one by one based on five.

He actually opened all the cabinet doors, cabinet doors, etc. that could be opened, and did not miss any corner.It seems that if the lurking poisonous insects and snakes are not caught, the three of them will suffer from them at night.

In the other room, the beard didn't do any useless tidying up, but it seemed that he had never seen a wooden house before, and he jumped up and down to look at it.

Watson looked at the novelty of the bearded face, like a boy entering a new world. He couldn't help asking, "Mr. Adair, have you never seen such a wooden house? It's very different from the Scottish architecture?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't bother you, did I?"

Kelsey belatedly got down from her chair, finishing her observation of the roof beams overhead.I rubbed my ears embarrassingly, "I like all kinds of buildings, and I can't stop when I go to a new place. Look at the ingenious mortise and tenon structure, and look at the different wood choices in the house, it's really great. I... ..."

Kelsey seemed to realize that she was talking too much, and quickly changed her words, "By the way, the windows in several rooms are broken. If you don't fix them, you will not be able to sleep well. You can use wooden boards to fix them, but there are not enough materials. I am afraid that the three of you will have to squeeze together." One bedroom. You don't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind." Watson turned his head slightly to signal to look at the opposite room, but it was hard to say about the man with gold-rimmed glasses. "In fact, there is not much wood that can be used as fuel. It is better for three people to light a fire together to keep warm."

"Then I'll patch up the window first."

Kelsey automatically ignored asking about the gold-rimmed glasses. In the wilderness, people cannot live delicately.You must learn to compromise.

She picked up the hammer and was about to remove a cabinet door to mend the window, when she heard a loud bang.

"What's wrong!"

Watson stepped over the gate with his front foot, and he heard the bearded exclamation behind him.Turning around, he saw a large hole in the wooden floor that had been smashed by a hammer.

"Mr. Adair, you didn't hurt your foot?"

Seeing the bearded man squatting and not getting up, Watson thought he had been injured by a hammer, so he hurried forward to give him a hand.

Kelsey shook her head blankly, and said with an uncertain expression: "I didn't hurt my foot, it's the hammer stuck in the floor interlayer. Please take a look, I seem to have smashed a basement entrance."

basement?

Watson looked into the hole in surprise. Looking inside, there was a circular pull ring, which just caught one end of the hammer.

"It's really unexpected." Watson got up and looked at the ground again.

From the outside, it was impossible to tell that the floor inside the house had been re-laid, and someone had completely sealed the entrance to the tunnel.

"Open it, go down and find out."

At some point, Sherlock had already entered the house and looked at the bearded man. Was the discovery of the entrance really an accidental mistake?

He also had to stick to Sigson's setting, "You must know what's underneath. If it's an animal carcass, I would never spend the night in this room. Even if it's separated by a floor, it's still too dirty."

Watson smiled. If there is a corpse below, is the point still dirty?

Pry off the seal and pull up on the tab.Watson wanted to go down first, but was stopped.

"Mr. Watson, please stay up there."

Sherlock would not let the three of them enter the basement together, and then the entrance would be sealed. "Just in case, the entrance cover snaps shut."

As for why the beard is not left on the ground, no matter how silly the suspicious person smiles, he cannot take it lightly.

Kelsey accepted the arrangement unconsciously, and volunteered to rush down first.

There were no bodies in the basement.

Except for the musty smell that has not been ventilated all the year round, it can be regarded as empty.

There is only a stone table for one person to lie on, and some sundries in the corner.

It is said that the table is not suitable enough, it is just a large cuboid stone, which was placed in the center of the basement.

Sherlock wiped the dust off the surface with a handkerchief, and the table looked unfinished.

Neither the table top nor the four sides have been completely polished, and there are extensive sanding marks on it, but no signs of previous use can be found.

Kelsey looked at the stone table, it wasn't necessarily unfinished.

According to the fact that the wooden house has been re-laid on the floor and the stone table has been polished, it is very likely that it has been completely renovated.

"It would be nice if there were blood test reagents."

"Next year, we should try to come up with reagents for testing blood."

The two were thinking at the same time, suspecting that the stone table had once placed a corpse.

This is not a wild guess, just a pile of plaster waste in the corner.

Sherlock organized the plasters according to the base number of five. Most of them were leftovers that could not be seen from the original shape, but there were also eight pieces that could be seen as half plaster masks.

"These masks are kind of weird."

Kelsey picked up one of the half-face plaster masks, and winked in front of her face, "It's obviously a smile, but I can't imitate their expressions. When I laugh, other parts seem to freeze."

"These unfinished are death masks."

Sherlock said, "Go to the museum for a visit. There are many exhibition halls. The death mask is supposed to be molded on the face after death, and some stiffness is normal."

Of course Kelsey knows about death masks. Since ancient times, many celebrities in continental Europe have left death masks after their deaths.

However, I have never seen this one that is dead.In addition, most of the death masks are male, but here are all female masks.

She asked directly, "Did you admit your mistake? There are about a dozen masks with different faces here. Although they all have incomplete faces, it can be seen that their eyes are open."

That's why I say it's suspicious.

Sherlock didn't say anything on the spot, "If you ask me, I can't answer. I don't have any relevant experience."

The two continued to clean up the pile of debris, and no suspicious blood, hair, etc. were seen on the broken plaster.

It is almost suspicious of those death masks that are not molded from the face of the corpse.The fragments with weird expressions are just highly imitated death masks according to the ordinary mask production process.

In addition to the plaster, there is only a half-worn sheepskin in the debris pile.

A human head is drawn on it, and different areas are drawn on the skull, each area marked with a line of small characters.Not in English, but a string of numbers, possibly some kind of password.

"A phrenological tool."

Sherlock has seen similar exploded diagrams, and the number part is originally written words such as 'kindness', 'joy' and 'wisdom', indicating which kind of human psychology this skull corresponds to.

Kelsey raised her eyes, "What's the cranium? Are you really not a doctor? Have you ever seen this kind of weird skull picture?"

"Of course not, I work in music-related work. Don't you think the staves are beautiful?"

Sherlock said and looked at the piles of items, "I was lucky enough to have seen phrenology. Professor Keqi once gave me a few pointers, saying that I am very suitable for music. It is indeed accurate, and music has accompanied me through life. Decades of wonderful times."

Kelsey witnesses a phrenology proponent emerge.

Don't look at the gold-rimmed glasses that usually don't talk much, but when he talks about things he likes and supports, he is a bit fanatical.Can't imagine him having his skull touched.

Is it really crazy?

Kelsey has reservations. After all, this person's inspection of the details of the unfamiliar environment is too in-depth.

"Hey! Two, how is the situation down here?"

Watson waited on the ground for a long time, "Come up with me if you have any questions, I found some strange marks."

In the basement, the two looked at each other.

Putting aside their suspicions about each other for the time being, they brought a few half-mutilated masks upstairs.

Watson had just pried open the second-laid wooden floor in the house, and he found the lettering on the back of one piece. "There are no other words, just this one near the corner, with words engraved on the back."

I saw crooked engravings on it:

"Mary, Mary, very rebellious, how are the flowers and plants in your garden?"

Silver bells, beautiful shells, and beautiful maids stand in rows. 』

Watson said uncertainly, "Is this a nursery rhyme? Why is it carved on the back of the wooden floor? Who carved it? What does it mean?"

For a moment, an indescribable strangeness rose from this seemingly ordinary forest house.