Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

A triangle with three vertices.

Sherlock marked them in turn.

First, the Golden Rose came from Italy and died in England.

Second, the Primo four were from Germany and died in Italy.

"Finally, was there a _______ from England who died in Germany?"

Sherlock underlined a "?", before judging, first complete the first two pieces of information.

Kelsey added two strokes:

"Golden-Italian x English-orange roses, middle-aged woman"

"Pu-German x Italy - In-train response & laboratory explosion, two (or more) gangs"

"The direct connection between the victim and the murderer has not been found before, because there is actually no connection between the two."

Kelsey said, "Golden Rose doesn't know middle-aged women, and Primo doesn't know the double gang."

Because there is no connection, it is impossible to reason according to normal logic, and the murderer who directly poisoned cannot be inferred from the conflict of interests or emotions.

In addition, the emergence of rare poisons makes the case more complicated, that is, it looks like a professional killer committing the crime, but there are also some shortcomings.

The derivation of the case is in trouble.

At this time, a ginger milk tea flavored candy provides a completely different perspective.

Victim A is not directly related to murderer A, so is he related to murderer B?

By analogy, will it form a closed triangle, and A, B, and C will exchange and kill each other?

This is not a nonsense, and now there is a little bit of matching.

The number of murderers who murdered Primo and others was at least two, which happened to be close to the number of Golden Rose's enemies.

——The crazy dentist wanted to kill his wife, but instead ate poison himself by mistake.After his death, the dentist's wife and son left Milan without a trace.

"You don't need to search in the sea of ​​people. Family blood creates the combination of mother and son."

Sherlock noted, "Soon, one party spread the news of the dead rat on the train, so that the other party could prepare to blow up the dead rat in time."

At this point, the two refocused their suspicions on the janitor Chala.

Kelsey: "Terrence, who is studious, please explain to your teacher who can't keep up with the times. Is Turin's magic power so magical that it turns easy-to-fry things into fine things? It spontaneously flew to the museum and precisely chose the location of the basement vent Landed, but was played by the naughty black cat and kicked it close to the laboratory?"

"My respected teacher, please don't doubt your intuition."

Sherlock said matter-of-factly, "There's magic at work, but not on explosives. It taught the eccentric janitor the Disguise."

In the past few days, the two focused on investigating who blew up the dead mouse.

The museum staff are all simple-minded, and there is no evidence that they have any animosity against Primo.

Now according to the new investigation angle, is there anyone who has a grudge against Golden Rose?

Answer: Still no.

On the surface, there is no way to detect any hatred between people, and it is impossible to make explosives into fine things, so how could the explosion happen?

Someone must have made a disguise to escape the sight of the public.

Someone managed to avoid all sight and contact the accomplice on the train.

Which camouflage is the least noticeable?

It is hidden in black.

With her freckled face, hunchback, and husky voice, Chara was impossible to ignore when she was there.

However, if Chara can become a woman wearing a mesh hat with a straight back and ordinary clothes, how many people can connect the two?

Even without considering the exchange of killings, Kelsey and Sherlock have already suspected Chara.

The black cat that died in the explosion had been in the museum for ten years, and it had been Chara's care from the beginning.

Some employees in the library hate black cats, but most of them are gradually getting used to its existence.According to the memories of the old employees, the name of this black cat is "Black Cat", and everyone generally shortens it to "Black".

No one remembers who was the first to call out the abbreviation "black," but several people remember Chara calling "black" when she was looking for a cat in the hallway.

It is not clear when, Chara no longer called "black", but directly called "black cat".

More than ten years ago, Chala's husband went to Egypt for an expedition, and he did not know what poison was in the pyramid, and died after returning to Turin.

Chara was also implicated, and her face was covered with dark spots, but instead of resenting the unfortunate Egyptian artifacts, she worked as a janitor in the museum for more than ten years.

Ancient Egypt regarded death as life and believed in the immortality of the soul.

Chara and her husband share the same ancient Egyptian belief that death is not a barrier.

Therefore, although Chara became taciturn after experiencing a serious illness after her husband's death, she treated the black cat that represented guardians in ancient Egyptian civilization kindly, and never thought of leaving the Egyptian Museum.

Such a person keeps his faith and only lives with the black cat.

Why did she change her name for the black cat from the familiar "black" to the less familiar "black cat"?After seeing the black cat's dead body, just call it "black cat"?

There are reasons for any kind of transformation.

Is it because of something bad happened between Black Cat and Chara?

No one else in the museum could give an answer to this.Chara became more and more reticent year by year, and people got used to the strange temperament of the crooked old woman, and gradually alienated her.

Previously, after investigating the gatekeeper's interpersonal relationship in an all-round way, Chara seemed to be self-enclosed in a museum, and did not find that the crooked old woman with black spots was in contact with the outside world.

Her illness is real, her loss of all her loved ones is real, why the change in attitude?Is it necessary to participate in the murder of Primo again?

Kelsey and Sherlock are puzzled by this.

Right now, exchanging killings just provides a new way of thinking.

What if this Chara wasn't once Chara?Assuming Chara was replaced, her incongruities would be explained.

Choosing to replace Chala may seem the most difficult, but it is actually very easy.

Weird and dark spots are the best protective colors.

In daily life, as eccentric as Chara will be remembered by people around her, but this eccentricity prevents people from getting close to her.

Kelsey asked the rest of the museum, but no one could accurately describe Chara's face and figure.

People's answer is always: Chara = full of dark spots + rickets and emaciated.

Kelsey further asked, what is the distribution, size, and shape of the dark spots on Chara's face, and the curvature of her back?Have there been changes?

People can only shake their heads and never look carefully.At the beginning, he didn't want to offend Chala and bring up his sad things, but later he gradually drifted away and stopped paying attention.

Suppose a woman with dark spots, a thin, stooped walk, and a husky voice could perfectly substitute for Chara by imitation.

Are there really replacements?

The mad dentist's missing wife comes into the investigation's sights.

"The dentist's wife's real name is Spada, Joan Spada."

Sherlock carefully recalled the information obtained in Milan, "It is said that Ms. Spada's ancestors were once very prosperous, and that was more than 200 years ago."

More than 200 years ago, Pope Alexander VI canonized a Spada as a cardinal, but he died shortly after taking office.

From then on, the Spada family began to decline, and soon fell apart.Each branch developed independently, some rose again, and some disappeared.

"I can't find any Spadas today."

Sherlock originally wanted to find Joan's relatives, maybe Joan would take his son to seek refuge, but found that there was no Spada related to him.

"Joan Spada is a female. From a legal point of view, she has no inheritance rights. After she got married, the last Spada disappeared."

What does the family background of the dentist's wife Joan have to do with Chara, the janitor?

Sherlock did not find any kinship between the two, but there was one similarity—dark spots all over the face.

This involves a historical mystery of more than 200 years.

More than 200 years ago, Pope Alexander VI canonized cardinals, which was actually a kind of teaching business.

Spada, who was wealthy and paid for this honor, died after the investiture banquet.

There is no shortage of speculation that Alexander VI poisoned Spada and the other cardinals in order to receive their entire wealth.

Alexander VI had a bad reputation, indulged in money-gathering, and had a chaotic private life. He was the first pope to publicly admit that he and his lover had children, and he failed to die.

According to his assistant's description, one day Alexander VI's face turned a mulberry color, the skin began to fall off, and eventually the skin of the entire corpse turned black.

Obviously, Alexander VI died of poisoning.

That strange toxin changed the color of the skin and disrupted other bodily functions.

Who poisoned it?There was no conclusion at the time.

Alexander VI made countless enemies when he was alive, maybe it was the cardinal's family who had taken his life for revenge secretly, and the Spada family may also do it.

After more than 200 years, some mysteries have never been answered, but some similarities have emerged again.

Whether or not the Spada family possessed some kind of poison, the face began to turn black after taking it, and gradually spread to the whole body to death.

Assuming that the dose of this poison is controlled, will it only leave black spots on the face, just like the pyramid poison in Chara the Gatekeeper.

Once he could mimic the dark spots on the janitor's face, he took an important step in replacing Chara.

"More than four years ago, the dentist poisoned his wife and ate the poisoned food instead."

When Kelsey visited and investigated in Milan, his neighbors and the police who handled the old case thought it was luck.The innocent Joan was lucky enough to escape death, and the guilty dentist got what he deserved.

At the moment, Kelsey looked back at Joan's luck and said, "Assuming that the Pasdar family passed on the secret medicine, whether Joan survived by luck or by the ability to identify poisons, I have to redo the judgment."

Joan, who was nearly thirty years old, was lucky to survive, but she disappeared with her son.

Joan's ancestors had an enemy who died of the secret medicine, and his whole body was black before he died.

Chara, the janitor, was blotchy.

Chara's intimacy with the black cat changes before and after.

The ghost on the train has a connection with the inside of the museum.

Jin Meigui had an affair with the dentist, who killed his wife for her, and Joan hated Jin Meigui.

The golden rose comes from Italy and dies in England, the Primo comes from Germany and dies in Italy.

The above points alone can be explained by coincidence, but when they appear together, they cannot but arouse alarm.

A triangle does not just refer to three parties exchanging killings.

Exchanging killings, replacing identities, and obtaining special channels for rare drug sources, these three situations are intertwined, making the two known poisoning cases complicated.

Now, Kelsey and Sherlock finally figured out a thread.

As for who is the middle-aged woman who poisoned the golden rose?

Since the flowers presented to the Golden Rose were sprinkled with gold powder, the murderer had to add an extra step in the preparation beforehand. He bought the flowers, opened them up and evenly sprinkled them with gold powder and repackaged them.

Looking back at the investigation conducted in London, Kelsey clearly remembered one detail—the roses sprinkled with gold powder were different from the general flower shop packaging. They were first wrapped with letter paper on the inside, and no fingerprints were left on the paper.

That can be explained by caution.

But the murderer was not always cautious. When wrapping the flowers, she used central European letter paper, which is rare in London.

At that time, flower shops selling orange roses said that they did not remember a middle-aged woman buying orange roses.You must know that there are not many customers who buy orange roses, and the mysterious love is even more incompatible with ordinary middle-aged women.

It has been investigated that there is no grievance between the flower shop practitioners and Golden Rose, and the possibility of someone lying in the flower shop is generally ruled out.

Kelsey once thought that it was a middle-aged woman who was disguised properly, but now she is examining it from the perspective of exchanging murder, and a new suspicion has emerged.

——Florists selling orange roses are mostly around Theater Street, and florists wear gloves when packing flowers.

If someone in the flower shop commits the crime, even if he wears gloves and does not leave fingerprints, he can also openly deny that he has seen a middle-aged woman come to buy orange roses.

"Vincent Florist."

Sherlock quickly found a suspect from his memory, "Ms. Vincent is 42 years old and now runs a flower shop by herself. Her appearance is much older than her actual age. She was widowed when she was young, and her only daughter, Wendy, was divorced five years ago. Madness dies."

Of course Sherlock remembered Vincent's Florist, the shop where Kelsey's orange roses came from.

"Wendy's ex-fiancé, Ott, married another wife with a rich dowry after repenting. At the beginning of this year, Ott went to Germany on a business trip, but died short-lived."

More details are not yet known.

At that time it was not considered necessary to investigate Vincent's shopkeeper in detail.

Looking back now, Otto's death most likely made up for the missing piece.

The Golden Rose came from Italy and died in England.

The Primo four were from Germany and died in Italy.

Ott was from England and died in Germany.

"Very good! As long as it is confirmed that the janitor was replaced by Joan, our inference is at least [-]% correct."

Kelsey stood up, opened the toolbox on the table, and pointed to the five glass jars. "Five makeup removers, there is always one suitable for the gatekeeper."

Even if today's janitor insists on not wanting to take off her clothes for inspection, taking a step back, she has to accept the test of removing makeup from the neck, hands, and eye area.

This test is not excessive.The people in the museum will not impose obstacles, and they can also obtain the support of the Turin police to enforce the gatekeepers.

"Go, first invite Mr. Watson."

Sherlock thought to himself that it was a wise decision to recommend Watson for an autopsy. "Mr. Watson has become a guest of the Turin police. If he comes forward to explain the situation, the police will certainly cooperate very much."

Before going out, Sherlock glanced at the toolbox. "Mr. Bennet, are you sure that the five medicines will definitely work?"

"As long as the gatekeeper puts on a disguise, she can show her true form."

Kelsey used herself as an example, "Don't worry, I have done my own experiments."

Thinking of Kelsey's superb camouflage technique, Sherlock nodded, but regretted not being able to witness the experiment with his own eyes.

Sherlock has always guessed in his heart that Kelsey has another side that is unknown, which only allows the world to see the tip of the iceberg.And when he discovered some parts under the sea surface, he suspected that there were other hidden parts.

Kelsey smiled, pretending that she didn't understand Sherlock's expression, and said silently: Suspicion is a disease, please don't give up treatment.