Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

Bentley's inner drama is temporarily unappreciated.

Mycroft's words sounded a little ambiguous, as if he had found a one-night stand partner who escaped from him many years ago, and was about to stage a long-lost reunion in a small black room.

But the reality is very skinny. The so-called sweetness and the taste in memory refer to one and only one—the candy that Mycroft ate when he was a child.

"Nancy Owen?"

Sherlock chased after him in two steps in three steps, and stopped the woman in the light red dress.When I saw her face, I was almost 100% sure that I was looking for the wrong person.

The woman's appearance is almost [-]% similar to Kelsey's restored skull model, which is easily reminiscent of her blood relationship with the dismembered dead.

"you are?"

Nancy was stopped suddenly, with a puzzled look on her face, did a stranger ask her for something?Did something happen when you were late for admission today?

Sherlock did not directly mention the dismembered body, "Can I talk to you about the disappearance of your mother, Ms. Megan?"

"Mother's matter?" Nancy looked at the person in front of her suspiciously, and asked with some vigilance, "Those things are in the past, so there is nothing more to say."

past?

How can a brutally dismembered corpse and a murderer who is still at large be counted?

On the other side, Kelsey called Lestrade and Kate who were about to leave in time, and expressed that Nancy, who was looking for so hard, appeared.

Lestrade: He just said that there was something awkward tonight. It turns out that nothing happened all the time.Right now, it was no surprise that he would be stopped.

"Nancy appeared."

Kelsey signaled the two police officers to follow up quickly, "Perhaps, we should really be thankful for this musical, which allowed us to bump into the family members of the victims who could not be found."

Carter: Huh?Doesn't anyone think the Rose Theater is evil?

The last time the Rose Theater held an opera tour, it ran into the victim and the murderer.This time, the Rose Theater held the premiere of the musical, and the family members of the victim were recognized to watch the play.I don't know if there will be a next time, and what will happen next time?

When Lestrade walked to the corner and saw Nancy's appearance clearly, he was a little surprised.

Nancy's actual age should be 32, but she still looks 25.

It is not easy to find traces of the years on the pampered lady, but for Nancy, who has experienced many years of life hardships, she has a very good mentality in such a state.

"This is Inspector L of Scotland Yard."

Sherlock made a brief introduction and said to several people later, "Ms. Owen said that she had found her missing mother four years ago, and it was a disfigured body."

what?

Both Lestrade and Carter were surprised.

This might explain why Nancy seemed to have stepped out of the past, but how to explain the identity of the dead found in the abandoned house in Velic?

"One side always made a mistake."

Kelsey was sure her head model was right.

Mycroft nodded slightly. He was also sure that the candy smell was correct, and it came from the same source as the candy wrapper found next to the human head and skeleton.

Nancy also just admitted that she would imitate the candy she ate when she was a child, which tasted the same as the candy Meghan bought her before, and she even boiled a pot of syrup before going out today.

Lestrade felt strange: "Ms. Owen, did you perform an autopsy on the corpse four years ago? Since it is beyond recognition, how can you be sure that she is Ms. Meghan?"

Nancy repeated her answer to Sherlock just now, "I couldn't find a doctor who was willing to do an autopsy, but no matter from the height, figure, hair color, etc., and those clothes, it shows that the deceased is my mother."

However, none of this can be considered conclusive evidence.

Meghan's most recognizable feature is her illness, but Nancy can't use it to identify the body.

According to Nancy, she has never given up looking for her missing mother.

After learning that Megan was very likely to be sold on the black market, she tried every means to break into the black market to find people.

"My luck is always like that. Bad luck is bad luck, but there is always a glimmer of hope when you hit rock bottom."

Nancy laughed at herself, "It's very difficult to find a kidnapped person on the black market, but I met a black market intermediary, as long as I was Vance's underground lover for half a year, he would help me inquire about my mother."

It didn't take half a year, and there was news of Megan four months after she disappeared.

Before Nancy could worry about how to raise money to redeem the man, what she saw was an extremely abused corpse.

Beside the female deceased was a set of worn clothes that Meghan was wearing when she disappeared.The bones of the deceased's body were broken, and the skin was severely corroded, making it difficult to restore its original appearance.

She was sent to the black market for four months, the same time as her mother's disappearance, and it is said that she was also a paralyzed patient who could not speak.

"There's no need for Vance to lie to me. Finding my mother means I can leave him early. If he wants me to stay, he should have delayed telling me."

From this, Nancy believed that she had found Megan, "The figure, old clothes, the same disease, etc., combined, do I still recognize the mother who has taken care of me for more than ten years?"

For Nancy at the time, it was understandable to find Megan in such a way.

However, the problem is that the remains of the abandoned house in Velic have now been discovered.

Lestrade briefly explained the situation of the corpse, "Ms. Owen, the police have restored the head and face of the corpse. I have asked some people who have seen Ms. Megan to confirm that it is the appearance of Ms. Megan in memory. Yes Therefore, we have to suspect that you identified the wrong corpse back then."

"No, no, it's impossible."

When Nancy heard the tragic scene of Megan being dismembered, her eyes turned red, and she clenched her hands into fists and tried her best to control herself. "Why did mother go through such a thing!"

Even though Nancy kept shaking her head, tears flowed uncontrollably. She obviously realized that she might have misidentified the corpse.

Lestrade couldn't help but feel sorry for Nancy, seeing that she had finally escaped from the quagmire of the past, the news of the mistaken body was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

"Now you need to go to Scotland Yard to confirm some situations as soon as possible. Do you think it will be convenient tomorrow morning?"

Nancy wiped away her tears, "Don't wait for tomorrow, now. I want to see my mother as soon as possible."

Well, I can only work overtime.

Lestrade understood Nancy's eagerness to see her, and wanted to say that he and Carter would return to the police station, but unexpectedly the three devils wanted to go with them.

Yes, after tonight, another person has been added to Lestrade's list of demons - Mycroft.

He didn't want to know what kind of devil Mycroft would be if he recognized someone only by a smell of candy from twenty years ago.

Those are not important, the six people went to the police station in two carriages.

In this case, only Bentley was the first to retreat.

Bingley waited outside for a while, knowing that Kelsey had no time to chat with him tonight, so he made an appointment for a time to catch up.

reminisce?

Kelsey watched Bentley's back. What's there for the two to catch up on the old days?Do you want to sit down and reminisce about previous cases?In fact, there is no need to guess, the so-called reminiscences are false, and the desire may be true.

The content requested is also very simple.

From Bentley's expression as if meeting spring, and Darcy has returned to the north of England, and no one keeps Bentley awake, then what Bentley wants to talk about is probably related to how to pursue a girl.

Kelsey shook her head slightly, and said casually, "Do I look like a love master? I can give him advice."

"It's hard to say."

Sherlock actually thought seriously, "This kind of question can only be given a definite answer after empirical evidence."

At this time, Mycroft, who was going to call for a carriage, was coming with the carriage.

Kelsey looked directly at Sherlock and smiled, "Certificate? Tom, who is rigorous in seeking evidence, how do you want to prove it?"

Without waiting for another eye contact, Sherlock caught a glimpse of Mycroft lifting the car curtain, and he adjusted his expression instantly.

He said to Kelsey solemnly, "Although I think everything needs evidence, Mr. Bingley is different. Maybe he thinks you are reliable, but there is no one around you who can discuss it.

What's more, you and Miss Jian have the same surname by coincidence.Mr. Bingley is here to ask you a question or two as if he had asked the woman's family members for their opinions in advance. "

Kelsey couldn't deny this, but Bentley's mind was probably just as Sherlock expected. "I have no relatives alive long ago, which is my honor."

Jerry has no living relatives.

Sherlock took this to heart, and it was the first time he heard Kelsey explicitly mention his family.Even if it is only a short sentence, but judging by his expression, what he is saying is the truth.

"boarding."

At this moment, Mycroft beckoned to the two of them.

Today he made an exception and went out for a walk, and it was not too late for more than an hour.He will also be curious, curious that someone can replicate the taste of out-of-print candies.

Mycroft left the coachman alone, and drove to Scotland Yard himself.This allows you to speak unabashedly, "What do you think about Nancy?"

"There are contradictions in her that cannot be ignored."

Sherlock mentioned Nancy's work in the past three years, "Nancy mentioned that she worked in the Unicorn Orphanage, and no longer worked as a nursing home nurse she was familiar with, but took care of young children. She wanted to change the environment."

In a general sense, facing a child with a young mentality is completely different from facing an old man who is half-legged to death.

"This can explain that Nancy looks much younger than her actual age. She seems to have come out of a heavy past."

The contradiction that Sherlock refers to is here, "But Nancy didn't let it go completely. The reproduction of the candy she used to eat in her childhood is enough to show that she never forgets the past."

Recreating long-discontinued candies is never easy unless there is a recipe.

At least, Mycroft has never seen this kind of sugar master before, "Nancy has the sweetness of at least three kinds of candies. The syrup she boiled belongs to three different candy stores. Those candies were sold on the whole line as early as 19 years ago. It was discontinued, and I searched all over London and couldn't find one."

What Mycroft meant:

Nancy was twelve or thirteen years old 19 years ago. Even though she has a superhuman talent for taste, she can still remember it so clearly after many years, and she can really restore it by hand, which shows that this person is by no means ordinary.

Nancy has an excellent memory, and it is not easy to forget the past.

Those candies were the sweets Megan used to give her before she was paralyzed.Replicating the discontinued candies exactly, wouldn't she keep thinking about the days when she was with her mother?

As sweet as those days of eating candy were, the series of things that happened after Megan was paralyzed were just as bitter.

But in Nancy's current state, she clearly distinguishes between sweetness and bitterness, discarding the bitterness, and only retaining the sweetness in her memories.

Such a detached mentality is really not something ordinary people can have.

In the carriage, the three did not completely deny that Nancy could live out a different self in adversity, but they were all used to not only the imagined side.

God has not guaranteed that everything will develop toward the side of tenderness or people's wishes. The normal state of life is full of changes and uncertainties, and people have to consider another possibility that is completely different.

This kind of thinking is not just about cases.

Sherlock cast a casual glance at Kelsey, just as his suspicions about Jerry weren't limited to what he'd hoped for.

At the moment, we only talk about the dismemberment case.

Sherlock mentioned another uncertainty, "The black intermediary Vance gave Nancy information about the corpse four years ago. I just asked if I could provide Vance's contact information, but Nancy did not." Refuse, but she mentions that she heard that Vance was killed three or four years ago."

A middleman in the black market is still in the business of human trafficking, so it is not unusual for Vance to be killed.

Just dead, and some things are dead without proof.

Nancy is Vance's secret lover, and Vance is dead. It may be difficult to find out the relationship between the two clearly from the third population.

This kind of confusion is like the case of Megan's disappearance four and a half years ago.

The robbers let others not rob, but chose Nancy's family who had little money.

Even if it is logically speculated afterwards that the robbers came from the black market and had planned to engage in human trafficking business, this is only one of the possible inferences.

Before the robbers are found, who can tell the truth about their true identities.

There are too many uncertain situations, and Nancy attributes meeting Vance to rare luck.

How low is the probability of running into a black market intermediary in London and being his mistress can ask him to find someone in the black market?

Kelsey took himself as an example. Whether it was customizing weapons or purchasing special materials, it took a lot of effort to get started in the black market at first.

In addition to these doubts, she mentioned one point, "There is something that needs to be verified with Nancy. She sought medical treatment for Megan in the Lin's Medical Center. It is convenient for the two to live near the medical center, but they moved within a year." After leaving, do you have to find a cheap rental house because you don’t have enough money?”

"It's really strange. The living environment around the Lin's Medical Center is good."

Sherlock made a comprehensive visit to the places where Nancy and Meghan once lived. “I checked with the late landlord’s son and he was sure his father didn’t raise the rent for Meghan and her daughter.”

Fifteen years ago, there were very few residents of the same period near Lin's Medical Center, and the few remaining families had little contact with Megan's mother and daughter.

When people recall the past, they all say that the neighborhood is harmonious, and there are medical clinics, various grocery stores, spacious roads and easy commuting, making life more convenient.

Except for reasons such as sudden drop in income, job change, rising rent, and need to change houses after marriage and childbirth, most people will not change rented houses casually when there is no change in their living conditions.

Especially for Nancy, she has to take care of her paralyzed and repeatedly injured mother. The nearby Lin's Medical Center can provide convenient and excellent medical assistance, and that area is a rare good place to live.

If there is no reason to leave, it would be unreasonable for the mother and daughter to move out after only one year of living.

Two carriages arrived at Scotland Yard one after the other.

Mycroft looked at Nancy who got off the car ahead, and gave an extremely objective summary, "In any case, Nancy Owen is not a simple woman."

This extraordinary woman almost fainted in the morgue after seeing the mutilated dead.From her sobbing words, it was determined that this corpse was Megan.

Unlike the incomplete body that was mistaken for the corpse four years ago, although this corpse was dismembered, the characteristics of the remnant body can still be seen.For example, the scars on the instep, the moles on the back, etc., all match Megan's physical condition one by one.

At least one thing was confirmed tonight, the deceased in the abandoned house in Velic was Megan.

Kelsey obtained Nancy's consent to open the coffin for an autopsy on the misidentified corpse four years ago.

Nancy agreed on the spot and gave the place of burial. The mistakenly identified dead were buried in a cemetery in the outer suburbs of London.The land price of that cemetery is ordinary, which is the price of a cemetery that Nancy can afford.

The next day, after lunch.

Driven by Carter, Lestrade picked up Kelsey and Sherlock from Montague Street, and the four went to the suburban cemetery together.

Lestrade looked at the two devils, no wonder he didn't need to prepare anything, the two brought a large bag of equipment.

What else can he say?As the seniority of the policeman grew, the dead people he saw became more and more strange. Now he finally got involved in digging up the dead from the coffin, and this was the first time to dig a grave and open the coffin.

"Wait a while, don't you need other helpers?"

Lestrade said uncertainly, "I have no experience in opening a coffin for the first time, so there will be no trouble?"

Who said today is the first time?

Kelsey and Sherlock exchanged a look, and they both remembered the first time they met at the grave.

The two couldn't help smiling. The first cooperation between Jerry and Tom was digging graves.At that time, hundreds of coffins were opened, and for the two of them, digging graves was still a skilled job.

Lestrade: There it is again!Devils please don't make eye contact and take care of the novice who is about to dig his grave for the first time.

What if, he said what if, wouldn't a vampire come out of the coffin?Or, there are other possibilities.He has a little knowledge of oriental folklore. Shouldn't there be zombies popping out of the London cemetery?