Mermaid Reef

There was an eerie silence in the car.

Most people look at Detective Martin like they're crazy.

The conductor stepped forward to persuade: "Excuse me, sir, may I ask you to be..."

Detective Martin produced his papers.

"Scotland Yard?" The conductor hesitated, and he didn't bow his head to obey the order immediately. After all, he was a Frenchman, and the terminal of this train was Venice instead of England.

The nationalities of the passengers on the train are even more complicated, and they are all people of a certain social status. They really don't take a lonely British police detective seriously.

Especially when everyone thought it was a small accident and had nothing to do with the murder.

Detective Martin cleared his throat, looked around the people in the car, and said sharply: "As for these antique gold coins, five people have died so far, and one person has broken his leg. All these things happened in London..."

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, John knew that they didn't take it seriously at all, so he could only stand up and add: "Most of these poor people are gentlemen with status. The merchant who pledged money suffered this misfortune simply because he owned gold coins."

John gestured to Detective Martin as he spoke.

The detective reacted promptly and took out several folded newspapers from his pocket.

John glanced quickly at the headline, Well, there's a report about the curse.

"I'm sure gentlemen and ladies from England ... may have seen similar news."

John quickly took the newspaper and deliberately showed a certain page to everyone.

There are actually many people who are willing to believe in the curse-you will never be disappointed with the British newspaper critics. They always describe things that don't exist so vividly that people can believe them at a glance.

Such as the details of gossip, scandal, or horror legends in the city of London.

"It's a cursed gold coin, I've heard of it!"

Miss Vanessa is worthy of her status as a soprano, and the shocking cry made the whole car quiet.

Gemil, who was "drinking" the lobster bisque, looked up, as if waiting for Vanessa to call for a second time.

What made Gemil feel regretful was that Vanessa seemed unable to bear the mental pressure and fell limply on the chair.

Dr. Abel expertly ran to the opera actress and revived her from a faint.

Whispering began, a hasty apology was taken, the paper was taken from John, and read nervously, it was soon being passed around to other tables.

Looking at the chaotic scene in the carriage, John walked up to the conductor and asked, "Can you please go to the first-class carriage and invite Mr. Bauer, the banker, to the smoking room?"

"This……"

The conductor said nervously, "I'll ask the conductor for instructions right away."

He obviously couldn't make up his mind, and he didn't dare to take this responsibility. Otherwise, Mr. Ball insisted that his reputation would be damaged, and the Scotland Yard police detective would pat his ass and leave, but he might lose his well-paid job.

John knew this was a necessary process and didn't object.

The people at the six tables that Jason mentioned just now were basically present, only the old earl and his servants left early.

It was not easy to convince the old earl. From the few glances he saw, John knew that the old earl was an arrogant and stubborn person. Just because he thought the American car dealer's laughter was vulgar, he ended his meal early and left the dining car.

Therefore, before looking for the old earl, it is best to obtain the permission of the train conductor, and all the passengers in the first-class compartment believed the fact that there was a problem with the gold coins.

John was thinking quickly in his mind, his eyes flicked over Jason's table, and his eyelids couldn't help twitching again.

——In the chaotic carriage, only these two are still eating leisurely.

They raised their glasses, clinked them decently, and finished their glasses of wine.

Looking at the expression, he obviously didn't think this expensive bottle of white wine was so delicious, but the knife and fork were used decently, and the disguise of human beings was also in place.

wait, no!

John looked at Gemil in disbelief, how did he drink while wearing that mask?

There is not a single slit in the mask, and it is decorated with feathers and sequins.

After the wine glass is tilted... it can't be absorbed by the fingers, right?

Thinking of this, John's eyes suddenly went dark. He immediately closed his eyes and waited for his vision to recover. At the same time, he cursed in his heart that he didn't have a long memory.

Anyway, due to some mysterious power, the people in the car ignored Jason and Gemil, and Detective Martin, who could see them, happened to have his back to the two of them, standing in the middle of the car and talking seriously about what happened in London. Bizarre murder.

"There is a lot of trouble behind those gold coins. It is a bandit gang. I believe you..."

"enough!"

An Italian man stood up angrily and said loudly, "If you want to track down those gold coins, you should focus on that Mr. Banker. I didn't buy any gold coins!"

"That's right." Another lady in the first-class car also said, "The banker that Mr. Detective mentioned did indeed sell some Spanish gold coins in the library this morning, but the only one who bought gold coins was this American. Mr.

The lady refers to the car dealer.

The car dealer's throat was injured, and he couldn't speak, so he could only nod desperately.

John couldn't help looking at Jason. He knew that the evil god would not deceive him, because such deception was meaningless.

Miss Vanessa over there said in a weak voice: "Have you forgotten the few king's gold coins that Mr. Ball showed off?"

Everyone in the carriage was silent.

John found that the atmosphere was not right, so he hurriedly asked.

"Yes...he knocked over the box containing the gold coins and smashed his forehead."

The Italian man was a little uncomfortable. He chatted up the noble lady in the library. When the gold coin rolled down, Bauer didn't get up for a while.

The lady said calmly: "I recognized it at a glance. It was a king's gold coin. It was specially minted for the royal family. It was a very rare gold coin. It fell on my skirt. My maid was not around at the time, so let It was obviously not polite for a gentleman to pick something up from my skirt, so I picked up the gold coin and put it on the table."

"Then I picked it up and took a look." The Italian man looked ugly.

Who made the banker look like he wanted to sell it quickly, if the thing was real, he wouldn't mind spending a little money to buy it.

"However, Mr. Bauer and I did not reach an agreement on the price, and this business has not been negotiated." The Italian man smartly put his hand in his pocket, as if he was about to take out a cigarette, and then his body froze.

John clearly saw his eyes suddenly widen, as if a snake in his pocket had bit him hard again.

John immediately pushed aside Detective Martin, rushed to the Italian man in two steps, and said in a hasty tone: "Take it out, no matter what it is, take it out quickly."

His expression didn't look like he was interrogating someone, but he seemed worried that the other party would die if he was too late.

The man was forced by this invisible momentum, panicked, and took out the things in his hand almost without thinking.

Cigarette case, handkerchief, and a golden Spanish gold coin.

Everyone's eyes on this Italian man changed.

"No, it's not like that!"

Of course the Italian man knew that he was regarded as a thief with dirty hands and feet. He stood up eagerly and said, "I didn't help him pick up the gold coins at all. I just picked up the gold coins on the table and looked at them. Also, that The banker is very shrewd, he even counted the gold coins before putting them back into the box, if one was missing, he would definitely point it out on the spot!"

"what--"

This high-pitched scream scared the Italian man almost tripping to the ground.

Gemil was tentatively poking the bread with a knife. Hearing Miss Vanessa's second exclamation, he followed the rhythm of the pronunciation and cut a small piece of butter next to it.

"I'm just looking for my salt bottle..."

Miss Vanessa threw her handbag just now, and everyone looked at it together, only to see the handbag lying on the floor, and a golden thing was shining in a pile of sundries.

The noble lady was the first to recover, and she immediately ordered her maid: "Check my belongings."

"Yes."

Soon the maid found a king's gold coin in the bag containing the perfume, handkerchief, and medicine bottle.

With these two role models, the whole car was frantically checking their belongings.

But obviously, except for the people at the six tables in the first-class car, no one else was "patronized" by the doom gold coins.

"This is impossible."

It was the old earl's butler who spoke, and he stared blankly at the gold coins he found in his pocket.

"Sorry, I'm going to see my master." The butler dropped the gold coin and hurried to the first-class compartment.

Detective Martin was shocked by the chaotic scene, his eyes narrowed, as if to say something.

John, who was always watching the movement around him, decisively covered his mouth.

Detective Martin was shocked and angry, and Dr. Abel looked at them in a daze, not knowing who to help.

"Calm down," John said in a voice only the three of them could hear, "Do you believe that all these passengers in the first-class car stole gold coins?"

Yes, that's what Detective Martin thought.

The noble lady may not like gold coins, but what about her maid?

The French butler might be putting on a show too...

"Anyway, they took out the gold coins, so you just pretend to be a fool." John was exhausted, so he could only find an excuse.

Detective Martin finally broke free, and said with a cold face: "These gold coins are stolen goods, they should be confiscated first..."

"do not!"

What John is most afraid of is that Detective Martin will hold on to this thing and add another line to the list of creditors.

Dr. Abel suddenly said: "I see, this is the banker Bauer's doing. He secretly gave these gold coins to all the passengers. He wanted to get rid of his troubles. He was worried that the gang of robbers would kill him." .”

John: "..."

Unless Bauer was a pickpocket, it would be too technically difficult to give gold coins to so many people without letting others find out.

It is true that the gold coin is cursed, the gold coin will run away by itself!

"No, Mr. Bauer is so nervous, it means that there must be a member of the bandit gang on the train." Dr. Abel said seriously.

"You are right."

Detective Martin agrees.

The corner of John's mouth twitched and he didn't want to speak. Detective Martin pointed to Jason who was buttering a slice of bread.

"Gold coins were found on all the passengers in the first class compartment, why were they an exception?"

"He, they haven't checked yet?" John's forehead was sweating.

"No, you said... I have seen them too, they are dangerous people!"

Detective Martin said very seriously, "Mr. Bauer skipped them, and Mr. Bauer was very anxious. He completed the 'gold coin transfer' before lunch. No matter how we knocked on the door just now, he couldn't hide. He found himself in danger, and these two men were members of a gang of robbers!"

The last sentence was spoken so loudly that half the car heard it.

however--

Dr. Abel asked with confusion: "Mr. Detective, what are you talking about? Isn't this an empty table?"

"No, there is only one person at this table!" The Italian man came back to his senses with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What are you talking about? Two people!" Detective Martin was furious.

"It's a man, an English gentleman." The first-class passengers.

"There is really no one!" Doctor Abel and the passengers in the second-class carriage.

John: "..."

The detective refused to speak, and the detective wanted to jump out of the car.

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