Mermaid Reef

John is a detective from London.

There are too many detectives in London, especially in the last ten years(Note).

As long as you are a real British detective, you would like to rent a house of your own in London, smoke a pipe, and receive clients who come to you in front of a warm fireplace.

But in fact, everyone has to run around the streets in the rainy weather of London, compete with their peers, and then barely make ends meet.

John is no exception.

His income for the past six months has been bleak. If it continues, he may not be able to pay the rent by the end of the year.

So when an entrustment that needed to go back and forth between the UK and Iceland within [-] days came before him, John was immediately attracted by the amount of the check.

He also investigated carefully before accepting the commission.

This is an estate dispute case, and the context of the matter was already clear when John took over.

His client was slandered as an illegitimate child, and his baptismal certificate and date of birth were questioned, so the priest who presided over the baptism was required to testify.

The court considered that the pastor was too old, so the pastor did not have to appear in court in person, as long as he wrote a letter and stamped it with his seal.

The problem is that the pastor left the UK 40 years ago and has been living in the town of Black Lagoon in Iceland since then, a place most people have never heard of.

Relying on his previous reputation and ability to speak Icelandic, John successfully won the trust of the client.

There are two difficulties in this commission. One is that John must return to London before the estate dispute case is heard, and the other is that the other party may hire other detectives to obstruct John and steal letters.

Because without this key letter, John's client may lose his inheritance rights, and John will not be able to get the final payment for this entrustment.

John needs the money.

More important than money is reputation and recognition of ability.

Inheritance is a big event in the upper class and middle class in the UK. If it is messed up, it will basically be declared out of the detective industry, because there will be no more commissions.

This is the dilemma John is facing now.

To leave Black Lagoon Town, one must first obtain a letter written by Pastor Conor.

John could only hope that the elderly pastor still held the priesthood at the church, so that he could find people by going directly to the church.

True, things didn't turn out for the worst.

John still has time!

It only needs to change the plan slightly, such as giving up looking for Dr. Abel, and directly asking Pastor Conor to write a letter for himself proving the shipwreck of the West Wind, plus the letter required by the client, so that the two things are perfectly combined One thing, and then you can leave Black Lagoon.

John lifted his spirits and quickened his pace.

The area of ​​Black Lagoon Town is small, and John climbed the hillside a few minutes later. The cold sea breeze made him feel uncomfortable all over, and his nose was a little stiff from the cold.

A thick layer of hoarfrost formed on the ground, even spreading to the black cross on the top of the church.

It's so weird.

John looked down, his expression grave.

It rained last night, and today's weather is not good. It stands to reason that the ground is hard to frost.

And these frosts are so complete that no one has stepped on them at all-the frost usually forms late at night or early in the morning-how is this possible?It is already noon now, has no one walked this road all morning?

"Ah! Reverend Conor!"

A shrill scream came from the church.

John felt his heart sink.

He saw a nun stumbling out of the church and slipping on the white frost at the door. Before she could get up, the nun shouted to a house behind the church:

"Doctor Abel! Help!"

"What's the matter?" John asked eagerly.

The nun took a look at John and realized that it was a stranger. She shrank back subconsciously, her expression became more frightened, and she called out to Dr. Abel in a panic.

Apparently something had happened inside the church.

Since a doctor is needed, the situation may be serious.

John didn't care too much, he rushed into the church.

Hoarfrost everywhere.

Walls, ceiling, holy font, seats, and the altar in the front.

It was so thick that it looked like it had snowed indoors.

The chapel is empty, and the scene of the accident may have been in the clergy common room at the rear.

John ran in along the trail of hoarfrost, and saw an opened door at the end of the corridor at a glance. The door frame seemed to be embedded in the ice and snow, and the original color of the wall could not be seen.

There was a fireplace in the room, but the fire had long since died out, and the logs were covered with frost.

Not to mention the rest of the furniture, the room was a horrible white.

An old man in a black priest's robe lay on the carpet, his eyebrows and hair were covered with icicles, and his pupils were also white, the color of eyes that a living person cannot have.

The old man's expression was extremely distorted, as if he had seen something terrifying, and he seemed to be frozen.

John suddenly saw a photo on the ground.

The photo wasn't covered in any hoarfrost, it was there, out of place with the room.

"This is……"

John gasped.

This is an old and yellowed photo with a manor in the background. There are two people in the photo, one of them is wearing the clothes of a priest.

"1872, Brandon Hall," written in black ink on the back of the photo.

Brandon is the surname of the client in this inheritance dispute.

This is a group photo of the client's father, Mr. Brandon Sr., and Mr. Conor.

What?How did John know, how did he recognize the young Reverend Conor?

Because this photo was brought from London by him!

Look at the scratches on the back, and the small imperfections on the edges!John swears by his own memory, it's the same photo!

It was handed over to John by the client.

To ask Mr. Conor to testify, it is natural to produce something credible so that the old man can recall what happened decades ago.

John kept this photo in his shirt pocket for fear of losing it.

The client Mr. Brandon's personal letter, John put it in the pocket of his coat, and he specially wrapped the photo and letter with a layer of waterproof tarpaulin.

Now the Zephyr was torn apart by the storm, and John was washed to the shore by the waves. The fishermen rescued him, and these belongings did not know where they went.

John originally wanted to ask Dr. Abel, but he saw the photo before he saw him.

The photo appeared at the scene of the weird crime.

What about the letter?

John hurriedly searched the room.

But apart from the photos, everything else was frozen in frost.

There was a stack of letters and documents on the desk, and John was trying to identify them, when there were messy footsteps in the corridor, and the nun's panicked words:

"...I felt very cold. When I walked out of the prayer room, I saw these strange frosts. I was scared to find Pastor Connor... Yes, after a few steps, I went to his lounge and found the door was open. , Pastor Conor lying on the ground, he, he...he looks bad, God!"

John quickly hid the photo in his clothes, then straightened up and bowed his head slightly to Dr. Abel who came to the door as a salute.

Dr. Abel is short but stocky. He looks to be in his fifties, with gray hair, a stethoscope around his neck, and a medicine case in his hand.

"Doctor, he is..."

The nun stared at John nervously.

"Oh, this is the person who was rescued from the sea two days ago. He has no fractures or fever. I will ask the old Jack in the tavern to take care of him."

Doctor Abel also nodded to John, and then quickly entered the room to check the pastor's situation.

"My God." Dr. Abel hurriedly tried the old pastor's breathing, bending over to listen to his heartbeat.

It was such a simple movement. After the pastor's stiff body touched the heat, he suddenly came alive. The white in his eyes disappeared, revealing a pair of eyes full of horror. He overturned Dr. Abel at once, and hissed:

"he came!"

John supported Dr. Abel, and then dragged the mad pastor.

The nun called out Pastor Conor's name repeatedly in horror.

The aged Pastor Conor's face was distorted, and his strength was surprisingly great. John and Dr. Abel dragged him desperately, but the pastor still had the strength to rush out the door.

"Run! He's coming! He's coming!"

The high-pitched shout was filled with endless fear.

The pastor was in a daze, unable to turn at all, and would bump his head into the wall as he ran.

Seeing that something was wrong, the nun could only hug the pastor's leg from behind.

The three of them exerted their strength together, and Pastor Conor shook twice, panting heavily, and fell down in the corridor.

"Quick! Hold people down!"

Dr. Abel ran back to pick up the medicine box, found the syringe and the medicine bottle, and ran back quickly.

After a shot of morphine, the chaos finally subsided.

The old pastor's eyes were in a trance, and he was still repeating those few words:

"He's here, he's really here..."

"Who is he?" John couldn't help asking.

The nun and Dr. Abel also wanted to ask this question, so the three of them stared at the pastor together.

The old priest grinned suddenly, revealing a strange smile: "Jason."

John was startled, the intuitive alarm yelling frantically in his mind.

Doctor Abel next to him was full of doubts: "Jason? Who is this? There is no such person in Black Lagoon Town."

The nun was also shaking her head, apparently never having heard the name before.

"We have to tie Pastor Connor to the bed with a restraint belt. After he wakes up, he may still go crazy." Dr. Abel turned his head and motioned for John to help him.

John was still staring at the old pastor, he reacted suddenly, and immediately said: "There is frost everywhere here, and it can't be used at all until it's cleaned up. Do you want to send it to the clinic?"

"There are no more vacant beds in the clinic," said Dr. Abel with a headache.

The nun was restless because of this series of events. She muttered worriedly: "This is unusual, doctor, this is unusual. The church has not been able to withstand the demon's footsteps. It must be a demon. Otherwise, how could such a thing happen?"

"The devil," the old pastor suddenly opened his eyes, with a terrified expression, "the ghost ship is coming, here he is! He's coming for revenge!"

--------------------

The author has something to say:

Note: Sherlock Holmes detective novels are still being serialized, very popular

------

Note: Before the invention of sedatives and painkillers, morphine was used