[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

By now, it is not unusual for Mary to encounter any famous novel characters.

It's just that in Mary's mind, the image of Detective Hercule Poirot has always been a short and slightly fat middle-aged man with a mustache, exquisite clothes, and an amiable personality.She never thought that Detective Poirot was still young, but now, when Poirot, a young man in his 20s, appeared in front of Mary, her first reaction was...

Mary silently averted her eyes from young Poirot's hairline.

Well, it seems that Mr. Poirot's egg head, which impressed everyone in later generations, can be traced when he was young.

"Please don't worry, Miss Irene," said young Poirot in English, perhaps because he had heard that Ms. Irene Adler was an Englishman at heart, "but ask the people in the theater as a matter of routine. Any clues."

As he spoke, he politely asked Irene and Mary to sit down, and before starting, he looked at Mary specifically: "Who is this lady?"

Erin: "This is Mary Bennet, an English friend of mine."

Poirot: "enchante, moidemoiselle (nice to meet, miss), I am sorry that you also encountered such an unfortunate incident during your travels."

He used it too.Mary smiled politely: "enchante, monsieur (nice to meet, sir). If there is anything we can do to help, Irene and I will do our best."

"No big problem," said Poirot reassuringly. "Miss Irene, please come here. I just want to ask where she was last night."

"If you're talking about the time of the incident," Erin replied, "I was in the theater, but I was resting in my dressing room after the show and didn't leave until late at night. The little ballerina who was there at the time , my tenor partner, and the porter and other field workers can attest that I never left the dressing room."

Poirot nodded: "I asked two theater managers before, and they also mentioned this."

According to the information Mary knows, Irene herself said that she was with her lover, which can testify that the murderer is not the real Phantom of the Opera.And this also proves that everyone seeing Irene in the dressing room doesn't mean she is really in the dressing room.

If Mr. Poirot finds any loopholes, Irene will not only be unable to protect her lover, but will become one of the suspects.

This inevitably made Mary's heart hang.

"Then Miss Irene," continued Poirot, "did you hear anything unusual in the dressing room?"

Erin shook her head.

"The incident happened in the backstage, and my dressing room is far away. If I could hear the situation immediately, then the adjacent dressing room should be able to too. But it is a pity that the performance was over at that time, and there was quite a lot of noise outside the door. There were not only actors removing their make-up, but also audiences who came to visit the singers and actors in the dressing room, and like other performers, I didn’t hear any sound.”

Mr. Poirot pondered for a moment: "Last question, Miss Irene, when was the last time you saw the victim Joseph Bouquet last night?"

"Before I go on stage to perform." Erin said firmly.

She recalled the situation at that time, and slowly narrated: "Before I went on stage, I heard that Joseph Bouguer was scaring the little ballet dancers with some theater ghosts. He was always talking about these things and often disturbed a few little girls. Nightmare. So I was very annoyed by it, and left after a few reprimands. I didn’t see him again, and it was already the next morning when I learned of his death.”

Poirot: "According to the manager, you are not on good terms with Joseph Bouquet."

In the face of questioning, Irene was very calm: "Yes, he said that I am a woman from the ghost of the theater, married a devil as a wife, and sold my soul in exchange for a good voice. I will never allow anyone to slander and slander like this. Therefore, I There was a conflict with him."

Mary:!

This, Irene didn't say anything yesterday.

Mary was shocked and worried at the same time, but she kept her face taut at the critical moment so as not to arouse Poirot's alarm.

It's not that Mary intends to hide it for Irene, but that she trusts her friend.Even if Irene really concealed something, it was definitely out of her own considerations, and there would be no bad intentions. Strictly speaking, Ms. Irene Adler did not deceive Poirot, she was just misleading.She did not deny that she knew the ghost of the theater, but said that "defamation and slander are not allowed", but she did not say whether she was defaming herself or the ghost of the theater that should not have existed.

To be honest, although Mary helped Mr. Holmes track down the two major cases, this is the first time she has really come into contact with the criminal investigation process-there is no chance for Moriarty and the Illuminati to follow the actual police investigation method, point by point. Check out the alibi evidence at every point, piece together and restore the incident, and then find loopholes to find the answer.

Most of the most popular cases of Detective Poirot in later generations took place in relatively closed environments: trains, cruise ships and so on.Now, in the Paris Opera House, where people come and go and is quite lively, if we want to detect it, there must be more people visiting and investigating.

Poirot's questioning allowed Mary to collect some useful information.

First, the case happened after the performance last night, and it must have been when even the staff had basically left—it was probably midnight, otherwise it would have been impossible for someone to discover that Joseph Bouquet had died backstage the next day.

Second, the deceased is the same person who was murdered by "Ghost" Eric in "The Phantom of the Opera", but he was not hanged on the stage like the original.As for how he died, Mary had to ask.

Thirdly, Irene is vague to herself, let alone tell the truth to Detective Poirot.Although Mary believed in Poirot's ability and Irene's ingenuity to find the real culprit, she didn't want her friend to be put at any risk.If she can help, she must help Irene.

After thinking about it, Mary decided to ask questions from the crime scene first.

She considered the sentence for a while, and then said, "Sir, may I ask some questions about the case?"

Poirot was a little surprised, but he didn't refuse.Instead, he politely replied in English with a French accent: "If there is something that can be said, I will definitely say it, Miss Mary."

Mary: "I—"

"—how are you doing!"

Just as Mary spoke, the door of the theater office was suddenly pushed open, and two French men came in, which shocked Mary.

"Ah, let me introduce," Irene said hastily, "these two are the directors of the Paris Opera House, M. de Buena and M. Pollini."

One of the theater managers asked with concern: "How is your investigation, M. Poirot?"

Poirot: "I'm investigating for evidence."

Theater Manager: "You must hurry, sir! Tonight's performance has been cancelled, and we cannot cancel tomorrow night. How many tourists have returned this whole night, and how much the theater has lost! The Paris Opera House is our French The pride of man, you have to pull yourself together!"

Poirot: "..."

The young detective's mustache twitched, his face expressionless: "Actually, sir, I'm from Brussels."

Theater Manager: "Northern France is also France."

Poirot: "..."

Another theater manager stabbed his colleague: "Don't be ashamed, Brussels is the capital of Belgium!"

Irene couldn't help laughing: "Okay, since you believe in Detective Poirot's reputation, you have to believe that he can take care of this matter. As for you, gentlemen, why not do something better and arrange theater work."

"Miss Irene is right."

Fortunately, the two theater managers were not all brainless. Seeing that Irene was walking down the steps, one of them immediately pulled the other to say a few good words, and then said to Poirot with apology: "Next is Sorélie. , but she was terrified by the murder and refused to come over.”

As soon as Poirot heard that a woman was frightened, he said: "Our purpose is to catch the real murderer, not to intimidate the innocent. Since Miss Sorelli is frightened, let others come over first."

"That's fine, that's fine."

The two theater managers took the task and hurried out of the office to find someone.

At last Marie had the opportunity to observe the young M. Poirot well.

If Holmes's acting style is decisive, fierce, and rational to the point of almost inhumanity, then Poirot makes people feel like a spring breeze when they get along with each other.Hearing that a young lady was afraid because of the murder case, he specially gave her time to sort out her emotions, which can be described as extremely considerate.

If it were Sherlock Holmes, the big things are not as important as solving the case.If Miss Sorelli refused to come, he would definitely raise his leg and ask the door for a question—it wasn’t that Mary disliked Sherlock Holmes and was incomprehensible. In Mary’s eyes, this was the most lovable thing about Mr. Holmes.Just by comparing, it is enough to see the completely different styles of the two detectives.

Especially even though the young Poirot is not a tall gentleman with a worrying hairline, he still wins the favor of Mary and Irene.

"Sir," Mary couldn't help asking curiously, "the newspaper says you are a great detective, are you a policeman?"

"I'm not."

Not involved in the case, Poirot answered Mary's question solemnly: "Although I consider becoming a policeman, I hope to cooperate with the Belgian police department, but I don't really want to start as a policeman who runs errands. So the Paris newspaper said that I am What a great detective, just because I occasionally do a few small favors for the police in Brussels."

This is true.

Ms. Agatha Christie was terribly prolific and wrote more than eighty detective novels in her life.As the author, Mary sincerely admires her inspiration and output speed.However, this also made it difficult for Mary to remember at what age Mr. Hercule Poirot entered the police station and at what age he left the police station to become a private detective.

But hearing what Mr. Poirot said, and he looked very young, he seemed not a few years older than Mary, which made Mary feel that the Poirot in this world might not have become a member of the Belgian police.

"Thank you for helping Erin and her friends," Mary said heartily. "You're on vacation after all."

Having said that, Mr. Poirot is too unlucky to encounter bizarre murders every time he goes on vacation!

Apparently not only Mary thought so, but Irene also thought so. She said with regret: "I heard that you just bought tonight's performance. I'm sorry, sir. But I'm invited by Earl Faye tomorrow night, and I will attend His salon holds private performances. If you don't dislike small places and ostentation, please allow me to beg you to accompany me as my male companion, as compensation."

"It's my pleasure, Miss Irene," said Poirot, "and your friend, Miss Mary...?" The implication is that since Mary came from England, it was another murder case and a private party. , wouldn't it be good to neglect Miss Mary?

"I won't delay Irene's work," said Mary hastily.

"It's ok."

Irene still had a gentle and tolerant smile, but what she said could not be questioned: "Mary naturally wants to go with her. Although it is the Earl's salon, I can also invite my friends. By the way, Mary is in London. A quite discussed detective novel writer and private detective, you and she can be regarded as half colleagues, sir."

"So Miss Mary is also a private detective?" Mr. Poirot was very surprised.

"I'm only a novice," said Mary. "As for the detective, it's Mr. Sherlock, who's also in France, but not in Paris."

Which suspense reasoning lover doesn't want to see Sherlock Holmes and Poirot on the same stage?Even Lady Agatha herself was a loyal reader of Sir Conan Doyle.Mary could not restrain her excitement at the thought that the two world famous detectives might have a chance to meet.

But what she didn't expect was that Poirot was taken aback when he heard the name "Sherlock".

"Sherlock," he asked, "you mean Sherlock Holmes?"

Mary: "..."

Hey?

Hey? ? ?

The author has something to say: Yesterday a girl asked if Poirot could be promoted as the second male lead, this...you really asked Jiang Hua!

That’s right, although it’s written about Poirot in his twenties, in my mind Poirot will always be that chubby, egg-headed, middle-aged uncle, so I have a very serious question for you guys True fans of Poirot, that is, uh, Poirot in his twenties who is... bald...

Mary: What's the matter with you sisters, you always plan to arrange a bald young man for me as the male second? ?

Poirot in his 20s: ?

Blackwood, who has already received the bento:? ? ? ? ? ? ?