[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

We can finally go to Monsourt.

Mary is not afraid of difficulties and dangers. Compared with difficult conditions and tense confrontations, she is more afraid of things not knowing when they will come to fruition.She didn't come to Paris just for sightseeing, and the feeling of waiting for the next clue to develop was really uncomfortable.

Mary prefers to take the initiative rather than wait.

The night before she left, Mary handed to Irene the box entrusted to her by Mr. Mycroft Holmes.When Irene opened the box and saw the exquisite sniper rifle inside, she showed a complicated expression.

"This is……"

Irene Adler was silent for a moment, and tentatively said: "This is not your thing."

Mary: "Colonel Sebastian Moran's sniper rifle. Do you know Mr. Mycroft, Irene?"

Erin: "..."

The soprano of the Paris Opera House closed the box: "I don't know Mr. Mycroft, but I have heard about it. It is said that the detective's two actions were supported by his brother."

Mary: "Yes. Mr. Mycroft entrusted me to give you the box, and said that when you see the sniper rifle, you will immediately understand what he means."

Erin: "I see."

She didn't bother and didn't explain.Ms. Irene Adler just carefully put away the box containing the parts of the sniper rifle, and then temporarily left the bedroom with her skirt in her hand. Within 5 minutes, she returned with a pistol.

"It's still like London," Irene put the gun in Mary's palm, "and strapped to your thigh. I heard that the situation in Monsau is very tense now. The workers are on the verge of breaking out, and the strike may turn into violence at any time. This Not in Whitechapel, Mary, you have Irish workers for support. French miners don't know you, to them you are no different from bourgeois who lie on good food and suck human blood, so don't Take it lightly, you must have a gun with you at all times."

Mary wasn't nervous at first, but after Irene told her, she also became anxious.

"I hope I won't use it." Mary said solemnly, gripping the pistol tightly.

"I hope so too," Irene sighed. "How's your marksmanship?"

"I have been looking for opportunities to train since you left London," Mary replied, "but the time is too short, and I can't promise to be as perfect as you."

"It's ok."

Irene hooked her lips: "You don't want to hurt anyone, do you? Whether it is a bourgeois or a worker, class conflict does not mean that the position is good or bad. You know this better than me. When facing innocent people, even if it is I'm not going to pull the trigger lightly either."

Mary: "Then I'll take a gun..."

Irene: "Just like you threatened the members of the Illuminati, it's just scaring people. When the situation is critical, you don't need to see blood, just shoot into the sky to demonstrate. Ordinary people will flinch because of the weapons you carry, even if your The same goes for a pistol that doesn't repel a crowd."

Mary thought for a while, and this is the truth.

Luckily they don't live in America, not in the American West.Europe at the end of the nineteenth century did not have strict gun regulations like in the future, but not everyone could carry a gun. It is not enough to be able to scare people in the face of bandits.

Next, Irene described in detail the judgments that should be made in other crisis situations. Each of the scenes was scarier than the other, and Mary memorized them all.

She didn't want any of the hypotheses in Irene's mouth to come true. However, Mary didn't want to revisit the underground prison of the Blackwood mansion again.

The next day at the train station, Sherlock Holmes, who had disappeared all day, arrived as scheduled, and the two boarded the train to Marchenne.

The first time Mary stepped out of Longbourn alone, she was going to an industrial town; now she is in a foreign country, leaving her friends to go to an industrial town.However, Marchenne and Milton are completely different. Even though they are both industrial-oriented and on strike, Mary feels a different atmosphere immediately after getting off the train.

When Milton went on strike, except for the factories and workers' gathering places, some parts of the town still operated as usual—at least the train station, but it was different from Marchenne. Realized the urgency of the situation for the first time.

There are black, black-painted brick houses, gray streets, closed shops and unbuilt construction sites.Not to mention the skies and air already polluted by mining.This is still the case during the shutdown of the Mengsu Coal Mine. It is really hard for Mary to imagine the conditions here when the work officially starts.

After Mary and Holmes arrived, reporter Franz Harvey, who had come to Monsau earlier, hurried over.

"Mr. Holmes, Miss Mary!"

Not seen for a few months, Mr. Harvey looked more informal than when he left London. The journalists who went deep into the working people were almost the same as the miners at first glance, wearing thin clothes in the cold weather, and even stained their shoes. Dirt and soot.After saying hello, his expression was still solemn, and he stared at Mary with bright eyes for a while: "You shouldn't come, Miss Mary, the situation is getting more and more tense now, when the time comes for the workers to fuck, it is very likely to hurt you."

Mary: "So the workers are ready for the first time?"

Reporter Harvey paused, then shook his head helplessly: "You are indeed very perceptive, miss."

He looked a little headache, but also very firm.

“I came here with funding from the Workers’ International,” the reporter said, “but there are too many workers in the Mengsou Coal Mine, and the international support is just a drop in the bucket. There are more and more people starving, and if things go on like this, you can only talk about protests. But even if it is organized, the workers in Montsou do not know you, and you are not a Communist, Miss Mary, and you will not be of much use here."

"I can try."

Mary was not so pessimistic. If she was really useless, Mr. Holmes would not have specially invited her over: "At least the workers know you and Sherlock."

After being specifically named, Sherlock Holmes, who had been silent all this time, spoke up: "I agree with some of Mr. Harvey's views, Mary. I don't think you should contact workers at this moment."

Mary: "So what do you want me to do?"

Holmes: "...you come with me."

After putting down her salute, Mary followed the detective and the reporter out of the room.

They walked all the way towards the stone road, walked out of the town, and walked to a place where the stone road could not be extended.The loess on the plain replaced the paved road, and the mud stuck to the shoes under her feet. Mary immediately understood where the mud and soot on the soles of Harvey's reporter's shoes came from.After leaving the town, they also passed an abandoned coal mine. The collapsed shaft building showed a dilapidated and dirty scene.

In the state of strike, everything was so lifeless, the ruins stretched across the plain like a dead giant, and the corpse rotted with the wind and sun, but no one could move him.

The ruins were not a one-day trip, and they must have been abandoned long before the strike, but under the grim atmosphere, such a scene still made Mary terrified.

They stopped in front of a certain miners' village.

Looking at the past, Mary can even see the suspended mines and bleak shaft buildings, and what is more intuitive is the tense air in the miners' village.The streets were deserted, and Mary wondered if the workers were gathering at home, or finding somewhere to hide from the police.But when she saw all the scenes with her own eyes, she understood why Sherlock Holmes didn't speak out to explain, but used the real situation to explain everything.

Marchena was no Milton, and a starving miner was no union-backed cotton spinner.What is more, the bourgeois of the Mengsou coal mines is not Mr. John Thornton, self-made, hard-working, poor and able to make concessions.Investors don't care about the life and death of workers, and such contradictions cannot be reconciled at all.

Therefore, Mary, who is wearing a clean dress, may not be able to gain the trust of the workers even if she is holding the "Communist Manifesto". They may not even know what it is, because the workers cannot read.

But Marie did not come to Montsou for curiosity either.

She thought about it for a moment, contacted the few words revealed by the students of the University of Paris before coming to Monsou, and tentatively said: "Instead of contacting workers, do you want me to contact investors, Sherlock? The Russian anarchists are just one of the clues." Since Professor Moriarty has been to the North, it is possible that he was involved."

Holmes nodded: "Yes. You know Ms. Irene Adler, Mary. This is a unique condition. And it is convincing enough to come here to collect materials and use Barnum's name."

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of investors, the more Mary puts on a "I'm free" attitude, the more trust she can gain.Mary had heard of many nobles or bourgeois wives, and for the purpose of curiosity, they would visit the places of the poor and show kindness in a symbolic way.

It is much more convenient for Mary to assume this posture.

She had thought she was going to keep a low profile in Marchenne, so that didn't seem to be the case.

"The hotel can't be accommodated," Mary said firmly, "I have to rent an apartment and find a maid."

"This matter is on me." Reporter Harvey said.

Mary shook her head.

"No," she said, "Just tell me who is in charge of the Mengsu Coal Mine, and I'll pay a visit. It's better to be the general manager, or an investor."

Isn't it easy to pretend to be an ignorant young lady!It's too simple to be low-key and simple.

Sherlock Holmes immediately informed Mary of her intentions: "Just do it, Mary, and Mycroft will be responsible for all expenses at the Montsour Coal Mine."

Mary: "..."

Holmes: "What?"

Mary: "Nothing."

She breathed a sigh of relief immediately, following the order to waste money, don't blame her for being rude!

The author has something to say: Mary: Hey, spending money according to orders!Why isn't this in Paris!