[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

During the strike period, everyone in the miners' village had no work to do, so it was very easy for Mary to find a maid.Madame Hénebeau wanted to make friends with the young girl "from Paris", and the next day found a suitable candidate from the nearby miners' village.

The girl she brought was Katrin, who she said was 15 years old.Mary wasn't sure if she was really 15—the miner's daughter was good-looking, especially pleasant, but also emaciated and pale from chronic malnutrition.

Katrin stood in front of the apartment door, saying that she refused to enter the door wearing muddy shoes, but she was smart enough to take off her shoes and step on the floor barefoot.

This kind of action won Mrs. Enebo's favor, but it made Mary feel a little sad.

But Mary couldn't show it, so she had to put on a look of indifference, but when she heard that she was the daughter of a worker's family, she had already decided on the candidate.She needs a maid who can cover, and the child of the worker's family will naturally understand what Mary really does.

Besides, Mary didn't get much useful information in two days.

Mrs. Grégoire and her daughter don't know much. Miss Grégoire is about the same age as Lydia this year, but she shows more innocence and innocence than Lydia who has not yet stepped out of Longbourn. .

Although not as short-sighted and indifferent as Lydia in the past, Miss Grégoire knew almost nothing about things outside her own mansion.She didn't know where the money for her food and clothing came from, and she didn't know what the consequences of Mr. Enebo's recent headache strike would be. She was a model of why not eat meat.

After getting along for a day and a half, Mary already knew the family history of the Grégoire family.

Mr. John Thornton of Milton is a self-made doer. He has experienced poverty, does everything by himself, and is willing to communicate after seeing the hardships of the workers. In Mary's eyes, he can be regarded as a capitalist with a conscience—and Gray The Gouvas were almost the exact opposite of Mr Thornton.

Their fortunes all depended on their ancestors' modest investment. With the change of management and the changes of the times, the profit increased. The Grégoire family didn't care about world affairs, didn't care about anything that happened in reality, and didn't even understand their ancestors' investment. The former Mengsu Coal Mine was managed entirely by Mr. Enebo.The family of three did nothing, but got money for nothing, and lived a luxurious life lying on the flesh and blood of the coal miners and even their corpses.

If it is said that Mr. Thornton is kind-hearted and upright, and he and the workers he hired were far from being completely opposed to each other before, then the Gregoire family, in Mary's view, are real exploiters.

The more she listened to Miss Grégoire's almost ridiculously childish topics, the more Mary could understand how the workers of the Montsou coal mine were driven to a dead end.

So that afternoon, after seeing off the wives, Mary made a gesture of investigating and researching. On the surface, she asked Catherine to take her around the town to see the lives of the workers with her own eyes, but in fact, she went straight to the agreed Good hotel, knocked on the closed door, found Sherlock Holmes and reporter Harvey.

"Nothing," said Marie, discouraged, as soon as she saw her two acquaintances. "Mrs. Grégoire and her daughter know almost nothing."

Reporter Harvey laughed a few times: "Don't worry, Miss Mary, let me introduce you to our worker friend. This is Etienne."

Etienne?

Mary was taken aback by the familiar name, and then she looked at the young man beside reporter Harvey.

A skinny young man with brown hair, he is not bad, but poverty makes him look miserable, only his firm eyes show his heart.Mary remembered this name. When Mr. Holmes returned to Paris, he was entrusted by him to find the laundry worker, which made Mary and Lydia meet Nora who had run away from home by accident.

Mary was looking at Etienne, and Etienne was also looking at Mary. Reporter Harvey introduced in a timely manner: "This is Miss Mary."

Etienne suddenly realized, and the vigilance was gone.

"It turns out that you are the lady who assisted Mr. Holmes in his investment investigation," he said.

"……Yes."

It seems that the greetings were made in advance. Since she is one of her own, Mary no longer hides it: "I believe that Mr. Holmes has already told you about his visit?"

Étienne: "He thinks someone is playing tricks among investors, deliberately shorting shares or forcing shareholders to go bankrupt, causing chaos in the coal mining market."

Holmes: "Now it seems that it may not only be among investors."

Étienne was silent.

The hotel fell silent for a while, but Catherine, who brought Mary to visit, was full of confusion.The young girl looked left and right, and saw that the parties concerned seemed to know each other well, so she said impatiently, "What trouble, what chaos? Etienne, what are you talking about?" , why don't I know these things?"

Catherine looked at Etienne with a clear conscience, obviously the two were very familiar with each other, but Etienne avoided Catherine's gaze and said bluntly: "This matter has nothing to do with you, what are you doing here?"

Katrin frowned: "I am Miss Mary's maid now, of course I have to be present."

Étienne: "You—"

If Mary couldn't see that there was something between them, wouldn't she be blind to her title of matchmaker?But now is not the time to quarrel and "flirt". Reporter Harvey interrupted Etienne in time: "Okay, this is not a place to talk, let's talk in the room."

Everyone came to the hotel room where the Harvey reporter lived. The reporter sent by the Workers International had natural trust in the Mengsou Coal Mine. He succinctly relayed the intention of Sherlock Holmes to come to France, and explained that Mary was here to assist in the investigation. , which surprised Katrin greatly.

"I thought it was a nobleman from somewhere," Catherine stroked her chest and said, "I didn't expect you to be a detective, Miss Mary!"

Mary smiled bitterly: "Forgive me for not being able to disclose my identity."

Recalling Mary's indifferent expression when talking to Mrs. Enebo, Catherine laughed out loud: "You really pretend, miss, I've never seen Mrs. Enebo take soft nails in front of anyone. .”

"It's better not to make this matter public, not even your parents," Harvey reporter warned. "In case of alarm, not only will the investigation be difficult to proceed, but even Mr. Holmes and Miss Mary may be in danger."

"I promise with my life that I won't say anything," Catherine immediately revealed, "Miss Mary is my employer now, how can there be any reason for a maid to betray her employer?"

Mary nodded gratefully: "Thank you, Katrin."

After finally explaining the matter clearly, Mary once again mentioned the difficulties she encountered: "The Gregoire family doesn't know anything about coal mines, and their family neither participates in investment nor management. Rong, there is too little information available."

At this point, Mary felt a little frustrated.

What troubles her most on weekdays is private conversations between girls. Now that she has invested so much energy, she has basically gained nothing. It is almost a waste of effort.

"It's okay."

But the same result has another meaning in the eyes of Sherlock Holmes.

"The Grégoire family knows nothing, and in turn, they won't be on guard against you," the detective analyzed. "As long as they can treat you as their own, this is a good opportunity to get in touch with other coal mine investors." .You know Ms. Irene, Mary, and during this time in Paris, you have indeed been in the social circles of high society. This is your unique advantage. Only you among us have access to inside information belonging to the bourgeoisie."

From what Holmes said, Mary felt much better, but...

She grasped one point keenly: "You put me on standby in Paris, Sherlock, did you plan this one long ago?"

The detective quickly twitched the corner of his mouth, noncommittal.

He retracted his gaze and looked at reporter Harvey with sharp eyes: "Miss Mary and I inquired in Paris that Professor Moriarty is not only in contact with capitalists in the north, but also Russian rebels in his social circle. "

"Rebels?" Étienne wondered.

"People who fight against the government."

"..."

Reporter Harvey's face changed when he heard the words: "Suvarin!"

Mary: "Who?"

"A mechanic from Russia," replied the Harvey reporter, "who was said to be from a good family, but who was persecuted for being an anarchist and came to Monsour. Although he did not approve of the workers' strike behavior, But they don’t support the capitalists either, so the relationship between the workers is not bad, and they can even help out with a few words.”

Mary probably understood the man's position.

The political purpose of anarchists is to destroy the government, and the current French government is naturally capitalists, so to some extent, their position is similar to that of workers.Because of this, it was no accident that the mechanic could speak among the workers of Mengsu.

Even so, it seems that Professor Moriarty is not only disrupting the market, he is also demagoguery.

only……

After getting the news on the front foot, I found the relevant person on the back foot. Could it be a bit too coincidental?

Mary looked at Holmes. The detective was deep in thought and had no intention of speaking.

After a long time, he said, "Don't disturb Suvarin for the time being. The clue points directly to him, but it seems too simple. Mary, please continue to keep in touch with Gregoire's family. We cannot give up this clue."

Mary nodded heavily.

Fortunately, there is no gain at the beginning, but it does not mean that there is no gain all the time.

A week after Marie came to the town of Massenac, Madame Grégoire invited her to visit her mansion. In addition to Marie, Madame Hénebeau, and the owner of the Vendame coal mine, Deneland Sir——Compared with the Grégoire family, who are sitting and eating, Mr. Denelin is a diligent operator. He chatted with Mr. Grégoire about the coal mine. Mary asked curiously, Before she could take the initiative to mention it, the two capitalists took the initiative to talk about the topic of Mary's concern during the meeting.

"I say that other people shouldn't listen to 'the professor'," Mr. Denelan said rather annoyed. The people in the coal mines are in trouble, and the industrial crisis is getting worse, what should we do?"

Mary Yilin: "Who is 'that professor'?"