[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

The title of Mary's second novel is The King of Carnival.

The inspiration naturally comes from Hugh Jackman's movie "The Greatest Showman"-although the original English title of this movie is "the greatest showman (the greatest showman)", Mary directly crowned the protagonist of the theft as "the king". "The appellation.

In the 21st century, such titles are everywhere, but many European countries in the Victorian era still had kings.But the story being told is centered on marketing anyway, and unlike murders and other types of criminal cases, Mary isn't shy about bragging.

"Serial Killer Chess Game" draws a good starting point for Philip Luther's detective experience: Although the overall attention is not extremely popular, people who read the story are too "detailed" about the murderer's modus operandi And psychological description mixed.

In terms of the level of online literature in the 21st century, Mary still has a writing style that doesn’t have many clicks and collections, but each speech in the comment area is a long-winded writing style.

It's a good start!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the second serialization will naturally put the gimmick on the bright side.

"The King of Carnival," the editor-in-chief Hall immediately laughed out loud, "You are really too bold, Miss Mary."

"Inappropriate?"

"Appropriate, this is really appropriate."

As he said that, he took out his own frames from the glasses case and put them on without haste: "You can accuse Barnum of being too public relations, you can say that he uses lies for publicity, and you can even say that he is a complete liar. But if you say that the carnival he brought to everyone is one-on-one, even the harshest critics can't point out the problem."

Mary curled her lips.

"I know it's risky to use pt Barnum as a prototype," says Marie, "but I'm personally very happy with my adaptation."

"I believe in your level."

Editor-in-chief Hall nodded happily: "But you are so confident that you are so humble, I can't help but start looking forward to it."

The story begins with Philip Luther receiving a telegram from Paris.

Detective Luther is an Englishman through and through. Even if he has a great reputation for solving crimes, he will never let people cross the English Channel to ask for help.

Received a commission from a foreign country, Philip Luther had not checked the content of the telegram carefully, and he understood in his heart: asking him to rush from London to Paris to solve the case, the client probably has only one purpose, and that is to take a fancy to his detective title.

After checking the telegram, his guess was indeed correct.

This is an official request from the Paris police. It is said that Pluto, the famous circus owner who is touring in Europe, announced in front of all the audience when he arrived in Paris for the first performance that he will stop at the Paris stop of the tour. On the last night of the [-]th, he will display the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre in the circus.

The borrowing of famous paintings is not something worth discussing, but what is incredible is that the Paris government has never said that it will lend the "Mona Lisa" to Pluto's circus for exhibition-which exhibition hall will Art lent to circus acts as gimmicks?Almost early the next morning, the curator of the Louvre issued a statement: It is absolutely impossible to lend the Mona Lisa to Pluto unless he steals it!

This statement can make the whole of Paris explode.

Could it be that Pluto and his circus are going to steal the "Mona Lisa"? !

In the telegram Luther received, the extremely brief sentences revealed the embarrassment of the police everywhere: arrest them, they have no evidence.Pluto did not say to steal the painting directly. If this is just a publicity stunt, it may be a fake or a real person dressed as Mona Lisa.

But let’s not arrest them, the public discussion in Paris is getting hotter and hotter, and if the “Mona Lisa” is really lost, they can’t bear the responsibility.

The current Deputy Chief of the Paris Police Department had a relationship with Luther and his wife who had not passed away in the early years.Knowing that he just recovered from the grief of losing his wife because of a serial killer case, he thought about it, so he asked him to take a look at the situation.

The deputy director's words are particularly nice: If there is a case, you will not be idle; if there is no case, just treat it as if I invited you to Paris for a few days.

In Luther's view, the circus owner's unexplainable "nonsense" is, in all likelihood, nine out of ten, but a gimmick thought up for the purpose of selling tickets.

The European tour is the last stop of Pluto's circus, and it has to be finished with something big.It doesn't matter if it's a false advertisement, anyway, the tickets have already been sold, and they left after the performance. The subsequent infamy and attacks are nothing more than adding a reverse legend to a vigorous performance.

But not long after Luther got involved in the serial killer case, he had nothing to do at home, and he couldn't help recalling the time when he was in love with his wife when he was free, so he agreed to the deputy director's invitation without much hesitation.

Seeing this, Editor-in-Chief Hall said with emotion: "I can already foresee how those critics who disliked Philip Luther will criticize in the first serialization."

"Because there are too many gimmicks?"

"Because at a glance, I know that the prototype of the circus owner is Barnum himself."

Isn't that why Mary lost a lot of thinking when looking for a motive for the theft.

At first, she thought, it would be easy to find a plausible motive—as long as the circus owner did everything for the sake of others.

Mary thought about raising money for her seriously ill loved one, and about setting up a treatment fund for leprosy and deformed children.But jumping out of the framework of the novel and thinking about it in connection with reality, when everyone knows who the prototype is, forcibly adding good things that the prototype did not do to the image in the story is somewhat "deliberately whitewashed".

If the writing is too extreme, some people may think that Philip Luther was paid to write it.

So the circus case fell into the same troubles that Mary had when she wrote the serial killer case, that is, it was easy to think about it, but it took Mary a long time to think about it when she actually wrote it.

Fortunately, in the end, she found a reasonable motive.

Since ancient times, countless writers have encountered a problem when they wrote their creations—that is, what should the protagonist do when he encounters an unsolvable dilemma?

The best way is to set up another dilemma.

Mary gave up the idea of ​​looking for good qualities in Barnum himself. She changed her mind and turned to a direct and effective plan: let the circus owner Pluto successfully obtain the real "Mona Lisa", The way to have a public exhibition on the last night of the tour is to put a real theft on top of a fake theft.

The thread of the story immediately became clear.

Pluto, the owner of the circus who knew in advance that someone really planned to steal the "Mona Lisa", did not tell the police about the thief's plan, but turned it into a grand carnival of his own.

Pluto's public announcement of the date on which the Mona Lisa will leave the Louvre is tantamount to giving thieves a perfect opportunity to steal the painting, no matter who stole it or whether it is on display, as long as the Mona Lisa Sarah disappeared that day, and all the crimes must be attributed to the circus owner.

But at the same time, he found Luther.

In the process of investigating the case, in order to catch the real gang of thieves, Luther had to resort to tricks and persuaded the Paris government to lend the painting to Pluto.

This is the best of both worlds.

The circus owner fulfilled his promise. On the last night of his European tour, he let the beautiful trapeze lady hold up Da Vinci's famous works in mid-air; De and the police also successfully caught the thieves who were going to take advantage of it for nothing.

In this way, neither will the circus owner's motive of making money be whitewashed, nor will he be stigmatized as a thief with ulterior motives.In the finale, people in Paris saw the performance they wanted, and saw that the boss fulfilled his promise, and Pluto even took Philip Luther to the stage in person, announcing in public that the famous detective had caught everyone while watching the performance. Lived the real thieves.

An all-night carnival was ignited, which can be said to be a happy ending.

At the same time, Mary did not forget her original intention.Barnum's circus members include blacks, Asians, and disabled people with disabilities.

During the investigation of the case, these circus members contributed their wisdom and abilities one after another and helped Luther a lot.

She spends far more ink on the circus members than on Pluto himself.Mary doesn't think that her description can make people in the nineteenth century quickly notice the various discriminations in society and the marginalized groups hidden in the shadow of society, but she writes a little more, which is better than not writing at all.

The case of "The King of Carnival" is also not long, about [-] to [-] words like the previous one.

But this time, Editor-in-Chief Hall's expression when he finished reading the manuscript let Mary know that he obviously preferred "The King of Carnival" to "Serial Killer Chess Game".

"I thought you would have a poignant love story," the editor-in-chief put down the manuscript and said with a smile, "but I didn't expect that you would add another major meritorious service to Detective Luther's resume."

Mary has indeed thought about a poignant love story, but she is not a delicate and emotional girl. Mary thinks it is better for her to focus on what she is good at.

"There are many writers who are good at describing emotions." Mary blinked, "I'd better not insult myself."

"Please don't underestimate yourself, Miss," the editor replied, "Although the love between Detective Luther and his late wife is not well-informed, it can really make people feel that the relationship between the two is very deep. But the description of the case is indeed the part you are good at. This time The theft case in the movie does not have so many reasoning and suspenseful processes, but with the addition of circus members, it becomes very novel and interesting."

Mary also added this layer for fun.The detection of a theft case is not as thrilling and exciting as a murder case. However, let the acrobat girl get information, and let the dwarf performing a unicycle eavesdrop on the secrets of the gang of thieves. This kind of plot setting can be regarded as closely related to the theme of "carnival" up.

If the case of "Serial Killer Chess Game" is gloomy and serious because it involves human life, the style of "The King of Carnival" becomes gorgeous and romantic because of the background of the circus.

With the first draft, Mary is more or less emboldened.

Hearing the praise from Editor-in-Chief Hall, she boldly said, "Then I'll assume that you like this story."

Editor-in-chief: "Of course I like it. Your progress is very obvious, Miss Mary. If there is any doubt, the only thing is your manuscript fee."

While talking, the editor-in-chief Hall weighed in on the manuscript in his hand: "The reverse of the first story is amazing, and then "King of Carnival" can give you more sections, and it will be serialized in three issues. As for the manuscript fee..."

"please say."

"Ten pounds."

Mary smiled.

The manuscript fee for "Serial Killer Chess Game" is twelve pounds. Editor-in-chief Hall has boasted for so long, how could it be lower than the first article?So Mary was not in a hurry, let alone being fooled, and just waited for the editor-in-chief to continue with a smile.

Seeing that she is very calm, the editor-in-chief is very satisfied.

"Ten pounds an issue, and that's the bottom line," he announced. "I'm going to order all of your next work, Miss Mary. But I'll promise you nothing if you submit it to the Seaside Magazine." The remuneration is less than ten pounds per issue. And after you finish the third or fourth serial, I can also recommend a publisher to you to compile the stories of Philip Luther into a book, what do you think?"

In other words, she could get thirty pounds for just one serialization of "The King of Carnival"!

Not only that, the editor-in-chief promised a minimum of ten pounds.If the response of "The King of Carnival" is good, Mary can even bargain with the editor-in-chief of Hall, and strive for a better payment for the third serial.

Although he knew that the editor-in-chief of Hall was asking a high price for fear that Mary would be poached, how could Mary refuse such a generous offer?

"Then I hope that "The King of Carnival" will get a higher response," Mary said with a smile, "so as not to disappoint your expectations."

"I trust my own eyes."

Editor Hall took off his glasses: "By the way, I heard that Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy has found his true love, and this lucky lady happens to be your sister?"

Mary: "I think Mr. Darcy is luckier."

Editor-in-Chief Hall couldn't help but smile: "That's true. Although Mr. Darcy and I have only met once, the lady who can make him fall in love is naturally perfect. Congratulations to your sister, Miss Mary."

"I will convey it," said Mary, "and since you know Mr. Darcy, will you go to their wedding?"

"I leave London, who will publish the magazine?"

Editor-in-Chief Hall blinked: "Stop passing me your wishes, Miss, I heard that Pemberley Manor is picturesque and a good place for vacation and rest."

It is indeed a good place.

But Mary started another topic with a smile: "Yes, I am looking forward to the scenery of Pemberley Manor, but before that, I still have one thing to do in London."

"Oh?"

Editor Hall became interested: "What could be more important than your sister's wedding?"

Mary: "I need to book an apartment in London."

The author has something to say: Mary: I have a small amount of money, 0v0!If you have a small amount of money, you can rent a house, and if you rent a house, you can settle in London. If you settle in London, you can take risks with the detective. If you take an adventure together, you can marry the detective and become a ginseng winner!

And it’s still the same, all the figures related to the price and remuneration of the consumption level are all made up by me, don’t take it seriously...