[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

Because Sykes was shot, Sir Blackwood followed Mary and his party to the police station.

After the two girls finished communicating with Charlie Berry, the police also ended their simple questioning of Sir Blackwood.He caught sight of Mary, nodded at her, and smiled.

Mary thought that the police would embarrass Sir by shooting in public, but judging by his smile, the situation should not be bad.

Sir walked forward, his tall and broad figure could almost completely cover the petite Mary.But the difference in size did not make him overwhelm others with arrogance. On the contrary, Sir Blackwood deliberately slowed down his expression, chose to keep a suitable distance, and tried his best not to make Mary feel troublesome or laborious when speaking.

"Although I was the one who stopped the murderer," Jazz said briskly, "but ten pounds will be waived, Miss Mary, and the award should be given to you who helped Scotland Yard solve the case."

"..."

Sykes died so badly that Mary even forgot her reward!

She laughed at Blackwood's teasing, for the last shadow of death was gone.

"Since it's you, it's free," Mary blinked mischievously. "Ten pounds can help a poor man survive the cold winter, but it's just a drop in the bucket for you, sir, so leave it to me." Ladies who work hard to make money!"

The jazz nodded happily: "Naturally, Miss, although I never expected to meet you again in the Parish of Whitechapel."

This is the rhythm to get to the point.

Nor did it occur to Mary: "What are you doing in the slums, ser?"

This is too strange, a gentleman who is luxuriously dressed, handsome, and has a noble title, why would he go to the slums?Mary didn't think she was suffering from hypochondria. No matter how you looked at it, there was something wrong with it.

However, Sir Blackwood's attitude was extremely calm.

There was a clear look in his handsome brows and eyes: "I'm here to visit the vicar of the Parish of Whitechapel."

"Is he your friend?" Mary asked.

"No, I'm here to find someone."

"Find someone?"

Blackwood faintly put away his smile.

"Since the wedding of Mr. Darcy to your sister, Miss Mary, I have been back in London, and I have been surprised to hear that my old friend, a noble gentleman, has a blood spilled," Sir explained, "though a illegitimate child, But he is also the beneficiary of his father’s will. In order to fulfill the entrustment of an old friend, I made many inquiries and found out that this child has been exiled to London.”

Mary: "..."

Sir Blackwood didn't notice Mary's strangeness, and he continued: "Although I don't have any clues, I want to start searching in the poorer Whitechapel district and the factory area along the Thames River. The possibility of finding clues will be higher." Much bigger. I am therefore going to call on the Vicar of Whitechapel to inform me of the matter."

An illegitimate child, beneficiary of a will, living on the streets of London.

Mary felt that there might not be such a coincidence in the world. Apart from Oliver, the little hero in "Oliver Twist", there was another child from a rich family who was in the same situation.

From this point of view, Sir Blackwood came to the slums to find the little hero in "Orphan Twist", that is to say, he was helping others out of benevolence and promise.

And his thinking was correct, the old Jewish Fagan who was just captured was the one who abducted Oliver.

Is it true that Mary misunderstood him? Sir Blackwood, who knew the noble Mr. Darcy and was friends with Oliver's kind father, could it be that Sir Blackwood, who has the same name as the villain in the movie, is a good man?

"Since you are exiled to London," Mary mulled for a moment, then said with relief, "it is very likely that she was abducted by a gang of thieves. Inspector Lestrade just caught the leader of a gang of thieves."

"hope so."

Sir Blackwood sighed: "I just came to Scotland Yard. I have already explained the situation to the inspector. He said he will help keep an eye on that child."

Mary almost couldn't hold back and wanted to say, don't look for it, that child is living a good life now, as long as Sykes' accomplice and old Jew Fagan open his mouth, little Oliver will get his own property, and be saved from suffering by good-hearted people rescued from.

But she couldn't say that it wasn't something "Mary Bennet" was supposed to know.

It's better if you haven't read the original novel!Knowing the plot but not being able to explain it clearly, the feeling of having to be worried by others for no reason is really uncomfortable.Mary was silent for a moment, then let out a breath slowly: "We will definitely find it, sir."

Her slight anxiety was regarded by the Sir as a lady's kindness, so Sir Blackwood nodded solemnly: "It will."

After finishing speaking, Jazz changed his tone: "It's your turn, Miss Mary, why did you come to the slum dressed like this?"

"I have come to help Mr. Holmes investigate the case."

Mary didn't even think about it, and directly threw out the words she had prepared a long time ago.

She looked up at Blackwood's face, and said helplessly: "A few days ago, an unknown female body was found in the Irish workers gathering area near the Whitechapel parish. His friend Dr. Watson and I pursued the leads."

"And your efficiency is very high, you directly found the real culprit." Sir Blackwood added.

"Hey?"

Mary's eyes widened slightly: "Aren't you surprised, Sir?"

Blackwood: "What's the surprise? You dressed up as a young maid to help Sherlock Holmes investigate the case?"

Before Mary could answer, Sir himself laughed.

"I would have been surprised if William hadn't told me about what you were doing in Milton," said Sir Blackwood. "But now, since you're a private eye, I'm only surprised that you, as a colleague, can talk to A detective with the character of Sherlock Holmes."

Ok.

Milton's case seems to have caught a murder case, and the economic case involved in the inside story is extremely important.

Strictly speaking, Mary did not participate in the real case investigation, but she still played the role of attracting jade.Therefore, the citizens of London don't know what happened in a small northern town, but those involved in the police system, such as Inspector Lestrade, and those involved in the national economy will know a thing or two.

It seems that Sir Blackwood deserves to be the one who can be friends with Darcy, he should be the latter, but...

Mary swears, not that she wants to think too much, if she can, she doesn't want to see anyone as a suspect.Presupposing criminals is a taboo in criminal investigation. She has tried her best to get rid of her prejudice, but she still feels that something is wrong.

What should I say, although there is no concrete evidence, and she doesn't know what kind of friends he and her brother-in-law are, Mary always feels that Darcy will not talk to others about what happened to Milton.

Mr. Darcy himself is an outsider, and Mary knows that what this brother-in-law hates most in his life is to criticize other people's behavior.Not to mention that he is kind and upright by nature. For the purpose of protecting Mary's privacy, according to Darcy's character, he is more likely to avoid this matter instead of analyzing and talking with friends.

Of course, this is just Mary's wishful thinking.

I hope it's all just my own thinking.

Just when Mary was suspicious, Inspector Lestrade finally finished the work at hand.

"Thank you for your help, sir," said the inspector politely. "If it weren't for you, I'm really afraid that the murderer will run away."

"He should be captured alive." However, Blackwood was dissatisfied with the result, the Jazz frowned slightly, "It is my fault to accept the trial of the law instead of falling to his death. I should aim at his legs instead of his shoulders. "

"this is not your fault."

As far as the matter is concerned, Sykes suddenly went crazy after being shot, fell down and fell off the bridge, and it has nothing to do with Jazz's shot.

"Being shot was not the cause of his death," Mary said. "Sykes had a complete mental breakdown after being shot, and the resulting insanity was."

"exactly."

Inspector Lestrade also relieved: "We should thank you, Sir, please don't blame yourself. Regarding the poor boy who is living outside, I also ordered my men to go down and inform the other inspectors. Will pay more attention."

"I am most grateful," said Sir Blackwood sincerely.

Then, he turned to look at Mary: "If you need help in the future, you can also come to me, and I will do my best."

Sir Blackwood informed Mary of his address in London, and after a few polite words with her, he politely put on his hat and said good-bye.

In any case, so far, Sir Blackwood's behavior and motives have been very reasonable and not like a gangster.

As for the just mentioned Sikes' death...

Thinking of the hideous expression on the murderer's face before he died, Mary couldn't help shivering.

Everything happened too fast, as if the bullet not only hurt Sykes' body, but also shot through his soul. After being shot and fell to the ground, he got up, and his whole spirit was completely disintegrated.

Overwhelmed by the guilt and fear after the murder, she saw the hallucination of Nancy's soul, don't look at him, don't stare at him with those eyes, Mary can still understand.But Sykes cried out "many eyes" before dying.

This is not the first time she has encountered such a situation.

As early as when Mary met the Irish workers for the first time in order to trace the clues of the economic case, Henry Deckard, who was fired at the time, was poisoned by the devil's heel, and he also went mad under the effect of hallucinogens, shouting the same Yes——"There are so many eyes, don't look at me!"

Is the devil's heel the same illusion that people see?

A similar scene happened again, and Mary only felt a chill welling up in her heart.

"Inspector Lestrade," she said solemnly, "Mr. Holmes must be called to Scotland Yard. The matter is not that simple. Please send a police detective to inform him. The murderer Sykes is very likely Like Henry, under the influence of a hallucinogen called Devil's Heel."

If it was just a simple murder case, or even Sikes and the old Jew Fagan were bribed to frame the innocent boy Oliver, such a case would not attract the attention of Sherlock Holmes, but if it involved the devil's heels, it would be meaningful. It is extraordinary.

Not long after, Holmes, who received the message, came to Scotland Yard.

And, he didn't come alone.

"Glaston!"

Watson looked at Holmes holding his dog in surprise.Seeing his master, Gladstone immediately sat on the ground and wagged his tail affectionately, completely without any awareness of being a hound.

"What did you bring it here for, Holmes?" asked Watson.

"Holmes!"

Inspector Lestrade couldn't help scolding: "How can you bring your pet to the police station, this is not a place for walking dogs!"

"Glaston is not a pet."

Sherlock Holmes still maintained his indifferent expression, and responded solemnly: "He is a well-trained hound, and he can play more roles in the criminal investigation process than your new police officers. What's the situation? ?”

When the last sentence was spoken, the detective looked at Mary.

Of those present, only Mary had seen the effects of the Devil's Heel.After hearing the question, Mary didn't think about it: "I think Sykes, the murderer who killed Nancy, was also affected by the devil's heel. Before he died, he went mad and said exactly the same words as the poisoned Henry Deckard at that time. "

Holmes frowned.

"He said, 'Lots of eyes, don't look at me,'" Mary felt chills even as she recounted Sykes' dying babble. They're seeing the same hallucinations, what's going on?"

Mary couldn't figure it out.

Although there are no devil's heel plant toxins in the world of the 21st century, all kinds of synthetic hallucinogens are widely spread in the market as drugs. You can learn about the types of hallucinogens by watching a few more anti-drug promotional videos and hazards.

However, there are so many varieties, none of which can give all users the illusion of unity.

Obviously, this also exceeded Holmes' expectations.

He pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully: "The devil's heel doesn't have the effect of producing the same hallucinations, and as far as I know, there is no hallucinogen that can achieve such a result. Do you know of chemical reagents or potions that have similar effects? huh, Watson?"

Watson shook his head: "I've never heard of it."

Holmes: "Interesting."

He handed Gladstone's walking rope to Watson, and walked away without saying a word: "Inspector Lestrade! I need to examine Sykes' body."

Mary immediately followed after hearing the words, and Inspector Lestrade kindly reminded: "Miss, you'd better not go. The condition of Sykes' body is... bad."

"absurd."

Holmes reacted as if he had heard some falsehood: "Since you also call her a detective, Lestrade, you should respect Miss Mary Bennet's duties. If she avoids the truth because she is afraid of the corpse, she should have done it early." It's better to change your behavior."

Mary couldn't help laughing.

She gave Inspector Lestrade a bright smile and nodded gratefully.

"Thank you for your reminder, Inspector," Mary said sincerely, "but as the detective said, the truth is more important to me than decency."

Sykes' madness before his death was extremely strange, and because he fell directly from the bridge to the side of the road, his head first landed on the ground, and his death was extremely bloody and miserable, which caused the police's attention to be diverted to the maximum. After the preliminary inspection, nothing was found abnormal.

But for Holmes who came for the devil's heel, his efficiency was much faster.

After removing the white cloth, Holmes blankly ignored the man's bloody face, put on white gloves and touched his collar around, then moved close to his nose to inhale lightly, and the movement stopped suddenly.

Mary stood behind with a curious face: "Did you find something, sir?"

Holmes didn't open his mouth to explain, he turned around and walked in front of Mary, raised his hand and put his fingertips under the tip of Mary's nose.

Marie: "Wh-evil!!!"

She was choked by the pungent smell of blood and took a few steps back, but Mary didn't let go of the stench mixed with the smell of congealed blood—it was the smell of devil's heels!

After smelling it once in the workers' gathering area, Mary felt that she would never forget the smell in her life.

"Where did you find the dead man?" asked Holmes.

"Miss Mary Morstan led us to him," replied Dr. Watson, "and he fled the scene of the crime to join his accomplices."

"It can't be at Toby Crickett and Chitterling's house," Mary shook her head, "Sykes was not the only one present, but also his two accomplices and a child, and the other three Everything is fine, if the devil's heel is ignited there, all four of them should be hallucinating."

"Could it be at the scene of the crime, his home?" asked Inspector Lestrade.

"impossible."

Holmes denied the Inspector's guess: "The herb works extremely fast. Even if the murderer who escaped a few days ago was really poisoned, he would return to normal within a short time after being exposed to the air."

Mary: "What should I do then?"

Holmes laughed almost triumphantly.

The thin gentleman took off his white gloves and picked up his hat from the door of the morgue: "That's why our hound, Gladstone, is more useful than the new detective under Inspector Lestrade. We need to get back to the crime scene, Miss Mary."

Mary understood immediately.

With Gladstone around, wouldn't you be afraid to find out where Sykes went after fleeing the scene of the crime!

At this point, the devil's heel and the captured gangsters have become two clues.Holmes and Inspector Lestrade had a brief conversation, and quickly finalized the responsibilities of the two men: the police officers who captured the old Jewish Fagan were responsible for tracking down what criminal plan they were plotting; trace.

Under the leadership of Holmes, Mary and Watson arrived at the scene of Nancy's death—that is, Sykes' home.

The blood has been washed away from the streets and rooms, and the dilapidated dwellings have been sealed off.If they came to track down the real murderer, Holmes would no doubt complain about Scotland Yard's unique talent for destroying evidence.

But fortunately, today they are not here.

Dr. Watson picked up a piece of clothing belonging to Sykes and showed it to Gladstone. The bullhound immediately barked a few times and led them away from the scene of the crime.

Gladstone sniffed along, hardly stopping.

While it was searching for a way, Mary finally found a chance to start a conversation with Holmes.

"Sir," she began, "we haven't found anyone who poisoned Henry Deckard so far."

"I know." Holmes nodded.

The detective went ahead, walking fast, as always.Sherlock Holmes is wearing an ocher windbreaker today, and his hair is neatly gathered. The ends of his black hair are all wiped behind his forehead, which is not at all like he deliberately concealed when he came to the slums.

Apparently after hearing the news from Scotland Yard, he immediately got up from the sofa and came here without thinking about changing clothes.

Fortunately, after the murder case, the streets of the slums were full of police officers these days, and Holmes and Watson's gentleman attire did not seem so strange.

"Now I suspect that the man who poisoned Henry Deckard was not the same man who was in charge of James Moriarty's economic affairs in London," said Holmes. During the process, he acted like he didn't know about the poisoning at all."

"That is to say, it wasn't the colonel who was going to kill people at that time," Mary was a little surprised. "Will the person who poisoned Henry Deckard and the person who poisoned Sikes be the same person? Could he be with Morrie?" Professor Artie has nothing to do, is it a different case?"

"I can't draw conclusions without evidence."

said Holmes.

"But even if they are not the same person, there is a very high possibility that they are related."

This is true, otherwise the chances of the cases that you don't want to do at all just happen to collide with each other is very small, basically negligible.Mary was silent for a moment, and then said: "We also met Sir Blackwood just now, and it was he who shot Sykes."

"Blackwood?"

Sherlock Holmes stopped abruptly.

The tall and thin detective turned around, his sharp face slightly lowered, and looked into Mary's eyes.

"What has he come for?" asked Holmes.

Looking at each other, Mary understood the detective's surprise and alertness almost immediately.

Sure enough, he was not the only one who doubted Sir Blackwood.The look in Holmes' eyes reassured Mary a little, and even gave her a lot of courage.

"He said he was looking for the stray illegitimate son of a dead friend," Mary said. "Sir Blackwood's story is impeccable. I can't find anything wrong with it, but I just feel... something is wrong."

"I think it's strange enough that a knight needs to bring a gun when he comes out to find a child," Watson murmured. "If you don't care about law and order, can't a gentleman with a title bring a guard? Going to the slums alone is not necessary. It's your suspicion of him, Miss Mary."

Holmes was about to say something more, but before he could speak, Gladstone barked wildly and broke into a gallop.

It started with such a sudden force that if Sherlock Holmes hadn't reacted in time, he would have been staggered by Gladstone.The detective didn't care to respond to Mary's words, so he was dragged by Gladstone to a small alley... in front of the sewer.

The detective used a cane to push away the cardboard boxes and garbage blocking the sewer, and the empty well head appeared in front of everyone, while the manhole cover was opened and thrown aside.

Gladstone circled the mouth of the well, then looked up at Holmes, wagging his tail happily.

"Sikes ran down the sewer?!"

Mary was very surprised: "Could there be traces of devil's heels under the sewer?"

As she spoke, Mary took a few steps forward with her skirt in her hand, leaned forward slightly, and looked at the mouth of the sewer well.

However, the interior of the wellhead is very dark, and there is nothing to be seen in the backlight.Mary was only trying to observe the situation at the bottom of the well, completely unaware that Sherlock Holmes not only did not think about the sewers, but turned his eyes to her.

Holmes was silent. He stared at Mary's petite back for a while, lost in thought.

"Blackwood does have a problem," he said suddenly.

"Oh my God!"

The sudden voice from behind startled Mary who was concentrating on it.She was so startled that she subconsciously took a step forward, and immediately lost her balance.

It was Holmes who had quick eyesight and quick hands, grabbed Mary by the collar and pulled her back.

The detective was quite helpless: "Don't look at it, Miss Mary, you can't see anything on it."

Mary: "Then shall we go down?"

Holmes: "No."

Mary: "Huh?"

She blinked in surprise, seeing that the clue was just below, but he chose to turn back?This is not Sherlock Holmes style.

"There is indeed a problem with Blackwood, but let's put his matter aside," Holmes did not explain the reason, but continued, "Just as Watson left the apartment today, someone came to visit me. I hope I can continue to investigate the devil. The heel thing."

"what?!"

Sure enough, Mary's attention was immediately attracted: "Does anyone know about the devil's heel?"

Holmes: "After I saw off my client, the police came to my door with news of you."

"Where is such a coincidence, who is the client?"

"A man I have met," replied Holmes, closing his eyes. "In Paris, the young woman who accompanied James Moriarty in his lectures."

Mary Yi Lin: "His daughter?"

Holmes: "It's a singer. She's your neighbor now, Miss Mary."

singer?Or her neighbour, just moved into Serpentine Street?etc……

Serpentine Street, until now Mary remembered where she had heard the name of the street.It wasn't because she had an impression of the name after reading too many London travel notes and various magazines!This name comes from the original book "The Collection of Sherlock Holmes".

"Miss Irene Adler," said Holmes, "has commissioned me to investigate the Devil's Heel case."