antique on the run

Sewe sighed and recalled: "Well, as I remember, the wooden box was very strong, with thick walls, made of pine wood from Northern Ireland, the wood was very expensive, but the paint on it was of poor quality. After soaking in the river water, most of the paint pieces fell off, but it can still be seen that one of them was artificially scraped off."

Qi Xiao said: "You said at the time that the murderer was trying to hide some information that might reveal his identity, right?"

Sewell nodded. "Yes, that's what Holmes said in the fragment."

"But when I saw Mrs. Hudson's wooden box of flour, I found that the logo of the flour brand was printed in the center of the wooden box. Then I called Watson's memory and determined that in the UK, the merchant was making When storing product boxes, no matter wooden boxes, cardboard boxes or iron boxes, the usual practice is to print the logo in the center of the box, so that it is clear and eye-catching, and it is easy to be seen when carrying it, which is an advertisement.”

But the wooden box that the murderer used to hold Natasha's body, judging from the part that has not yet peeled off the paint, there is no logo icon in the center, and the area that was artificially cut out in the corner is not large, so That would definitely not be a commercial case.

"It is not a wooden box for commercial use. The material is strong and expensive Northern Ireland pine, but the paint used is extremely cheap paint, which shows that this wooden box has a specific purpose, and the toughness of ordinary wood cannot support it. , only Northern Irish pine would do, and the builder obviously didn't have much money, or he could have used better paint to match this not-cheap wooden box."

"So what is this box used for?" Sai Weisi asked.

Qi Xiao spread his hands, "Unfortunately, I don't know now, but anyway, we have another direction..."

There is a lot of information in hand, maybe it is useless now, but there will be a moment when it will come in handy in the future.

Safe night.

The next day was gloomy weather, there was no sun, and the cold wind blew on people, making people very uncomfortable.

This discomfort became more obvious when Qi Xiao and Saiwei came to St. Cameron Middle School and tried to visit Mick again, because Teacher Helen told them apologetically that Mick was taken home by the housekeeper sent by his mother up.

"Uncle Mick, don't you know about this?"

Teacher Helen was obviously surprised, but since she felt very good about Qi Xiao, who was gentle and well-educated, she simply thought that Mick's mother hadn't informed Qi Xiao, and didn't think that the person in front of her was actually a fake at all.

"Well, I really don't know." Qi Xiao also pretended to be surprised, "My sister didn't tell me about it, oh, maybe I was busy with work after I came back and only visited her once, so she You didn't have time to notify me."

Saiwei admired Qi Xiao sincerely, and he didn't blink when he was blindfolded.

"But didn't you also say that Mick would never be taken back except during holidays?" Qi Xiao showed a puzzled expression, "It's still school days, why is he taken back?"

He is like an uncle who is simply worried about his nephew, anxious but does not show any evil intentions at all.

Sure enough, Teacher Helen believed in his performance, or in other words, Teacher Helen never doubted Qi Xiao.

"I don't know the specific reason. The butler of his family was vague. He just told me that Mick's mother missed Mick and asked the butler to take Mick home for a while." Teacher Helen sighed , "Well, Mick has been in school for so many years, and he has never seen his mother pick him up, and I don't know what's going on this time..."

Teacher Helen is a good teacher who cares about the students and is responsible. The only shortcoming is probably that she can't keep her mouth shut, and she doesn't have much scheming.

But for Qi Xiao, he just happened to be able to take advantage of Teacher Helen's shortcoming.

"Is Mick good at school recently? Has his mother found out about anything he's done?" Qi Xiao asked tentatively, "You know, kids, it's normal to be naughty."

Teacher Helen immediately shook her head and said, "How could it be, Uncle Mick, Mick has always been a very good boy!"

Although Mick's intelligence level is not as good as that of ordinary children, Teacher Helen has no prejudice against him, "He has always been obedient, and his classmates do bully him. Although I try my best to prevent such things from happening, I know Such things must exist. But Mick is very kind and generous, and he is also very friendly to his classmates."

Teacher Helen listed a series of Mick's advantages, and finally concluded: "Mick has been very obedient these days, and he will definitely not do anything bad. Except for you to come to see him, he has no contact with anyone else. Mainly because Imazhe suddenly asked for leave and didn't come to school, he might be a little lonely."

"So Michel insisted on taking him back after you met Mick." Sewei suddenly leaned into Qi Xiao's ear and whispered something in French.

Teacher Helen blinked in confusion, and asked Qi Xiao, "Uncle Mick, is your friend asking you any questions?"

Sai Wei suddenly spoke, and Qi Xiao was also taken aback. He gave Sai Wei a blank look where Teacher Helen could not see, and then said calmly: "Oh, he doesn't understand what we are talking about, he is just curious. .”

Teacher Helen nodded understandingly, covered her mouth with a smile and said, "I understand, I understand, it must be too boring to stand here, or... Uncle Mick, you should go back with your friends first, if you want to To visit Mick, go straight to his house."

Qi Xiao nodded, "Okay, Teacher Helen, thank you very much, but forgive me for asking too much, you said that Mick's good friend Yimaizhe has been taking leave for a while and hasn't been to school, right?"

"Yes."

"No wonder, Mick must feel very lonely without a good friend." Qi Xiao sighed with a look of deep concern for his nephew: "I just don't know what happened to Imazhe, who hasn't come to school for so long ?”

Teacher Helen said: "I don't know much about this, Yimaizhe... As you know, this child is only himself, so everything about him is his own decision, and this time the leave is the same, he The reason written on the leave note is that he is sick and needs to rest for a long time, but this sounds like an excuse, and I don’t know exactly what this child is thinking.”

Speaking of this, Teacher Helen realized that she might have said too much, which was revealing the privacy of the students, so she hurriedly remedied: "It stands to reason that I shouldn't tell you these things, but because Yimaizhe and Mi Ke is a good friend and just said a few more words, don't mind too much."

Qi Xiao nodded very gentlemanly and said: "I can understand, Teacher Helen, you are also kind. In fact, I am very happy for Mick to have such a good friend at school."

Teacher Helen breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Yes, Mick and Imazhe have a good relationship, I remember... Last year, or the year before last, there was a time when Imazhe often visited Mick's house. Ke's father is still alive, and he will come to pick up Mick every holiday, and Imazhe is often invited to his house as a guest."

Mentioning the news of Richard's death, Teacher Helen said apologetically: "I am very sorry about your brother-in-law's matter, please express your condolences."

Qi Xiao said: "Well, I heard about this from my sister. We all feel very sad and regretful. Did you say that Mick's father often came to pick him up when he was alive? But you didn't Did you also say that Mick seldom goes home except for holidays?"

Teacher Helen showed a dazed expression, thought for a while, and said: "Yeah, speaking of it, Mick's father came to pick him up for a few months. At that time, Imazhe would also visit Mick's house. Later ...Later, Mick's father came less often, I remember that I seemed to meet Mick's father a few times, but he didn't seem to come to pick up Mick back..."

After all, after more than two years, Teacher Helen didn't pay special attention to Mick's father at that time, so it's only natural that her memory is a little fuzzy now.

Because Teacher Helen had to attend class, Qi Xiao and the others left.

"This is really strange. Michelle never picks up Mick, but this time we just finished looking for Mick, and she asked the housekeeper to pick him up. It's hard to imagine that there was no What kind of contact?" Sai Wei eagerly said to Qi Xiao as soon as he left the teaching building.

Qi Xiao nodded and said: "Indeed, Mrs. Michel's actions are a bit too stressful. Originally, I just suspected that Mick knew some useful information, but now I don't have to doubt it, but I can be sure."

Mick must know something important, but Mrs. Michelle doesn't want Qi Xiao and the others to know.

"I just don't know if this matter has anything to do with Natasha's death."

Sewe thought for a while and asked, "How about we go directly to Mick's house to find him?"

Qi Xiao shook his head, "Mrs. Michelle is afraid that we won't let us see Mick. She is so anxious to take Mick home because she is afraid that we will come to him again. In this case, how can she let us see each other so easily?" What about Mick? She can definitely say that she sent Mick to grandma's house, grandma's house, or took Mick abroad to play, and we can't track him down to find out."

Sai Wei said: "Then shall we search her home?"

Qi Xiao tilted him, "Do you think we have this right?"

After all, Sherlock Holmes is just a private detective, not a policeman. Although he was hired by Scotland Yard as a police detective consultant, he does not have the power to search citizens' homes casually.

Even Lestrade, without definite evidence that there may be evidence or witnesses related to the investigation of the case in Michelle's home, did not have the power to search at will.

"Compared with how to find Mick, I think Mrs. Michel is more concerned about what kind of information we are afraid of from Mick." Qi Xiao pondered: "Also, As Teacher Helen said just now, two years ago, Richard came to pick up Mick frequently for a period of time, but even though he came to school, he stopped picking up Mick."

The most likely reason for not picking up Mick when he came to school was because of Natasha.Richard then came to the school to see Mick's name to meet his lover Natasha, and even the two of them might go on vacation every holiday, so naturally it was impossible to bring Mick along.

"She also said that Imazhe would often go home with Mick." Sai Wei suddenly interjected, "Qi Xiao, I have a bad guess."

Qi Xiao and Saiwei looked at each other, "You really think so too?"

They both saw shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

"you……"

"Uncle Mick, are you Uncle Mick?"

Qi Xiao was about to speak when a childish voice suddenly came from behind him.