"The Widow" Bertha

Noon the next day.

Dr. Butts walked out of the room and met Mrs. Thames' gaze, only feeling guilty for a while.

"Husband, ma'am," Dr. Butz said, "the diagnosis is over."

"how is the situation?"

"No, it's not very ideal," Dr. Bartz carefully prepared his words. "Sykes has a persistent high fever, his mind is a little unclear, and he is in a state of panic. The first thing to do is to reduce his fever."

High fever?

Thinking of Pastor White's symptoms before, Bertha suddenly felt bad: "Is there any other symptoms?"

Dr. Bartz naturally understood what Bertha was referring to. He shook his head hastily: "The good news is that he hasn't had any other physical lesions so far. The fall from a high place caused some abrasions and bruises, which are all flesh and blood." Injury, just rest."

Bertha was a little relieved now.

only……

"It was fine when I first came back," Bertha said, "Why did you suddenly start to have a fever today?"

"That... I don't know, ma'am." Dr. Bartz hesitated.

"You're a doctor, how can you not know," the little accountant Ned said dissatisfied, "last time Pastor White had a fever and you said you couldn't do it, what can you cure, Franz Butz?"

"All right."

Seeing Dr. Bartz's stressed expression, Bertha took the initiative to say slowly: "Like Pastor White's situation, all the doctors in London can't see him once, so it doesn't count."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Dr. Bartz again: "I don't ask you to save Pastor White, but you must save Sykes' life, you know?"

Dr. Bartz wiped his cold sweat: "I know—"

"No!!! Don't come here, don't come here!!!"

Before the doctor could finish his sentence, Bill Sikes screamed out of tune suddenly from the room.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!!!"

"..."

Bertha took a breath, and then her tone suddenly became severe: "What are you still doing in a daze? Go in and have a look!"

The delirium caused by fever and the delirium caused by panic are not the same thing at all, okay!Bertha knew that Dr. Bartz was well-known in London for his medical skills, but this way of speaking was really annoying. The patient with high fever screamed on the hospital bed. It must not be as simple as "delirious".

When Doctor Butts turned back to the bedroom in embarrassment, Sherlock Holmes at the side turned his head thoughtfully: "Interesting."

"what?"

Holmes leaned against the indoor window, his sharp facial features still indifferent under the sun: "I counted the animals in the underground farm, and found that although they have undergone physical changes, the changes are regular."

Bertha understood: "Is this related to Sykes' condition?"

Holmes: "Perhaps."

The young detective got up, turned from leaning to standing straight: "The large cage placed in the center of the farm should be the key research object of the Truth Society. The broken iron cage has 'No. [-]' written on it, and according to the above The description is very similar to the lion-like creature that Bill Sykes faced. So I think that is the cage that originally kept it.

As he spoke, he paused and took out a notebook from his pocket.

"With the iron cage as the center, the distances are far and near," Holmes handed the notebook to Bertha. "Different animals have different changes."

Bertha took the notebook.

The note was not his own. Bertha looked up in surprise, and the latter explained naturally: "I went to Scotland Yard again. Inspector Lestrade has the laboratory materials that were later cleared."

Bertha: "..." Dare to steal it!

She opened the notebook, opened the first page, and saw a top view of the underground "farm".

Lab researchers will draw three concentric circles within the field.

"With the lion-like animal as the center, the animals within the smallest circle have physical mutations, just like the animal corpses discovered for the first time."

"A mutation similar to that after suturing?" Bertha asked.

"Yes," replied Holmes. "The animals in the second circle were merely lesions, loss of skin and cuticles, or death from other symptoms."

Here Bertha understood.

"That lion-like thing," she began, "affects them."

"I'm afraid so."

Holmes confirmed Bertha's conjecture: "The third circle, the animal furthest from 'Number One,' basically shows only signs of madness."

"How do you know," Ned wondered, "they're all dead?"

"Some of the animals died before the farm was abandoned," Holmes said. "They tried to break through the cages, and they were very terrified. Many of them were domestic animals with a good temperament, which is rarely violent under normal circumstances."

"I see."

Bertha's tone became heavy: "Sikes also had close contact with that lion, and he was also affected."

What she didn't say was that the lion-like monster was probably the "radiation source".Short-term contact and long-term contact will cause different damage to creatures.

"Fortunately, he has not been in contact with him for a long time," said Holmes. "At present, like the animals in the outermost circle, he has shown a loss of will. And you and I have seen Dr. Lear's physical state, Mrs. Thames." .”

Bill Sykes, Dr. Lear, and... Reverend White.

Almost perfectly matched the three different animal situations in the underground "farm".

Does this mean that Sykes was indirectly in contact with "The Color of the Star"?

The more Bertha thought about it, the more horrified she felt—if the "lion" was considered a source of radiation, it was enough to prove that he had faced the starlight like Pastor White, then...

"Shirley," Bertha said in a delicate tone, "could that so-called 'light', the color of the stars in your mouth, be in the underground waterway in London?"

Holmes did not give a direct answer.

He pondered for a moment, and chose to ask back: "Whether you are there or not, do you want to send someone to search?"

Bertha: "..."

Absolutely, yes, no, yes!

Whether it's alien radiation, or something more indescribable, hiding in an underground sewer sounds like something out of a horror movie, doesn't it?Bertha would never send her boy to die.

Even if you want to search, you have to figure out all the details before you talk about it.

While they were talking, Sykes, who was screaming in the room, finally regained his composure.

Dr. Butz came out sweating profusely.

He looked at Bertha's embarrassing expression, and Bertha was not angry, but said coldly: "I don't care what means you use or what price you pay, you must save Bill Sykes' life."

Dr. Butts: "Yes, yes, but..."

"but?"

"If I, uh, use methods that do not conform to medical science," Dr. Bartz tentatively whispered, "is that okay?"

In fact, in Bertha's view, the level of medicine in the nineteenth century was really not that much called "science". This was an era when even penicillin was not discovered.

It wasn't that Bertha didn't trust Dr. Butz, she was just afraid that he was too caring and put Sykes to death instead.

"Cocaine is not allowed," Bertha thought for a long time, and she could only advise, "You can also use similar drugs as appropriate."

Victorian cocaine wasn't even considered a drug.

"I see."

Dr. Bartz had an idea in his mind: "I will do my best."

As for the rest...

Bertha glanced into the bedroom and sighed faintly.

If it's not good, she really doesn't know how to explain to Nancy.

***

——If it doesn't work, Phoenix really doesn't know how to explain to Nancy.

The 17-year-old boy was escorted by several Italians and pushed into the bar of the Esposito family.

Unlike Mrs. Thames's bar, the bar's decoration is full of Sicilian style, and the dark interior decoration is quaint. Phoenix doesn't know much about art and architecture, but he can read a strong taste from it.

The premise is that there is no such thing as a thug in three steps and a gunman in five steps in the bar.

Phoenix was pushed to the private room, where Marco Esposito sat.

The leader of the Italians still had that sinister and morbid appearance. His deep facial features moved a little after seeing Phoenix, but he didn't respond at all, as if the person standing in front of him was not a living person but rubbish.

"That's him, sir."

The Italian behind him explained: "He said he had clues about the Whitechapel area."

Marco raised his eyelids solemnly and looked at Phoenix.

"You were one of three people who were driven out of Whitechapel by Lady Thames," he said slowly.

"...Yes, sir." Phoenix lowered his head and responded.

"You said you had news that something had happened in Whitechapel."

"Yes."

"They were all kicked out, where did you get the news?"

"I grew up in a training school in Whitechapel," Phoenix responded. "All my brothers and sisters were in Whitechapel, and the witch threw me out, but it was impossible to throw all my brothers and sisters out."

"Witch."

Marco smiled after hearing Phoenix's description: "It's a beautiful witch."

Phoenix: "..."

Marco slowed down his tone: "Come on, kid, tell me, what happened to the Whitechapel area?"

"They all say that Bill Sykes was attacked in the sewer," Phoenix said, taking a deep breath. "He's crazy. If it's true, Mrs. Thames has a broken arm."

"Bill Sykes."

Marco Esposito picked up the whiskey glass on the table: "It's not even one, half a glass."

As he spoke, he brought the whiskey glass to his mouth: "Where did Mrs. Thames arrange him?"

Phoenix: "I...I don't know."

The whiskey glass in the hands of the Italian leader immediately fell to the ground.

Ma Ke, who had just put on a pleasant face, immediately got up, and his eyes under the thick browbones showed a fierce and fierce light.

"You don't know? It's worth your coming for such a big deal?"

Phoenix also saw his subordinates beaten to death in the factory. The 17-year-old boy immediately yelled in fear: "I will find out, I will find out! Give me another three days!"

Marco grabbed Phoenix by the skirt.

Satisfied to see that the fear in the boy's eyes was not fake, he said gloomily, "You said it, three days. If you can't find out within three days, I will shoot you myself."

After speaking, he gave Phoenix a hard push.

"Let him go," the Italian leader said in disgust.

Phoenix was almost dragged out of the box.

He waited for a long time before barely getting up from the ground.

The Italian behind him was cursing and urging him to get out, so Phoenix had no choice but to start walking in embarrassment.

"Let's go!" the Italian behind him mumbled.

"It's not walking."

Phoenix staggered a few steps and turned the corner, almost hitting the comer.

It's a beautiful young lady.

She has flaxen curly hair, a pretty face, dark clothes that are clean and expensive, her straight back and clean skin make her look like a lady of a gentleman's family at a glance—provided she doesn't hold a gun in her hand cigarette.

The young lady looked Phoenix up and down, her eyes full of cold mockery: "Is this the traitor?"

The Italian behind Phoenix said not very politely: "What does it have to do with you?"

"Of course it does."

The lady curled her lips and said, "I'd like to see which blind thing betrayed the Whitechapel district."

Phoenix immediately realized that she was Katie.

Mrs. Thames sent Katie over first, and then arranged for them, and Nancy and other girls to come out to meet them.So Katie herself did not know what arrangements had been made in Whitechapel.

In her eyes, Phoenix is ​​a traitor.

Let her know that she is not the enemy.

Just when Phoenix was thinking about how to remind Katie without revealing it, the beautiful girl asked in disgust, "What's your name?"

"..."

"You'd better answer if I ask you," Katie said coldly, "I want to know which family has a traitor."

"Phoenix."

Phoenix trembled when he said his name, and then he lowered his voice like a ghost: "Phoenix Thames."

Katie's pupils shrank suddenly.

—there were several children named Thames in all, unknown to others, but well known to Katie.

Among the children living on the second floor of the office, there was no one named Phoenix.

That is to say...

No codes, no lies, just such a surname, and Katie understood everything.

This trembling boy with words engraved on his arm and his head bowed was sent by Mrs. Thames to help him.

"Marco asked you to come back for three days," she said without changing her expression, she just put the cigarette in her hand to her mouth, "If you don't come, I will kill you?"

Phoenix said nothing.

Katie smiled sweetly: "If you dare to come in three days, I will break your leg."

She was a real threat, but in a place where the Italians couldn't see behind her, Katie quickly gestured a number "2" to Phoenix.

It means that he will come over in two days.

Phoenix understood, but didn't say a word, and performed the appearance of a cowering traitor to the fullest.

The boy let the Italian shove him away while Katie finished the cigarette standing in the corridor—

Then a man covered in mud and full of trouser legs rushed from the bar lobby to the corridor of the box. He passed Katie and went straight to Marco's box.

"First, sir!"

He is British, and he has an authentic British accent.

"Sir, our goods were inspected by the customs," the man rushed into the door and shouted, "I stuffed money and contacted people, but it was useless. People who received a lot of kickbacks from us said that they were entrusted by a person who audited the accounts for the government. Let’s trouble us because of our relationship, let’s not talk about it, he can’t even keep his official position!”

Immediately, there was the sound of jingling and throwing things in the box.

Auditor?

Katie turned her head in surprise, and heard Marco Esposito yell out a name through gritted teeth: "Mrs. Thames did it. She has a political backer named Sherlock Holmes."