"The Widow" Bertha

As the owner of the manor, Mr. George Lancaster, the Lord Seal at this time, only felt that there was a lot of trouble.

The guests invited here are not high-ranking officials or nobles, but cutting-edge talents in various fields. Even Dr. Victor Lancaster, whom Mr. Lancaster is not very familiar with, is also grateful to the cabinet minister for personally funding his research project. He is the person who will change the direction of the future world. This... If it is gone, it will be gone. How should he explain to the cabinet ministers!

Just when he was hesitating whether to invite a police detective from London, the manor housekeeper stepped forward under pressure: "Sir, have you ever heard that Mr. Holmes' lover, Miss Bertha Marple, is actually a private detective."

private detective?

Mr. Lancaster was taken aback for a moment, he had never heard of it.

However, her status as "Holmes' lover" alone is enough for the Lord Seal to take a high look. Unexpectedly, this dignified but very gorgeous foreign girl is actually a private detective.

only……

To tell the truth, Mr. Lancaster wanted nothing to do with Holmes.

It can be said that since the name of Mycroft Holmes has been heard in the upper class, the Lord Seal has always kept a distance from him.

Mycroft Holmes has too many things in his hands, and he is in the dark. Although he is also loyal to the Queen, his attitude of knowing everything is enough to make Mr. Lancaster, a politician who relies on a big family Health beware.

Now he still wants to ask his lover to do something in person?

Mr. Lancaster pondered for a moment, and finally sighed.

Human life is at stake, and now it is not my turn to choose.

Finally, Mr. George Lancaster resolutely knocked on the guest room of Mr. Holmes and Miss Marple.

He waited for a while, and Holmes' usual amiable voice sounded from the back door: "The door is unlocked, Mr. Lancaster, you can come in directly."

Mr. Lancaster: "..."

It was obviously his manor, but the attitude of Mycroft Holmes, who seemed to predict that he would come to the house sooner or later, gave him the illusion that the other party was in control of everything.

He had no choice but to open the door and enter, only to find a completely different orderly scene in the guest room.

The other guests, especially the ladies, were almost all panicked because of the murder, and it took Mr. Lancaster a lot of time just to appease the guests.

At this time, Mr. Holmes is leisurely leaning on the sofa, serving tea and reading the newspaper, while his lover, Miss Marple, is sitting in front of the dressing table, applying the last color to her lips.After Mr. Lancaster entered the door, Mycroft put down the teacup and newspaper in his hand, and said slowly, "Sir! What's going on here?"

Mr. Lancaster pursed his lips, and then forced himself to calm down: "I heard... Miss Marple is a private detective who once solved a case for Mr. Rochester, right?"

"Yes."

Miss Marple nodded happily: "A few months ago, there was a murder case at Thornfield Manor, and Edward invited me over overnight. Now there is a similar incident at the manor, I'm sorry."

"That……"

Mr. Lancaster made up his mind. He closed his eyes and asked, "Now, maybe I have to trouble you again, miss."

Miss Marple in front of the dressing table curled her lips.

To be honest, if the butler hadn't reminded him, Mr. Lancaster would never have connected this exotic lady in front of him with a profession like "private detective".But when Miss Marple stood up, her calm demeanor added a bit of conviction. She seemed to have been waiting for Mr. Lancaster for a long time. Facing such a request, she only turned her head slightly: "Please don't panic, Sir, take me to the scene of the crime first."

Dr. Long's guest room is at the east end of the same floor.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, Miss Marple immediately asked, "After the maid found the deceased, did anyone enter the scene?"

Mr. Lancaster shook his head: "No, I sent servants to guard the door."

Miss Marple nodded in satisfaction: "Forgive me for talking too much, sir, so have you sealed off the manor? Are you sure not even a bird or a dog can enter or leave at will?"

If Mr. Lancaster had any concerns about Miss Marple's identity before, her two seemingly random but extremely standard questions were enough to dispel several doubts in his heart.

"I have sealed off the manor," said Mr. Lancaster. "It may not be possible to restrict the entry and exit of a bird, but everyone in the manor, including servants, is not allowed to leave at will."

"That's good."

These two questions were enough for them to walk to the door of Dr. Lang En's guest room.

When opening the door, Mr. Lancaster hesitated: "Miss... let me remind you first, the scene inside is not very beautiful."

Miss Marple just laughed it off: "Please, sir, I'm ready."

Mr. Lancaster reluctantly nodded to the servant: "Open the door."

With the opening of the heavy door, before they even entered the door, an overwhelming bloody smell hit the people outside the door.

——The bloodstains all over the room almost covered up the original appearance of the room.

This made Bertha put her left foot back on the spot when she was about to step into the room, and she didn't forget to reach out her hand to stop Mr. Lancaster: "Don't go in, you will leave footprints."

Mr. Lancaster breathed a sigh of relief, apparently he did not want to step into such a horrible murder scene.

Blood, blood everywhere.

Large swathes of blood were poured onto the carpet, the bed, walls and furniture.Just standing outside the door and observing from a distance, Bertha has already distinguished several different blood trails.

Seeing that Miss Marple was already deep in thought, Mr. Lancaster couldn't bear to ask: "Miss, have you ever seen anything?"

Bertha: "Of course, there are no dead bodies in the room."

Mr. Lancaster: "..."

But anyone with long eyes can see that there is no dead body in Dr. Lang En's guest room, okay?

In other words, what frightened the young maid and made her say "Dr. Lang En was killed" was actually the bloodstains in this room, and Dr. Lang himself...had disappeared without a trace.

"If these bloodstains belong to Dr. Lang," Bertha continued self-consciously, "with such an amount of bleeding, he will undoubtedly die. But the key point is that I found no trace of the victim leaving the room."

"Traces of leaving?"

"Look here."

Bertha pointed to the bed that had been stained black with blood stains: "The blood stains on the bed showed a stained form, which proved that this bed was where the crime occurred. Such a result."

After she finished speaking, she pointed to the wall and furniture again: "The blood in the vertical area is in the form of a splash, like when the murderer swung his weapon; sir, if you look at the carpet again, the blood on the carpet draws a trace, which is likely to be the victim. It is the mark left by someone rolling out of bed and struggling, but it may also be left by the murderer dragging the victim."

"But you said that there was no trace of the victim leaving."

"Yes."

Bertha turned her head and said calmly: "The drag marks stopped abruptly on the carpet, and then what? Even if it was lifted up, there should be blood dripping down. I didn't find any blood dripping from the room. .”

Having said that, Mr. Lancaster has already firmly believed in Miss Marple's professional level.

Seeing such a bloody scene, not only was she not afraid or shocked, she even restored the general situation of the scene after a few glances, which is not something ordinary people can do.Mr. Lancaster couldn't help but feel relieved: "It's great if you can see clearly, miss. I'm afraid even professional police detectives in London can't come to a conclusion so quickly."

Bertha just bowed indifferently: "Thank you, sir."

She is just enjoying the benefits of a time traveler. You must know that bloodstain analysis can be regarded as the basic knowledge of criminal investigation technology in the 21st century, but in the Victorian era, it can only be mastered by experienced police detectives and geniuses like Sherlock Holmes. Ability.

"Then, can you... analyze where Dr. Long went from the scene?"

Bertha shook her head.

"I'm not a witch," she said, "I can't do a psychic spell by standing outside the door and looking at it. It depends on searching carefully, sir."

Search carefully, search this blood-soaked house?

Mr. Lancaster shivered just thinking about it, but the lady in front of him was completely unmoved.

He forced himself to be calm: "Then, uh, miss, when do you plan to start?"

Bertha thought about it deliberately, and then raised her eyebrows slightly: "I need an assistant."

Mr. Lancaster: "This..."

"I don't need you to send someone to help me, sir." Bertha naturally understood Mr. Lancaster's hesitation. "In fact, I have a very good candidate. She just happens to be in this town, that is—"

"Is there any difficulty? I will help you solve it." Mr. Lancaster asked hastily.

"It's just that although I cooperated well with Miss Jane Eyre before, she and I came to the town on the way, with the intention of taking a bus to visit relatives at my alma mater." Bertha put on a embarrassed expression, "It's not necessary to interfere other people's itineraries."

Mr. Lancaster understood at once.

One more reliable person will give you more chances to solve the case. Even if Mr. Lancaster uses official connections, he will never let Miss Jane Eyre leave the town for half a step. He immediately made a promise: "I Just go and invite Miss Jane Eyre to come, if my guess is not wrong, she should rest at the hotel, shouldn't she?"

Bertha nodded: "Then I will wait in the lobby to greet her, sir."

However, it is not Jane Eyre that Bertha waits first.

Standing at the entrance of the manor's lobby, Bertha watched a carriage enter the front yard through the gate from a distance. When Lancaster's carriage barely stopped, Bertha heard a rush of footsteps behind her.

She turned her head suddenly, and what caught her eyes was Edward Rochester's frowning face.

"Edward, what's the matter?" Bertha asked in surprise.

"I should ask you this." Rochester's tone was somewhat questioning, "There was another murder case. Does this matter have anything to do with you?"

"..."

How should I put it, as Bertha's somewhat disliked ex-husband, Rochester still knows her quite well.

She was involved in the last Thornfield Manor murder case, and Bertha happened to be present in the murder case this time. Rochester naturally determined that this matter was absolutely related to her.

Bertha was thinking about how to answer, and at this moment, Mr. Lancaster's carriage stopped in front of the door—before Bertha could speak, Miss Jane Eyre opened the carriage door and came down.

The three entangled characters in the original "Jane Eyre" changed because of a murder case, but reunited in a different place because of another murder case.