Detective Bennet [Comprehensive novel]

After three or four days of fruitless searches, the two detectives finally returned empty-handed.

Even if there is no clear connection between a pile of waste manuscripts and the three established goals this time, any suspicious clues should not be missed.

The drawing can be divided into two parts.

The first nine paintings depict different torture scenes, but the victim is a faceless person, that is, his facial features are not specifically depicted on the paper.

The last seven paintings depict the interior scenes of the prison, vividly reflecting the cold, damp, cramped and oppressive atmosphere in the cell.

Kelsey did not find the signed pen name of the painter, and there was no other text information on the manuscript paper, except for the code in the lower left corner.

Those are runic characters one by one, and these sketches are counted in a strange way, so that people can easily classify them into one category.

"I've been to this prison."

Sherlock compared the drawing with the memory and determined that the painting was the internal structure of a famous prison in London. "It's Xinmen Prison, and the picture shows the detention area for serious criminals."

Kelsey was interested. She had never been to Newgate Prison in her past and present lives.

In the previous life, the prison with a history of more than 700 years was closed and demolished in early 1902, and the Central Criminal Court was built on the original site.

In this life, she has never received a case related to it, so she has not been able to go inside to see the truth.

"Jerry, look at your curious eyes. Don't let other people see this kind of quick glance."

Sherlock said with a smile, "Otherwise, it's hard not to be suspicious, and you have the idea of ​​robbing prison again."

Kelsey: Who is more active in jailbreak?

"Tom, if your memory is good enough, please recall your feat."

Kelsey kindly reminded, "At most I was passively involved in the prison riot. The great Sherlock Holmes was once the one who actively planned it. Who did it against Sebastian Moran in Chicago, USA?" Prison-style roundup?"

Sherlock admitted frankly, "You're right, it's me. This is where we need to be more restrained. Let's get together and don't have any unreasonable thoughts about Newgate Prison."

Jokes are jokes.

Newgate Gaol in London was built in the early twelfth century on the junction of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street.It was also destroyed by fire, and it was rebuilt and expanded even more.

It houses prisoners for different crimes, from thieves to murderers on death row, and this prison is notorious.

In the past, Newgate Prison was synonymous with death and chaos.

The dungeon was extremely filthy, airtight and locked a large group of prisoners in the same small room.Don't expect to have a bathroom, the prisoner has to share the same room with the excrement.

From time to time, there will be a smell of rancidity and blood, because this is also the execution ground for the death penalty, and there are often severed heads and strangled corpses in the prison.

In 1858, under the appeal of many parties, Xinmen Prison was rebuilt and the cells were re-planned, and the prison guards' management of the prison was strictly regulated.

Although the harsh conditions of the prison have greatly improved, it has not changed its terrible reputation.

"London once carried out public hangings. The gallows was moved from Tyburn to Newgate in 1783, which is at the gate of Newgate Prison. People can watch the hanging process at close range and see with their own eyes how prisoners die little by little."

Sherlock said that is what made Newgate prison's reputation and death. "Public executions were stopped in London 12 years ago. Since June 1868, executions have been carried out inside prisons. The gallows at the entrance of Newgate Prison was also removed, which reduced the horror of death."

Kelsey looked at the filthy drawing of the dungeon on the manuscript paper, "So, the picture shows the scene before the prison reform, that is, 22 years ago?"

"Yes."

Sherlock briefly described the situation after the transformation, "I have observed the prison on the spot, and I have also seen its previous photos. The layout of the cells before and after the transformation has generally not changed much. It is in the ventilation, isolation of single rooms, sewage channels and other places. Great improvement."

As they spoke, the two detectives began to think about the manuscript.

22 years, neither long nor short, the painter may still be alive.

The last seven paintings depicting prison scenes can be interpreted to mean that the painters were once prisoners or jailers, or visited Newgate Prison.

The execution scenes in the first nine pictures depict realistic details of torture equipment and professional execution actions, so they must have personally experienced the execution process.So is the painter punished?Or did he see other prisoners being executed?Or is he the one who executed the torture?

Regardless of the possibility, this person's drawings showed an extremely dark and bloody mood.

More importantly, the bottom of the drawing is coded in runes, which makes it hard for the two detectives who are chasing the mysterious tokens of runes not to care.

"It's a pity that the stall owner received a scrap manuscript from a itinerant vendor, and has no way of knowing the identity of the artist."

Kelsey thought of a stupid way, "Tom, did you say that it is necessary to send a letter back to London and ask Mr. Mycroft to check the list of murderers and jailers in the felony area at that time?"

Would this be too much of a waste of time?

Sherlock didn't think it was a fuss, "I think it is necessary to investigate the list, we can't miss any potential clues."

It is not too late.

Immediately wrote Mycroft a letter, and rushed it out before lunch.

Next, wait patiently for a response.

The two detectives were not idle either, and continued to conduct carpet surveys.Not only visit various markets, but also attend various seminars or lectures.

Many cafes rent out their venues, and every day various occultists hold seminars with different themes, and of course there are sessions related to rune magic.

The two went to different seminars, hoping to meet members related to the mysterious token.However, I have not been favored by the god of luck these days, and I have been disappointed frequently.

Even so, detectives never give up.

York City said it was not big, but it had a lot of visitors.I believe that as long as we continue to search, we will always encounter useful clues.

The afternoon was filled with workshops on Norse mythology.

The detectives didn't speak, and listened to a lot of stories about the polytheistic system.

From the creation to the end of the world, from the prosperity of the gods to the dusk of the gods, and tomorrow there will be the second half of "Old Shadows in the New World".

Kelsey stepped out of the cafe and took a good breath of fresh air.

Thanks to her enough brains, the complicated forces, races, mutual entanglements, etc. of Nordic mythology did not confuse her.

Walking to the corner of the street, I saw that Sherlock had just finished the seminar, and he came out of the cafe at the corner of the street.

The two shook their heads at each other, and it was another day when they didn't find out.

"How about going to a chocolate shop?"

Sherlock also needs to relax a bit, and for good reason, "Send Mycroft a chocolate from York to thank him for investigating the list of prisons."

Kelsey agreed with the proposal, "I also bought a copy for Miss Morstan, thank you for her tour guide."

Yorktown has a thriving chocolate industry these days.

Almost every lively street has a chocolate shop.

Some of them allow customers to make them on the spot according to their preferences, and some are a collection of hot-selling products from several major brands for anyone to choose from.

In June, York City opened the gates of magic, and the chocolatier also launched a limited-time special product related to magic.

For example, a cartoon version of chocolate statues based on the Nordic gods.Each is about twenty centimeters high. Although the shape is not exquisite, it can be considered ingenious.

"You don't have to buy a whole set, either."

Sherlock looked around, there were hundreds of different chocolate statues in the display case.

There are too many Nordic mythological characters, if you buy a set for Mycroft, it will increase the workload of the dentist. "Jerry, which one do you think we should choose? Let's save one for a taste too?"

Kelsey just asked the clerk that all the chocolate statues are of the same flavor, and there is no rum heart on one and strawberry on the next.

"You can choose a few from different life forms such as giants, gods, elves, and dwarves. Anyway, it makes no difference if you eat them."

The two will choose randomly according to the edge of their eyes, ignoring certain details for the time being.As long as you are not addicted to chocolate, you can't eat an entire chocolate statue alone.

So how will the two share the food when they will try something new?Is the head of the statue cut off first, or the feet first?

"'Bang! Bang!' In a frantic smash, the Odin statue at Franklin's Grocery was shattered and its head rolled on the ground."

"At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Old Hamilton Sculpture Shop was smashed. The raiders rushed into the shop at lightning speed, knocked down a row of Norse god statues with an axe, and then fled quickly."

"According to our newspaper, on June [-], a total of three shops in the city were smashed, and no one was injured. It is suspected that the same gang committed the crime and smashed the sculptures of Nordic mythology. It may be related to the large-scale activity of dissatisfaction with the occult in June. The case is still under investigation. middle."

-- York Real Time, News of the Day, York Evening News

When the two detectives returned to the hotel after dinner and received today's stack of newspapers, they saw the news of the shop smashing that had just come out.

According to the information collected by Morstan, there were always opponents at the mysticism exchange meeting in June in York City in previous years. Those people did not like the magical atmosphere in the city.

Right now, it is not yet known whether today's shop-smashing gang is anti-Midsummer Moon activities?

"Go to the smashed store tomorrow."

"Go to the smashed store tomorrow."

Kelsey and Sherlock made a decision in unison, not to join in the fun, but not to miss any suspicious situations.

As for what to do tonight?

Sherlock placed the oversized gift box of chocolates that he planned to give to Mycroft, and glanced at another beautifully wrapped carton beside it.Among them is the picture album of reproduction and life strongly recommended by the stall owner yesterday.

After the stall owner offered to buy one (picture album) and get one free (scrap manuscript), Sherlock was finally moved by his sincerity, and Kelsey also tacitly chose to buy a few more picture albums.

So, there is a large box of exquisite picture albums, depicting a beautiful and harmonious life.

However, it was not yet time for the two to study the album together.

Tonight is just adding dessert after a meal.

Milk tea with chocolate, share the chocolate statue of a certain Norse mythology character you just bought.

Kelsey put the chocolate statue on the table and asked Sherlock, "Tom, where do you want to get the knife?"

On the plate is a chocolate equestrian figurine.

This one on horseback is Heimdall, God of Daybreak.In mythology, he is riding a golden-maned horse with the horn of Olar on his back.

Sherlock looked at the equestrian statue. It is said that in case of emergency, Heimdall would blow the horn and call the gods to fight together.

"Jerry, even though you chose the God of Daybreak, I know you wanted some good meaning, but it's just a chocolate statue, and no amount of cutting can really predict an emergency. So, let's just go straight and start in the middle." One to two."

"It's true, it's just a chocolate statue, and it doesn't have divine powers."

Kelsey didn't hesitate, and directly slashed at Heimdall on the chocolate horse with the dining knife, trying to cut it to the end.

'click--'

The knife got stuck.

It wasn't that Kelsey's way of cutting the knife was wrong, but that the blade met a hard object.

——This chocolate statue, which is bigger than the palm, actually has metal in it!

Quickly remove the knife from other parts.

Cutting open the statue, I saw a very delicate golden key hidden inside.

For a while, the scene was a little quiet.

The two looked at each other in blank dismay. First of all, they can be sure that there is no welfare activity for buying chocolates and getting gold. What's the matter with this key?

Kelsey smiled and asked Sherlock, "Tom, let's be honest, have you gone to learn some kind of summoning magic?"

Sherlock also smiled and asked Kelsey, "Jerry, please don't forget that you chose the chocolate statue. I have to ask, have you learned some kind of perspective magic?"

well.

The strange aura after the two met reappeared.It brings a golden key.