I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

A young and vigorous lord was killed in his manor!

As soon as the murder case was discovered, it caused an uproar in Kent County. Before evening, even London learned the sad news of Lord Essex's accidental death.

The magistrate arrived at the Grove Manor immediately, followed by nearby squires, celebrities, church clergy, and male members of the Lord Essex family.

The Lord's personal servant was detained, and the butler of the Grove Manor entertained the guests who had heard the news, while sending the servant to deliver a letter to the Lady who was out.At the same time, he has to take care of Lord Essex's heirs, in case someone takes advantage of the chaos to harm the young children.

The inspection team of the manor and the local police jointly searched the Grove manor. Of course, the focus was on the farms near the manor, private houses, bushes and dense forests, and along the road leading to the hub town. They brought hounds, rode horses, and did not let go Pass any clues.

In Grove Manor, Magistrate Morris and several respected gentlemen gathered together. They were responsible for interrogating the servants in the manor, especially James Burley, the lord's personal servant.

They inquired about all the details of the night of the incident in detail. After several interrogations and checks, the groom Anderson honestly confessed the fact that he had secretly contacted Pei Xiang.

The magistrate immediately sent someone to intercept the urgent letter sent by Pei Xiang.

In less than half a day, Pei Xiang's letter to Mrs. Margaret, the principal of the girls' school, was recovered. At the same time, the patrol team and the local police also found many useful letters during the search. clues.

All sorts of things, the gentlemen who claimed to be shrewd and prudent felt that they had deduced the outline of the case.

So, when the Duchess hurried back to the Grove Manor anxiously, a group of investigators were standing under the window of the governess' room, looking at the bloody footprints she "accidentally" left.

"My wise gentlemen, can anyone tell me what terrible thing my husband...has experienced? Also, is the murderer really Miss Doris Gray?"

Seeing the pale and haggard lady, all the gentlemen present took off their hats to pay tribute.

"Good day, ma'am. My condolences."

"Ma'am, something unfortunate has happened, please take care."

The lady wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, her mournful gaze swept across the solemn and serious faces, and then her gaze was fixed on the remaining footprints on the wall, the reddish brown color that indicated an ominous message made the lady dizzy Dizzy, she sobbed a few times, then fell limply on the strong body of the maid behind her.

"lady!"

"Lord Essex!"

"Doctor, doctor, come quickly! The lady is so sad that she fainted!"

"Send the lady back to the bedroom quickly, ah, poor woman..."

After a while of fuss, everyone returned to the main house of Grove Manor and sat down in the spacious living room.

Butler John led the servants to serve black tea and snacks, carefully placed them in the hands of the gentlemen, and then retreated unobtrusively.

"So, the process of the matter has generally been figured out."

The magistrate, who was busy from the morning to the evening, picked up the teacup, took a sip of the mellow and warm tea, and squinted his eyes comfortably:

"Gentlemen, let me go through the cause and effect of the case first. If there are any omissions, please make sure to add them in time."

Lord Essex's cousin fiddled with his cane and said in a deep voice:

"Mr. Morris, you are the sheriff in charge of local security and order. This unfortunate incident depends on your timely appearance and investigation.

We gentlemen here are not so tactful and thoughtful as you in dealing with similar matters, so please, Mr. Morris, be frank, and give us a detailed account of the cunning and dreadful aspects of the murderer. "

Sheriff Morris cleared his throat, pondered for a while, and began to analyze the night of the crime.

"According to James Burley's statement, my lordship was invited by Miss Gray to her bedroom last night.

Then, in the middle of the night, Miss Gray came out of the bedroom for the first time, and asked James Burley for food and a suit of men's clothes, saying it was her lord's order.

At that time, Mr. Burley did not talk to His Excellency in person, but only vaguely saw His Excellency lying on the bed. "

A gentleman with considerable attainments in medicine nodded and added:

"According to the later clues, we can infer that His Excellency Lord Essex had unfortunately died at that time. The cause of death should be a severe blow to the head, and his temple was punctured by a copper lampstand."

"God have mercy! May your lord's soul rest in peace." The pastor murmured.

The magistrate continued to analyze: "Yes, whether it was premeditated or an accidental mistake, we can be sure that when Miss Doris Gray walked out of the bedroom for the first time, the lord had already been killed.

Moreover, judging from what she asked for from Mr. Burley, she already had a plan to escape at that time.

Afterwards, Miss Gray used the fabric in the room to form a rope and escaped from the bedroom window to the outside of the main house.

However, instead of taking the opportunity to escape from the Grove Manor, she found Anderson, the groom on duty at night, and bribed him with His Lordship's jeweled button, asking him to send an urgent letter for her. "

At this point, the magistrate took the letter from Pei Xiang to Mrs. Margaret from the recorder behind him and spread it out on the table.

"The contents of this letter provide us with some other reference suggestions.

According to Miss Gray's writings, she did not invite the Lord Lord to her bedroom of her own accord.

In her letter, she wrote that she was suddenly violated by His Excellency Lord Essex in her sleep, and in order to safeguard her honor and purity, she accidentally killed him in a panic. "

"It's a bunch of nonsense!" The Lord's cousin snorted coldly.

"Why, Mr. Morris, should you present such a sophistry to our amazement and ridicule.

As we all know, the Lord and his wife of Essex are deeply affectionate, and they are definitely a model couple. If it wasn't for the deliberate seduction of the lowly girl from the illegitimate daughter, how could my brother be confused for a while.

The accusations in this letter are completely slanderous! "

Whether it is slander or not, the gentlemen present here can judge for themselves.

Several gentlemen who were not very close to the lord's family sneered meaningfully.

However, this is not the time to study whether Lord Essex is clean and clean. The most urgent task is to analyze what Doris Gray has done and where she is most likely hiding now.

"The content of this letter, apart from mentioning Mrs. Margaret's bad behavior, also reveals some useful things.

According to what was written in the letter, Miss Doris Gray should be planning to flee to the European continent, and she hoped that her sister, Jennifer Gray, would not worry too much about her. "

"Jennifer Gray? Where is she now? Could it be that she was escorting Doris Gray outside the manor? Otherwise, how come our people haven't found any trace of that young lady? It's not normal."

The sheriff shook his head regretfully: "As far as I know, that Miss Jennifer Gray has been living in London, and she hasn't made any trips to Kent recently.

Of course, I have sent people to Miss Jennifer Gray's house in London, and if she is connected with Miss Doris Gray, my people will definitely find out. "

"Is this letter credible? Could it be that Ms. Gray deliberately wrote it to mislead everyone? Could it be that she said she planned to go abroad, and we thought she would really smuggle out?" A mature and prudent gentleman calmly pointed out the crux.

The sheriff stroked his beard: "This is just a possibility, of course I trust the conclusions of my subordinates' investigations more.

By the way, where did we just talk about?

Oh, Miss Gray went to the groom Anderson to deliver the letter in the middle of the night, and after that, instead of running away, she returned to the bedroom.

I think this is understandable, because if she escaped on horseback or in a car in the middle of the night, she would definitely alarm the inspection team of Grove Manor. Their hounds are not kept for fun. "

Several gentlemen nodded, agreeing with Sheriff Morris's inference.

Morris went on to say: "According to James Burley's account, after dawn, Miss Doris Gray walked out of the room again, wearing a light blue skirt and a long dark brown coat, carrying a large package, saying yes I'm going to find Miss Maria at the pastor's house and give her a parting gift."

The pastor at the side quickly waved his hand: "My daughter Maria did not see Miss Doris Gray. In the morning, our family had been chatting in the living room, and Maria never went out."

The sheriff has already investigated, so he nodded very gently at this time:

"We naturally believe in Miss Maria, everyone knows that this is just an excuse for that girl Doris Gray to deceive Mr. Burley.

She is so cunning and fickle, she can tell lies, and the kind and simple Miss Maria must have been implicated by Doris Gray. "

"You just need to understand, may God bless my innocent daughter." The pastor murmured.

"After parting from Mr. James Burley, Miss Gray went to the stables first, and asked Mr. King, the trainer, to select a docile mare for her. I guessed that Miss Gray was going to ride away.

But as we all know, her riding skills are not very good, so she probably had to change her mind later. "

Captain Hope of the inspection team interrupted at this time and added: "The bay horse has returned to the manor along the road by itself, and there is still Miss Gray's skirt hanging on the saddle. According to James Burley and the trainer King, that skirt is The one Miss Gray wore out this morning."

The police officer who participated in the investigation echoed: "Yes, we found Miss Gray's hair, a man's hat, buttons, and blood-stained cloth strips torn off by thorns and thorns in the bushes on the forest mountain road.

According to the preliminary judgment, the hat and other items should be left behind by Miss Gray. They come from the suit of men's clothes that Mr. Burley provided to Miss Gray. "

"Now, the clue is clear."

The sheriff's voice is very convincing:

"We have determined from a series of investigations that this morning, after Miss Gray rode out of everyone's sight on horseback, she immediately changed into the men's clothing hidden in the package, and then prepared to ride away.

However, her riding skills were really bad. First, she was scratched by the branches of her hair and hat, and then she fell down where the thorny vines grew. scratched.Too bad she didn't break her neck. "

Hearing this, Lord Essex's brother cursed in a low voice.

The magistrate clapped his hands and asked his subordinates to present the collected evidence and show it to the gentlemen present one by one.

"Look, even though our Miss Doris Gray is cunning and vicious, she is still a woman.

She does not have the vigorous physique and strong mobility of men, and she cannot control a real good horse.

So, after wandering by the fast-flowing stream for a while, she finally had to give up the mount for transportation and run away by herself. "

At this time, another gentleman who had been silent all this time asked:

"Mr. Morris, are you sure that Miss Doris Gray has escaped? Instead of hiding near the Grove Manor?"

"Of course, of course."

The magistrate was not very happy because he was questioned. He thought that he had just completed an excellent and thorough reasoning, and it was the moment when he was complacent, and he didn't like to hear opposing arguments.

Therefore, he raised his voice and concluded in an irrefutable tone:

"We have experienced detectives and hounds domesticated by His Excellency Lord Essex, and there are indications that Miss Doris Gray planned a careful escape plan after accidentally killing Her Excellency.

She defrauded Mr. Burley of men's clothes, pretended to convey the Lord's order to go to Bath for vacation, and after dismissing Mr. Burley, she left the Grove Manor openly.

If it weren't for her poor riding skills, she might have ridden to the Strait of Dover by now, ready to go to the Frenchman's land to make trouble. "

While the magistrate was speaking impassionedly, the lady's maid came in and interrupted the gentlemen's discussion with a loud voice.

"Dear gentlemen, the lady has woken up. She invites everyone to have dinner in the restaurant. After dinner, she hopes to hear the results of the investigation in person."