Mary's Nineteenth Century

Whitechapel, dirty and messy.

If the deceased had not thrown the corpse in the street, and the corpse was placed in the house, it would be difficult for passers-by to immediately realize that the rancid smell was related to the human dead, because they had long been blinded by the smell of various garbage accumulations.

Abandoned old house, a place full of dust and garbage.

There are several fist-sized holes in the roof, and it can be seen that this place is sometimes used as a temporary foothold for homeless people.

At the moment, the house is filled with the smell of blood.

In the corner is a corpse that needs to be mosaiced for TV.Of course, televisions did not exist in the early 19s, and even cameras were too heavy to carry around.

When Mary stepped into the dilapidated house, she felt an indescribable feeling when she saw the corpse.

The deceased, female, had slightly curly long hair, and the corpse was bitten in a bad shape.

The clothes were also damaged by the sharp claws, but the fabric was in good condition. It is estimated that the whole set of clothes is worth about [-] pounds.No jewelry was found at the scene, but clothes of this price alone could be worn by young girls from middle-class families.

It is worth noting that the color, material and tailoring of the clothes match the clues provided by Elizabeth. It is a skirt that Lydia took from Longbourn's house when she eloped.

Looking at the hair color and figure of the deceased in the house, they were also very similar to Lydia.Whether the deceased was Lydia or not needs to be determined by family members who are more familiar with her.

Lestrade pointed to the lower limbs of the dead man. "Look at the rigidity of this corpse, it must have been dead for about two days."

The lower extremity rigor began to ease 36 hours after death, and the general rigor disappeared on the 3rd to 7th day.

There was no rigor in the lower limbs of the deceased, and the rigor in the whole body has not completely disappeared, that is to say, he died for about two days.

Died two days ago, on April 4th.

Combined with the fact that Lydia and Wickham left the expensive hotel on the afternoon of April 4, theoretically speaking, Lydia may have been killed.

Gregson pointed to a rag hanging from the broken glass in the window, "I just saw it and thought there might be something wrong in the house."

Residents in the Whitechapel area couldn't afford skirts of this price, and the rags on the window sills were very new, obviously not second-hand.There was also a string of bloody paw prints of beasts inside the house, extending from the corner where the corpse was to the window, but no similar traces were found on the streets.

Mycroft inspected the wounds of the corpse carefully, and said with certainty: "The footprints, the scratches, the bite marks, these

None of the leopards. "

"Ah?", "What?"

Lestrade and Grayson were a little dumbfounded.

"The traces at the scene are in line with the signs of a cheetah."

Mycroft felt a little strange as he spoke.

Not many people today can see a large carnivore with their own eyes.Although there are animal exhibitions in London, tickets are required, not to mention that many people just take a quick look at the flowers and only remember a general idea.

Both cheetahs and leopards have patterns on their bodies. It is actually very easy to distinguish them, but people still get it wrong from time to time.This could explain why eyewitnesses mistook the animals they saw for leopards.

In fact, there is a big difference between the two.

For example, in terms of hunting, leopards are more lethal than cheetahs, and most cases of cannibalism are caused by leopards.

The victim's body was covered with bite wounds from the cheetah's attack.

This is where it gets a bit weird, cannibalism does not conform to the general hunting rules of cheetahs.

Of course, the beast wants to eat.

When very hungry, it is logical for a cheetah to catch someone to eat.Moreover, the cheetah has a top-notch escape speed, which can also explain why no one has discovered its existence recently.

"No matter what kind of leopard, in short, there is a beast that hunts and kills humans."

Lestrade didn't care that he misidentified the animal species.If judging the time of human death is an optional introductory course at Scotland Yard, recognizing animal paw prints and bite marks is outrageous.

This time, he was more concerned about the fact that the animal fleeing and murder case actually happened.

Finding out who the dead were, where the fleeing animals came from and where they went, was the thing to investigate.

"Gentlemen, I have a small request."

Lestrade said straight to the point, "Can you contact a reliable doctor to do an autopsy on the deceased? Maybe we can find clues related to her identity from her damaged stomach or other parts."

"I can help arrange it, and it can be sent to St. Bartholomew's Hospital for examination today. Two detectives, please transport the body there in time."

Mary has not yet stated that the deceased is suspected to be Lydia, and further conclusions will be made after Darcy and Elizabeth identify the body.In any case, an autopsy must be performed to better understand what happened to the deceased before his death.

The detectives went to work on arranging for the transportation of the corpse.

Mycroft came out of the hut and walked around the house.

exterior walls, doorways, streets

No traces of cheetahs were found in other locations, not even a pinch of cheetah fur.

All kinds of messy garbage can be seen everywhere on the gravel, such as rotten vegetable leaves, pasted paper, broken glass of wine bottles and so on.

The next moment, a pinch of shredded tobacco was found in the corner.

Mycroft bent forward and picked up the shredded tobacco.Looking up, looking out from this position, the line of sight can just clearly see the windows of the broken house 15 meters away.

If the body takes a step back, it can be hidden just in time to prevent the person standing by the window from discovering.In other words, it's a great hiding place.

Imagine a scenario.

Someone stood in a blind spot, took out the shredded tobacco, lit it, and took a puff, secretly observing everything that happened in the window of the broken house.

Could the smoker have witnessed the victim being carried through the window into the dilapidated house?Did he go after the cheetah again?

Put the shredded tobacco into small paper bags.

In a short while, I will send a telegram to Sherlock, asking him to come to London as soon as possible when he finds time. This will test whether my dear brother's research on shredded tobacco has achieved results.

"Mr. Minton, have you found anything else?"

Mycroft went back to the dilapidated house and brought up the shredded tobacco, saying that he would ask a professional to analyze its origin, and then he saw Mr. Minton picking up a small blood-stained stone.

A small stone, about the size of an ordinary pocket watch.

Mary picked it up five meters away from the corpse, "It's very messy here, there are broken stones and broken glass everywhere. The garbage on the ground near the corpse is more or less blood-stained, but six meters away from the corpse, only This stone is stained with blood."

If you look closely, it is a cobblestone, which is not the same as the broken wall bricks and stones on the ground inside the broken house.

The stone is not the same as the paper cloth, and it cannot be blown into the broken window with the wind. Who brought it into the house?

The position of the stone is not on the track of the bloody paw print of the cheetah.In this case, why is it still stained with blood even though it is some distance away from the corpse?

There were many problems, but nothing more was found in the dilapidated house and its surroundings.

The place where the crime happened was surrounded by abandoned houses, and no residents could be found to ask if they had heard any special movements.

In the afternoon, Mary also acted as the announcer, notifying the identification of the dead body.When I came to Darcy's house this time, I also met Mr. Bennet.

At present, Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth are staying in London waiting for the news.

Mrs. Bennet did not come.The eldest daughter, Jane, is also in the small town of Longbourne, and she has to take care of her mood swings.

Mother.

"The deceased was transported to St Bartholomew's Hospital for an autopsy."

Mary briefly described the antecedents such as the escape of the animals. Elizabeth tried her best to restrain herself but her eyes were still red, and Mr. Bennet's face turned pale immediately.

"If possible, I would like you two to confirm as soon as possible whether the deceased is Miss Lydia."

"Mr. Minton, are you sure it was my daughter who died?"

When Mr. Bennet spoke, his voice couldn't hide a tremor, "Could it be a mistake?"

This is a very silly question.

The face of the deceased was destroyed, and it was impossible for outsiders to know whether there were any special marks on Lydia's body.Without knowing it, it is impossible to draw a definite conclusion, otherwise there is no need to identify the corpse.

Mary didn't feel the slightest bit of sarcasm because of this. An old father heard that his youngest daughter might have died, and not many people remained rational under such circumstances.

However, she didn't say much about the specific situation of the corpse, and she couldn't let her judgment interfere with the result of identifying the corpse.

"According to the previous description of Miss Lydia, the deceased matches her image. Because the face was destroyed, no conclusion can be drawn now, so the two need to confirm further."

"Let's go, go and identify the corpse now."

Elizabeth wiped away her tears, even though she was very afraid that Lydia was really killed, but it was useless to stay here to mourn.Only by seeing it with your own eyes can you be sure, yes or no, you can get a conclusion that seeing is believing.

Mr. Bennet had told Elizabeth not to go.When the daughter stepped into the morgue, she might not be able to bear the shock of facing the dead body.

Elizabeth, however, insisted on going, and for good reason.

After all, there is a difference in gender. As an older sister, she knows Lydia's physical characteristics better than her father.

Darcy had already prepared the carriage and accompanied them to the morgue.

The atmosphere in the carriage was rather gloomy.

Elizabeth tightly clenched the hem of her skirt, closed her eyes all the way, and silently prayed to God that the deceased was only similar in appearance and clothing to Lydia, not herself.

Does prayer work again?

Inside the morgue.

Today's autopsy assistant is Watson, who has completed the preliminary cleaning of the body's surface as required by Dr. Jekyll.

If possible, no one wants to say goodbye for a few years and meet again in front of the dissecting table.

Mary gave Watson a slight nod in greeting, waiting to talk about the old days after the busy period.

Right now, focus on the corpse first.

伊丽

When Sabeth and Mr. Bennet saw the torn skirt, their hearts were half cold.

This is Lydia's skirt, and the lace bow is different from the ready-to-wear sample in the store. At that time, Lydia specially ordered the differentiated details.

"No, she's not Lydia."

Elizabeth hurriedly went to look at the corpse again, ignoring the horror of the corpse, and searched the left arm of the corpse that had been bitten.With just one glance, a judgment is given.

"I'm sure this isn't Lydia. Lydia has two moles on the inside of the elbow on her left arm, but there are no moles on the body."

Although the body was bitten almost beyond human shape, but fortunately the skin of the left elbow was not damaged.It can be clearly seen that the inner side of the elbow joint of the corpse has no spots, no moles and no scars.

Mr. Bennet was revived by the discovery, but he had no knowledge of it.In my memory, Lydia had no moles on the inside of her elbows when she was a child.

"Elizabeth, are you sure? When did you see the mole on the inside of Lydia's elbow?"

"I'm pretty sure Lydia's mole has been there for four years. I saw the mole on Lydia's arm when she tried on this dress in early March this year."

Elizabeth added, "Not only did I see it, but Jane and Catherine were also there, and they all saw it."

Mr. Bennet's pale face finally turned a little more bloody, but he was still a little worried. "It's been more than a month, will the mole disappear automatically?"

Watson shook his head, "There are no moles in the first place, and it is normal for acquired moles to grow out. Conversely, it is very rare for acquired moles to disappear automatically."

Mr. Bennet is still not at ease, "But there are also medical methods to get rid of moles, aren't there?"

Watson has no way to refute that such whitening techniques do exist.

"Miss Elizabeth, since you remember the mole on Miss Lydia's arm, do you have any memory of her feet? Is the size right?"

Mary pointed to the foot of the corpse. There was almost no complete skin on the hands and ten fingers of the corpse, but the shape of the left foot was still intact.

Elizabeth looked at the foot of the corpse, and this time she was even more sure that the deceased was not her sister. "The nail on the little finger of this left foot is different from Lydia's. It is twice as big as Lydia's nail."

The reason why I can remember Lydia's physical characteristics clearly is related to the death of my third sister four years ago.

.

When Elizabeth saw the charred corpse, she was surprised that she had paid too little attention to the third sister in the past, and she couldn't remember more details about her body.Since then, I have paid attention to the physical condition of the sisters who are still alive.

Moles on the body and toenails vary in size.

Finding two differences from the remains, it is basically certain that Lydia is not the one who died.

Here comes the problem.

It wasn't Lydia who died, why was her dress worn on the dead?

Mr. Bennet hoped that the dead man had quietly stolen Lydia's dress.

That was the best guess, which meant that no one had killed anyone or robbed property.Nor would it be someone deliberately throwing a corpse of similar stature in an attempt to make people think Lydia was dead.

This time, the death scene and the body are full of traces of cheetahs, so why do you suspect that someone is artificially confusing the public?

Mary doesn't think there can be human factors behind the cheetah's killing.

Suppose one person binds Lydia, another person puts on Lydia's skirt, and then creates a corpse that dies under the claws of a beast. Isn't that a way of deception.

after dinner.

Mary came to Mycroft's house next door to inform him of the latest progress in identifying the body, and saw a whole box of books in the study.

"The material I just borrowed from the British Museum this afternoon is related to cheetah hunting."

Mycroft always felt that the cheetah killing humans this time was a bit weird, and hoped to find out some reasons from the information. "Mr. Minton, do you want to watch it together?"

"Okay."

Mary also felt that the deceased killed by the cheetah was unspeakably strange. "I originally planned to go to the British Museum tomorrow morning, and you borrowed them all one step ahead of time. Does this count as a spiritual connection?"

Mary said, showing a little thumb, "It's not much, just a little bit of connection. There is no need to make a fuss about this level, because we have not yet learned telepathy."

What is the relationship between borrowing books and spiritual communication?

It is clear that the two of them thought that the death scene was weird, so they needed to read some reference materials when looking for clues, which is a very logical operation.

Mycroft, however, smiled politely without rebuttal, and remained silent.

Silence is sometimes acquiescing, and he would not say that telepathic communication seems to sound good.

For a while, the study was quiet.

Beside the kerosene lamp, the two sat opposite each other, only listening to the rustling sound of pages being turned.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door.

The servant said outside, "Mr. Holmes, your brother, Mr. Sherlock, is here."

What?What time is it?

Mycroft glanced at the clock. It was eight o'clock at night.

It appears that Sherlock traveled from Cambridge to central London immediately after receiving the telegram to identify the tobacco.I have to say, it was very positive, I didn't expect him to come until noon tomorrow.

Mary paused slightly with the hand holding the book.

So soon, is it time to meet the Mycroft family?Are you glad it wasn't Mycroft's parents who came to the door suddenly?

"Ask Sherlock to come to the study."

After speaking to the servant, Mycroft turned to look at Mr. Minton.Just as I was about to introduce Sherlock a little in advance, I felt that the state of the person sitting opposite seemed to have changed a bit.

What to say?

Mycroft felt that Mr. Minton's temperament seemed a little more innocent at the moment?