Mary's Nineteenth Century

When a man dies, his life is reduced to a single sentence.

Henry Hubbard, male, 35 years old, from Germany, representative of a famous newspaper company, died of suspected drowning.

The island castle has five floors.

According to the convention, the first floor is the kitchen, utility room, servant's room, etc., and the second floor is the restaurant, auditorium, ballroom, etc.

The owner of Page Island has to rest for physical reasons, and lives on the highest floor to avoid being disturbed.

The remaining third and fourth floors are open to visitors from the island. There are guest rooms and entertainment rooms where you can play bridge, play the piano and chat, etc.

Tonight, 38 people went to the island.

Since most of the invitees brought companions or servants, the rooms they lived in were large suites.

The deceased Hubbard had a high degree of cleanliness, and the three servants accompanying him were able to take full charge of various cleaning tasks.

"Mr. Hubbard has always had the habit of taking a shower when he gets home, but, but..."

Servant A was still in shock, and he still saw a corpse lying on his back when he opened the bathroom door. "That's not a normal body, oh no, it's not normal for Mr. Hubbard to die."

"Calm down, ahem—"

A hoarse male voice sounded, accompanied by coughing.

The owner of the island, Page, is a fat middle-aged man with sickly white skin.

At this moment, a thick gauze was wrapped around his head, covering the end of his left eye.The gauze was knotted on the top of his head, making him look like a unicorn at first glance, which was somewhat comical.

After hearing about the guest's accident, Page rushed to the scene of the death.

I saw Hubbert lying on his back in the bathtub, floating and sinking.He closed his eyes, his facial muscles showed a "laughing" state, but he had lost his breath.

This state of the body is truly unusual.

It seemed that he fell asleep in the bath and had a wonderful dream, but never woke up again.

'Button—'

Mary knocked politely on the half-open bathroom door and saw the body in the water too.

A dead body with a death smile, naked, with no obvious trauma.Also, worth mentioning is the tub itself.

"Cylinder" cannot be used, but a pool should be used to describe it is more appropriate.Round, about 2.5 meters high and 5 meters in diameter.

"The bathtub of nearly [-] square meters can be used as an indoor mini swimming pool."

Mary didn't think every suite in the castle had such a bathroom.At least, she had just glanced at the room between herself and Mycroft next door, neither of them were treated like this.

The butler of the castle explained from the side: "Mr. Hubbard has high requirements for washing. For this reason, a suite with a bathtub has been reserved for him."

"I'm a little curious."

Mary also asked directly, "Everyone's room is different? Is it arranged according to individual needs? Who else's room also has a large bathtub?"

"This is a vacation, isn't it? As long as there are reasonable needs, we will try our best to meet them."

The castle steward explained that there was no special treatment. He asked all the guests about their preferences, but not all of them had additional requirements. "A bath room like this, and Mrs. Barbie stayed with her three male companions."

"uh-huh."

Mary didn't say much, but gave Mycroft a calm look.

It was a very calm look, but it contained several pieces of information.

It seems that Mrs. Barbie is very good at playing, and the four of them are wandering in the bath.Also, the cause of Hubbard's death must be questioned, was he accidental or was he murdered?If murdered, could Mrs. Barbie, who lives in a similarly constructed room, be the next victim?

"My God! What the hell is going on here?"

Shipley, the head of the publishing house, came a step late.After dinner, he was going to take a shower and just wet his hair, who would have expected to hear terrible bad news.

On the first night, no, less than two hours after landing on the island, a guest died? !Unless he offended the god of death, how could he die so quickly?

"Sorry, allow me to ask a question."

Mycroft broke the silence, and glanced at Page Island Master and the Castle Steward in the bathroom inadvertently. "I am very sorry about Hubbard's death, but why should Mr Minton be notified?"

This is a very good question.

It is normal to inform the owner of the island that the guest is dead, and it is normal to inform Shipley, the person in charge of organizing the event, but why notify Mr. Minton?

Asking this question is definitely not because the proposal of kissing hands was interrupted.

Mycroft did not deny Mr. Minton's outstanding ability in investigating cases, but as a partner involved in the investigation, he knew better how uninterested Mr. Minton was in being famous for it.

Otherwise, the overwhelming scandal with Mrs. Roman would not have replaced the investigation of the truth.What is more certain is that Mr. Minton is mentioned in the newspapers much more frequently in the financial pages than in the social homicide pages.

In other words, unless it was introduced by an acquaintance, one of the 38 people who landed on the island was a more popular choice than Mr. Minton when it came to investigating the death.

——Wendy, the popular detective writer this year.

His "Ten Days and Ten Nights at Blizzard Villa" can be said to have created a new genre model.

On an isolated island, there is no way to seek help from outside. In this case, if you want to seek professional help, shouldn't you think of Wendy?

Wendy, however, was not on the first batch of notified lists.

Mary was equally curious.The last time news reported that Mr. Minton had captured the murderer was in the fall of two years ago, only within the limits of Berlin, Germany.

Later cases, such as the year she returned to the United States and the homicide investigation after she returned to London, were all known to the police. She only received employment fees, but declined all interviews and reports.

"Mr. Minton, I am very sorry if this has troubled you."

The owner of Page Island said hoarsely, "When I was on vacation in Berlin the year before last, I was fortunate enough to read your report on the capture of the black crow murderer. I was very impressed by your ability to solve crimes. So, today, ahem..."

The butler of the castle added in time, "Today, I take the liberty to invite Mr. Minton to come to this bathroom for the first time, because I want to determine the cause of Mr. Hubbard's death. As you know, a man died on the first night of the vacation. guests, it is very easy to cause panic."

"I see."

Mary was so calm that she could see no reason for her belief or disbelief.

She said in a gentle tone: "Now I need to determine whether Hubbard was murdered, preferably accidentally. Well, determining the cause of death is also a good way to calm people's hearts."

The owner of Page asked, "So do you agree?"

"of course."

Mary agreed without hesitation, with one small proviso. "I hope old Mrs. Fay stays with me. She has made a lot of achievements in medicine."

what?

Shipley thought he was hallucinating. A gourmand who tastes sweets is actually good at medicine?

Well, he shouldn't underestimate women.When it comes to the most famous nurse, it is undoubtedly Nightingale.The female head nurse who went to the battlefield even created the female nursing profession.

In the same way, is there anything wrong with "Big Red Riding Hood" being able to perform an autopsy?

Shipley tried his best to convince himself, but he always felt that he could no longer look directly at some fragments of "Sweet Food Appreciation", as if how to cut a cake written in the book had become how to dissect a corpse.

In fact, it was not in the habit of Mycroft to carry a scalpel with him.He is not a professional doctor, let alone a forensic doctor specializing in autopsy, but only knows a little medicine.

At the moment, take the deceased Hubbard out of the bath first.He would not use a knife on the deceased tonight without authorization from the family members and without the need to act in a hurry.

We can only conduct a preliminary autopsy to check for abnormal minor injuries.

From the hair on the top of the head to the toes, no obvious trauma has been found so far, so it is necessary to check inch by inch for pinholes and other hard-to-find wounds.

Mary observed the place of death, and there was no visible blood in the bath.

Hubbard is 1.84 meters tall and the pool is 2.5 meters deep.In order to ensure that ordinary people can take a bath, one side of the circular bath is equipped with marble steps, and according to different heights, you can choose the most comfortable height to sit in the bath.

According to the servant's statement, when the bathroom door was finally closed, it was determined that Hubbard was sitting in the bathtub.According to Hubbard's habit, he would call when needed, and would not let the servants stay in the bathroom.

Tonight, none of the three servants heard the shouts, but Hubbard soaked in the bath for more than half an hour.

The three of them knocked on the door because they felt that it was inconsistent with the owner's daily habits. After getting no response, they pushed the door in and found the dead body in the bath.

Except for the wooden door, there is no passage for adults to enter and exit the entire bathroom.

Although there was an open window, the transom was so small that even Mary couldn't curl up through it, and probably only a four or five-year-old child could crawl in and out.

"The window was always open."

Servant A remembered clearly, "Mr. Hubbard always opens the window to take a shower in July weather, and today is no exception."

Mary checked the transom, and there were no fingerprints, footprints or other signs of entry and exit.

I drained some of the bath water, and inspected the marble step seats up close. There were no nail scratches or other signs of struggle.

It was like an accidental death in the bathroom.

"When you came to the castle, what did Mr. Hubbard do? Three, please recall it in as much detail as possible."

Mary walked out of the bathroom, walked around the bedroom, the living room, and finally went to the study.

During the whole process, the suitcases placed outside were no longer visible, replaced by Hubbard's personal items neatly placed on the table, on the floor, and in the cabinets.

The servant answered as expected.

When Hubbard entered the house, the first thing he did was wash his hands and face.

Then let servant A prepare the bath water, and let servants B and C take out all the items in the suitcase and put them away. For example, the bed in the bedroom needs to be replaced with the sheets and pillow covers that come with it.

The three servants were well-trained and completed all the tasks in half an hour.

During the whole process, Hubbard sat on a soft chair in the living room and flipped through a book.

Mary looked around the living room. There was a small wooden bookshelf in the corner.

A total of 32 books and periodicals are placed neatly, and the only book placed outside is the "Bible" on the coffee table.

Mary picked up the Bible. "Mr. Hubbard was reading it just now?"

"Yes."

Servant B confirmed, "When I was tidying up the living room, the master was sitting by the coffee table and reading the Bible."

Mary pondered slightly, the deceased did not wear a pendant, and there were no Christian-related items in Hubbard's personal belongings as far as she could see. "How many years have you followed Hubbard? Does he go to church regularly? Is he very religious?"

The three servants looked at each other in embarrassment.

The master is dead, and now he is not a devout Christian, okay?

"Well, your looks say it all. Mr. Hubbard must be very busy at work, so he has little time for church."

Mary saw the three nodding, but her doubts deepened.On the bookshelf, there are different books and periodicals such as gardening, food, finance, astronomy, literature, and even gossip magazines.

Since Hubbard was not a devout Christian at all, why did he take a "Bible" to pass the time?

Mary reconfirmed, "Has Mr. Hubbard encountered any difficulties recently? Will he change his living habits and plan to go to church?"

The three servants shook their heads in unison.

Servant C has been in charge of cleaning the study and has a better understanding of Hubbard's work dynamics.

"Everything is going smoothly. The master's schedule is very full, and there are no temporary changes to the plan. I have not heard of any changes in the master's company, nor have I seen him have any conflicts with his partners."

"Wait a moment."

Mary finds the inconsistency, why would a clean freak and busy man like Hubbard come on vacation?

"I looked at the stack of documents on the desk in the study. That's Hubbard's official business, right? He's been busy recently, so why did he come to the island?"

Actually, Mary didn't expect an answer.

Because the master arranges a private itinerary, the servants are generally not informed.

Servant B hesitated but said, "Maybe, probably, I might know the reason. Last week I occasionally heard the master and his company partner say that going to the castle for vacation is not a waste of time, and then I can meet someone."

Mary: "Meet who?"

Servant B bit his lip, and finally said, "Mr. Minton, it's you, it's you. Mr. Hubbard came to the castle just to see you."

This answer was too unexpected, causing the living room to suddenly fall into an eerie silence.