Mary's Nineteenth Century

At night, seven o'clock.

It's not raining in London today.

Lawyer Mary and Earlson arrived at the hotel. The old Oliver and his wife had just finished their dinner when the maid came out of the house after packing up the plates.

The middle-aged couple who lost their son should have a poor appetite.

The food for dinner was not cleared, and a bowl of vegetable soup was barely touched.

Marie brushed past the maid and glanced at the soup bowl, a vegetable medley that included fava beans.

An hour and a half ago, Oliver's colleague A mentioned that the taste of broad beans was not to Mrs. Oliver's taste.

"Two, Professor George invited you to continue the investigation?"

Old Mr. Oliver didn't expect a visitor, and he didn't refuse to cooperate with the investigation after hearing the reason, but it was inconvenient to talk in the hotel.He picked up a bunch of keys, "Please also come with me to Ben's residence, I think you also need to observe the situation."

Ben, the name of the deceased Ben Oliver.

Old Oliver called out his son's name, unable to hide his heavy pain.

Old Mrs. Oliver was in even worse condition. She managed to eat some dinner and didn't have the energy to talk to visitors.After saying a few words of impoliteness and apology, he was helped to the inner room by the servants.

That's why old Oliver suggested talking elsewhere.

It wasn't until the three of them left the hotel that Old Oliver spoke about the details.

"To be honest, I originally planned to ask someone to continue the investigation, but the murder suspect Peter died too quickly, and he didn't explain the specific process of committing the crime clearly.

But you two should find out that my wife Jenny was devastated by this, alas, but she insisted on coming to the city to collect Ben's belongings together.I can't stop it either, there won't be a second time for this kind of thing.I am very grateful to the two of you for coming, which saved me from looking for a reliable detective. "

"Please grief."

Lawyer Erson is not good at comforting people, so he can only quickly get to the point of the investigation, "You are Oliver's father, have you heard of who he has feuded with?"

Old Oliver kept shaking his head. "Never. I know Ben. He's never been involved in a dispute."

"What about you? Have you had any conflicts with anyone?"

Mary doesn't believe in coincidences, at least she can't regard Oliver's death as impulsive robbery before a thorough investigation.

Her question was a bit grim for the father who lost his son, "Are you sure that neither your wife nor Oliver's siblings have caused death?"

"of course not!"

Old Oliver raised his voice, suppressing the anger of being questioned. "My wife and children are very kind. We never have any grudges with others. How could we incur retaliation, and it is even more impossible for Ben to be killed because of this!"

Mary ignored the old Oliver's anger and said calmly, "Then please think carefully about who you have had contact with over the years. Tell them as much as possible, and please don't judge whether those people are good or evil."

Old Oliver recalled with a straight face that his life had always been simple.Like other country gentlemen in England, the main source of income for the family was the land passed down from their ancestors.

"About 26 years ago, I would also go out to sea and do some business, buying and selling legumes. But after Ben was born, I stayed in the town as a sheriff, so I could spend more time with my family."

When Ben Oliver was born, his father didn't make it home.

Old Oliver had to delay his return voyage because of the storm at sea. When he got home, he found his wife was weak. He was terrified to learn that Jenny suffered a dystocia this time.

Thanks to God's blessing, both mother and child survived well in the end.

It must also be mentioned here that the old Oliver didn't want to have a fifth child, but Jenny accidentally became pregnant at the age of 40.

Even though Britain has strict conditions for legal abortion, there are always ways to conceal success.But the doctor gave a diagnosis, and it would be more dangerous for Jenny to choose induced abortion.

"God bless, little Tony was born safely, and Jenny did not suffer from dystocia again."

As a result, the old Oliver firmly believed in being kind to others, and also devoted himself to charity, believing that this would bring luck to the family.

Five years ago, the three daughters got married successively, and Ben Oliver graduated from university and stayed in London as a civil servant.

Old Oliver has completely retired. He, his wife Jenny, and their youngest son Tony live a leisurely life in the outer suburbs of London.Come to the city once or twice a month to hear a musical or see an exhibition.

After Mary listened to the description, from the known situation, Oliver's family lived happily. "I want a detailed list of what entertainment you took part in."

After that, it is necessary to compare the intersection of the old Oliver couple, the deceased Ben Oliver and the suspect Peter.

Scotland Yard has given the trajectory of Peter's activities, and the full-time coachman has a fixed driving route.

Most of the time waiting near the Turkish bath is to drive the bus for the customers of the bath.According to his fellow coachmen, Peter rarely runs other routes.

"Okay, I will seriously remember and give you a list tomorrow morning."

Old Oliver frowned as he spoke, obviously he didn't think he had any trouble with his family.

While talking, the three walked to the next street.

Oliver lived alone before his death. He rented a one-bedroom apartment and did not share it with anyone.

Scotland Yard has come to investigate, and there are no signs of intrusion or damage on the doors and windows. The interior is neat and not messy, so there should be no thieves.

At that moment, Mary and her party entered the room with three people.

"I haven't moved much of anything here."

Old Oliver originally wanted to hire a detective, so he didn't directly collect his son's belongings immediately after arriving in London.

It is now also easy to view.

There are no valuables hidden in the house, and it can be seen that Oliver is not interested in tobacco, alcohol, tea and the like.

Excluding daily items, books and newspapers are the largest in terms of quantity.Among them, there are three main categories, mathematics, financial current affairs, and various studies about the United States.

Mary rummaged through the boxes again to make sure there were no hidden compartments in the room.

Some of the notes left by Oliver are related to life, such as what recipes to prepare for family dinners; the other part is research drafts, such as calculation formulas.

It doesn't seem like there is a secret existence that cannot be seen.

The investigation of the first night ends here.

Regarding the deceased Oliver, he seems to be living an ordinary life like most ordinary people living in London.

On Wednesday, the sun rose as usual.

Continue to investigate.

First, a list was taken from old Oliver, which showed where the family had been.

Subsequently, Mary and Attorney Earlson split up.

One went to the University of London Medical School to read the autopsy report, and the other went to the Golden Palm Casino to find out the suspect Peter's gambling addiction and debt experience.

"My God, look who's coming. Good morning, Mr. Minton!"

The door of the morgue opened, and Watson did not expect to see an old acquaintance. "So you are investigating the murders of the two people inside."

Mary was a little surprised, "I haven't seen you for a few days, Mr. Watson didn't expect you to participate in the autopsy after one month of enrollment."

"Oh yes, it was my luck to meet Dr. Jekyll."

Watson briefly told the story that Dr. Jekyll was in charge of a certain course for first-year medical students, and students who expressed interest could participate in his research project. "There are several projects, among which autopsy is the least popular but does not limit the grades of students, so I signed up."

Today, the knowledge of human anatomy has changed from a means of the devil to one of the means of investigating cases.However, when the criminal investigation system was not yet perfect, there was no full-time forensic doctor, and most of the autopsies were performed part-time by doctors or medical practitioners.

Dealing with dead people is a niche choice, and it's no wonder that there are very few students who are willing to sign up to help.

There is only one door between the morgue and the autopsy room.

"The hospital temporarily called Dr. Jekyll away. I happened to have no class in the morning, so I came to hand over the autopsy report."

Watson said and pointed to the room, "Do you need to take another look at the two dead?"

"It's work."

Mary watched as the door was pushed open, revealing two parallel mortuary tables.Assuming Oliver and Peter are still alive, I'm afraid it will make people wonder who will kill whom.

I asked this question because Oliver was obviously taller than Peter.

One was a tall, 27-year-old office worker, and the other was a slender, 42-year-old cab driver.

No wonder Scotland Yard came to a conclusion that the reason why Peter was able to kill and rob was that Oliver hadn't defended himself.

Since Oliver goes to the Turkish bath regularly every week, and Peter runs the bathroom line full-time, there is no doubt that the two parties know each other.It is uncertain how close the relationship between the two is, but at least they have been a passenger and driver for three years in peace.

"The results of the comprehensive autopsy are the same as before."

Watson handed over the document, "Oliver is in good health and has no other diseases. The fatal injury was a knife in the heart. A total of three stabs were stabbed in the front. He should have been killed before he had time to react. There was no resistance injury on his body."

This fits with Scotland Yard's inspection of the death scene.

Oliver was killed at the corner of a dead end ten meters away from his residence.The time of the incident was around nine o'clock at night. Neighbors heard the sound of a carriage, but no screams or calls for help.

At [-] a.m. the next day, pedestrians reported the crime after smelling blood.

The corpse at the scene was covered with a pile of discarded garbage, and the dead alley where the corpse was located was one of the dumping sites of domestic garbage.

Watson talked about the suspect Peter again, "This one is different, he has many injuries and illnesses. His heart and lungs had some chronic diseases, but the peanut bread dinner in the detention center directly suffocated him to death."

Mary took the report, which pointed to several bone injuries, as well as years of chronic visceral injuries. "It is reported that Peter was bedridden for recuperation four days after the incident and before he was arrested. According to Dr. Jekyll's examination results, Peter had a lung disease at that time. Is there nothing else? Is there poison in his body?"

Watson shook his head, "There is no poison. Dr. Jekyll has done several sets of toxicological comparisons, and found nothing abnormal."

Mary looked to one side of the evidence table again. On it was a knife, which was matching Oliver's fatal wound.There was no blood on the tip of the knife and it looked clean.

"This is the knife that was found near Peter's house."

Watson mentioned, "Dr. Jekyll did a fingerprint test on it, oh, that kind of test that is not very well known. There are two fingerprints on it. Scotland Yard's investigations wear gloves, and the police are not directly good at it." The handle of the knife was touched, but strangely, the two fingerprints did not match the suspect Peter."

In 1869, the uniqueness of fingerprints had not yet been fully understood in Western academic circles, and it was not used in forensic identification.

However, this kind of fingerprint identification technology has existed since ancient times.

From the Eastern Continent to the Song Dynasty, a system had been formed. The publication of the famous forensic treatise "Xin Yuan Lu Ji" in the [-]th century was a peak, and there were relevant records in it.Everyone's fingerprints are unique, and it is rare for two people to have the same fingerprints.

Mary has read a lot of current medical journals, and understands that today's medical theories are mixed, and few people in Europe pay attention to fingerprints.That accolade deserves to go to Dr. Jekyll, who realized that peanuts caused allergic deaths, and who used fingerprinting one step ahead.

Thinking of this, Mary asked casually, "Which direction of treatment is Dr. Jekyll best at?"

"Oh, it's kind of hard to say."

Watson thought for a while, "He seems to know everything. From my point of view, he should like to study various intractable diseases. For example, today, Dr. Jekyll went to treat a strange coma caused by a bowl of broad bean soup. sick, the patient is a circus performer."

"That said, there have been a lot of serious illnesses caused by beans recently. First peanuts, then broad beans."

Mary thought of old Mrs. Oliver, who didn't like the taste of broad beans and wouldn't touch a sip.Speaking of the circus, according to the itinerary, old Mrs. Oliver went to the performance of "Pandora Circus" a month and a half ago.

Mary seemed to think of something and asked, "Is that unconscious actor from "Pandora Circus"? "

Watson was dumbfounded, "Well, well, there are at least [-] or [-] circuses performing in London today. How can you guess right? Isn't it another obvious inference?"