Mary's Nineteenth Century

There are two cousins, Allen, whose family atmosphere is a contrasting contrast.

Different from Luke's mother who died early and his father who was addicted to drugs, his cousin Jacques' parents enjoyed a leisurely pastoral life in the countryside on the side of Longborn.

Jacques is also the only child in the family. He married two years ago and has no children, but lives with his wife in London.

10:30am.

Mycroft came to the scene of Jacques' murder, which was a dead-end street about 10 minutes' walk from Jacques' home.

This is not a place with high incidence of murders, and no theft has been reported in the past six months. The nearby residents were very surprised that someone was killed here and then burned on the spot.

Why didn't you pay attention to the firelight?

Why didn't I smell burnt and pungent?

The former may be a problem with the angle, and the burning at the end of the alley cannot be seen clearly from the outside.

As for people ignoring the burnt smell, it was because a family blew up the kitchen at around nine o'clock last night. At that time, there was a messy smell for several miles around.

Last night, Jacques got off work around nine o'clock in the evening.According to his habit, if he fails to go home after the meal, he will order a sandwich and milk at the small restaurant next to Whitehall, and walk home after the meal.

The restaurant waiter remembered that this regular customer left at 21:15.According to the general situation, Jacques should be home before ten o'clock at night.

The burning of the body affected the inference of the time of death, and it is preliminarily estimated that Jacques died between 22:00 last night and 04:00 this morning.

Combined with the fact that the nearby residents could not smell the burnt smell of the corpse, the time of their murder was shortened, before the burnt smell in the frying kitchen at midnight dissipated.

The murderer was clever, and used the fried kitchens of nearby residents as a cover to cover up his killing and burning of corpses.

As a member of the kitchen who used to fry the pan himself, Mycroft has a great say and is familiar with the causes of different degrees of kitchen explosion.

The accident that happened at Jacques' neighbor's house was so serious that 90.00% of it was not a simple fryer, but a combustion-supporting item in the stove.

"As for the investigation of the cause of the fried kitchen, the maintenance engineering team will continue to investigate."

Lestrade had just been transferred to a new jurisdiction, but who would have thought that he would be murdered.He was naive, thinking that if he got rid of the East End, he would stay away from crime.

This morning, Lestrade received a report and transported Jacques Allen's charred body to the morgue at Scotland Yard.

Then follow up and trace, it was determined that there were no witnesses at the time of the incident.There were quite a few people who went out yesterday to watch the kitchen explode, because of this, no one noticed that the murder happened in the alley.

"Mr. Detective, have you been to the house where the explosion happened?"

Mycroft saw Lestrade shaking his head in denial, "Please go and see the layout of that family's home, whether it's messy or well-organized."

It was Jacques who died, why should he care about the layout of his neighbor's house?

Lestrade was not stupid, and he could figure it out after a little thought.In a neighborhood with a low crime rate, the probability of a serious explosion in the kitchen and cremation on the same night is too low.

The former seems to have created a chaos to attract people's attention, while Jean provided cover for the latter and caused the lack of witnesses to the murder.

"Mr. Holmes, do you mean that the kitchen bombing was artificial?"

Lestrade hypothesized, "If the kitchen environment of that family was already chaotic, the murderer may have unknowingly put a combustion accelerant in advance."

Mycroft nodded, "I can't rule out the possibility. You have to ask if that family has received guests recently, or see if there is a sneaky figure near the kitchen window."

"So what?"

Lestrade was actually puzzled by the murder method in this case.

Jacques was shot in the heart with a knife, which almost killed him on the spot, why bother to burn the body?

The fire light and burning smell at night will attract people's attention.If it hadn't been for the explosion in the neighbor's kitchen, the risk of exposure to burning corpses would have skyrocketed.

Assuming that the kitchen explosion was arranged by the murderer who murdered Jacques in advance, the whole process of committing the crime would become more complicated.

Why would the murderer take unnecessary risks if Jacques was just going to die?

From this point, Mycroft thinks that the possibility of a professional killer is not high.

The probability of Jacques being silenced by professionals due to the particularity of the work content is low. Both he and his cousin Luke died in the fire, or there was some kind of connection.

Although the crime scene is one kilometer away from Jacques' home, the dead end is not the only way for Jacques to go home. Why did he walk into the dead end?

No traces of dragging were found at the scene, and Jacques is a 28-year-old strong young man. It is unlikely that he can be easily subdued without causing any movement.

This requires consideration of acquaintances committing crimes.

Jacques voluntarily walked into a dead-end alley, and was killed with a knife because he was unprepared.

Mycroft remembered the record in the file that Jacques' uncle Luke the Elder was a gambling addict.Given that Jacques worked in the Whitehall telegraph office, his kinship was included in the background check.

Although the Jacques and the Lukes are related by blood, the two are not close.Although old Luke lived in the city of London, he should have had little contact with his nephew.

"I read the report, and Jacques' wallet was not found at the scene of the crime."

Mycroft asked, "Are there any remains of wallets among Jacques' charred belongings? A pocket watch in his clothes?"

Lestrade shook his head, "There is no wreckage of the wallet, no pocket watch. Only the briefcase, which is full of burnt documents. I have inquired that the victim was married, but I found no wedding ring. All the neighbors are Jacques wearing a wedding ring." Habit, it looks like it was taken away by the murderer."

There was no wallet, and the suspected wedding ring and pocket watch were taken away, which sounded like robbery again.

Who among the people Jacques knew was short of money?

Gambler Old Luke is undoubtedly on the list.

In the afternoon, I went to find old Luke to find out.Not only that, but also go to the countryside on the side of Longborn to find Jacques' parents.

In order to avoid duplication of work, you can first learn about the case of the other deceased Luke from Mr. Minton, and then decide when to leave the city.

This is not a false public service, and he did not deliberately find an opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Minton.

Right now, they should go to Jacques' home near the scene of the crime, but Mrs. Jacques is not in London.

Autumn is suitable for a walk in nature.

Mrs. Jacques left London on September [-]st. It is said that she has the habit of returning to her natal family in spring and autumn, and lives on the coast of southern England for half a month.

This point was also supported by Jacques Allen.As far as Jacques' friends recalled, Jacques supported his wife not to just stay in London.

Who said that once you get married, you can't go back to your mother's house for a short stay, that's also a way to relax.Jacques' only regret is that he can't accompany him on vacation because of work.

The couple who have been married for two years, Jacques and his wife are recognized as having a good relationship.

Since it is temporarily impossible to interview Mrs. Jacques, let's go to the morgue first.

Jacques' body was burned, but not completely.It takes a long time to completely burn a person, and there are also requirements for the burning temperature.

The coroner gave the test results.Jacques had burns all over his body, the most serious being on his face, his clothes were burned in sevens and eights, and his leather shoes were still on his feet.

It is worth noting that the laces are slightly scorched and not completely burnt.Inside the shoes, the feet were intact, apparently untouched by the fire.

It can be speculated that the fire started from the head and spread to the ankle.There are slightly wet marks on the socks, indicating that the murderer poured water on the corpse halfway, deliberately preventing the fire from spreading.

Mycroft keenly sensed the key point.

This shows that the murderer has been watching Jacques being burned by the flames, and did not leave immediately after setting a fire.

It can be seen that the murderer deliberately chose to kill excessively at the risk of being discovered to commit the crime.

It is to witness the process of Jacques being destroyed with his own eyes. This case is not simply robbery, but has a deeper motive for committing the crime.

—Is it seeking revenge?Or met a psychopathic murderer

**

The words are divided into two parts.

On the outskirts of London, Mary first went to the church morgue.

PPP's private telegraph station catches fire, killing two employees.

Among them, the remains of employee Waite had been taken away by his family, leaving only a solitary body lying in the basement of the church.

Due to the remote location of the telegraph station and no residences nearby, the fire fighting was delayed.

According to estimates, it was more than an hour after the fire broke out, and the fire brigade was called because the passing merchants spotted the fire.

That caused the deceased to be beyond recognition, and his whole body was charred severely.Not to mention being unable to recognize Luke's face, even his height could not be determined.

Because after continuous burning at high temperature, the human body tissue is destroyed, resulting in a curled up corpse posture, accompanied by shortened height.

What can prove the identity of the deceased is that the remnants of clothes and shoes at the scene match the uniforms of the distribution station.

As for why it was judged that the two employees were electrocuted first?

In the case where the skin and trunk organs were basically burned, only the bones were observed, but no obvious trauma was found.

Because of the state when the body was found, the two employees did not try to escape, but fell down by the electrical socket two meters away from the gate.

Assuming the person was still alive when the fire broke out, he should try to escape from the switch room.Only when the possibility of struggle is lost, will there be no trace of struggle left.

Mary couldn't help thinking about it.Is it possible that there was a third person at the scene who stunned Luke and Waite and moved them into the substation, then created a short circuit and caused a fire?

With today's inspection technology, there is no good detection method for corpses that have been severely charred after high-temperature incineration.

A fire can hide many secrets.

For more clues, head to Luke's rented cabin.

Firstly, to check the letter sent to Watson, whether the handwriting on the envelope was written by Luke; secondly, to find out if there are any unexpected discoveries in Luke's family.

The results were a bit surprising.

Checking the handwriting is really not superfluous. The letter sent from the small town has nothing in common with Luke's handwriting.

The post office couldn't remember any suspicious persons on the day the letter was sent, so it was impossible to determine who was impersonating Luke to send the picture of the charred fish.

Besides, Luke's residence is similar to most bachelors. He puts his daily necessities everywhere, but the house is not messy.

No food residue and no sweaty clothes.There are newspapers and pipes everywhere, and there are no wine bottles. It is said that Luke does not drink alcohol.

All items fit Luke's salary, nothing out of place.

Only a little strange.

A pile of ashes was found in the fireplace.According to the temperature in early September this year, there is no need to use the fireplace, but there are traces of paper being burned.

The ashes were pulled out, and the ashes were basically burned completely, leaving only a fragment of letter paper the size of a fingernail, with the vague pen writing "umbra" on it, and a v symbol above the a.

This is Romanian.

Mary recalled the account of the manager of the telegraph station. The employees of the telegraph station were basically locals from the south of England, or they came from London like Luke.

Why did Luke Allen have a letter from southeastern Europe?Does he understand Romanian?Have a pen pal you keep in touch with?

I went to the small town post office again with doubts, but the post office knew nothing about it.

The town is small, and the post office has a basic understanding of the status of sending and receiving letters of permanent residents.We have not received any letters from Southeast European countries or regions this year.

So where did Luke Allen get the letter from?Why did you burn this letter on purpose?

**

Night, 21:50.

Mary returned to Pall Mall.

Not long after she lit the lamp in the study, Mycroft from the next door heard the light.

"Please forgive me. I came to see you so late. I have bad news."

Mycroft, on business grounds, said that his visit was to announce the death of Jacques Allen.

"On September 9st, Luke was caught in a fire in the switch room. Three days later, on September 1th, last night, his cousin was stabbed to death and burned. I thought it important to keep you up to date on the case .”

In fact, the two of them knew very well that they could wait until tomorrow morning to say some things, because they were not in a hurry to investigate anything at this moment.

Mary seemed to believe that Mycroft's eagerness to come was business.

"Aha, some similar ways of dying. I guess you've already gone to see old Luke?"

"Yes."

Mycroft briefly described the investigation during the day, "Because Jacques' belongings were stolen, there is reason to suspect his gambling uncle. But I did not find old Luke. He is not at home. He hasn't been home for ten days. "

Going to the old Luke's house, there are only two "gatekeepers", who are thugs from the casino.

The casino thug told old Luke to sell everything that could be sold, and now he can be said to have nothing but the property rights of the house.

The casino doesn't care about love, and they send people here to wait for old Luke to come back. Regardless of whether he agrees or not, he must sign it, and he must use the house to pay off the gambling debt.

"The casino searched for old Luke in London. It's been ten days, and as of today's evening, no one has been found."

Mycroft was not sure if old Luke would escape from London, "He seems to have disappeared to hide his debts, maybe he will go to his brother?"

"It's possible, anyway, it won't be going to Luke."

Mary also talked about the results of the investigation of Luke in the outskirts of London, "Luke and his father have long been separated. If old Luke still has the cheek to find the outskirts of the city, he should know that his son was caught in a fire on September [-]st. .”

In recent days, none of Luke's relatives and friends went to church to identify the body.

Maybe old Luke heard the news of his son's death, but he still ran away without looking back in order to avoid debts.Fleeing farther, they came to the country on the side of Longborn, where Jacques' parents lived and where old Luke once lived.

According to the primogeniture system, the land and ancestral home of the Allen family passed to Jacques the Elder, and Luke the Elder received a sum of money to buy a small house in London.

The family life of the two brothers after their respective marriages is very different. One small family is harmonious, and the other has a wife and children.

The same is true for younger generations.

Luke's tuition was embezzled by his selfish father as gambling money, so he had to give up taking college entrance exams and move out early to work to support himself.

Jacques graduated from a prestigious school and started working in Whitehall. This year he was promoted and his salary was raised, and he married a wife with a good relationship two years ago.

Coincidentally, both of them were engaged in telegraph work, but they had no intersection at all.

However, the life trajectories of the two families intersected at the beginning of September this year. The two cousins ​​encountered fires one after another and lost their lives.

Such a comparison is not only embarrassing fate.

"By the way, there is another strange discovery at Luke's house."

Mary thought of something, broke the silence and said with a smile, "Mr. Holmes, please look at the wall."

wall?

Mycroft turned his head, could the strange clues of the dead Luke be shown on the walls of Minton's house?

The next moment, a black wolf's head suddenly appeared on the wall.

Not a real wolf, but a shadow under the kerosene lamp, the shadow of Mr. Minton's nimble hands making a gesture of a wolf's head.

The wolf ran first, and then opened and closed its head and mouth, as if it wanted to eat someone bite by bite.

Immediately afterwards, the hand gesture suddenly changed, as if a wolf was speaking, and the wolf's head quickly changed into a heart.

The shadow of love will also jump twice.

Mary maintained the love gesture for two seconds, and found that Mycroft kept his head turned and remained motionless, staring too seriously at the hand shadow on the wall.

So she withdrew her hands calmly, and then asked calmly, "Mr. Holmes, now you guess what I want to say?"

Say something?

The first reaction is that a wolf head plus a heart is roughly equal to a little gray wolf showing love.

Mycroft was in a daze when he saw the shadow of Love, but he quickly returned to his senses when he heard the question.

No, no, Mr. Minton played tricks on him again.Talking about death cases now, a strange clue in a deceased person's home won't be an expression of love by the little gray wolf.

Mycroft was glad that he still maintained his sanity under such circumstances, "You mean you found a clue related to the shadow?"

"As expected of you, the answer is correct."

Mary said solemnly, "I found the pile of burnt papers in the fireplace, and there was only a piece of letter paper left. It said 'umbra' in Romanian, and you know it means shadow."

"A piece of paper the size of a fingernail."

Mary held out her finger and compared the size of the pieces of paper. "What do you think of this, Mr. Holmes?"

view?

Mycroft seemed to glance casually at the fingers in front of him. Mr. Minton's fingers were beautiful.

Just now, it was these nimble fingers that showed a big love to himself.Oh no, it's not rigorous, to be precise, it created a gesture shadow on the wall.

No, it's not about the fingers, it's about Romania and the shadow.

In order to prove that his sanity was always online, Mycroft quickly searched for relevant information in his mind.

Two seconds later, he remembered something, "In the early years, I traveled to Europe with my father, and I heard about the strange folk customs in Romania. Mr. Minton, do you know about Shadow's underground business?"