Mary's Nineteenth Century

Shadow is an optical phenomenon.

But for a long time in history, it was thought to be closely related to the soul.

"15 years ago, I almost experienced an inexplicable ceremony in Romania, but the locals believed in the absurd practice."

Mycroft talked about the past, when the family of four traveled in Europe that year, they were almost deceived into the trap of black-hearted people.

It was a construction site for new houses, and the construction team claimed to have dug up the skeleton of the mermaid, which attracted nearby crowds to watch.

It's a bit strange, the people who come close to watch the excitement are all outsiders, and there are few locals.This aroused old Sherlock Holmes's suspicion, and temporarily stopped the curiosity of the two sons, seeing is believing.

After inquiring, I finally learned of a strange custom.

Romania has a shadow superstition.It is said that if a person's shadow is buried in the foundation of a house, the house will receive shelter, but the person who donates the shadow will die within a year. ①

This custom may be related to myths and legends. In various legends, if a devil steals a person's shadow, it is equivalent to stealing that person's soul.

Sacrifice the shadow, that is, sacrifice the soul, and bless a new house at the cost of the soul.But who would be willing to pay such a price?

Most people will not agree, and there will be fraud and underground black market transactions.

"The news that the mermaid's body was dug up that year was aimed at deceiving a group of people to the construction site. The black-hearted construction team would set up a magic circle in advance, and use words to trick people into agreeing to sacrifice their shadows. ceremony."

Mycroft didn't believe in the so-called shadow blessing ceremony, but many local people believed in it, which led to a black market transaction.For example, A secretly signs an agreement with the construction team to sell B's shadow, and can make a fortune from it.

Mary listened, "This seems like a no-cost deal. It is said that money and goods are equal, but how does the shadow deliver? In a physical sense, it is impossible to steal a person's shadow."

"Indeed, there is no proof in empty words. A needs to hand over B's belongings as proof."

Mycroft gave an example, "For example, B's pocket watch, accessories, wig, bow tie, etc., which are specified by the construction party."

Luke died in a substation fire, and the fireplace of his house had anomalous ashes, with small pieces of paper written in Romanian on it.

In daily life, Luke seldom interacts with people from southeastern Europe, at least the residents of the small town and his colleagues in the power distribution station do not know about it.So is the "shadow" on the paper related to the strange customs of Romanian architecture?

"I'd say 99 percent of Luke's got some sort of weird secret."

Mary mentioned the letter sent to Watson in the name of Luke, "The letter was sent on August 8, and there was a picture of a burnt fish on the letter. On September 31, the telegraph station where Luke was located caught fire. The letter's handwriting on the envelope is completely different from Luke's."

Does a "burnt fish" clipping picture look like a death notice?

It would be a bit far-fetched to understand it this way before, but combined with the remaining pieces of paper in Luke's fireplace, his death may not be as simple as an electric shock.

Which direction should I look next?

Mycroft received a telegram response in the afternoon, "A pair of cousins ​​in the Allen family died one after another. Jacques' parents in the village on the side of Longbourn have received news that old Allen will come to London tomorrow to deal with his son's funeral. Since Old Luke, who was being chased by the casino, was not found, and it is also necessary to ask whether old Allen will take over the funeral of his nephew Luke."

At present, there is no response from Jacques' wife Jennifer who is on vacation for the time being, and she needs old Allen to bring a spare key in order to investigate his son's residence.

Luke's fireplace has an unnatural amount of paper.Is there something in the house of his cousin Jacques that is out of line with his everyday behavior?

Mary understood, "Old Allen came just in time, please allow me to go with you tomorrow."

"Of course you can. Maybe you will need to visit old Allen's old house in the country later. Maybe Jacques has hidden some secrets in his parents' house."

Mycroft wasn't sure yet if Jacques was hiding a little secret that cost him his life.After checking Jacques' office and questioning his colleagues in the telegraph office, it was not found that he had any enemies at work.

in life?

Friends said that they didn't find any abnormalities in Jacques, but could it be that he deliberately concealed something?

**

Scotland Yard, [-] September.

Old Allen came to identify the body.

Lifting the white cloth, when he saw his son's face was completely disfigured and his hair was burned off, his eyes were reddened uncontrollably, and he staggered back a few steps.

As much as he wanted to deny that his son had been murdered, there was no doubt that the body lying there was that of Jacques.

The facial skin was completely destroyed, but it was not charred.The facial bone structure is still there, and the birthmark on Jacques' footsteps also proves his identity.

"Yes, this is Jacques. He was promoted last month and told me that he plans to have a baby with Jennifer next year, but..."

Old Allen tried his best to suppress the choking. He never thought that one day he would send his son to his funeral. "How do I cooperate next? The demon that killed Jacques must be caught!"

"In the telegram, please bring the spare key of Mr. Jacques' house. With your permission, we hope to investigate it now."

Mycroft had to tell about Luke's death, "There was no time to tell another news in the telegram, your nephew Luke, he also died five days ago."

"what?!"

Old Allen didn't expect such worse news, "You mean Luke who works at the PPP telegraph station? Can't you make a mistake? That's not London, and I've never heard of any murders."

Mary briefly described the previous cause, "The current news is that the telegraph station circuit caught fire, and Luke and his colleague on duty at night died in an accident. We have not been able to contact your younger brother, Mr. Luke, look..."

At this point, Old Allen understood.

"My unpromising brother! Did he owe gambling debts again and disappeared without a trace? He didn't come to see me. Five years ago, since he embezzled Luke's tuition, we stopped communicating."

Five years ago, Old Luke embezzled his son's tuition reserves to gamble. He wanted to gamble big and lost everything, and owed a foreign debt.

"That was the last time. I paid back the money for the gambler. Because I didn't want Luke to lose his chance to go to college, I offered to provide tuition assistance for four years, but he refused."

Old Allen thought that his nephew was a bit stubborn, but he didn't have a strong request after all. "Luke told me bluntly that he felt that what he needed most was no longer knowledge, but financial independence as soon as possible in order to completely get rid of his terrible father."

Luke worked as a typist for half a year in London, and then he jumped ship to become a telegraph correspondent.

At first I was in the city, but I didn't want to be harassed by my gambler father to ask for money, so I avoided the station in the suburbs.

Later, old Luke did not change his bet, and actually chased him to the telegraph station in the suburbs.The resentment Luke had accumulated over the years erupted suddenly, and the father and son completely severed the relationship.

Old Allen sighed, "I know the reason why Luke didn't contact me again, or because he and Jacques grew up in a very different environment."

It's just one day at a time.

The cousins ​​of the same generation, all in their twenties, have embarked on two completely different paths.

At the moment, neither Mary nor Mycroft had time to sigh.

The two looked at each other. Old Luke, who disappeared from London ten days ago, didn't look for his brother or his son. Where did he hide from his debts?

Who took away the personal belongings lost at the scene of Jacques' death?

Throughout the afternoon, a careful survey was carried out at Jacques' house.

Bookshelves, cabinets, beds, kitchens, etc. were not spared, but no suspicious items were found.

Old Allen recalled, "Jacques would not bring his work home. He and Jennifer lived a simple life. I never heard of anyone they had an enemy with."

True, there were no threatening letters.

Marie had also asked, old Ellen, unlike Watson, had not received the dying letter sent under the guise of Jacques.

Until the sun went down, there were still no more new breakthroughs.

After asking the servant, he obtained a list of shopping records in front of Jacques.

There are several shops on it, and Jacques will visit them regularly, such as bookstores and cuff button shops to buy his favorite items, and also go to flower shops to choose flowers for his wife.

Mary plans to follow up on this list tomorrow.

Assuming that Jacques had a private feud with others and caused his death, there will always be a trace of doubt in his life trajectory.

On the other hand, Mycroft considered other possibilities.Could there be a serial killer out there with atypical modus operandi who, out of a certain predilection, has his eye on Jacques Allen?

It is necessary to collect and summarize similar cases, which are related to the burning of corpses, and the location involves the area of ​​Jacques' daily activities, including the small town on the side of Longbourne where he lived with his parents in London.

The time to investigate a case always flies by quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was the afternoon of September [-]th.

Mary went to the Bird of Paradise flower shop, and like other shops visited by Jacques, the salesperson here also remembered the regular customer.

"I am sure Mr. Jacques is a gentleman and has not had any conflicts with anyone."

The florist's tone was affirmative, "We all think he is a romantic husband. Recently, he placed an order for a bouquet of caraway seeds."

"Caraway?"

Mary glanced at the flower shop, but there were no such flowers here. "If I remember correctly, it is not a common ornamental flower. It is mostly used to make spices and cooking. The taste is somewhat similar to cumin."

The clerk nodded, "Yes, I also asked Mr. Jacques if he was sure? He said that his wife likes this spice very much, so he wanted to try the fun of making spices by himself. He washed, dried, and dried caraway seeds with his wife. It will be very interesting. You see, Monsieur Jacques has fun, doesn't he?"

Interesting or not, it is difficult for outsiders to judge.

Marie can be sure that Jacques and his wife, Jennifer, don't like the food seasoning [-] percent of the time, and there isn't a trace of caraway in his family's kitchen.Was Jacques lying?Or did he and Jennifer have a new taste preference recently and are about to try something new?

"What time is the pickup?" Mary asked. "Is it the end of September?"

The clerk gave the specific time, "On the morning of September 26, this date was left on the appointment form."

Jacques' servant said that the mistress's return trip was originally scheduled for the afternoon of September 26.

From this point of view, the possibility that this bunch of caraway seeds was given to Jennifer is very high, but it is not clear whether it was used to make spices.

Leaving the flower shop, Mary turned a corner and went straight to the bookstore.

I just asked the clerk what the flower language of caraway is, and I got a reply that it is dreamy love, but this flower language is not widely known, and it may have different meanings in different regions.

The words are divided into two parts.

Whitehall, a large stack of files was brought in from Scotland Yard.

The dossier records unsolved cases of burning corpses in London for ten years, and it is not limited to Jacques' daily activities.

Mycroft flipped through one by one, trying to find a modus operandi similar to the circumstances of the deaths of the two cousins ​​of the Allen family, but several hours passed and still found nothing.

There is also a letter on his desk, which is sent from the location of Jacques Allen's parents in the small town of Q.I sent a telegram to the patrol team in Q town yesterday, but I didn't expect a response so soon.

The letter is very short.

The person in charge of the inspection team was very sure that there had been no cases of burning corpses in the town and its surrounding towns in the past ten years, let alone burning corpses, not even manslaughter.

"However, there are people in this area who have been burned. In 1869, four years ago, at the beginning of April, there was an accident with the Bennet family of the squire in Longbourne.

The crime took place not in the UK, but in Paris, France.The third daughter of the Bennet family, Mary Bennet, was implicated in a murder case and burned her body.

The Bennet family seldom mentioned this matter to the outside world, and I would never bring it up again if Jacques' body hadn't been burned.Because I attended the Paris banquet together, I learned some inside information, but the murderer should have nothing to do with Jacques' death, and he was killed on the spot four years ago.Mr. Holmes, please keep this secret. "

Mycroft hadn't expected someone he knew to appear at the end of the letter.

Of course, he would not casually talk about the hidden pain of the Bennet family, but there is a coincidence of time-1869, early April.

Earlier, Mr. Minton had mentioned her memory loss.It was at the same time that she encountered a murderer who was revolving around the lantern. She rescued Miss B and was used as a spare living sacrifice by the murderer.

Mr. Minton was buried alive and lost his memory. Miss B, who escaped the disaster, failed to return home safely and also lost his memory.The two met later in the United States. Before she died, Ms. B asked Mr. Minton to find out whether there was a gang behind the murderer.

This pile of information did not allow him to find the murderer who killed Jacques Allen, but it brought some unexpected discoveries outside the case. Not only did Mr. Minton hear the inside story of the death of the third daughter of the Bennet family?

Mycroft narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at the letter.

He seems to have discovered the little secret that Mr. Minton deliberately concealed.