Mary's Nineteenth Century

Emerald Racecourse, Kent.

The atmosphere in this area became extremely strange because the horrifying death of the champion horse was very similar to the presence of evil spirits.

Almost no one dared to stay in the racecourse because they were afraid of being targeted by evil spirits, but many people came from the periphery, most of them were reporters from various media who wanted to get first-hand information.

People's attention is focused on the Royal Racing case, and it is natural to ask where Caesar, the trainer in charge of the champion horse, has gone.

The first person to issue a warrant for Nishizawa was the owner of the Emerald Racecourse.

The Marquis of Ball was very angry. He paid for the horses he bought, the horse farm he paid for, and he also paid Caesar a generous salary.

What now?What did he get?

It is betrayal!

The whole of Britain knows that "poison" has mutated into a monster, and it may have used the power of demons to win the championship.As the scandal spreads quickly, it is estimated that soon the world will know that the 1873 horse racing champion took drugs.

The Marquis of Ball couldn't accept big scandals being pinned on his head. In the past, he didn't pay much attention to the operation of the racecourse, otherwise he wouldn't rarely ask.

For one's own horse to participate in the Royal Ascot, of course it is not rejected to win, but more importantly, it must not lose in a disgraceful manner.Now, he wanted to catch Caesar at all costs, and it would be hard to vent his hatred if he didn't punish this person.

When Mary and Mycroft arrived in Kent, they first visited the Lord of Ball.

In terms of finding out the cause of "Poison"'s death and finding the horse trainer Caesar, the two sides have the same goal and can properly exchange information.Ask the Marquis of Ball to allow them to search Caesar's former residence to make sure that he is the person who contacted Luke.

The Marquis of Boer agreed without hesitation. There was only one requirement, that if Caesar was found, he must hand it over to him.

Little was gained from searching Caesar's room.

The room was cleaned so well that there was no evidence of correspondence or traces of unidentified drugs.

However, after careful searching, a trace was found.

Mycroft found a blank notebook with missing pages, the first few pages torn out.

But after smearing with a pencil, some writing appeared on a blank page: "Diamond, September 9, 10:7."

Undoubtedly, this is the cruise line.

Diamond, what a familiar ship name, is a passenger ship from London to New York.

Is Caesar going to escape England on this ship?

This moment is ten o'clock at night on September [-]th.Immediately rush back to London, the time is too tight, but fortunately there is still time to send an urgent telegram to Socrates.

When the Marquis Bohr heard the news, he immediately contacted the people in London to go to the pier to catch Caesar, saying that he could not let the kid escape by boat.

At the same time, another news reached the Emerald Racecourse.

"Here it is, the body found an hour ago."

The guards of the Boer family showed the way to the wilderness ten kilometers away from the Emerald Racecourse.

Weeds are overgrown here, and the tallest weeds reach down to the waist.Under normal circumstances, only convoys that take shortcuts will go here.

The Pole family used hounds to find Caesar.Dogs discovered the smell of blood buried in the grassy pit, and the search team dug up a body from it.

The deceased was not Caesar, but a man in his 40s dressed as a coachman.

Looking through his belongings, there is a coupon for a bar in a seaside town.This bar is just next door to Jennifer's hometown.

"There was no trace of dragging, but he was stabbed to death from behind."

Mycroft roughly inspected the corpse, "The time of death was at noon on September [-]th. I suspect that the deceased was the coachman of Jennifer's family. According to the footsteps of Jennifer's master and servant, at that time, they should have passed by the Emerald Racecourse." .”

The burial site has no traces of recent crushing by wheels and axles, but traces of weeds trampled by humans.

Mary walked around and finally found the wheel tracks a hundred meters away.Looking from the place where the wheels were crushed to the burial ground, because the barbaric grass grows higher than the waist, it is impossible to see clearly what is below one meter.

"It is preliminarily speculated that the driver went to the grass to solve the problem of excretion. He was attacked from behind, killed him with one blow, and was buried on the spot."

As for who did it?

No conclusions can be drawn at this time.

It could be Caesar, it could be Luke, it could be Jennifer herself.Regardless of the possibility, the discovery of the body of the coachman here further proves that the previous inference is correct.

Luke and Caesar teamed up to plan if they could get a horse betting bonus.After getting rich overnight, Luke has to get rid of his jealous cousin and take his sister-in-law with him.

Whether Jennifer voluntarily eloped with Luke can only be found out if two people are found.

However, the leads came to an abrupt end.

On September [-]th, before dawn, two groups of people from Scotland Yard and the Marquess of Pole took control of the Port of London.

The Marquis of Ball even spent a lot of money, paying the Diamond cruise ship, asking for a delay in leaving the port until he caught people.

Things didn't go as expected.

A large net was thrown, but Caesar, the trainer, was nowhere to be seen.

Even if each passenger checked their passports one by one, none of them was Caesar, and there was no trace of Jennifer or Luke, as if they had never appeared at the pier at all.

Isn't his departure shift recorded in Caesar's notebook?Or the plan has changed, he changed the escape plan?

While the manhunt continues, those involved in the case seem to have disappeared.

In fact, it is not surprising that after making a large sum of money, Luke can disappear from England without anyone noticing under the circumstances of a well-planned plan.

It was not until late September that a telegram was forwarded to Whitehall.

It was actually sent from Africa, and the sender signed it as "Jennifer".It is said that she and her maid were kidnapped by Luke and taken to Equatorial Guinea, and she was able to send a telegram for help because Luke and his son killed each other.

After a lot of trouble, Jennifer returned to London in a state of shock in mid-October, and only then did she tell what she knew.

It turned out that on September [-]th, Luke and Caesar had ambushed in the wild grass ahead of time.

Caesar agrees to help Luke kidnap Jennifer as one last favor.For this reason, the coachman must be killed in advance, because the coachman is a strong man and is not easy to control.It was Jennifer who begged hard to keep the maid, and always leave someone to take care of her.

It was originally planned that Nishizawa should go to the United States on the morning of September [-]th. He wanted to change his face and start a new life in the United States.

But on the night of the seventh day, Jennifer witnessed Luke poisoning Caesar at the dinner table.When Caesar questioned in disbelief, Luke said that he couldn't leave any trouble behind.

Just as he solved Gosling ahead of schedule in London, he could not leave a living, otherwise he was worried that the horse racing conspiracy would be revealed and be implicated in the future.

On this day, Luke took Jennifer's master and servant on board the passenger ship to Africa overnight.

Instead of settling there, his final destination is also in the United States, but to get rid of one last person before starting a new life-his father Luke Sr.

Knowing father Mo Ruozi.

Casinos and debt collectors almost searched London upside down and couldn't find old Luke, but Luke knew where his father had fled.

Equatorial Guinea is in west-central Africa and is currently a Spanish territory.

Luke went ashore on September 24, but found his father in just three days.

The exact course of the conflict is unknown, but the hotel staff discovered the two bodies in a pool of blood in the room the next day.

Luke died, and for the time being, no one knew that Jennifer's master and servant were tied up in another hotel.

Jennifer's master and servant couldn't call for help. They were gagged and tied up in the master and second bedrooms for two days and two nights.

Fortunately, Luke only paid the rent for three days, and the waiter finally came to ask about the situation at noon on the third day.Opening the door, she was horrified to find the dying Jennifer and the maid who had unfortunately died of thirst.

Jennifer admitted that she and Luke met on the telegraph line four and a half years ago, and the two had a vague relationship.She also made an appointment to meet, but after learning about Luke's family situation, she decided to extinguish the flame of love.

The reason is simple, old Luke is a gambler.

Although a son is a son and a father is a father, father and son should be treated rationally, but after marrying Luke, who can guarantee that life will not be affected?

Realistically, Jennifer quit her job as a telegraph operator and cut off contact with Luke.

She didn't expect that two years later, when she was going to write an invitation letter for her marriage, she was told by Jacques that she had a cousin who didn't see her very often.

Fate is full of teasing coincidences.

However, according to Jennifer, Luke didn't do anything out of the ordinary at the wedding, and he seemed to have completely let go of his failed feelings.

After that, the two had no intersection at all, and they didn't know why Luke went crazy and wanted to kidnap her this time.

**

November 11, USA.

Boston saw its first snow in 1873.

As the snowflakes fell, the cars, horses and pedestrians all slowed down.

The winter wind is inevitably biting cold.But across the window, there is a fireplace burning in the private room of the restaurant, which is warm and harmonious.

Dinner is drawing to a close.

The waiter served tiramisu, the dessert after the meal, and quietly exited the room.

The door was closed, and there were only two people in the room.

Mary looked at Mycroft.At the end of September, she left London and arrived in Boston, planning to determine whether Dr. Jekyll was related to the transformation potion, "Dr. Jekyll".

This morning, she received news that Mycroft had come to Boston, saying that he had brought the follow-up development of Luke's case.

Just now, Mycroft stated those follow-ups.

"The above are all the things Jennifer explained. I personally interrogated her, and she insisted on not admitting that she had a private meeting with Luke recently, and her expression did not seem to be fake at all."

Then the problem is coming.

Previously, what was Jacques' purpose in ordering caraway seeds?Is it to prevent his wife from cheating, or to express another flower language dream love of Caraway?

Jennifer said that Luke was too obsessed, so he would murder Jacques and kidnap her.

She really didn't get a penny of benefits.For example, for the betting money, a huge money order was found in the hotel room where Luke lived in Africa. The amount of money was the sum of the horse racing betting money for three people.

Mary thought for a while, "Maybe, the truth is what Jennifer said; maybe, she was hiding something, and she did have close contacts with Luke in England in private, but that level of contact was far from causing her to abandon her husband Jacques and Live in peace."

What is the truth?

Due to the fact that other people involved in this case have died, some things have become secrets that have disappeared forever.

It is impossible to convict Jennifer without substantial evidence.

What is even more regrettable is that the three Lukes who participated in the horse racing conspiracy died, which cut off the source of the transformation potion.

"In the past month, I have visited Dr. Jekyll several times, and he said that he has never heard of the transformation potion. His appearance does not seem to be fake at all."

Mary said in a regretful tone, "I originally hoped to get some solid evidence from Luke, but now it seems completely hopeless."

Solving the case actually requires some luck, but luck is inevitably unpredictable.

Mary doesn't feel depressed at all, just check when the clues are broken.

At the moment, she changed her tune. "Mr. Holmes, thank you for inviting me to dine here. It is past eight o'clock at night. Do you have anything else to say?"

Hearing this, Mycroft tightened his fingers holding the glass slightly.

As if she really didn’t understand, Mary asked, “Please allow me to be honest, the food and the environment of this restaurant are really good. But you just arrived in Boston after a long journey, why did you make such a trouble, instead of directly dining at my house ?

In addition, you just need to send a letter to clarify the follow-up of Luke's case, why bother to tell me in person.Did you come to the US on business and drop by to see me? "

It is not convenient to travel in this era. It is impossible to ask for leave to cross the Atlantic just to inform Luke about the follow-up of the case, right?

For a moment, the air was a little quiet.

Mycroft was silent for a full five seconds, and finally took a deep breath, and put the glass he was holding on the table.

"I did come to the United States to handle some official business, but that's not the main thing. The most important thing is that I have something I want to talk to you about."

Mary glanced at the vase on the dining table, which contained a white rose in full bloom.

There are no kerosene lamps in the dining room, and the hanging crystal chandeliers are filled with candles.At this moment, the candlelight illuminates the crystal pillar, making the room blurred with light and shadow.

Tonight, the two had a veritable candlelight dinner, and some of their purposes were clearly revealed.

But Mary continued unhurriedly, "Is that so? Is there something to talk about? Then just say it, and I'll be all ears."

At this moment, Mycroft spoke vigorously, "We all know that in that winter four years ago, Mrs. Roman and Mr. Minton started a wonderful relationship in Boston. Today, four years later, I hope to start here." , to have a new starting point.”

What new beginning?

Mycroft stared intently at Mary, "You know, I'm not good at rhetoric. I also thought about borrowing Shakespeare's love poems or other romantic lines, but I still think it's better to say it bluntly.

Dear Mary, yes, I would very much like to call you that, for my heart is uncontrollably in love with you.I very much hope that our relationship can go further, that I can belong to you and you can belong to me.Let the two of us spend the rest of our lives together, will you? "

This!This!This!

This is really not Sherlock Holmes's words!

Mycroft knew that his words were very straightforward, without any detours.

Could it be that he couldn't figure it out?

of course not.Instead, he clearly realizes that in the face of Mr. Minton, who has always been good at sophistry, he must express his heart directly, otherwise he will deliberately misinterpret and divert the topic if he is not careful.

Sure enough, Mary was stunned on the spot.

She guessed what Mycroft wanted to do, but never expected it to be so direct.

In the room, silence appeared again.

1 minute, 2 minutes, the silence made the time even longer.

After a full 3 minutes, Mary finally stopped being silent. Instead of answering whether she would like to, she asked seriously:

"Mr. Holmes, can you answer me honestly, you don't carry an engagement ring with you, do you? As long as I say that I am willing to start a new start, you will propose marriage soon after every stitch is made?"

Mycroft couldn't deny that, in fact, he very much hoped to get married on the spot.

At this second, he instinctively felt an inexplicable uneasiness, because he did not see the familiar smile in Mary's eyes.

"Well, what should I say..."

Mary shook her head, "From the day I was able to judge, I never thought about getting married, never. Do you understand? There are always some people in the world who don't need marriage, and I am one of them."

Damn quiet, here it comes again.

This time, it also brought a touch of heartache.

"Yes, I understand. Yes, I can understand your idea of ​​not getting married."

Mycroft tried his best to maintain a steady tone, "I used to think the same way, but accidents are inevitable in life. It is the best accident that I met you, and I am willing to change."

And after that?

Mycroft could go no further.He knew that it was impossible to forcefully ask Mary to do something, and he could only hope that this time, as in the past, there would always be a turning point in Mary's words.

otherwise……

Mycroft broke his heart and couldn't back down anymore. The bottom line made Mary agree that the two could be lovers for life.

Mary drew out the white rose, and without looking at Mycroft again, played with the flower in silence for a while.

The next minute of silence was as long as a century.

Mary smiled suddenly and looked up: "Mr. Holmes, you are lucky. The white rose has 22 petals. The petals are in pairs, maybe it indicates that the guests at this table should come and go in pairs? I think we can give each other a chance."

As she spoke, Mary took Mycroft's left hand, making a gesture to write on his palm with her fingers.

"Well, let me write a number. Now you have 22 seconds, tell me a correct answer about it. If you answer correctly, I promise to seriously consider the possibility of our marriage."

what?

Wait a minute, I'm about to bet a big one out of nowhere!

At the moment, Mycroft felt an itchy palm, and "1184" was written on his palm.