Mary's Nineteenth Century

Obvious inference?

No, this time it cannot be described that way.

Mary only had some kind of guess, and it still needs to go through many arguments. First of all, it is necessary to determine the specific time when the suspect Peter became addicted to gambling.

"It was a month ago."

After lunch, lawyer Erson talked about the clues he found in the morning, "To be precise, Peter stepped into the Palme d'Or casino for the first time 31 days ago."

Peter the coachman is 42 years old and lives alone in London, without marriage or children.According to his co-workers, Peter's hometown is in Scotland, and he has no relatives in his family.

Peter came to London to seek a living when he was 22 years old.I have always been a coachman, driving long distances when I was young, and now I am running short distances when I am old.

Daily life is inseparable from smoking, drinking, and occasionally a few small bets.Fortunately, one person is full and the whole family is not hungry, because as long as he is responsible for his own expenses, he has saved some money after working as a coachman for 20 years.

If there is no accident, Peter originally planned to return to Scotland in three years.

"However, Peter has set foot in a big casino, and the Palme d'Or is different from where he used to go to small gambling places."

Lawyer Earson obtained information from the casino, "Peter went five times in total, two wins and two losses, and finally bet a big one, but all lost. The more unfortunate of misfortunes, the last bet , he borrowed money from the casino at usury."

Addiction to gambling never ends well.Peter ended up losing all his savings, and owed the casino another two hundred pounds.

Two hundred pounds is just the price of an umbrella for some people, but for others it may not be enough to save even if they work on a diet for ten years.

Peter was confused for several days, and finally he could only decide to sell the house in his hometown in Scotland to pay off the debts, but he didn't know how to live in the future.The objective reality is that the coachman is a physically demanding job, and his body will definitely not be able to bear it in a few years, but he can only take one step at a time.

The casino heard about Peter's debt repayment plan, and the two parties agreed to go to Scotland with him in seven days, for fear that the debtor would run away.

Why not leave immediately?

Don't forget that Peter is a professional coachman. He is employed by a privately operated carriage company. There is no way to have a free vacation unless he doesn't want to work.

You must apply for leave one week in advance, which is the fastest time you can get leave approval.

Until then, Peter still has to go to work regularly, which means he drives Oliver home from the hammam.

Then the most unfortunate thing happened.

Oliver was killed that night, and the next day Peter had a bad cold and had to lie in bed.Later, Peter was taken into the detention center and died the first night he entered.

"The workers also asked Peter why he went to the big casino because of his obsession with ghosts?"

Lawyer Erson failed to find a more detailed answer, "Peter didn't go into details, he just said that he heard a story about getting rich overnight. It was his passenger who told the story."

Which passenger exactly?

Perhaps, only the devil knows.

Mary quickly grasped a point, "Peter's hometown is Scotland. If I'm not mistaken, the middle-aged maid who accompanied the old Olivers to the city also has a slight Scottish accent?"

When I visited the hotel last night, the old Mrs. Oliver was quite haggard and didn't say a few words, while the maid who served her only spoke once to let the master be careful not to fall.

"Forehead……"

Lawyer Earson tried his best to recall, "Sorry, I didn't pay attention. I can go back to the hotel and ask about it later."

However, what does it mean if they all come from Scotland?

Lawyer Earson asked hesitantly, "Mr. Minton, do you suspect that the maid knew Peter? Just in terms of age, they are both in their 40s, but this does not confirm that there is a problem."

Mary smiled and nodded, "You are right, so we need to find more evidence. Please go to St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

This morning, Dr. Jekyll admitted a patient from "Pandora's Circus" who fell into a coma after eating broad bean soup.Please inquire about the relevant information, especially the family background of the patient. "

Why investigate a circus performer?

Is it because old Mrs. Oliver has been to the "Pandora Circus" to watch the show?

A month and a half ago, old Mrs. Oliver went to the show.

A month ago, the suspect Peter stepped into the casino.Are the two related?

Erson, as usual, was reticent and did not press for a reason for the follow-up investigation. "Okay, I'll be there in a minute. How about you? Going to the hotel again?"

"Yes."

Mary thought of something and smiled, and "buy" some interesting little things along the way. "

Buying something fun?

What kind of mess is that going to do?

Erson is getting more and more confused, and he is currently investigating a murder case, can he focus more!

But he didn't question it. Since he kept his promise and promised Professor George to obey Mr. Minton's arrangement when investigating the case, he only needed to keep his face expressionless.

"Hurry up, I'll go to the hospital first."

Earlson left these words and took the first step.

Mary naturally understood what Erson meant.

Now it's time to solve a murder case, you should concentrate on the investigation with a correct attitude, and don't use your mind and energy to distract yourself from other nosy things.

No business?

No, fun little things matter.

Four and 10 minutes later, the back door of the hotel.

The innkeeper received a huge sum of three pounds. He really couldn't understand why someone would spend such a large sum of money to buy three teacups that had been used but not cleaned.They are not high-quality porcelain cups, but ordinary cups that can be sold in the market for a shilling.The price difference is dozens of times.

"Sir, the cup you want."

The boss handed out the paper bag, "Is there anything else you need?"

Mary took the paper bag, which contained three teacups with unwashed tea stains on the bottom.They come from the old Oliver couple, and the middle-aged maid who came to the city with them.

"Thank you, I don't have anything else to buy right now. I just want to ask you to keep it a secret, and don't mention the cup to others."

"Please rest assured that my business reputation has always been very good."

The boss blinked. He likes customers who spend a lot of money, and it's not illegal to sell a few cups.

Mary didn't stay long, and went home first to remove the fingerprints on the teacup and compare them with the fingerprints on the murder weapon.

Maybe it fits, maybe it doesn't.The hotel bellboys would have handled the cups with gloves on, and there was no telling whether the murderer would have handled the weapon with gloves on.

Working separately, no one wasted time.

At 04:30 in the afternoon, "L&P" law firm.

Mary comes to Attorney Erson's office to exchange information.Unfortunately, the result of her fingerprint comparison was not satisfactory, and it did not match the fingerprint on the handle of the knife.

But Earlson has some unusual news about the comatose "Pandora Circus" performer.Before going to the hospital, he thought it might be a clown or an animal trainer who passed out, but unexpectedly it was another kind of actor.

"Circus performer, yes, Jack is a freak show performer."

Erson saw a special-looking patient in the hospital, with a dwarf figure and a huge head. "Jack came out of the coma, but he was mentally deficient and unable to articulate his past experiences."

At present, it is only known that Jack was abandoned at birth.

He has no memory of his hometown, living in a Liverpool orphanage as far as he can remember.I am 27 years old this year, and I have joined the circus since I was 13 years old.

"Jack, does he have any distinguishing features?"

Mary thought of the age of 27, the same age as Oliver who was killed.

Lawyer Earson frowned, "Dwarfs, huge heads, aren't these enough obvious features?"

"no no."

Mary shook her index finger, "I mean moles, birthmarks or scars that grow on prominent parts. Please recall carefully."

Earson thought carefully, "Oh! I remembered, Jack has a scar on his face. On the left side of his face near the ear, there is a scar that looks like a "C", about the size of a pinky fingernail. "

Earson admits not noticing the scar in the first place.

Because Jack's body shape and appearance are too unusual, enough to attract the attention of strangers, but it distracts attention to details.

"It's like a drop of ink on a cotton dress with a plain black neckline. It's normal not to notice the stain at first glance."

Mary immediately asked, "Lawyer Erson, who do you think will be the first to notice the scar on Jack's face?"

"There are probably two types of people, those with extraordinary powers of observation."

There may be one in front of Earlson, and the other is like the person who spilled the ink in the metaphor. "I am very sensitive to facial scars, I have the same trouble, or I accidentally hurt someone."

Yes, this is the answer.

Mary pressed, "Have you seen the Pandora Circus show?If you sit in the front row, can you see the actor's facial features clearly? "

"No."

Earlson had been to the show and was sure the audience was not far enough from the stage to see the details with the naked eye. "I can't see clearly with the naked eye, but people have binoculars. During the performance, many audiences will bring or rent lightweight binoculars."

Here comes the good question.

Did old Mrs. Oliver use binoculars for the show?

Put this question aside for now.

Mary looked sideways at the bookshelf, "Lawyer Erson, please allow me to interrupt, first I want to consult a judicial doubt. Have you heard of the old German "Wechselbalg", which is now called "Changeling" in English? 1869, is there still a judicial case related to it? "

Erson's face turned black.

Not for Mr. Minton, but for the meaning of those two words - 'swapping baby', which has caused many family tragedies.

To put it simply, this is a superstition that originated in Central Europe.

Babies born with deformed appearance and abnormal development will be considered not normal human beings.

Originally normal children were air-conditioned by devils or elves through magic, and what remained in the swaddling infants were monsters in human skin.

For this type of children, it is almost impossible to get kind treatment.Their family members can also wantonly abuse them, such as beating them severely.

That kind of abuse is considered normal behavior, and neighbors, relatives and friends don't blame it.Because from the beginning, everyone didn't think that deformed babies were human beings, but that deformed monsters murdered originally lovely babies.

"In 1843, the "Western Weekly" published a related case of child abuse, but the court did not accept it. The reason given by the judge was absurd, because the parents who abused the child insisted that they did not beat the child, but that the child was transferred." ①

What Attorney Earson said was not far away, that is, 26 years ago.The problem can be seen only from the court's rejection of the case. It is believed that it is not only the parents of the child, but also the judges and legal personnel who switch the baby.

That is a general perception in society, and it is not considered wrong to abuse deformed children.

For a while, the atmosphere in the office was oppressive and quiet.

The entanglement of ignorance and wisdom is the characteristic of this era.

Mary didn't have much emotion, and broke the silence first. "Let's hurry up and go back to Oliver's case. 26 years ago, the superstition of switching babies was still firmly believed by some people. 27 years ago, Ben Oliver and freak show actor Jack were born.

If a mother could choose to have only one child, would she choose Ben or Jack?Add some conditions, the non-biological Ben and the biological Jack, which one will be kept?what do you think? "

Lawyer Erson's face darkened even more, this question was too sinister.He couldn't choose, but he knew that there might be another condition attached.

What if the family has no male heir, but has a limited inheritance land and must have a son to inherit the ancestral land?

Suppose the mother chooses Ben and rejects Jack.

Many years later, she gave birth to her youngest son at the age of an advanced mother.The younger son grew up in good health, with the same blood as his mother.

At this time, the mother accidentally ran into the abandoned Jack, what would she do?

"I don't want that to be the truth, it's brutal."

After a while, Attorney Erson asked, "Do you have any other evidence? If she is really that cruel, why do you think the suspect will plead guilty?"

"Obviously, everyone has weaknesses, and the suspect has already given us a hint."

Mary slowly brought up a faint smile, "Don't forget that she is superstitious, very superstitious."

The sun is setting and the clouds are steaming.

Lawyer Earson looked at Mr. Minton sitting by the window, as if he had cast a glow on him.It's like letting people see angels coming to the world, it's to break the devil's vicious tricks.