Mary's Nineteenth Century

Nine o'clock at night.

The dead branches shivered in the cold wind, and the wall lamps in the hotel corridor were on and off.

For many people, the little happiness in winter night is to lie down in the warm bed early.

The guest room door opened and closed.

No matter how creepy the movement is, you can always hear some movement in a quiet environment.

Mycroft, holding the anthology of love poems in one hand, quietly walked out of his room, and glanced at Sherlock's guest room next door.

It is a very correct choice to stay in a hotel with a higher rent. At least the sound insulation measures such as the door and wall are good. If you stay in the house, you cannot hear the sound of the door opening and closing next door.

Then, a ghost seemed to appear in the corridor, went upstairs without leaving a trace of footsteps, and then lightly knocked on Mary's door.

In just a second, the door was opened immediately.

Mary has finished washing and changing her nightgown.She was very sure that the exclusive poet would definitely come tonight, and she was waiting behind the door in preparation. "Good evening. Come in, Mr. Holmes."

Mycroft was inevitably a little taken aback.

At this moment, Mary looked a little softer than usual.Because the makeup was removed, the shape of the eyebrows changed slightly, so that the whole person was no longer as indistinguishable as before.

Mary didn't stand stupidly at the door, but directly led her into the bedroom.

The curtains have been drawn, leaving a light in the bedroom.

The lights were dim and the quilt was spread.A glass of water was thoughtfully poured for the poet on the bedside table, and comfortable soft chairs were also placed in place.

"If you don't like chairs."

Mary patted the edge of the bed, "I don't mind if you sit here directly."

After all, Mary lay down in the warm blanket first, and then looked up to see Mycroft standing at the door of the bedroom without moving.

"What's the matter? Are you under a spell? There is some kind of invisible barrier in this bedroom that prevents you from entering? Let me guess, is there really a complex shy spell?"

Don't spread rumors, who would be shy?

Mycroft denied it, he was just stunned for a moment, not expecting to sit by the bed and read love poems tonight.But there was nothing to be afraid of, and Mary couldn't eat him.

"My dear Mary, I should congratulate you on conjuring such a spell."

Mycroft walked into the bedroom leisurely, and sat down comfortably on the chair beside the bed. "Congratulations, your sense of humor and imagination are growing every day."

Mary was quite proud when she heard such ridicule, "Please don't be shy, my progress cannot do without your contribution. You have enriched my spiritual world with practical actions."

Mycroft: He is suspicious. How much of this sentence is a compliment to him, and how much is it to hurt him?

Some things cannot be clearly distinguished.Seeing that Mary's mental state is good, she should not feel unwell due to menstruation, so that's fine.

"Then let me continue to enrich your spiritual world."

Mycroft hoped that Mary could go to bed earlier, so he stopped arguing and opened the anthology of love poems. "May the sound of my reading help you sleep peacefully."

Outside the window, the cold wind howled from time to time.

In the room, Mycroft's deep and magnetic voice sounded beside the bed.As a line of verses full of true feelings flow in the air, it seems to be able to dispel all the severe cold of winter nights.

As Mary listened, she found herself in a particularly strange state.She had never heard a live-action bedtime story, and for a while she had the feeling that her ears might be pregnant.

At the moment, staring at Mycroft, the dim light cast a layer of hazy light on him.It is finally certain, because of the existence of this person, my body and mind can be completely relaxed.

"You are the cutest. I didn't have time to think about it when I said it. But after thinking about it, I still say this."

When Mycroft read this sentence, he expressed his heart too aptly, making him subconsciously look up at Mary.

In an instant, the two looked at each other, and their eyes seemed to blend together.

Mycroft saw a rare gleam of tenderness in Mary.

At this moment, the air was suddenly quiet, so quiet that people wanted to get closer to each other.Closer, closer, dissatisfied with being an arm's length away.

As if by coincidence, Mycroft put down the book in his hand, and was about to get up and bend down to give Mary a kiss.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a little more weight on the shirt.Lowering his head, he saw that Mary reached out and touched the buttons of his clothes.If it is not stopped, I am afraid that God cannot guarantee what will happen next.

"I'm here to read poetry tonight."

Mycroft held Mary's hand, "Mr. Minton, are you greedy for something more now? In the words you used to say, that would be another price."

Mary still smiled, "Mr. Holmes, I thought you understood. The ultimate goal of your reading poems here is to make me fall asleep happily. Now, my hand has its own consciousness, and I feel that touching the warm muscles It's more helpful for sleep, don't you want to complete it?"

"Trust me! A woman who lights up and runs away, you have a lot of criminal records."

Mycroft was sure that if Mary let go just a little, she would never be able to obediently touch only one place.

Mycroft tucked Mary's hands back into the quilt solemnly, and pressed the corners of the quilt for her.

"Mr. Minton, I have always believed in your self-control. Your rational brain must be able to control your hand and prevent it from sneaking out again."

Mary smacked herself indifferently, "Please don't overestimate my self-control. In front of your charm, it has been defeated."

This managed to make Mycroft laugh, but moved the chair back a meter.

Once Mary succeeds, he will be the one who can't laugh or cry in the end. At that time, he will have to use all his reason to restrain his physical impulse, so as not to be fooled again.

"Reading poetry, please let me continue reading poetry."

Mycroft opened the anthology of love poems again, "I sincerely suggest that you might as well close your eyes so that you can fall asleep more quickly."

Upon hearing this, Mary blinked her big eyes, as if she was saying that she was disobedient.

However, he estimated the distance between himself and Mycroft.If the body does not leave the warm bed, there is no way to touch each other again.

After thinking for three seconds, the warm quilt in winter seemed to have the ability to seal people, so she followed the weather and stopped making trouble.

Or 10 minutes, or longer.

In the bedroom, Mycroft found that Mary had fallen asleep unconsciously.

He closed his anthology of love poems and walked to the bedside.At this moment, Mary really looked like an angel, which made him smile slowly involuntarily.

"Good night, my girl."

Mycroft whispered, placing a goodnight kiss lightly on Mary's forehead.Blowing out the candle lamp, without staying long, quietly left the room.

It's not that he doesn't want to stay, it's that he wants to stay here all night because he is afraid of staying for a moment longer.

**

There will always be light.

Let some things in the night become a secret.

Some secrets, but there are new clues.

Two messages came from London.

Mary gets word that Dr. Jekyll has a name for hermaphrodite status.

Bobby Neville, who would have been 43 if he were alive, was a pharmacist in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Years ago, Poppy had crossed paths with Dr. Jekyll in order to understand the cause of androgyny.

However, limited by medical technology and theory, the two failed to find the cause of this physiological structure.Poppy worked in a pharmacy in Leeds until his death three years ago from lung disease.

Although Dr. Jekyll has taken care of many difficult diseases, he only knows Poppy, an androgynous person.

And it was mentioned in the telegram that Bobby's left foot was injured and his little finger was broken, which can be used to further verify his identity.

Judging from the time of death, Bobby is similar to the deceased who was dismembered.

But because the body's head, hands, and feet were missing, it wasn't immediately clear that the body parts in the Yeti came from Poppy Neville.

At this point, another clue is worth noting.

About that expensive pair of ladies' gloves, which are related to a burglary in the early winter of last year.

The Gaffneys had called a private eye to catch a burglar.

A whole box of belongings was stolen from the home, which was the valuable relics of an old lady in the family 70 years ago, including gloves, jewelry, headgear, clothes, etc.

Mycroft got the lost and found list, and on it were two pairs of gold-buttoned diamond-encrusted gloves, the description of which was consistent with the old gloves that the Yeti had hidden.

The place where the box of items was stolen was a leisure villa on the outskirts of Leeds.Three months have passed, and the thief who committed the crime has not yet been caught.

Androgynous poppy and lady gloves are both from Leeds.

The city is the capital of West Yorkshire, and it's not hard to find a barbershop there that can handle every shade of beard.

In other words, the snowman maker most likely prepared sacrifices from Leeds.

So it is speculated that the last sacrifices will be two children. Could they have been kidnapped from Leeds?

"The unknown suspect should not have continued to stay in Leeds recently."

Mary pointed to the map, "The locations where the snowmen appear are all in North Yorkshire, and Leeds is in West Yorkshire. On average, snowman makers have to build a new snowman in six to seven days. If they return to Leeds, it will inevitably waste time and energy."

So where is the unknown suspect most likely?

Sherlock stared at the center of the inverted pentagram, "The snowman murderer, he is probably here, in the city of York where we are.

Starting from York, the distance to each snowman placement point is the shortest.In addition, if he wanted to resurrect a person, he probably couldn't help but pay attention to the state of the corpse every once in a while.The resurrection point is very likely to be a temporary hiding point. "

The fourth snowman appeared on January 1th. Today is January 9th. The snowman killer should have returned to York and hid.

Where will it be hidden?

Mycroft gets a partial list of homes with cold storage basements.

When the bodies of androgynous people were found, the body parts were frozen.Instead of being directly sealed in the snowman, it is first frozen and then sealed, which can maintain a frozen state for a longer period of time.

"This is not a complete list of cold storage in York City. Some private houses have built their own cold storage, which may not be known to outsiders."

Mycroft put the list on the table, "We are looking for a family who lived in York City last November or December, with two sick children. On the eve of the day, I may have slaughtered live sheep, so I must have my own carriage to go out at any time."

Mary added, "The man of the family may speak with a local West Yorkshire accent. Although he appears to be in good health, he has been in a bad mood and there is no celebration at home on Christmas Eve."

Because the snowman murderer went to build a snowman halfway up the mountain on Christmas Eve, and he kidnapped two children.

No matter how much they pretend to be a family on the surface, in fact they don't care about the children at all.Just leave the children with a sigh of relief until the last sacrifice.

York City, the population is not low.

Fortunately, the goal is clear, and there is a list of cold storage houses, which can narrow down the search.

But time is running out, only about three days left.

Based on his connections, Mycroft found some reliable foreign aid at the local police station.These police officers put on civilian clothes and searched for suspicious places with Mary and Sherlock respectively.

On the surface, the pretext of looking for stolen property is actually to find out the hidden snowman maker.

A day passed.

August 1, 13:04 pm.

Sherlock found an abnormal situation on this side. He found a single-family house near the vegetable market.

The house has a basement and the previous tenant was a fishmonger.Some boxes were specially customized, and the basement was turned into a cold storage for storing sea fish.

There is no electricity and refrigeration these days, and ice is often dug and placed in the cellar in winter.

After the fishmonger left last November, the 30-year-old rented the house and he has a carriage of his own.

According to the descriptions of the surrounding neighbors, four people lived in the house.

The master leads two children, a man and a woman. The children look thin and short, no more than 1.2 meters high, and there is a dull maid.

The neighbors have never communicated with the male owner, and occasionally met a maid who went shopping and said a few words.

I heard that the host was named Richard, his two children were weak, and the children's mother had passed away.Because Richard is a middleman for Orion's business, he will drive out from time to time.

Last Christmas, there was nothing festive in Richard's house.

Neighbors were sure Richard's family hadn't decorated the Christmas tree or bought a turkey for Christmas dinner.At that time, it was attributed to the poor health of Richard's two children, which made the house deserted.It's kind of weird that Richard bought a live sheep.

"I think it's the family."

Sherlock locked the suspicious target after a round of indirect investigation.

"Richard's neighbors said that they saw him driving home at noon on January 1th, which is the time when the snowman maker left the fourth snowman from town B and returned to town. Richard, 10% nine yes The Snowman murderer we're looking for."

Mycroft agreed with this speculation, and it would be best now to be sure. "Sherlock, you've got an idea."

"Of course. I found out that Richard doesn't stay at home all the time. After lunch, he sometimes goes to the pub to buy drinks. I will wait for the opportunity to sneak in and check tomorrow."

Sherlock needs to ascertain the condition of the two children in the house.Neighbors said that except when Richard moved in, they never saw the two children go out after that. "I need help this time, please ask Mr. Minton to help me lookout."

Speaking of this, Sherlock looked at Mycroft, "My dear brother, you don't have any objections, do you? Think I'll hurt your friends or something."

Mycroft just smiled, knowing that Mary could not object to the proposal, but he still asked, "Sherlock, how sure are you?"

"Almost ten percent."

Sherlock thought for a while and added, "You should be very relieved of my judgment and acuity. You can give me a ready-made example. I know that in the past two nights you said you wanted to go to bed early, but you went out quietly to eat something. right?"

Nonsense!

Mycroft didn't change his face, but he remembered going upstairs to read to Mary two nights in a row.

Did Sherlock happen to hear him opening and closing the door?But how can this be called stealing?