Mary's Nineteenth Century

"It's actually a holy turban."

After Mary came to the 19th century, she had a certain understanding of this word, and it appeared on the advertisement pages of various newspapers from time to time.

The sacred turban is called in Scotland, and it is called the lucky turban in other parts of the UK.

As the name suggests, owning it is like owning a kind of talisman.It is a superstitious custom, which was often advertised in newspaper media in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The essence of this thing is actually the fetal membranes of human babies.

Usually, the amniotic membranes rupture during the birth of a pregnant woman during childbirth, but there are also a few cases where the membranes do not rupture.

This kind of child born wrapped in fetal membranes is believed to be protected by mysterious powers, and he/she will have extraordinary powers, such as clairvoyance and other special functions.

It is believed that the power of the fetal membranes is transferred from person to person, thus giving rise to the trading of fetal membranes.There has been a market for fetal membranes since ancient Rome, and some midwives would secretly sell fetal membranes without telling pregnant women.

Among the various wonderful powers of the fetal membranes, one that stands out the most is that it can prevent drowning accidents.

The reason may be that the membranes originally contain amniotic fluid, and the fetus grows up healthy and healthy in the amniotic fluid.When the power of the fetal membrane is transferred to the sailor who wears it, it can also resist the storm of the sea and avoid the occurrence of shipwreck. 1

"Many sailors will buy sacred headscarves at a high price before going to unfamiliar seas."

Mary looked at the advertisement on this page, "Could it be that Kimberly and the others plan to go to sea? They stole Dr. Jekyll's laboratory and found a sea chart?"

So did Mycroft. "Only counting the annual salary, the annual salary of ordinary seafarers is only about [-] pounds, and a fetal membrane is [-] pounds. People who are willing to buy such high prices are often going to unfamiliar sea areas, or are very eager to seek a lucky asylum at sea. .

The guest room of Kimberly and others was missing a page of newspaper, and the advertisement on the missing page was not London, but Southampton Pier.He deliberately bought the membranes from London to Southampton, most likely because he had a special plan to go to sea. "

The ad reads: "Holy turban, £12 each, [-] copies. To buy quickly, go to Little John's Church near Southampton Docks."

The two are no strangers to this address.Last year, we went to Southampton to investigate the 500th meeting, and we focused on the dock area.The Little John's Church mentioned in the advertisement is about [-] meters away from the pier, and some magical protective items will be sold from time to time.

Mary saw that the advertisement was published on February 2, the day before yesterday, and the red box was stolen in the early morning of this day.On the afternoon of the 26th yesterday, the four of Kimberly checked out and left the hostel.

"The people in Kimberley are moving very fast. If there are no accidents, they must have arrived in Southampton today. Do you think they should take a carriage overnight, or book the earliest train tickets tomorrow?"

From a selfish point of view, Mary hoped that Mycroft, who had been working hard all day, would rest early, but it was too late to hunt him down.

"Tell Sherlock that I'll be in the carriage as soon as I've dried my hair."

Mycroft put away this page of the newspaper, "We can rush to Southampton tomorrow morning. I hope that this batch of fetal membranes will be sold out long ago. The Kimberleys will not be able to go to sea without buying amulets."

Hope is always good, but reality is not necessarily what people want.

**

On March [-], it began to rain heavily in Southampton.

Mary came to Little John's Church, and the clergy said that this batch of holy headscarves had all been sold yesterday afternoon.

Among them was a young man with a German accent who bought four copies in one go.

The man has an ordinary appearance, brown curly hair, mustache, and a height of 1.7 meters.He was also wearing old clothes, and he didn't seem to be able to spend 48 pounds to buy fetal membranes.

These appearance descriptions all correspond to a German accomplice of "Block K".

"The clergyman said yesterday that he was talking too much to remind German men that it is good to have a holy turban on a ship, and it is not necessary for everyone to wear it."

Mary told Mycroft the specific news, "The man still insisted on buying four copies. It was around 03:30 yesterday afternoon, and then he left the church quickly. How is the situation on your side? At the pier Looking around, have you heard the news that some people from Kimberly chartered a boat to go out to sea?"

According to the speed of Kimberly and others, after buying the amulet, they should rent a boat and go to sea immediately.

However, it started to rain heavily at dinner time yesterday, and the rain became lighter in the second half of the night. It is estimated that the rain should stop tonight.The rain is not convenient for going to sea, and the action time may be delayed.

Mycroft shook his head, "I've looked for several dock managers I knew before, and until 09:30 this morning, I haven't seen any of the four Kimberleys appearing. It can't be ruled out that they were disguised, or because The rain has not had time to settle the boats going out to sea, or there are too many people at the docks to be discovered.”

Southampton, people come and go.I didn't pay special attention, and it's normal to miss the whereabouts of the four people.

However, Mycroft also asked the well-informed boatman at the pier, "Since yesterday, there is no order for a charter boat to go out to sea in the next week, or the Kimberleys do not plan to set off from Southampton. They are in London. The hotels where I stay are very cheap, and I wear old clothes, and the probability of not renting a boat but owning a private sea boat in advance is not high."

Here, there is a contradiction.

"Block K" carried out ten intentional thefts, except for the last one stealing the confidential red box of the Ministry of Finance, the first nine times were all the thefts of huge treasures.

Some of the stolen goods have been sold on the black market to cash in. According to common sense, he should have a sum of money in his hand, but now he still shows that he is quite struggling.

"I suspect that the three Germans don't know that Kimberly is the 'K of Diamonds.'"

Mary doesn't think that group of people can confide in her heart, "According to the current clues, Dr. Jekyll's secret is hidden at No. 199 Fett Lane. The former owner of the empty house is a pair of German brothers. The crime is committed by three Germans. After chasing to London, they found that the Fett Lane collection had been taken away ahead of time, and they found a thief who was familiar with London. Either hired or in the form of dividends, let Kimberly sneak into Jekyll's laboratory to steal."

Such cooperation will not last long.There is a small probability that people get together and get separated after finding the treasure, but it is more likely that black people will eat black people.

Presumably in this way, Sherlock, who went to a nearby hotel to inquire about the news, came back not long after.

"An unexpected bad news. Just half an hour ago, the sweeper of the beer hotel found a dead body on the bed in the guest room. I went in and took a look, and the deceased was Kimberly."

"what?!"

Has Mary been surprised that black eating black came so fast?

Kimberly is a one-on-three, didn't he stay behind?He was the one who sneaked into Dr. Jekyll's house and got the clues to the treasure, so he should have some reservations and not tell all the clues he stole.

Sherlock asked the hotel clerk about the general situation, "The hotel clerk said that he heard a quarrel in the four-person room at around ten o'clock last night, and the three German men left at six o'clock this morning.

The door there was not well sealed. The cleaning workers passed by the door of the guest room around [-]:[-] in the morning and smelled a bloody smell, and there was no response when they knocked on the door.Reminiscent of the quarrel last night, I still unlocked it and went in to have a look.It turned out that Kimberly was found dead on the bed in the bedroom, and the sheets were covered with blood. "

Sherlock said he had roughly examined the body and that Kimberly had died about ten to twelve hours earlier.There was a hole in the back of his head, and there was dried blood in the corner of the low cabinet in the guest room.

The sharp corner coincided with the wound on the back of Kimberley's head.There was no other trauma to the body. It may be that a conflict broke out between four people at that time, and Kimberly died accidentally during the pushing and pushing.

In this way, Kimberly's luck is really very bad.

Did not continue talking about the case in the coffee shop.Sherlock led the way, and came to the beer inn again half an hour later. The three wanted to further investigate the murder scene.

The local police detectives have arrived at the scene.

Both Mary and Mycroft knew these detectives, and had some cooperation with the local police station when they hunted down the evil priests of the Erjiuhui last year.Right now, it would be easier for the three of them to do things, saving time for wrangling and negotiating.

Entering the murder scene, this room is not messy.

There are two large beds in the room, which can accommodate four people to rest, and Kimberly's body is on one of the beds.

The cleaner who reported the case explained the situation. When he entered the room, he saw that the corpse was covered with a quilt, and there were no messy clothes or debris on the ground.It's just that the bloody smell couldn't be concealed. When the quilt was lifted, the deceased was naked and the bed sheet was stained with blood.

In contrast to the confession at the front desk, four people in Kimberly checked in at noon yesterday, and one of them was carrying a sackcloth bag.

There are no other bags in the room right now, only Kimberly's clothes were thrown on the chair beside the bed, and the rest were taken away.

"Well, it looks like the three Germans don't want to leave a trace."

Mycroft spared no corners, but not even a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and Kimberly's inside and outside pockets were all emptied.

Sherlock: "Even if it was an accidental death caused by a quarrel, the three Germans who murdered were not simple. The room was emptied very clean, and the three did not flee in a hurry. They stayed with the corpse overnight before leaving. Today Early morning, the front desk did not notice any outward panic or fear as the Germans departed early in the morning. Perhaps, they already had other lives on their hands."

Mary also checked Kimberly's body, and saw that the location of the hole in the back of his head was similar to the location of the wound of the strange and vicious man who was now lying in Dr. Jekyll's exclusive ward.

This is really a rather ironic scene. It seems that there is reincarnation in the law of heaven, and the person who committed the murder will never end well.

"This is Kimberley, and the K of Diamonds. "

Mary didn't lament the location of the wound much, the most urgent task is to track down the traces of the three German men.

""Diamond K" has superb theft skills, and a thief like him will not leave behind.At the very least, he's hiding the red box, and we're going to find it. "

Mycroft picked up a men's 7.5-inch galoshes at the end of the bed and scratched the sole, but found no dark layer.

He immediately glanced at Kimberly's old clothes on the chair, and his eyes immediately fell on the five metal buttons of the jacket.The color of the round buttons is also very old, with the simplest cross pattern on them, and the diameter of each button is about 2.5 cm.

The next moment, he took off his coat and took a closer look.

These five buttons were all sewn firmly, with thin black thread, but the color of the thread was newer than the clothes and the buttons.

Mycroft did not hesitate for a moment, and directly pressed the center of the cross pattern on the front of the five buttons from top to bottom, only to see that the back of the metal button was split in two.

Four pills the size of soybeans fell out of the first four buttons, and a piece of paper folded into the size of a fingernail was hidden in the last button.Lay it flat, about the size of a palm, and the hand-painted graphics on it are quite simple-a black-faced doll is placed on the window, with no.78 on the side, and the signature and signature of y·Marchar.

Sherlock looked at Mycroft's flowing movements and couldn't help feeling suspicious.

His dear brother is indeed keen in observation, but the first time he thought of such a secret mechanism button, it was very similar to previous relevant experience.

On the side, Mary was not surprised.

She silently boasted that she deserves to be her "Madame Roman", this is a regular skill.

The author has something to say: 1 Regarding the customs of the sacred turban, please refer to the book "Magic, Festivals, Animals and Plants" for details, [UK] Monica Maria Stapelberry

During World War I, there were still sales.Germany launched a submarine war to suppress merchant shipping. Merchant mariners bought fetal membranes as amulets at London docks at a price of more than ten pounds.