Mary's Nineteenth Century

Kimberly's special button hides four pills and a hand-painted drawing, which must be his most important possessions.

"Pills are mostly used for first aid, and this hand-painted paper with a black-faced doll looks like some kind of certificate, with the number "no.78" on it. "

Sherlock turned the palm-sized paper over and took a look. There was no word on the back, and no other hints were given on it. "What would it be?"

"It's a pawn ticket."

Mary affirms, "not from a pawn shop in the conventional sense, but from a 'maritime shop', which you don't find in the richer parts of London.The maritime store does not sell nautical gear, but buys all kinds of second-hand and old items. "

There are at least four to five hundred formal pawnshops in London, and thousands of informal ones.

The so-called "maritime shop" is aimed at the poor, and can be roughly divided into two types: "doll shop" and "leaving shop". 1

A doll shop is a pawn shop with a black face placed in the window of the shop without a license.Acquisition of various n-hand clothes, waste newspapers, animal bones, etc.;

The things you leave the store to buy are even worse, such as old knives and forks, a handkerchief, jams that may be expired, and so on.

This kind of shop will only appear in the poor areas of London, and only the poor will patronize.

They pawned seemingly worthless things when they were penniless, just to get a few dozen pennies, and then redeemed it when they settled their wages at the weekend.

Mary undertook in-depth field research into London's slums last year.

Right now, she can't list all the luxury shops in London, but she knows all kinds of small shops hidden in dark corners in the East End.

"This pawn ticket was issued by the red-nosed Machar."

Mary pointed to the signature "y·Marshall" at the end of the drawing, "His family provides some additional services, and can pawn some things of unknown value."

Simply put, it is pawning a locked box.The store doesn't know what's in it, and customers can choose the pawn price independently, usually not more than one pound.

The guest gets at most one pound and a pawn ticket, and agrees with the store on the final redemption date.Once the period expires, the box belongs to the store.

"The store won't make a loss-making business. The value of a box is basically worth one pound. Even if it contains waste paper, this transaction is still profitable."

Mary looked at the pawn ticket, "If Kimberly pawns the stolen confidential red box to Marshall, this is really an excellent hiding method."

Mycroft also admitted that this thing was hidden well, "This kind of hiding method is too risky, and it is ingenious to hide the priceless things in an unsecured high-risk place. No one would have thought of the secret documents of the Ministry of Finance and Jewels worth tens of thousands of dollars were hidden in a little-known slum pawnshop by "K"."

It can be seen that Kimberly of "Diamond K" does not follow the usual path.But he often walked by the river without getting his shoes wet, and he died in the hands of his accomplices.

Sherlock listened to the history of the ticket, and he still had a way to go to become the most outstanding detective.After making up his mind to go further into every corner of London, he must fully understand the dynamics of his city.

I plan to put it aside in the future, but now I need to rush back to London to take out Kimberly's pawn and confirm whether this inference is correct.

There is no need for three people to go together.One person can go back to London, and the other two have to search for the whereabouts of the three German murderers in Southampton.

In the end, it was faster to have Sherlock ride back and forth on horseback than to wait for the regular train.

Mary admitted very objectively that her riding skills were not top-notch in this era, so there was no need to rush to show off.

"No accident, Sherlock can come back at midnight today."

Mycroft counted the time, "Besides finding the three Germans, we have one more thing to prepare."

what's up?

To plan ahead, if you fail to stop the three Germans at Southampton, you may meet them at sea, which will lead to an encounter.

Mary restrained her excitement, "well, I'll rent a boat first, and then prepare some weapons for emergencies. In addition, I think it is necessary to hire a bodyguard team, so that there will be enough armed support in case of conflict. "

Mycroft: After confirming his eyes, the restless factor in Mr. Minton's body is ready to move again.

However, it is indeed necessary to prepare enough combat power.

The clean sweep of the three Germans over Kimberley's death showed just how dangerous they could be.Now that the opponent's ferocity has been estimated, of course there is no need to fight alone.

"Temporary hiring, I'm in a hurry."

Although Mycroft said so, he got up and walked towards the gate. "I'm going to the telegraph station, hoping to find someone to come to Southampton tonight."

Split up.

Marie went to the docks, not just looking for the three absconding Germans, but also chartering a suitable boat.

Busy, time flies.

At 23:03, Sherlock returned to Southampton with a tin suitcase.

There is no need to find a professional lockpicker, it is a direct violence to break a hole in the suitcase.

When I opened it, I found that the box was filled with the most important items stolen by "Diamond K" ten times - nine pieces of jewelry and a red box.In addition to that, there was something wrapped tightly in a newspaper.

"It's a vial stolen from Jekyll's lab."

Mary opened the layers of newspapers and saw a brown glass medicine and a letter paper folded in half.

On the vial was a label in Jekyll's handwriting, bearing the name "Hyde."Through the glass, it can be seen that there are only three pills inside.

As for the handwriting on the letter paper, which does not belong to Jekyll, it may have been copied by Kimberly, who drew a chart for sailing.The handwriting was new and smelled of ink.

"The target is so far away, it's not near the UK."

Mycroft looked at the markings on the chart. The latitude, longitude and route were marked in detail, pointing to the small Caribbean island in Central America. "This island should be very small. I haven't seen it in other books."

Mary and Sherlock also shook their heads, and they had never heard of the small island in this direction.

I have never heard of it, but it is more likely that I found the right place.The place where the treasure is hidden either looks very ordinary, or is rarely noticed by people, so that it can be kept secret for a long time.

"Before, you mentioned that the code on the back of the "Scarab Emblem" used the Aztec [-]-digit code, and the Aztec civilization originated in Central America.It is matching the destination on the chart. "

Sherlock believes the chart is probably a replica of a route map stolen from a laboratory cabinet.

"Doctor Jekyll goes to the United States from time to time, maybe his real destination is this small island. He didn't get all the treasures back, and he went to get some regularly when he was free."

Everyone's definition of treasure is different. Doctor Jekyll thinks that the treasure may be the exotic medicinal materials on the island, while the Germans may be looking for gold, silver, jewelry or other utensils.

Even if Dr. Jekyll got the nautical chart earlier, he might have taken the treasure first, but the Germans would still be unwilling to believe what they saw.

To verify whether this speculation is correct, you need to go to a small Caribbean island.

This is a more time-consuming and laborious pursuit than expected, and the original plan needs to be changed.

Mycroft first sent the red box back to Whitehall in London.

According to Matthew, the Treasury Secretary took an inventory and determined that none of the documents were missing.However, there is no guarantee that after the red box is stolen, whether the documents have been read by outsiders.

The red box needs a special key to open, but no one can say that the "square k" has not been successfully opened.

Even if the probability of Kimberly spreading the news about the red box is extremely low, it is still necessary to make sure nothing goes wrong.The three Germans must be brought back, and Kimberly's associates must be interrogated to determine whether they have seen the classified documents.

Sherlock stayed in England and continued to search for traces of the Germans in the mainland.

Considering a possibility, after the three Germans obtained the original sea chart stolen by Kimberly, they could not immediately find a ship that could cross the Atlantic Ocean and had to postpone their departure.

Regardless of whether the German can be caught in the UK, Mary still needs to go to the small Caribbean island, where she suspects that the secret of the Scarab Society is hidden.

Before that, the bottle of medicine named "Hyde" was handed over to Attorney Erson.

In the special ward, the vicious strange man is still in a coma. What method can be used to turn him back into Dr. Jekyll?

It's a mystery.And because of the accidental death of Kimberly "Cube K", the specific function of the bottle of medicine he stole has become a mystery.

A bottle of medicine was stolen along with the mysterious chart, could it be the potion of transformation?

Of the people who may give reference answers, one is unconscious and the other is dead.Now it's just a gamble.

There were three tablets in the medicine bottle, and Watson was asked to take one for toxicological testing, but he couldn't be blindly optimistic that he could analyze the specific ingredients.

In case the unconscious vicious man's condition suddenly deteriorates, he may need to be treated like a dead horse, giving him the remaining pills in the medicine bottle.Maybe at the moment when the mutation returns to Dr. Jekyll, the coma may wake up.

These are all uncertain assumptions.

Neither Mary nor Lawyer Earlson will let people try medicine easily unless the situation is so poor that their lives are hanging by a thread.

However, Mary had already prepared for the worst when she left London.

The vicious man has been in a coma for ten days, and the longer the time, the worse his body index will be.

Today's medical treatments can't help comatose patients much. Whether a coma can wake up sometimes depends on personal luck.Although a lot of precious medicinal materials have been used, it is unknown how long it can last.

So, on the remote Central American island, can the final answer be found?

**

On March 1874, 3, in the east of the Caribbean Sea, near the unnamed island.

The sea breeze is blowing, and the smell of gunpowder smoke can still be smelled.

The sea water was undulating, and a little bright red blood was not diluted by the blue sea water so that it could not be noticed.

An overwhelming encounter has just taken place here.A pirate ship wants to attack a passenger ship, but doesn't want to be bombarded so defenseless.

After being captured, the pirates discovered that they had encountered a disguised passenger ship.The true face of the so-called non-combat passenger ship was a naval decommissioned warship rented by Mycroft.

Knowing that you are going to venture into the Caribbean, how could you not be fully prepared.

Although the rampant pirate situation has long been a thing of the past, they are still prepared, and even hired a team of experienced retired navy.

Mary was more than happy to throw money at her, and she had plenty of firepower.

She was not surprised to be able to fight against pirates.And there are some words that must not be told in words. This trip is well prepared, and it is a pity that we only encountered a team of robbers.

The captured pirates were still acquaintances.

The leader was the three Germans who killed Kimberly, and a total of 14 people on board were tied up.

After some interrogation, the three Germans finally reluctantly confessed the whole story.

Although they grew up in Germany, they had engaged in sea robbery a few years ago and had been operating in the European Mediterranean.I only dared to make small troubles, and didn't grab much money, just enough to barely live on.

At the beginning of the year, I got the news that a pair of German surgeons, the Brian brothers, went to London in the early years to find the antique treasures handed down from the 17th century.

Anyway, having nothing to do, the three chased to London to inquire about the whereabouts of the Brian brothers, and finally found that they had died in the house on Fett Lane a few years ago.

It is absurd that two surgeons in their 60s bought a house and settled in a foreign country with a bad environment after retirement.

It is doubtful whether there is any secret at 199 Fett Lane.There was also continued follow-up, and it was discovered that Dr. Jekyll had had close contacts with the Brian brothers.

After that, hired thieves to sneak into Dr. Jekyll's house to find out, mainly looking for anything related to Fett Lane?

The three Germans didn't expect much at first, so they paid a deposit in the black market and asked Kimberly to steal it.

Who would have thought that Kimberly was very capable, and actually found a cabinet in the laboratory, which contained information on Fett Lane, and even found a nautical chart.

This chart is a bit dated.

It uses paper made in Germany, and there is a logo of the manufacturer "a tree" at the bottom of the page.The paper mill closed its doors 30 years ago.

In other words, the chart was drawn at least 30 years ago.

There is a line of blurred German writing on the back, to the effect that around 183x, the original treasure in Fett Lane was dug up by members of the Scarab Society.

The treasure hunters made full use of it and got even more wealth, which was hidden on the small Caribbean island marked on the chart.This picture is specially reserved to give back to the latecomers.

Kimberly got the chart, and the three Germans were very excited after reading it.

Although Jekyll had obtained the sea chart a long time ago, I heard that this doctor grew up in a wealthy family and was obsessed with medicine. Maybe he didn't go to get the treasure at all.

The German, of course, wanted to try his luck and cross the Atlantic to the island to find out.

But there is a practical problem in front of them. The small group of pirates operating in the Mediterranean Sea is in a state of desperation, and there are no ships that can go to America.

"Originally, I made a deal with Kimberly, and he paid to rent a good boat to go to sea. But when he bought a holy turban in Southampton, he suddenly changed his mind and asked for an extra money."

A German guy complained angrily, "If it weren't for our information, Kimberly would never have found Jekyll. It was originally agreed that if the treasure is found, there will be five shares. Each of the four will share one share, and the other share will be shared." To the other helper brothers on the ship, but he actually changed his mind at the last minute!"

Mary said, "So, you killed Kimberly in a rowdy jostling."

The faces of the three Germans were very ugly.

One of them said, "What we didn't want was that Kimberly didn't stand still. Thinking of such a coincidence, he would be killed? Seeing blood before departure, this kind of thing is too unlucky. We really didn't intend to kill someone, even if we wanted to kill him Also after finding the hidden treasure."

The other was also very frustrated, "As soon as Kimberly died, we felt that the trip might not go well. We used the money we found from him to go to France and rent a boat to Central America. Even though there were no storms and obstacles along the way, but It ended up being nothing."

The so-called nothing, not just the pirates were captured by the raid.

At noon yesterday, a ship of 14 pirates had found the small island on the chart.

The island is not big, and there are no animals, only some weeds that they can't recognize, which can be described as desolate.Half a day was enough to visit Complete Island, and they found no treasure at all.

"We found a cave. There was a large rectangular pit on the ground, about the size of a [-]-inch suitcase. But there was nothing inside. There was some soil piled on the side. It could be seen that the things buried in the pit had long been buried. It was evacuated!"

The German guy was depressed as he said that, after all, they were one step too late.After seeing it with his own eyes, he had to give up his mind to admit that [-]% of the treasure was taken away by Dr. Jekyll.

I was busy back and forth, and the bamboo basket fetched water in vain.

The pirates were so angry that they set a fire and burned the vegetation on the island to vent their anger.

If you want to know why they didn't go to sea to kidnap Jekyll, it's because they have heard that Jekyll is missing.

After lunch, the interrogation of the pirates ended.

Mary and Mycroft also went to the Unnamed Isle.At a glance, the island is almost scorched, with only a few sporadic trees remaining half dead.

This scene is a bit familiar.

Many years ago, the two landed on the Black Sand Island on the side of the Witch Town, where it is said that there are people who can transform into werewolves and vampires after taking potions.

When I first landed on the island, I encountered a poisoning case and had to leave in a hot air balloon.The second time I landed on the island, I saw a piece of ashes, and everything on the island was burned by fire.

As if yesterday reappeared, there was nothing left on this small island.

Entering the cave with a big pit, a row of patterns are carved on the rock wall, which are all kinds of scarabs.

The big pit on the ground was dug a second time yesterday unwillingly by the pirates. Even if they dug three feet into the ground, they dug deeper and bigger, but there was still no harvest.

At the moment, the two still have to check again.

After searching the island for a whole afternoon, I did not come across a second scarab mark, nor did I find any buried objects.

No more.

The two of them came a step too late and failed to discover the secret here.

Sometimes, something is just that.Even if the reasoning is completely correct, but a little bit of luck is missing, it can only be futile in the end, and it is a pity to miss it.

The two of them came to the beach in the sunset and dusk, following the setting sun like blood.Looking around, I saw their boat first, and behind the boat was the endless sunset.

The sea and sky are the same color, and the setting sun melts gold.

The surface of the sea seems to be burning with continuous flames, and the gorgeous red and dark blue meet and blend.The beautiful waves of the waves are rushing to the coast.

At this moment, the sea breeze is cool and the beach is wet.The air was quiet, and the island was silent.

Mycroft finally broke the silence, "It's not that there is no chance, as long as Doctor Jekyll can wake up, he can still ask where the stolen things are hidden.

If Dr. Jekyll hadn't earned the Scarab Society badge, he wouldn't know the code word.He may just have taken the entire treasure chest with him, not necessarily being able to open it. "

"I don't deny the possibility."

Mary also sighed rarely, "But we all understand that whether Dr. Jekyll wakes up depends on God's will. In the past few years, I have been digging deep, and I am only one step away from discovering the secrets of the Scarab Society, but in the end I have to accept that it does not know. The ending that was hidden somewhere. Mike, don't you have some little depression?"

"I have."

Mycroft did not deny it, but smiled at Mary.

"But looking back on the journey, this is an adventurous journey with you by my side. Some small depressions are insignificant."

Mary looked sideways, "Congratulations! Dear Mr. Holmes, you have also successfully mastered rhetoric."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Mycroft spoke earnestly, gazing at Mary in the evening light.

For a moment, Mycroft was in a daze.

At this moment, the evening breeze is gentle and the sunset is infinitely beautiful.But he saw a more magnificent and eye-catching beauty than Xiaguang, and it was a person right in front of him.This scene made him move his fingers involuntarily, wanting to treasure it for the rest of his life.

"Mary, I have something to say."

Mycroft spoke suddenly, knowing that the moment might not be the best time, but he moved his hand a step faster, and took out the long-prepared paper from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"You said in Boston that flowers and diamonds were not the way you wanted to propose, but you wanted me to think of something interesting. Now, allow me to show you."

Is this a good idea for a proposal?

Mary took the flimsy paper.

She knew that her request was unreasonable, and she was also very curious about what dear Mr. Holmes would use to impress her.

Spread out, there is a text description and a construction drawing on it.

Mary lowered her head and looked down, her eyes filled with smiles.

At the very top is a line of title: "Pall Mall Street Underground Secret Passage Excavation Project——Mary, you are always welcome to rob me".

Mycroft said his proposal, "You once investigated the case of robbing a bank through an underground tunnel, but I think you didn't enjoy yourself at that time, and didn't enjoy the thrill of digging an underground tunnel and robbing.

Why don't we dig an underground secret passage between the two houses with our own hands, so that we can drop in anytime and anywhere.Or you want to do anything special in our underpass. "

The steps of digging are listed step by step. As for the legal real estate procedures that need to be handled, Mary doesn't need to worry about those trivial matters.

Mycroft subconsciously pursed his lips as he spoke, trying to restrain himself from showing nervousness, and looked at Mary with vague expectation. "Do you think this proposal is interesting enough? Will you agree to start a marriage with me?"

This proposal is ridiculous enough.

Under normal circumstances, how can it replace diamond rings, flowers or other romantic scenes as a way to propose?

Mary raised her head, trying to pretend to be serious, but knew that she would soon be unable to suppress the upward curve of her mouth.

Before laughing, she reached out and patted Mycroft's face lightly, as if studying his brain carefully.

Mary's tone was light: "Mr. Holmes, what do you think? You can actually say this kind of marriage proposal, and you still call it an interesting thing that can impress me. Think about it, is it reasonable?"

Mycroft's heart sank, and he hardly dared to blink at Mary for fear of missing some of her slight expressions.

At this time, he will inevitably feel a little unconfident.No way?It shouldn't be!Is it really wrong to speculate on Mary's little hobby?

The two looked at each other for a full three seconds.

The sea breeze seems to have stopped, and the beach is as quiet as death.

It wasn't until the fourth second that Mycroft could hardly hold back the appearance of calmness on the surface, but out of the corner of his eyes, he finally caught the arc of a smile on the corner of Mary's mouth.

At that moment, Mycroft took a deep breath.

Mary Minton, you are wonderful!How did he meet this little bastard who stole his heart, but he still enjoys it so much? !

The author has something to say: 1 The details of the pawn shop in the maritime shop can be found in "The Victorian Era", [UK] Judith Flanders