Mary's Nineteenth Century

"The revolving lantern number, 142857, includes the birthdays of the two people in this room."

Mary added this clarification to Watson.

The original owner was born on February 2th, and Watson was born on July 5th, which is the reason why they were targeted by criminals.

Why choose a victim whose birthday fits this number?Now is obviously not a good time to solve specific puzzles, going out is the most important thing.

Of course Watson knew the priorities, so he could only suppress his curiosity.

This oddly shaped triangular pillar house has three coffins and three candlesticks in the three corners.

There is only one stone door leading to the outside. There is a vent the size of a baby's fist at the top of the door. There are buttons arranged in ten characters from 0-9 on the door to lock the code mechanism.

If the two trapped people want to escape, they must decipher the correct number to open the door.

"I was attacked in London at 4:12 p.m. on April 09. I left a salon and was stunned from behind in an alley."

Watson tried his best to restore the incident, hoping to help decipher the password to go out.

"Later, I was in a coma, and when I woke up, I was tied to a stone pillar. I don't know how long it took. But I felt hungry. According to my usual eating habits, I think it should have been overnight, and it should be the morning of the 13th."

Mary nodded slightly. It is known that both the original owner and Watson were attacked in April, both at night. "Did the murderer mention the coffin?"

"Oh yes, excuse my panic earlier."

Watson recounted the criminal's words, "The damned criminal said that a body was buried more than five days ago. I will be next, and he warned me not to take chances of escape."

In fact, Watson was very curious about why the deceased who was identified by the murderer could come out of the coffin again.

With his medical knowledge, he spontaneously completed a speculation.It should be that the murderer misjudged the victim's suspended animation as real death, causing him to be in a coma for many days.Although this kind of situation is rare, it is not without relevant records, so the corpses that are buried by mistake are human tragedies.

Mary quickly counted the time, the exact place and time when the original owner was tied up is unknown.Compared with when he was tied up, it is more important to pay attention to when the murderer brought the victim into this triangular stone room.

More than five days ago, the original owner was covered with a coffin; more than two days ago, Watson was tied to a stone pillar.

The counting of "many" here is not accurate, and the accurate calculation is based on the burning of candles in each corner of the triangular house.The perpetrators commit crimes according to a certain numerical law, and the candles at the three corners represent a countdown.

There were seven candles in the corner where the original owner's coffin was, five of which had been burned, one unburned, and only a small stump of the burning one.

There were four candles in the corner where Watson was tied up, two of which had been burned, one was unburned, and only a small piece was left burning.

There was only one unburned candle in the last corner.The coffin was empty, and there was no trace of a living being bound on the stone pillar.

"It's not hard to see that there is one more victim every three days. Today, the murderer will return with a third victim tied up before the candle goes out."

Mary quickly walked around the stone house, "There are still three and a half hours, and the burning candles will be extinguished. Leaving aside the murderer's painting of runes on the victim's face and other rituals, it is conservatively estimated that we should be able to escape in about an hour. Be sure."

"what?"

Watson was puzzled.

"This triangular prismatic stone house forms an equilateral triangle."

Mary went straight to the center of gravity of the triangle, and started to plan the gravel floor with broken boards.

Watson was about to ask what happened to the equilateral triangle.Before he could speak his question, he saw a golden corner protruding from the soil.This also actively joined the digging operation.

Not long after, the two dug out a bronze coffin in the center of the ground.

The coffin was covered with strange patterns drawn with golden paint, the lock could not be opened, and the keyhole was sealed with copper water.

"This this……"

Watson did not expect that there was a fourth coffin in the stone chamber.Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the lid of the coffin, but there was no movement inside.

He stuck it to the coffin lid and listened, "There is no breathing or heartbeat inside, there should be no living things, and nothing will come out of the coffin."

Mary smiles, and the resurrection is not the usual potato on a London table.

"If my deduction is correct, there are human corpses that have been dead for a long time. We don't have gas masks and other equipment. It is not suitable to open the coffin right now. It is hard to say whether poisonous gas will be produced inside."

Watson never wanted to open the coffin to find out. "Of course there is no need to open the coffin. The main goal is to leave here. Mr. Minton, what do you think the password will be?"

The two came to the door of the organ.

Mary did not correct Watson's perception.

Now she is dressed in men's clothes, and it is difficult to distinguish male and female voices due to her damaged voice. She also understands some false sounds, so it is good to be recognized as a man for the time being.

When asked why, the most direct reason is the various constraints imposed on women in this era.

The original owner didn't have much memory, only a vague fragment of the sisters going out to the dance together.A young woman was kidnapped by a murderer. What is the reason for her disappearance for many days? Will the murderer be suspicious?Will it implicate her sister's reputation?

As long as the escape is not hindered, Mary does not think there is a problem with concealing her origin, and her considerations are not limited to this.

Was it more convincing to Watson that a man broke out of the coffin and quickly deduced the exit code?

If it is a woman, can Watson look at people without colored glasses?In an era when women rarely go to college, can women's intelligence be taken for granted?Not to mention that the fighting prowess she displays is incompatible with the femininity of today's women.

At the moment of escape, there is no need to add an additional internal conflict.

Moreover, the room where the original owner was forced to change clothes was not the triangle stone room.At present, it is not known whether there are guards outside the gate of the agency, and whether the perpetrator committed the crime alone or with accomplices.It's better to save some energy and face the unknown situation in the future.

There are ten character buttons from 0-9 in front of you.

Mary just asked one more question, "Mr. Watson, did you hear clearly how many times the murderer pressed the number button to open the door?"

"Several times."

Watson recalled vigorously, "It shouldn't be more than ten times, seven, eight, or nine, right?"

So, is it 7, 8 or 9?

Mary saw that Watson couldn't give an accurate answer, and she couldn't find any difference in the degree of friction damage on the surface of the character buttons under candlelight.

"Well, now you can start to pray, this organ lock will not be completely closed just because of one wrong input."

Watson suddenly turned his head, "Oh! Can't you be 100% sure? Didn't it mean that revolving doors can save us?"

"Sir, there is hardly anything 100% in the world."

Mary does not think that she is arrogant, "The inference comes from evidence and conforms to the internal logic of the development of things. However, if the murderer randomly sets a password, it is also possible that it is completely devoid of logic."

Having said that, Mary has hit the character button.

First the numbers "6", "3", and "0", and then the number "9" six times, adding up to a total of nine characters.

华生注意到「6、3、0、9」四个数字，正是0-9的字符中排除了走马灯数142857之外的存在。

Why this rule?

Watson had no time to think about why.

Holding his breath, he stared at Shimen closely, just wanting to know whether the password to go out is correct.

'crunch—'

The next moment, the stone door slowly slid sideways, and the door opened!

"Oh, God!"

Watson turned his head excitedly, "Mr. Minton, you really..."

"please calm."

Mary didn't change her face, "It's better to save those compliments until you get out safely."

Watson nodded immediately and made a silent gesture.

The two brought available candles, and when they went out, they saw an upward staircase.The passage is not dark and dull, there is a wall lamp, which gives dim light.

Try to lower the sound of your footsteps and go upstairs as fast as possible to the entrance at the top.Through the wooden boards, I held my breath and listened, but there was no movement outside.

Mary pushed the wooden cover on the top of the head first, not wanting to let the tired and hungry Watson rush forward.Fortunately, the plank access cover was unlocked and opened with a push.

The two came out one after another.There is no one in the room, and by candlelight, it is a studio.

The iron rack places various glass bottles of reagents, powders, etc.Ink, pens, paintbrushes, and blank paper were placed on the desk, but no written manuscripts were seen.

Mary opened the low cabinet, and a strange fragrance came to her face, which was consistent with the smell of the clothes on her body.

There are two sets of clothing and shoes and socks in the closet.A suit of men's dress, approximately to Watson's size.A female dress is not suitable for Mary, the length of the skirt is shorter, it should be for a girl of thirteen or fourteen.

Needless to say, this was prepared for Watson and another victim before they were buried.

As for the original owner's clothes?

In addition to desks and chairs, iron frames and low cabinets, there is also a large iron basin in the house.

The iron basin was full of ashes, and a few pieces of paper, clothing remnants, and metal residues such as burnt and deformed buttons could be found.There is no doubt that the perpetrator burned all relevant clues such as the crime notes and the clothes of the original owner.

In this way, the murderer seemed to want to run away if he got a big ticket.

"There's no one out there."

Watson went to the preparation room and turned around. "The house is not big, with a bedroom, living room and kitchen. It is clear at a glance that there is no hiding place. The masked murderer is not there, but there is a piece of bad news."

"You want to say that it is difficult for us to leave on foot smoothly."

Mary listened to the surroundings, and could already faintly hear the rustling of leaves in the dense forest being blown by the wind outside.

The two went to the outer room, the door was locked from the outside, but they could open the window and jump out to see the surrounding situation.

Sure enough, the house is located in the dense forest.

The full moon is westward, about three o'clock in the morning.The woods are deep, and there are no traces of other humans around.

Mary checked the bedroom and kitchen again, and based on the single bed in the house, slippers and towels for only one person, it can be deduced that the murderer lived alone.

"Now there are two options."

Mary pointed out two fingers, "One, leave as soon as possible, but 90.00% nine will face the murderer. The equipment we can carry is only three candles, an axe, a wooden stick, a bundle of hemp rope, and even fresh water There is no dry food either. The murderer must be more familiar with the environment here than we are, so he will catch up with us by taking a shortcut, and I don’t know if there are any beasts in the forest.”

"Second, stay here. Now that I am hiding the enemy, I am attacking instead of fleeing, and I am caught off guard by the murderer."

Mary also pointed out the disadvantages of option [-], "Staying is also risky. What if the murderer brings an accomplice? And if he can transport you here in a coma, he must be strong and have a certain force value. In addition, although he did not find you in the room Bullets were found, but it cannot be ruled out that the other party was carrying a gun. So, Mr. Watson, your choice?"

Watson was silent for three seconds. He was well aware of how tired he was after being tied up for a long time, and it was not suitable for him to escape on foot immediately. "I'll pick the second, stay and catch him. Offense is the best defense, try to hit every hit."

"Very good, we have the same choice. Rather than fleeing on foot in the forest, I would rather leave in a carriage."

The carriage that Mary mentioned could only come from one place, the murderer's vehicle.There are traces of wheels on the ground around the house, which proves that a carriage entered and exited.

Since you choose, you will not regret it.

The two took the time to prepare, and first eliminated the traces of jumping out of windows and footprints outside the house.Finding out the weapons and ropes that can be used is to give the murderer an open door to kill.

Everything is ready quickly.

After extinguishing the candles, the two hid behind the door on the left and right sides.

Watson made a sign of the cross in front of him, silently praying to God to bless him.He hid behind the door on the left side with a wooden stick, and said in a low voice:

"When I just left the stone room, I wanted to correct my previous slip of the tongue. It's not just ghosts who know the correct password to open the door. Mr. Minton, you opened the stone door. I think it's the beginning of good luck to meet you. Today, the murderer will be captured in one fell swoop. .”

Mary hid on the right side behind the gate, holding an ax, and said kindly, "May the Lord bless you, Mr. Watson, you are right."

Watson nodded.Yes, he must be right, the murderer was successfully caught today.

In the darkness, Mary evoked a faint smile of unknown meaning.

In a sense, Watson got the truth. It was indeed the ghost who unlocked the Shimen code.

The two didn't speak any more, they waited quietly.Not long after, maybe 10 minutes or so, the sound of rolling wheels came from far and near.

The moonlight was pale, and the night wind was cold and intermittent.

An unremarkable carriage passed through the dense forest and finally stopped near the wooden house.The masked man was tall, and he carried a bound unconscious girl out of the carriage.

One step, two steps, getting closer and closer to the gate.