Mary's Nineteenth Century

The residence of Director White has a simple staff composition.

Besides himself, there were only two maids, a coachman, and a cook.

A three-story detached building with gardens and stables outside.

Whether it is to question the possible suspects one by one, or to thoroughly inspect the entire mansion, one afternoon is enough.

"Mr. Minton, are you sure you need an escalator?"

White looked uncertainly at the helper brought by Bentley, not thinking that the young man could check anything out.Because I have searched the whole house thoroughly for a whole morning, could there be anything I missed?

Now I need an escalator to check outside the wall. What flowers can be seen outside the wall?

Obviously, at first glance, there is no fist-sized crystal skull hanging on the wall or outside the window.

Mary came to White's residence, and after a quick glance at the garden, she determined that the clues were mostly broken.

In the morning, White's search lasted for several hours, resulting in messy footprints going back and forth from the house to the lawn.Even if there were clues left at the time of the crime, they are all mixed up now.

Since the traces on the ground cannot be distinguished, there may be clues left in the high places.

"Yes, I need the escalator to take a look at the outer wall of the study on the second floor."

Mary ignored the doubts in White's tone, "You said that the window of the study room was not closed tightly in the morning, and you once suspected that someone took the crystal and threw it out of the window. Then you should observe the situation near the window, shouldn't you?"

That's the case, but the off-white brick wall is easy to identify the external traces.

White looked up and was sure there were no human footprints on the wall, which meant there was no such thing as climbing the wall.

"Okay, old Sandy, you get a ladder . . .

White greeted the coachman, and asked someone to get a wooden ladder and put it against the wall.

"Mr. Minton, be careful."

Bingley didn't say that he was coming to climb. He was quite self-aware for fear of missing any clues, so he could only actively help hold the ladder... the ladder.

"rest assured."

Mary made sure that the ladder was all right, so she jumped up quickly.

Near the window on the second floor, there are indeed no human footprints on the wall, but it is not as clean as new without any other traces.

There are five scratches.

It was left by the claws of birds, and it was distributed near the window frame of the study.Half a meter to the side, there are still two feathers left on the climbing vines on the wall.

Very short, half the size of a little finger, off-white.

Does Curator White have any birds at home?

The answer is yes - no.

Mary put the gray and white feathers into a small paper bag and put them away.I continued to check around the window sill, but found nothing else.

Next is to investigate the missing study of the Crystal Skull.Including the entire display cabinet, curtains, and the gap at the bottom of the cabinet, there are no suspicious fingerprints left in the main room.

Wearing gloves is a habit that many people have nowadays.

For example, Mary wears gloves all the year round and has never left fingerprints outside.

In White's house, except for White and the chef who did not wear gloves, the two maids and the coachman wore gloves.

"Okay, we can sit down and talk, please come to the living room."

Mary looked at Director White, "You should be mentally prepared. If it wasn't you sleepwalking to take out the crystal, or Bentley or Anfinsen clues to lose the crystal, the remaining suspects are likely to be your four servants .”

Assuming that someone really took advantage of White's sleepiness to steal the key into the study, whether it is the familiarity with the house route or understanding of White's key usage habits, White's servants are undoubtedly suspicious.

"Oh! But they have been with me for ten years."

White didn't want to suspect the four servants.As he did, ten years of master-servant life made him suspicious of guests early in the morning, rather than follow his servants all the time.

Mary couldn't deny it, "People, nothing stays the same."

Director White certainly understood this truth, but he still couldn't find a reason to doubt it.

"They are all from the town of Salem. They have lived here since they were young. It can be said that they know everything. As far as I know, the family of four including Old Sandy has not suffered any changes."

People, change happens for a reason.

Director White asked himself that he had already interrogated once in the morning, and he did not find any problems among the four servants.

Although he doesn't quite believe that Mr. Minton can ask why, but in order to find the Crystal Skull, he will not refuse to repeat the review.

In the living room, everyone is here.

A total of seven people were at White's home from last night to this morning.White, Bentley, Anfinsen, and four servants.

It is known that the three people who drank were drunk and took a nap for half an hour.Because malt beer, brandy, and whiskey are mixed together, it is easy to get drunk when mixed with alcohol, so I have never suspected whether there is any drowsiness drug added to the alcohol.

Just as wearing gloves is a good habit, it is also a good habit to wash dishes in a timely manner.

Last night, the cups and wine bottles that the three of them drank were cleaned early in the morning.This is in line with the ten-year-long requirement of curator White, and the maid needs to clean all the tableware in the morning.

In other words, it is now impossible to detect whether there is a problem with yesterday's drink.Don't expect blood tests, the small town of Salem doesn't have such high-end testing technology.

"It is reported that no one heard suspicious noises from the study room last night."

Mary glanced at the expressions of everyone while talking about the results of Director White's previous inquiry. "Now, I have a new question. Leaving aside last night, has anyone heard a particular noise during the night before?"

Mary added, "Not limited to this month, earlier, did there appear strange voices? Not only voices, but you can talk about any strange things. Has anyone encountered it?"

If it was not limited to last night, then Bentley and Anfinsen would not be able to give an answer. It was the first time for them to come to White's house.

Director White shook his head in bewilderment, and the other four servants were able to give an answer immediately.

"Please take it easy and recall everything carefully."

Mary said in a relaxed tone, "I think everyone knows that the lost crystal skull is the one that is lost. You grew up in Witch Town, and you must have heard more similar legends about the Mayan skull than I did. We all have to face up to a possibility, maybe There was no thief at all, the skeleton came alive and ran away by itself."

Crystal Skull resurrected himself and ran away. Is this assumption absurd?

At the moment, Mary said that she already believed it.

Her tone and expression are so sincere that people can't help but consider this possibility.

Don't forget, this is Witch Town.

Don't forget, how many witches have been caught and executed.

The witch hunt is over for 200 years, but people have not denied the existence of magic.

On the contrary, some concepts are deeply ingrained and become deeper and deeper.

Just as if a person believes in the existence of God, how can he deny the existence of the devil as well.

"Well, I have encountered a few strange things."

Old Sandy, the coachman, broke the silence, "It was early October, and my wife broke her leg. For half a month, I was driving home at night."

Old Sandy's house was in Salem City.

Under normal circumstances, six days a week lived in the White mansion, ready to call out the car.

In early October, Sandy Sr.'s wife had limited mobility due to a leg injury.

At eleven o'clock at night, he will go home after Director White falls asleep, and he can help his wife with some chores.Half an hour's drive away, at midnight, there are almost no pedestrians in the small town.

"I haven't seen anyone weird or suspicious, but I've run into a few others in the area."

Old Sandy organized his words, "Well, it's like a ghost with a flying head. That day, a pale human face floated out of the woods under the moonlight. I remember very clearly that the ghost face has no mouth or nose, but a pair of Very weird eyeballs."

After a pause, Old Sandy swallowed, "Do you understand? It's those terrible black eyes.

It is completely different from the eyes of a living person. It has no whites, and the entire round eyeball is black.The moment my eyes meet, I seem to see the entrance to hell. "

In the dead of midnight, the streets are empty.

Suddenly, a grimace popped out of the woods by the roadside, and the next moment it seemed that it was about to fly over to meet your cheek.

Old Sandy rubbed his arms involuntarily, and every time he recalled it, he couldn't help getting goose bumps all over his body. "What's even more exaggerated is that the ghost still likes to keep twisting its severed head. It can turn its face obliquely by more than 90 degrees in a moment, followed by 'Jie Jie Jie—', a burst of ghostly laughter."

At that time, old Sandy made the most instinctive reaction, whipped his horsewhip and quickly escaped from the white-faced ghost.

"Oh, God!"

White didn't expect the flying head ghost to appear near the house at all, "Old Sandy, why didn't you say it before?"

the reason is simple.

Old Sandy asked for leave to go home to take care of his wife, and he didn't want to cause trouble, what if Director White no longer gave the holiday?

"I don't think it's malicious."

Old Sandy held back a reason, "I have encountered it three times in total. The flying head ghost didn't keep up with me, it just wandered in the woods. Curator, this is Semler!"

Witch Town, many people died because of witch hunting.

People's mentality towards mysterious things is inevitably contradictory, but they are afraid but don't want to cause trouble again, let alone cause blood to flow into rivers again.

Old Sandy figured it out later, "I was terrified when I met a ghost for the first time, but I quickly convinced myself. I have never done anything bad in my life, so I don't have to be afraid of any ghosts at all.

In Witch Town, humans and mysterious forces coexist.I go my way, it flies its woods, non-interference is the best way to deal with it. "

It's a little quiet inside.

At the moment, some aspects of old Sandy's bravery must be acknowledged.

Don't do anything bad in your life, and don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night.Having said that, there are not many people who can really face ghosts bravely.

"You are right. You have nothing to fear when you have a clear conscience."

Mary admired it, and it was another matter to ask her if she believed in the existence of flying-headed ghosts.

At the moment, Mary looked at the younger maid, and asked a question that had nothing to do with the flying ghost. "Anthony, you clean the house, have you ever seen any birds fly in the windows?"

"Birds flying in the window?"

Antoine repeated the question, folded her hands close to her stomach, and shook her head, "No, I haven't seen any birds."

"is it?"

Mary's gaze rested on Antony's face.

Antony's nostrils enlarged momentarily, and her jaw muscles contracted momentarily.

It is said that microexpressions are difficult to recognize, because they often appear and disappear in only one-fifth of a second.

Anthony's micro-expression is the expression of nervousness and uneasiness.

Although she looked innocent and calm, there was a momentary detail that betrayed her true emotions.

There are too few people in the world who can not show their flaws.

Mary took advantage of the momentum and asked, "Although it is winter now, I have seen a few birds along the way to Semler. There are also various trees near this house. Isn't there a bird that strayed into the house?"

"No, I haven't seen any birds."

Antony answered in the affirmative, but her left toe couldn't help but move slightly.After only half a second, he maintained his sitting posture again.

Mary nodded slightly, without saying whether she believed it or not.

Director White couldn't help but wonder, why did he ask Asuka now?Is it suspected of animal theft?

Animal theft is rare, but Director White has more or less heard similar rumors.

The key is that the crystal skull is locked in the cabinet. For example, the crow will take away shiny objects, but it will not open the big lock of the cabinet door.

In the final analysis, as long as the crystal does not disappear in a teleportation, its disappearance is always related to man-made.

Curator White didn't ask on the spot, and waited until the servants and Bingley both left before expressing his guess. "Mr. Minton, do you suspect that someone domesticated birds and stole the Crystal Skull? The thief is Antony?"

"More than suspicion, I'm almost certain it's related to Antoine."

Mary took out the feathers taken from the vines outside the wall, "There are scratches on the outside of the wall, plus feathers. It is a fact that birds used to come and go. It is a fact, but it has been denied."

Mary pointed out, "If you carefully observe Antonie's state when answering questions, except for those fleeting micro-expressions that are not easy to notice, Antonie has many other flaws.

At that time, she repeated my question, put her hands on her stomach, and her toes tended to move outward.These are all subconscious actions when you feel nervous, stressed and evasive. "

Although it cannot be generalized, there are many flaws in a person, and it is almost certain that there is a problem with this person.

Director White tried hard to recall, did Antoine make those actions?

Well, it seemed there was, but he didn't take it as suspicious evidence.How keen observation is needed to notice the details that are lost in a blink of an eye.

At this moment, Director White believed that Mr. Minton had some abilities, but he should not be underestimated at such a young age.

"And then? As far as I know, Antoine never had a bird, nor did anyone in her family."

Director White said so, but his tone couldn't help but look forward to it. "Looking at Antony's appearance now, we may have to deny it to the end. Where should we find the thief bird? Do you have more convincing evidence for her to admit it?"

"It does take a bit of strategy. First, let's admit it."

Mary asked, "As I said before, if you can't be sure of its authenticity, the value of the crystal itself is not expensive, at least not so expensive that it is equivalent to your ruby ​​brooch. Then why only steal the crystal skull? For money, it is not the most expensive Good choice."

It's not for money, but it has a special meaning.

Mary hadn't forgotten why she came to Salem. There was some kind of secret here.

"Director White, apart from the well-known rumors, the Mayan crystal skull is related to the mysteries of human life and death. Is there anything special about the one you have in your collection?"

Mary didn't suspect it for no reason, "There is one thing, the curator may not have heard the news. Recently, a group of collectors from various countries came to the small town. They heard that you collected interesting collections in South America, and now they all want Take a quick look. What attracted the crowd?"

Is it just an antiquity of the Mayan civilization, is it worth giving up the Christmas vacation and traveling across the ocean to Salem?

Director White looked around subconsciously, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke in a low voice.

"This crystal skull is indeed a bit different. It was unearthed together with a piece of sheepskin. It is not the sheepskin left by the Mayans, but the sheepskin left by Captain Kidd more than 200 years ago. It is said that there is a treasure hidden in the crystal skull."

Scottish pirate, William Kidd, a famous pirate of the seventeenth century.

The detailed deeds of Captain Kidd can be described later.Now there is one thing that may be related to the Crystal Skull incident. For 200 years, it has been rumored that Captain Kidd left a huge treasure before he was hanged, but no one knows the location of the treasure.

"Oh! What a coincidence."

Mary doesn't believe in coincidences, "A crystal skull believed to be from the Mayan period is thousands of years old, and Captain Kidd died 200 years ago. You mean, one of Captain Kidd's legacy treasures includes crystal Skeleton. Is it equivalent to saying that he discovered the Mayan treasure, but did not take it out to enjoy?"

Director White nodded, "The logic is like this. I know you will ask about the sheepskin? How can you be sure that it was buried by Captain Kidd? There is no way to answer such questions, because the sheepskin spontaneously ignited on the day it was excavated." .”

Captain Kidd is a famous pirate.

As long as you search carefully, you can also find a few words of his logbook in London.There is no way to compare the handwriting now, because the sheepskin has burned itself.

In this regard, Director White also thinks it is a coincidence, and the incident of spontaneous combustion of sheepskin casts more mystery on the Crystal Skull.

"I returned to the United States with the Crystal Skull, but the news of the excavated skull and sheepskin spread more or less. I think those collectors who rushed to Salem have more or less heard rumors about the treasure. "

As for whether the Crystal Skull can point out the location of the treasure?

Director White researched all the way, but did not find any relevant clues.

"I personally think that the Crystal Skull has nothing to do with the so-called treasures. In other words, the understanding of treasures cannot be limited to gold and silver treasures."

Director White said, "If you understand the mystery of human life and death, it is certainly a kind of treasure. No matter what, the most important thing is to find the Crystal Skull now. Going back to the original question, you have more directions to look for ?"

Curator White scratched his head, "Do you want me to press Antony? It's not good until the last step. I'm not such a cold-blooded person as a master and servant for ten years."

White didn't say a word, and what if he made a mistake?Now more evidence is needed.

Despite Kidd's treasure being involved, there has been no major change in the direction of the search, and the gray-and-white-feathered birds are still key.

Mary didn't say that the timeline was a little weird.The spontaneous combustion of the sheepskin and the disappearance of the crystal skull seem to reveal a strange smell.

At the moment, I only suggest to Director White, "You need to look at Antony, and I will find out the origin of the bird's feathers. Perhaps, can you recommend a knowledgeable zoologist?"

Looking for a zoologist who can deduce which bird from a feather?

Director White shook his head with a bitter face, "There are still a few days before Christmas, even if you drive to Boston, the universities there are also on holiday. It really stumps me. For a while, I really can't think of where to find such a knowledgeable zoologist."

"Okay, I'll try to figure it out."

Mary's tone seemed not firm enough, so she left the White house.

However, when he returned to the broom hotel, he knocked on the door of a person with confidence.

Is it difficult to recognize a bird from a feather?

Mary knew it would be difficult, but there are always incredible and knowledgeable people in the world, and she was here to test her conjecture.

'Click——'

The door opened.

It wasn't long before Mycroft arrived at the hotel. Who would have thought that when he opened the door, he would be stuffed with two feathers and asked if he knew what kind of bird the feathers fell from.

He looked at the feathers on his palm, and then at someone who asked straight to the point, and couldn't help but pull out a standard smile.

"Mr. Minton, what makes you think I can tell the furry species? I seem to study those things?"

Mycroft never thought of himself as a zoologist.A person who does not like to move, why should he care about different species of birds? He is not a Sherlock who is energetic enough to study different species of shredded tobacco.

"Don't you understand?"

Mary smiled, "You know, it's hard to find a qualified ornithologist right now. This is a clue related to the Crystal Skull. It may involve the little secret of Semler's existence. Finding the stolen bird is only a short distance away." Let’s go one step further in revealing the secret. I am a different Mrs. Roman, so do you understand now?”