Mary's Nineteenth Century

To understand or not to understand, that is the question.

Mycroft was tempted to firmly express his incomprehension.

Mrs. Roman is just an ordinary widow, how can she guess what kind of bird it belongs to just based on a feather.

The next moment, he gave an answer: "99% of this feather belongs to the owl of the genus Owl, commonly known as monkey-faced eagle, and the reason for its name is closely related to its appearance. This type of owl has a flat face, which looks like a big bird. Love, but similar to the monkey face.

Because it has a pair of big deep round eyes, and the hair color of the face plate is mostly white or gray brown, it will be mistaken for a human head without nose and mouth at night.

It is common sense that the owl has a strange cry, which makes the monkey-faced eagle more like a deadly ghost floating in mid-air.Right now, specifically, the two feathers on the outside wall of White's house are from gray-faced owls.It is mainly distributed in Central America, and it is rare in the small town of Salem. "

That answer is specific enough.

Mycroft smirked, "I understand this, Mr. Minton, do you think that's enough?"

'Clap clap--'

Mary applauded enthusiastically as if sincerely admiring, "Of course it is enough, please don't be overly humble. Madam Roman, I am amazed by your profound knowledge, and I firmly believe that you can solve the mystery of feathers. Please allow me to praise wisdom and knowledge, It makes you unparalleled."

Mycroft continued with his standard smile.

Perhaps, there is a trace of real joy in the smile at this time, but it is only a trace.

Does he care if he is praised?

No, he's not vain at all.Rather than admitting that he has studied a lot of furries, he hopes to play the role of ordinary ordinary people appropriately.

He can dissect, is proficient in mathematics, and is familiar with animal knowledge.

Madame Roman is getting further and further away from the original setting.It was agreed that it was a widowed woman who came to the United States to talk about a trip and love. What kind of power made her go further and further?

Mary was no longer persistent, and would not ask why Mrs. Roman learned zoology knowledge, as if she was not the one who just asked whether she understood or did not understand.

Switch in one second, and get down to business.

"Right now, the feathers are known to come from the gray-faced owl, which fits exactly what happened to old Sandy the coachman. The so-called flying-headed ghost is the monkey-faced owl that wanders around White's house."

Mary briefly described the discovery of the White family, "If you find the breeder of the owl, you can basically find the whereabouts of the Crystal Skull."

Where will the breeders be?

Today, people associate owls with death, witchcraft and more.

Under normal circumstances, except for scholars and institutions that study animals, it is rare to encounter owls in the folk.

Owls are nocturnal, which is the opposite of the normal human life schedule.

The monkey-faced eagle is also a rare species. When encountering it in the middle of the night, many people will preconceive it as a ghost instead of thinking about magical birds.

Combined with this, once someone keeps owls, unless he lives in the middle of nowhere, the surrounding neighborhood will be somewhat aware of some oddities.

"If someone secretly keeps owls, there may be rumors of hauntings nearby."

Mycroft thought of a good place to consult weird rumors, "Today I went to the "Alchemy Stone House", that second-hand store sells all kinds of weird goods, and the owner also likes to inquire about all kinds of weird news. "

Mary glanced at the sky outside the window, "Sooner rather than later, I'll ask now. Do you want to go together?"

It was dusk and the street lights were getting brighter.

Mycroft returns from the beach where the intelligence agent's pocket watch was found.

The dial of the pocket watch was scratched, and black fine particles remained in it, but he couldn't find any matching geology near the beach.

The original plan was to ask if there were any places related to black gravel near Salem, and I also went to the "Alchemist's House" to find out some information.

Shopkeepers like to collect weird rumors, and if an intelligence officer is killed, the death may also cause weird rumors.

"Let's go together."

Mycroft noted down the business hours, "The second-hand store closes at seven o'clock at night, so it's too late to go now."

The two were about to go out, when they ran into the group of collectors in the hotel as soon as they went down the stairs.

This wave of collectors went to the museum in the morning, originally wanting to discuss with curator White to see the Mayan civilization collection that has not yet been exhibited.

At the moment, this group of people just came back from the outside, and there was an instant noise in the lobby.Just listen to what you say and what I say, talking about the disappearance of the crystal skull out of thin air.

"God! I should have heard correctly, the Crystal Skull bought by Director White disappeared out of thin air!"

"Yes, old man, you heard it right, the skeleton suddenly disappeared last night."

"Oh! That's so weird! I heard that the crystal skull was excavated with a piece of parchment, but the parchment spontaneously ignited instantly, and now even the skeleton is gone."

"Do you really believe that the crystal will fly off by itself? I think someone stole it to take Captain Kidd's treasure for himself."

……

There were many discussions, and they continued.

Mary felt strange.

The theft of the skeleton has not been rumored. Even though Director White turned the house upside down in the morning, how do outsiders know some details about the disappearance of the item?

Immediately stepped forward to ask what happened.

To be answered, this group of collectors spends their time visiting museums today.

Just over an hour ago, during tea time, they were drinking tea in a cafe near the museum and heard the news that the Crystal Skull had disappeared.

"It's hard to say who disclosed the news."

The Russian bearded man was the first to hear the news, "At that time, I was in the bathroom and heard the conversation outside the door. After I solved my personal problem, I chased it out to ask for clarification, but I couldn't find the two man."

The Russian bearded man also asked the waiter in the coffee shop.

Since the speaker only knows that the speaker is speaking American and has no other clues, in a coffee shop that is still in business, the waiter cannot use this to determine which customer has haunted the bathroom.

This time, the collectors were blown away.

They came for the Crystal Skull, who would have thought that the most important thing would disappear.

"This is so weird!"

The Russian bearded man frowned, "In the bathroom, I heard those two people say that the Crystal Skull has psychic powers. It summoned a ghost, and with the help of the ghost, it disappeared without a sound. Where did it go? It’s easy to say, and it will only appear in the hands of the destined person.”

Obviously, Director White was not the person chosen by the Crystal Skull, so the Skull chose to leave, so who is the destined person?

In this regard, Mary did not express any opinion, and stepped out of the hotel at a faster pace.

Things get weirder not because of the Crystal Skull's disappearance, but because of the weird timeline surrounding it.

Before, Mary felt that there was a problem with the timeline of the whole thing.

Old Sandy the coachman saw the Flying Head Ghost in early October.

Director White dug up the crystal skull and sheepskin in South America at the end of November.

Yesterday, March 12.

The maid Antonie uses the owl to steal the Crystal Skull.

Today, September 12th.

Collectors learned that there was no rumored disappearance of the skeleton, and it was defined as a mysterious disappearance.

Arrange the timeline, that is to say, the training owl comes first, and the discovery of the crystal skull follows.

This is not normal.

Why did the maid Antony and her accomplices tame owls before Curator White dug up the skeleton? Does it have some kind of prophecy?

"It's like a trap. Someone attracted a group of collectors with the news of the Crystal Skull, and they gathered in Witch Town."

Mycroft pointed out the key point, "Now the incident of the disappearance of the skeleton out of thin air, combined with the previous incident of spontaneous combustion of the sheepskin, all add mystery to the Crystal Skull. However, no matter how perfect the plan is, there are unavoidable uncontrollable factors."

What are uncontrollable factors?

Mary didn't think it meant she had arrived in Salem, but that the timing of the Crystal Skull's disappearance hadn't been chosen properly.

The Crystal Skull should not have disappeared on the night that Director White was entertaining guests, which would make White suspect the guest of theft, rather than attribute it to the Crystal Skull psychic flying away by himself.

"Using emotions to manipulate a person will inevitably lead to emotional accidents."

Mary seems to throw this sentence out of nowhere.When the carriage came, she didn't say much more.

With just one sentence, Mycroft understood the implication.

Maid Antony is suspected of stealing the Crystal Skull, and she can steal keys to enter and leave Curator White's study.

Director White mentioned that four servants have worked in his house for ten years, and all of them are natives of Salem, so they can be called knowledgeable.

Antony didn't raise owls, but got acquainted with a monkey-faced eagle breeder X a few months ago, and only then did the coachman old Sandy encounter the flying head ghost.

That unknown X should have deliberately approached Antony.

X single-handedly planned the Crystal Skull situation, and every step of the way allowed Curator White to dig up the so-called Mayan antiquities from South America, which attracted a group of collectors to Salem.

Although it is still unknown what he is going to do, it can be speculated that he wants to use the strong magical atmosphere of Witch Town to add mystery to the Crystal Skull.

Stealing the Crystal Skull is part of it.

Antony should make the skeleton disappear out of thin air, but she chose to do it on the night when there were guests.

This is not good for X's plan to create a sense of mystery. Curator White immediately suspected Bentley and Anfinsen.

But, another angle.From the perspective of the maid Antony, it is not difficult to understand why she chose this special time to commit the crime out of personal emotions.

After ten years of master and servant, curator White can be regarded as a good employer.

Would Antoine be willing to be accused of being a thief?It's better to blame the suspicious crime on the guests.

This is where the sentence comes in. Manipulating a person with emotions will cause the person being manipulated to make mistakes and unexpected choices because of personal emotions.

From this, Mycroft speculates that Antony may not know the real intention of X to steal the Crystal Skull.

At the same time, it is impossible for X to tell Antony exactly how to steal the crystal.Because using a person's feelings, how can there be honesty, concealment and deception are the norm.

The above is logical, but only speculation.

Only by finding X and confronting Antony can we determine the whole story.

Running all the way, the two arrived at the "Alchemy Stone House".

The owner looks very young, like a freckled boy under the age of 20.

"Are you here to find out who kept owls? Or are there similar haunted legends around?"

The Freckled Shopkeeper tried to recall, "I haven't heard particularly specific haunting tales, or seen a live owl, but maybe I've passed them. Wait a minute, you probably know that."

While speaking, the shopkeeper opened the trembling medicine cabinet behind him.

I took out an oiled paper bag, opened it, and inside were a few irregular balls of mud and hair.

"Oh! It's Shiwan."

The food pills Mary is talking about are small balls formed by owls regurgitating food scraps.

Because owls swallow mice and birds whole, such as bones, feathers, surface soil, etc. cannot be digested.Those things will be regurgitated, forming oval-shaped balls.

"Well, you call them Shiwan, but we in this industry prefer to call them Neidan."

The freckle shopkeeper collects strange things everywhere, including of course the 'inner alchemy' made by the bird of death owl.

"I picked these up on the outskirts of the town, near the cemetery in the northwest corner. The cemetery is all old graves from the previous year. There are no tomb guards, and strange noises are inevitable in the middle of the night."

No wonder.

The freckle shop owner thought that the occasional passer-by heard owls, so he went to check and harvested these food pills.

"how much is it?"

Mary immediately decided to buy it and do some research. From the food pills, the owl's eating situation can be inferred, and the diet structure can point to its origin.

"Ten dollars, it's all yours."

The shop owner was very happy to make a deal, "You two, is there anything else you want to ask?"

Mycroft really wanted to ask about the black gravel, but this time he looked at someone who readily paid the bill and pocketed the oiled paper packet.

Look, this is Mr. Minton holding two feathers and asking him if he understands the origin!

Now someone can recognize the owl's Shiwan at a glance, so the question arises, can this person also recognize that the gray and white feathers belong to the monkey-faced owl?From this, it can be concluded unmistakably that the previous questioning about whether he understood or not was intentional.

very good!

Mycroft made a mental note quietly.

As magnanimous as he is, he doesn't care much about most things, and rarely keeps a person in his heart.

At this moment, I would like to sincerely congratulate Mr. Minton for successfully becoming the first man to be firmly remembered in his heart—he must return the gift "well" in the future.

Mary put the food pills away, and when she looked up, she saw an overly kind smile from the people around her.Huh?What just happened?