Mary's Nineteenth Century

In the banquet hall, the voice calling for help was too panicked and piercing, making it impossible not to pay attention.

People looked to the source of the shouting.

There were no fires, no collisions, and no one fell ill.

It's all normal!

A group of guests didn't know why, so they scanned up and down several times back and forth, but still didn't find any problems.

Then why call for help? It can't be a ghost?Or did someone scare someone with a prank?

I saw the red-haired lady who just called out for help trembled uncontrollably, hid behind her companion, and tightly grasped her companion's arm.

"Benny, what's wrong with you?"

Melissa's arm was suddenly tightly grasped, and she looked around nervously, but found nothing suspicious.Looking back, I saw the pale complexion of the red-haired Benny. The contrast between red and white made Benny look like a living corpse.

"S, S, S..."

The red-haired Bernie was stiff and incoherent in horror, unable to utter a complete word.

S?

What do you mean?

Melissa was at a loss, and the people around her were also clueless.Could it be that someone's initials was S, and that person frightened Bernie.

People looked around blankly.

Some people still failed to notice the abnormality, and began to look at the screaming red-haired Benny with strange eyes, almost asking whether this woman had a psychosis attack?

Meanwhile, Mary put down her glass and took the napkin from the waiter's tray.

Walking towards the lampstand not far from where Bernie was, she wiped the lampstand lightly with a napkin.

Then, Mary turned around and stopped two meters away from Bernie.

She reached out and spread the napkin. "Look, this is a ghost spider with a broken leg, it is completely dead. Therefore, you don't need to continue to panic."

I saw a touch of dark brown on the white napkin.

It was the remains of a ghost spider with a broken leg, no bigger than the nail cover of a little finger.

Lampstand, bronze; spider, dark brown.It is not easy to see the spider remains the size of a grain of rice.

When people didn't know the existence of arachnophobia and suspected that Benny was talking nonsense, who would have thought that a small spider corpse would frighten a big living person to such an extent.

"what--"

Red-haired Bernie caught a glimpse of the motionless corpse of the spider on the napkin, and screamed again uncontrollably, this time rushing into the crowd in a panic.

"Please be careful with it."

Mycroft took a step sideways to avoid Bernie's impact, and then gave her a hand, preventing the chain collision and shoving from happening.

"Miss, that spider is indeed dead."

Mycroft briefly persuaded, "Even if it is alive, the ghost spider's toxicity is very small, and it is almost negligible to humans."

Bernie was trembling all over, her mouth unconsciously half-opened, so frightened that she forgot how to breathe through her nose.He could only breathe heavily with the help of his mouth, and couldn't even speak half a word for a while.

Mycroft didn't care whether he got an answer or not, and turned his head to look at someone who went straight to show the spider's corpse.

The other party seemed to be apologetic and immediately folded the napkin, but almost slowly put the napkin wrapped in the corpse into his pocket.

Mary smiled. She didn't do anything wrong, she just wanted to help the red-haired lady.

Facing your fears and seeing the death at the source of your fears is one of the most beneficial ways to eliminate them.

However, the stress response of this spider phobic patient was too severe, almost on the verge of losing control.The more so, from what she saw, the more she should speed up and overcome her fear.

Mycroft: ...

Well, he admits that Mr. Minton's purpose of helping people eliminate fear is true, not out of prank, otherwise he would not deliberately keep a distance of two meters to display the dead spider.

However, not everyone has the courage to face their fears.

The red-haired Benny was still in shock, and wanted to say something several times, but couldn't make a sound.

Melissa hurried forward to hold Bernie up.Before she had time to comfort her friend, she apologized guiltily and then thanked her sincerely.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, Bernie didn't mean to run into you. Sir, thank you for your timely help. I'm Linda Melissa, please let me thank you for Bernie, thanks to you for catching the evil spider, otherwise the whole The banquet hall doesn't even know why Bernie is barking."

"you are welcome."

Mary didn't care whether she was thanked or not, her eyes only stayed on the blond lady who was thanking her for a second, and then she looked at the panicked Bernie.

"Fear of spiders is not a strange condition, beautiful lady, you just don't like arthropods. They're not cute, and it's okay if you don't like them. Some able-bodied men are afraid of puppies, you can imagine everyone It’s normal to be afraid of something.”

So, yelling for help over a spider is neither crazy nor shameful.

These words were not just for comforting the panicked Benny, but also for everyone present, so that people would not criticize or ridicule.

Benny pursed her lips, and was finally able to utter a sentence softly, "Thank you for catching the spider."

"It's not a big deal. However, I suggest that you try to overcome your fear of spiders so that no one can take advantage of them."

That's all Mary said, and she didn't stay to be watched.After blinking in a certain direction, he left the banquet hall.

A farce ended in a hurry, and the two figures left one after the other.

However, when Mycroft walked a few steps slowly to the entrance of the banquet hall, he suddenly felt as if a gaze fell on his back.

Looking back, there is no difference.

Those who dance continue to dance, those who drink continue to drink, and those who chat continue to chat.

Mycroft looked again and again to make sure that everything was normal.

Maybe just an illusion?Putting away his doubts, he opened the door again and walked out.

Outside the gate, Mary waited patiently.

After making sure Mrs. Roman could understand her wink, she chose to leave early together. "Here you are. It's still early. How about a drink?"

The dance will not end until three or two o'clock in the morning. The current nine o'clock in the evening is considered very early, so early that the nightlife has not even started.

Mycroft did not respond directly.

He raised his eyebrows, as if he knew the reason and seemed puzzled, "Why do you want to have a drink?"

This question is a bit interesting.

Different from the brightly lit banquet hall, the corridor outside is deserted.

Is it possible that people will selectively forget when there is a door?

Forgetting the mood 5 minutes ago, when he recognized the other party through the crowd, Mycroft genuinely showed a hint of joy.

Mary also seems to have forgotten the real reason for the invitation, and is seriously thinking about why have a drink?

Dim wall lamp.

The two stood opposite each other, a little quiet.

"To celebrate."

Mary immediately found an excuse, "The cry of help was just a false alarm, and our reunion did not appear chaotic, which is worth celebrating."

"It makes sense."

Mycroft nodded, as if that was why he had chosen to sit together.

The two came to the bar on the first floor and chose a corner where no one would be disturbed.

Since the characterization is to celebrate a false alarm, it is inevitable to talk about spiders.

"Madame Roman, would you like to take a closer look at that spider?"

Mary said a question sentence, but she had already taken out the napkin that wrapped the corpse in her pocket. "Just now, you were at a distance from it, I'm afraid you didn't appreciate this tragic corpse carefully."

On the white cloth, the dark brown ghost spider is no longer worthy of its name.

The main characteristics of the ghost spider, the body is small, and the eight legs are very long.When crawling, it looks like a ghost is floating.

This ghost spider does not have eight long legs, and its rice grain-sized body is only connected with six short legs.

"Basal joint, trochanter, femur joint, sucking joint, tibial joint, metatarsal joint, tarsal joint, spiders have seven joints on each leg."

Mycroft took a closer look and saw the ghost spider's body clearly.

"The number of remaining joints in this spider's leg varies, but only three joints remain on the most leg, and the rest of the joints are gone. It died abnormally, and it was obviously slapped to death by external force."

The problem is coming.

Ghost spiders are more likely to be found in dark, damp corners than near brightly lit candlesticks.

Mary said, "The lampstand was not the first death scene, and there were no traces of the spider being shot to death."

Who killed the ghost spider?

The answer may be as simple as hotel cleaners shooting dead spiders while cleaning.

The spider's leg broke during the cleaning process, but because the residual garbage of the corpse was not properly disposed of, it was attached to the lampstand with the wind.

Of course, there is also the possibility of conspiracy theories.

It is known that Bernie the Redhead is so terrified of spiders that after murdering a ghost spider, she puts it on the lampstand.

Under normal circumstances, no one would pay attention to the dead spider on the candlestick.

Except for two people, who seem to be as sharp as Mary, or who are too afraid of spiders in their vision like Bernie.

The reason why the ghost spider was killed tonight is simple theory or conspiracy theory?

"Excuse me, two orders of freshly squeezed orange juice are here."

The waiter walked in with the plate, but saw two guests with their heads very close to each other, watching the napkins on the table.

ah?What is this operation?

The white napkins on the table obviously brought their own.

It’s okay for some people to come to the bar without drinking, but spread a square white cloth on the table and look at it intently?

"Thank you."

Mycroft regained his senses in time, and rewrapped the spider's corpse as if nothing had happened, quickly put it in his handbag, and signaled the waiter to bring the juice to the table.

Mary nodded and smiled at the waiter, as if she hadn't thought about the cause of the spider's death for a second, and just sat quietly in her seat.

The waiter put down two glasses of drinks and immediately left with a quick pace.

Must go faster, the list of strange customers has been updated again.Why are non-drunk guests creepier than those who are drunk?

In the corner, the two remained calm.

They picked up the glass in unison and took a sip.Yes, the sweetness of freshly squeezed orange juice is just right.

Interrupted by the waiter, the two stopped discussing the ghost spider.

Mary had reminded Bernie just now that as a stranger she had never met, she had no time to meddle in other people's business.

The death of a spider did not arouse Mycroft's further interest.

The next moment, he was ready to expand the topic, "Just now, you said that everyone has something to fear, did you make a slip of the tongue? You also have something to fear?"

Scared?

If a person is not even afraid of death, what else can he be afraid of?

Mary thought about it carefully. The last time she was afraid was the moment when she didn't want her godfather to die of illness but had to accept the reality.Since then, there has been no emotion of trying to escape but being powerless.

"You're right, I'm not rigorous enough."

Mary said solemnly, "Fear is a strange emotion to me."

That sounded very much like a pompous lie.

Mycroft nodded, "I believe you're telling the truth."

"Mrs. Roman, I must praise you, your vision is really good."

Mary couldn't help laughing. It was rare that someone finally believed her solemn truth.Reciprocity, she also asked, "What about you? Are you afraid too?"

Mycroft thought of his family across the ocean, and he was not without weaknesses. "I'm a normal person, of course I have feelings of fear."

Mary grasped the key word, why should she emphasize that she is a "normal person".

Forget it, don't have to stick to words.She waited patiently for the next text, "So what? What are you afraid of?"

"afraid of what?"

Mycroft smiled, picking up his glass. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell you. Secrets make people more attractive, don't they?"

Mary:!

Who brought up this topic?Dare to tease her, it's fun, isn't it?