Mary's Nineteenth Century

On December 12th, there was little snow in Berlin.

The 1871 European Mathematical Symposium hosted by the University of Berlin has concluded successfully. There is a banquet tonight, but not all participants will attend.For example, Mr. Minton, who has a plaster cast on his leg, has to go home on time to receive a follow-up visit from the doctor.

Mary said goodbye to several newly-acquainted researchers one by one, leaning on a cane and preparing to take a carriage to the school gate.

The snow fell quietly, and this evening was destined not to be peaceful.The murderer and his accomplices are most likely to be spying, and they have already ambushed on the way home in her carriage.

"Mr. Minton, please stay."

A man with loose glasses and messy hair came to the entrance of the auditorium quickly.His expression was a little stiff, and he stood with his hands against the seam of his trousers, obviously a little uncomfortable.

Mary has a little impression of this. Jeff is a 37-year-old physics teacher who is currently teaching at a university in southern Germany.

Don't ask your physics teacher how to come to a math seminar, it's not contradictory.If I remember correctly, Mr. Jeff is not good at speaking, and he didn't say a few words in the seminar.

Mary gave the most standard kind smile, "Mr. Jeff, what can I do?"

Jeff nodded, turned his head left and right again, and found that no one was paying attention to him, so he relaxed a little.

"Sorry, I don't like crowded places. There is one thing that I thought about for a long time and thought I should tell you. The crow killer, I might know him."

Mary suddenly remembered that Jeff had graduated from the University of Berlin 15 years earlier. "You used to be one of the members of Urban Adventures?"

"No, my roommate is one of them."

Jeff made it clear in a few words. 16 years ago, he shared a rent with Auqi next to the university. Auqi is a member of the expedition club and has a cousin Lucien who is ten years younger.

"At that time, Lucian followed his cousin Ozzy to explore the abandoned church on Cheese Street. At that time, Lucian was only 12 years old, and he showed great talent in electromagnetism and piano performance. I heard Ozzy say, Lucian's dream is to be the best pianist in Europe."

After graduating, Jeff and Ozzie didn't have much contact because Ozzie went back to his native Denmark.

1864, seven years ago.

At that time, the Kingdom of Prussia was at war with Denmark. In the Pudan War, Och was only slightly injured, but died soon after.

"Ozzie just got stabbed in the finger with a saber, but got tetanus, and he ended up dying of muscle spasms and convulsions."

Jeff sighed, this is the result that no one expected. "As we all know, during the Pudan War, Mr. Bismarck was already known as the iron-blooded prime minister. It is impossible to say that this war has nothing to do with him."

Lucien's mother is Danish, his father is French, and he has always had a good relationship with his cousin Ozzie.In the two wars with Prussia, first he lost his cousin, and then he went to the battlefield himself.

"I just heard that Lucien joined the army last year. It's like a family curse. His fingers were cut off on the battlefield, and he can no longer become a performer."

Jeff is not sure, he has never seen the boy in his memory, and all the news is from hearsay from alumni.

"You know, everything should be based on evidence, but I don't have solid evidence. I just read the news reports, mentioned the church and the profile of the crow murderer, and I suspect that the murderer you are looking for may be Lucian. He has enough motives hated the Kingdom of Prussia, which is now the German Reich, and wanted to humiliate Chancellor Bismarck."

Because there is no evidence, Jeff has been hesitant these days.He was already a bit of a social barrier, but he still made up his mind to tell what he knew before returning home. "Maybe I made a mistake. I'm sorry, but I said this without evidence. You can use it as a reference."

"Mr. Jeff, you don't have to be sorry, thank you very much for the clues you provided."

Mary didn't take one side of the story lightly, and she didn't blame Jeff for not saying it sooner.A stranger's willingness to provide clues is due to affection, not duty.

Right now, I have another question I want to ask. Mary has finally met someone from the "Urban Adventure Agency" back then.

The Urban Exploration Agency went to the abandoned church. The basement originally had a pattern of scarabs, which was suspected to be the stronghold of the earlier scarab club when it was not disbanded.

There is no more scarab content recorded in the journal of the expedition agency. I don’t know if I will ask the expedition members if they will have more news.

Mary also asked, "I want to ask one thing. Apart from the late Mr. Orchi, do you know any other members of the expedition club?"

Jeff doesn't like to make friends with people, and he is acquainted with Aoqi because they are roommates.

"I don't know them very well. I've seen one or two club members in the dormitory. I remember a man, Ben Baden, whose hometown is Baden, on the northwestern edge of the Black Forest in Germany.

Baden Town.

Yes, I only remember Ben Baden because of the similarity of his name to the town.But I don't know where Ben is now. "

Is your hometown in the town of Baden-Baden on the edge of the Black Forest?

Mary had planned to go there at Christmas.According to the investigation, the recurring murderer who killed the original body was one of his teachers who lived in seclusion there after retiring.Two months ago, she sent a letter, but has not received any response.Now it's time for a walk.

As for the relevant people you want to find are all in Baden-Baden, that doesn't mean there is anything strange about the town.

The town of Baden-Baden has been a leisure and tourist resort since the 18th century. It is famous for its hot springs and has a very good environment.That can be seen from the fact that it has attracted many important people to go on vacation, such as Queen Victoria, William I, Prime Minister Bismarck and so on.

More than that, the town also has the oldest casino in Europe, the "Leisure Palace", which attracts wealthy people from all over the world to enjoy it.

Mary thanked Jeff again, and after saying goodbye, she continued to act realistically and walked towards the school gate step by step.

Regardless of whether the newly obtained information is accurate or not, the trapping plan must continue, and today is a critical time.

After getting into the carriage, Mary briefly mentioned the suspect Lucien, and now it was too late to find out his specific situation, nor did he know the specific appearance of this person. "If the big fish doesn't appear today, this news also provides a direction for investigation."

Mycroft nodded, "However, there is a high probability that the big fish will take the bait tonight."

As in the past few days, the carriage drove steadily towards Tulip Avenue.

In winter, it gets dark quickly. After 17 o'clock, it was completely dark, and the street lamps came on at random.

It's snowing again today, and there are almost no people wandering on the street.Office workers hurried home, and some alleys were deserted and quiet.

On such a quiet night, the cries for help were particularly obvious.

Not long after, a weak female voice came from the cold alley, "The kind driver in the gray hat, can you help me?"

There is currently only one carriage on this section of the road, and no other pedestrians.

Investigative Specialist Steve poses as the coachman, and he wears a gray hat, the only one who will be called.

Looking for the sound, there was a dim street lamp shining at the entrance of the alley, and a young woman was sitting on the snow.

The woman pressed her calf with one hand and covered her stomach with the other.I saw her belly swelled, and at first glance she was pregnant.The woman's expression is the pain of the obvious opinion

Bitter, like enduring some kind of pain.

Is this the accomplice of the Crow Killer showing up?

Steve whispered to the car, "20 meters ahead, there is a young pregnant woman at the entrance of the alley."

Mary leaned over to the window for a look, then exchanged glances with Mycroft.

At the scene of Ralph Jr.'s murder, the Crow Killer lived with a woman in a log cabin.The two sharing the same bed should be a lover relationship, but is that woman pregnant?

"I remember that the kitchen in the mountain house had many ingredients that contradicted the Gospel of Distaff, such as beans, fish heads, cheese, etc."

Marie was talking about a popular French superstition book, which recorded taboos for pregnant women.

For example, it is mentioned that pregnant women who eat soy products will have flatulence, which is not good for the fetus. If they eat fish heads, they will give birth to babies with sharp mouths. ①

Mary disagrees with the scientific nature of the book. Some of the content has some reference value, and some are complete nonsense.

At the moment, it doesn't matter what she thinks about this book, what matters is that most people believe it.If the murderer's accomplice is pregnant, will he still prepare those taboo ingredients in the kitchen?Or is it that those things are only for the murderer to eat alone.

"If the woman in the alley is the murderer's accomplice we are looking for, 90.00% of them are false pregnancies. Women who pretend to be pregnant are more likely to be taken lightly."

Mycroft was very rational, and he didn't have any extra sympathy for meeting a suspected pregnant woman.

"Proceed as planned. Steve, you go and see. If she offers to drive her home, put her in the car. Be careful, please."

"clear."

Steve raised his vigilance, beware of any sneak attack hidden in the alley.He approached step by step, but did not see anyone else. He looked at the woman who asked for help, and saw that she was dressed like the wife of an ordinary office worker.

"Mr. Coachman, can you help me? I accidentally sprained my leg and slipped. Can you give me a ride?"

The woman smiled wryly and begged, "My house is not far away, only 10 minutes by car. Please, my husband will definitely thank you very much."

Steve listened to the woman speaking in a Bavarian accent, which was the same voice that the sneaky man had identified as the mysterious man behind the dead cock mess. "Ma'am, I would like to help you, but I must ask my employer. Please wait a moment."

Steve reported the accent problem of the pregnant woman to the two people in the car.Then

He quickly drove the carriage to the alley and helped the pregnant woman into the carriage.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The woman kept thanking, first to the coachman, and then to the two people in the car after she sat down. "I'm Fern's wife, Emily. Thank you both for your help."

"you are welcome."

Mary glanced up and down at Emily very quickly.

The kerosene lamp in the carriage is not bright, but it can be seen that Amy Le's appearance and temperament belong to the general category, and her face has a troubled expression that does not fit her 20s.

"Mrs. Fein, are you pregnant and going out alone in this snowy weather?"

Mary asked with concern, "Although the distance is not far, you should be careful."

Emily looked a little embarrassed, "I didn't expect to go out to buy some seasonings, and I would actually have leg cramps."

Mary said, "Then you shouldn't go home directly, go to the medical clinic to have a look. Since I'm taking you for a ride, I'm not afraid of delaying this little time."

"No need."

Amy Le quickly waved her hand and refused, "My husband is an apprentice in the medical hall. At this point, he should go home from get off work. I'll let him take a look at it when I go back."

"What? Your husband is an apprentice in a medical hall? If that's the case, why did he let you, a pregnant woman, walk alone to buy spices in the snow? Didn't you hire a helper?"

Mycroft asked confidently, and acted out the gesture of why not eat minced meat.It seems that everyone should be able to afford a helper, regardless of money.Being able to speak like this is engraving unconscious arrogance in his bones.

Emily pinched the hem of the skirt with her fingers, and shook her head in embarrassment, "We have just arrived in Berlin, and we haven't adapted yet. It will be fine in the future."

"is it?"

Mycroft glanced over Emily's right hand.

Amy Le was wearing a pair of old light-colored sheepskin gloves. On the middle finger of her right hand, there was a dark red blood stain on the sheepskin gloves.

The blood had dried and appeared to be oozing from the inside of the glove.In other words, her finger was injured not long ago, and there was some blood after the wound opened.

Mycroft was blunt again, "Mrs. Finn, your finger was injured. Was it cut by a kitchen knife? Or was it scratched by a broken bowl? Under such circumstances, your husband still doesn't hire a servant?"

"It's just a small injury, I'm fine."

Emily shrank her hands and lowered her eyes nervously. She really didn't expect Holmes to notice the blood on her gloves carefully, the size of a grain of rice.

She didn't want the gloves to be stained with blood, she just pretended to fall and supported the ground with her hands, but unexpectedly, the wound on the finger that was scratched by cleaning the broken porcelain yesterday was split open.

Mary seemed to help Amy Le, "You are newly moved to Berlin, and you will inevitably have to pay rent and other expenses. You have to wait for things like hiring a helper. But, Mrs. Finn, you have to take care of yourself when you are pregnant. You can only let Work hard, Mr. Fein, and help you share some of the housework."

Emily thought about it but blurted out, "How can this work? How can I let Fern do other things after work? Washing dishes, cooking, shopping, these are small things, I can do it by myself. No It’s been said that a qualified wife should be a family angel. As a wife, how can you make your husband work hard on household chores?”

"Who said that?"

A trace of disdain flashed in Mary's eyes, even if this was a well-known unspoken rule in European society today.

Amy opened her mouth, but couldn't name a specific person for a while.She could only ask, "Isn't this common sense? Everyone basically does this."

"That's true, but your husband loves you, doesn't he? It's not that he is going to kill and set fire, but just do some housework so that you, a pregnant woman, don't have to get hurt. Isn't that difficult?"

Mary observed Emily's expression while talking.When Amy Le heard about murder and arson, her nose trembled very slightly, which was a nervous microexpression.

Emily felt uneasy, did Minton discover something?

Mary looked at Emily's probing eyes, still as if she didn't notice it, and she could continue the topic naturally.

"Mrs. Finn, in order to avoid today's accident, don't be afraid to trouble Mr. Finn. Because of love, why not ask him to break some social rules for you? Mr. Holmes, don't you think so?"

The three of them had a few conversations, and it could already be seen that Amy Le had true feelings for her so-called husband, and was in a completely dominated position.

Intellectually, Mycroft immediately understood that what Mr. Minton said was spying on the suspicious Emily, and he was also trying to provoke the relationship between Emily and the so-called husband, that is, to alienate the relationship between the suspicious criminal gang.

But what about beyond reason?

British law and various cases suddenly flashed through Mycroft's mind. Not all love is legal.Once some rules are violated, such as homosexual love, you will be thrown into prison.

Hell, why did he associate it so far?

Sure enough, some

When people's knowledge is too rich, too much associative power is not necessarily a good thing.

Mycroft didn't change his face, and answered fluently, "Mr. Minton, you are right. After a while, I will directly make a suggestion to Mr. Finn. I think he will cooperate and accept the right suggestion."

Mycroft: I'm not afraid of having too many associations, as long as his acting skills and responsiveness are better.

"Yes, it should be suggested to Mr. Finn directly."

Mary agreed, and when she saw the so-called Finn, as long as she was sure that he was the murderer, it was up to the other party to cooperate in the next thing.

Emily lowered her head even lower.Although he successfully led the target person home, he didn't feel the joy of completing the task at all.Obviously she shouldn't complain, but she has to admit that there is a crack in her heart, complaining that the man she loves is not considerate and gentle enough.

In the car, quiet down.

Outside the carriage, Steve quickly wrote down the address of Amy Lejia on a note with one hand.Passing an intersection, he threw the ball of paper to a colleague who was pretending to be a newspaper seller.

Crow killer snaring operation, ready to close the net.

The author has something to say: ①Refer to the article "In the 19th Century West, Pregnancy is a Terrible Thing", which mentions the taboos of pregnant women in the French book "The Distaff Gospels".