Mary's Nineteenth Century

Silence is dusk in Berlin.

Except that doctors can take off each other's clothes to check the injuries between patients, parents and brothers, what kind of relationship can do these things for granted?

Mycroft pursed his lips tightly, his eyes fixed on Mr. Minton who was just a step away.

The two looked at each other for five seconds, but it seemed as long as a century had passed.A certain answer, from his heart to his mouth, almost blurted out.

'Bang! ','Wow——'

Howls from the devastated kitchen.The crumbling glass window finally fell outwards, and the glass fell and shattered to the ground.

A loud noise broke the spell of the silence.

"Feel sorry."

Mycroft released his clenched hand, and took half a step back.

After taking half a step back, he had already recovered his gloomy face, and the emotion that was about to set off a stormy wave seemed to never exist. "I mean out there, we should be gentlemen."

Who is not a gentleman?

Is it not a gentleman to try to unbutton someone's clothes in the street, or is it not a gentleman to hold someone's wrist?

"Don't be sorry, it's true that I was a little impulsive, and some practices are not in line with etiquette."

Mary chuckled and shook her head, as if she didn't care about the scene just now.

However, the residual temperature on her right wrist penetrated into her heart in just a few seconds, reminding her that some of her past judgments were wrong.

99.99% of Mr. Holmes' feelings for her are not limited to the simple friendship between life and death.It's just that this person hides it too well, so that he can still put on a show calmly at this moment.

Why hide it?

There may be two reasons: people who pursue rational behavior do not want to be affected by emotions; in addition, homosexual love is a felony in the UK.

Mary never guessed that Mycroft would have a secret love for her, which is the reason for these two points.

If she hadn't caught a glimpse of this person's momentary gaffe today, she might still firmly believe that they are life-and-death friends and their friendship is unshakable.

As for later?

Mary began to pay attention to the explosion site as if nothing had happened, and saw the neighbors all around hearing the sound.

All eyes are on accidents.

Nobody thinks there's anything wrong with a man in the street checking out another man's injuries with concern.Of course, this is also because there is no strip inspection episode.

"My God! Mr. Holmes, do you still

Okay? "

"My God, the outside wall of the kitchen is cracked, did the oven burst and explode?"

"Oh! It's time to contact the maintenance man quickly, and the sun will set in an hour, and they will be off work."

"Thank you for the reminder. Fortunately, it didn't affect everyone."

Mycroft had fully recovered, borrowed a squire from the neighbor next door, and asked someone to help call the repairman.

On my own side, the cook and the maid were near the kitchen at the time, and all of them, including him, were affected by the fryer.

Although his body was not injured, his black hair and torn clothes were not suitable for rushing a dozen blocks away to find helpers.

It will take some time until the black smoke clears away and the maintenance workers arrive.

It is still not suitable to enter the house, so we can only stand outside and wait.

Today the fryer is actually very bad, with huge holes in the walls.It was unlucky for the person involved to encounter the blast furnace, but it was very lucky that no one was injured.

Mary considered looking at Mycroft again, but this time she almost laughed.

It's not a mockery.I didn't notice it immediately, but now it's hard to ignore the black and gray streaks on Mycroft's face.Coupled with the disheveled hair, it looks like a cat with fried hair rolling over a pit.

"Perhaps you need it, Mr. Holmes."

Mary handed out a pure white and clean pocket square, "You probably don't want to stand on the street with your face covered in dust."

In fact, when a person is embarrassed enough, what about being embarrassed.

"Thank you."

Mycroft knew he could politely refuse, but went to take the handkerchief anyway.Immediately afterwards, he quickly added, "I'll do it myself."

Yes, never forget Mr. Minton's audacity.

For example, he once made a fake move and stuffed the formula sheet directly into his clothes, or he almost unbuttoned his clothes just now.

Mycroft was sure he didn't want to say anything more, what if his face was wiped out in public?

Don't say it's impossible, you can make up an excuse now.Mr. Minton could say with dignity that he wiped his face because he couldn't see where there was dust on his face.

Mary held back, but a smile still leaked from the corner of her mouth.No, she won't act recklessly regardless of the occasion.

This solemnly handed out the metal business card case again. "Mr. Holmes, you probably still need a mirror, so let's make do with it first."

Open the business card case, and a small mirror is inlaid inside the cover.

绅

It is one of the commonly used styles of gentlemen, which is convenient for organizing appearance on weekdays.

"Thank you for being so considerate."

Mycroft seemed to have completely forgotten who he had said a few minutes earlier was not being polite enough.

At that moment, seeing the black dust on his face in the mirror, a gleam of gratitude flashed subconsciously.With such a 'prestige' on his face, fortunately he didn't blurt out what he wanted just now.

Then he quickly tidied up his appearance and returned the business card case first.As for the handkerchief stained with black ash, it must be washed before returning it.

Mary watched Mycroft put away the pocket square seriously, and said with a smile, "You don't need to return the handkerchief, you can keep it."

What are you doing with your handkerchief?

Mycroft, who had no strange penchant for seeing things and thinking about people, changed the subject immediately. "Mr. Minton, did you just pass by here? Or did you need me?"

"It's about Moody's coded notes."

Mary finally remembered the original intention of this trip, "After several deductions, it was determined that Moody used the matrix multiplication encryption method. But it is not complicated, and he did not use the matrix four-square cipher to replace letters, just counting in sequence."

The deciphering process only needs to understand the rules of multiplying a single-column matrix and a single-row matrix, and the key figures can be easily obtained.That's not worth mentioning, but what matters is what Moody records.

However, one or two sentences are not clear about what the notes said, so let's wait until the problem at the fryer site is resolved.

After a while, I waited from afternoon tea time to after dinner.

When the maintenance workers came, there was no way to complete all the rush repairs, because the damage was too heavy, and the entire kitchen and exterior walls needed to be renovated.

It is only determined that the cause of the fryer is simply the aging of the oven, and the specific plan for the renovation needs to be contacted with the homeowner before making a decision. The entire construction period will take at least half a month.

For most of the month, the kitchen in Mycroft’s rented house was not available.

So today's dinner ended up being at Mary's.

After the meal, Mary took out the deciphered manuscript of Moody's notes, "It's all here, Moody's mental journey over the past 13 years."

Thirteen years ago, five people survived a shipwreck, but all lost their memory of the rescue process.Compared with the terrible memory blank, what is more weird is that a nursery rhyme with red dancing shoes has more or less been added to my mind.

There is also a second half of the nursery rhyme, which is about the "Book of Sawyer" that John Dee never deciphered when he died. It is regarded as a treasure buried in a corner of London.

mycroft swift

Flipping through, the more you look, the more serious your expression becomes.

He agreed with Moody's speculation in his notes that there was a sixth person 13 years ago who was a mysterious memory manipulator.

Immediately, a question arises.

"Leaving aside the second half of the nursery rhyme of the red shoes, Mr. Minton, don't you think it's a long-term conspiratorial experiment?"

Mycroft pointed out, “If five survivors’ memories of their horrific experiences were to be erased 13 years ago, why would there be a nursery rhyme left in their minds? Survivors have different identities, backgrounds, ages and knowledge. There must be a difference in response, does that sound like a control variable?"

How important is memory to a person?If memory is lost, is a person still the same person?

This can lead to many related questions.

For the five survivors including Moody, their experience was even more strange, because it involved the artificial deletion and implantation of memory.

Mary had similar doubts, "Yes, this may be a malicious experiment. You can even doubt more boldly, did the five survivors really encounter cannibalism 13 years ago?"

The premise of manipulating memory is the willingness of the hypnotized person.

Wanting to forget the horrors of a shipwreck can be the trigger, but who can guarantee that what they encountered was cannibalism and not something else?

Since a nursery rhyme about red dancing shoes can be implanted, why not fabricate other memories.

Mycroft noticed one entry in the notes, "That Anthony Coster who wrote Mind Control, he gave Moody a session.

It was that session that reminded Moody of the word "kuru."Can anyone prove that it was really healing and not just another memory implant? "

Anthony Coster, author of Mind Control.I can't find the original book at present, but I only know that its fragments triggered the psychiatric manipulation case in the United States.

It was impossible to verify whether the content of that book had a tendency to instigate crimes before, just as it is impossible to verify whether what Coster did to Moody was good intentions or malice.

Good and evil are unknown, and intentions are difficult to determine.

With the death of Anthony Coster, some truths have been lost.

Whether it's a well-designed conspiracy experiment, or the fact that cannibalism actually occurred and the survivors were implanted with red dancing shoes nursery rhyme memories for some purpose, it has become difficult to verify the real past.

very difficult.

Now there is only the last survivor of the shipwreck.

"Mr. Minton, you came to me because you hoped that Marquis T could cooperate with the investigation and dig out the truth from him."

Mycroft shook his head, "I agree with your idea, but with all due respect, the possibility of success is less than one percent."

The Marquis T made his choice 13 years ago, forgetting the past and returning to England to enjoy his aristocratic life.

This person wants money, money, and power. In terms of personal character, he is cold-natured at best, and selfish at worst. Why should he cooperate with the investigation?

Mycroft raised a key question, "It is true that Marquis T can be designed to make him succumb out of interests, but the question is whether you, me, or people we think are reliable, are there anyone who is proficient in mind control?"

No.

It is a pity that Mary is such an answer, not even Dr. Jekyll, who is good at all kinds of intractable diseases.

The year before last, in the US psychiatric manipulation case, Benny went crazy because of her spider phobia.

Bernie was later sent to London. After a year of treatment by Dr. Jekyll, her condition has been significantly relieved, and she can give some normal reactions to the outside world.

Even so, Bernie was still not healed.

She had forgotten most of the people, and she hadn't been able to fully reopen her heart.Perhaps, a full recovery will never be possible for the rest of my life.

Mental issues are very complex.

There are very few people who are good at handling this.

"Actually, I'm a little curious."

Mycroft put down the manuscript in his hand and looked directly at the person sitting opposite him. "Mr. Minton, do you insist on pursuing this matter? Why?"

Mary smiled, "Of course it's because I'm curious. The Book of Sawyer, the mysterious Scarab Society, and buried treasures are all fascinating to explore."

"Is that all?"

Mycroft did not believe that was the whole reason.

He has long seen that Mr. Minton chased from the United States to Germany to pursue this series of things. Is it just out of curiosity?

"if not?"

Mary paused, and then said casually: "Okay, okay, I confess. It's because I took over a commission from someone to investigate the inside story of the Scarab Club. There is no time limit, I just want to find out .”

Whose commission is worth such a laborious investigation?

Mycroft did not press,

He knew it was impossible to hear more detailed answers, at least not tonight.

"In this case, according to our agreement before we went to the Black Forest, you have helped me retrieve the stolen pocket watch, and I will also help you find out about Ben Baden. Although Baden has passed away, the Marquis T can indeed Learn about the shipwreck past thirteen years ago."

This is an agreement to persuade Marquis T to cooperate with the investigation in the future, but it is not certain which day will be in the future.

"That's work."

Mary then suggested, “I would also like to say thank you. Before your kitchen renovation is completed, you can come to my place to eat at any time, and I grant you the right to order food.”

Such a gift of thanks is very practical, and it solves the urgent problem of eating.

Mycroft lowered his eyes slightly when he heard this.

He was silent for half a minute and did not respond immediately.

"What's wrong? Do you already have a restaurant for delivery?"

Mary wondered, is it difficult to decide whether to come to dinner or not?

"No, I don't have a restaurant reservation."

Finally, Mycroft broke the silence and said calmly, "Thank you very much for your invitation, but the kitchen problem is no longer a big problem. I will hand over the work in Berlin before next Friday. I will finish my one-year assignment term, he will return to the UK."

Yes, the one-year assignment is coming to an end soon.

Since Mycroft was entrusted to find the heirloom antique watch of the Marquess T., in order to avoid accidental mistakes, he had to send it back to London himself, which also brought forward the time of leaving Berlin by a few days.

Because of this, I chose to try the Black Forest cake in the afternoon.

I hope to invite Mr. Minton to taste the finished cake before leaving, but unfortunately the fryer incident happened.

Sometimes, plans cannot keep up with changes.

"It's just right to go back now."

Mycroft quickly found the benefits of returning to London, "I have been in touch with the Marquis T earlier, and I will send you a telegram when I have any news."

It sounds good, a very reasonable arrangement, and there doesn't seem to be any emotion of parting.

This is not the first time we have parted.

The two of them knew that the last time was at the pier in New York, when Mr. Minton sent Mrs. Roman back home.

It's a little quiet inside.

Mary lowered her gaze, running her fingers over and over the teacup.

It seemed like a long time passed, but in fact it was only half a minute. She raised her head and said calmly, "This way

Well, congratulations on getting out of the boring German recipes.Then, as you said, I will contact you by telegram. "

and then?

No after, no reluctant goodbye.After talking about the business that should be said, we can leave.

Mycroft said goodbye and left.The kitchen wall of the rented house was broken, and the bedroom was still livable, so he had no reason not to go back.

Get in the carriage.

With the sound of wheels, the carriage gradually moved further and further away from Minton's house.

Mycroft didn't turn his head, but gently stroked his trouser pocket with his left hand, where there was a dirty handkerchief.

It has to be admitted that some things are just different.Last time I was reluctant to say goodbye to New York, but this time I suddenly found that the assignment time was a bit short.

However, reason is clamoring.

In fact, it is also good to live separately in two different cities.He accidentally stepped on the road leading to the abyss, and now he still has time to rein in the precipice.Distance and time always dilute everything, don't they?

What if it can't be diluted?

It was an affront to reason and self-control that Mycroft refused to consider the possibility.

it will be pass away.

Everything will be buried in the February wind in Berlin.

Small buildings along the street.

Mary stood behind the window, watching the carriage drift away.After a long time, he involuntarily raised his right hand, and the wrist seemed to still be warm from when Mycroft held it tightly a few hours ago.

Suddenly, Mary smiled slowly.

She whispered, "Well, dear Mr. Holmes, I never promised you that I would not settle in London in the future."