Mermaid Reef

John carried the suitcase and walked along the narrow aisle of the carriage.

His back was tense, as if two lions were staring at him from behind.

"puff."

A low laugh.

The voice was very pleasant, and the conductor in charge of leading the way couldn't help being in a daze.

John was not affected at all, and a vein popped out of his forehead.

Of course, John wanted to pretend that he didn't know those two guys, got into the box immediately, and then pretended to be dead during the two-day train journey, but his reason told John that the more he wanted to separate the relationship, the more the evil god wanted to tease him. Own.

So he has to act nonchalant, like a normal guy who meets a friend on the road.

"What a surprise. I didn't expect to meet on the Orient Express. Are you two going to Venice? That's a very beautiful city!"

John squeezed out a smile and said dryly, "After the tour is over, you can also take the extended line of the Orient Express to Istanbul. It is the 'Byzantium' praised by the artists, and the Far East style is also very desirable."

The conductor who was leading the way at the front came back to his senses, and quickly nodded and recommended the Far East Line of the Orient Express.

With a smile on his face, Jason turned his head to Gemil and said, "Our Mr. Detective has been commissioned to go to Venice. I hope we can leave that floating city as soon as possible."

John: "..."

The conductor first took them to the door of the No. [-] box in the middle of the first-class car.

Boxes No. [-] and No. [-] are next to each other.

"Mr. Jansen, there is a door in the box you booked, which can lead to the No. [-] box next door. This is the most popular booking method for our Simplon-Orient Express. It is usually provided to friends who travel on the same road, going to Venice. Newlyweds on their honeymoon..."

"Cough cough."

John coughed violently, as if choking on his own saliva.

The conductor looked at John inexplicably.

"All bedding is new."

The conductor showed them the newly opened packing bag as usual.

The box is like a small room, covered with soft Turkish hand-woven carpets, satin pillows and quilts on the bed, and a small round table beside the bed, which doubles as a bedside table and desk.

On the right side of the room, close to the box door is a large wardrobe with wooden hangers inside, and a faint fragrance in the cabinet.

Next to the closet is the door the conductor mentioned.

Now the door is open, and you can see that the decoration of the box next to it is basically the same as here.

"This Mr. John Doe's bed is at the end of the carriage."

John couldn't wait to follow the conductor. He tried to keep calm, but his back still looked like he was running away in a panic.

"This trip just got a lot more interesting," Jason whispered.

Gemil didn't have much interest in detectives at first, but after seeing so many ants, he found that John was really special.

It is the strongest and most powerful of the group of bugs, both intelligent and flexible.

——Among a group of ants that could only bury their heads and crawl, a smart ant looked up and saw God, and tentatively stretched out its tentacles, took the food given by God, completed the task God gave it, and intelligently realized Seeing the power and danger of the god, he tried to mix into the ant colony so that the god could not find it.

This ant didn't know that its willpower made it bright and bright, let alone mixed in the ant colony, even if it was covered with mud all over its body, it couldn't cover it.

But the ants don't know, because ants can't see this kind of light.

"puff."

It's really funny, a jeweled beetle trying to disguise itself as a gray cicada.

Jason is a little better than Gemil, he doesn't directly treat humans as bugs, but in his eyes, after John got into the car just now, he looked like a hunched black cat with ears pricked up, tiptoeing around nervously walking.

It's so pathetic and so funny.

Thinking about it, Jason still kindly reminded:

"Don't scare him. Human beings are very fragile. If you stay in a state of panic for a long time, your life will be short."

Gamil spread his hands regretfully, he turned his back to the box door, and took off the silver mask.

Jensen's appearance was reflected in the golden eyes, and his pale crimson lips were close to Jensen's cheek, whispering in a language that human beings could not understand: "You are right, I don't look at him, and you don't pay attention to him, this belongs to us." journey of……"

When Jason heard the last word, his eyebrows twitched uncontrollably, and then many thin black vines appeared behind his ears.

Gemil swallowed it in one bite, and licked it lightly.

As he approached, the long crimson hair also covered Jason's forehead and face, and more black vines couldn't help stretching out, "picking" the hair away.

"...It's unbelievable that there are puddles on the station! No one has cleaned them yet!"

A man said angrily, and the voice was getting closer.

Gemil stopped moving and put on the mask again.

The black vines on Jason's body also disappeared. He stood up and looked at the banker at the door who walked onto the train with his secretary.

There were obvious water stains on the banker's trouser legs and leather shoes. It looked like he had stepped into a pit, and even his socks were wet.

The banker was angry at the conductor beside him, who was just the one who was carrying the luggage, not the chief conductor who stood at the door of the carriage to receive passengers, so he just walked forward with his head down.

Jensen looked out through the car window in the corridor and saw several men in French military uniforms escorting a high-status nobleman.

It was an old man with snow-white hair, wearing expensive fabrics, accompanied by a housekeeper and servants, and a family crest on the case of the suitcase.

Therefore, the banker did not receive the real caring service, but was sent to the car as soon as possible, otherwise he would have to wait on the platform for the nobleman to settle down.

"Mr. Johnson?"

When the banker saw Jason as he passed the corridor, he stopped complaining and put on a self-conscious smile.

"I didn't see you in the hotel car, so I thought you gave up taking this train?"

"How could an Englishman give up the sunshine of Venice?"

Jason finally spoke, because he noticed that the banker deliberately looked past him and looked into the box, but the banker's gaze was still through the masked Gemil, as if there was no one there.

This is not a hotel anymore.

On this train, the "temporary contract" created with the name "contact" not only has Jason's name, but also Gemil's.

Normal passengers should turn a blind eye to the two of Jensen, but the train staff who provide service will remember that this is their passenger when they hear the name or the voice of Jensen and Gemil talking.Where Jensen and Gemil are, normal passengers will "automatically ignore", including those conductors who are close to them, and they will also be ignored by other passengers.

Deviant passengers, like John, of course, can see it all.

But the banker showed his strange side again.

Jensen noticed that the expression of the secretary of the banker who was walking behind kept switching between confusion and bewilderment. He didn't seem to notice Jensen's box, but the banker stopped at the door of the box to talk with people, blocking the passage, which was tantamount to forcing He pays attention here.

Jason directly closed the box door.

The banker's face was ugly, and he gave the box door a vicious look.

"Mr. Ball?" The secretary couldn't help reminding, "Earl Legris is in the car."

If you block the road and don't move, you may offend that nobleman.

The banker Bauer walked to the door of Box No. [-] angrily.

He kicked the suitcase, and loudly ordered the secretary to search for his belongings, but the corner of the suitcase accidentally hit the wall of the box.

This caused the door of Box Nine to slam open, and a woman's voice said angrily, "Could you please be quiet, sir?"

Jensen put the coat he took off in the coat closet, a human hanger that Gemir would not use.

He was about to reach out to pick up Gemil's Flack coat, when he suddenly noticed that Gemil, who had taken off his mask again, had a subtle expression, as if he was listening to the movement outside.

"what happened?"

"A familiar voice."

Gemil used his fingernails to pick apart the lock chain of the No. [-] box, and pushed the door soundlessly.

The perfect side profile reflected the dim light from the corridor.

Gemil pointed to his face, Jason looked at him for three seconds, and then walked slowly to the door to look around.

A woman was leaning against the door of Box No. [-]. She was wearing an expensive white silk shawl and a champagne-colored high-waisted dress underneath. Her brown curly hair was loosely scattered on her shoulders, her cheeks were thin, and she should look beautiful. Just looking very haggard.

"Vanessa?"

Jason couldn't help turning his head and asked in a low voice.

"It's her." Gemil confirmed.

Miss Vanessa, a famous opera actress in London.

What Poseidon recognizes is the voice, not the face, just like he doesn't recognize John by the face.

Jason did have the ability to recognize human faces, but the opera actress stood on the stage, illuminated by strong lights, covered by exaggerated costumes and heavy makeup.

Two years later, Vanessa completely lost that temperament and look. She was in a state of anxiety and anger, and her willpower declined significantly, making her very unstable.

Not to mention performing on stage with this kind of mental state, it is estimated that you can't even concentrate on playing bridge, and you will lose in a mess.

This is not necessarily a mysterious event.

Like other mental illnesses, major setbacks in life... three consecutive days of insomnia will be like this.

"Coincidentally."

Jason left London two years ago and never went back. He really didn't know what happened.

Vanessa was turning her head at this time, and she subconsciously showed a decent smile to Jason, a social smile.

Jason: "..."

It seemed that instead of being on a train, it was in London.

Jason closed the box door and said to Gemil, "Vanessa can see me too,"

Gemil unbuttoned his shirt and shook off his boots. He didn't like these human clothes.

He leaned comfortably on the bed, then tilted his head and said, "Don't worry about those ants... By the way, are the beds that humans sleep in so narrow?"

The sound in the corridor outside gradually became louder, various noises mixed with complaints, and all the passengers had already boarded the train.

Jason didn't listen to those movements any more, he sat next to Gemil, his long red hair tentatively rolled up by the thin black vines.

Winding and hooking, twisting and rubbing.

Gemil laughed silently, he stretched out his arms to embrace Jensen, resting his chin on Jensen's shoulder, his golden eyes narrowed slightly.

His ears began to change, and the silver ear bones supported the thin transparent wings, shaking slightly.

With a loud and sharp whistling, the steam train dragged five carriages forward slowly.

Thick black smoke kept coming out, and lumps of coal were being filled into the boiler.

The agitated steam passes through the piston, and the metal connecting rod pulls the moving wheel and rolls faster and faster on the rails.

Like the high-pitched sound of a large musical instrument.

"Sounds good." Gemil commented with his eyes closed.

***

John slept until six in the morning to the roar and shake of the train.

His lower berth was a banker's secretary, who had been working until midnight yesterday to sort out documents with the wall lamp on, and now she was sound asleep.

John jumped out of bed lightly. He didn't change into his nightgown. There was no such thing in his suitcase.

But he could still find a decent set of clothes. After all, he was going to Venice on errands. How could he visit a client in a battered leather jacket?

John wiped down the weapon he had hidden under his pillow, then closed the safety, put it in the holster, and strapped it under his arm.

It's a trick he learned from an American colleague.

For two years John had not been back to London at all.

Although it is a pity to give up that single-family house on Regent Street to do an office, it is more important to avoid the limelight.

Since Mrs. Caroline's advisory group was contacted by John, after the series of massive lawsuits ended, John also added many contacts in the legal field.Even if he left London, he could easily get commissions through these lawyers and accountants.

In the past two years, John has been living in the cycle of going on vacation—receiving telegrams and letters of entrustment—completing the entrustment—vacation.

The remuneration is very generous, because these lawyers know people who are either rich or expensive, so John has lived a smooth life for the past two years, and even has the idea of ​​wanting to continue this chic life.

Yesterday's encounter made John suddenly realize that if he wants to live a safe life, he should stop traveling and vacationing, because he will easily encounter evil gods.

John opened the door of the private room, looked around, and found that the corridor was still quiet.

John went into the lavatory at the end of the car, spent five minutes solving the problem, and left the first-class car humming.

This train has a total of five carriages, in addition to a first-class carriage, a second-class carriage, a dining car and lounge, a cooking car (storage room + kitchen), and a resting car that can only be used by first-class carriage passengers area, including a small library, smoking room, ladies' salon.

John thought he got up early, but the dining car was almost full.

He raised the brim of his hat, greeted these strangers, and was about to find a seat at random.

——In a place like a dining car, seat sharing is inevitable.

When John passed by a table, a man with a beard suddenly raised his head, and his thick arms grabbed it like iron tongs.

With John's agility, he can dodge, but he will knock over the plate of a lady at the table on the right, and he can only stop, allowing himself to be firmly grasped.

"Oh, Detective Martin, I didn't expect to meet you on the Orient Express."

John looked at the bearded man and said, "Is Scotland Yard already this rich? Paying for a deluxe sleeper ticket for a police detective?"

His voice was not too loud, but people at the two tables around him could hear it.

These passengers were all from the second-class compartment, but they were also very wealthy. They instinctively disliked the word "police", thinking that it would cause trouble.

The man at the same table as Detective Martin drank his coffee in one gulp and left in a hurry.

John took the opportunity to sit down next to this table, shook his arms, and gestured: "Dear detective, I don't think I have violated British laws, and we are on French territory, then we will enter Switzerland, and finally arrive in Italy. "

"Shut up, you hide your head and show your tail, you know how many laws you have violated."

Detective Martin lowered his voice, and he said viciously, "You actually appeared on this train, does the case have anything to do with you?"

"Wait." John stopped quickly.

He had to stop it, otherwise Scotland Yard's tradition of wronging good people would fall on him.

"What are you talking about? I'm going to Venice to meet my client, who is in a hurry, so I can only take the Orient Express. Don't you get on the train from Calais? You don't know that there was a storm in Calais, there was no Can I buy other tickets?"

Detective Martin stared at John hard, as if to see signs that he was lying.

"Don't tell me, you well-informed guy, you don't know about the mysterious death in London." Detective Martin squeezed out a sentence through his teeth.

"What? I haven't been back to London for two years, how could I know?"

As soon as John finished speaking, he saw two more people coming in from the door of the dining car.

One of the yawning guys lived in John's lower berth, watching him respectfully pull out a chair for another bald man, and went to the conductor to ask for a menu.

"You know that guy?" Detective Martin asked in a low voice.

"A Swiss banker whose surname is Bauer... don't look at me like that, his secretary shares a box with me, I'm No.15 and he's No.14, so I know the name of the person he serves .” John looked innocent.

Detective Martin let go of his hand and turned his head away, as if to hide his face from Mr. Power, the banker.

"It's that bastard, he got a batch of antique gold coins from nowhere, it may be stolen goods, and a bandit gang is involved, I'm sure! Because the collectors and merchants who bought these antique coins from him died inexplicably! "

"What?" John suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Detective Martin said solemnly: "The first one fell from the carriage and was trampled on the head by a horse's hoof. The second one got drunk and drowned in the fountain in the garden of his home... The fountain, even children can't drown! He lay in it and choked to death! The third one was even more exaggerated, he choked to death while eating bread! The fourth one fell off the balcony and broke his leg while sleepwalking. He was also the only one who didn’t die because his son Gambling lost money, he sold the gold coin early, and his son died of a heart attack. The sixth person was a liar who bought gold coins in the casino. His house caught fire, and the whole family ran out. Only he was killed. Burned to death! After these people died, the gold coins disappeared, and Scotland Yard suspected that this was a vicious gang of robbers!"

John: "..."

No, there may not be any gang of bandits, but the gold coins are cursed, right?