[Comprehensive Classics] Detective Mary

Mrs. Gaskell's "North and South" is not as popular as Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", but it is also a very famous British love novel.

Mary has always felt that Mr. John Thornton, the protagonist of "South and North", is a little more "down-to-earth" than Mr. Darcy, because Mr. Thornton is a self-made factory owner who has experienced poverty and hardship.

It involves business, involves factories, and naturally involves workers and the entire northern social environment, which makes Mr. Thornton less dreamy than Darcy.In the era of Mary's life, Mr. Thornton, played by Richard Armitage, was handsome and masculine, and he also attracted a large number of little fans.

As for the real Mr. Thornton, he is stronger and more dignified than the one in the film and television drama.If Mr. Darcy's sullen face was merely a distaste for conversation, then Mr. Thornton, who stood among the Irish workers, looked like a severe factory owner by nature.

No wonder the heroine Margaret in the original "South and North" had a very bad first impression of Mr. Thornton. This is not a problem of "Pride and Prejudice", Mary thinks, Miss Margaret Hale I'm afraid he was frightened by his fierce appearance!

"I'm Henry Deckard," Henry said as he walked out of the crowd, "what's the matter with you?"

"It was Hamp who called me."

Fortunately, Mr. Thornton spoke politely. Although his accent sounded hard, he did not show any contempt.

"Before you were fired, Hamp told me the ins and outs," he explained, "This is related to Mr. Bingley and I changing suppliers in the factory. Strictly speaking, I am also responsible for it."

Henry was a little surprised: "So, it's all over now, what are you doing here, master?"

Mr. Thornton: "Hamp fired you because you overheard the secret, and this Mr. Holmes told me that the situation has not eased after the death of Captain Carter. You have been killed in London before, and you may also be attacked afterwards. .”

Henry: "So?"

Mr. Thornton: "So, I can offer you a job in my factory."

It is rare for a factory owner to personally invite a worker to work, let alone in the Victorian era, even in the 21st century—you have never seen Steve Jobs visit Foxconn’s assembly line workers, right?

Sure enough, things are divided into groups, Mary sighed in her heart, Mr. Bingley is a good man like an angel, and his partner, Mr. Thornton, is also upright by nature. Even Hamp, who is afraid of getting into trouble and cunning, has basically never criticized the workers.

In the world, I am afraid that they can only show the magical scene of the old man visiting the slums in person.

"A job offer?"

Henry was surprised, but also smiled: "Really? This way I can save the time to find the factory."

Mary: "Wait."

Mary, who had been observing Mr. John Thornton in the dark, stopped Henry with words.

She walked forward, greeted Holmes and Mr. Thornton, and then went straight to the point: "Listen to your accent, are you from the north, sir?"

Thornton raised his eyebrows: "Yes, what?"

Mary: "Then your factory may not be in London."

Thornton: "In Milton."

When Henry heard this, he immediately showed disappointment.

"Henry still has family members," Mary explained for him, "I'm afraid it will be very troublesome to drag the family to Milton."

"so."

Mr. Thornton is not surprised, who doesn't have a family yet?He pondered for a moment, and then said: "I can also write you a letter of recommendation, Deke, so that if you go to the factory with the letter of recommendation, you will have a better chance of finding a job."

"This is good!"

Before Henry Deckard could speak, Dawson interjected, "Well, don't move to London. Hurry up, Morstan, and get the paper!"

Miss Morstan rolled her eyes greatly when she heard the words: "Can you be more prudent in your work, just write a letter of recommendation, and be afraid that the old man will go back on his word and run away?"

Having said that, she still turned around and left the room to search for a pen and paper.

Mary was dressed in a clean cotton dress, and Mr. Thornton really regarded her as a companion of these Irish workers. She came forward to speak for Henry, and she was not sullen or suspicious because of her rashness.

This is quite good, saving her from wasting words explaining—Mary felt that she could not go to Milton anyway, but to explain why an unmarried lady changed her dress and came to the slums, and went to the same university. It's such a hassle to sit together with "not decent" workers.

So she saw that Mr. Thornton didn't notice her, so she looked at Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

The detective was disguised as usual, but he was more dutiful than Mary, with his dirty hat pressed over his forehead, and he would have been unrecognizable in the shadows if it weren't for his straight nose and sharp cheekbones.

After Holmes entered the door, he hardly spoke. He silently observed everyone in the room, and finally the detective's eyes rested on Henry.

"Sir?" Mary asked.

"Miss Mary." The detective pressed the brim of his hat as a greeting.

"Are you watching Henry, sir?"

"Yes."

An affirmation was enough for Mary to understand what the detective was thinking. After hesitating for a moment, she still expressed her thoughts: "I don't think Henry Deckard's condition is very normal. Is it the sequelae of the devil's heel?"

"No," Holmes frowned upon hearing this. "The effect of the devil's heel is very short-lived. It should completely lose its effect after Henry Deckard wakes up."

"That……"

Mary's heart tightened: "Do you need to call a doctor for Henry?"

Holmes thought for a few seconds: "He is conscious and does not seem to be damaged."

That's good.

It may be true as Henry Deck himself said, the illusion is too realistic, and the survival problem after being expelled is weighing on his mind, frightening and stressing, let him not rest recently.

Now that the turmoil is over, I think I can sleep well.

Miss Morstan quickly brought a pen and paper, and Mr. Thornton was also a very straightforward person. He even ignored the dirty tables and chairs in the slum, sat down directly, and wrote a letter of recommendation on the spot.

Seeing that Mr. Thornton started to write directly, Mary hurriedly asked several girls to help put on the front lamp, and then asked them to change a chair of suitable height.

Seeing that she commanded well, Holmes thought thoughtfully: "You are very experienced in this."

Mary: "I also have to create the best writing conditions for myself."

It is not a good habit to write in dim conditions. There are no eye protection measures in this era. When Mary creates alone, she always tries to ensure that she works in the daytime or at night with sufficient light, for fear of eye fatigue and inconvenient short-sightedness.

Unexpectedly, her words fell through, and Holmes raised his eyebrows: "The first issue of the "Seashore Magazine" is too short."

Mary: "..."

and many more.

She froze for several seconds before realizing what Sherlock Holmes meant.Mary looked up at the detective in disbelief: "You mean, is it my serial, sir?"

"It's a Philip Luther serial."

"........."

It's not funny, okay?

Mary was left speechless by Mr. Holmes' sneer-like response.

She was not surprised that Mr. Holmes guessed his pen name right once. After all, in the current issue of "Seaside Magazine", there is only a new serialization of "Serial Killer Chess Game".

But Sherlock Holmes actually bought The Shore Magazine and read her articles!Although he mentioned it several times on his own initiative, and the detective also read Watson's works in the original book, Mary was somewhat prepared, but Holmes said so himself, and Mary was still a little nervous.

She blinked and said cautiously: "Then what do you think of Philip Luther's serialization?"

Holmes looked at Mary, and saw that she had a probing face and accepted his teasing jokes, so the corners of her mouth inevitably twitched.

The detective smiled, and his stern observation aura immediately dissipated, taking on a hint of a joke.

"I just have one question," he said. "The town the protagonist visits has not been reported for a whole year. Where are the dead bodies?"

Sherlock Holmes is Holmes, and the key point came to mind at once.

In countless letters from readers of "Serial Killer Chess Game", most people are curious about "who is dead", while the real detective Mr. Holmes has advanced his thinking several steps-how did the murderer dispose of the corpse?

Sure enough, it was a question only a detective would ask, and Mary was convinced by his one-sentence question.

Mary was very happy, and instead of answering, she asked, "Then, sir, you don't want me to reveal the plot in advance, do you?"

Holmes smiled.

Of course, he would not take the initiative to ask for spoilers. Hearing Mary’s question, the detective started talking eloquently: “In my opinion, there are only three possibilities for the parish’s body not being found. No one found out; two, he threw the body outside the parish and planted it on someone else; and three, he never committed a crime in the parish."

"And what do you think of the possibility, sir?"

Holmes glanced at Mary, "It depends on your experience and understanding of solving crimes, miss."

Mary smiled: "Anyway, I've finished the draft, why don't you guess my experience and understanding?"

Hearing what Mary said, the detective no longer hesitated.

"It's unrealistic to dump the body. Since it's such a peaceful parish, someone's disappearance will definitely attract attention. If he is really flawless, he is far away from the parish to commit crimes. Only in this way, his status as a worker will be an obstacle, On the contrary, it is more convenient to be a postman, or other occupations that are easy to move around," the detective said, "but in the limited space, it is not stated whether he has left the parish, and whether he has attracted suspicion, so I can't deduce the specifics. modus operandi."

"Indeed."

"You should have put this at the beginning, it's crucial - even detectives in London, when they encounter a homicide, first ask the whereabouts of the person as a breakthrough."

Mary opened her mouth, just about to refute what the detective said, but then realized that if she discussed the plot with Holmes, she would definitely miss a spoiler.

No.

Although Mary really wanted to discuss with Holmes, and wanted to know his views on the plot of the subsequent case, but now is not the time, and she must not spoil the detective's reading experience for her own selfish desires.

So Mary had no choice but to nod: "You are right, sir, besides that, do you have any questions?"

Holmes: "For the time being, there is only one question."

Mary: "...that's all?"

It shouldn't be, seeing how the detective disliked detective novels before, Mary was ready to be complained about, but in the end, is it that simple?

Her unexpected expression was too obvious, which made Sherlock Holmes a little confused—is there still a writer in the world who begs others to scold her?

"The "Seaside Magazine" has too few pages for you, and that's all about the plot of the case itself," said the detective. "There is no clue in the article, and I have no other questions."

Also.

But having said that, Holmes frowned slightly: "But——"

"but?"

"Break at the key point, it's really tempting," he commented rather unhappily. "Your editor knows business skills."

That's not it!

Mary laughed out loud, and she actually felt that it was a bit too fragmented.It’s okay to do this before the plot unfolds, but if I do it in the future, I don’t know how many readers of "Seaside Magazine" will be anxious to death.

However, Mr. Detective's short evaluation gave Mary a little confidence and more expectations.

She asked enthusiastically: "Will you continue to read, sir? If the follow-up case is unfolded, will you give me feedback? I will come to your door and wait for your evaluation!"

"I'll read on."

Holmes responded, but shook his head at Mary's final question.

"But I'm afraid you won't be able to come to the door for a short time, miss," he said. "Mr. Bingley and Mr. Thornton entrusted me with the responsibility of following up the investigation. I have to go overseas."

The author has something to say: It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who Mr. Thornton is, just be Mr. Darcy, the original factory owner of Jianghua. Anyway, I think the temper is the same [You

Please imagine Lao Fu's mood when he read the key point and is waiting to continue... Do you think Jiang Hua's broken chapters are not too spicy! 【Hello.

Jiang Huaren is quite busy recently, writing updates every day before going to bed at [-] o'clock, and getting up at [-] o'clock in the morning. I don't even have time to go drinking with my good friends. I am tired. Sometimes Jinjiang still smokes and makes me very irritable, so Comments may not be able to reply.But Jiang Hua still read every comment carefully!I still take the time to reply as much as possible, like everyone apologizes qaq, the girls are very cute, I am very happy to read every comment, I will definitely reply to comments normally after I have been busy for a while, love you all!