Baker Street Charterers

"What about other clues?" There seemed to be a doorway, and Grayson couldn't wait to ask, not caring that the woman who expressed his opinion was the woman he despised the most.

"This." Nora carefully twisted the thin blanket covering the female body with her index finger and thumb. Even though it was half stained red with blood, she could clearly distinguish its texture. "This is a thin blanket woven from pure linen." Blanket, you see, its warp and weft threads are very uniform in thickness, the weave is dense but not too thick and hard, it is brown and shiny, and has good water absorption-don’t you feel strange? This is obviously rich What can only be possessed by a human being is covered on a corpse?"

"Maybe it belonged to this Miss Bell?" Grayson guessed.

Nora shook her head, "Impossible. Cheryl Bell is the granddaughter of Mr. Joyce Bell and the wife of Dolan Perfume Shop. Even if she has a bad reputation, no one will comment on her choice of clothes and collocations." , and this linen rug would not have been the first choice of a delicate lady in either color or texture. This rug belongs to someone else."

Gleason was even more confused, "You mean, there is a second witness?"

Nora gave him a speechless look, like a child, she frowned, and said in a slightly heavy tone, "No, Mr. Grayson, there is no second witness, because this linen blanket belongs to the murderer. Lady's murderer."

She sighed, "This time we are facing an experienced murderer with a cool head, agility and a cruel heart."

"What we are looking for is a soldier with medical experience." Holmes said with a very firm tone, "He obviously came prepared and followed Miss Bell to the train. He prepared for a long time and knew that it would be appropriate to catch her He killed her in a place with few people - such as the toilet or the aisle. The reason why I guess he has medical experience is because of his technique - look at the wound, the wound is smooth, and the murder weapon is only With one swift move, he pierced the liver, and then he probably covered her mouth, and dragged her to a closed place. In order to prevent passengers from discovering the dying victim, he first used a portable but not suspicious Olive oil helped her stop the bleeding, and by the way, she used the linen blanket to absorb the gushing blood, and then walked out gracefully, allowing Miss Bell to die of blood loss and shock in despair, while he quietly disappeared into the crowd without a trace among."

Holmes continued to speculate, "The murderer should not have much enmity with the victim, but his heart is very cruel, and he enjoys the pleasure of human life slowly struggling to die. Apart from medical experience, he should have a good family background and a good education experience. As for Why did he take the victim's luggage... I guess, it should be due to his employer's request, and there is a very important physical evidence in it, which directly threatens his reputation."

"Hire?" Grayson was startled.

"That's right." Holmes looked serious. "If my guess is correct, what we are facing is a well-trained and experienced professional killer."

Nora slowly raised her head and shrugged her shoulders pretending to be relaxed, "It seems that my bodyguard has finally come into play."

Grayson glanced at her distrustfully. "Miss Sharp, we're not kidding."

Regarding Gleason's question, Nora just smiled slightly, noncommittal.

Gleason turned his head again and told Holmes very seriously, "You know, this is not just a simple murder...well...it involves some complicated economic transactions and some people's faces...so I I hope you can find the murderer as soon as possible, otherwise we will have nothing to eat."

Nora asked with a smile, "How many days did your boss give you to solve the case, Gleason?" She was very familiar with the police.

The sheriff touched his chin in embarrassment, "...within three days."

"Enough, even plenty of time." Holmes said proudly, without hiding the smile and arrogance in his eyes. "In about a day and a half, I can find out all the doubts and even catch the murderer."

Nora continued to look at him with a smile. She admired and even liked his confidence. Holmes never knew what it was to be afraid, and a smart and confident man was the sexiest.

"I think Miss Bell's family and her husband know the news, Grayson?"

The sheriff nodded, showing a distressed look, "Of course, otherwise, who do you think is putting pressure on us poor and hard-working police detectives?"

Holmes clapped his hands and stood up. He didn't look at the body again. He just asked Grayson to order the police to collect the body. After he got off the train and stopped a carriage on the street, he turned to them and said, "In this case, we might as well To visit a husband who is in the throes of losing his wife, don't you think?"

Naturally, there is no objection.

Dolan Perfume Shop is located in the middle of Shaftesbury Street in the West End of London. It is an elegant store filled with all kinds of charming fragrances all year round.Although the shop owner put up the sign of "suspended business", when Gleason knocked on the door and proved himself, the former apprentice with a legendary experience full of inspirational and adventurous spirit, the current boss Mr. Ethan Reed personally He opened the door and welcomed them in.

He was a young man in his early thirties, handsome and refined, and looked polite, with a pair of blue eyes with a melancholy look that fascinated girls.It seemed that his wife's death had hit him hard. He looked haggard, with slightly blue eyes, as if he hadn't slept well all day and night.

Dolan Perfume Shop, the leader of perfume in the fashion circle in London, naturally has gorgeous and exquisite decorations. The crystal clear glass bottles are placed in shiny glass cabinets. Most of the liquids in them are charming pink or light purple, even if you don’t like to apply cosmetics. Even Nora couldn't bear to look a few more times.

Talking about his dead wife, Ethan looked very painful. He covered his face, seeming regretful and distressed, "...I shouldn't have talked to her like that...I always knew her temper, so fragile, like these Like a glass bottle... I shouldn't have said those words, lost my temper with her, it's all my fault..."

"What did you say, Mr. Reed, that made Miss Bell, who is as fragile as a glass bottle, to run away from home by train?" Gleason asked sharply.

Ethan lowered his head sadly, "Just the day before yesterday, we had a quarrel... because I sold a perfume formula belonging to her grandfather to a wealthy foreign businessman at a high price, she was very angry and lost her temper with me hysterically... …Forgive me, but I know very well that our business has not been good recently, and we need a lot of money to keep the store open, and selling that recipe is really helpless...I explained it to her, but she completely listened to it Don't go in."

Holmes thought for a few seconds, and then asked another question, "Your wife is already three weeks pregnant, do you know about this?"

Ethan was obviously stunned for a moment, the information revealed by this expression is self-evident.

"Pregnant?" He murmured and repeated, the look in his eyes became more and more painful, and there was a deeper emotion spreading inside, but he was obviously a person who was good at endurance, so he just smiled wryly in the end, "... I don't know, she never told me."

Nora looked at the clock in the store and suddenly asked, "Where is Miss Cheryl Bell's hometown?"

"Her grandfather and parents lived in the countryside in Birmingham." Ethan replied, and then asked suspiciously, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh..." Nora drawled her voice slowly, and turned her head to look at Holmes, "Xiali, do you still remember where that train is going?"

"From Gillingham Station to Greenwich." Holmes said quickly, then raised his eyebrows, and his tone suddenly became more serious. "Mr. Ethan Reed, can you tell me that your wife has left home?" Going away, do you have any other relatives in the city going to Greenwich?"

"……should not."

Holmes nodded, "Then can you tell me why she was alone on a train bound for a strange city with no relatives or friends?"

Ethan fell silent suddenly, and Holmes' eyes became sharper, "Or, does she actually want to meet someone that everyone is unfamiliar with and only she knows?"

The owner of the perfume shop still didn't speak, and Gleason couldn't help feeling a little impatient, and said in a cold tone, "Please answer the question, Mr. Reed, if you don't want to bear the suspicion of being a criminal for yourself."

Ethan took a deep breath and smiled bitterly, "What do you want to ask? Yes, yes, my relationship with my wife is not that good, but I will not kill her, absolutely not."

"We will find the answer to this question." Gleeson said blankly, apparently the late night investigation and the pressure from his superiors made the detective completely impatient, "We need you to tell us what you know everything."

Ethan was silent for a while.

"This child is not mine." He said suddenly, his eyes became calm, "We have been married for two years, she married me at the age of 22, but our life is not happy... No, I tried, I tried Be nice to her, but she...well, I think you've read the gossip papers, Cheryl she...she's not normal."

"Newspapers are often not to be trusted," said Holmes.

Ethan shook his head, "But it's true about her... I've discovered it since I came here as an apprentice... Cheryl always wakes up in the middle of the night for no reason, yelling hysterically, afraid that nothing but her The closeness of everyone except her grandfather, she never goes out, doesn't talk to people, always fantasizes that someone will murder her one day... This situation is still the same until we have been married for a year."

Deep depression and paranoia... Nora inhales.

It seems that this case is not as simple as simply hiring someone to murder.