Sherlock Holmes

"Changing?"

"Well, I have seen this guy's case in the blood prison before. At the beginning, all he killed in the Whitechapel area were prostitutes." Sherlock found a chair, leaned on the back of the chair and recalled slowly. Author:

"During this period, which lasted about a month and a half, he killed a total of 27 prostitutes. Almost every one of them was disemboweled or cut off their limbs. In short, he tried his best to destroy the body, but deliberately preserved the face. .

When I saw this, I could actually feel that Mr. Ripper was a person who had special feelings for prostitutes. This emotion might be hatred, or it might be some kind of perverted 'self-need'. Anyway, He vented his dissatisfaction or obtained pleasure by destroying the body of the deceased.

So he had to leave the face of the deceased because he needed to let others know the identity of the deceased; and leaving a small note to predict the next deceased was probably for this reason. He wanted everyone to know that the next prostitute would be killed. It would be better if the deceased himself knew that he was about to be killed.

Because this will make the prey feel scared and helpless, this kind of teasing and psychological torture is also part of his killing method.

As we all know, the feeling of cutting open the chest of a frightened person is completely different from that of an unsuspecting person. This is a way for the Ripper to enhance the experience of murder. "

Hopkins squirmed and shifted in his seat.

In fact, every time he heard Sherlock use such perverted ideas to speculate on another perverted thought, he felt a little uncomfortable. He couldn't understand why this guy could profile so many twisted mentality. And it seems to be able to empathize with every psychology.

It's as if there is an area in this guy's brain that is a polymer of abnormal psychology. I really don't know what will happen if one day he releases all these terrible thoughts. Okay, Hope Kings didn't want to think about it anymore. At least for the time being, Sherlock was on his side, so he simply continued to listen to what the other person said.

"What makes me a little confused is that after more than a month, our Mr. Ripper suddenly seemed to be less enthusiastic about prostitutes. He began to shift his attention to other people, such as some government officials, or Is an influential person in society.

At first, I thought he was tired of killing and wanted to change his taste. But after I read four or five files in succession, I found that his personality had also changed.

What he pays more attention to is no longer torture. He is even willing to end a person's life in a simple and emotionless way like 'cutting the throat'. Instead, he focuses on murder in secret rooms, in full view of the public. Unexpected killings, incomprehensible murder techniques, impossible deaths, etc.

This was different from his previous personality. A person who focused on emotional catharsis suddenly started doing this, just like an emotional stupid woman suddenly started focusing on logic and industrial design. "

"You mean [Ripper] changed people midway?" Captain Gregson was not the kind of person who could keep his composure, so he followed Sherlock's explanation and asked directly.

"It can be said that there is a change of people." Sherlock responded: "However, I am more inclined. The Ripper is not just a person, but a inheritance."

"Um, inheritance?"

The one who spoke this time was Hopkins. In fact, as a thinking judge, he had also suspected that [The Ripper] had changed people midway, but since he had been unable to find any traces of the other party, he There is no need to prove it.

As for the word inheritance, he really didn't understand it very well.

Fortunately, Sherlock smiled and explained directly: "You once said that the Ripper is like a virus that is constantly spreading. At that time, I thought this description was quite appropriate, but in the past few days, I felt there were some flaws, so I said it was a kind of inheritance.

The general meaning is that when the next Ripper appears, the previous Ripper will disappear.

To put it more simply, the Rippers are probably fighting each other, killing each other to inherit the title of "Ripper".

Just like a spider, after being born, it needs to eat its mother to gain the inheritance of life. "

It may be that the underground power supply line that was just installed was a little unstable, so the lights in this temporary small room suddenly flickered a few times. Sherlock's explanation was very absurd, but no one immediately refuted it.

Because if this is really the case, it seems that a lot of problems can be explained at once.

For example, why there were once dead people who were killed at the same time in places far apart.

Why are the killing styles before and after so different?

Why the murder targets keep changing.

It even seems to explain why the social status of the deceased is getting higher and higher. From the bottom of the prostitute at the beginning, it has gradually climbed to someone like the Pope or even Miss Nightingale.

[The Ripper] is like a murderer who can continuously devour his own kind and become stronger and stronger. With continuous inheritance, his appetite is getting bigger and bigger. Now, of course, he can no longer be satisfied with those things. Little-known prey.

Just when he thought of this, Hopkins seemed to be stunned for a moment. A question that had been bothering him suddenly rushed into his mind with Sherlock's explanation.

"Could it be that the reason why I haven't been able to find out who the Ripper is is because all the people I'm tracking are actually dead?"

Sherlock nodded:

"This is very likely, and the even greater possibility is that in the notices left by these 'Rippers', their names are in each other's names."

The silence came so suddenly

Hopkins' body visibly stiffened for a moment, and then he glanced blankly at Captain Gregson on the other side of the room, and found that he was also looking at him with similar eyes. Just like that, the two looked at each other. After waiting for a while, Gregson, who was more nervous, finally responded first, and then rubbed his beard that had not been taken care of for a long time:

"You mean, the Ripper killed the Ripper? So it's possible that the murderer we've been tracking is actually the deceased?"

He may have felt that what he said was a bit convoluted, so he turned his gaze and looked at Sherlock.

And then, Sherlock said another even more ridiculous thing.

"You may not believe it, but I suspect that Pope Nadine Bellew, who was murdered just a few days ago, is one of the Rippers."