Sherlock Holmes

When something deviates from normal logic, people will naturally feel conflicted.

Even people like Hopkins are still like this, so after hearing this conjecture, his eyebrows frowned more and more tightly, and finally he even looked at Sherlock with an almost helpless look. After a long while, he finally murmured:

"Pope Nadine Bellew is the Ripper?.I.I can't understand."

Well, as a judicial officer, he was suddenly told that the deceased he tried so hard to protect was actually the murderer he had always wanted to catch. This news was not easy for anyone to understand.

And how could a pope be a murderer?

But then I thought that no matter how hard I traced it, I couldn't pinpoint the Ripper's identity, which seemed to confirm this point of view.

The former murderer is the current deceased, which is of course impossible to find.

Sherlock knew that Hopkins was a little nervous, but he didn't care and continued: "Not only Pope Nadine Bellew, I even think that the Rippers will write each other into the death notice." is the main way, or even the only way, of their inheritance. Killing, or being killed, is like a complex social structure. They have their own set of rules, so the actual cases about the Ripper , there must be much more than what we found.

However, many of the murders were very low-level. Those guys had already been killed by another Ripper before we came into contact with them, or they were used as parody imitation crimes.

Did you know that before the Holy Calendar began, there was a very traditional way of making drugs?

It is to raise many poisonous insects or animals together. "

Hopkins seemed to be still in the surprise, so he subconsciously shook his head: "I haven't heard of it. I don't know much about pharmacy."

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it. In fact, this method of making poison does not involve pharmacy.

Its concept is very simple. Anyway, it is to put those poisons in a closed space, and then let them fight each other, inject each other's poison into each other's bodies, and see who can survive in the end.

And the last one alive is naturally the most poisonous thing.

I think [Ripper] is like this model. The people below are not worth mentioning, and we can't even get in touch with them, because there is a very strong Ripper above who is devouring them.

Those scum are his nourishment, and what we have been contacting now is the most powerful Ripper. Haven't you noticed that the style of recent murders has not changed for a long time.

Because no one can replace him for a long time. He is constantly killing other similar people. If he continues at this rate, he is likely to gradually kill all other Rippers until finally, let Become the only being. "

"Then what will happen when he becomes the only Ripper?" Gregson, an old-school practical guy, did not think deeply about this weird conjecture and the even weirder inheritance model. He simply wanted to Ask about the result.

But Sherlock just shook his head and said irresponsibly: "How would I know? Otherwise, let's wait and see what he will look like in the end."

"Please don't make such a joke." Hopkins was really not in the mood to make a joke at this absurd and tense time, but suddenly realized something and stared at Sherlock anxiously: "You are here?" You’re kidding, right?”

Sherlock paused subtly, and then replied: "Of course you are joking, otherwise?"

The two people in the office did not dare to speculate more, but pursed their lips uneasily.

"But why do you think that Pope Nadine Bellew is one of the Rippers?" Captain Gregson asked with some confusion.

"Oh, it's actually very simple, because I went to visit him the night before he was killed. After all, Pope Beru is the person who is about to be murdered on the Ripper's list, so I always have to confirm and see him. Is the room really as safe as he said, and at that time I discovered that one of the monks on guard in his courtyard had been replaced."

"Ah?" Gregson was startled: "How did you find out?"

"Because when I went there for the first time, I remembered the faces of everyone in that church." Sherlock answered naturally.

"Uh" Captain Gregson blinked. He didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only apologize for interrupting.

So Sherlock continued: "I clearly remember that the rotation time set by Pope Beru is every three hours, so the time I went that night should be the same shift as the first time I went. post.

However, I found that everyone in the church and their location had not changed. However, at the guard point closest to the corridor outside Pope Beru's door, the monk stationed there had been replaced. "

Everyone in the room agreed that Sherlock could remember everyone's faces as soon as he walked by:

"But what does it have to do with the fact that a monk on guard was replaced and Pope Beru being one of the Rippers?"

"Originally it had nothing to do with it, but the next morning, Scotland Yard received a report saying that a half-cut body was found on the bank of the Thames. Although only the lower body floated up to the shore, it could be seen that The corpse was that of the monk who had been replaced in the church. Because his right foot was tilted to the outside, which was a sign of a broken tibia, it was easy to identify him.

The method of beheading the deceased is the same as the descriptions in several files about the Ripper murder cases that I have read before. It is customary to start from the gap where the spine is connected, and then use a sharp weapon to cut to both sides and divide the body. I also like to use the knife from the joint cartilage to both sides, and I like to lean forward when holding the knife, and use the strength of my wrist and thumb to cut the flesh and blood, just like this. "

As he spoke, Sherlock made a gesture of putting his thumb on the back of the knife and cutting things back and forth.

The two people in the room listened attentively, and no one asked why he could know so quickly the murder information that had not been reported by Scotland Yard. Although Sherlock was only a private detective, he had a very special character in the London police department. With such terrifying influence, it was simply too easy for him to know about a case.

Of course, no one asked him why he knew about the monk's broken leg, because this guy must have written down the physical characteristics of everyone in the church. He was able to do this kind of thing.

Sherlock also felt that this kind of observation, memory, and influence are the most basic behaviors of a detective, so he continued without any explanation:

“When I visited Pope Nadine Bellew, I noticed that there was a mark on his thumb that had not completely faded away. It was caused by the back of a not-so-thick knife.

Also, when we found his body, he was holding the knife in the same gesture.

You should be able to see that it is impossible to develop this habit without decades."

Sherlock just said this, his words were like the knife that was pierced into the flesh and twisted, making crazy and harsh sounds in the ears of Hopkins, Captain Gregson and others.

Although I don’t want to believe it, and there is no direct evidence to prove that Pope Nadine Bellew is one of the Rippers.

Maybe, for some reason, the monk suddenly left the church and was chopped up by some gangster who suddenly appeared on the street.

Maybe, the gangster's knife-handling posture is exactly the same as Pope Nadine Bellew.

Maybe the lower body of the body did not belong to that monk at all, but the legs of the two people happened to be broken, and they happened to be broken at the same position. After they recovered, they were all tilted at the same angle.

Maybe. Maybe.

There are too many coincidences in this world, but everyone knows that it is impossible for so many coincidences to suddenly happen to the same person.

Therefore, judging from the professional attitude of a judicial worker, the two finally found out helplessly that Pope Nadine Bellew seemed to be one of the Rippers.

"But...even if you are right, why did Pope Beru become the Ripper? He is a pope. Why would he kill people? Even if he wants to kill people, then he has 110,000 ways to make the other party Damn it, why do you have to do it yourself?"

Hopkins couldn't help but ask:

"Also, how did the inheritance model among the Rippers you mentioned come about?

Ants have pheromones.

Bees have a hive mind.

Even a spider eating its own mother is a way of survival that has evolved over tens of millions of years.

But we are human beings. Those Rippers, whether they are powerful or low-level, are all living people with their own independent consciousness. How could they suddenly and inexplicably become keen on killing people, why would they follow such a weird inheritance method, what rules do they follow, and why do they have to abide by those rules.

No matter how much you think about it, there is no way to explain this with common sense.

And the most important thing is that the powerful Ripper in your mouth, how did he kill people?

Even if he killed Pope Nadine Bellew, how did he complete the secret room? ! "

Maybe Hopkins felt that Sherlock's remarks were too unbelievable, but subconsciously, he seemed to feel that what the other party said was the truth. This conflicting mentality made him very irritable, and even his tone of voice was a little uneasy. , it seems that only constant questioning can make myself feel better mentally:

“Not just the sanctum of a church!

And that vault secret room!

It is a solid tempered layer with a thickness of tens of centimeters. Even if it is bombarded with armor-piercing bullets for several hours, it may not be able to penetrate the defense. Moreover, the password is placed in the most stringent place in London. It is absolutely It's impossible for anyone to know the password in advance!

Yes, and the death of a banker. How could someone starve to death? What on earth did he see that made him refuse to eat.

Finally, how did the secret room constructed with the corpse of the deceased come into being?"

Hopkins asked a series of questions very intensively, and his speaking speed became faster and faster, as if to vent. It was not until he poured out all the doubts in his heart that he finally took a deep breath.

Although Captain Gregson didn't say anything, these issues were indeed of concern to him.

Watson went to participate in the autopsy and was not in this office. Otherwise, he would probably be similarly confused.

However, faced with these seemingly impossible murders, Sherlock did not show any change in his expression. He just leaned back on the chair lazily and said leisurely:

"A secret room?

It turns out that you have always cared about this kind of thing. "

"Of course I care." Hopkins said: "If you want to find the murderer, you must at least know his modus operandi. Otherwise, how can you be sure that the murderer is the murderer?"

"Okay, okay." Sherlock said nonchalantly: "Actually, I remember what I said before.

No matter how unbelievable it is, after eliminating all impossibilities, what remains in the end is the truth.

So, let us follow the very traditional reasoning method to integrate all the clues of the secret room. "

Next, Sherlock used the most concise description to roughly sort out the important information of these three secret rooms.

First, [Church Secret Room].

In fact, this secret room is divided into two stages:

The first stage is how the murderer reached the room deep in the church without alerting the tight guards.

The second stage is how the murderer entered the room where Pope Nadine Bellew was, or how he left the room after killing the person.

The main suspicion is that the only key to the door of the room was always in the hands of the Pope's corpse.

Second, [Vault Secret Room]

The mystery of this secret room is obvious, but it cannot be explained. Why did the deceased starve to death in a vault with sufficient food and water?

What exactly did he see in the vault made him desperately use everything he could grab to smash that thing that couldn't exist at all.

Third, [Corpse Chamber]

The mystery of this secret room is still very straightforward, that is, without any windows, the only exit between the room and the outside world is the door.

How did the murderer nail the deceased between the door and the wall like a seal, and then mysteriously disappear from the room.

Moreover, the door to the room was locked, but the key was hung around the neck of the deceased's body.

After describing the key points of these three cases, Sherlock spread his hands frankly:

"Look, if you think about it this way, these three rooms are actually not absolutely secret rooms."

"What? Why... why doesn't it count?" Hopkins and Gregson asked almost at the same time.

"It means that the deceased is not completely isolated from the outside world." Sherlock explained:

"For example, the first church chamber was indeed very strong, but the steel baffles lowered on the inside of the windows were not perfectly sealed. There were small holes on those baffles that could be used to circulate air.

The second secret room does seem to have no contact with the outside world, but it has a delivery port for demon sedatives.

There is also the third one, which is the most obvious one. The door of the old unfinished building is actually made of wood. There is such a big gap between the door and the door. Therefore, these three secret rooms are actually to some extent In other words, they all have some kind of interaction with the outside world. "

The remaining two people seemed to be a little confused when they heard Sherlock's words, so they thought in silence for a while:

"Well, even if the secret room is not absolutely independent from the outside world, so what? Are you trying to say that the murderer is gas? He can find a gap to go in and kill people, and then it turns into gas and floats out?"

"Of course not." Sherlock said:

"Didn't I say it before, I think.

The murderer is an ordinary human being."

(Today’s update is less than 5,000 words, but I have sorted out the general clues of the case. The killing method does not have any contract ability or demonic assistance. You can try to deduce it, vote, hehe.)