Chapter 488 We Can Make a Bet

"There is nothing difficult about it," Holmes said. "To be honest, I thought I had encountered some rare and strange case, at least the one that happened on Arran Island in 1832. In the end, I went to the site to check and found that there was nothing remarkable about it, so let’s talk about John’s Textile Factory first.”

Holmes paused, "Do you still remember our chat this afternoon?"

"You mean the influence of professional opponents?"

"Yes, I have been doing research on this recently, and I have found many people from all walks of life in London, including masons, fishermen, cooks, typists, etc... I go out every morning at dawn, and I have been Ghetto stayed until sundown and spent a lot of time studying their hand shapes, comparing them to each other and to others in the same industry, the results are remarkable, I'm planning to put it into a dissertation, Holmes said, "Just now by the river, I checked the child's palm and compared her palm with my research results. Although her body has been soaked in the water for quite a while, there is no doubt that the She works in a textile factory, so there is no problem with your previous observation, because the long hours of work have made her physically weak, and she was probably still sick when the incident happened."

"But there are many textile mills all over London. How can you be sure that John's textile factory she is in?"

"Good question," said Holmes. "I tend to think that the place where the body was dumped and the place where the body was found are very close. This is also easy to explain. The time when the body was found was during the daytime. Although there was a bit of fog on the river, the visibility In fact, it’s not bad, plus there are cruise ships or cargo ships passing by from time to time, if there are corpses on the river, it is difficult to drift too far without being discovered.”

"Wait, but you said earlier that her body had been in the water for quite some time."

"That's right," said Holmes with a sly smile, "but please pay attention to my choice of words. I mean that her body has been in the water for a considerable period of time, not that it has been floating for a considerable period of time."

"Is there any difference between the two?"

"Of course, judging from the state of the body, the time of the victim's death should have been last night. The perpetrator accidentally killed her by mistake. After that, the whole person was in a panic. He threw the body into the river and tied stones or something. , so that no one will find out, people will only think that the child is missing, people who can't get along in this city come and go every day, especially for the bottom class like her, not many people care about her going Where is it, you must know that the attitude of the police towards disappearances and murders is completely different."

"Then why was her body found by the patrol again?"

"There are many possibilities. Perhaps the assailant was too nervous to fasten the rope, or something happened to break the rope..." Holmes said, "I am not just guessing, except for the time I mentioned. In addition to the problem, I did find traces of being tied up with a rope on the wrist of the victim, so that the matter can be explained. Her body was soaked in the water for a long time, but she really escaped and floated to be found. The place didn't take long."

"John's Textile Factory is the nearest textile factory upstream, and it was also the place where I suspected it first. In addition, I found some blue crystals in her hair, which are copper sulfate pentahydrate formed after copper sulfate meets water. Coincidentally, the next door to John's textile factory is a chemical factory, which is also the most important basis for my final deduction." Holmes said.

"Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times. This has raised criminal investigation to a level close to that of a precise science." Zhang Heng also expressed his sincere admiration.

Although Holmes didn't say anything when he heard the compliment, the expression on his face still seemed to be appreciated. He paused and continued, "As for the inference about the perpetrator, it's nothing special to put it bluntly."

"Appreciate further details."

"We all know that the perpetrator wanted to take advantage of the victim, but she was fiercely resisted by that child. She was very brave and kept fighting with the opponent, but the gap in strength between the two sides was too obvious, so she finally did not escaped, but the guy didn’t feel comfortable for too long, and the victim scratched his skin. Although the body had been soaked in water for a long time, there was still some skin tissue left between the nails, which was probably because of his anger Because of this, he strangled her to death in a fit of anger."

"Wait...you said the child was strangled?"

"That's right," Holmes said with certainty.

"But hasn't she been hit hard on the head?" Zhang Heng asked.

"As I said, there was a fight between the two, and from the marks of the wound I tend to think that her head hit the table, but it wasn't fatal. What really killed her was suffocation, not water. She was suffocated in the hospital, but was strangled by someone. There were bruises on her neck, but it was not obvious after soaking in water. It's dark, if it's a man and a woman who don't know each other, it's almost impossible to be in the same room together."

"What about the height, you said he was about six feet tall, how did you figure it out?" Zhang Heng asked.

"Well, this requires a bit of skill," Holmes said. "I simulated their...well, the position at that time, with the woman on the bottom and the man on top. After comparing the bruises on the neck, I can determine the direction and angle of the palm, and then The approximate height of the perpetrator is about the same as me."

Holmes talked eloquently, and finally sorted out all the previous inferences before serving the meal.

Many things in this world are like this. When I first heard the conclusion, I felt miraculous and unbelievable, but once I know the deduction process, it seems that it is not so mysterious, just like the magic of a magician.

"Positive reasoning is very easy. For example, when you see bread, you know it's breakfast, but vice versa. This is also the ability that detectives need to exercise. If you want to learn it, you can start by guessing the occupation, starting from a person's sleeve, Shoes, index finger and thumb calluses, nail caps, shirts, facial expressions, etc. Guess what occupation he is engaged in. For example, the gentleman at the table behind you can tell that he has just returned from Afghanistan and is a Military doctor."

Hearing that Zhang Heng had a weird look on his face for the first time tonight, he thought it couldn't be such a coincidence.

Holmes thought that Zhang Heng didn't believe it, and said again, "We can make a bet to see which of us can accurately tell more things about him. Don't worry, I've never met him before."