Chapter 541 Invitation

When she came to the door of Duanmu Huai's apartment again, Mary seemed a little nervous, but she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Who?"

"It's me, Mr. Duanmu, Mary Clarissa."

"Oh, come in."

Soon, the door opened, and then Mary saw a maid with long brown hair standing there, bowing to her. She didn't know much about this maid, she only remembered that she was responsible for flying the plane to send them out in Antarctica before - of course, Mary was all about her friends at that time, but now, she also bowed respectfully to the maid, who welcomed Mary in. When she came to the living room under the guidance of the maid, Mary could see Duanmu Huai sitting on the sofa, flipping through a pile of letters in his hand boredly.

"Yo."

Seeing Mary, Duanmu Huai waved to her without any gentlemanly manners, and then threw the letters aside.

"The Old World is full of things. What era is this? There are still tea parties, dinners, and banquets... Do you think these people have nothing to do?"

"Is it an invitation to you?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's complaints, Mary somewhat understood. Although she had two noble ladies, Xia Li and Ashelika, as friends, she was just a middle-class student. Even if she had learned similar banquet etiquette, she didn't hope to use it in this regard. Moreover, such banquets were generally attended by noble ladies in the social circle. Girls like Mary who were considering work rather than marriage and having children after graduation didn't need to care about this kind of contact.

"You are just treating me as a peep show... How is your friend?"

"Ah, Xia Li is doing well. She is currently recuperating in the sanatorium. She also wrote to me before..."

"Oh, that's good."

Duanmu Huai nodded, and then began to flip through the letters in his hand. Looking at Duanmu Huai, Mary suddenly felt a little nervous, which was normal. Although Xia Li had lost her memory and Ashelika didn't know his existence, Mary knew that her friends could live a familiar daily life again, thanks to this kind gentleman. Not to mention that he spent a lot of money for all this - although Miss Lorena once told Mary that this was the responsibility of the Tribunal, Mary was not the kind of girl who didn't know how to repay her gratitude.

So, she also wanted to introduce Duanmu Huai to her two friends, in what capacity... what capacity would be better?

At this time, Mary suddenly found that her and Duanmu Huai's identities seemed a little unclear.

In theory, she should have been his client at first? But in fact, as a client, Mary did not give Duanmu Huai any reward. On the contrary, Duanmu Huai spent a lot of money for her and Xia Li, which was an astronomical figure. So much so that she couldn't figure out who was the client.

Friend? If we are friends, then…

"Please have some tea."

Just when Mary was thinking hard about this, the maid's arrival interrupted her thoughts. The latter took the teacup, nodded to thank the maid, and then looked at Duanmu Huai again.

"Mr. Duanmu."

"Hmm?"

"That's right, that…how should I put it…"

Although she knew that Duanmu Huai didn't care about these etiquettes, Mary was still cautious and spoke as politely as possible.

"It's going to be a holiday soon. Ashelika and I are going to visit Xia Li in the sanatorium. Ashelika will go with her fiancé Mr. Howard. If you have time, do you want to go together…"

Speaking of this, Mary also felt that her logic seemed a little confused. Indeed, Mr. Howard was Ashelika's fiancé, and it was reasonable for him to meet Xia Li. But it didn't seem that the relationship between her and Duanmu Huai was that kind of relationship…

Sure enough, Duanmu Huai didn't seem to be very interested in this.

"I won't join you girls' party, just have fun."

"Yes...Okay."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, Mary sighed silently in her heart, and at this moment, Duanmu Huai suddenly "doubted".

"Baskerville? This is interesting."

"Hey?"

"Have you heard of this name, Mary?"

"Ah, yes."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Mary nodded.

"The Baskerville family is also one of the most famous upper-class families. I have heard of it..."

"No, no, no, I'm not talking about this..."

"Ah, you mean the magic dog of the Baskerville family?"

As a foggy city dweller, Mary certainly couldn't have read the record novel of the great detective, let alone forgotten it. In fact, the reason why she felt familiar with the Baskerville family was precisely because of this story. In other words, this story is known to everyone in the upper and middle classes of the foggy city.

The legend of the demon dog, the curse of the Baskerville family, the great detective and the conspiracy behind it, not to mention that it was specially compiled into a book and published as a masterpiece...

"Yes, the demon dog of the Baskerville family."

Duanmu Huai raised the envelope and shook it at Mary.

"It seems that the famous detective at the time was not able to completely solve this trouble, and now it has fallen into my hands again."

"Uh........."

Mary frowned when she heard this.

"I remember...at the end of the novel, Mr. Holmes and his assistant Watson should have caught the prisoner. In fact, the Baskerville family did not suffer any curse, and the so-called devil dog was only a slightly larger one. Some hunting dogs. The whole incident is actually a case created by the criminal who covets the Baskerville family's property, isn't it? "

"This is true in fiction, but reality seems stranger than fiction..."

Duanmuhuai opened the letter and read it carefully.

"It seems I have something to do, do you want to come with me?"

"Uh...this..."

It was impossible to say that Mary was not moved at all. She was a loyal reader of that book. Among other things, just being invited by the legendary Baskerville family made her quite happy. Not to mention, as of now, this matter seems to have some inexplicable relationship with the legend of the devil dog.

But in the end, missing my friend overpowered my inner joy.

"Feel sorry……………"

"Okay, actually that's understandable."

Duanmuhuai shook his head.

Sure enough, there are still a lot of things going on here on the Old Main Road, and it's quite romantic. After all, this is a case that Sherlock Holmes has dealt with before... Although judging from the current situation, he may have overturned?

Of course, maybe not?

In any case, he is still a D-class personnel at present. Although the Antarctic incident is a big deal, Duanmuhuai destroyed most of the evidence, so the foundation did not give him enough upgrade authority. From the current point of view, this case is more suitable for me. Maybe after getting rid of this trouble, I can be promoted to C level?

In this way, we are only one step away from the stable anchor of reality.

When Duanmuhuai was preparing to investigate the matter about the devil dog in Baskerville, Mary had already taken the train with her friends and embarked on the road to visit Charlie at the resort.

"Bang Dang...Bang Dang...Bang Dang..."

Sitting on the train, listening to the rhythmic sound of the tracks, Mary sighed silently. To be honest, as a student in the History Department, Mary is not without her own ideals. Although she has also thought about becoming an archaeologist like her mother, she now has some new ideas. In fact, when Duanmu Huai invited Mary to join the Tribunal, such an idea had appeared in Mary's mind.

Maybe... I and Mr. Duanmu will be like Watson and Holmes?

In the foggy city, the birthplace of Sherlock Holmes, legends and stories about him are naturally widely circulated. It's just that in addition to Holmes, Watson's existence is also highly sought after by everyone - in fact, for many people, although they all aspire to become Sherlock Holmes, if they really have to choose, Watson is obviously a safer target. .

Following Sherlock Holmes, recording the cases he experienced, and compiling them into books is also a romance deep in the hearts of many young people.

only……………

Sherlock Holmes......

Thinking of this, Mary showed a wry smile. After spending so much time with Duanmu Huai, she also discovered that although he was in the name of a detective, he was actually completely different from the famous detective who seemed to know almost everything. Indeed, he also knows a lot of knowledge that others don't know, but compared to Sherlock Holmes, how can I put it... That gentleman doesn't seem to care about intelligence. On the contrary, many times he prefers to confront the other party directly, and then Defeat it completely with violence.

This is completely different from Sherlock Holmes...

If you were Watson, how should you describe his story?

You can't write about him smashing other people's heads with a cane...

But this seems interesting?

“Woo………………”

However, Mary, who was immersed in thinking, did not notice that right next to her, her friend, the petite Ashelika, was puffing up her cheeks and looking at her dissatisfied.

Mary's expression...is it really related to the man? !

Seeing her friend's cheeks flushed and looking out the window with a smile on her face, Ashelika couldn't sit still. Although she is indeed the youngest of the three, compared to Charlie and Mary, Ashelika has already been engaged to a trader in the New World and is currently in love. From this point of view He said that although she was the youngest, she had far more experience in love than Mary and Charlie.

but……………

So unhappy…………!

Looking at Mary's side face, Ashelika silently clenched her fists.

How dare you take action against Mary, the most important person to Ashay...! There is absolutely no way to forgive!

Ashelika knew that this was not unfounded. After all, the other party had told her this before when she met a child wandering on the street.

"Sister Mary, she is the lover of a great boss!"

To be honest, Ashelika wouldn't want to believe such nonsense if she could, but the other person was also Mary's friend, and he swore that he saw Mary and a man on the street late at night. Ashelika was very worried at that time. She had been wondering if there was some despicable man who took advantage of Mary's distress over Charlie's unconsciousness to get in and seduce Mary.

Originally, Ashelika had planned to find time to talk to Mary in detail, but then, Charlie, who had been in a coma, suddenly disappeared and regained consciousness when she came back. A series of things happened before it was too late for Ashelika to be happy, and three more things happened. The relationship was back to the same relationship as before, so she put the matter behind her for the time being.

But now, on the train, seeing her friend look like a girl in love still made her unhappy!

Who is it? A "bewildered man" who took advantage of a vulnerable girl and despicably got close to her!

It is clear that Mary is not interested in things between men and women, but he is using her like a lost child to play with her!

Such a man! Absolutely unforgivable! ! ! !

"………………Ah sneeze!!!"

Duanmuhuai sneezed heavily and rubbed his nose.

"Are you okay, Lord Knight?"

Hearing the sneezing, Lorena stuck her head out and looked at him, while Duanmuhuai shook his head.

"It's okay, someone is probably talking about me."

As he spoke, Duanmuhuai looked at Lorena.

"Have you finished reading?"

"Ah, yes, I've finished reading it."

Hearing Duanmuhuai's inquiry, Lorena put down the book "The Devil Dog of Baskerville" in her hand and nodded.

"Judging from the content of the book, the illegitimate son wanted to fight for the family property, so he used the legend of the Baskerville family's devil dog to commit the crime. And at the end of the novel, wasn't the prisoner also caught?"

"Yes, this time the police also investigated from this angle."

Duanmu Huai knocked on the file in front of him.

Since the incident of "The Devil Dog of the Baskervilles", the Baskerville family has become famous in the foggy city, and in a long series of events since then, the so-called curse seems to have completely disappeared due to the appearance of this novel. But just a few years ago, similar things happened again among the Baskerville family.

To put it simply, the Baskerville family was attacked by a dark, huge demonic dog in the manor, and several people have died as a result. These included the previous Baskerville patriarch, his eldest son and wife, and then his eldest grandson... After receiving the report, the police initially followed the description in similar novels to investigate to see if anyone was deliberately raising hounds to kill people. Moreover, the local police also set up a perimeter and joined forces with the Baskerville family guards to try to catch the black dog.

That's the problem.

Their encirclement was successful, and then... there were heavy casualties.

According to the police and survivors who were on the scene at the time, what they encountered was a black hound that looked larger than a human. It was invulnerable and moved in and out of the fog. Those police who tried to stop the black dog were directly killed. Crash and die. On this night alone, thirteen or four policemen and guards fell under the claws of the black dog. Because of this, they specifically asked the Wudu police for help, and then Chief Lestrade turned the case over. Introduced to Duanmu Huai.

This is also the reason why Duanmuhuai received the invitation from the Baskerville family.

"But it's not important. If it's a criminal case, it doesn't matter to us."

Duanmuhuai bluntly denied the possibility of any real-life incident - the Tribunal did not exist to deal with ordinary cases of murder.

"Let's trace back to the origin of the Baskerville family's devil dog incident. You should have read it in the book."

"Well, according to the records, the Baskerville family's legend about the devil dog comes from a ridiculous ancestor of theirs. They kidnapped a girl and tried to torture her. Then the girl ran away in fear. The ancestor who found the girl running away was furious. Dogs were sent to chase, and they also rode horses to chase. Eventually, people found the bodies of the girl and the Baskerville ancestors beside a strange altar. At that time, someone also saw a terrifying black dog biting the ancestors. Later, it was rumored that the evil deeds of Baskerville's ancestors had brought about curses and punishments..."

"Except for the useless literary and artistic processing, what do you think?"

"Um…………………"

Faced with Duanmuhuai's inquiry, Lorena thought for a moment.

"Perhaps the ancestors of the Baskerville family wanted to perform some kind of cult ritual, and that girl was the sacrifice?"

"Yes, I think so too."

Duanmuhuai snapped his fingers, which is why he brought Lorena with him. What they are investigating now is not an ordinary murder case, let alone a criminal case - as Duanmuhuai said, criminal murderers The case has nothing to do with them. The trial court is more concerned about the evil hidden behind it.

Just leave it to Sherlock Holmes to deal with the mere inheritance murders and so on. What does it have to do with them?

"So, do you think the ceremony was a success or a failure?"

"Looking at the current situation...I suspect the ceremony has failed."

Lorena opened the novel in her hand again.

"Maybe there was a problem with the steps, or maybe something went wrong, causing the summoned monster to bite back on itself..."

"Yes, these cultists have no other abilities. Their ability to commit suicide is first-rate."

Duanmuhuai curled his lips. Basically, magic in the world of Cthulhu is like this. No matter what magic you use, basically the first thing you will do when you activate it is kill the summoner.

For example, the cultist they met in the manor summoned a viper, and then he swallowed the cultist who summoned him in one bite.

There are basically countless similar things, so when seeing this, it is not difficult to understand the first reaction of Duanmu Huai and Lorena.

"In summary, this is the current information."

Duanmuhuai reached out and touched the black cat and white rabbit that poked their heads out of his pocket.

"As for the rest, I think we'll know when we get there."

After that, Duanmuhuai and Lorena came to the Devon County Police Station and reported their identities. Then, they were taken to the morgue where the bodies were stored.

"To be honest, I'm not a person who believes in myths and legends."

The fat forensic doctor, wearing a white coat, walked in front of Duanmuhuai, moving his steps with difficulty as he spoke.

"But to be honest, what I saw this time really scared me."

"Did you also participate in the siege that night?"

"No, of course not."

The fat forensic doctor shook his head.

"With my size, I just went to deliver meat to the other party. But no one in Devon could forget what happened that night, the gunshots, screams, shouts... To be honest, this peaceful place is still It had never been so noisy before when I was called by the emergency call. It was already like this..."

"So, do you have any clues that you can provide about what happened to the Baskervilles? Including the previous victims?"

"Oh, of course."

The fat forensic doctor came to the desk, then stood on tiptoes with difficulty, opened the top of the filing cabinet, and took out several autopsy reports.

"Let's go in order. The first is Old Baskerville. He is a very respected doctor and a very decent man. He was found lying on the path outside his manor in the early morning. There were no external injuries on his body. , the test result was a heart attack - for an old man in his eighties, this is actually not an accident. "

"So it was filed as an accident?"

"Of course, the police conducted an investigation and came to the conclusion that the old Baskerville went for a walk, suddenly fell ill on the way back, and then collapsed like this... It is ordinary, so it is not surprising."

As he spoke, the fat forensic doctor took out a file again.

"Next was his son, Mr. Childs, who died in the evening, after dinner. According to testimony, he and his wife went for a walk after dinner and never came back. As it got darker, the others Becoming worried, they went out to search, and found the bodies of two people - their necks had been ripped open, and their bodies were horrific. It was obvious that they had been attacked by some large animal. However, I think you also know that there is nothing wrong with this place. There are not even a few large animals, not even wolves.”

After saying this, the fat forensic doctor took a breath.

"Then there was their son Fred. He was very angry and sad about the death of his parents. He believed that it was the work of wild beasts, so he took hounds, summoned a team of people and a large number of hounds to go up the mountain, and vowed to find the murderer. That bastard of his parents.”

"Then he sent himself away?"

"Yes."

The fat forensic doctor sighed helplessly.

"His head was beaten to pulp, and the autopsy showed that his head should have been crushed by a bear. God, I never knew there were bears in Devon!"

"Then it seems that this has nothing to do with the devil dog."

"Oh, that's right, but many people who went up the mountain at that time testified that they did not see a bear, but a terrifying black hound that was taller than a human. Then we set up a trap and tried to capture it. That beast......"

After saying this, the fat forensic doctor paused and took a breath.

"Okay, facts speak louder than words, you will know after reading it."

As he spoke, the fat forensic doctor came to the morgue and opened the door.

I’ll update it once a day. It’s better to have a good rest and sleep. I’m still coughing, my mouth and tongue are irritated, and my stomach feels uncomfortable after taking too many medicines... I also need to take less medicine...