When the police officers were still searching Professor West's laboratory, waves of people crossed the Joels River Bridge, from Boston to Cambridge, and from Cambridge to Harvard University in all directions, some of whom were unprovoked a few days ago. The Irish immigrants who have been harassed by the police also have surrounding residents who have long regarded medical schools as evil, and even more, they are small citizens who are jealous of those nobles who are usually arrogant. According to the comments of many historians, this case is "the most dramatic case in the 19th century".

If this case is compared to a play, there are three main characters in it: John Wright West, George Peckman and Evren Littlefield. 56-year-old John West and 59-year-old George Pikeman are old acquaintances. Their relationship can be traced back to 40 years ago in the early 19th century, when the two were both studying at Harvard Medical School.George graduated in 1809, John a little later, in 1811.By 1849, when this case happened, George had stopped being a scholar, and switched to real estate investment and usury. However, because he already had a doctorate title, and this title was for life, people still called him "Pike" Dr. Mann".John is still at Harvard Medical School, where he was a professor of chemistry for 25 years, so he is honored as "Professor West."

The doctor is tall and slender, with a strong physique, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. He speaks confidently, has a loud voice, and is aggressive, revealing the shrewdness and meanness of a businessman.The professor is on the contrary, short and fat, with "a pair of small eyes kindly flashing behind the lenses of myopia glasses", quite honest and kind, or even pedantic, of a scholar. The doctor is very rich, it can be said that he has a lot of money, and he is a wealthy benefactor of Harvard Medical School.According to the real estate records of relevant departments in Boston's Suffolk area, in 1848 alone, George Pikeman handled 111 real estate loans.

The professor is very poor, relying on a salary of $1,900 a year to support his family.It is not accurate to say "poor", but in order to maintain the upper-class lifestyle of a family of five, John has been borrowing money from George since about 8 years ago.By November 1849, its debts had accumulated as high as $2,432.Some people have calculated that if it was put in the 1990s, this amount of money would be equivalent to more than 160,000 US dollars.Therefore, the relationship between the two people has gradually evolved from being a classmate and colleague in the past to a creditor and a debtor.

However, on November 23, 1849, the relationship between Professor West and Dr. Peckman took a sudden turn for the worse, and it can be said that it ended forever. Between 8:00 and 9:00 this morning, Paddyk McGowan, the valet of Pikeman's house, welcomed a guest for his master.Padik later told the police that he could not remember what the guest looked like, but only heard that Dr. Peckman and the guest met at 1:30 pm on the same day. At 9:30 George Peckman arrived at his sister's house near Burdoin Square, and went with his brother-in-law, Robert Gold Shaw, his business partner, to the Merchant Bank in Stadt Street. .The relationship between Dr. Pikeman and Mr. Xiao is extraordinary. The two families are actually married because the first wife of the doctor's father is also surnamed Xiao.It's about 10 o'clock when I finish my work at the bank.Dr. Peckman did not tell Mr. Shaw where he was going before the two broke up.

Just after 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the doctor walked into Paul Holland's grocery store not far from Harvard Medical School and asked Mr. Holland to deliver 6 pounds of cream and a 32-pound bucket of sugar to the Pikeman's house.Dr. Peckman left Paul Holland with a brown paper bag of glass lettuce he'd bought for his sick daughter Hollie at the Quincy Market. More than 100 years ago, glass lettuce was a very delicate variety and should not be carried for a long time.The doctor asked Mr. Holland to put the paper bag away, saying he would be back "in a few minutes" to pick it up.

Then, between 1:30 and 2, two young boys saw Dr. Peckman walking in the direction of Harvard Medical School. Dr. George Peckman did not come home that night, and has never been home since.The Peckmans lived in Bacon Hills, a red-brick four-story mansion less than half a mile from Harvard Medical School. The next day, various Boston newspapers published a "Missing Person Notice": Notice George Peckman, M.D., a noble and decent citizen of Boston, left his residence at 8 Walnut Street between 12:00 and 1:00 noon on Friday, November 23rd, for a business meeting somewhere, and has not yet returned. .Later, at around 5:00 p.m. on the same day, he was seen talking to someone on or near Washington Road in the south of the city.

A special reward is offered for any clues that can lead to the discovery of him.Anyone with information is urged to contact the police immediately. On the fourth day, on November 26, Robert Shaw gave the specific amount of the bounty in his own name, "a dizzying and exciting price tag" - 3,000 US dollars, and released at the same time Another notice in the newspaper stated that George Peckman "may have run away from home due to some sudden mental illness."Not only did this notice appear in all newspapers, but 28,000 copies were posted all over the city by the police. Two days later, the Peckman family sealed an additional $1,000 in the third notice, which is a reward for anyone who finds Dr. Peckman's body.In other words, they began to consider the possibility of the doctor's death.

The identity of the missing person and the amount of the bounty immediately caused a sensation throughout Boston. Not long before this case occurred, the famous British writer Charles Dickens had described Boston in this way: Boston, where the houses are bright and splendid--the bricks are so red--the stones are so white--the knockers and numbers on the adjoining houses in the streets are so incomparably bright and shining--it is a beautiful city. In fact, the house Mr. Dickens described is only in the west of Boston, where the famous Harvard University and MIT (Massachusetts is another Chinese translation of Massachusetts) are located. The English name is also called "Cambridge (Cambridge)". Area.Boston's literati and scholars lived in this area, a group of social celebrities and elites with both money and power.They shape Boston, manipulate Boston, and dominate Boston. They are the image of Boston and the soul of the city.