Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Broken Bones in the Mire

Like most practicing clinics, Barna's clinic always brings people a mixed feeling of hope and despair, which makes the practitioners miserable.Peak periods of busyness are interspersed with periods of almost stagnation, and I encountered one on the day after I arrived at Nevill Lane.At 11:00 noon, I was free, because I felt a little flustered, so I went to the river embankment area for a walk.Leaning on the railing, quietly enjoying the scenery by the river.Not far away are the spectacular Greystone Arch Bridge and the Bullet Tower, with Westminster Abbey and St. Stephen's Basilica just a little further away.

At the arch in the center of a stone bridge, a barge is used to transport goods or passengers, usually without power plant.Driven by towing or pushing.There is also a trapezoidal sail floating on the mast, and a woman in a white work skirt is operating the tiller.This kind of scene really makes people feel peaceful and peaceful, and at the same time, it is full of vitality and bright romantic atmosphere.I was obsessed with watching the sailboat sailing in the microwave, the cautious and experienced female helmsman, and the dogs on the deck barking in the distance, and at this moment I thought of Ruth Berlinham.

Why does this strange girl fascinate me so much?In fact, I have asked myself this question many times, but I still don't know the reason.Could it be because of that mysterious house?Or because of her special job and extraordinary knowledge?Or is it her unique personality and charming appearance?Or because of her relationship with her missing uncle? It can be said that these points are the answers to the questions.Everything about Ruth is so strange and fascinating.However, in addition to the above points, I strongly feel that there is a special feeling deep in my heart, that is, sympathy and subtle affection for her, and I secretly hope that she can perceive it and respond to me.All in all, I was deeply attracted to her.Although I haven't known each other for a long time, my heart has been firmly occupied by this girl, and no one can replace her.

Then my mind jumped from Ruth Bellingham to the strange case her father had told me about.It was a really weird case, an outrageous will, and an obstructive, bewildering lawyer.I think there must be a pair of black hands manipulating the whole thing behind the scenes, and Mr. Herbert's rather intriguing proposal is even more suspicious.It's a pity that I can't help you much. This kind of thing is a lawyer's specialty, and you should consult a lawyer.I therefore resolved to see Thorndike in the evening, and to tell him all I knew. Just as I was making this decision, something so miraculous that it actually happened just happened.At that time, I noticed two men coming from the direction of the Blake Fry bridge. I immediately recognized them as my teacher and his assistant Reeves.

"I was thinking about going to you guys!" I said excitedly as they approached. "It's an honor," said Reeves. "I thought you were whispering to the devil!" "I think he's just talking to himself," said Thorndike, laughing, "but I want to know why you want to see us, and what's the matter?" "Yes, because I was thinking about the Bellingham case. I was in Neville Lane all night yesterday." "Ha! Did you discover anything new?" "Damn it! There's something new indeed! Mr. Bellingham has given me a detailed account of the will."

"Then he agrees with you to convey the contents of the will to me?" Thorndike asked eagerly. "Of course, I asked him specifically, and he didn't object." I said with a smile. "Very good. We're going to lunch in Soho now, because Peter's too busy. Come to lunch with us, and you can tell us about what you learned last night on the way, how about it?" With no patients waiting in the clinic, the offer was just what I wanted, so I accepted their invitation right away without hiding my delight. "Well," Thorndike said, "we can walk slowly, and talk about this matter clearly before we get into the crowd, so as not to leak the secret."

So the three of us walked leisurely along the wide sidewalk, and I also began to describe what happened last night.From the current obstacles in dealing with the estate to the conditions listed in the will, my two friends listened with gusto.Thorndike occasionally asked me to pause to give him a little time to take notes. "This guy must be crazy!" cried Reeves when I finished speaking. "I think he must have been killed by his own elaborate and ridiculous will." "Nor can it be said that a lot of people who make wills have this quirk," Thorndike explained. "The kind of direct and easy-to-understand wills are the exception. But we still have to wait until we see the original documents before making them." Conclusion. I think Mr. Berlinham has a copy of the will."

"I'm not sure about that," I said, "but I can ask him when I get a chance." "If he had it, I wish I could have seen it myself," said Thorndike. "I found the clauses to be very peculiar, and, as Reeves said, they seemed to have been deliberately designed to violate the testator's will." Wish—if its content is really like this. In addition, these clauses must be closely related to the disappearance. I think you must have noticed." "All I know is that if John's body is not found, it is Herbert who will benefit." "Indeed. But there are several other points of interest. In any case, we cannot discuss it further until we have seen the original will."

"If Mr. Bellingham has a copy of the will," I said, "I'll try to show it to you. But Mr. Bellingham is afraid of being accused of running around for free counsel." "It's natural that you can do this," Thorndike said with a smile, "this kind of thing is not disgraceful at all. You must help him overcome this concern. You are still as good as you were in school, and you are admirable. Moreover, I feel that this family seems to have regarded you as a friend." "Yes, they are a very interesting family," I explained, "and very educated, and every member of the family has a passion for archeology, as if it is in the family."

"You're quite right," said Thorndike, "that archeology is their family interest. You like Godfield Berlinham, don't you?" "Indeed. Although his temper is a little grumpy and impulsive, he is generally kind and kind." "And what about his daughter?" Reeves asked. "What kind of person is she?" "Oh, you said Miss Ruth, she is a learned lady, and her job is to find documents and materials in museums." "What?" Reeves exclaimed in surprise. "I know that kind of woman! They have ink-stained fingers, they're flat, they're super arrogant, they always wear glasses with thick lenses."

"You're wrong!" I yelled indignantly, exasperated by Reeves' harsh description of the darling, "Miss Ruth is very pretty and feminine; she may be a bit reserved, but we After all, it’s a first meeting—or even a stranger.” "So," Reeves asked, "what does she look like? I mean the appearance, tall and short, fat and thin, and describe it in detail." So, I started looking for Ruth in my memory. "Ruth was about five feet seven inches tall, slender and very plump, and in appearance she was a dignified, graceful girl; her dark hair, parted in the middle, fell down naturally and handsomely; her complexion Fair-skinned, with beautiful facial features, dark gray eyes are very energetic, straight eyebrows, the bridge of the nose is not only straight but also beautiful, the mouth is small but plump; the chin is slightly round—hey, Reeves, what are you smirking at?" The man in front of him My friend suddenly bared her teeth and grinned like a cat, making fun of me. "If there is a copy of that will, Thorndike," said Reeves, "then we must have it. I don't know if you, a brilliant student, agree with me?" "As I have said," Thorndike interjected in order to lighten the atmosphere, "I have great confidence in Bakri. Well, we can suspend this topic. The dining room is here." With that said, Thorndike pushed open a plain glass door, and we walked into the dining room with him.The dining room smelled of noxious vapors that whetted the appetite and laced with fat. About two hours later, I said goodbye to my two friends under the sycamore tree beside the Temple Law School promenade. "I cannot invite you to my office at the moment," said Thorndike, "because we have a meeting with a client in the afternoon. However, I hope you will come to see us when you have time, and of course you don't have to bring a will." Copy here." "Yeah," Reeves continued, "you can come over tonight after get off work. Of course, if you don't have a romantic date tonight. Oh, how are you blushing, boy! Don't be ashamed, we all People who have been there. Even Thorndike was young in predynastic Egypt." "Never mind him, Bakery," said Thorndike, gravely. "The fellow's got all his baby teeth! Maybe he won't understand until he's my age." "Wait until it becomes an antique?" Reeves yelled, "Then I still pray that I don't live so long!" Thorndike looked at his assistant and smiled kindly, then shook hands with me enthusiastically, and then walked into the building of the law firm. I walked from the Temple Law School to the Royal College of Surgeons, where I spent hours studying soaked specimens, brushing up on pathology and anatomy, while marveling at the technical perfection of modern anatomy, secretly thankful that the subject was offered, And I just learned it myself.The sound of the bell and the desire for a cup of tea urged me to put down what I was doing and take a break from the lab.At this time, my mind is still full of pathological files and glass specimen bottles.Suddenly I found myself in Feet Lane not knowing what to do.At this moment, there was a piercing shout from behind me, and I suddenly woke up a lot. "Frightening new discoveries in Sydka!" London newsboys yelled in a shriek that sounded like a slap. I turned around angrily, and saw the newsboy holding up a yellow billboard, and the words on it caught my attention: "Horrifying discovery in the water mustard field!" Some people may deny it, but the words "shocking discovery" have an inexplicable attraction, which is full of tragedy, suspense and romantic hints, as if injecting a dose of drama into the gloomy and ordinary life.The simplicity of the country adds a touch of horror to it—whatever it is. So I bought a newspaper, tucked it under my arm, and hurried back to the clinic to learn about this "horrific discovery."However, just as I opened the door of the clinic, a chubby woman with acne came up to me, and then bowed to me with a heavy snort—it turned out to be a coal shop in Baihua Lane the proprietress. "Good evening, Mrs. Gabriel," I greeted her in surprise, "you're not here to see a doctor, are you?" "You're right, that's it." She straightened up and said in a muffled voice, then followed me into the consulting room.I put her in the patient chair and I sat at the desk. "Doctor, I feel something is wrong with my body recently." She said to me slowly. All I could think about at the moment was the horrific findings in the papers, so I just waited quietly for further clarification.Presently Mrs. Gabriel stopped, and looked at me eagerly with her dark, bitter eyes. "Ah!" said I, returning to my senses, "you are not well, are you, Mrs. Gaborley?" "Yeah. I have ear problems too," she adds, before sighing and filling the room with a rich, nostalgic scent like dark chocolate. "So, you have a headache now, don't you?" "Yes, it hurts for a long time!" said Mrs. Gabriel. "The forehead always opens and closes, and when I sit down, it hurts so badly that I would explode!" Her vivid descriptions of her senses were in keeping with her person, and in this way gave me a concrete idea of ​​her condition.I reassured her by explaining the amazing elasticity of human skin, and then I began to think hard about her situation.Inadvertently, my thoughts wandered to "dark chocolate".In the end I had to perfunctory her and asked her to go home and rest first.At this point I grudgingly pulled myself together and opened a bottle of whiskey-soda mix in a sealed can by Barna.Start reading that story about the horrific discovery.However, before I could spread the newspaper, another patient came again.He was a patient of impetigo, the same disease which a young boy in Feet Lane had contracted.Then, another patient came.In this way, I didn't relax for a whole night, and finally made me completely forget about the incident in the water mustard field.I didn't think of the news until I was about to sit down to a light dinner after washing my face with hot water to wash away the fatigue of the day.So I quickly grabbed a newspaper from the drawer in the office-it was just stuffed in hastily.For easy reading, I folded the newspaper into small pieces, let it stand upright against the drink can, and read while eating. This report is very long.Apparently, the papers were slapping the headlines on the story as a scoop, as it had been placed on the front page. Terrifying discovery in the water mustard fields of Siddha town! Clean-up crews found the horrific object in a water mustard field near the Kent town of Sydka yesterday afternoon, and it will be a source of great displeasure for those who regularly enjoy the refreshing vegetable.Before describing in detail how the object was discovered, let me briefly reveal that the object is human remains.Let's go back to the wonderful coincidence of this accidental discovery. This water mustard field is on a small artificial lake irrigated by a tributary of the Cray River.Compared with other vegetable fields, it is deeper, and the water flow is constant, but very slow.Because of this, the wreckage is well concealed.This tributary flows through a number of pasture meadows, one of which is a field of water mustard.In order to satisfy people's desire to eat meat, the victimized sheep have been converting pasture into mutton for almost a whole year.A few years ago, an infectious disease commonly known as "liver leeches" attacked the sheep on this pasture.Here we must divert the subject for a moment and enter pathology to explain the disease. The infection process of "liver leeches" is very romantic.The cause of the disease originated from a small flat worm, the hepatic schistosomiasis, which can live in the liver and bile ducts of sheep. So how did the worm get into the sheep's liver?This is where it's romantic. At the beginning of the metamorphosis cycle, blood-sucking worms will lay their eggs in a dark corner as it flows through a small river on the pasture.Each egg has a lid-like organ that snaps open, allowing the hairy larvae to swim out in search of a specific type of water snail—biologists call it a soil snail.When the larva finds this kind of water snail, it will drill into the body of the water snail, and then quickly become bigger and fatter; then it will start to reproduce in large numbers, producing countless larvae that are completely different in appearance from it - regi.Immediately, these larvae will immediately produce countless small reedia, which will be passed on from generation to generation until a certain generation of reedia produces completely different offspring: cercariae, small worms with big heads and long tails resembling tadpoles.Soon, the last generation of cercariae emerge from the water snail's body and start a complicated struggle for survival.This kind of water snail will often leave the water surface and swim to the grassland. When the cercariae that escaped from the water snail find themselves in the grassland, they will immediately shake off their tails and hang their bodies on the grass blades.In this way, when those unsuspecting sheep eat grass, they also eat the cercariae.The cercariae find themselves in the stomachs of the sheep, punch their bile ducts, and swim to the liver.After a few weeks, the cercariae will all grow into adult blood-sucking worms, and then begin to lay eggs and reproduce offspring. This is the pathological legend of "liver leeches".But what does this have to do with the horrific wreckage?It so happened that after the outbreak of the epidemic, the landowner, Mr. John Burlingham, had his solicitors insert a clause into the lease of the vegetable fields, which stipulated that the tenants were obliged to clean the vegetable fields regularly and have them cleaned by experts themselves. Identification, to ensure that there are no water snails.However, the last lease has expired two years ago, so the vegetable field has been deserted and unmanaged; however, for the safety of the neighboring pastures, they started regular inspections, and only then did they make a horrifying discovery in the water mustard field . Two days ago, the work officially started.Three workers salvaged aquatic plants in order, and then collected all kinds of water snails, and handed them over to experts to check whether any parasites survived.Yesterday afternoon, just as they finished salvaging half of the vegetable field, a worker who was salvaging in deep water found several bones. The shape of the bones made him suspicious.So he called to his companions, and the three carefully removed the weeds from the bones. Soon, a human hand bone appeared in front of them.They were very alert and immediately stopped salvage work and notified the police.It didn't take long for the police and the local forensic doctor to arrive at the scene, and they carefully examined the bones that had been kept in place.At this time, they discovered an unusual phenomenon: the left arm buried in the mud was missing the ring finger.This point was immediately listed by the police as an important basis for identifying the bones. After all, there are very few people who have lost their left ring finger.After thoroughly searching the entire scene, they collected all the bones and sent them to the autopsy room for further tests.When the local forensic doctor Brandon was interviewed by our reporter, he made the following explanation: "The skeleton belonged to a man of middle to high age, about five feet eight inches tall. The arm was complete, including the shoulder blade and collarbone, except that the fourth finger bone was missing." "Is it incomplete itself, or was it removed later?" the reporter asked. "It has been identified and confirmed to have been amputated." The forensic doctor replied, "If it is congenitally deformed, the connected metacarpal bones should be underdeveloped or deformed, but the metacarpal bones are complete and normal." "So, how long have the bones been soaked in water?" The reporter then asked. "According to my guess, at least more than a year. Because there is no trace of residual muscle tissue in the bone, it is very clean." "In your opinion, why was this arm left there?" "This is difficult to answer." The forensic doctor deliberately reserved some thoughts. "Besides," the reporter continued, "the landowner there, Mr. John Bellingham, didn't he disappear a few years ago?" "Well, that's what I understand," Dr. Brandon replied. "Can you tell us, is Mr. Burlingham's left hand intact? Is there a missing ring finger?" "No comment." After speaking, Dr. Brandon added with a smile, "You can ask the police." This is the latest development in this case.We understand that the police have opened a missing persons investigation into the missing left ring finger.If anyone among the readers knows this feature, I hope you can notify this newspaper or the police immediately.In addition, we believe that the police have begun a comprehensive search of the deceased's other parts of the body. Putting down the newspaper, I fell into deep thought.What could be more puzzling than this?The reporter's question was exactly my question.Could the bones be those of John Bellingham?Obviously, this possibility is quite high.But I can only think that the bones were found in his land, which undoubtedly has some hints, but this is only a possibility.The correlation among them may only be explained by chance, and there is no causal relationship. As for the deceased's missing ring finger, there was no mention in the missing person's report of Mr. Burlingham having a similar feature.Of course, it may also be ignored.In the next few days, I will meet with Thorndike. If this news has anything to do with the disappearance of John Bellingham, then I will definitely hear about it.As I thought about it, leaving the table, I decided to quote Johnson's famous quote, compiled by posterity, to "take a walk in Fleet Street" before falling asleep.