Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

One morning after this small gathering, I was brushing my hat in the consulting room, getting ready to start the day.At this moment Adolf came to the door and told me that two gentlemen were waiting to see me in the clinic.I asked him to bring them in, and soon, Thorndike and Reeves came in.I found their figures to be particularly large in this small room, especially Thorndike, but before I had time to appreciate this rare spectacle, he explained his purpose. "Bakery, we have something to ask you for your help about your friends, the Burlinghams." "Oh, what's the matter? You know, I'd be more than happy to help." My tone was full of gratitude.

"Well, that's good. It's like this. I don't know if you know that the police have collected all the human bones they found and temporarily stored them in Woodover's morgue, waiting for the trial of the Coroner's Court. Therefore, Now is the best time to get more accurate and reliable information than the news reports. I should have gone to the scene to examine the bones, but in the current situation, I must avoid leaking information about myself in this case, So I couldn't be there in person. Likewise, I couldn't let Reeves go. Also, from reports, the police are now convinced that the bones belonged to John Burlingham, and you named Godfield Burlingham As Doctor Han, it is only natural for him to inspect his brother's bones on his behalf."

"Okay, I'd love to," I said without hesitation, "I'm going anyway. But I'm sure it will take at least a full day, so what about the clinic?" "This is not a problem, we will help you solve it." Thorndike said, "Besides, this matter is too important to us! One, the coroner's court will open tomorrow, and someone must represent Godfield Second, Herbert's lawyer has officially notified our client that they will apply to the court for the will in a few days, and the will will be certified." "Really, how so fast?" I asked.

"There is no doubt that this shows that they have acted very aggressively, much faster than we thought. All in all, you know the importance of this matter. In this case, the Coroner's Court is equivalent to the Probate Court. A rehearsal, we must not miss this opportunity." "I understand. But what if I encounter a doctor's visit?" "Don't worry, we'll take care of this." "Through a physician broker?" "Yes," Reeves replied, "Persivar will find us a man, and in fact he has. When I met him this morning, he happened to have a suitable man on his hand. To make some extra money, Waiting for the opportunity to be an acting doctor! And this person is quite reliable. As long as you agree, I will call him over to Adam Street immediately."

"That's fine, then you can go to the doctor's agent! When he comes, I'll be ready to go immediately." "Oh, it's really great!" Thorndike said happily, "this will be all right. But if you have time tonight, it's best to come and smoke with us, and talk about our next strategy, and Notes for tomorrow." I agreed that I would go to the Temple Law School after 8:30 p.m., and after my two friends left, I went to deal with the few outpatient services today with full of emotions. Everything has its two sides, and if you observe it from different angles, you will get unexpected results.Yet our evaluations of various lifestyles and situations are often highly subjective.For those who work in the same building day after day in the city, such as artisans, bakers, tailors, being able to take a walk in Hampstead Heath Park on holidays is a big deal. It was a fine trip; but to the sailor, even the endless variety of foreign landscapes was but the daily workplace.

The next day I got on the train from Liverpool Street, and as soon as I was seated I began to think wildly.In the past, the journey by train to Epping Forest could not be called a very exciting experience by any means, but this time it seemed that because of staying in the small world of Feet Lane for too long, even this journey began to change. It's out of the ordinary. I think I have to think about a lot of things.My life has changed a lot in the past few weeks. Not only have I discovered new interests and met new friends, but to my surprise, a powerful force is quietly breaking into my life. I don’t know why. Whether it is bad or not depends entirely on my luck, but it is bound to affect and occupy my whole life until it comes to an end.Because of the close contact in the library in those few days, the warm family atmosphere I felt when drinking afternoon tea, and the leisure and comfort of walking on the streets of London hand in hand, all these gave me new pursuits in life, And the elegance of Ruth Berlinham made me feel that she was the master of my life.I found a comfortable position on the corner seat of the carriage and sat down on the back of the chair. The pipe in my hand was not lit. My mind was full of thoughts about the past few days and the unpredictable future. I almost forgot. Abandoning the task at hand, I was brought back to reality by the smell from the soap and bonemeal fertilizer factory as the train approached Woodover.

As for the real purpose of this trip, in fact I am not very clear, I only know that I am Thorndike's agent.Thinking of this, I can't help being a little proud, but I really don't know whether this action can help the suspenseful Burlingham case.In order to be able to sort out the clues, I took out the memo written by Thorndike from my pocket and read it carefully.The content inside is very detailed, even for someone like me who does not have much experience in forensic affairs, it is quite useful. The content of the memorandum is as follows: 1. Try not to make people aware that the case is being investigated, and you must not be noticed.

2. Be sure to confirm that all the human bones searched from various places have been displayed. If not, pay attention to observe what is missing. 3. Measure the main bones, find out their maximum length, and compare the lengths of the bones on the left and right sides of the body. 4. By examining and analyzing the bones to determine the age, sex and muscle development of the deceased. 5. Pay attention to check the bones and surrounding tissues for congenital and local diseases, or for new and old scars and other abnormalities. 6. Check for wax and remember its location. 7. Pay attention to whether there are residual soft tissues such as tendons and ligaments.

8. Pay attention to the metacarpal bones found in Sidka Township to determine whether the ring finger was cut off during life or after death. 9. Determine the length of time the bones have been soaked in water, and pay attention to changes in the bones due to water quantity, water quality, or soil. 10. Find out how the bones were discovered and remember the names of those involved. 11. Record all findings as soon as possible, and if possible, use diagrams to present them. 12. Be sure to keep a passive attitude at all times, try to ask as little as possible and listen more, don't be impatient, and try to ask more questions about doubts.

These are the guidelines Thorndike gave me.Thinking about just checking a few bones seems like a bit of a fuss.However, after I read it over and over again, I gradually began to worry about whether I was up to the job. When I gradually approached the morgue, I realized that some of Thorndike's warnings were not meaningless.A sergeant was in charge of the place, and as I approached he eyed me suspiciously; five or six other men, apparently journalists from the newspaper, stood guard at the door like wolves.I handed the coroner's order, which Mr. Marchmont had collected for me, to the sergeant, who turned his back to the wall and began to read, as if to avoid being peeped by the reporters behind him.

In no time, my documents were cleared, and he opened the door to let me in.There were three reporters behind me who wanted to follow me in, but the sergeant immediately chased them out and quickly locked the door.He turned around and urged me to go to the morgue, then stood aside, looked at me curiously, and watched me start working with slightly shy eyes. I think he might be a little disappointed by my blank attitude, because in my opinion, those bones are just a bunch of very ordinary student homework.He kindly told me that he placed them anatomically.I checked carefully to make sure there was nothing missing, and then I started working according to the reminder in the memo Thorndike gave me. "You found the left femur, too, didn't you?" I asked, since it wasn't mentioned in the list. "Yes, sir," replied the sergeant, "we found it last night in the pond near the little monk's wood." "Is it far from here?" I asked. "It's in the forest on the way to Loughton," he answered. I immediately recorded this, and the sergeant saw it with a weird expression, as if he regretted telling me.I then took a holistic view of the bones.If they have been sorted out, their surface should be cleaner and easier to observe, but the bones in front of them look like they have just been moved from the disposal site. Is the brownish-yellow substance on them stains or sediments? Things are hard to determine.Since all the bone surfaces have these spots, I found it very interesting, so I recorded this as well.These bones have more or less traces left by them when they stayed in various ponds, but this does not seem to be of much help in guessing the soaking time.In addition, all the bones were covered with mud and a few weeds, but this did not help to judge the exact time. However, some traces are more useful.For example, several bones had dried strings of eggs from water snails, which are common in ponds, attached to them.I also found a tunnel-shaped worm nest hidden in a certain hollow on the right shoulder blade, which was built by red river worms with mud.These residues are strong evidence that the bones have been soaked in water for a considerable period of time.Because these things can only be produced after the muscle tissue has completely disappeared, and it will take at least one to two months before it can grow to the present level.In addition, the orientation of the bones in the water can also be judged from their distribution.Although the significance of these findings cannot be seen at present, I took care to record all the stickies I found, and made sketches to show their location. The sergeant kept watching me work with a smile on his face. "Sir, it looks like you're doing a catalog!" he said. "It's like holding an auction. I don't think those snail eggs are very helpful for identification. Besides, the identity of the deceased has been confirmed." ’” he added as I pulled out the measuring tape. "Well, I know that," I said, "but my job is to conduct objective investigations and analysis, not just for this case." With that said, I began to measure all the big bones, and also measured the left and right bones. Compare the length of the bones on both sides.Judging from their proportions and features, it can indeed be proved that these left and right pairs of bones belong to the same individual, which is beyond doubt.This is further evidenced by the traces of ivory that exist simultaneously in the joint head of the left femur and the joint cavity of the right hip bone.After I finished the measurements, I carefully observed the details of these bones according to Thorndike's previous instructions, but I found no unusual lesions.Looking at these normal bones, I feel a little disappointed. "Well, sir, is there anything new?" Seeing me close the notebook and straighten up, the sergeant asked with concern, "What do you think of these bones? Are they Mr. Branham's? " "It might be hard for me to tell whose bones it is," I said, "because the bones are all very similar." “I thought so, too,” he echoed, “I just thought, with all the measurements and notes you’re taking, there’s a good chance you already have the answer.” He was obviously quite disappointed in me.I could not help feeling disappointed in myself as I compared my investigative notes with Thorndike's precise instructions.What's the point of my observation?How would my scribblings in my notebook help the case?It was obvious that the bones belonged to a muscular but not well-developed man, over the age of thirty, but I could not deduce the exact age.According to my estimation, his height should be about five feet eight inches, but Thorndike should be able to calculate a more accurate figure from my measurements.Apart from these, the bones were unremarkable, completely devoid of local or general disease, nor of any new or old wounds or abnormal lesions.The murderer must have been very careful when dismembering the bone, because not a single scratch appeared on the cross-section of the bone.There was no sign of the wax that protected the body at all. The only trace of soft tissue was a small piece of tendon at the top of the right elbow bone, but it looked like a small drop of dried glue.The sergeant was just about to put the shroud over the body—like an acrobat taking a curtain call at the end of a performance, when there was a sudden knock at the door.The sergeant flattened the cover accurately, then led me out of the hall, opened the door, let the three people in, and held the door to let me out.However, I looked at those three people and didn't want to leave for a long time.One of them was obviously the precinct police officer in charge of the case; another was a laborer, soaked and muddy, with a small paper bag in his hand; and the third, my gut told me, We are peers. The sergeant was still standing with his hands on the door panel, and he asked kindly: "Is there anything else, sir?" "Is that the forensic doctor of the sub-bureau?" I asked him. "Yes, I'm the branch medical examiner. Can I help you with anything?" the newcomer replied. "This gentleman is a doctor," explained the sergeant. "He has permission from the coroner to examine the remains. He is here on behalf of the family of the deceased—I mean—the family of Mr. Burlingham." Looking at the questioning eyes of the forensic doctor, he immediately added. "So it is." The forensic doctor said thoughtfully. "As far as I know, other parts of the torso have been found, including those missing ribs, Davis?" "Yes, doctor," replied the sergeant. "Inspector Berger said the ribs are all here, and all the neck bones." "The inspector knows anatomy, doesn't he?" I said. The sergeant said with a smile: "Inspector Bai Jie is a very knowledgeable person. He came early in the morning, observed the pile of bones there, and took a lot of notes. I guess he should have found something, but he Tight mouthed." The sergeant fell silent suddenly, perhaps realizing that he should not have said these things. "Let us put these new bones on the table together!" said the coroner. "Take off the cloth, and don't pour it out like coal. Take care, everyone!" The worker carefully took the wet, muddy bones out of the bag one by one and placed them gently on the table.The forensic doctor arranged them one by one. "The man seems to be clever," he said, "not as clumsy as you wield an ax or a saw. The bones are cut cleanly and neatly. The fellow must know anatomy, or he's a butcher, or else It couldn't have been done like that. He's so skilled with the knife, and you see, the shoulder blades of both arms are attached! That's exactly the way a butcher breaks up a lamb shoulder. Are there any bones in the paper bag?" "No more, doctor." The worker replied and wiped his hands on the back of his trousers, then heaved a sigh of relief and added, "That's all." The forensic doctor looked at the pile of bones intently, and then said: "The Inspector is quite right. All the neck bones are here. But it still feels a little strange, don't you think?" "what do you mean……" "I want to say, who did the murderer put in so much effort to show? Looking at the neck bones, it is obvious that he carefully separated the first cervical vertebra from the skull, not Cut off the neck directly; in addition, his method of disassembling the torso is also very strange, the twelfth pair of ribs and this pile of bones have just been sent in together, but the twelfth pair of thoracic and back vertebrae connected to it are still connected On the torso bone of the lower body. It took a lot of work to do it, and it didn't break the bone at all, which is amazing! It's just amazing. It's also interesting to look at this, handle it carefully." He gently picked up the mud-stained sternum and handed it to me, then said: "This is by far the most conclusive evidence." "You mean the sternum proves that this is indeed the skeleton of a middle-aged man?" I asked. "Well, so to speak. The amount of bone deposits in the cartilage of these ribs can also confirm this. Davis, you go and tell the inspector that I have checked this batch of new bones and there is nothing missing." "Can you make a note of it?" said the sergeant, "because Inspector Berger asked me to give him a written report." The forensic doctor took out a small notebook and asked me while looking for a blank page: "How tall do you think the deceased was?" "About five feet eight, I guess." As I said this, I glanced at the Sergeant, who was looking at me with disapproval. "My guess is five feet eight and a half inches," said the medical examiner. "However, we need to look at the lower leg bones to be sure. Davis, where were these bones found?" "Following this road, there is a pond not far away, in the Rhodes bush area, where it was found. Doctor, the inspector has passed..." "It doesn't matter where he goes." The sergeant interrupted him. "Just answer my question and don't say anything." The sergeant's condemning attitude should be trying to cover up something, so I took immediate action.Although these police officers put on a friendly attitude, they did not really regard me as a group, but deliberately excluded me.I thanked them immediately, agreed to see you again at the coroner's inquest, and hurried away.I found a corner and looked at the entrance of the mortuary from a distance. After a while, Officer Davis came out, and then returned along the way. I waited until his back turned into a blurry little black figure, and then I started to follow him.About half a mile away from the town, he walked towards the outskirts of the forest.At this time, he suddenly turned into a tree-lined path and disappeared. I immediately quickened my pace, and after a while, I saw his figure.He entered a narrow path surrounded by tall shrubs.I continued to follow him, and gradually shortened the distance with him.At this moment, there was a clear rhythm, probably the sound of pumps twitching.It was not long before there was another male conversation, and the officer left the path and walked into the woods. I move on, alert again.I want to use the sound of the water pump to find the location of the police.It wasn't until I made a short detour that I finally approached them from the other end. Guided by the sound of the water pump, I walked to a small glade, and stopped to look around.In the center of the clearing was a small pond about a dozen yards wide, and a construction cart was parked beside it.Apparently, the two-wheeled cart was used to carry the implements on the ground, including a large bucket full of water, shovel, rake, filter, and a small water pump connected to a water pipe.The officer was surrounded by three people, one of whom was operating the water pump and the third was reading the papers the officer had just brought.When I approached him, he looked up and looked at me brusquely. "Hey, you can't come here!" he said. Maybe he found it inappropriate to say this, so he immediately changed his words: "You're not allowed here. We're a private operation." "I know exactly what you're doing, Inspector Berger." "Really?" He smiled slyly, "I think, I also guess what you are doing! Please forgive me, I can't allow you reporters to spy on our work, please go!" I intended to explain my identity to him at once, so I produced the coroner's warrant.He looked at my ID with a look of anger on his face. "Excellent, sir." After finishing speaking, he returned the permit to me, "However, you are not authorized to spy on the police operations! All the bones will be displayed in the morgue. At that time, Just go there and see enough. You are not allowed to stay here!" At first I didn't feel the need to watch their work here, but the sergeant's unintentional hint made me suddenly curious; in addition, Inspector Berger's insistence on driving me away made me even more puzzled.Also, while we were talking, the pump had stopped, and the muddy part of the pond was more than half exposed; at this moment, the inspector's assistant was waiting impatiently with a shovel in hand. "Mr. Inspector, let's put it this way!" I said firmly, "Don't you want to be criticized? Refuse a representative of the deceased's family who has been authorized by the authorities?" "What do you mean?" he said. "What I want to say is, if your newly discovered bones can prove to be Mr. Bellingham's remains, how important this matter is to his family! As you must know, this matter involves a large sum of money. Inheritance, and a tricky will." "I don't understand what you mean, and I don't know what the connection is." He looked at me and said, "However, if you insist on staying here with this reason, there is nothing I can do. But please don't hinder our work! " After saying this, the assistant immediately raised the shovel, walked to the mud at the bottom of the pond, and then kept searching in the pile of things sticking out of the water.The inspector watched anxiously, and kept reminding him to "watch your step".The worker who operated the water pump was standing on the edge of the mud, stretching his neck to look in.And I stood with the inspector in the best position to watch.However, there was no result for a long time.During the period, the assistant squatted down to pick up something, but was disappointed—it was a piece of rotten wood; later, he found the body of a long-decomposed jay.Suddenly, he bent over a small puddle, stared at the mud, then straightened up, and cried out: "This thing looks like bone, sir!" "Don't dig it just yet," said the Inspector. "Shovel up the lump of mud lightly with the shovel and place it in the sieve." The assistant did as he asked, shoveling a large cloud of mud with a shovel to the pond, and others also ran to the place where the screen was placed.The inspector put the sieve in the barrel and directed the police officers and workers to surround it, which meant that they should surround the barrel and try not to involve me.This time the actions were in unison. When they put the mud into the screen, the four of them bent down together, almost completely blocking my sight.I had no choice but to stretch my neck and look inside desperately, only to see a little bit with great difficulty.They soaked the sieve in the water and kept shaking it. Slowly, the mud was washed away. The inspector slowly took the sieve out of the barrel, bent down and inspected it carefully.Obviously, he didn't find anything, because he kept frowning. The officer stood up, turned his head and gave me a weird smile, and held the sieve in front of my face. "Would you like to see what it is, doctor?" he said. I said thank you, and then leaned over to look carefully.It is full of twigs, dead leaves, water plants, water snails, corpses of dead crustaceans, and clear water mussels commonly found in the mud at the bottom of the pond; in addition, there are three small bones, which I felt a little confused when I first looked at them. Slowly, I saw what it was. The inspector looked at me and said: "right?" "Yes," I said, "very interesting!" "I suppose it's a human bone, isn't it?" "I think so, yes," I said. "Then," said the Inspector, "tell me, which finger bones are these?" I held back a laugh and said: "It's not a finger bone, officer. It's the thumb of the left foot." "Damn it!" murmured the Inspector, "that's why it looks a little stout." "It seems to me," I said, "that if you keep digging around here, you might find the whole foot bone." The plainclothes policeman immediately did as I told him, and took the sieve to the pond to sift.Sure enough, after scooping up two large baskets of mud, a complete foot bone finally appeared. "You're proud now," said the Inspector, after he had examined all the bones and made sure they were intact. "I'd be more pleased if I knew what you're trying to get here," I said. "Foot bones aren't what you're after, are they?" "We're not looking for anything in particular," he replied, "we'll keep searching until all the skeletons are found. I'll search all the ponds and streams around here, except for the Connor Pond, of course. Think about it in the end, it’s different from this small pond, and you’ll have to take a boat to salvage it. Maybe the skull was thrown there, it’s much deeper than other ponds.” At this time, I suddenly remembered that the content of my investigation was roughly answered. Although the results were not very great, it was better for me to leave and let the inspector continue his secret salvage work.So after I thanked him, I went back the way I came. But as I walked out of the woods by the path I had come from, I thought about what I had just been at the scene.After careful examination of the metacarpal bone of the amputated finger, I came to the conclusion that the finger must have been amputated posthumously or shortly before death, but more likely posthumously.Evidently someone else had come to the same conclusion as I had and told Inspector Berger about it, otherwise this man would not have been in such a hurry to find the finger bones.What I don't understand is how they know to come here to search, the palm bones were found in the town of Sydka!Also, even if he could find it, what could he prove?There is nothing special about the fingers, at least the bones of the fingers, and the current work should focus on identifying the remains.This matter is indeed very strange. It seems that Inspector Baijie has some kind of undisclosed information.But what exactly is the message?Where did he get it?I could not understand these questions at all, and when I returned to the tavern where the inquest was held, my mind was still blank.I braced myself up, ate something for lunch, and got ready to go to court.