The crisp children's voices and weird nursery rhymes made Arthur couldn't help but stand up, pulling on the tree next to him and looking down the cliff.
Fortunately, where he stood, although it was steep, it was not too high from below.
In the dark night, he vaguely saw a dozen children running towards the beach. They seemed to be picking up seafood left on the beach after the tide went out.
That nursery rhyme was very peculiar. One of the children kept asking questions, and each of the remaining children sang a line.
The child asked, "Who killed the mockingbird?"
Immediately one of the children answered: "It was I, the sparrow, who killed the mockingbird, with my bow and arrows."
The child asked again: "Who saw him die?"
Another child added: "It was me, fly. I saw him die with my little eyes."
"Who took his blood?"
"It's me, Fish. I take his blood with my little dish."
"Who will make the shroud?"
"It is I, Beetle, and I will make his shroud, with my needle and thread."
"Who will dig the grave?"
"It is I, Owl, and I will dig his grave, with my chisel and shovel."
“Who will be the pastor?”
After that, Arthur could no longer hear it. Hearing such scary nursery rhymes from the mouths of cheerful children always made him feel very uncomfortable.
But this is Britain. The people at the bottom often make up such cold and insensitive nursery rhymes to satirize the upper class who only care about eating, drinking and enjoying themselves.
Arthur shook his head and patted the dust on his body. When passing by the church, he saw many people praying inside.
Arthur did not go in, but returned to the dormitory that had been prepared for him.
Maybe he was tired from walking around the church during the day. After reading the human-covered book for a while, he fell asleep immediately.
Arthur woke up in bed in the early morning. He was quite surprised that his soul wandering did not appear last night. This sleep made him sleep very comfortably.
But he didn't care too much, soul wandering didn't happen every time.
At this moment, a rapid bell suddenly rang outside, and Arthur heard anxiety and panic from it.
He quickly tidied up and hurried out of the room.
He lives in the manor at the back, and there is not even a servant in sight at the moment.
Arthur walked into the church like this, only to find that the church was already crowded with people. Arthur couldn't help but feel his heart sinking. He pushed aside the crowd and saw Father Ovie, covered in blood, lying in the arms of the nun. .
The nun was very sad and kept crying while holding Ovie.
The other people around were either sad or frightened. After a while, an old woman dressed as a housekeeper entered the church pushing a wheelchair.
There was an old man sitting in the wheelchair. He looked like he was eighty or ninety years old. His wrinkled skin, cloudy eyes, and even his bald head were covered with age spots.
When he saw Father Ovie lying in a pool of blood, he tried to stand up from the wheelchair, but was immediately stopped by the butler behind him.
Arthur guessed that this old man must be Father Ovie's elder.
Sure enough, the police from the town rushed over immediately. When they saw the old man, they immediately said: "Sir St. Clair, please express your condolences. We will definitely find the murderer for the death of your son, Father Ovie."
The old knight didn't pay much attention to the policeman, but looked at Arthur and asked him: "Who are you?"
Arthur hurried forward and replied: "My name is Arthur Conan Doyle. Because I had something to ask Father Ove yesterday, I stayed at your manor all night."
The old knight stretched out his hand, "I know you, Mr. Doyle. So can you please come to my room and have a chat?"
Arthur could only nod in obedience, and he pushed the wheelchair to the old jazz's room.
The old knight still looked sad and said to Arthur: "I am Isaac St. Clair. The dead Ovie is my only son."
Arthur hurriedly said: "Please have your condolences, Sir St. Clair."
Isaac waved his hand, "I want to ask you to do me a favor and help me find the murderer of my son. Please agree to it."
Arthur couldn't help but be curious and asked tentatively: "Didn't the police come just now? And how did you know that I would investigate the case?"
Isaacs sighed, "The police who came just now are from the town. They don't care about our St. Clair family. As for how we know that you will investigate the case, that's because we nobles have a special channel to transmit news."
Arthur frowned. He still didn't quite believe the old Isaac's answer, but he couldn't refuse the old man's request, so he agreed.
In the church, Ovie's body had been moved to the apse, and Arthur found the town police officer and told his situation.
Upon hearing Arthur's name, the police officer who arrived immediately showed a look of great respect.
"Hello, my name is Vernon Brady. I am the only Sheriff in Roslyn. It is an honor to meet you Mr. Doyle."
Arthur saw his enthusiasm and asked, "You can just call me Arthur. I am now entrusted by the old knight to help investigate this case. Please don't be offended."
"Where, with the help of a celebrity like you, it's not too late for me to be happy!"
Arthur shook hands with the other person, and then said: "I am a student at Edinburgh Medical College. I believe you must know this. Can you let me check Father Ovie's body?"
"Of course it's good. We feel relieved that someone like you serves as the coroner in this case."
There were no medical examiners in this era, and coroners were also called coroners. Previously, they were held by knights or higher nobles.
They almost determined the direction of the case. Even now, the county recommends people with good moral character to take charge. Whether they have medical knowledge is not that important.
Arthur uncovered the white cloth, and the blood all over his body made Sheriff Vernon subconsciously turn his face away.
Apparently such murders rarely occur in the town of Roslyn.
Arthur carefully unbuttoned Father Ove's robe and the white shirt underneath, and saw that his chest was already bloody.
Arthur couldn't see the edge of the knife clearly, so he could only wipe it with clean water again before he could tell that there were fourteen knife wounds on Ovie's body.
Almost all the organs in his body were punctured.
Arthur couldn't help but frown when he saw it. What kind of resentment caused the murderer to be so cruel.
Although he had only been in contact with Father Ovie for one day, he could feel that Ovie, apart from being a bit nagging, was also a complete nerd.
How could someone like him arouse so much hatred!
As he thought about it, he couldn't help but ask, Vernon, who was still turning his back to the body.
“Is there any property missing from the church, or anything?”
Sheriff Vernon covered his mouth and shook his head, "The nuns have checked everything and nothing is missing."
"Then do you know who Father Ove has ever had a grudge against?"
Vernon thought for a moment, "Some time ago, there was a child in a family in town who was said to be possessed by a demon. Father Ove was found at his home, but after Father Ove went there, he said that the child was mentally ill. , and as a result, the child died in the mental hospital a few days later."
