"You asked a friend to help you keep an eye on the Sacred Heart Church in the afternoon? Why, did you already begin to doubt Father Jacob at that time?"
In the carriage, Holmes looked a little surprised.
"No, I didn't doubt Father Jacob at that time, and this matter was not just about the Sacred Heart Church," Zhang Heng shook his head, "You said before that the source of the letter was the church, although we ruled out Yacob in the morning. Father Jacob was suspected, but I did not give up this clue completely. Instead, I asked a friend to help me conduct a detailed investigation of several churches in the Whitechapel district. In order to easily identify the attitudes of those churches towards prostitutes, she even put on makeup herself. Became a prostitute."
"Is it Miss Irene Adler?" A look of understanding appeared on Holmes's face. "She is indeed superior to me in terms of makeup skills."
"That's right." Zhang Heng said.
"You do seem to be very serious about this bet, but I must say," said Holmes, "it is not a wise move to put a beautiful lady in danger, especially when the area around Whitechapel is under a heavy threat. While in the shadow of the most horrific serial killer.”
Zhang Heng was also very honest, "The development of the matter was indeed beyond my expectation. The original plan was to meet up with Mark Cohen after I completed the investigation, but I didn't expect to meet the police at Mark Cohen's residence."
Because Zhang Heng has been hanging out with Holmes in recent months, Scotland Yard police officers such as Gregson and Lestrade are familiar with him. However, the police officers at the bottom know very little about him. In fact, the police at the bottom know very little about him. The police officer didn't know Holmes very well either.
Zhang Heng met two police officers at Mark Cohen's residence and had no idea of his identity. Seeing that it was still quite some time before the end of the dungeon, Zhang Heng did not want to fall out with Scotland Yard just because of a misunderstanding, so He chose to hand over his weapons directly.
He originally thought that he would meet acquaintances when he arrived at the police station, but after he told the police officers guarding him about his situation, he caught up with Holmes and joked with him, but no one released him.
It was not until after the investigation of Mark Cohen that Zhang Heng had time to join the female singer. By this time, it was completely dark. However, he happened to encounter a carriage on the road and overturned a fruit cart. The driver and the fruit farmer After arguing there for a long time, Zhang Heng and Holmes had to find another carriage. By the time they arrived in the East District, it was already around nine o'clock in the evening.
"Did you and her agree to meet here before?" Holmes asked after getting out of the car.
The two of them were now standing in a small square, which was considered a relatively prosperous place in the East District. However, there was no sign of Irene Adler nearby.
Although Zhang Heng had been worried about the female singer before, in fact Irene's situation was not as dangerous as imagined, not only because the police increased the number of patrols after the three murders, but also because of the arrest of Mark Cohen, regardless of whether Father Jacob What is the relationship with Jack the Ripper? He obviously wanted to use Mark Cohen to replace Jack the Ripper. If this is the case, then Mark Cohen was caught by the police and Jack the Ripper should have gone into hiding.
But for some reason, the female singer is still missing.
Is it because you waited too long and went home first? It’s hard to say, because after all, Zhang Heng arrived several hours later than the agreed time, and Irene Adler didn’t seem like someone who would stand in one place and wait.
However, with the female singer's intelligence, even if she leaves, she will surely find a way to notify Zhang Heng who is coming here.
Zhang Heng was now worried that Irene Adler was a little too smart. He discovered something unusual about Father Jacob and alerted the latter by pursuing it all the way, so he didn't plan to just wait.
The Sacred Heart Church had closed at eight o'clock, and Father Jacob lived in a small house behind the church. Zhang Heng and Holmes rushed there, but when they looked out the window, the house was completely dark. Zhang Heng climbed through the window and Holmes walked through the front door. The two surrounded the small room, but after entering, it was empty.
There was only an old dog lying on the floor, but it was so old that it could hardly move. When it saw a stranger intruding, it didn't even bark.
Holmes lit a candle, and by the candlelight the two of them quickly scanned the surroundings.
Different from Mark Cohen's bloody cabin, Father Jacob's residence is a normal priest's residence. The decorations are very simple. There is also a Bible that has been read countless times beside the bed. In addition, There was nothing else of note in the outhouse.
According to the descriptions of the prostitutes, Father Jacob's daily life is also very simple and regular, which can even be called rigid.
He was either at church or at home, and rarely went anywhere else, so the fact that he was not at home now that the church was closed seemed unusual.
Holmes walked half a circle around the kitchen, opening his mouth to think of something, but in the end he said nothing.
Zhang Heng, on the other hand, couldn't care less about the situation over there. Irene Adler was missing and Father Jacob didn't return. These two things happened together and made the situation a little bad.
In particular, the female singer was involved in this matter because of his entrustment. If something happened to her, it would be difficult for Zhang Heng to forgive himself, so he must find Father Jacob as quickly as possible.
However, compared with Mark Cohen, Father Jacob is obviously much more rigorous. There is no mental journey on his desk, and the only notebook is related to theology.
The whole house could be described as watertight. Zhang Heng stood in front of the desk and closed his eyes. After half a minute, he opened his eyes again and said, "Church."
"Um?"
"No matter what relationship Father Jacob has with Jack the Ripper, it will not change the fact that he is a devout clergyman. Jack the Ripper got information about those prostitutes from him, but as a priest, He has an obligation to keep the content of his confession confidential. I don’t think he intentionally leaked it, so Jack the Ripper must have overheard it.” Zhang Heng paused and finally concluded, “There is probably a secret room in the church. , right next to the confessional."
"under."
"Um?"
"The secret room is not next to the confession room, but below. The basement of the confession room is empty." Holmes said, "I discovered this when I was doing confession before. The sound of stepping on the floor was very obvious. I thought it was there." There’s a cellar or something.”
