"Excuse me, can I come in and retrieve something?" Mr. Pasteur stood in the doorway of the room and asked Officer Christopher for instructions.

Looking at his expression, he seemed to realize that there was something wrong with his request.

After all, before the dust settles, this is still the scene of the crime.

"Something." Officer Christopher asked.

If it weren't for some crucial evidence, it wouldn't be fine.

"It's a paper." Mr. Pasteur replied.

"What paper?"

"Just a few days ago, I sent Mr. Atwood a study on aquatic animals that I hoped would be appreciated by him. It doesn't look like it's needed anymore."

I don't know if Mr. Atwood has read it, but it is clear from the current situation that he is no longer in a position to write letters of recommendation to Mr. Pasteur.

"Hmm......" Officer Christopher thought for a moment, then replied, "Okay, you can come in and find it yourself, just be careful not to mess with anything else."

It's just a paper, so it shouldn't make a difference, right?

"Thank you."

With that, Mr. Pasteur cautiously entered, and began to search inside Mr. Atwood's room.

He is also quite cautious, trying not to touch unnecessary objects, so that the scene can be kept as original as possible.

Soon, he found his paper on the table.

A thick pile of manuscript was crushed under the candlestick.

"Ah, I found it." Monsieur Pasteur gently removed the candle, took out the paper underneath, and put the candlestick back in its place, "Huh? This is ......."

He frowned, as if he had encountered something wrong.

"Did you find it?" Officer Christopher asked.

"Well, I found it." Mr. Pasteur said, wiping the paper with his sleeve, "Strange, why can't you wipe it off?"

"What's wrong?" Officer Christopher wondered, "Is there something wrong with the paper?"

It can't be related to the case, right?

"Well, it's nothing, it's just a little stained on it." "It doesn't look like ink," replied Mr. Pasteur Pasteur, "but rather from the base of the candlestick."

Judging from the pattern of this arc, it does look like the base of the candlestick.

"Huh?" Bella frowned slightly, "Why are there candlesticks?"

She felt a little strange.

There are lights installed in this room, and candles are normally not used. Even if you need to keep a candle flame for you just in case, you don't usually put it on the table.

Not only does that take up a lot of space, but it can also be accidentally bumped into, which is obviously a bit of a hindrance.

Besides, it's still daytime, so it's time to put it away.

Did Mr. Atwood use candles for something before he died?

What could it be?

Generally, when an open flame is used, the easiest thing to think of is what to burn. Could it be that Mr. Atwood wants to destroy some documents? However, there does not appear to be any ash left by the burning of paper in this room.

Or maybe he had just finished writing a letter that needed to be sealed with fire paint?

Bella stepped forward and looked at Mr. Pasteur's papers. It does have a little black stain on it.

The shape looked like a very regular arc, like one that can only be drawn with a compass.

However, the color is not particularly dark, not like the hand animation on it.

It doesn't interfere with reading, but it is a little conspicuous on this white paper.

But the whole room was relatively tidy as far as the eye could see, and Mr. Atwood did not look like the kind of person who would put things around at will.

Bella picked up the candlestick next to her and examined the base.

There is still some black substance left on it.

She placed the paper on the table, then put the candlestick back on the stain, and the marks just matched.

It seems that it is indeed printed on the bottom of the candlestick, which should not be wrong.

But why does this silver candlestick have a black substance on the base?

"This is ......," Bella sniffed, "gunpowder?"

Gunpowder again.

Why is the base of the candlestick stained with gunpowder?

Not only on the windows, but now even on the base of the candlestick, gunpowder has appeared.

It would be reasonable to say that the bullet holes in the glass were caused by gunshots, and then there would be some remnants of gunpowder.

So why is gunpowder on it?

Could it be that Mr. Atwood, sitting at his desk, shot himself?

This old-fashioned flintlock musket requires front-loading ammunition, and the amount of gunpowder used is, of course, also important. In the process of filling, it is very dangerous to be close to the source of fire.

Although, for a person who intends to commit suicide, this danger should not matter. But it's not like you're going to do it.

It's very unconscionable.

Well, there must be some special reason for the appearance of the candlestick.

Why, exactly? Bella was puzzled.

"So Mr. Pasteur is a researcher of aquatic animals?" Elena came over at some point, looked at Mr. Pasteur's paper and said, "No wonder you came to Mr. Atwood."

"Well, actually, I'm mainly engaged in material research." Mr. Pasteur explained, "Because Mr. Atwood is interested in making water, I do what I like. The content of this paper is a study on how to extract useful substances from aquatic animals."

"Extracting aquatic animals?" Elena also seemed to be a little interested, "Do you make caviar?"

Isn't this habit of thinking influenced by Anna?

"Ugh...... Not really." Mr. Pasteur smiled awkwardly, "It's not just cooking, it's material extraction. Well...... How so...... It's kind of like alchemy. For example, people who eat tuna regularly will have fewer vascular diseases and their eyesight will improve. Then, the body of tuna must contain something special that can help human blood vessels or blood, as well as vision. If this kind of thing can be refined and mass-produced, it can be made into medicine to save patients who are suffering from this problem. That would not only benefit mankind, but also have certain economic benefits."

"Huh? So why don't you just eat tuna?" Elena said she didn't understand.

Since eating fish can be solved, then eat fish, why bother so much and eat it after extracting it?

"Well...... Not everyone likes fish. Moreover, if we understand the principle of this, we can improve the purity of specific substances in a targeted manner, and then improve the efficacy, right?"

"I still don't understand, but it sounds amazing!" Elena praised.

Isn't that a compliment? Although she still felt a bit too much.

"May I ask Mr. Pasteur, is there any way to speed up the ossification of a corpse after death?" Officer Christopher asked.

Since Mr. Pasteur is doing relevant research, he may know nothing.

"Hmm......" Mr. Pasteur thought for a moment, then shook his head regretfully, "I'm sorry, I really don't know. Because, the most direct cause of the stiffness of the corpse is the loss of vitality of the muscles. At the same time, the heart's pumping function stops, and the flow of blood stagnates. In general, the corpse will begin to stiffen within an hour or two of death, and will be completely stiff for about half a day, after which it will begin to soften again. These are affected by the loss of the body's function. In fact, this is similar to hot water cooling down. If we want to keep the hot water warm, we can put a lid on it or continue to burn it on the fire. But what do you do if you want it to cool down as quickly as possible? You can only keep it at a low temperature, or just add ice cubes to it. These two types of methods obviously do not work for the situation of mortis. In short, there are some measures to delay the mortis, but I haven't really heard of any possible way to speed it up."

"Mr. Pasteur." Hearing this, Bella suddenly spoke, "Then may I ask, is there any way to prolong the clotting time of blood?"

"You mean, you want to stop the blood from clotting?" Mr. Pasteur asked rhetorically.

"Hmm...... Almost. When blood is exposed to air, it should clot quickly, right?" Bella said, "Is there a way to make it not solidify so quickly?"

"Well, yes."

"Oh? Is there really a way?" Officer Christopher wanted to know too.

"As long as specific anticoagulant substances are added, the blood can maintain a fluid state for a certain period of time and prevent clotting." "Moreover," replied Mr. Pasteur, "there are many substances that have such an effect."

"Really?" Elena was also curious and asked, "What are the substances?"

"For example, in my paper, there is a kind of mentions." Mr. Pasteur said, flipping through the stack of papers, "here."

As he spoke, he left one of the pages to show to everyone.

"It's about ......," Elena read the passage he was referring to, "leeches?"

"That's right." Mr. Pasteur explained, "Leeches are known to be freshwater creatures and resilient, surviving in rivers, lakes, paddy fields, ditches, lakes and marshes. They mainly feed on the blood of other animals for their livelihood. Because once an animal is injured, the blood in its body will quickly collect at the wound and coagulate to achieve the purpose of inhibiting bleeding. The leech's body contains a special substance that can prevent blood from clotting. If this substance is refined, it can help treat some patients with blood clots."

"You mean, just take that kind of thing and add it to the blood, so that the blood won't clot for a short time?" Officer Christopher asked.

"To be exact, the blood will not clot for quite some time." Mr. Pasteur said.