London, Upper Town, Whitechapel

This church is one of the earliest churches in London, dating back to before the opening of the Holy Calendar, and due to its more than 300 years of history, the church has been constantly renovated, and the crosses and crucifixes in the hall have all been replaced with decorations in a strong papal style.

As for why it is called Whitechapel, according to legend, the façade of this church was originally painted white, hence the name, and the London government also painted it with a thick layer of white paint to cover the mottled red bricks that leaked out under the rain.

In the evening, the drizzle continued, and instead of rising at the junction of spring and summer, the temperature of the border of London was cool, and a carriage came out of the night and stopped in front of the Whitechapel, where the young judge, Natasha, stepped out of the carriage and walked briskly to the church, and pushed open its side door.

Because London is the first demonstration city for the implementation of electric lighting, most of the gas pipes in the upper town have been replaced with electrical circuits in the past six months, and at this time, the yellowish lights inside Whitechapel are much brighter than ordinary gas lamps, and even dispel some of the cold on rainy nights.

And here, as early as half a month ago, it was requisitioned by the Inquisition Chamber and Scotland Yard and became the office of the Ripper case in London.

The reason is that more than two months ago, the case of prostitutes dismembering the bodies here has led to a great fear of the residents of Shangcheng District for the Whitechapel, basically no one comes here to pray, and it is idle to be idle, plus this is the location of the first crime of the ripper, the police directly use this as an office area, which can be regarded as a declaration of war against the murderer, and show the people that they will definitely solve this case.

After passing through a few small corridors, Natasha pushed open a door to a room at the edge of the church. The Inquisitor is sitting at a desk, sorting through the papers at hand.

Since six months ago, Hopkins has been labeled as a 'framed' man for turning in evidence of Augustine the Great's involvement in the massacre of London's citizens, and has been taken away for examination, not only himself, but also the Third Division of the Inquisition, where he is located.

But in fact, these so-called suspensions are just a rhetoric to the outside world, since Augustine the Great announced his abdication, all reviews of the Third Division of the Inquisition were suddenly terminated, and the Holy See made a very considerable compensation for these officials under investigation, and Hopkins was directly appointed as the supreme judge of the Third Division.

The most outstanding talent of the Inquisition, who has been hailed from the outset as the most outstanding in decades, was assumed by everyone that he would become the youngest judge of the Inquisition Court in the future, and now it seems that his path to promotion is even faster than expected.

"Teacher" Natasha pushed open the door and bowed respectfully to her immediate superior.

Hopkins took off his glasses, rubbed his somewhat astringent eyes, looked at his energetic student, seemed to think of himself who had just entered the courtroom ten years ago, and couldn't help but smile:

"How does it feel to go to the blood prison?"

Of course, the dark and bloody prison is very uncomfortable, but Natasha still has an undaunted attitude: "Prison is a place of punishment for crime, no matter how gloomy it is, it is also on the side of justice, so there is nothing to be afraid of." ”

She responded, though it was clear that she had come to Hopkins for something else:

"Teacher, you know the man named Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes people, right. ”

Hopkins nodded: "Well, what's the problem?" ”

"Do you know his relationship with the Pope?"

This question made Hopkins frown slightly:

"Well, that guy and the Pope. It's kind of acquaintance, why are you asking this? He was careful about his choice of words, and at first he wanted to answer with the word 'friend', but in view of the Pope's transcendent status, he ended up using the vague term 'knowing'.

Natasha was silent for a moment, as if sensing the caution of her teacher's words, and after a few seconds: "After I took that death row prisoner to blood prison, he was picked up by the Pope's maid. ”

"Oh, I already knew about it yesterday."

"I'm a little puzzled, why would the Pope let his personal maid pick up that guy, he's a death row prisoner! I later learned that he had been released from the lowest level of the blood prison! Natasha's tone was obviously dazed and excited: "The lowest level of the blood prison is the most vicious scum, why does the Pope know that kind of person, and the relationship between them seems to be more than just 'acquaintance'." ”

Hearing this, Hopkins looked at his young student and laughed again:

"Looks like you have a deep problem with this."

"Of course!" Natasha's eyes showed extremely obvious incomprehension: "In my cognition, the Holy See is the embodiment of justice, although because it is too large, it will inevitably breed some seeds of evil in its details, but the Holy See as a whole must be bright and righteous, and under the shroud of holy light, the Holy See is the lighthouse that leads mankind to a bright future."

Then the Pope is naturally also the embodiment of justice.

But why would the embodiment of justice meet a criminal who is imprisoned at the bottom of the blood prison?

I. I can't understand it!! ”

Hopkins's smile was filled with a hint of relief, or appreciation, and he felt more and more that the woman in front of him was so similar to his former self, and at this moment, he couldn't help but think of his teacher who had a brief conversation with him in that church half a year ago:

"It's okay if you don't understand, after all, you're still young." Hopkins said patiently: "In fact, when you work in the court for a few more years, you should find that people's attitudes towards [justice] are constantly changing.

You will even gradually discover that justice has nothing to do with the law to some extent.

For the law exists in the imperial code, and justice is in our hearts.

The guy named Sherlock, he was indeed a criminal, according to the laws of the Empire, he should have stayed at the bottom of the blood prison until he died, but that didn't mean that he was evil. ”

Speaking of this, Hopkins himself was suddenly stunned for a moment, remembering what Sherlock had done, and he suddenly changed his words very embarrassed:

"Well, that guy doesn't really have much to do with justice, I admit it, he's a real murderer, or the most insane.

However, you just mentioned the future of humanity.

You may not believe it, but it's such a damn murderer, in a way.

Most of the future of mankind is given by him. ”

Natasha looked at her respected teacher quietly, and she found that she couldn't understand his words more and more, but at this moment, she could clearly feel that many memories flashed in the other party's eyes.

What does the future of mankind have to do with a murderer?

What did he do?

What kind of intersection did the teacher have with the man named Sherlock?

Under the golden light, the young judge seemed to subconsciously fall into some kind of curiosity.

Nothing was said all night.

At noon the next day, London was as foggy as ever.

Sherlock and Watson sat in the carriage in the midst of a carriage and looked at the city that had not been back for four or five months, feeling both familiar and strange.

As a native Londoner, the coachman did not experience the period of the Steam Revolution, but as a resident of the Steam Capital, he had more or less arrogance in his bones, and now, the primary city for the popularization of electricity is also implemented in London, and his sense of pride is even stronger.

Hearing the conversation between the two passengers in the carriage, he said with great pride:

"Construction is underway over there, an underground generator is being installed, and the mayor says that within five years, the entire London energy supply system will be converted into electricity.

When the time comes, those sewers will no longer be spewing white smoke all day long. ”

As he said this, the coachman's body staggered, and he was so arrogant that it was as if he had completely forgotten that he was a cart puller:

"To tell you the truth, I really want to thank Mr. Franklin, electricity is really good, and this month I can clearly feel that the poor workers in the factory have money in their pockets, and they dare to call a carriage within two kilometres I have made 12 pounds this week!"

"Oh, I also heard that the soldiers on the front line have begun to train to control demons, and I don't know how this kind of thing was studied, Professor Darwin is worthy of being a genius."

"Also, the people who promote these things are indeed worthy of the gratitude of the people of the whole empire."

The coachman's emotion was full of hope, and Sherlock looked at the street outside the window, with a smile on his lips, and he could see that he was in a good mood.

After crossing long streets and crossing the Thames Bridge, they finally came to a secluded villa complex after more than an hour.

Watson has a very unique view of the concept of 'beauty', looking at the distribution of greenery around him, as well as the style of architecture in the whole area, he knows that the people who can live here are either rich or expensive.

"By the way, I haven't asked yet, who is the murder target that the ripper said?" Watson looked at the beautiful scenery around him and seemed very satisfied, so he asked in hindsight.

"Nightingale." Sherlock said, stepping out of the carriage.

Breathing in the rare fresh air, he stretched out his arms comfortably and walked towards a villa in front of him.

"Hey, what are you doing standing, let's go."

Watson frowned, as if he was still hesitating, whether he had heard something wrong just now:

"Who are we going to see now?"

"Nightingale." Sherlock Road.

(End of chapter)