2nd floor of the Wells Inn.

The room at the scene of the crime was crowded with people, all of whom were travelers who lived here.

On Arthur's orders, all travelers were detained at the hotel until the investigation of the crime scene was completed.

The police officers who arrived here in advance had already finished interrogating everyone, and when they saw Arthur coming, they just handed over the investigation records in their hands to their superiors.

"Sir, this is the information gathered so far, please take a look."

Arthur took the information and did not look at it immediately, but first glanced at the layout of the room.

It was a relatively cramped and irregular house, and the furnishings were simple, with a bed barely enough for two people to lie down normally, a bedside table for miscellaneous items, and an extinguished gas lamp on the cabinet.

Directly opposite the door was a wooden sun window with a black curtain, and below the window was an iron canister about two inches high.

The two deceased were lying on the bed, their faces covered with a white cloth, and some yellow and white vomit remained on the washed white sheets and pillowcases.

Arthur sniffed lightly with his nose, and there was indeed a faint smell of gas left in the room.

Arthur flipped through the materials in his hand and asked as he flipped through them, "Have you examined the bodies of the deceased?" ”

The patrol officer nodded and said, "After examination, the deceased did not have any wounds on his body, and there were no traces of a fight at the scene, so we preliminarily judged that he should not have died of violent crimes."

And there is indeed a smell of gas at the scene, which you may not feel noticeable now, but when we first arrived, the house was full of that smell, and it took a long time to open the window to disperse the smell.

Sir, I think the case is almost closed, there is nothing more to investigate about a gas leak accident. ”

As soon as the patrol officer finished speaking, the passengers standing outside the door also opened their mouths and demanded: "That's right! Hurry up and close the case, we've all been locked up here for more than two hours, and the big guys still have their own things to do! ”

The sturdy middle-aged man standing next to the patrol officer also said with a smile: "Yes, the guests have something to do, and I have to open the door to do business!" Mr. Officer, you may not know that the rent on Central Street is not cheap, and my profit every month is only a few days' room money. ”

Arthur looked up at the middle-aged man, "So, you're the innkeeper, Mr. Wells?" ”

The middle-aged man took off his hat and put it on his chest, nodded and said, "Nice to meet you, Superintendent Hastings." ”

Arthur closed the notebook and asked, "How do you know I'm a police inspector and not a sheriff?" ”

"Uh......" Wells paused, then pointed to Arthur's epaulettes and said, "You have stars, I remember sheriffs are all three Vs, that's how I saw it." ”

"Oh, really?" Arthur returned the information book to the patrol officer on the side: "I thought you heard about it from my colleagues, but I didn't expect you to know how to recognize the epaulettes of Scotland Yard." How? Have you worked in Scotland Yard before? ”

"Uh......" Wells' smile froze, but he quickly waved his hand in denial, "No, no, no, I haven't worked in Scotland Yard, but I have a nephew who used to be there, and I heard about it from him." ”

When Arthur heard this, he didn't ask any more questions, he just stared at Wells, and then went into the room and uncovered the white cloth over the deceased's face.

The deceased's face was covered with pale makeup, and her face was slightly purple and blue under the pale skin.

Arthur frowned and thought about it, and he suddenly remembered some of the knowledge about chemical gases they had exchanged privately after Faraday's speech that day.

He stretched out two fingers to pry open the deceased's closed mouth, put his nose up and sniffed, and there was a faint sweet smell in the deceased's mouth.

When the onlookers on the side saw this situation, they couldn't help but wonder: "What is this for?" ”

"Mr. Officer, hurry up, we're all in a hurry."

But Arthur ignored them and walked straight in front of Wells, the innkeeper.

"Mr. Wells, you said in your testimony that the deceased died from a gas leak?"

Arthur's body was between the window and Wells, and the room was flooded with sunlight, but when he got to Wells, all he could see was shadows.

Wells' throat twitched slightly, he swallowed and spat, and nodded slowly: "That's right, I think they may have died from a gas leak." ”

"Why do you think so?"

When Wells heard this, his eyes slowly widened, and he suddenly became angry: "Isn't this something on the table!" When a person dies and there is a smell of gas in the house, what else could it be because of a gas leak?

Officer, will you investigate the case, if you don't, then you will do it again! With so many police officers in Scotland Yard, can't you find one who can do it!

You just call the old sheriff, he does a good job, and a young man like you still needs to learn from him! ”

"Old sheriff? You mean Willocks? Arthur suddenly smiled: "What is he going to do with the case?" ”

Wells was furious and spat at the mouth: "What the hell! You're a police officer, and you're still going to ask me how to do the case? Damn it! Efficient, fast, and unruly, this kind of police officer is what we poor citizens need! ”

After speaking, he didn't forget to shout at the passengers behind him: "The big guy thinks I said it, right?" ”

Agares, who had been riding through the window to watch the play, couldn't help but look up and laugh when he saw this scene, and his tongue was almost dragging to the ground.

The Red Devil scoffed, "This idiot! He was almost writing the words 'I killed the man' on his face, and when the little trick was punctured, he became angry, and I couldn't find a second adjective to embellish him except 'incompetent'. ”

The onlookers were also baffled by Wells's unprovoked outburst.

Someone opened his mouth and said, "Mr. Officer, it's almost enough, you see Mr. Wells is losing his temper." ”

"It's just an ordinary accident, there's nothing to investigate."

When Arthur saw this, he didn't say much, but calmly said to the police officer next to him: "Take the innkeeper Wells back to the police station." ”

Several police officers were stunned at first, but at the critical moment, Tom and Tony reacted quickly, and they rushed forward with a brisk step, pressing Wells to the ground on the left and right.

Wells flailed his arms angrily on the ground, and he slammed his foot three inches below Tony's navel, struggling to get up and run away.

Tony was in pain for a moment, and rolled down the floor with his little belly to the side, and he scolded as he rolled back, "Fuck! They were all stunned for what to do, and quickly pressed him down. Exercise! I'm not married......"

The other police officers also reacted at this time, and four or five people rushed up, suppressing Wells like a stack of arhats.

Wells roared with red eyes, "Why are you arresting me? I didn't kill anyone! ”

Arthur crouched down and asked, "Did I say you killed someone?" ”

"I ......" Arthur had just said this, and Wells's swear words were suddenly blocked in his throat.

The passengers were shocked by the sudden scene in front of them, and they didn't know why the situation that had been peaceful a second ago suddenly became like this.

"Mr. Officer, can you explain to us what happened?"

Arthur said, pointing to the two dead men lying on the bed.

"As far as I know, if the deceased had died of gas poisoning, there would have been a strong foul smell left in her mouth.

But just now instead of smelling the foul smell from the deceased's mouth, I smelled a slightly sweet smell.

Moreover, the deceased's face did not leave the cherry red spots that matched the gas poisoning, but was slightly blue and purple, which not only did not look like gas poisoning, but rather seemed to die of suffocation.

It is therefore my intention to bring Mr. Wells back to the police for further investigation. But I don't know why Mr. Wells is suddenly angry, and I wonder about that. ”

At this point, Arthur turned his head to Wells, "I've explained everything, can you explain to me why you're angry?" ”

When the travelers heard this, they also fell silent one by one, and they looked at Wells with suspicion, and the voices of whispers came and went.

"Oh my God! So, it could be a murder? ”

"The innkeeper killed two prostitutes?"

"I ......" Wells' lips quivered, his mind was a mess, and his whole body was trembling, "I, I thought you were trying to arrest me, Mr. Officer, it's all a misunderstanding. ”

Arthur shrugged, "I hope it's all a misunderstanding, and I'm inclined to think you're innocent before anything comes to light." Therefore, in order to find out the truth, please cooperate as much as possible. ”

He held out his hand to Wells.

Wells forced an ugly smile, and before he could take Arthur's hand, he heard Arthur's voice sound again.

"Send at once to the London Gas Lamp and Coke Company in Westminster, and the gas canister by the window has their label on it, and you go and find out when it was delivered.

Also, immediately send someone to the nearby store to inquire and ask if they are selling nitrous oxide. If they sell, ask for their ledger and see if anyone has bought it in large quantities lately.

By the way, it also has a nickname, called 'laughing gas', this thing has a slightly sweet taste, and overdose will have a strong anesthetic effect, the same symptoms as the victim.

I deduced that the victim probably had swallowed too much of this stuff, causing him to lose consciousness and eventually suffocate himself with a pillow on his bed.

You were too careless when you investigated the scene, two people lived in the same room, but there was only one pillow in the room, why didn't this kind of thing be written in the investigation record?

And ......"

The more Wells listened, the more chills felt all over his body, his lips and teeth chattered, his whole body lost his strength, and he collapsed to the ground like mud.

Arthur glanced at him and asked with a smile: "Mr. Wells, don't worry, I don't know why the perpetrator killed someone, do you know anything about this?" Nitrous oxide is not cheap, and it also costs a can of gas.

By the way, you mentioned Willocks, and you said that he had come to check before, so did this hotel have a similar case before? ”