Chapter 518 - Father Jacob (1/2)

The doors of the Church of the Sacred Heart flung open sharp at eight o’clock. Father Jacob appeared at the entrance, carrying two baskets of bread to be handed out to the homeless of the neighborhood.

Zhang Heng and Holmes observed the priest from a corner.

“Your previous deduction was wrong,” said Zhang Heng.

“That’s impossible. Even if there is a slight deviation in the details, it’s unlikely to be too far-off,” Holmes said flatly, albeit looking a little resigned.

They were referring to the deduction Holmes made based on the letter’s handwriting.

“Left-handed, male, between the ages of 30 and 40, of a weak personality, is unstable, traditional, and conservative.” It appeared that apart from his gender, the other inferences, such as being left-handed and age, were incorrect. As for the suspect’s character and personality, it was still too difficult to tell at the moment.

On top of that, Zhang Heng noticed that Father Jacob’s left shoulder appeared to have an injury, most likely due to his advanced age. He held the bread basket with only his right hand, probably because his left hand was too weak. Besides that, Father Jacob’s hair was combed neatly, and while his clothes were well-worn, they were spotless.

Father Jacob embodied the archetype of a typical priest, a little old-fas.h.i.+oned and imposing, yet, filled with warmth and kindness at the same time.

Holmes and Zhang Heng looked at each other, seeing the doubt in the others’ eyes. Up until this point of the investigation, Father Jacob had topped the suspect list, but now that they had actually seen him in person, Zhang Heng felt that the priest’s chances of committing the crime were slim.

Everything else aside, according to Holmes and clues from the crime scene, the killer probably held the victim by the neck with one hand while slicing her throat with the other using a small knife. With Father Jacob’s shoulder injury, it was doubtful he could have done all that strenuous and vigorous maneuvers.

Zhang Heng grabbed hold of a homeless man who had just received a loaf of bread. “My friend, I have some questions for you.”

“What is it?!”

The man looked alarmed, hurriedly concealing the bread in his coat.

Zhang Heng produced a s.h.i.+lling. “Is there anyone else paris.h.i.+ng this church besides Father Matthew and Father Jacob?”

Before he could even answer, the vagrant s.n.a.t.c.hed the s.h.i.+lling and shook his head. “There was a young deacon before this, but he couldn’t stand living in the East End, so he left. Now, there’s only Father Jacob.”

“Does he have a family?”

“No, he has always been alone. He’s been in this church for over thirty years. He has never been married, no children either. Erm… but I heard that he has a cousin, but he’s not in London.”

As the man spoke, his eyes were drawn to the pocket from which Zhang Heng had just taken out his wallet.

Zhang Heng knew what the older man was thinking. It may be daytime, but this was the East End. He gave the man another s.h.i.+lling, but clearly, it wasn’t’ quite enough. Deciding to try something else, Zhang Heng drew his coat back a little to reveal the revolver strapped to his waist.

The vagrant immediately behaved himself. Upon realizing that Eastern man was not someone to be trifled with, he abandoned the idea of robbing him and turned to leave, muttering and cursing under his breath.

Holmes, on the other hand, was already walking towards Father Jacob.