142 – Irene Adler (2)
Jane Watson was waiting for her friend in the ladies’ space inside the cafe. Holmes hadn’t arrived yet, but she looked at the newspaper with a nervous expression.
Of course, she served tea, and didn’t forget to have five scones and a palm-sized pie as a light snack.
Unlike usual, he seemed to have no appetite. Because I had no appetite, I could only eat a little.
Even now, if I listen carefully, I can hear the women sitting next to me talking about the article Watson was reading. No, it wasn’t just them.
Perhaps London, and perhaps the entire UK, is talking about ominous events that have occurred recently.
A few days ago, an unidentified body was found on the banks of the Thames River. It was a common occurrence, and it may have been forgotten as a death that no one would remember.
Right now, in this gray city, no one remembered the deaths of those who fell to death in the alleys, except for the workers who had to remove their bodies. The same was true for those who died in factory accidents, and the same was true for lower-class people who were killed by criminals in the back alleys.
To that extent, living in this city meant always being close to death.
Watson did not think that it was because people were actually cold-blooded or lacked moral sense.
In fact, everyone has no choice but to do that subconsciously.
No matter how rampant death is everywhere, and even if you have to guard your wallet every time you walk down the street and be careful about walking around the streets in the middle of the night, death is just someone else’s business until it comes to you.
It was still like that now.
Watson knew very well that the reason people were talking with interest about the ‘murder case’ was because it had nothing to do with him.
Because my past self was similar.
But I couldn’t do that now. Of course, I couldn’t ‘prove’ to anyone why that was the case. It was a problem that could only be shared with one’s waiting friend.
Unidentified drowned bodies are discovered from time to time, and as sinister rumors circulate that eels living in the Thames river bed eat people, no one would have paid any attention to the newly discovered bodies as usual.
But this time it was a little unusual.
Torso.
The newly discovered body had the so-called severed limbs and head. Someone artificially and as a vicious ‘prank’ threw the body with its limbs and head cut off by the riverside.
Unfortunately, this alone was not enough to attract people’s attention.
This gray city seems to bring a bit of madness to those who live in it, and vicious medical students often play with corpses and throw them away.
As Watson was dissecting right away, she had no choice but to become aware of the existence of people who do such vulgar things, even if she hated them.
Naturally, once again, the police officer who discovered the body of an unrelated person dismissed it as a malicious prank and tried to move on from the incident.
However, there was a mark called ‘M’ on the body’s chest that someone had carved out with a knife.
Accordingly, several newspapers began to use their own imaginations to write articles to sell to people.
However, one body was not enough to attract the attention of Londoners who were accustomed to the difficult and boring life.
Perhaps the person responsible for this vicious prank thought so too.
A few days later, a similar body was found on the banks of the Thames River, and this time it also had the sign of M engraved on it.
Unlike the first body, whose identity was revealed somewhat late, this time the identity was quickly revealed by reporters.
In fact, it was possible because the main character of the second body was a party to a case that had previously attracted considerable attention in British society.
A few years ago, although it did not happen in London, a young man named Edwin Drood, who was expected to become the heir to a wealthy family, suddenly disappeared.
Since he had a fiancee and was scheduled to inherit a huge fortune, he was naturally bound to attract the attention of many people. Above all, Edwin Drood himself was a handsome man and had a good reputation among those around him, so it was easy for reporters to write articles mixed with fiction.
As always, the strange disappearance of a wealthy heir attracted more attention than an article about a street vagrant starving to death.
Watson also vaguely remembered the articles from that time. Several police officers were also brought in, and many articles had been pouring in for several months, including speculation about the culprit surrounding his disappearance.
But in the end, no one was able to find Edwin Drood, and even the articles about some of the prime suspects disappeared at some point, and it seemed like it would end like that.
The news that Edwin Drood, a young man who mysteriously disappeared a few years ago, was suddenly discovered in the Thames River with a second torso was enough to attract the attention of reporters and caused people to start talking explosively.
People were making wild guesses about this strange ‘serial murder’ and relieving their boring daily lives for a little while.
Already in the article Watson was scanning, there were various stupid speculations about the meaning of ‘M’.
There were various claims that M was for Murder, or that M meant the ominous number 13 because it was the 13th in the alphabet, or even the dark inference that 11 more bodies like this would be discovered in the future, but only Watson knew the answer. There was.
Moriarty’s M.
I knew it instinctively. More than anything, I was confident that my friend had called me to personally investigate this matter.
Fortunately, around the time I finished my fifth scone while munching, a new customer came into the cafe, and soon he moved towards Watson himself.
Holmes was no different from usual. However, seeing as he sat down on the chair while grumbling, it was clear that something was amiss.
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“… “What’s going on, Holmes?”
“There was a slight difference of opinion with Mycroft. “At times like this, I don’t like it because it’s old-fashioned and like a civil servant.”
“hahahaha…. That… “You are actually a civil servant.”
First of all, I had met Watson a few times, and he was also Holmes’ older brother, so I couldn’t be quick to take his side and criticize him.
Holmes shook his head as if he didn’t want that either.
“I’ve been insisting on checking the body, but it’s impossible right now, Watson. Actually, Watson, I was planning on taking you with me, but they tried to stop me by saying that I don’t have a medical license yet. That’s nonsense, Watson is a great doctor even if he’s not good at it, brother! “I defended you, Watson.”
“… That’s not advocacy. It’s not wrong. “I have to take a test soon, but I’m not officially a doctor.”
“If you’re good at dissecting, you’ll be good at autopsies, Watson. I can’t see it for myself yet, but it looks terrible. “My brother seemed to be having a bit of a headache for the first time in a long time.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Watson asked. He didn’t seem to hesitate. Because she had already accepted herself as Holmes’ assistant.
And as if it was obvious, Holmes opened his mouth.
“First of all, we can’t touch the Edwin Drood thing right now, it’s attracting too much attention. Oh, by the way, I also made fun of Mycroft. He claimed to be missing, but I said for a long time that I was probably already dead. It’s been a while since I beat my brother. Anyway, we’ll start with our first victim, James Bane. “Watson, I understand you read various newspapers and magazines. Do you know anything about James Vane?”
“… “Are you trying to test me, or are you asking because you really don’t know?”
Watson cautiously asked the sudden question, but Holmes only answered with a smile that made no sense.
So, Watson sighed a little and recited the facts he had organized.
“As expected, he is a person who went missing a few years ago and is a sailor. He was originally a sailor to Australia, but they say he went missing shortly after returning to England. From what I heard, he had some gambling debts, and there was a rumor going around at the time that he had run away because of the debts. After all, you’re going to start by asking about gambling houses and gamblers, right?”
“Don’t identify with gamblers, Watson. “By the way, as a doctor, aren’t you curious about that?”
“What?”
“… The bodies of those who went missing a few years ago were found. “Aren’t you curious about when he died?”
“If I tell you what I think too soon, they will make fun of me again, Holmes. What can I say when I have no clue in the first place? “I won’t be fooled anymore.”
“You have grown uncharacteristically like Watson. Well, it looks like I gained weight again because I ate like that. “The lump of fat is growing needlessly.”
Watson blushed a little and covered his chest at Holmes’s s*xual harassment, but he could not help but question back like an idiot at Holmes’s next words.
“The gambling debt story is classic smoked herring, Watson. It wasn’t a big enough amount to run away in the first place. But… If it were a family issue, it would be different. “So, Watson, you should go to the theater associated with an actress named Sybil Vane.”
“Yes? “I don’t understand now, why?”
“James Vane’s dead sister. They say he was an actor and singer, and they say he hung himself in a theater before James Bain went missing. Wake up quickly, Watson. And shake some crumbs off his chest, because it’s unsightly.”
