149 – Decadentists (4)
However, Jane Watson was recognized by Holmes as a destructive lover and a gambling enthusiast who enjoyed danger and thrills, so she soon became calm.
No, Watson couldn’t even recognize the smile on her lips at the thought of her participating in something truly dangerous.
Holmes, who had already expected this, calmly watched his poor friend. He was slowly getting closer to his destination, so he had to get ready.
While I was taking out the items I had brought to prepare, Watson asked back with excitement.
“That… Then Lord Dorian Gray… “Are you saying you murdered a painter named Basil Hallward?”
“Watson, I have repeatedly emphasized that being certain is the most imprudent thing to do.”
“… “Holmes, you always say it’s just an inference, but you say it before you can be sure.”
“What I do is conviction based on logical reasoning and observation. “Watson, it’s not like living thoughtlessly like you.”
“Holmes, what on earth do you think of me?”
“Shh. First, wear this. “Hide your face well, Watson.”
“This?”
Watson was displeased with his friend’s actions of interrupting him and throwing up his hood, but when he thought that he was doing something bad, he started to get excited.
Actually, what my friend threw was a fairly familiar one. It was a mask similar to the one used when attacking Milverton’s mansion.
Since he had already robbed a mansion as a thief once, Watson began to skillfully cover his face with a mask, even though no one had told him. Of course he even pointed out points that Holmes would never have thought of.
“But is it okay to just cover my face like this?”
“Enough.”
“But…” ….”
Watson couldn’t help but lower his furtive gaze towards Holmes and the lower part of his own head. He always had a pretty body.
Of course, Watson was not an autophiliac, so he was just appreciating it while looking at his friend’s body, but it was certainly a sentiment that could have been shared by Watson himself.
And it was also a body that revealed such characteristics that may serve as good evidence to distinguish Watson and Holmes from others.
Holmes noticed this and shrugged his shoulders.
“Anyway, it’s meaningless unless the other person can prove it, Watson. Above all, the other person probably doesn’t want to make a really big deal out of it either. “You’re a nobleman, Watson.”
“Hmm, I guess so.”
When Watson heard that he was an aristocrat who valued honor and respect, he couldn’t help but wonder. And then Holmes continued explaining to Watson again, as if showing off his knowledge.
“The missing artist Basil Hallward himself is interesting in many ways. Have you ever seen the Nautilus series, Watson? “He was also exhibited at the National Gallery.”
“…… You mean the picture of a giant squid and a monster ship made of iron tangled together? I remember seeing it. Was it that painter?”
When Holmes and Watson were children, an unidentified ship called the Nautilus, a whale known to the public to be made of iron, or an enemy country’s weapons sank several ships or caused a disturbance.
Of course, its identity is still unknown, so today it has become something of a ghost story of the sea, like the old Kraken.
The Nautilus series that Watson remembered were also huge paintings depicting such ghost stories, and were quite famous at one time in British society.
“Yes, he was quite a talented painter. He was an unusual person in many ways. “Like me, my ancestors were fairies, and maybe because of that, even though I couldn’t do magic, my paintings often had a mysterious or magical quality that seemed to mesmerize people.”
In response to Holmes’ meaningful remark, Watson had no choice but to ask cautiously, unknowingly crossing his throat.
“That… then… …. “Are you saying it has something to do with this incident?”
“No. “I’m just telling you, Watson, to use your useless imagination.”
“Ho… “Holmes!”
Watson was once again convinced that his friend was clearly too much for him. Nevertheless, the carriage arrived at Dorian Gray’s mansion.
Meanwhile, Dorian Gray was waiting alone in his room, anxious and anxious, for the visit of an uninvited guest. He was biting his nails ungracefully without realizing it, but there was no one to say anything to him.
Ever since the vicious anonymous threat message came to him, he could not help but feel anxious until this day came.
How on earth did they know?
As a sinner, he could not help but think about that.
In fact, the letter that came to him was one that an ordinary person might dismiss as a vicious prank. No, even Dorian Gray himself might have normally ignored it.
You must not react. That was the iron rule. He most definitely turned a blind eye and didn’t even respond.
But thanks to the torsos on the Thames that people have been talking about lately, he couldn’t do that. The first body discovered was the one he had once commissioned.
And the mysterious M, who was clearly plotting all of this, ignored himself as if it were natural and was still making up similar things. It was an insulting treatment to Dorian Gray, but he could not say anything because his opponent was aware of his weaknesses.
“No…. He won’t be able to find basil. Yes, M, even if he is a villain, he is sure to get the job done.”
But what if he just believes that?
He muttered out loud to hide his anxiety, but at the same time, the anxiety that his hidden sins might be revealed shook him.
Actually, what would you have expected just from this incident? It was believed that M was asked to dispose of the body, but in fact, he was secretly storing it!
There was no guarantee that Basil Hallward’s body would not do the same. At least that’s how Dorian saw it.
Dorian Gray unknowingly recalled the dead Basil Hallward, no, he recalled the Basil Hallward he had murdered.
Then he trembled involuntarily, as if he had seen the ghost of Basil Hall Ward. These were the words of a man who had already committed several evil deeds and was no longer an innocent young man; instead, his soul had become old and ugly, like the face in his portrait as he grew older.
He thought about the past for a moment.
Dorian himself, a simple young man, was close to Basil Hallward, and like Sarah who had found his muse, the painter worshiped him as a model and even painted his portrait.
In the portrait, he was beautiful in his 20s, but Dorian was saddened by the fact that he would grow old one day. The same was true for Basil, who drew it.
From then on, something strange happened. The portrait changed little by little, but strangely enough, Dorian himself did not change.
He didn’t try to find the reason. Because it was a strange thing. Even though he had not sold his soul to a demonic being, strange things were happening.
Instead, he became more and more afraid of looking at portraits, and at some point, he always covered the portraits that decorated his study with cloth.
It was around that time that he accidentally killed Basil Hallward. Realizing that the portrait was aging him, he tried to burn it in front of Dorian, as if he had seen the devil, and instinctively, to prevent this, he had to kill the painter.
However, he was lucky enough to know of M’s existence, so he was able to make the request, and even though dozens of years had passed since then, no one doubted Dorian himself.
Until we get to today.
An old and half-deaf servant panicked and informed him that uninvited guests had arrived, so Dorian Gray confirmed the presence of a pistol in his pocket and coldly ordered them to be taken to his study.
Unlike usual at his mansion, quite a bit of time passed since only one servant was left.
Seeing the presence of uninvited guests coming in, Dorian could understand why the servant was embarrassed.
Because they were half-covered with masks and cloaks, it was impossible to tell who they were except that they were two women.
‘Is this an attack?’
At that moment, Dorian panicked and tried to pull out his gun, but his opponent spoke coldly first, so he had no choice but to panic.
“M sent me here.”
“… “M?”
A familiar name.
Ordinarily, he would have pretended not to notice, but as the tension eased and his anger rose late, Dorian Gray had no choice but to act like an angry nobleman.
“That… So you’re trying to play a vicious prank on me again? Are you mocking me because James Bane’s work isn’t enough? My… “You think I’m going to stay still!”
“… Calm down. “M told me to tell him that he will resolve this issue as compensation for my little prank.”
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In response to the other person’s calm reaction, Dorian Gray calmed his rough breathing for a moment and tried to organize his thoughts. Then, belatedly, he couldn’t help but notice something strange.
“Wait… only. M sent you two? “How can you believe it?”
“I got caught. “Bounce!”
For a moment, Dorian Gray could not understand what had happened. Because the two women quickly disappeared in front of him.
He later brandished his pistol and shouted to catch them, but since only one old servant was guarding him, he had no choice but to miss.
Embarrassed, Dorian Gray had no choice but to redirect his steps to the place where M received the request, the bar he had recently visited.
“Ae-mi, sigh! What… what?”
Fred Forlock, the bar keeper, couldn’t help but swear at the sudden visit. This was all the more inevitable because, following the unwelcome visit, the police officers who had been chasing Dorian Gray arrived and took him into custody.
