175 – Preparation for hunting (3)
The world was truly unfair, and life was unreasonable.
Inspector Lestrade visited the two ladies who had newly settled in at 221B Baker Street and lamented their situation.
Holmes was often harshly evaluated as being on the same level or inferior to Watson, and the only thing useful about him was that he had the patience to not let go of the criminal he caught like a hunting dog, or at least not to lose the criminal he brought before his eyes. This was entirely from Holmes’ perspective.
Of course, objectively speaking, Lestrade was not a very smart person, and from the perspective of Holmes or Mycroft Holmes, he was a human being who could not understand how he could live well, but that did not mean that he was truly a lesser person. .
In fact, he was ordinary. Despite his small stature, his skills as a police inspector were certain, to the point where he was recognized for his arresting skills.
Because it was not a time when scientific investigation or proper investigation was developed to begin with, a police inspector as good as Lestrade could be said to be an excellent police officer.
More than anything, he was a good human being. This was also the reason why Mycroft Holmes continued to use Lestrade, among the numerous inspectors, as his younger brother’s errand boy.
Even in the reality that many inspectors, police officers, and many high-ranking officials at Scotland Yard were corrupted by someone, he was still one of the few who worked with a just heart.
In fact, in that respect, Lestrade’s path to success had already been blocked for a long time. After being confronted several times by his superiors, who often covered up the investigation for incomprehensible reasons or came to strange conclusions, Lestrade could not help but realize, even if he hated it, that his future was bleak.
The fact that he did not take off his clothes even in such a situation proved his excellent arresting skills, and the fact that he was moving from one job to another because he looked unpleasant made him attract the attention of Mycroft Holmes.
However, he was now the head of a family, and as he was approaching middle age, he had long been half-tired of life.
A dozen years ago, the police officer who was angry at his senior who pretended not to notice the fight between unidentified gangsters in the East End has now become a middle-aged police officer worried about his pension and post-retirement.
So, even though he grumbled, he had no choice but to take another step toward Miss Holmes. Of course, there was no free will on his part.
After all, it was a request, not a personal request, from Mr. Mycroft Holmes.
“How can the world become like this?” ….”
There was clearly something wrong with the world, and England, including London, was moving in a strange direction.
As the carriage arrived at his destination, Lestrade couldn’t help but spy on his surroundings out of habit. No matter how much they were hated by their superiors and were moving from one job to the next, it would have been a headache for them to know that an inspector belonging to Scotland Yard was looking for a private investigator with a case they were supposed to be handling.
One day, when he grumbled to reporters that there must be a Napoleon-like presence among these London criminals, he got into trouble because the flies printed his name in the newspaper.
If you think about it, it was clear that from then on, he was seen as a troublemaker by the higher-ups.
When I think about it now, I regret responding to that interview, but my thoughts still haven’t changed.
No, all police officers in that position shared similar thoughts, consciously or unconsciously. It’s just that no one willingly said it out loud.
Of course, Lestrade knew very well that it was because of the respect of the high-ranking people. Admitting the existence of the leader of London’s criminals was tantamount to admitting their incompetence.
As soon as the thought reached that point, the hand that was about to ring the doorbell stopped for a moment.
Is this really the right way?
Although he was busy preserving his position, he, who was once running around with a shining sense of duty, thought for a moment.
No matter how high the order, is it right to take the police case to a private investigator?
Of course, the worries did not last long. He still didn’t like me, but after several meetings, I realized that even though I didn’t like Lestrade, Miss Holmes was a fairly trustworthy detective.
Of course, it could not be said that she was selfless because she was able to officially claim all the credit for helping her and catching her criminal.
“I guess someone died, Inspector Lestrade?”
“… Yes, that’s right, Miss Holmes. Oh, Miss Watson is also with you.”
Of course, as soon as I entered the room under the guidance of Mrs. Hudson, I couldn’t help but feel a little dizzy when I came face to face with a face full of pride and looking down on people just by looking at it.
No matter how instinctively people can’t help but be attracted to handsome men and women, there was something about Miss Holmes’ view of people as if they were lower than goldfish that went against even that instinct.
Of course, there had to be a reason why Sherlock Holmes had no friends other than Watson.
Watson silently listened to the conversation between Holmes and Inspector Lestrade, and without realizing it, he took out his notebook and began to scribble.
This was due to advice I had received from talking to Holmes often during the past month while doing literally nothing.
Over the course of a month, Watson had time to get to know her friend again, but she still couldn’t feel the things that had been ‘resolved’ with her friend for nearly a year.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have his own records in the past. However, even though Watson often kept long diaries to preserve his memories, he could not strictly record everything at every moment.
Above all, the fragmentary information in her diary only showed interesting things about her, as if to aggravate her.
“… “I can’t help it, but why did I forget all these seemingly fun things?”
“It’s in the past, but objectively speaking, Watson, people don’t think like you do. Even a suicidal person like you would find it fun.”
“Ho… “Holmes, you too!”
“Then how about recording it more properly from now on? “As an assistant, you will be in charge of my case book records.”
Of course, it was just something Holmes said to divert the conversation, but it seemed plausible to Watson. Therefore, Watson wrote down Holmes’ case log properly and wrote it down quickly while concentrating on the conversation between her inspector and her friend in order to preserve the memory vividly at any time.
The conversation between the two did not last long.
Inspector Lestrade briefly answered that a man named Edd Driver was found dead in an empty building last night and that he was asking Holmes to investigate, but there was no other information.
“E.D. “Ro.”
“… Yes?”
“No, Inspector Lestrade. There is such a thing. “By the way, I’ll go to the address you gave me within 2 hours. There’s no need to go with me, right?”
“Yeah, well…” …. By the way, if an autopsy is needed, our doctor will—”
“No, I appreciate the tenacity of the Scotland Yard people, but I don’t trust their brains. Above all, we have the best doctors here. Right, Watson?”
“Huh?”
“…… I know Miss Watson is an excellent witch, but still, until the autopsy—sigh. Yes, yes, what can I decide? See you later.”
Inspector Lestrade looked back and forth between Holmes and Watson for a moment as if he wanted to protest, but he gave up first and waved goodbye.
Watson couldn’t help but be momentarily taken aback by Holmes’ non-proposal, but he soon accepted it. More than anything, I was afraid that if I asked my friend, I would only be ridiculed again.
As if trying to relieve Watson’s tension, Holmes filled his pipe with fresh ash and opened his mouth.
“I heard that, but it seems like the information our spy sent us was correct.”
“… “Could it be too much of a coincidence?”
“Maybe so. However, this is a case that Mycroft specifically sent to me. After losing your memory, you may not understand because you haven’t met your brother yet, but since Mycroft pointed it out and sent it to you, it’s an incident that suits our tastes. Of course, you have to go there to find out.”
“… Huh.”
“Don’t be so nervous, Watson. Because it’s not like you. “There’s no need to pretend like you’re not excited, we all know.”
“That… “I’ve never done that.”
Watson was startled by Holmes’ point and denied it. Of course, Holmes, who was looking at that, just greeted his friend with a meaningless smile.
Unfortunately, the two already knew each other too well to now deny the fact that he was a gambling enthusiast addicted to risk and adventure.
From noble mtl dot com
“Well, is that so? Still, I’m glad the month of boredom is finally over. Maybe the teacher held his breath for a while too. By the way, are you really going to record what I told you?”
At Holmes’s point, Watson seemed embarrassed and tried to secretly hide the notebook, but Holmes quickly added words as if he was cheering him on.
Previous Holmes might have ignored it, but her attitude toward Watson was clearly softer than before.
“It’s not a bad idea. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take charge of my records as my assistant. “Of course, don’t be too sentimental about it.”
“Ah… “I haven’t said I’ll do it yet.”
“Really? Then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a try this time. I think it’s a study in progress. It just so happens that the first record begins with a bloody murder, right, Watson? “It’s literally a scarlet study.”
Then, Holmes urged Watson to get ready to go out as soon as possible.
