179 – A Study in Scarlet (4)
Seeing Holmes smiling suspiciously and waving an old wedding ring in front of her, Jane Watson began to think as fast as she could.
Looking at her friend just smiling suspiciously without saying anything, it was clear that she was trying to pick on her again.
Her own friend, her Holmes, was looking at Watson mischievously, as if she was enjoying teasing him by playing a game of riddles with her child, and she was urging him as best as she could to come up with an answer to her own satisfaction.
Unfortunately, Watson himself will definitely give the wrong answer. Then her friend will make fun of herself again.
But this time it would be different, Watson carefully opened his mouth, repeating the thought that had been repeated several times.
“Are you trying to commit a marriage fraud?”
It was the most reasonable conclusion that Watson could come up with. A wedding ring whose owner is unknown, possibly belonging to the criminal.
Then, wouldn’t there be a way to use this ring other than marriage fraud? Could it be that he’s trying to play that trick on Professor Moriarty?
If that was really the case, Watson decided she would play the role of a fake bride. Of course, the look in Holmes’s eyes when he looked at his friend was like looking at a truly pathetic person, and Watson couldn’t help but blush without realizing it.
“Ha, Watson, sometimes I see you, Watson, I’m afraid that if you don’t work hard, you’ll go down the path of a criminal faster than anyone else. “Marriage fraud, that’s Watson-like thinking.”
“Ah… No, because you’re shaking your wedding ring so suspiciously……. “Holmes, you are the one who often commits illegal things in the first place.”
“Would you say it is an investigation process? Anyway, I don’t think the answer will come out of Watson’s mouth, so I’ll have to reveal the answer. There is a high possibility that the culprit is disguised as a coachman. “The purpose was revenge on someone, but I guess he used to work as a coachman.”
“… But is there any guarantee that you will still be working as a coachman? I mean, if it was for revenge in the first place, then what? “You’ve already gotten your revenge, so what if you quit your job as a coachman?”
Watson asked a reasonable question. Fortunately, Holmes nodded and smiled, as if it were an uncharacteristic point of Watson.
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t fret, Watson. First of all, there is a possibility that revenge is not completely over like this. “There is still no proper information on the dead, so Lestrade is desperately looking for stupid Scotland Yard, but he is a criminal enough to go to Professor Moriarty and entrust her with a request.”
“… “Holmes, you also said that the criminals you commissioned were not all special.”
“Watson, of course. The vast majority of cases to be solved are the work of petty criminals, but the teacher is just like me, no, she’s the same human being. She says she can’t help but get more excited when she takes on an interesting case. “If they were to order Rache to remain at the scene unnecessarily, it would be quite interesting.”
Holmes was smiling as if he was truly happy. It was really nice to see that her teacher had never forgotten what she had done with him.
It was an unconscious action. Watson did not want to confirm the meaning, so he remained silent, and Holmes continued, still unconscious.
“Unless it’s something like a petty inheritance dispute, there’s a chance that the target isn’t just one person. Even if my revenge is already over and I quit being a coachman, it doesn’t matter. No, it actually gets easier. All we have to do is weed out those who recently suddenly quit their jobs as coachmen. Of course, Inspector Lestrade should conduct that investigation.”
If Lestrade heard this, he might have complained in his mind that he was only doing chores, but of course Holmes ignored it.
Because it was the job of inspectors and police officers to do such work in the first place. If you think about it, the fact that she, a mere civilian, was involved in the investigation itself was problematic.
“So what does it ultimately have to do with the ring?”
“If you had been wearing a ring, there would be less of a chance that you would have spilled it on the floor like this, right? If that’s the case, she carried it with her, but if she bothered to carry it to the scene of the murder, she must have a very precious and meaningful story. Watson, you said the watch you were carrying was one your prodigal brother had inherited from her parents, right? “If you lose it, what will you do?”
“… Well, look for the place where it was leaked, or somehow, at least put an ad in the newspaper…… Ah!”
“Yeah, that’s it. Of course, we can’t be sure that everyone reads the newspaper. However, coachmen in London are among those who read the most newspapers, both to kill time and because they need to keep up with new news to attract customers. I would like to put out an ad in every newspaper looking for the owner of the ring, but that would likely overly stimulate the other person. “We will place advertisements in two or three major newspapers.”
“Isn’t it a dangerous gamble?”
“The goal is to see how the opponent performs. They could come boldly and come directly, or they could attack us somehow. But as it happens, Watson, you and I are not the kind of people who would normally get hit, right? “It’s time to show your fierce fists, Watson, the fear of London’s back alley thugs.”
“… I don’t know what you want to say, but Holmes, I… I can’t hit people. “He is a weak person.”
“Ha!”
Holmes seemed to want to emphasize his ladylikeness and could not help but laugh at his pretentious friend.
There was no need to emphasize the incredible power of my friend, who shattered the opponent’s jawbone with a single punch and destroyed the wall of a back alley.
Two days later, while having a leisurely breakfast with a friend, Watson was scanning the newspaper and found an advertisement with a familiar address.
He glanced at Holmes, who nodded his head wordlessly, and Watson quickly finished the rest of his meal, fiddling with the paper with the advertisement written on it.
“I knew, but I was nervous?”
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“For someone so nervous, you were able to cleanly finish the curry with a whole hind leg of lamb in the morning, Watson?”
“Sa… Don’t treat people like pigs. “Anyway, are you okay with such a poor advertisement?”
“It’s suspicious, but at the same time, it’s really an advertisement where the person who picked up the lost item is trying to help in good faith, isn’t it?”
Watson could not help but nod his head at Holmes’s laughter.
The small advertisement contained only brief information that an old wedding ring was given away near the murder and an address on Baker Street.
In reality, it was a trap to find prey, but it certainly seemed like a good deed by someone genuinely trying to find the owner of the item.
“But why is it my name?”
“People don’t know at first glance whether Sherlock is a woman’s name or a man’s name. In the first place, we… Only a weirdo like my father would bother to give his child that name. As you can tell just by looking at Mycroft, he really likes unique names. “Jane Watson, you look like a good girl to everyone, right?”
Holmes briefly mentioned his father’s story and frowned without realizing it, as if thinking about a painful past. Watson pretended not to know.
The next three days were boring. This was the case not only for Holmes but also for Watson. Watson had some idea why her friend hated boredom so much that it bordered on her hatred.
There was little progress in the investigation.
Inspector Lestrade came to visit me once and gave me information about the dead man, but other than the fact that he was a rich man from America, there wasn’t even any proper information. Lestrade responded with an excuse, saying that proper information had not yet arrived from America, but his friend Holmes only sighed.
One time, the Baker Street Special Forces gathered together and Mrs. Hudson was scared. Watson could tell that the meeting was for Holmes to find the culprit.
Holmes, with shining eyes, informed the children of the general impression of the criminal based on information obtained at the scene. He ordered them to report as soon as they found such a coachman, but no child came immediately.
Of course, it was difficult to find one in a short period of time as there were many coachmen making their own living in the vast expanse of London, but Holmes could not help but sigh as if he was bored.
There was no criminal or anyone involved who came to see the advertisement. Rather, Watson and Holmes had to feel the person’s malice.
No matter how you look at it, unrelated people often came looking for the gold ring, so they had no choice but to be driven out by Holmes’ cynicism.
“I didn’t expect stupid things like this to happen, but it was even worse than I thought. “Watson, I may have underestimated human greed and stupidity.”
“… Let’s not do this next time.”
However, the target appeared late in the evening on the third day.
But when she opened the door and appeared as if even Holmes had not expected her opponent, she couldn’t help but click her tongue. Watson also couldn’t help but be surprised.
A beauty appeared with an expressionless face and pricking her wolf ears. Although she was wearing a maid’s uniform, she gave off an intimidating aura just by standing there. This young woman of their age was someone both Watson and Holmes knew well.
Sebastian Moran came to Baker Street.
