181 – A Study in Scarlet (6)
In a carriage heading to the scene, following Inspector Lestrade, who reports that another murder case has suddenly occurred at a hotel.
Watson couldn’t help but keep an eye on his friend while yawning slightly without Holmes noticing. He was mentally exhausted from the failed night chase, but it was clear that the failure itself was giving his friend something to worry about in many ways.
Juseom Juseom Instead of not having a proper breakfast, Watson quickly swallowed and chewed candy one by one while repeatedly passing a few candies to his friend. As a doctor, in stressful situations he had no choice but to recommend consuming sugar.
Of course, the two of them had actually eaten enough breakfast prepared by Mrs. Hudson, but that was by the standards of ordinary people.
“… “Thank you.”
“Are you okay?”
“No, it’s just annoying things. It’s something that can’t be helped, but that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying. As well as playing hide and seek with that damn wolf. “I knew that the furball was something unusual, but I never expected it to jump straight out of a speeding carriage.”
“Let’s think of it as an unavoidable force majeure, Holmes. No matter how much you… Yes, I would have been hurt too. “What good does it matter if you get hurt or die?”
“… No. If only we could bring Mr. Moriarty down to the bottom…… “I don’t mind if I perish with that person.”
“Holmes.”
At that moment, I had no choice but to call out Holmes’ name, muttering a terrifying sound as if making a promise to myself.
It wasn’t something he said consciously, but Watson felt that he had to stop it as a doctor.
Perhaps this is how they formed friendships again after losing their memories and are together to achieve a great mission.
Some people might definitely describe it as madness. To Watson, his friend’s obsession with confronting Professor Moriarty was almost indistinguishable from that of a paranoid person. Of course she didn’t say it out loud.
Sadly, your friend probably also rationally knows that this obsession is out of the ordinary.
But the important thing was to reveal the truth about one villain. Whether it was Holmes or Watson, they were already very involved with him and were clearly far from normal.
“Will we be able to get a new clue this time?”
“As I always say, it’s too early to jump to conclusions, Watson. Still… Watson, speaking for you, don’t expect too much. The pursuit of the criminal in the first place was… Our Baker Street commandos are still working hard all over London. Watson, I can’t reveal it to you yet, but there are some pretty significant results. “I’ll be able to call him sooner or later.”
“Anyway, will this be the end?”
The reason Inspector Lestrade bothered to bring the ‘second’ murder case to them was because the same Rache mark was found at the scene.
But Holmes shook his head.
“I don’t want to repeat the pain in your mouth, Watson. The important thing is not to have any preconceptions. Anyway, I hope there are no problems. “It’s a pain to deal with idiots.”
However, upon arriving at the scene, Watson learned that his friend’s wish had not been fulfilled.
In fact, what the two people received was an extremely common sense reaction.
“No, no matter how you do it, this is an outrage, Inspector Lestrade! “Who on earth are these ladies to conduct on-site verification?”
In the case of the first murder case, Mycroft Holmes had taken care of it in advance, so he was able to visit the scene with Inspector Lestrade and not go through much trouble.
However, in the case of the second murder case, the two people who arrived seemed to have not yet properly coordinated their opinions with the on-site commander, and were able to see Inspector Lestrade arguing with someone.
“Mycroft’s weakness is that he cannot move quickly.”
When Holmes saw this, he sighed and approached the two police officers, while Watson was uncomfortable with the officers’ gaze and had no choice but to stand still.
“So! “McDonald’s, there will be guidance from the top soon-“
“That’s it, Inspector Lestrade. Lieutenant Alec MacDonald, the order that I can participate will come soon anyway, so if I show you my abilities, will you accept it too?”
“… So, who is this lady, who is on the scene—no, wait a minute, do you know me?”
“You are active in many ways at such a young age. Yesterday I played hard at cards with my friends at the club and won 5 pounds, so I feel good. “After we pass today’s case verification as usual, we will play cards again at the club. Oh, of course, the name of the club is Peyton Club-“
“Everything… who are you?”
“Holmes, Sherlock Holmes. All you need to know is that he is in charge of investigative and advisory work.”
Since it was an era where many superstitious beliefs remained, Inspector Macdonald had no choice but to tremble involuntarily and get out of the way with a trembling expression, as if he were facing an evil sorcerer.
Watson followed awkwardly.
He didn’t bother to ask his friend who was ahead of him how he found out those facts. His friend’s magical reasoning often seemed less worthless than it seemed after hearing how it happened.
Of course, in some parts, I suspected that he had actually deceived himself and used mind reading or magic.
The important thing is that the friend’s suppression did not give the opponent any sign of resistance, and they were able to enter the hotel room as long as the dead person was waiting.
“Has your identity been confirmed, Inspector Lestrade?”
“Yes? Oh, yes, Miss Holmes. Joseph Stangerson. Coincidentally, he was said to be the friend and secretary of the deceased Driver. Surprisingly, I started staying at this hotel right after the driver died…… We received statements from hotel officials in advance. “They say he was confined to his hotel room, as if he was being chased by something.”
Inspector Lestrade smiled as if he expected to hear at least a compliment for the first time after hearing only reprimands from Holmes.
Of course, Holmes completely ignored it and looked around at the body and the scene, exhaling coldly.
“The killing method is different. Of course… “I can’t say for sure based on this alone.”
Watson followed Holmes’ gaze and examined the dead man lying on the floor. As Holmes said, the method was different from the first case.
Unlike the first case, where poison was presumed to have been used and there were no external injuries, the second victim, who seemed to have had a physical fight with the criminal, had a dagger stuck near his heart and blood stains on the floor.
But as if the method was not important, Holmes soon took his gaze away from the corpse and began to look around the room.
Then, he saw a small pill box lying on the table in the hotel reception room near the corpse, lifted it up, and opened his mouth.
“This guy must have been there from the beginning, right?”
“… Following Ms. Holmes’s constant concerns, I instructed her to preserve the site as much as possible. Right, Inspector McDonald?”
“…… At least nothing was touched on site.”
Macdonald responded to Lestrade’s words in a tone that still seemed disapproving.
In fact, Watson knew that it was a common sense reaction, so he couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly next to him. Meanwhile, Holmes carefully sniffed the two pills of unknown purpose in the pill box like a hunting dog and called Watson.
“Watson, come here. “Smell it.”
“… “I can’t tell just from the smell?”
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“…… “The only option is to at least try animal testing.”
“What?”
“I just happened to ask you to dispose of Mrs. Hudson’s old dog. “If we were going to make him comfortable with poison anyway, let’s use this guy.”
“What is the guarantee that it is poison?”
“It’s almost certain. Why are there two pills? … “I can guess, but I guess I’ll have to try them both first.”
As Holmes said, Watson was asked by Mrs. Hudson to help her old dog, who could not be cured and was only suffering because of her suffering, from suffering any longer, and she was planning to help him rest in the near future.
She briefly wondered whether feeding poison could be included in such an act, but soon her tendency to enjoy risk gave way.
In order to give a clear testimony, Holmes called Inspector Lestrade and Inspector MacDonald to Baker Street, and even Inspector MacDonald, who looked at his senior with a shocked expression and asked if this was true, had no choice but to follow.
Holmes arrived at Baker Street, cut two pills in half, put one in milk, and was ready.
Watson, who was still conflicted, brought over Mrs. Hudson’s old dog and first placed her first plate in front of the dog.
The old dog, who knew nothing, enjoyed the Last Supper, but no matter how long they waited, the reaction they expected did not occur.
However, when the second plate was served to the dog, not long after it licked the plate, the dog started yelping and died.
Watson thought it looked very similar to her first body.
“That pill… What is it, Miss Holmes? Ah… No, I mean, why is one side fine and only one side poisoned?”
“It means that the criminal is a man driven by revenge. He must have forced it on the victim. You have to choose between half the chance of living and half the chance of dying. I am giving you a judgment that will force you to die. Well, this is how you feel. Perhaps the culprit also wanted to eat together. Usually, those who think that they are taking just revenge will think that the Lord justifies their evil deeds. “Better take the rest and keep them, because sooner or later you will have to bring them to court with the criminal.”
“…… “You’re the culprit?”
Lestrade’s eyes widened as if surprised by Holmes’ statement that he seemed to have already caught all the criminals without any indication.
“It can be finished in two days. Could you come to the address I’m giving you in three days, Inspector Lestrade? Oh, Lt. Macdonald, since you are also involved in the field, it would be nice to have you join us.”
Holmes said an address and smiled.
Watson could not help but open his mouth in surprise. Because that address was Professor James Moriarty’s address.
