201 – Valley of Fear (4)
Suddenly, as he boarded the train heading to the southern tip of England, Watson suddenly felt tired.
But she prided herself on being Holmes’ friend and a recorder who recorded and remembered everything by her side, so she rubbed her tired eyes and focused on each and every word of Holmes on her long journey.
Above all, her excitement at heading to the scene of this murder case that Professor Moriarty might have been involved with excited her. Of course, Watson will deny that fact.
As it happens, she had the intelligence to know that Watson’s enjoyment of visiting the murder scene was socially reprehensible behavior.
In fact, it was clear that all three men and women who were together were a little excited for their own reasons. Watson could see that even Holmes, with whom she always maintained only cold and glacial emotions, could barely contain herself at the thought of her going to the scene where her fateful counterpart was involved.
Of course, unlike the two women, Inspector MacDonald was talking excitedly as usual. Holmes was half-listening, but it seemed to Watson that he was talking about quite important information.
Of course, the reason Holmes took a half-cold attitude was because dealing with her fanatical fans was annoying and something she was very unfamiliar with in her life experience.
Holmes also had no choice but to admit in his heart that Inspector Macdonald was truly sincere. She was a person who was picky about evaluation, but she was not a petty person who tried to belittle her results.
Obviously, Inspector McDonald’s sincerity had to be acknowledged even by Holmes, who usually treated the numerous incompetent and lazy police officers at Scotland Yard as tax thieves or goldfish worse than Watson.
Even though it had been less than a day since the incident occurred and Scotland Yard headquarters decided to dispatch Inspector Macdonald, he had already obtained most of the information about the victim’s surroundings in advance, except for information that could have been obtained by going directly to the scene. Because I did my research.
“John Douglas. A person from the United States who is officially known to have money through business. He is an Englishman, and after remarrying he resided at Burlston Manor, Suss*x. And he is now presumed dead.”
“Yes, Mr. Holmes. And as I said, Burleston Manor is a place with quite a long history. Some of the sites have a long history, dating back to the Crusader era, and it is said that they are closer to a small fortress than a mansion. It is said that people can cross, but there is even a small moat and drawbridge. Perhaps… “There might be a secret passage or something.”
Inspector MacDonald subtly added his opinion as if he wanted to receive praise from Mr. Holmes. Unfortunately, Holmes responded indifferently. There wasn’t even the slightest change in his expression, so Watson’s reaction seemed cold and dismissive.
“Inspector McDonald, don’t blindly trust the crime novels that are published. Well, I can’t necessarily say for sure that there isn’t such a thing, but assuming something like a secret passage without even going to the site would lead to a mistake.”
“Oh, I see! After all, it’s Teacher Holmes! Indeed, I am learning this every time!”
“Oh, yes. What.”
Holmes seemed to be burdened by Inspector MacDonald, who was admiring his eyes so brightly that it was even burdensome for Watson to look at them. Holmes rarely looked at him and answered briefly.
Watson knew that Holmes often secretly enjoyed someone’s praise through the admiration he showed himself. He was a symptom that people who know they are smart often have. However, even for Holmes, the sight of a sturdy man in his thirties flashing his eyes in a burdened manner must have been unbearable.
After the brief exchange of information and praise, there was silence again until just before arriving at the destination. But finally, as if he had thought about it, Inspector Macdonald cautiously opened his mouth again.
“Anyway… The informant you once mentioned… If you wanted to convey information to the teacher, this incident also… “M was involved, right?”
“… “I will, Lieutenant.”
Of course, Inspector McDonald did not yet know who the informant was. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Inspector MacDonald, but in Holmes’s opinion, he was such a simple person that there was a high possibility that information would be leaked.
Before coming here, Inspector MacDonald, who had seen the code decoded by Holmes while going through the almanac with Watson, finally asked the question he had been harboring.
“To be honest, there is something I don’t understand, Mr. Holmes. If there is a person called that informant… Wouldn’t it be better to present him as a witness in court and immediately reveal that M is Professor James Moriarty?”
“Watson, that would be great. “There was another person here with the same opinion as you.”
“No… “Don’t tease me, Holmes.”
Inspector Macdonald, who could not understand the meaning of the conversation between Watson and Holmes, looked at his two ladies in turn, as if puzzled, but Watson did not answer the question.
One day, Watson asked Holmes a similar question and was criticized for not being as good as a goldfish.
Holmes opened his mouth.
“We are doing delicate work, Inspector. I will tell you what will happen if you do as the inspector says. In turn, our informant will be flocked to M, and then new evidence of M will pour in. The informant accused of M will either commit suicide or commit suicide, and all of us who helped him will be accused of defamation by the teacher and become debt collectors. And then? M will still exist, but the fishing line that would reach him will be gone forever. You know, right? “I don’t really want to say more.”
“Poem… “It was a mistake.”
“Better than Watson, Lieutenant. Did you see it, Watson? People can make mistakes. But unlike Watson the goldfish, he knows how to reflect.”
Watson tried to ignore Holmes’ joking words and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. Unfortunately, the two soon arrived at their destination.
The mansion where the deceased stayed was closer to a small castle, as Inspector Macdonald put it.
Watson followed Holmes around and participated in the on-site verification. After Holmes confirmed accurate information about the body, he began to hurry more than usual, like a person being chased by something.
The body, presumed to be that of John Douglas, the murdered owner of the mansion, was in an extremely gruesome state. Watson had already participated in the dissection of numerous corpses, and had often seen the bodies of unrelated people who had suffered terrible accidents, but this was certainly the first time he had seen a corpse whose face had been literally mangled by a shotgun.
What is clear is that it can only be assumed to be ‘John Douglas’, but it cannot be confirmed. At least Watson thought so. Coincidentally, this was the result of what I learned from watching and following Holmes, and it was definitely an amazing development.
The people around him, such as the deceased’s wife, friends of the deceased who stayed at the mansion, or servants, were convinced that the body was John Douglas for a good reason.
First of all, they were similar in physique and were wearing the indoor clothes their deceased owner had worn. Above all, Watson was able to hear Holmes’ testimony from the servants that there was a strange tattoo on the deceased’s forearm that had been burned during his lifetime.
As he said, on the right forearm of the deceased, which Watson confirmed as a doctor, there was a triangle within a circle, and V.V. A burn mark with 341 written on it looked like a tattoo.
Holmes informed us that the pattern did not match any of the organizations he knew of. Watson was a little surprised by this, but Holmes added that there were many unknown and strange organizations in the world.
The body was found in the deceased’s study. There was a window leading outside, and someone’s blood-stained footprints were on the window frame.
“Did the criminal escape here? There’s a moat and water, so you won’t fall and die. Also, people can easily swim across it.”
“It’s too early to be sure, Watson. “Did you see anything unusual about the body?”
“What’s special?”
In response to Watson’s question, Holmes pointed with his chin to the corpse’s left index finger, the finger on which the wedding ring was often worn.
“The servants said she was wearing another ring on top of her wedding ring. But look, there is no wedding ring, only another ring. “Before someone ran away, I leisurely stole the wedding ring and then put the ring on it back.”
“Why on earth?”
“The important thing is… “Usually married people, that is, people who constantly wear wedding rings, tend to leave traces on their hands, but these hands are clean.”
“What?”
Watson whispered carefully. There must have been a reason why Holmes lowered his voice so that only he could hear it.
Then Holmes thought for a moment and whispered so that only Watson could hear.
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“The owner of the mansion is alive, Watson. But the important thing is… That’s not it. “It’s more of a headache than I thought.”
“Uh… Wait a minute, I understand that I’m alive. “But why are you having trouble?”
“Consider who we are here for, Watson. There is a high possibility that they are your customers. But the customer’s request ended in failure, Watson. So what should we do? If it were me, I would force myself to turn into success, even if only because of my pride. No, you probably do the same, because as it happens, I have more in common with you than differences.”
