59 – The birth of London’s strongest duo (3)
Inspector Lestrade could feel once again that his life as a police officer was truly twisted.
The sudden order from the superiors was so absurd. Did they really give the right orders?
It wasn’t what he thought. The fact that he suddenly ordered me to follow such a ridiculous mission was like an implicit threat to me to quit on my own, no matter how I looked at it.
Of course, he had no intention of quitting police work.
The reason why he quickly rose to the position of inspector was because of the violence he witnessed in Chinatown in the East End a few years ago.
He was young at the time and had just gotten engaged. He had no choice but to reluctantly agree because his senior had brought up his family, but at that time, Lestrade was able to witness the limitations of the police organization and some of the great evil that had taken root in London.
Now that he is older, married, and has children to support, his sense of justice has become a little weaker than that of his predecessors at the time, but he still prides himself on always working for justice.
As such, the sight of the helpless police force could not help but be shocking. In order to prevent this injustice, he tried to somehow rise to a higher position, and was confident that he had clearly followed the path to success so far.
But just as the higher you rise, the more you see, the more Lestrade rose through the ranks, the more he realized the limitations of the police force, and he could not help but recognize the presence of some great evil that he could not even dare to guess.
No, it was never because Lestrade himself was special. All of his colleagues and superiors were secretly aware of this.
As there are so many poor people in London and England, crime has always been a constant. But in just a few years, or as Lestrade’s seniors put it, less than 10 years later, something changed.
The street thugs who hung out among themselves, who were always fighting among themselves and repeating self-destruction to stab each other in the back, at some point began to act as if they were being led by someone.
Lestrade himself witnessed part of the scene, but the masters of the East End’s underworld have clearly changed. At some point, strange incidents began to increase, deaths that could not be concluded as natural causes or accidents, yet were somehow unexplainable.
There is something.
Everyone probably thought so implicitly. Of course, no one could say this officially.
In fact, it had to be that way. Because no one wanted it. Superiors feared that if they admitted something, their incompetence would be revealed, and politicians were similar. No one wanted to lose voter support by revealing the existence of a great evil.
It was purely out of impulse that Lestrade expressed doubts about this existence in an interview with the media and advice as a reference about two years ago.
Perhaps, in fact, among the criminals in London and England, there may be a Napoleon-like figure leading them.
I came up with the safest possible hypothesis, but the results were disastrous.
The interview itself did not cause much response. It was quiet, as if someone had intended. However, unusually, the higher-ups of the police issued an official statement dismissing this opinion as just an individual’s opinion, and politicians and superiors rushed to announce that London’s criminals were just ugly losers of society and had nothing to do with the safety of citizens. Started to do it.
Of course, it goes without saying that Lestrade’s path to success was blocked from that point on.
There is something. However, there is something that I am not allowed to even get close to.
So, no matter how I looked at it, the order from the superiors to carry out an arrest operation with a lady who called herself a detective named Sherlock Holmes and a witch named Jane Watson seemed like nothing more than an encouragement to retire.
First of all, Lestrade himself was a gentleman who knew the rules of etiquette, so he could not treat his ladies carelessly.
Above all, since a suspicious order was given, there was a high possibility that the ladies who enjoyed playing detectives had connections to higher-ups. Lestrade, who was constantly nagging his wife because his path to success was already blocked, and who always had to think about his children who had not yet grown up, had no choice but to be obedient to them.
Of course, it was difficult to completely exclude bluntness from the tone of speech. Because the two officers who were with him in the first place were similar.
In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he was embarrassed.
“Are you Miss Sherlock Holmes? And Miss Jane Watson? “Inspector Lestrade.”
“No introduction needed, Inspector. “Let’s quickly get in the carriage, because now we have to go catch the culprit of the Bank of England robbery.”
“…… You two will follow me in the back carriage. What the… …. No matter how much I like playing detective, it’s a bit…….”
Today, I’ll be dragged around playing girls’ games all day long.
Lestrade, who knew that the higher-ups had already identified Phileas Fogg as a suspect and even sent a police inspector overseas to arrest him, could not help but snort at the young lady’s words.
However, Lestrade, who never wanted to admit that he had unconsciously flinched at the moment of encountering Miss Holmes, remained silent and followed Holmes and Watson, who ignored him, into the carriage.
Although his knowledge was minimal, it could not prevent him from instinctively shrinking from Holmes, who was a bit outside the human category due to his mixture of fairy blood.
In the carriage, there was no need to ask where we were going, why we were going, or who we were trying to arrest. After all, it’s probably a prank by a young lady who plays detective, but who shouldn’t be disliked because her father or relatives are high-ranking people.
Coincidentally, Holmes was also sitting with his legs crossed in a moving carriage, thinking similar things to Lestrade.
Of course, if she knew this, she might be offended. It was an insult to her intellect to think in the same way as the unreliable police inspector who looked like a little rat and was obviously as stupid as a rat.
I still didn’t like the fact that a police officer was inevitably dispatched with Mycroft’s help.
If she had wanted to live as an investigative advisor, she would not have accepted her brother’s help. But now she had to face the greatest enemy of her life. She should not be selective about means and methods.
It looked stupid, but Scotland Yard in London was a place to see who was more stupid, so it wasn’t a big problem.
At least since he was sent by Mycroft, it was clear that his skills in catching people were quite acceptable.
Still, I could give her extra points for remaining silent. If you’re stupid, it’s better to keep your mouth shut.
Unlike the goldfish chattering right in front of you.
“By the way, I really found it, it’s amazing!”
“… I told you, Watson. “It’s something simple.”
But Holmes decided to change her mind. Even though it was on a similar level to her goldfish, Watson’s reactions were all praise for her own superiority, so she didn’t feel bad when she heard it.
Holmes continued speaking as if he were naturally boasting.
“The people who see and move around the most in this city are vagabonds and pickpockets. Also… “It is an undeniable fact that their organization has been strengthened by someone in recent years.”
“Someone? That… “Then aren’t we in danger?”
“Don’t worry, Watson. So, we targeted the City of London area as much as possible. No matter how much we try to rally together, an outcast is still an outcast. They want to play however they want. Originally, the City of London was a place that had never been particularly organized in the history of London crime.”
“That… I see “After all, Holmes has a plan!”
“Of course, Watson. Didn’t I tell you that humans have to use their heads to live their lives?”
Even as Holmes boasted and Watson continued to exclaim, the carriage continued to run toward its destination.
“… “Is this really the right place?”
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And Lestrade, who realized where the destination was headed, spoke for the first time. His expression was unsatisfactory.
In fact, it had to be that way. The carriage stopped near the Barbican, which was a wealthy district in the City of London.
At least it seemed far from a place where someone claiming to be a bank robber could be caught.
“It’s inside that building.”
Of course, Holmes ignored it. However, we had to move quickly, so we rushed into the three-story building that had been empty for quite some time.
No matter how trustworthy it was, it was dangerous for a lady who had given an order from above to run out first, and as she did not know that it would be detrimental to her future, a surprised Lestrade and the police officers followed, and Watson was the last one.
Holmes ran first to the last room on the third floor as reported by the beggars. It was said that the culprit had not made any significant movements so far, but it was unknown.
“… “I will go in first.”
When Lestrade, who had chased after Holmes, spoke out bluntly, she obediently backed away from her, but did not stop glaring at her door.
Lestrade sighed calmly and knocked.
“London police, we will open the door to investigate.”
What are you doing?
It was a stupid thing to do, but to play detective, I knocked on the door that was obviously empty and opened it.
This time, even Lestrade couldn’t help but be a little surprised. Because there was someone inside the door.
He looked like a well-dressed gentleman, but it was hard to tell whether he had been staying in this room all the time.
More than anything else, he was clearly trembling, and as soon as he heard that Lestrade was a police officer, a little joy began to appear on his face.
Watson, who was looking inside from the door, couldn’t help but be quite surprised. At first glance, I thought Phileas Fogg was inside.
For a moment, he was filled with joy and fear that the gamble of his life had finally come to an end, but when he came to his senses, it was clear that the man inside was different from Mr. Fogg.
“This…” I… “Are you really the culprit?”
“I told you, Inspector Lestrade? “Let’s start with the arrest.”
A suspicious wad of money caught the eye around the man. Above all, its appearance was similar to the montage created within the current police department.
Of course, Lestrade thought all of this was just a coincidence, but for now, he wanted to approach the criminal to arrest him.
“Chaff… You’re a police officer, right? Me… Please help me! That… “They made me—”
However, the criminal’s attitude was strange. He tried to shout as if he were asking for help.
At the same time, a small, but cracking sound was heard in the window. And suddenly the man fell to the floor as if he had fainted.
“What… what-“
“It’s a sniper!”
Of course, it was Holmes himself who made the first move. I had to grab Lestrade’s back and pull him as he tried to approach the fallen criminal.
Lestrade, who fell backwards, wanted to get angry, but seeing the bullet hole where he had been stepping just moments ago, he gave priority to throwing himself behind the door in a hurry.
– Tick! Tick! Tick!
As if mocking Holmes, a hole was made in his window and bullets began to rain endlessly into the room where the criminal was. It was like a sudden death, in that no gunshots were heard.
Thoughts of complacency filled her mind for a moment. She thought all she had to do was catch the criminal.
And as if to mock his complacency, Holmes could not help but grit his teeth as the death occurred before his eyes.
When the barrage of bullets finally stopped and Inspector Lestrade, who had been examining the situation for a long time, approached the already dead criminal for the first time, all she could think of was James Moriarty.
