Chapter 366

AD1877 · Early winter · Brighton, England

"You actually have the patience to wait for him to finish talking about all this?" Lansemero stood on the terrace that extended from the cliff into the sea, watching the changes in the room against the strong wind. "Milverton led you all to the seaside villa in Brighton, hoping that you would go to the only ending he chose."

"Yes, but that guy is too conceited." Sherlock snorted and replied to Lansemello, "Just watch carefully, and see how that guy approaches the end of his life - his life, now really starts the countdown. Although "I" have always been a "detective", "I" also have a "talent for crime." "

"Are you done?" Sherlock Holmes interrupted Milverton's crazy laughter and turned the gun that was aimed at William James Moriarty because Milverton left the spot and pointed it at Milverton again. "There is a limit to a person's chattering."

"If this is a comedy, you are not the king, but the clown."

"You miscalculated, Milverton."

"What did you say!?" Milverton frowned in alarm.

"You have two mistakes." The detective, like every time he solved a puzzle, sorted out clues for his partner and pointed out Milverton's mistakes to the man who had unknowingly reached a dead end. "First, I'm not the kind of detective you think. Because of my work, I've seen a lot of criminals... Among them is a guy who can't be forgiven no matter what."

"He who manipulates others as he pleases, lets their hands be stained with sin, and laughs loudly in a safe place—" Sherlock took a deep breath and complained to Lancer Mellor who was at the scene, "This is what can be called "the biggest villain in London". This is Milverton—how did he have the nerve to call the criminal Lord "Lian" the "big sinner of the British Empire"? "

"I think his intelligence network probably doesn't support him to investigate the situation of the British government." William also came to the control room. "The Moriarty Plan is an action plan under MI6, and it is an action tacitly approved by the government. When Irene was there, we had already cleared the way for McCoff... Why, he actually wanted to hand me over to the British government——"

"Don't you think this is funny?"

"You didn't smile at that time." Sherlock glared at William who had just arrived at the control room, and complained to him exaggeratedly, "You were so depressed that you were like a dead person... By the way, at that time, you were ready to kill Milverton even if your name was exposed, right?"

"Well, because if we want to ensure that the name* is not exposed, many innocent people will die." William answered Sherlock, looking at the recorded video broadcast from Lansemello to the control room, "We, the "Crime Lords", took action to prevent such things from happening. If we do such a thing to prevent the name from being exposed, wouldn't it be putting the cart before the horse?"

"Indeed, if you would do such a thing, you are not a person of good nature." Lansemelo chuckled and turned his attention back to the three people who were confronting each other in the room.

"——Ren, right...? Since you're here, it's definitely true..."

"That's right, since the Lord of Crime I chose is here, the fact that the Lord of Crime is a chivalrous thief has been exposed to me." Sherlock looked at his past self on the screen and smiled a little nostalgically, "Since Lian appeared in Milverton's villa, the Lord of Crime is undoubtedly acting to protect the people."

"--snort!"

"You didn't choose the Lord of Crime, you were chosen by me as the 'protagonist' of the script, Mr. Detective." William glanced at Sherlock and sighed softly, "You just firmly believed in your own intuition since the first time we met. Because, as a detective, don't you need solid clues and evidence to support your reasoning before you speak?"

"Hahaha!! Right, Lian!! Am I right?! Fortunately it's you!!" Sherlock Holmes, who pointed the muzzle of his gun at Milverton, laughed wildly, "Phew~... That's great... Really... To be honest, I wouldn't be happy if it wasn't you. I hope it's you, but it won't work if it's not you... So it's you standing here now, I'm really happy..."

"Generally speaking, clues and actual evidence are needed to make inferences, but you are an exception, a unique exception." Sherlock snorted proudly and answered William's question proudly, "Just like those magicians can cause miracles as long as they know the results and conditions - for miracles and exceptions, the process is unnecessary. Even if I haven't personally discovered any clues about the true identity of the criminal until we die, I already know that you are the correct answer."

"My intuition alone is enough to make me sure that it is you who committed the crime, Lian."

William James Moriarty silently turned his gun amid Sherlock Holmes's laughter and pointed it at Milverton, who was now sweating profusely and with a distorted expression, and who retreated in panic with his back hitting the cold French window glass.

"From...from what have you been talking about just now!? Answer me!!" Milverton stared at Sherlock Holmes fiercely and asked loudly.

"…Lian, I want to save my soon-to-be-married partner. To do this, I don't care what I become." Sherlock Holmes stared at William James Moriarty, who almost merged into the shadow, with his peripheral vision. "What do you think? Even if your name is known to the world, it doesn't matter?"

"Yes, that's what I intended to do." At this moment, William James Moriarty, who was as gloomy as a dark cloud filled with rain, calmly answered Sherlock Holmes' question.

"Then there is the conclusion." Sherlock Holmes looked at Milverton and tightened his finger on the trigger.

"Wait, Holmes! Are you going to shoot...!?" Milverton panicked and threatened the two people by saying that he would make the crime lord's true identity known to the whole of Britain. "If you kill me... then... the evidence will also be made public!? Is that okay?!"

"Ah, if we look at the current situation from this perspective... So that's why Milverton has been bluffing all along." William took a sip of tea and looked at the dim interior displayed on the screen. "Although he told us at the beginning that the evidence would be automatically made public after his death, it turns out that Milverton did not give the evidence to anyone."

"What?" Lancermello blinked while sitting on the balcony railing, holding his face and asked William on the other end of the line, "I remember that you investigated and found out that Milverton had indeed spread the evidence to all the media under his command, and then you ruled out the plan of destroying the evidence that would cause a large number of casualties, and instead chose the plan of directly killing Milverton even if his identity was exposed, right?"

"...I noticed that, too." Sherlock unhappily echoed William and explained to Lansemello, "Although I saw that it was a lie at the time, but later Lian's identity was really made public, I didn't doubt that he was lying before - but now it seems... he didn't spread the evidence at all."

"Even if the Queen came in person, it would be impossible to make the lax British army disciplined in an instant, and the relationship between Milverton and those media is just a boss and employee maintained by money." Sherlock sneered and sorted out the truth about William's identity being made public after Milverton's death. "I'm afraid that what Lian found was just the evidence of "the true identity of the false criminal Lord" spread by Milverton."

"If it was real evidence, the media, busy grabbing headlines, wouldn't care about the boss's opinion."

"They will release the evidence as soon as they receive it, even if Milverton has leverage over them."

"Why?" Lansemello asked the two people on the other end of the line while listening to Sherlock Holmes pointing out Milverton's habit of clenching his back teeth.

"That's right." William nodded gently, and continued to answer Lansemello's questions as Sherlock had done, "Because in the British Empire at that time, the hottest topic was the Lord of Crime - you should still remember that not long ago, the Lord of Crime killed an excellent member of parliament who worked tirelessly for equality."

"No one will pay attention to the trivial matters other than the Lord of Crime - this is the real reason why they acted against Milverton's orders. Even if Milverton wanted to use those handles to threaten them, with the cover of the super big news of the Lord of Crime's true identity, no one will pay attention to what handle they have in Milverton's hands."

"That's what makes them so confident."

"It's time to leave—" When Milverton broke through the French window and tried to jump into the sea to escape, Sherlock Holmes pulled the trigger before William James Moriarty could, and fired five shots in a row to send Milverton to meet death, "The King of Threats 'Milverton'...!"

Milverton, who had one foot on the railing, spat out a mouthful of blood. He lost his life and balance at the same time, falling straight into the sea that had turned dark in the bad weather.

"...In this way...newspapers all over the country will publish the fact that you are the criminal." Sherlock Holmes lit a match, lit the cigarette in his mouth, and threw the still-lit match to the window curtain. "But after all, it's you...I'm afraid Milverton doesn't have any solid evidence."

"The evidence you have here cannot prove that you are the criminal... but that is wishful thinking..."

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it, Lian?"

"Although concrete evidence is not needed to guide public opinion, why was William still exposed as the Lord of Crime even though Milverton clearly did not hand over the evidence to the media?" Lansemello stood by the railing, watching the detectives in the room begin to exchange answers with the Lord of Crime, and the flames by the window curtains grew higher and higher. "Since there is no evidence that has been spread..."

"It's very simple. Just fabricate a report that proves that I am the criminal." William lit a cigarette and let it burn in his hand. "This is the same as what I did on that train - creating "false evidence". The media only needs to make the public believe that "I" am the "criminal" - they are not detectives and do not need to do proof questions to list real evidence. "