Chapter 367

"...You guys, after Milverton's death, you were still manipulated by William, right?" In the dark room covered by the curtains, Holmes, holding a cigarette holder, confirmed with Sherlock through the projection that appeared on the communication array, "Since he was ready to kill Milverton himself, he would never leave the police with a chance to find clues or evidence."

"You burned down Milverton's villa, but you didn't deal with the bodies that fell into the sea?"

"Yes." Sherlock answered Holmes' question while biting an unlit cigarette. "And the weather was very bad that day. With the technology at that time, even if no treatment was done on the body, it would be impossible to find Milverton's body that fell into the sea afterwards. Lian had chosen this time to meet Milverton from the beginning. "

"I was hoping they'd find Milverton's body."

"In short, whether it was recovered by Moriarty or sunk completely into the sea, the police did not find Milverton's body." Holmes smiled and twirled the cigarette holder in his hand, looking at Sherlock who turned his back to him, "Even if you have your own confession, the current situation is not enough to convict you of a 'perfect crime'."

"So you still haven't stepped out of William's script, you are still the hero 'protagonist' standing on this London 'stage'..."

There was a knock at the door behind Holmes.

"You should have finished your discussion, right?" Olgamari walked in from outside, holding several morning newspapers that had just been printed today. "The curtain of 'The Last Case' has been opened. All media under Milverton's name have made public the news that the true identity of the 'Lord of Crime' is William James Moriarty - if that were all, it would be fine..."

"Are there any other developments that are inconsistent with what we already know, Miss Animusphia?" Holmes held the pipe and turned his head to look at Olga Marie.

"The Scottish Yard has received a criminal statement from the 'Crime Lord.'" Olga Marie threw the pile of newspapers at her feet and took two steps forward to Holmes. "But the deputy director did not send back any relevant information in advance--"

"Then the answer is very simple." Holmes turned his gaze back to Sherlock, "The criminal statement was a temporary plan, a high-risk solution that was temporarily planned after Milverton's death - but for William it was the only solution. By the way, at this time... you should still be sitting in the interrogation room of Scotland Yard, right?"

"What's the matter?" Sherlock glared at Holmes unhappily.

"I am not the so-called 'British Government'." Holmes showed Sherlock a disgusted look, "At this point, there is no need for you to continue to cooperate with William to conceal the undisclosed intelligence, right? First of all, the first point - tell us the content of the criminal statement sent to the Scottish Field by the 'Crime Lord'."

“…Tsk.”

Sherlock smacked his lips irritably and repeated to everyone present what he knew with an unhappy expression.

"I declare to the people of the nation,

The man who murdered Baron Herschel at dawn was me—

William James Moriarty, the Lord of Crime.

This is just the beginning.

I hereby declare that

I will wipe out the nobles first,

All the privileged classes that are parasitic on this country.

No one can stop me.

"It's a short and clear statement of crime." Mollyli commented on the statement of crime in Olga Marie's voice again, "It's an excellent material for me to learn from and help me become the Napoleon of the criminal world—"

"Shut up, Molly." Olga Marie took back control of her voice and looked at the two Holmes in front of her. "Let Kirsh come out first - I'm afraid the House of Lords will have to hold an emergency meeting next. After all, this incident is directly related to the safety of the nobles. It is abnormal that the nobles in the House of Lords have not made any move yet."

At this moment, the door of the mansion was knocked quickly and violently - the messenger was obviously in a hurry to report the news to the next house. After knocking on the door, he shouted loudly inside to convey the information to the residents in the mansion.

"Council convened urgently! Count Moriarty will be questioned about the crime!"

"Eh... Mr. Holmes handed me such a rotten stall directly." Kirshtalia opened the curtains and watched the messenger hurriedly leave the front door of the mansion. "Earl Moriarty... I see. Although the Milverton media announced to the whole country that the real identity of the Lord of Crime was William James Moriarty, the Lord of Crime 'Moriarty' in this world did not refer to one person from the beginning."

"What do you mean?" Olgamari handed the coat to Kirshtalia and asked him with a frown.

"The 'Moriarty' here is a team - if we use the most strict standards, it's William, but if it's just 'James Moriarty'..." Kirshtalia put on his coat, straightened his tie, and turned his head to look at Olgamari, "The three brothers are all - 'James Moriarty'."

"What's the difference between one person and three people?" Olgamari accompanied Kirshtalia downstairs and walked to the door. "After all, for other people in this world, their enemies are all criminals--"

"Well, of course their enemies are all Lords of Crime - but if it's just Lords of Crime, it's not enough to ignite the fire of hatred in people's hearts." Kirshtalia stopped in front of the gate and pressed down the top hat on his head. "You can ask Ritsuka to ask those Avengers - they have the most say in hatred."

"Just let Ritsuka ask them this - when you were alive, did you hate fate, a vague and broad concept, or a real individual more?"

"Of course, what is hateful is things like God and fate—"

"Dear Alter, calm down..." Ritsuka Fujimaru smiled and pushed Jeanne Alter back to the chair in the interview room, then turned to look at the Avengers who truly had the concept of "before death". "Well, it would be better if I could explain Kirschtalia-senpai's question in more detail. For example, when Edmond was imprisoned in the Chateau d'If and realized under the guidance of the priest that his imprisonment was a frame-up... who was the object of your resentment at that time?"

"Of course they are specific people." Edmond, who occasionally wears his former Count's clothes when he goes out because of Fujimaru Ritsuka's hobby, answered Fujimaru Ritsuka standing by the wall, "Danglar, Fernan, Villefort - although the fact that we have become Avengers proves that the targets of our anger are not only our enemies, but when we first felt hatred in our lives, the target of that fire was of course a clear enemy."

"I was twisted into an Avenger after my death because of rumors." Standing behind the black princess, Salieri gave his answer to Fujimaru Ritsuka, "My anger was formed along with the rumors, and the resentment accumulated from my unwillingness to accept the fate of that genius is a rare type of Avenger who has a clear target of hatred - of course, my fire of hatred has also expanded, and that is towards humans."

"Hatred for the people who created that rumor and continued to amplify its influence."

The dark princess sitting opposite Jeanne Alter held a gorgeous black lace folding fan, looked up at the young Zuizhu with orange hair and golden eyes, who looked completely different from the black-haired, blue-eyed boy Zuizhu in the record she had, but showed exactly the same radiance in the depths, and sighed helplessly.

"I am the despair, anger, sorrow, and curse that were deliberately abandoned by the heroic spirit Marie Antoinette, who did not hate anyone, loved her people and country, and always talked about her ideals." Marie Antoinette Alter smiled gently at Fujimaru Ritsuka, "I am not the other side that had traces of it when I was alive, but the side that can only be extracted under extremely harsh conditions after death."

"Master, let me point you in a direction. The normal me and the me here will not point out the source of this sorrow, but perhaps someone else can find the answer for you and tell you why the fire of my hatred is burning fiercely... Oh, that executioner is a very good choice. Go ask Samson, the young master who is always as bright as the sun."

While Albert responded to the fierce questioning of the nobles with silence in the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, Earl Moriarty's house was surrounded by angry commoners.

"If it was just the nobles, it would be fine! But he even killed a good man like Whiteley!"

"Hand over that man named William!"

"Mr. William is not at home at the moment!" Jack Lenfield replied loudly to the crowd outside, "If you have nothing else to do, please go back!"

In the cafeteria, Ritsuka Fujimaru found the Marie Salon trio sitting in front of the counter-style dessert window enjoying high-sugar snacks.

"I don't think Woddam meant for you to find those guys who were the reason for the initial ignition of the fire of revenge, Master." Dion took a macaron from his plate and handed it to Fujimaru Ritsuka. He looked at the three people next to him and asked Fujimaru Ritsuka who had hurried here, "Where is the progress of the record there?"

"Eh?" Fujimaru Ritsuka blinked and answered Dion holding an orange macaron, "The Last Case - it said that Professor William at that time issued a criminal statement to the Scottish Field after his identity was exposed, so Director Olgamari asked me to ask this question... The content of the question was provided by Senior Kirshtalia."

"If it was just the title of 'Crime Lord', neither the nobles nor the common people would have enough hatred for the 'Crime Lord' who committed murders." Dion shook the drink in his hand and looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka. "I remember that in this world, it was said that British spies guided and created the French Revolution?"

"Ahem! I shouldn't have told you about this yet, right?! " Ritsuka Fujimaru widened his eyes in surprise at Dion.

"Although the gap between me and that computer demon is too obvious, you should at least remember that I am also a member of the French Royal Secret Service." Dion put down his drink and pointed out the answer directly to Fujimaru Ritsuka, "Only hatred that is specific enough will devour everything like a blazing flame."

"The hatred of the common people is directed at William, the second son who is the Lord of Crime, while the hatred of the nobles is directed at Albert, the eldest son who is a member of the House of Lords. But when it comes to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes's only nemesis is Moriarty. The flames of hatred that started from two different points will eventually burn the name 'Moriarty' together."