Heroes Return VI: Book One London Chapter 16

 16. 

 

Nayland had the cold pack on the jaw. He was seated on the armchair in the chamber of one named Mycroft Holmes.

“The local constabulary found you on the sidewalk and alerted the police van.” Mycroft spoke from behind the desk. “The local precinct was to toss you into the cells when one of our boys recognized you and had you transported here.”

“In a police van?” The van and then horse-drawn vehicles were used by the Metropolitan Police to transport prisoners from local police stations to courts or prisons.

“Well, it was free.” Mycroft replied. “Did you not get any wagons in China for that?”

“In China, it will be a wooden cart, and cuffed to the side of it and humiliated in a parade on the streets.”

"Brutal…" Mycroft let off a chuckle.

“It was, but it worked well.” Nayland rubbed the cold pack on the jaw. “Did they find the body there?”

“The hotel? I think so, but right now Sherlock is there to investigate. Bloody good task you did with yourself?”

“I was told to observe him. I did, and he was probably enjoying his whiskey in the hotel while I was soaking wet in the rain and getting socked by…" Nayland bit his lips then.

“By whom, Nayland? I read your reports. You could fight off four men armed with deadly weapons. So, who socked you that bad?”

Fu Manchu…. His henchmen did it. It was a bloody lucky punch, and I fell.” Nayland spat out the indignation he had undergone.

“Fu… your father-in-law did that. Why golly, I would be too. You are sleeping with his daughter and not taking the vow. I would have done the same.” Mycroft looked up with a smile. “Fatherhood lends you that strength.”

“Screw you, Mycroft. You've done your list of ladies, and have you taken any matri-oh-molly commitments yet?” 

“I have no Molly yet. Maybe a Nelly once or twice. And above it all, I have not a father of the ladies who could summon the evil to best me in a fistfight. Or shoot me with a shotgun yet.” Mycroft smiled. “You are……"

“I am spiritual but have no commitment to any denomination.” Nayland sneered at Mycroft. “I believe in a higher call.”

“Laissez faire.” Mycroft smiled. “Me too. Well, back to us. Oldman Fu is not a threat here. He was at Dover and boarded a ship to Liverpool. However, the Oni Society is the one threat we have to handle. Sherlock is at the hotel, and we will know more soon. In the meantime, you are to return home and rest …. Presumably without getting clobbered again.”

“I need to find Old Man Fu.” Nayland struggled to get up. “I need to find Charlie.”

“Last reported, Charlie Song was in EastEnders, but he asked for permission to return home to Hertfordshire.” Mycroft told Nayland.

At that moment, Charlie Song sat in the armchair of his home, with his wife and mother by his side. He was facing a man with bad intents.

“Mr. Soong, I can assure you that the East Enders have little or nothing on the Oni Society.” The man seated across from him held a cleaver in his right hand. “We are an honorable organization, and our trade is the goods we shipped in. You could say we've gone legit in our trade.”

“Cheng, you are in my home. That are rules of engagement.” Charlie Song glared at the man. “I can find you.”

“You could, but you are mistaken. I am told to protect you from the Oni Society. The emperor left strict orders to protect you and your sons. He does not want Nayland’s friends to get hurt.” Cheng leaned back on the seat. “It is a tall order given our rivalry, but I must obey. All that is needed was that you stay away from the Oni Society.”

“Why?” Charlie Song asked.

“This is not our war. This is between them, and we will just get in the way. Meddlesome without a reason ails our strength.” Cheng stood up. “Tell your leaders that you are to take a holiday to America. It is lovely there at this time of the year, courtesy of the emperor. He values you well.”

Professor Moriarty was not at his best that day. He had concluded a lecture and found it more agitating than educational, for the questions raised by him were given baffled expressions by the attendees. He dismissed them all early and walked back to his study chamber. He could make out the twin guards assigned by Colonel Sebastian Moran for his safety and the groundkeeper who was standing guard at the carnation flower bed by the building. He knew that the Colonel had his safety as a concern, but he was contemplating why the Oni Society was activated then.

The Oni Society had been in London some years; the Japanese Embassy to Europe arrived in 1862, and the first batch of students studied at University College London, arriving in 1863. Mitsui & Co. soon established its London office, and no fewer than two hundred Japanese residents registered in Britain. The professor knew all of this from his network of informers and had been monitoring certain persons of interest since then.

The killing incident, murder as stated by the authorities, is a norm for them to classify any gruesome death as such, but to the professor, a kill is still a kill, depending on the expediency of the act. Three persons were killed by means that suggested a foreigner’s act; the head was removed with a sharp sword and unsanctioned by his network, and worse to his affirmation, two of them were his informants, which costs him to replace.

The professor also knew that Sherlock Holmes was alerted to him by the prime minister's office. That baffled him, as at that stage, he was not keen on the case, but he did take vengeance killing, mindful use of the meaning on the loss of any operative. The method of killing was beheading and demeaning to his network. He had the killers found; it was not an easy trail, but he snared them and had them killed, with the body disposed of at the pig farm.

Doctor Mitsui Ogata was not aware of the missing operatives and, from his words, seems to think they are missing. His proclamation of their demise triggered a reaction from the doctor, and then the doctor got himself into an explosive act.

“So many variables……” Professor Moriarty had his head down while he walked. “But Holmes…"

Holmes was another variable. He had known Holmes, but there was no call to include Holmes. Why was Holmes called in? The professor knew that Holmes was hardly involved in international cases unless invited. His expression was drawn to the copy of the note he got from his informer.

The professor had prior knowledge that Doctor Mitsui Ogata was to meet Minister Leeson, and the agenda was the study of the central banking needs. Mycroft was there as an international liaison as expected, but the topic was diverted to the Oni Society.

Nothing was said by whom, and when was the topic changed? It did not do much good when the minister was killed hours later.

That leaves only two others to look at: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Mitsui Ogata. He had met the doctor and learned nothing at all.

“Tell me, Holmes. What do you know?” The professor muttered to himself when he reached for the door to his study.

Meanwhile, at the mortuary, Doctor John Watson stepped away from the table and then removed his glove.

“It was not until this century that the performance of autopsies was the norm for any criminal victim. It was a part of the regulated practices of established medical examiners and coroners, with the origin pioneered by Karl Rokitansky of Vienna and later refined by Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow, who used microscopy to examine each organ carefully.”

“I am well informed on that, Watson. Elementary lessons to me. In my early days of my studies in biology, I was already applying causes of abrasions and wounds for my victim physiology studies.” Sherlock Holmes stared at the burnt body, which was dissected in parts. “I also did chemical…"

“I know. You told me you flogged a dead pig to see the scars.” Doctor John Watson was then writing his report. “I was out of bacon for a few weeks.”

“There was a fight there. And Kataka Sukimora was injured. The fatal blow was on the forehead. A blow that only certain masters are capable of."

“And added to your conclusion, I deduced that the wound you mentioned at the forearm was a fracture, not recent though. The fire did not scorch that part of the body, for it was underneath the chest and was shielded by the main fire.” Doctor John Watson looked at Sherlock.

“Elementary, my dear Sherlock.”

“And I examined the omamori found at the scene. It is identical to the one worn by Sukimora.” Sherlock held up the partially burnt amulet. “It must have slipped off, and then the fire burned the string, and it fell in between the armpits there.”

“Elementary, my dear Watson.” Sherlock looked away. “But where is Ogata?”

“Presumably dead, but they never do so, do they, Holmes?” Watson looked at Sherlock. “Are we in a hurry to get them dead?”

Nayland had then rushed to the port but was late to see the streamer leaving the quay. The steamer was on the journey to New York. And Charlie Song was on it.

“Sir, are you Nayland Smith?” A scruffy lad approached Nayland. “I got a note here for you. He said you will pay me a shilling for it.”

Nayland paid and took the note and read it.

“Nayland, my good friend. I am going to New York to meet family members there. I am offered a position with the New York Police Department as an inspector. I will be there for a while. My regards to you and your lover. Life is too short to not take it seriously. Take care. My sons await me there.”

Nayland knew the message given to him. He knew Charlie had a job opening in New York and was to leave for there soon after he cleared the case here in London. When he read the reference to his lover, he knew that Charlie was referring to the old man, Fu Manchu. Life was short, a warning to him that he could be in danger.

“Go with peace, Charlie. Take care of your sons.” Charlie’s main concern was his family, and he needed to be with them. There was a breaking point for anyone, and that was Charlie’s.

“Fu Manchu, I will get you.” Nayland was upset.