Heroes Return VI: Book One London Chapter 5

 

5. 

 

Sherlock took to the retirement of the night that day. He had refused supper offered by Mrs. Hudson and chose to smoke his pipe then. He needed to think on the event that afternoon.

The visit at the exchequer office was at most a casual visit; he has been there before as their guest, but that evening, it was the scent of blood that permeated the atmosphere there. The local constabulary was kept at the perimeter outside, while Scotland Yard took the interior.

However, Lestrade was exempted.

“By golly, that is the minister. " Lestrade exclaimed in alarm. “I only met him…"

“Restraint yourself, Inspector. Scotland Yard is the authority here.” Mycroft exerted his authority there. “And the Foreign Office is at the helm.”

“Let him be, Mycroft. He is here to assist me.” Sherlock stepped to the victim. “Watson is back at his practice.”

Sherlock stood by the dead body and examined the cause of death.

“The minister was shot here, at twenty feet." Sherlock looked to the corner where the bookshelf was next to the fireplace. “The minister had stepped in and walked to his desk after closing the door on the guards who were stationed outside in the corridor. He approached the desk to write a message for the telegram to be sent to the country home.”

Sherlock motioned to the writing pad, which had the words 'Caution and stay safe.'

“He then saw the assailant, surprised, and stood up to call the guards when the arrow pierced his heart. He fell backward onto the seat and then remained there.”

“An arrow?” Lestrade looked baffled.

“Yes, an arrow. At approximately twenty feet, given the strength of the assailant and in the hands of one who is trained, it often results in complete pass-through penetration due to maximum arrow speed and minimal energy loss at close range.” Sherlock explained. “The arrow was still accelerating or had just reached its maximum velocity, resulting in high kinetic energy and momentum upon impact.”

“Wow! How did you know this?” Lestrade asked.

“Elementary arrived at the deduction. I did spend my time at the archery range when I was in college. It was invigorating at best," Sherlock replied.

“He meant he was busier with his right hand than with his ……" Mycroft has not hissed off his contempt yet.

“The arrow looks…" Sherlock crouched down to examine the arrow. “It was removed from the body. The entry point shows different scaring of the wound.”

“The Oni Society is adept at that. If you noticed the arrow design or ‘ya,' the length or ‘shaft’ is shorter as their preference, and the fletching is of the Japanese sparrow hawk; note the design there. I believed the arrowhead is togari-ya, designed for piercing.”

Sherlock looked up to see Doctor Mitsui Ogata standing by the door. The latter did a short bow and walked towards the body.

“I have been studying the Oni for some years now.” Doctor Mitsui Ogata looked to the baffled inspector. “The assailant was here before the minister arrived.”

“And he…" Lestrade was cut off.

“The assailant was a lady. The Oni have a pool of assailants that are of that gender. They are more adept at mingling with the crowd.” Doctor Mitsui Ogata smiled. “Or work as a servant.”

“I will get the Yard to check on any foreign ladies working here.” Mycroft walked to the door.

“Good observations, Doctor Mitsui Ogata.” Sherlock stood to face the other. “However, I am to…" "The assailant escaped by the window. There may be marks there of its soles.” Doctor Mitsui Ogata motioned to the window.

“It is a three-level drop from here.” Lestrade stepped to the window. “And concrete below.”

“Climb, Inspector. Not drop. The assailant climbs up with use of the grappling rope.” Doctor Mitsui Ogata walked to the window. “There are sole marks here. Not intangible, but marks are seen.”

“Your observations are remarkable, Doctor.” Sherlock looked at the man.

“I have studied their actions thoroughly. And thank you for your compliments.” Doctor Mitsui Ogata did another low box. “Arigatogozimas.”

“The question remained: why were the minister and his mistress targeted? "Sherlock held a frowned expression.

“Mistress, Sherlock? Surely…" Lestrade looked at the sleuth.

“An admission to the truth does not need to be disguised.” Sherlock moved to leave the chamber.

Back at his chamber, Sherlock was wrapped in the murder case.

It was an uneventful day for him locally; the evening newspaper gave him no news of interest. The news of the minister being killed and his estate news were held back, but his address was the buzz of telegrams arriving from overseas. He relooked at the telegram that made him go to the meeting that early afternoon.

“The Far East requires us to meet Doctor Mitsui Ogata in the Oni Society. I am involved. And so is M. Do come.” That was the length of the message received. It triggered his curiosity when the prefix "M" was there.

That message was from the prime minister.

M to Sherlock at that moment stood for Moriarty, his adversary in the art of crime.

Unknown to many besides those who live and breathe in the underworld of crime, Moriarty's full name was James Moriarty, the mastermind of crimes in all the isles except for certain seaports; he holds joint dominion with one named Emperor Fu Manchu. Moriarty's other profession was the academic role as the professor of mathematics in one of the revered universities. Moriarty was said to command the thousands of members, including the elites and nobles to the vagabonds on the street. His criminal empire rivaled the king of the isle in influence. The nature of this criminal mind was so brilliant that the local constabulary does not have any concrete link of crimes to the professor, but the Home Office held huge filings of the possible links without evidence. The other archive of the crimes was in the personal bedroom of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock sent out mail to the network of contacts that he knew on the two keywords: "Doctor Mitsui Ogata" and "Oni Society." He got his replies soon enough. Doctor Mitsui Ogata is a criminologist like Holmes, in the employ of the emperor there in the far east. The emperor had expressed concerns on the emergence of "triads" as a term there and their influence on the nation’s administration. The emperor maintained a section of the enforcement to deal with that group, but of late the new group called the Ono Clan had taken hold of the nation with its drastic and killing acts.

More information, unverified, came in on the Oni Society, which had then spread to Hong Kong and Singapore. The clan could not be verified as to their origin but were stated to be the works of diplomats and nobles with the support of the influential traders. The Oni Society does not partake in the actual crime operations but remains as the shadow leadership behind them. In some reports, the emperor himself was allegedly linked as the leader, but it was only cast as rumors.

The question in Sherlock’s mind was why Moriarty surfaced the allegations here in London. Did he fear the Oni Society, which had supposedly evenly placed it as the powerful?

“What is your game, Moriarty?” Sherlock had the violin close to his chest with the wand by the side while he ponders in the dim-lighted parlor of his. He was in deep thoughts then.

Two things saved his life that night.

The violin and the dim light.