chapter 22
detective who detects
“What do you think, Goddess? Is Sherlock really Sharon?”
Goddess answered my question.
[Okay. I don’t know.]
Steam leaked out at the bland reply.
Seriously, it was my fault for believing in Goddess.
[But one thing is certain.]
“What is it?”
[The fact that I will often be involved with that detective child in the future.]
This time, I meekly nodded and agreed.
Apart from Goddess’s main sword, it seemed obvious that she would run into frequent clashes with Sherlock.
It’s not just a coincidence, it’s because she is doing her best to catch me on purpose.
“When will the absorption end?”
[Okay. I’ll grab it and take it by tomorrow night.]
It doesn’t take that long.
Until absorption is complete, if possible, it is better to take a break for a while rather than immediately proceed to the next activity.
Absorbing the power of the gem strengthens the ability, so there is no need to rush out without waiting for it.
So, I decided to take a relaxing vacation tomorrow after a long time.
[How are you going to spend your vacation?]
“Hey, I should sit around at home.”
When resting, it is best not to bother going outside, but to stay in the house and rest.
You should giggle while watching the news and reactions of Phantom Thief Raven.
big Just thinking about it already makes sense.
***
A scarlet evening glow made as the sun goes down.
People were busy returning to their homes after finishing their day’s work.
Inside, a girl was wandering the streets.
As you walk along the road, you can hear various sounds. Among them, the chatter of middle-aged men passing by stimulated the girl’s ears.
“After all, I couldn’t even catch it yesterday.”
“The cops are already wrong. I won’t be able to catch it for the rest of my life.”
“Britania is shaking up with one thief. Say goodbye.”
Not particularly special lamentations and complaints.
Lately, wherever I have been, there have been so many similar stories that I get tired of them.
Even the articles with the newspaper boy running around eagerly contained only a lot of stories about the phantom thief Raven.
In less than a month, the landscape of London has changed dramatically.
Because of only one man.
“·················ogue.”
A girl in an unusual outfit with a beige hunting hat and an Invernessscape.
Sherlock looked at the landscape in front of him for a moment with a complicated expression, and then began to walk again.
The place she was heading to was the site of the incident where the crime took place yesterday, the direction of the museum.
After some time passed and we reached our destination, the site was surprisingly crowded with a considerable number of people.
It was a collaboration between reporters wandering around to see if there was any news even after a day had passed since the case had already ended and the police struggling to find even the slightest traces.
Of course, the police were blocking access to the general public, including reporters.
“You can’t come in anymore.”
At the police’s restraint, Sherlock spoke without embarrassment.
“I got permission from Detective Gadget.”
“Ah, is that so? Then come in.”
They were able to freely move around the site across the police line without any confirmation procedure.
If it were a Raven in disguise, it would have been a fairly futile security breach.
Thinking about telling Gadget about this later, Sherlock went straight into the art gallery.
“yes?”
Gadget, who was conducting an investigation inside the museum, turned his head at the girl’s popularity.
“…what is it? How did you get in?”
“It was a free pass because I gave the detective’s name.”
“Ugh! These damn bastards…!”
Gadget, who was furious at dealing with laziness, sighed and spoke.
“I’m sorry, but you have nothing to do here. Yesterday’s help is appreciated, but from now on, it is the domain of the police.”
“I am a detective. I can help.”
A detective who perseveres despite the crowd.
Then the detective looked at him with cold eyes and asked.
“What kind of help? Are you sure you can arrest the thief by staying here?”
“I’ll figure out the trick like I did yesterday.”
“With magic.”
“I’m not an idiot who relies solely on magic.”
Gadget shrugged. It was difficult for anyone to see that they believed the words.
“Everyone says so. It’s seldom that action supports it.”
Taking a pack of cigarettes out of her coat pocket, she skillfully lit it and took a sip.
“Do you know what the citizens think of wizards?”
“…it doesn’t look good. I know.”
“yes. You know why.”
It is not due to any specific event.
It just naturally divides the wall between ordinary people and wizards as time goes by.
“The age of mystery is coming to an end. An age of iron and man is emerging, not magic and myth.”
In a way, it was a natural result.
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Magic has always been reserved for the very few chosen ones.
From time immemorial to the present, this truth has never been broken.
The benefits of civilization, on the other hand, are not unique to a few.
The power that the unchosen absolute majority can equally enjoy.
Cities were built, people flocked to them, and industries developed through the iron civilization plunged the mysterious realm of magic down.
“Think of a steam train traveling all over Britannia. Do you know how many visitors per day? Can we really replace it with magic?”
Of course it would be impossible. Perhaps as time goes on, the differences will widen rather than narrow.
So people naturally think like this.
Do you really need magic that is difficult to control and uses only a few?
“What does that have to do with now?”
“Surely, Sherlock, your reasoning was great. But if it’s the result of relying on magic, what do you do when you’re not there? Should the cops suck their fingers while waiting for the great wizard detective Sherlock to come?”
What Gadget meant to say was simple.
You cannot catch a phantom thief by relying solely on the power of magic that cannot be standardized.
“like. I know what you mean.”
“···sorry. Never meant that you weren’t helpful. but···.”
Sherlock shredded the formal apple of the gadget and said bluntly.
“Can I show you?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t use magic, I just have to figure out Raven’s tricks by my own reasoning.”
In response to the girl’s amazing response, Gadget let out a small laugh involuntarily.
‘It’s not an ordinary bet.’
It must have been because of this aspect, the phantom thief chased Raven down to his chin and drove him into a crisis.
“good. But would it be possible? A day has already passed.”
In addition, it should be taken into account that the police may have damaged evidence in the name of investigation.
I tried to preserve the site as much as possible, but if you don’t know if it’s evidence, there’s a good chance it could be accidentally damaged.
“it’s okay.”
Sherlock trudged inside.
The first thing to check is the area around the place where the painting was. The site was preserved as much as possible, so even the screen that the gadget tore yesterday was still on the ground.
At first glance, there were no special signs.
If it was easy to find, the police would have found it before Sherlock.
Then to the statue where the phantom thief was sitting. He followed the path all the way to the window he had escaped from, carefully observing.
“·················ogue.”
“Did you find something?”
swish.
As his words were lightly ignored, Gadget lowered his hand.
Looking at his expression, it doesn’t seem like he was intentionally ignoring it, but how focused was it that he couldn’t even hear the voice calling out to him?
Sherlock returned to the museum after researching the grass outside the window.
Gadget, of course, presumed that it had failed, and offered words of consolation.
“it’s okay. We’ve been investigating since yesterday and we haven’t found anything.”
“I just figured it out.”
“···Yes?”
Embarrassed, Sherlock began explaining based on reasoning.
“First, if you look at the wall where this painting is hung, there is a trace of something attracted to it.”
“Well···. Isn’t it because of the veil?”
If you close your eyes and look closely, you’ll see something.
“no. Looking at the thickness of the screen, it is impossible to make such a thinly swept mark. This is possible only when the thread is thinner than the string.”
“line?”
The explanation continued like a rapid-fire cannon without stopping.
“Next, the ceiling above the statue. If you look here too, there are traces of hanging something. It was precisely in this position yesterday when the painting entered Raven’s arms.”
“Oh, was it…?”
Gadget, who was barely following while listening to the reasoning, threw a counter-moon.
“That means you moved the picture through the thread, is that possible? You move the picture into the air while keeping the thread so thin that it cannot be seen with the naked eye?”
“It will just be difficult. He must have used magic.”
Of course, gadgets think so too. The scene I saw last night can’t be explained without magic.
“Then what about the magic sensor?”
This is the biggest problem.
If you really used magic, how did you avoid the magic sensor?
“···that.”
Sherlock’s mouth stopped for the first time.
The girl is eventually stuck at the most essential trick.
However, the detective was not completely unsuccessful.
“The traces of the thread were tied all the way to the outside. Perhaps they used magic outside or some other method.”
“The phantom thief was only in the museum from the beginning until he escaped.”
“···yes. But there is a high probability that he used it that way.”
Sherlock follows his reasoning to the end.
Gadget nodded his head for once, as it was a reasonable guess in his own way.
“All right. First of all, it is recorded as an investigation report.”
“thanks.”
After that, Sherlock wandered around the scene as if he had not given up on his regrets for a while.
However, he did not use magic until the end, as if he was going to keep his promise to her.
“manager. Who the hell is that friend?”
“That’s right.”
A subordinate police officer questioning the appearance of such a girl.
Gadget was also very curious about that.
Sherlock. I’m sure it’s a name I’ve heard somewhere.
She said to her subordinate while staring at the detective girl’s back.
“You check it out. Investigate anything related to the Sherlock name.”
“… is it me?”
“Then what will I do?”
“···Yep. All right.”