Sherlock's words fell, and his cramped room fell into complete silence for a moment. All that remains is the sound of Edward rhythmically munching on a sandwich.

After a few seconds of pause, Sherlock smiled and said, "Of course, it's impossible.

"Because if the professor was behind it, he wouldn't have been able to use such a simple, flawed approach. He was already familiar with the minister of Drost, and he had various connections in the kingdom. He has every way to achieve this goal without showing up for himself. ”

With that, Sherlock pulled out a box of matches and a cigar under Edward's silent gaze, and began to spin the cigars to heat them evenly.

He looked down at the cigar and said nonchalantly, "And the motives of the person who does this now, are crippled.

"The plan itself is also very subtle. The assassination of Secretary Raff and the attack on Her Royal Highness the Princess, through this act it is very natural to expose that Minister Droste may be closely related to the smuggling of alchemy products. And to maximize the social impact of this matter, so that the old Drost mobilization relationship can't be suppressed.

But on the other hand, if she can lay out such a plan, why not use more direct means? It was as if her purpose had never been to bring down Drost or to make trouble for the Drost family; She's not here to steal information, or to stop smuggling; She's not trying to throw Avalon into chaos, or she's trying to uphold justice and truth.

"It was as if the man's purpose was to 'expose the conduct of Minister Drost,' and that was the end of what she had to do. It is possible to make such a plan, to have such a degree of action, but with such a conservative purpose. So I concluded that the person who carried out this plan must be at the behest of someone who had little influence in the upper echelons of Avalon, so he needed to rely on public opinion to achieve his own ends.

- For example, spies from other countries. Considering the hostile relationship between Iris and Star Antimony, I think it may be a spy sent by Iris. ”

Sherlock said, taking the smoking cigar in his mouth and exhaling deeply.

He raised his head and looked at Edward's clear gaze, "Since you didn't do anything to me just now...... So I guessed right? ”

Edward remained silent, still chewing his food slowly and silently.

"You've been chewing on this sandwich for almost a minute, my dear friend."

Sherlock said lazily, cocking his legs.

He smirked a puff of smoke into Edward's face, his eyes fearless, "It seems that my previous speculation was correct. The Moriarty family's business...... It doesn't seem very serious. ”

"—you'd better not investigate any further, Sherlock."

The food in his mouth was swallowed silently, and Edward, who had been silent for a long time, had a dull expression: "Just take this as my request to you." ”

“…… I'm glad, Edward. You see me as a true friend. ”

The corners of Sherlock's mouth rose, and the smoke slowly enveloped him: "Based on my trust in you, I will temporarily abandon the investigation of 'Moriarty'. All of my findings so far have been placed in the folder with the prefix M on the bookshelf on your left. There was a blue envelope with 'Moriarty' written on it. ”

Listening to Sherlock's words, Edward didn't hesitate to get up and walk to the bookshelf, reaching through the folder to find the envelope.

"Is there a copy, Sherlock?" Edward asked.

"You know I never keep anything like that, my dear friend. But I strongly advise you not to destroy it outright, and it is better to open it now. ”

Sherlock said leisurely, "You're not curious, when did I start to be suspicious of the professor?" And why do you dare to say these things to you here? ”

Edward was not stupid.

His hard, slightly angular countenance now took on a color as silent as steel.

“…… Was it because my father suddenly left the glass island? ”

"Part of it. But mainly because of the warehouse deflagration case. ”

Sherlock replied, "You were too concerned about that case that day. But after that, you didn't continue to investigate the case. You didn't report to the media, and you didn't even say a word to me. I guess you're afraid I'm taking it too seriously. But because you didn't say it, I noticed the anomaly.

"I can easily find out that you took the opportunity to send Ivas to school the next day, and went to the university to find Dr. William Wayne Westcott. He happened to be the assayer of the 'fire spirit' component in this case......"

"What does that mean?"

Edward asked rhetorically, "Or did Dr. Westcott say something to you?" ”

Instead of sitting down, he just stood by the bookshelf and slowly opened the blue envelope.

Edward was surprised to find that there was only a blank piece of paper inside the blue envelope.

"Yes, I don't have any proof. But your reaction tells me...... I was right. ”

Sherlock got up from his rocking chair and poured himself a glass of cold water.

With a cigar in his left hand and a cup in his right hand, he drank the cold water with a bang. Apparently Sherlock was a little nervous just now.

"Actually, it was because I found myself unable to find any evidence that Professor Moriarty was involved in the crime...... That's why I vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"A founding family that is at the center of the social circle of the royal capital, is it really possible to be clean and clean without the slightest flaw after so many years? I don't believe it. Whether it's you, or Ivas and Yulia...... Your adoption records are so clean.

"And the professor has no relatives, no wife, no record of his parents—as you yourself said, you were married. You're still urging me to get married soon. So, hasn't anyone rushed Professor James?

"There are only adopted children and friends, but there are no closer social ties. Not at all, not even a death record. ”

Sherlock exhaled, picked up his cigar again, and said in a flat voice, "Don't be nervous, my dear friend. When I found out that Ivas wanted to protect Princess Isabel from the bottom of her heart, none of that was a big deal.

"Your Majesty saved my father's life, and I want to repay her. That's why I do things for Mr. Kent. I don't do things for Avalon, and I don't obey the round table room. I'm only loyal to the royal family – or rather, I'm only loyal to Queen Sophia.

"I'm not pedantic, Edward. You know me. I'm not looking for justice or order, I'm just curious about the truth. As long as it's not a bad job, I can even help you. So what exactly do you have to keep in your heart that you can't tell me? ”

“…… I don't tell you, it's for your own good. ”

Edward was silent for a long time before shaking his head and saying sincerely: "All I can say to you is that my father is not hostile to the royal family. That's the limit, you really don't want to look into it anymore. ”

Sherlock still asked, "So we're not opposites......"

"—This is not a warning, Sherlock. This is exhortation. ”

Still wearing the black suit that looked like a mourning gown, Edward's voice was low and magnetic: "Moths will be caught by spiders, and the best thing to do is to stay away from cobwebs." The less you know, the safer you are. ”

“…… All right. I believe in you, dear friend. I won't be actively investigating this until you give me permission. ”

Sherlock shook his head and sighed.

He still couldn't ask what his old friend was worried about.

But there are still some results.

At least now there is a preliminary showdown and compromise between the two sides.

In this risky encounter, their friendship was not destroyed...... Instead, it has become more solid.

Sherlock was a little relieved and a little regretful: "I originally thought that you were also one of the manipulated. It's like Ivus...... You want to break free from your adoptive father. As a result, it seems that you are on the other side now. ”

"Wait...... You say, Aihuas? Edward paused for a moment and repeated in a low voice.

"Yes, he was favored by Master Janis and chosen as Princess Isabel's companion. And this time he saved the princess, and I am afraid that Her Majesty will have to summon him personally. This should be the way he planned to break free from the shackles of fate...... If, according to you, the professor is not hostile to the royal family, then he probably won't care about Ivus anymore. ”

Sherlock shook his head, "If I had judged correctly that the murderer was related to Iris's spy, I don't think the murderer should have attacked Princess Isabel." Because for the Irises people, Isabel is the best ruler of Avalon. They couldn't have wanted to kill her.

"Reasoning from this point down, the assassins would enter the shadow of Her Royal Highness the Princess, apparently to avoid Director Gordon's perception. And she heard Director Gordon and knew you were coming...... In the presence of multiple high-level transcendents, transcendents who have adapted to the path will definitely tend to hide or flee.

"And she's clearly pretty good at her own art of stealth, so she'll choose the one with the most stable shadow of the 'people who will definitely leave the room.'"

It was Eivas in a wheelchair - that's why Eivace's first shot was in his shadow.

Although for some reason, Ivas knows the knowledge of shadow stealth...... But there is no problem with his position. It can be seen only from that second shot.

"Ivas fired two shots in quick succession because he didn't really know where the prisoner was. Firing a second bullet into Princess Isabel's shadow is a dangerous move. If this shot misses, and then Princess Isabel suffers an accident, then Ivas will most likely be responsible.

"A person with ill intentions should try to maintain his innocence, and should not take meaningless but risky actions. Especially if he's a smart guy and hasn't been exposed to anyone's attention before.

It was from this shot that I could tell that Ivas really wanted to protect Isabel.

"Further reasoning, we can conclude that Ivas asked Director Gordon to take people to the second floor to conduct a careful search before you arrived, in order to 'force the murderer back to the first floor, where there were no other high-level transcendents so far'. The space on the second floor of the club was too large, and most of the surveillances would not have noticed her presence if they hadn't gone up and searched her carefully.

"And at that time, you're about to arrive. When you get to the scene, there will be people on the first floor, and she won't be able to move. She must have heard that.

So from then on, she had to make a decision at once whether to abandon the second floor, which could be heavily searched, and move to the more loosely guarded and safe first floor.

"The time left for her to think was very limited, and Director Gordon's slow search would constantly put pressure on her.

"As long as the Assassin came down from the second floor, there was only a limit to where she could hide. The first possibility is under Ewass, and the second possibility is Isabel next to him. Only the two of them will definitely not run, and no one will interrogate them.

"All that 'reasoning' in the newspapers is nonsense. Or rather, Ivas didn't reason at all – he was scamming, to be exact. He is not deducing the truth of the past, but guiding the future with his own hands.

He didn't know where the assassin was, but like a spider in a web, he invisibly manipulated the ignorant assassin and let her step by step into the trap he had prepared.

"—I think that's the whole truth."

Iwass was only nineteen years old, and had never touched these things before, nor had he ever used the art.

No matter how clever he was, he could not have grasped this knowledge out of thin air. Where did he learn this skill?

That can only be from the professor.

"The only time he was out of the public eye was from the time he graduated from high school until mid-November. I think it was around this time that Ivas learned the Professor's craft, understood the Professor's plans, and began to oppose his ideas...... In a sense, Iwass may be closer to the professor than you and Iwas. ”

Sherlock still has some affection for the professor. Therefore, instead of using the word "conspiracy", he chose "conspiracy" instead.

He affirmed, "Because of this, I am sure that Ivas's intelligence, reliability, and innocence, and that the professor is problematic.

"That's why I'm going to confess to you now, before I really start investigating. Just as I concluded that Professor Moriarty was not the fault of this matter, it was because he was too simplistic. If Ivas is also involved, the truth of the case cannot be easily seen by me. Because of this, I conclude that Ivas must be at odds with the professor's position.

"If there's anything you can't say to me, or to your father, talk to your brother Ewas. Ivas is far smarter than you think.

"Or rather, he's far smarter than you."

Sherlock gives ruthless but friendly advice.

More than 7,000 words! Asking for tickets at the end of the month, it feels like there is a chance to be in the top 100 monthly passes in the first month of listing!

(End of chapter)