greatestdefective | Telepathic IC 'Inbox' and Messenger Bird Reception

[He draws in a deep breath through his nose before speaking.] The Professor case was an exceedingly complicated one, not to mention delicate. The Van Zieks family were treasured nobles and when the older brother, Klimt, lost his life... Well, some took it more personal than others.

[Holmes takes the picture of the brothers and Gregson in hand, staring down at it. Barok van Zieks had been arrested as the defendant, he still remembers this much, but he refuses to believe it. The Grim Reaper of Old Bailey wouldn't harm a hair on Gregson's head.]

Barok van Zieks was the one who stood in court to prosecute Genshin Asougi. He wanted to avenge his brother's death, even if it meant condemning an old friend. However, before that, the case had been officially assigned to Hart Vortex, who was still a prosecutor at the time. It wasn't until the Professor case was supposedly closed that he was promoted to Chief Magistrate.

[He folds his hands together, thinking quietly to himself. There was an inkling, just a feeling in the back of his mind that the source of all the darkness in London, was lurking just out in the open.] . . .Prosecutor Van Zieks told me about that, how he begged Chief Vortex to let him prosecute that trial instead and he allowed it. It wasn't long after that trial, that people were mysteriously killed after receiving a not guilty verdict, and people started calling Van Zieks the Grim Reaper, eventhough the Grim Reaper turned out to be a group of people.

[The detail about him becoming the Chief Magistrate afterwards is news to him though.] You think...he could be the mastermind behind everything? It wouldn't be hard for someone in Vortex's position to be able to make those kinds of orders.

[What- Okay, Sherlock hadn't thought quite that far ahead just yet. The most he'd concluded so far was that there was a connection. Still, now that he thinks about it, if Vortex was the one who gave the order for an incomplete autopsy report in Gregson's case... He reaches for Klimt's autopsy report, staring down at the words.]

This report was inaccurate as well, did you know? Mikotoba was the one who wrote it as Dr. Watson's assistant, though he did so with great apprehension. Watson's findings were highly suspect and I believe that the good doctor knew that just as well as Mikotoba did. Someone had forced these results into being. There was the possibility that Gregson was the one responsible, but... Why would he? That doesn't make sense, does it? Gregson believed with all his heart that Asougi was the Professor. Someone else would've fed Dr. Watson that lie. And then...

[He puts the autopsy report back on the pile, his gaze straying to the memorial photo.]

The one who arranged for the student exchange project which was meant to silence both Watson and Gregson... Wasn't that also the Chief Magistrate?

[He already knew about who had written the report, but the details behind it were new. He leans over to examine the report.] What details exactly was forced on this report...? From a perspective of an outsider, who wasn't there at the time, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

[He hangs his head, considering the questions.] Yes, but I don't think it was just him. He needed to be contact with someone from the Japan side as well. [Who was it that offered Asougi the opportunity to go to Japan with that one requirement? He picks up the photo they all took that day in the hotel, staring at the man with the impressive beard.] Someone who had just as much power as him, Judge Jigoku Seishirou.

It was the ring, of course. The ring. Had it truly made its way down Van Zieks's esophagus to nestle itself in his stomach, it would've caused quite a bit of damage during its journey. There was no sign of any of that. I daresay, no human would dare to swallow something quite so pointy and prickly to begin with. [Not even Holmes.] Watson could very well have planted it on the body. Or, err, inside the body.

[He leans towards Naruhodou, peering down at the photo over his friend's shoulder.]

That big bushy bearded fellow over there? He arrived in England on the same day Gregson was found dead? [Hm. But isn't this guy one of Mikotoba's companions? Actually, now that he thinks about it...] All those years ago, when Mikotoba and Asougi were in England for their exchange project, wasn't there a third student? Someone who'd insisted so fiercely upon their friend's innocence in court that he was almost incarcerated himself?

[He skims over the report, there is indeed a mention of something being found in his stomach but. . .] There's no mention of any internal injuries, I see. But why go through all this trouble to frame someone else unless...Chief Vortex was actually the culprit?

[He frowns, remembering the story Mikotoba told him about Jigoku. He did stand up for his friend in court, didn't he? So why...?] Yea, that was him. He was also the one who suggested to Asougi, my best friend Asougi, to participate in the exchange program. He knew somehow.

[Holmes runs a hand past his forehead, thinking it over. His gaze strays from the photos to the Asougi file, then on to Gregson's trunk. What is he missing? What went on so many years ago? It's difficult for him to remember the details- it's been twelve years, what with Empatheias tossed on top of the time which had passed back home.]

A collaboration, perhaps... It seems entirely too convenient that one of the Professor's victims was our Chief Vortex's predecessor- the previous Chief Magistrate. However, our big bushy bearded friend must be hiding some secrets of his own. I happen to know for a fact that Asougi- the older Asougi- did not quite trust him in the end.

[Because Klimt's child had been hidden from him. Mikotoba had been sworn to secrecy when it came to that matter, Holmes remembers that much.]

Our would-be Professor used Mikotoba as his sole confidant right before his execution. If the three of them were indeed close friends, then why not include the bushy beard who'd insisted upon Asougi's innocence? Why indeed...

. . .Well, I was hoping I'd get some answers out of him before I got here, but on the subject of his whereabouts on the day Detective Gregson was murdered. The problem is. . . [He furrows his brows.] he seems to be missing.

[There seems to be something else missing. He starts looking through all the evidence.] Where is it?

Missing?

[That's troublesome, to say the least. If the bearded fellow really is connected to all this, could it be that he's been silenced as well? Silenced by the true mastermind, who may or may not be Vortex? If that's how it is, what about everyone else who was connected to that case? Old Bailey's Grim Reaper, that other assistant coroner and Mikotoba?

Why is the Professor still causing trouble after so many years?

Some of the earlier mist returns to the hall and Holmes reflexively pulls his pipe out of his pocket, not even noticing that Naruhodou is searching for something. He needs a good smoke to settle his nerves and get his mind in order.]

Mm, but he has to still be around somewhere. Gregson was the one who ended up getting killed afterall. [Having flipped all the evidence and not finding what he was looking for, he raises his arms in the air with a sigh.] Did you see a charm anywhere? It looks like a blue rabbit wearing your coat.

[Gregson is the one who ended up getting killed and Jigoku goes missing shortly after... A connection with Vortex... Could it be? ...No, that's impossible, Jigoku arrived on the same day the body was found and if the food in Gregson's pocket was already rotting- that's impossible, isn't it?

Holmes is pulled from this thoughts by Naruhodou's question and for a few seconds, he struggles to separate this totally different thing from the topic they were discussing.]

A rabbit charm- That's... Well, of course I've seen it. It's in my room. Somewhere. ... I think. Isn't it in my room?

In your room? [How did it end up in there already?] Do you know what it does? Iris-chan told me to use it in case of an emergency and...well it was an emergency at the time.

Ho ho, is that what she said? She was quite wise to put it like that, then! [He smirks, tapping a finger against his forehead.] What it does... What it would gain you depends entirely on what I was doing at the time you felt it necessary to use it.

[He tilts his head at that.] What you were doing? [What was he doing that day?] Well, you and Professor Mikotoba went off somewhere to solve a case the day before. . .ah, could it be--you left something inside the charm to tell us where Judge Jigoku was!?

No, no. ...Well, perhaps. Something like that. [It depends on where he and Mikotoba went; what sort of case they were going to solve. Would they have had enough foresight at that point to try and hunt down Jigoku?] Instead of explaining it, I think it would be better if I show you. Hang on...

[He gets to his feet and disappears into the mess of his own bedroom. It takes him a minute to find the target of his search. Both the bunny and the bear charm are hanging from a spike which had been driven into the wall at some point or another. Once he's taken them in hand, he returns to the hallway and tosses the bunny towards Naruhodou.]

Catch!

[Catch it he does. He looks the bunny over, turning it in his hands. It seem like any other cute charm, and there weren't any visible indications that something might be stuffed inside it. What does it really do...?] I just remembered something. Iris-chan said if something were to happen, just pull on the rabbit's ear. . .

[He goes for it without think, giving it a nice hard tug.]

[Holmes had planned to leave the house, or at least head down to the ground floor, before allowing Naruhodou to pull the ears. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to put that intent into words. In response to the tug, the bear in his hand springs to life with horrid jerky motions. It almost leaps itself out between his fingers, so he fumbles to keep hold of it.]

Whoah- hey now hey now hey now! [In the end, the bear wraps itself around his thumb and begins to tug at it.] Ow ow oooow! I wasn't ready!

Eh? [He stops, staring wide eye over at what the little bear charm was doing.] Did...did that charm just move!?

Ooow... [At last, the effects of the initial tug die down and the bear stops convulsing around Holmes's thumb, instead focusing solely on its main purpose.] Yes, yes. It's to alert me that its significant other was activated, so to speak. The bear and the bunny are a pair, responding to one another. They're meant to communicate.

[Sure enough, while Holmes's words are already audible in the normal sense, they're being duplicated in a softer tone by the bunny.]

Wha-!? [He fumbles with the charm when he could hear Holmes' voice coming from it too.] What the heck!? It's been able to do that this whole time!?

Isn't it brilliant? Aren't they wonderful? Back home, where we don't have things like telepathy or those newfangled radios they've been working on, this is ideal!

But...how!? [How is this thing able to function almost like an amulet then? He shakes his head.] So then, Iris-chan left this with us so we could contact you. That's...really is brilliant.

[Do not ask about the science behind it, Naruhodou. Holmes hasn't even mentioned the holograms yet.]

Right? It's genius! With these charms, one could ask for my advice wherever they are! [...] Well, perhaps not from across the world, but... I believe the range does venture outside of England.

Like...a town nearby? If you were in Sharnaath while I'm still in Verens for example, would it reach that far? [It's not amulet distance, but still impressive if it could.]

...Also, that tells me you had plans or intentions to go somewhere outside of England at some point. [It's a stretch, but why make something capable of that long a distance if they weren't going to utilize it?]

I think it would reach that far! Though, I suppose it depends how far along Verens has drifted.

[He sets the bear down in the collar of his shirt, allowing it to hold onto his ear. There, that's way easier. It allows him to wave both hands at Naruhodou.]

And of course I had plans to go outside of England! Have you forgotten? I am the world's greatest detective! People far and wide enlist my services. Should Iris ever have need for me, I wish to be able to hear her calls. Perhaps, one day, these charms will be able to communicate on a worldwide basis after all. [And then... Then he could make one for Mikotoba.]

Telepathic IC 'Inbox' and Messenger Bird Reception

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