Operation Red Book

"Three years ago, my husband, Duke Lucas Emerson, died in this study. He had an asthma attack, and when the messenger found him, he was lying on the table, unable to be saved."

"I was drinking tea with the ladies in the guest room at the time. When I received the letter and rushed over, Lucas had already gone to heaven. He could not close his eyes."

Mrs. Emerson walked slowly from the window sill to the desk and quietly wiped the tears from her face.

Count Waite took off his coat, put it on the lady, and gently comforted her.

"I will always remember the look in his eyes after he died, which showed helplessness, guilt, and a little bit of unwillingness."

"So you came to me because you suspected that Lucas was murdered and you wanted to die with resentment."

Holmes crossed his legs, in stark contrast to Moriarty and Joshua who were sitting upright on both sides.

"I have some doubts... I even suspect that Lucas's death is related to the death of my daughter Cecilia 15 years ago."

Mrs. Emerson spoke eagerly to the three people in front of her.

"My daughter died unexpectedly 15 years ago, and my husband died of an asthma attack three years ago. Over the years, I have been missing them and feeling full of regret..."

Mrs. Emerson gradually became sobbing and collapsed weakly in Earl Waite's arms.

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the famous one, I held this grand ball and asked Vincent to bring you here so that I could investigate the truth about the death of my daughter and my husband without causing public discussion. As long as you agree to help, I will reward you handsomely."

Joshua tilted his head to look at Holmes. Holmes was holding a toothpick in his mouth, his crossed legs shaking constantly, and the expression on his face became more and more solemn.

After a while, Holmes stood up and buttoned up his suit. He held a toothpick in his mouth and said righteously, "No need to reward me, Mrs. Emerson. Interesting cases have always been my favorite. I also want to thank your tragically dead daughter and husband..."

"Sherlock!"

"Mr. Holmes!"

Moriarty and Joshua quickly spoke up to stop Holmes from talking nonsense.

Holmes frowned and said "huh" in dissatisfaction, then stood up with his hands behind his back, like an unshakable flagpole.

"So, let's start from the beginning. What happened on the day your daughter died 15 years ago?"

Holmes spoke in a low voice, rarely without a casual tone.

"What I know is that the story was the same as it had been for 15 years. It was early evening, and after our family had finished dinner, Cecilia wanted to continue playing hide-and-seek with her father."

"After Lucas and her played around the house for a while, they still felt it was not enough. She clamored to go to the manor to play. Lucas couldn't persuade her, so he called a few servants to go outside and play hide-and-seek with Cecilia."

"Cecilia ran into the woods to the west, where a terrible thing happened - a headless knight with flames all over his body appeared in front of Cecilia."

"According to the servants and Lucas who witnessed the incident, the headless knight was wearing a silver medieval armor with a severed neck exposed on his shoulder. The blood and flesh were horrible. His head was stuck in a heavy helmet and was supported by his left hand."

"He rode a horse with only a white skeleton, rushing through the woods of the manor. Wherever he went, it was burned black by his flames. In his right hand, he held a sharp sword with orange flames, and his mouth made hoarse and terrifying shouts."

"He found poor Cecilia. The servants heard Cecilia's screams. When they arrived, my daughter had been killed by the Headless Horseman's sword piercing her heart."

Mrs. Emerson began to sob again, and her tears seemed never to dry up.

"My husband saw the whole process of Cecilia being killed. He said that the headless knight raised his sword high, and Cecilia was so scared that she froze in place. The headless knight passed by her and pierced her little body."

"Lucas tried to save her, but even if he ran faster than the wind, it was useless. The servants followed the direction of the fire and the sound, but they only saw Lucas crying while holding Cecilia's body."

Holmes paced up and down the room, stroking his chin, his brows knitted in a state of absorbed concentration.

"Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to stage a murder. Joshua, James, let's do it."

Holmes snapped his fingers at Joshua, motioning him to stand aside.

"Joshua sat on the side and roughly simulated the height of a 5-year-old girl, which was about..."

"110cm, 43 inches!" Joshua answered quickly.

"You know it but you still don't do it, are you waiting for me to kick your ass?"

Joshua squatted down silently.

"Okay, now, I'll stand in front of Joshua on the left, and James will stand on a stool, simulating a 2m tall knight, and stand in front of Joshua on the right."

Holmes and Moriarty took their positions, holding a one-meter-long cane in their hands, both facing Joshua who was squatting, and Holmes gave orders.

"Knights, raise your swords in your right hands, aim at his heart, and stab him!"

Holmes and Moriarty attacked Joshua at the same time. Moriarty bent sideways and stopped a few centimeters away from Joshua, while Holmes poked Joshua to the ground with a stick.

"Okay, stand up now, I think I have the result in mind."

Holmes picked up the staggering Joshua and lit a cigarette.

"Well, what do you think?" Count Waite said calmly.

"uncertain."

Holmes took a puff of his cigarette and spoke calmly.

"Yes, there is a doubt here. Compared with the complicated and inconvenient method of piercing the heart, it seems more convenient and reasonable to chop off the head with a sword. But more clues are needed to verify it." Moriarty followed Holmes' words.

"Excuse me, is Miss Cecilia's body still there?" Joshua asked Mrs. Emerson, touching his painful shoulder.

"Lucas chose the cemetery. It's in the open space near the woods." Mrs. Emerson said with hazy eyes, "I can have it dug up now."

"Sorry for the trouble, it would be much better if we had a corpse for identification." Moriarty said, standing aside with his hands behind his back.

Mrs. Emerson called the footman and gave her orders.

"In the meantime, I would like to question several servants who were present at the scene," said Holmes, smoking a cigarette.

"The servants... the servants who witnessed the incident were frightened and sent back home... By the way, the strange thing is that they all died in their own homes. Only then did the curse of the Dullahan spread."

"What? All dead?" Joshua exclaimed.

"I just heard that the condolence is in the charge of the head maid, Ms. Claire Miller. I can call her over."

"Please call the head maid and the head butler. They may know a lot of things."

Moriarty and Count Waite looked at each other, unknown emotions revealed in their eyes.