Operation Red Book

“现在是1881年3月13日上午8点30分，在曼切斯特开往伦敦的专线列车上发生了一起命案。

The deceased was Viscount Dalton, who boarded the train from Manchester, accompanied by his servant Matthew.

At 7:30 this morning, when the servant Matthew brought breakfast to the deceased, he found him lying in a pool of blood beside the bed in the box.

A silver knife was found stuck in the victim's heart, but there was not much bleeding. The victim's clothes were disheveled and there were obvious signs of a struggle.

There were two bloody holes on the left side of the deceased's neck, and there was not a drop of blood on his body."

While Holmes was explaining the case, he showed the details of the body to the other four people in the box.

"It has been preliminarily determined that the fatal injuries are these two blood holes, and it is also certain that they were caused by a vampire, and you..."

Holmes clapped his hands and lifted Ivy by the back of her collar.

"The first suspect at the scene, Miss, did you kill Viscount Dalton with your sharp teeth?"

Holmes held the back of Ivy's neck with one hand and pinched her cheeks with the other.

Ignoring Ivy's tears that had not yet been wiped away and her whimpers of protest, he pinched Ivy's teeth open with two fingers, shook her head roughly from side to side, and squinted to see if she had the two iconic teeth of a vampire.

Ivy was furious at the vulgar man in front of her.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were glaring, her hands were clenched into fists, and her whole body was shaking slightly.

"Mr. Holmes, this is very rude..."

Moriarty saw Ivy's condition, and although he tried to persuade her, he just moved away silently.

"Snapped--"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ivy kicked Holmes in the calf.

"Ugh, ah—you damned little bastard!"

Holmes was caught off guard and was kicked to the ground.

His face was hideous, he held his calves with both hands, his face turned purple, and he kept cursing.

"I hate it most when a man with a stubble on his face comes near me."

Ivy said bitterly, her eyes wide open and flashing with anger, and then she turned to look at the other three.

The train conductor and Joshua had never experienced Ivy's temper and were stunned.

Suddenly feeling the anger approaching, they both shuddered at the same time and quickly turned their heads away, not daring to look her in the eye.

"I repeat, I am not a vampire, and I did not kill him. He was like this when I woke up. I say that instead of doubting me, you should ask the servant who found him."

Ivy gritted her teeth, twisted her feet, and tried her best to suppress her anger and spoke calmly.

Moriarty was calm and composed. He walked around the rolling Holmes and went towards the body.

He lifted the collar of the corpse and examined it carefully, then turned his head and looked Ivy up and down.

He stood up and said to the conductor: "Miss Ivy is indeed not the murderer."

After that, he glanced at Holmes on the ground, his voice still gentle and sweet: "Don't play, Mr. Holmes, she is not very strong, she won't hurt you for long. Besides, you already know who the murderer is."

Holmes stopped his tantrum and sighed.

He stood up slowly, brushed the dust off his clothes leisurely, and raised his head with a playful smile: "James, I want to refute you, the place where she kicked was really painful."

Ivy no longer paid attention to Holmes' accusations, but frowned again after hearing Moriarty's words.

"They have found the murderer? They obviously didn't do anything." She thought to herself.

The conductor also frowned. He stroked his beard and asked, "Why do you conclude that this lady is not the murderer?"

"Because of the blood." Joshua, who had been silent for a long time, muttered, and Moriarty, who was standing not far away, heard it.

He looked at Joshua with interest, a bigger smile on his face, and called Joshua by name: “Joshua, what is your opinion?”

Joshua was shocked when he was suddenly singled out for attention. His heart beat faster when he saw everyone looking at him.

He swallowed nervously and whispered, “Teeth, no, um… the weapon pierced the aorta in the victim’s neck.

When an artery is cut, there will be heavy bleeding. If the blood in the artery flows too fast, a large amount of blood will be sprayed out. In this case, the murderer will definitely have bloodstains on his body.

But there was no trace of blood on Ivy's clothes, so we can infer that she was not the murderer. "

Joshua's voice became lower and lower as he spoke the last few words. He stood stiffly, scratching his fingers with his nails, his eyes looking around nervously, finally returning to his feet.

"Bravo! Well said, there is no blood on Miss Ivy's body. She is not the murderer and can be cleared of suspicion."

Moriarty's praise made Joshua's mouth curl up unconsciously.

He felt his cheeks getting hot and his heart was warm, making him feel a little dizzy.

"Tsk, I don't need to go through so much trouble to make such a deduction. No idiot would sit next to a corpse after killing someone. This alone can rule her out."

Holmes put on an arrogant look again, crossed his arms, swung on tiptoe, and pointed his chin at Ivy.

He said briskly, "I just checked, her teeth are neat and white, she's not a vampire."

Ivy stamped her feet in anger, couldn't help but groan, and then raised her own question:

"You've already ruled me out, and you still... Tsk, forget it. Where do vampires come from? Aren't these just bullshit legends?"

"We don't just have vampires here, we also have angels, demons, the Grim Reaper, werewolves, mermaids, elves, and many unknown creatures. Are you new here? Don't you know?"

Holmes explained, and when he saw Ivy and Joshua's confused looks, he snorted contemptuously.

“But it is true that only a few people know that these things often lurk among humans and cause trouble from time to time.

It's always me, the famous detective, who has to clean up the mess, because my brother works for Queen Victoria."

Ivy and Joshua suddenly had blank expressions and dull eyes, even though their hearts were already surging with turmoil.

Both of them were filled with despair and questions: "Why did things turn out like this?"

"Besides, you two are dressed so strangely... I'm sorry, I'm just too curious. Miss, are you a monster from China?"

Holmes walked around Ivy, making jokes all the time.

"You look so much like a sheep, could you be a sheep-turned monster? Sheep is a symbol of the devil in the UK, this is not a good sign.

Hiss——Miss, you are not a vampire, you should be a sheep demon."

Ivy rolled her eyes and imitated Holmes, crossing her arms and lazily retorting:

"Thank you for your ridiculous reasoning, but unfortunately I am indeed a human being. And I am a Buddhist. Sorry, I don't believe in Christians, demons, or angels."

"That's terrible. Britain is the world of God, not the domain of Tathagata Buddha. You sheep-devil, you'd better behave yourself..."

"Ahem..." The conductor deliberately coughed twice to interrupt the two people's bickering.

He frowned and his voice was low and anxious.

"Since Miss Ivy is not the murderer, please tell me who the murderer is. The train will arrive at the terminal in less than 30 minutes. If we don't catch the murderer before then, it will be troublesome."

"Joshua, have you figured out the murderer?"

Moriarty asked Joshua again, but Joshua shook his head and said he didn't know.

Moriarty smiled slightly, put his hands behind his back and slowly walked out of the box.

"No hurry, James is out looking for evidence, we have to find someone to confirm something. Walter, you stay here and guard, don't let anyone get close."

Holmes put his hands in his pockets and walked slowly out of the box. Finally, he turned around and looked at Ivy and Joshua with a playful smile on his face.

"If you don't follow me, you'll stay with the corpse."

After saying that, he disappeared from sight.