Mr. Inspector

It was night and Scotland Yard was brightly lit.

Just now, the Minister of the Interior personally issued a new order-to hunt down the police officers of the fugitive operation team, especially the team leader Daniel.

Because of these bad incidents, the senior officials of the government finally got angry, saying that they would punish the traitors and murderers severely at all costs.At the same time, another outstanding police officer was appointed as the interim leader of the operation team, and a thorough investigation was launched internally.

Scotland Yard will have its first purge in several years.

……

When Inspector Lestrade settled the injured detective in the hospital, he received a report from the detective who rushed to Scotland Yard first.

Regarding the terrorist attack that broke out in the Parliament building around [-]:[-] p.m., three people have been injured so far, and one of the police officers received a relatively serious knife wound.

After learning the news, Lestrade immediately rushed back to Scotland Yard. On the way, he encountered several roaring police cars rushing to the scene of the incident.

As soon as he returned to Scotland Yard, he hurried to the Homicide Office, where the lights were on.

Lestrade pushed open the door of the office, and before he had time to catch his breath, he went straight to the topic and asked, "What's going on?"

"The parliament building was attacked by terrorists. Just tonight, the terrorists rode a black off-road vehicle and clashed with them. After getting off the vehicle, they were carrying machetes. Fortunately, they were controlled by the police in time, and there were not many casualties. ’” Donovan said, looking at him.

"What's the situation now?"

Donovan greeted him and handed Lestrade a newly compiled accident report, "After the accident, Scotland Yard has dispatched police to block the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Cathedral, and Whitehall. Street and George Street, the specific information is still unknown to us here."

Mr. Inspector took the document and glanced at it hastily, and the names of several terrorist organizations rushed out of his mouth: "Who did it? Al Qaeda, the Irish Republican Army, reactionaries, or radicals?"

"It was initially suspected to be the IRA, and relevant flags were found in their car."

"fuck IRA..." Mr. Inspector grabbed the document and returned to his desk, "Why did you suddenly plan this attack?"

"It should be premeditated. The monitoring was adjusted to the footage of their cars circling on these main roads a day ago."

"Are they under control?" the inspector asked with a frown.

"Yes."

Lestrade rubbed his temples, "How could it be at this time..."

In the past few days, Scotland Yard has been tossed too much, and various incidents have collided - could it be that these days belong to the carnival period for criminals...

Donovan yawned and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are they okay?"

"Edman and Symon were slightly injured. They were bandaged in the hospital and then went back to rest...Harry was hit by a bullet in the shoulder. Fortunately, he is smart, so the situation is not that bad." Lestrade Leaning on the back of the chair and looking at the pile of documents in front of him, he sighed and said.

Because of the gunshot wound on his shoulder, it is estimated that he will not see Harry for about half a month.

It was already midnight at this time, and there were only a few people in the entire office. The rest of the agents were either lying in the hospital or had already gone home.

"Donovan, how about you—" Mr. Inspector swallowed back his words, and he saw his new female assistant.

Katie's figure unexpectedly appeared in his field of vision.

At this time, she was holding a pink notebook of her own to watch the drama, and she devoted herself wholeheartedly into it, her giggling voice seemed out of place in the serious atmosphere.

Haven't gone back at this time... Still watching some bloody soap opera.

——Woman, do you have the consciousness to be a member of Scotland Yard?

Donovan's face instantly became extremely gloomy. It was difficult for her to control herself not to get angry, but she really didn't want to cause trouble at this juncture, so she had to bear it and endure it... In the end, she simply closed her eyes and said nothing. bother.

"gone back."

After dropping these words, she picked up her bag, stepped on her high-heeled shoes, and stepped on the ground hard to leave the office door.

Mr. Inspector sighed wearily, and wanted to slam the door out like this.

But the thought can only be contained in the mind.

He doesn't have the energy of a young man, but he still has to stay at Scotland Yard for a while.Regarding the conflict that broke out in the bar tonight, he had to go to his boss to make a report. If he didn't pass it, Sophia, the senior secretary, would probably run over to arrest him again.

……

After tossing until midnight, Lestrade was finally allowed to leave.He walked with exhausted steps, and yawned several sleepy one after another.

Now his mind is dull and he doesn't bother to think about anything, just let these damn annoying incidents go to hell... He just wants to drive back safely and sleep peacefully.

When passing by his office, his footsteps stopped for a moment involuntarily.

The lights were still on in the office at this time.

The police officers who didn't know the inside story passed by, probably thinking that the members of the serious crime team worked so hard that they worked day and night.

……

Mr. Inspector opened the door and found that Katie was still there, still holding the notebook and giggling with red heartbeats, like a standard crazy woman.

He had to remind him, "Katie?"

She didn't hear it with headphones on.

Lestrade walked over and knocked on her desk, calling her name louder, "Katie—"

Finally hearing her boss's shout, Katie took off the earphone in her left ear, and asked with a smile on her face while watching the drama: "What? Greg...what's the matter?"

"Are you—are you going to spend the night at Scotland Yard?" asked Lestrade, trying to figure out her state of mind.

"Stay overnight? How is it possible? Stop joking..." Katie smiled back at him, then put on her earphones, and murmured, "This TV series recommended by Moss is really good."

Lestrade frowned and looked at the time in her notebook, and reminded out of kindness: "It's 01:30 in the morning."

After about three seconds, Katie unplugged the earphones she was wearing silently, exited the interface and looked at the time on the notebook system, it showed 06:30 pm.

"It has been changed." Lestrade's tone sounded sympathetic.

Katie looked up at him, then stood up again and ran to the window to look out at the vast night sky, her expression changing rapidly and wonderfully.She immediately thought of a possibility, staring at a star in the distant night sky, and Roy's smirking face appeared on it - Katie gritted her teeth and said fiercely, "He did it..."

"It's understandable not knowing the time, but... aren't you hungry?" Lestrade asked with a frown, but he regretted it while clutching his empty stomach after asking.

From going to the bar at night to now, it can be said that he has eaten nothing except a little wine.

It's not a good feeling to be in this hungry state right now...

After Katie heard his question, her whole body quickly became sluggish, and she didn't even have the heart to watch the drama she was chasing.She looked at our Mr. Inspector anxiously, "Do you have any leftovers from the donuts you ate this morning? I'll just eat one to satisfy my hunger... If I don't eat any more, I may not be able to see you tomorrow. "

Of course, such a weak voice is just pretending...

But Lestrade had no other choice, he knocked on the table and said weakly, "The donuts have been eaten long ago, but I remember there is a 24-hour convenience store next to Scotland Yard, you can go there .”

Instead of taking care of his subordinates, the idea of ​​going back to sleep had to be suppressed again.

&&&

A few small lights were on in the convenience store, and Lestrade walked in with a yawn, followed by poor Katie.

There were also several people sitting in the store at this time, several of whom were police officers who were in charge of patrolling nearby.

Lestrade walked over and skillfully ordered a cup of hot cocoa and two donuts. After paying the money, he threw the cup of hot cocoa and a bag of donuts to Katie standing behind him.

"You don't drink?" Katie asked, poking her head.

"I don't want to drink."

He doesn't like to drink much other than coffee, milk and tea.

Lestrade found a seat near the door and sat down, stuffed a donut into his mouth, and he regained his energy when the familiar taste filled his mouth.

"Hurry up and leave after eating." He said to Katie.

It was already two o'clock in the morning, and he was getting more and more sleepy.Just now, the phone in the windbreaker pocket received a message from Sherlock, probably because of the case.

Lestrade really didn't have the strength to take it out to see, and he knew in his heart that it must be nothing important.If there was any emergency, I would have called long ago.

Mycroft was very relieved of him, and he didn't receive any text messages or calls, presumably because he was very clear about his situation.Having been with him for a long time, he naturally has a certain understanding of him... Mr. Inspector firmly believes that McCoff's intelligence sources must cover the whole of Britain.

——No, it should be the whole world.

He can still vaguely remember that when he was walking on the street one time before, several cameras on the street corner were chasing him around.In a hurry, he pointed his middle finger directly, and the passers-by around looked back at him in shock.

...that picture will never be forgotten.

Just then—"What are you thinking?"

The voice of reality interrupted the inspector's thoughts.

Katie was silently holding her hot cocoa and speeding up the solution, but suddenly saw a smile on the corner of the inspector's mouth sitting opposite her, and she felt that something was wrong.

"It's okay." Lestrade sat down and restored his serious facial expression.

Just as she was about to ask further questions, the cell phone in Katie's backpack rang.After she glanced at the lit screen, her expression changed, and then she returned to normal. She looked at Lestrade and said quickly, "I'm going out to answer the phone—by the way, go back first after you finish eating, Don't wait for me."

After she finished speaking, she hurried out of the store.

Before Lestrade could fully react, Katie was no longer in sight.He silently looked at the empty donut bag in front of him, with complicated emotions.

……

Bracing himself up and driving all the way, Lestrade, who finally returned to his residence, almost closed his eyes. He changed his slippers in a daze, and then went to the bathroom to wash up.

Relying on his familiarity with the terrain, he didn't open his eyes while taking a shower.

After coming out of the bathroom, Lestrade dragged his slippers, leaving watermarks all over the floor... He rubbed his eyes and yawned endlessly, feeling that he could finally sleep...

At this moment, Mycroft's voice came from the study, without any emotion.

He said, "Come here."

Lestrade stopped his procrastinating steps immediately, he blinked his eyes at the dark ceiling, his mind went blank.

"what happened?"

As he asked, he walked towards the study, feeling entangled.

"Aren't you going to report to me what happened tonight?" Mycroft was sitting on a sofa chair in the study, his legs crossed, and the expression on his face was as unpredictable as ever.

Mr. Inspector rubbed the corners of his eyes, he had no choice but to walk over to sit down in front of McCoff.

Anyway, I have already reported it once before, and it is not difficult to report it again.

Speaking of which, Mycroft can be regarded as one of his top bosses... The inspector thought a little depressingly.But compared to the state when he was working at Scotland Yard, the current situation made him feel a little more stressed.

In the study, Lestrade began to narrate what happened tonight again, speaking at a gentle speed, and the drowsiness gradually subsided.He started talking about the first meeting next to Scotland Yard tonight... After talking about Daniel giving himself a bottle of poisoned Scotch whiskey, he slowly realized the real reason why he was called into the study to talk .

Mr. Inspector quickly raised his hand to promise, "God testifies, I will never touch the things this kid handed me again!"

"Oh?" Mycroft looked at him with an erratic tone, "It's not too late to be vigilant."

Lestrade slumped his shoulders, "Jesus... who would have thought he would be so cruel..."

He still has lingering fears.

Mycroft analyzed slowly: "Didn't you bring a gun?"

"I, I can't shoot suddenly." Mr. Inspector hurriedly explained with all his strength, "I thought he was still in the dark, but it turned out that he seemed to know about his identity being exposed... ohgod, this is obviously a trap!"

McCaw didn't speak, just looked at him silently.

Mr. Inspector felt flustered when he saw him - unconsciously shrank back from the chair.

"After this time, I will make a long memory."

"What?" He had a bad feeling.

"The cigarettes you hid will be kept by me for the time being." Mycroft got up and said in a calm tone, not intending to discuss any further.

Lestrade's expression froze, "When did you find out?"

"From the first day you thought you were hiding."

"...fuck."

……

After returning to the bedroom, Mr. Inspector, who was huddled under the blanket, silently swore in his heart that he would never drink the wine handed over by others casually again!

After taking the poisonous oath, he suddenly remembered that Sherlock had sent himself a text message a few hours ago.

Fumbling with his hands, he found his mobile phone beside the bed, opened it, squinted his eyes and glanced at it, and then became angry for a moment.

The text message is like this -

[Nicotine stickers are not enough, send a few more packs of cigarettes, any brand will do]

The inspector stared at the text message for a long time, and then typed two words viciously and sent it.

【dream】

&&&

Meanwhile, the lights were still brightly lit in the apartment at 221b Baker Street.

On the floor, on the sofa, and on the four walls, as long as the eyes can see, there are all kinds of information scattered.Sherlock stood in the center of all the materials in his daytime suit, the memory palace opened, and his thinking activity reached a new level.

Of course, he hadn't had time to look at a message he had just received on his phone.

So the whole person's mental state is not bad so far.

For him, Sherlock, complex cases are like spiritual opiates to a certain extent, which can keep him in a state of excitement without any sense of fatigue.

……

Watson was lying on the sofa and sleeping with his eyes squinted. In his hanging right hand, he was still holding a document brought back from Daniel's house, on which there were still some traces of his circle drawing.

Of course, he still can't do Sherlock's level of recklessness. The physical need for sleep forces him to close his eyes and relax his nerves that have been tense all day.

On the table next to the living room, there were several loaves of bread with jam bought in the bakery in the evening.Neither of them had a good meal these days, and when they were hungry, they could only stuff a mouthful of bread to satisfy their hunger.

Just because of this... Mrs. Hudson asked them about the turnover of funds on hand several times, and made it clear that she could help some.

In addition to the kind Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade also took time to send them some bags of instant food a few days ago.

At that time, Sherlock was studying several files that he had brought from Scotland Yard several years ago. When he saw the instant food can in Watson's hand, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Finally, it's not a donut anymore..."

To be honest, Sherlock was not interested in these foods, but he was still surprised by the rare discovery... It was only for a short while, and he devoted his mind to this case again.

After so many days of investigation, he has almost figured out all the key information and delineated all the people involved in the case.

... Now the most important reason is missing.

What Sherlock was sure of was that Daniel hated the police. Whether it was from Allie's diary or his daily performance, he had a deep hostility towards Scotland Yard.

But why?

"Think...what is the reason why he founded that reactionary organization..."

Sherlock closed his eyes and talked to himself.

Watson, who was lying on the sofa, had his eyes half-opened. Because he had been on the battlefield in Afghanistan before, his sleep had always been light, and even the slightest sound could wake him up.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up from the sofa, looked tiredly at the time on the wall clock on the wall, yawned and asked, "——what reactionary organization are you talking about?"

"Daniel founded an organization that secretly opposed Scotland Yard. It only absorbed Irish people, or reactionary elements with Irish ancestry. At the beginning of its establishment, the imitation cult fabricated countless creeds, with the purpose of deified the founder Daniel." Sherlock Maintaining the same fast speech speed as before, she analyzed with a quick mind: "These are all recorded in Aili's diary, of course you will only see words such as witchcraft and cemetery, rearranging and combining is her what I wanted to express.”

"Only Irish people?" Watson asked with a puzzled frown.

"Yes, this is one of the conditions for joining this reactionary organization. The reason is nothing more than to gain the support of the Irish Republican Army and provide them with armed forces."

"You mean the Irish terrorist organization?"

"Yes, that's the group that attacked the Parliament building tonight."

"Wait, wait a minute..." Watson didn't have enough sleep and couldn't keep up with his rhythm.

Sherlock continued to immerse himself in his own thoughts, "The message I asked Lestrade to publish in the Times earlier, 'Scotland Yard is in crisis, I hope the savior will appear' is the sentence in Ally's diary. They mentioned the secret signal of their actions. The reactionaries headed by Daniel are preparing to invade Scotland Yard secretly, while the Irish Republican Army is attacking from the outside...Since the timing of that sentence is not right now, this attack can only end in failure end."

Another reason why he asked Lestrade to post this sentence was that he was going to directly lure criminals into the bait—how could Daniel hold back when he saw his most secret code was exposed?

Expose the identity at the wrong time, and the result can only be self-destruction.

Sherlock was now sure that he was close to the truth. When the fishing operation in the bar next to the old city hall started tonight, he let Watson sneak into Daniel's apartment and found the team member list he kept in the study.

As long as the Irish are selected and screened, those few hidden reactionaries can be successfully found.

But now none of these could arouse his interest at all, and it was not within his scope of business to find the traitor at Scotland Yard, and what he promised Lestrade was only to solve the case.

What really interested him was Daniel's purpose in doing so. Could he be a pure reactionary? Then why didn't he just join the IRA... Sherlock's eyes revealed the light of thought.

"No, I have to go to his apartment again, there must be something I haven't found!"

Sherlock picked up his windbreaker from the sofa, put it on casually, and ran out the door.

"Hey! Sherlock, wait!" Watson immediately jumped up from the sofa. He watched Sherlock's figure suddenly leave the field of vision for a while, feeling extremely depressed, and cursed silently in his heart, "Damnit."

But there was no other way, so he had to chase out in the cold wind.

……

Daniel's apartment has been isolated, and several police cars are parked downstairs where his apartment is located. The flashing police lights are particularly dazzling in the dark night.

When Sherlock arrived, what he saw was the scene in front of him.

"Damn it, this place is already surrounded by Scotland Yard." Sherlock glanced around annoyedly, and murmured, "It looks like we can't get in for the time being."

Hua ran over angrily, panting, bent over and put his hands on his legs to take a few breaths. His breathing was short and his expression was not very good. "Sherlock, you won't..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw the man in front of him take out his mobile phone from his pocket, and skillfully pressed a number and dialed it.

Watson felt his forehead hurt... God, when is this, "Listen, Sherlock, Lestrade must have been asleep long ago—"

But Sherlock was unconscious. He looked up at the sky while dialing the number, and said calmly, "Oh, it's not too late."

……

About half an hour passed after the phone call.

The brakes sounded quickly, and a Scotland Yard police car stopped in front of them in a bad temper.Lestrade pushed open the cab door and got out of the car.

Originally looking tired, he shook his head helplessly after seeing Sherlock.

The inspector immediately closed the car door, glanced at the lights upstairs and the police cars scattered around, shrugged and said, "Forget it, come with me."

To be honest, after so much tossing and tossing, he didn't plan to sleep anymore today - so, it's better to deal with the case at hand.

Sherlock and Watson followed behind him.

After the inspector handed over his ID card to the little policeman standing by the cordon, he went upstairs with the two behind him.

As he went up the stairs, he asked Sherlock beside him, "What are you looking for?"

"Clues to prove his identity."

"What?" Lestrade didn't understand, and turned his questioning gaze to Watson on the other side.

Watson spread his hands, showing that he didn't know.

……

After entering Daniel's apartment, it was found that several policemen had already begun investigations in the house.Lestrade greeted one of the people he knew, and he was patted heavily on the shoulder by that person, "Good job."

This praise made our inspector a little embarrassed... To be honest, he didn't do anything to be proud of, on the contrary, he almost took his life in it.

Lestrade smiled awkwardly at him, then made excuses and walked away.

He is thin-skinned, and if he stays any longer, his face will turn red.

……

Sherlock was already active in the room at this time, and wherever he looked, all kinds of information had been analyzed in his mind.

Several rooms in the apartment are decorated in dark tones, and there are several self-portraits of Daniel hanging on the walls.The overall environment tends to be gloomy and depressing.

"A native Irishman, he came to London when he was young and had a period of depression. He liked painting and had been instructed by professional artists, but for some reason he gave up this hobby... It should be related to his period of depression. What the hell—" Sherlock paced the floor, analyzing quickly.

Watson followed behind him, feeling complicated.

He thought for a while and asked, "Why depression?"

"self-portrait."

Watson couldn't help retorting, "If you look at the tone of the self-portrait, the obvious warm tone, coupled with the traces of the thick brush that was brushed hastily at the end, you should be in a good mood."

Sherlock approached the wall, reached out and stroked the material of the picture frame and canvas, "The warm color was only filled in later, and it has been processed... You can find the layering left by the different processing time in several paintings carefully. .And, look at the nails on the back of the frame—”

He removed a self-portrait and turned it over.

Watson frowned. He saw the dense nail holes scattered on the back of the frame, and felt uncomfortable.

These are enough to show that Daniel's mood was almost distorted at that time.

"What happened to him?" asked Watson.

Sherlock hung the picture frame back on the wall and said, "That's what I want to know too." He smiled again as he spoke, "However, I think I'm almost close to the truth."

Lestrade happened to come out of another room. Hearing Sherlock's words, he was startled and asked subconsciously, "What truth?"

"The truth about Daniel's identity..." Sherlock said, "is also the reason why he planned all the events."

Lestrade was a little confused when he heard this.

"No..." He pointed to a few self-portraits on the wall, and said with a frown, "Why do you need to find out his identity? No, what should be asked is that this person's identity is recorded in the file. Why bother?" Fei Zhouzhang came here to find clues?"

Sherlock shook his head disapprovingly, "It's not him recorded in the Scotland Yard files, or even the name Daniel is fake."

Lestrade was shocked, "What did you say?" His eyes widened in disbelief.

"If it's his real identity, there are too many places where he can be easily caught, and all his secrets will be exposed... He is not that stupid and knows that there is nothing wrong with working under the noses of the police. So, a fake identity is just a prerequisite."

Sherlock looked at the person in the portrait and said slowly.

And once he knew the true identity of this person, his purpose would be completely exposed.

This is the ultimate truth he is chasing.