"Framing him?"
Lestrade was taken aback for a moment, but very soon, a light rekindled in those eyes that had grown somewhat cloudy from staying up all night.
"You mean, this was deliberately left behind by the killer, to pin the crime on Moriarty?!"
"Isn't that the most reasonable explanation?" Charlotte countered.
"For some reason, the killer was cornered with nowhere left to turn, and had no choice but to come to Hannigan for help. We don't know what he was asking for, and for now we can set that aside.
All we need to know is that this conversation certainly ended in failure, and that the two of them had a falling-out.
In a fit of rage, that fellow stabbed Hannigan to death with the short knife he carried on him, then dropped the weapon, took the money inside, and fled."
"So if we just lift the fingerprints off the weapon, wouldn't that let us identify the killer?"
"In theory, yes, but since that fellow carried a weapon on him and still left it at the scene, I don't think he'd be foolish enough to leave his own fingerprints on it.
Otherwise, you could just have the wine glass examined. Barring any surprises, he wore gloves the entire time."
"But wouldn't showing up to a meeting wearing gloves arouse suspicion?" Lestrade asked.
"The weather has turned cold now. If he really were some kind of fugitive, he'd wear gloves to keep his body warm, and Hannigan probably wouldn't have found anything strange about it."
Charlotte said.
"In any case, let's give it a try first. You won't know whether there's a result until you try."
"Understood." Lestrade nodded, then had someone take both the wine glass and the short knife back for examination.
Right after that, Charlotte summoned the maid who had first discovered the body.
"Explain what happened at the time."
"I... I went to wake the master at seven o'clock, the same as always—"
The maid spoke haltingly, her tone still sounding shaken and unsettled.
"But I knocked on the door for a long time, and there was no answer from inside. Then... then I saw that the study light was still on..."
"Was the study door locked?" Charlotte asked.
"No, it was just simply closed," the maid shook her head. "I knocked on the door, there was no response, and then I worked up the courage to push it open... and then I saw the master, he..."
Her words were cut off by a sob, clearly having recalled that terrifying scene once more.
"After you pushed the door open, did you touch anything in the room?" Charlotte continued.
"No! Absolutely not!" The maid shook her head repeatedly. "I was scared out of my wits at the time. I let out a scream, and then immediately ran out to call the police!"
"Then, did Hannigan tell any of you that he was going to receive a guest, and that you weren't to come near?"
Charlotte asked again.
"No," the maid still shook her head. "We didn't receive any notice at all, and we had no idea the master was seeing a guest."
"At the time, did any of you hear any loud commotion, such as an argument or the like?"
Charlotte asked again, but the other party still shook her head.
"No..."
Hearing this, she furrowed her brow, but still gave a slight nod, then waved her hand to signal the maid to leave.
"Do you think the killer could have come in through the front door?" Lestrade asked.
"As for that, I think the soil on the windowsill will give you your answer."
Charlotte said.
"How could a wanted man swagger in through the front door? Even in the dead of night, it would be impossible."
As she spoke, she walked over to the windowsill and gave it a light push, and the window swung open.
"But if he killed someone and then fled through the window, why would Moriarty's card be here?"
Lestrade was puzzled.
"After Moriarty came, didn't he discover the murder?"
"The fact that he could obtain Moriarty's card and frame it on him proves that the murder must have happened after Moriarty had already left."
Charlotte said, then walked toward the doorway.
"And since Moriarty left a card behind, that means he must have succeeded.
Hannigan was waiting for his guest in the study and didn't leave it the entire night, so the place Moriarty infiltrated couldn't have been the study.
Therefore—"
Charlotte walked up to the door of Hannigan's bedroom.
"The place Moriarty paid a visit to last night was, in fact, right here."
Charlotte pushed open the door to Hannigan's bedroom, and a faint lingering scent of cigars mingled with cologne wafted toward them.
The furnishings in the room were very tidy, spotless even, with no trace of anything having been disturbed.
"Here?" Lestrade followed in, looking around in confusion. It didn't look like anyone had been here.
"Doesn't that precisely demonstrate Moriarty's ability to come and go like a ghost?"
Charlotte said, then swept her gaze across the entire bedroom, finally coming to rest on the painting at the head of the bed.
She stepped forward and lifted the frame down, and the empty hidden compartment immediately came into both their views.
"This is... a hidden compartment."
"The compartment doesn't matter," Charlotte said.
"Whatever Moriarty stole doesn't matter in the slightest. Barring any surprises, you'll be able to see it in tomorrow morning's paper anyway."
As she spoke, she picked up a flashlight and shone it all around the room.
"What are you looking for...?"
"The card, of course." Charlotte said, and then the flashlight came to rest on the writing desk in the bedroom.
The bright beam of the flashlight illuminated the dense dust covering the desk, and amid that dust there was a perfectly square area that was clearly cleaner than everywhere else.
"Found it."
Charlotte said. Lestrade leaned in to take a look, and after straining to make out that square outline, his expression immediately turned to one of dawning realization.
"Next, all that's left is to find the killer."
Charlotte switched off the flashlight, turned, and walked toward the bedroom door.
"How do we find him?" Lestrade followed and asked.
"The killer is a wanted man who was lurking about the Southwark District last night, sneaking around in the shadows, unable to face the light.
Putting these points together, go look into Hannigan's social contacts, ask the residents in the area, and screen out anyone who fits the criteria.
Even Watson knows things like this—how is it that with you, someone still has to teach you?"
Charlotte said impatiently. "I'm heading back to Baker Street. I still have a whole pile of files left to go through."
"Then I'll call a carriage to take you back," Lestrade said hurriedly.
Now that Moriarty had been cleared of the murder suspicion, he clearly looked a great deal more energized.
Charlotte didn't refuse. It was only as she was getting into the carriage that something suddenly occurred to her, and she turned her head back to say:
"By the way, if you don't want Moriarty coming to give you trouble, then keep your subordinates' mouths in check."
She reminded him.
"I've noticed quite a few of them have plenty of grievances against that thief."
Hearing this, Lestrade instinctively glanced left and right, then nodded.
"Don't worry, I'm well aware of that."
"Mm." Charlotte gave a sound of acknowledgment, then settled into the carriage and returned to Baker Street.
The next morning, she looked at the morning paper in her hands and fell into deep thought.
[The Midnight Phantom Finally Bares Its Fangs—Phantom Thief Moriarty Suspected of Murder!]
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