The poppyblood killer

Chapter 10

We all stare at Moriarty.

- You've figured it out, I ask.

- Impossible. How could you solve it while Sherlock is still puzzled, John asks.

- Now, now. We summoned Moriarty for a reason. I'm eager to hear how he arrived at the solution, Sherlock says. Moriarty's grin widens.

- Precisely the reason you called upon me, insight you all lack. That of London's underworld. With that knowledge, I discerned a pattern in the data concerning the killer. As Sherlock deduced, each of the previous murder victims had been wealthy men of high status in London's society. But they also had one thing in common, something that wouldn't be known to anyone other than a fellow criminal. Apart from the abducted woman, each victim was a member of the Shadow Syndicate, Moriarty says.

- The what, I ask.

- An elusive organization I had dealings with in the past. The specifics are irrelevant now, Moriarty says.

- They are far from irrelevant. The Shadow Syndicate is a clandestine criminal network, working among the upper echelons of British society. Sherlock has been hunting them in secret for years. Unfortunately, its member list is highly confidential. Some say it even reaches as far as the Queen John says.

- What. If the public heard about this, I say.

- Unfortunately, any journalist who's tried to cover the story has been quickly silenced. What's your connection to them, Moriarty, John asks.

- Merely a business arrangement prior to my arrest. Nothing more, Moriarty says.

- So the Poppyblood Killer targets these individuals, I ask in my head.

- So we're looking for a vigilante, I ask.

- It appears so, and one as adept at uncovering secrets as Sherlock or myself. He systematically eliminates members of the Shadow Syndicate, regardless of how well-hidden their affiliations, Moriarty says.

- Then why abduct Clare. And why involve us in solving the case, I ask.

- Who can say. Maybe she's secretly a member, Moriarty says. I think back to my sensitive and kind-hearted friend.

- It's impossible. There's no way she'd be involved in something like that, I say.

- Then perhaps he's trying to expose the Shadow Syndicate's operations. Only a select few know of their existence, and most of us are in this room right now, Sherlock says.

- Now, the killer seems to be working through some sort of hierarchy when it comes to the victims. Although I cannot determine his exact method, I suspect the next target is a banker named Milo Farlow, Moriarty says.

- Farlow, Sherlock asks. Sherlock gives him a sharp look.

- Yes. Does that name hold significance for you, Sherlock, Moriarty asks.

- Ah, no. It's just that I've heard of Milo Farlow, and his connection to the Shadow Syndicate surprises me, Sherlock says.

- Could something like that really shock Sherlock, I ask in my head. I give him a curious look, but he's already moved on.

- Now then, we have sufficient information to deduce when the next attack will occur, Sherlock says.

- Do we, I ask.

- Let's work through it together and see, Kira. When was the Poppyblood killer's last attack, Sherlock says.

- Last night, at the gala, I say.