48 Hours a Day

“What do you want?” Zhang Heng asked. “Hmm...I haven’t figured it out yet.” Irene blinked.

“Let me know after you figure out what you want.”

“Sounds good to me,” replied Irene Adler. “In this case, Yuri is yours.”

At the Royal Hotel.

Irene was sitting opposite a French man looking to be about 40 years old. The latter was going on about Paris’s artistic atmosphere and how many outstanding artists were born there. Irene Adler was looking at the man with admiration, greatly elating the Frenchman.

“It’s a pity that Bizet is no longer there. I can introduce other plays to you, though. I have many contacts from the Paris Music Festival, so if you get tired of staying in London and coming to Paris, please contact me.”

“Oh, you think too highly of me! I can only speak a few French words. It would be hard getting used to Paris, let alone singing there.”

“It’s okay. Language can be learned,” Yuri wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You are very talented. Whether your appearance or singing skills, once you have mastered French, and coupled with my resources, you will be the best in Paris. You will also become one of the few female singers who have succeeded in France and England.”

Irene burst into a giggle when she heard the words, seemingly yearning for the beautiful reality depicted by Yuri. She then raised her glass in her hand and said, “Please, forgive me for being rude. I didn’t know you were this funny and interesting. You are completely different from other men that I have met!”

“At my age, nothing more is left except for a little experience and a bad sense of humor.”

Yuri laughed at himself and raised the glass in his hand. He had always been polite, making him hard to fault. When his eyes flashed over Irene’s chest, he could feel that an imperceptible heat ignited him.

His experience told him that his remarks should have conquered Adler’s heart. He assumed she was now completely mesmerized by the beautiful prospects that he portrayed, meaning that he was about to get what he wanted-maybe even as soon as tonight.

Yuri was pleased when he noticed that Irene had taken the initiative to drink first. Once she became drunk here, he could...

Instead of that, Yuri felt dizzy first. He knew the amount of alcohol he just consumed, and never before had he gotten drunk only after two sips. Yuri immediately realized that there must have been a problem with the wine. His heart sank.

Despite all that, he didn’t suspect Irene, believing that some other enemies must have targeted him. It was also a common mistake made by most men:

Underestimating women. Even a powerful character like Sherlock Holmes could have fallen for Irene Adler. This time, the famous Mr. M was no exception. Yes, yearned badly for the attention of the people around him to help him, but he was also a cautious man. Even on a date, his bodyguard would tag along. A few seconds later, his head fell into in Irene’s arms.

“Oh, Mr. Yuri, you look a little drunk. It’s fine. I will send you back,” Irene purred gently.

She then called the waiter and asked him to go downstairs to call for a carriage. Holmes, disguised as a coachman, walked into the restaurant behind the waiter and carried Yuri to the carriage with Irene.

The bodyguard at the other table was lost. Uncertain if Yuri was drunk or about to be taken advantage of by that woman, he stayed in his spot. Yuri had already been carried downstairs by that time. The bodyguard hurriedly paid the bill, but the carriage was already gone when he came out of the restaurant.

Suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Heng and Villard quickly sandwiched him.

A week had passed since the brewing of the oil painting case. Holmes’s tactics of capturing the mastermind behind the criminal organization had been a great success. All members of Mr. M’s gang were found and arrested. The viscount retrieved the missing oil paintings from his porcelain vase, and Villard had safely returned to France.

However, Holmes still needed to figure out a way to deal with Mr. M, a mastermind of countless crimes comitted. Hence, it made him a criminal. Strangely, for all the crimes he committed, none of his victims dared to speak up or report the crime. In other words, it was difficult to convict him through legal means.

When Yuri woke up, he realized that he had fallen into a trap. However, he noticed that Holmes could not do anything with him. In the end, Zhang Heng was the one that managed to force him to unveil information of his acomplices. After Mr. M swore he would never return to London, and Sherlock Holmes allowed him a safe return to France.

Zhang Heng too had gained something after this case. The ‘criminal investigation’ skill appeared on his character panel, something that could be regarded as a reward for studing this period’s cases and participating in an investigation in person. In addition, apprehending Mr. M earned him 15 game points.

That said, the main task he cared about the most was still unfinished. Zhang Heng initially thought that with Irene’s help, he would be the first to discover Mr. M’s true identity. In fact, it was exactly how this case ended, but the system didn’t seem to recognize this result.

Zhang Heng guessed that it was because Holmes was the one that made most of the deductions. And in the end, it was also Holmes’s deduction that spooked Mr. M. After that, the two thought of the opera troupe at about the same time. Hence, the system didn’t recognize Zhang Heng as the first to find the criminal.

Naturally, Zhang Heng became a little resentful, but he wasn’t too upset. At least, he’d now figured out the way to win this game. And he saw the hope of winning. Although this wasn’t an easy path to go down, time was still on his side, fortunately. After this case, he came to the realization that Holmes was only human and could make mistakes. His self-correction ability was terrible to the point he managed to see through Mr. M’s defenses in the oil painting case.

In the end, Zhang Heng always felt that there was another reason why Holmes chose to release Mr. M. He had asked Holemes about this before, to which Holmes only replied with a smile. After that, he reproduced his violin.

“I’d like to listen to “Carmen” again. It is indeed a good opera show. Your friend, Miss Adler’s performance, is lovely. I’m fond of one of the sessions. Let me play for you right now.”