Chapter 19: A Spectacular Display!

Although Chen Haodong was getting on in years, his eyesight remained sharp. He had always read quickly, but now he found himself slowing down, not wanting to miss a single captivating detail.

Within the novel “Detective Sherlock,” Chen Haodong could clearly sense the author's prose was still a bit raw, not yet fully polished—undeniably the work of a newcomer. Yet, despite the mediocre writing, the author’s command of plot and character was exceptional. The vivid depiction made him feel as though Sherlock, Watson, and Sherlock’s brother Mycroft were right before his eyes, their dialogue razor-sharp.

Even in the twenty-first century, Sherlock Holmes was still that brilliantly acerbic genius!

Of all the short stories the magazine “Age of Mystery” had received, few had ever depicted the iconic first meeting between Holmes and Watson at the familiar 221B Baker Street. Zhang Chu's story did not introduce Holmes at the outset, but instead began with a dream of Watson’s.

Gunfire roared, soldiers darted through a hail of bullets; it felt less like a detective story and more like an action film. After this brief, tense introduction, the war-scarred doctor Watson—suffering from a severe crisis of trust—appeared, consulting a psychiatrist!

What astonished Chen Haodong most was the London police press conference. Three suicides had occurred in the city in a short time; logically, such cases should be investigated separately, but the police stated there were links between them.

“Inspector Lestrade sat in his chair, facing a bank of cameras and journalists. A reporter from the Daily Mirror raised his hand to ask, ‘Inspector, how could suicide cases be connected?’

‘For three main reasons,’ replied Lestrade. ‘First, the victims all used the same poison; second, their bodies were found in places they had no reason to be; third, none had shown any suicidal tendencies beforehand. Though these are all suicides, I believe there are similarities to serial cases—in fact, they can hardly be called simple suicides at all!’”

Just as Lestrade was being badgered by the press, Sherlock appeared! His entrance was unlike other detectives, who might slip in quietly wearing sunglasses at the back door, nor was it the dramatic arrival of a superhero like Iron Man. Sherlock used some unknown method to simultaneously send three text messages—“Wrong,” “Wrong,” “Wrong”—to everyone present, police and reporters alike!

“That’s truly Sherlock’s character,” Chen Haodong mused, amused by the author’s clever touch. “Openly challenging the London police—how interesting.”

Until the final message arrived, Chen Haodong had thought it was the culprit behind the scenes, only to discover it was Sherlock himself. This lent Holmes an extra layer of mystery—no one was as capable as he, not even the police could fathom his methods!

What followed was a one-man showcase: Sherlock’s deductions about Watson, whom he’d just met, came rapid-fire, each more astonishing than the last. He even explained his reasoning, as though performing a miracle.

When Lestrade finally appeared downstairs at Sherlock’s flat, it signaled that a fourth suicide had occurred—different from the previous three. As Lestrade entered the house, Chen Haodong knew a brilliant deduction was about to begin.

He read with mounting excitement, but Sherlock in the novel remained almost indifferent, utterly composed, even allowing the police to proceed without him. He delayed, saying he’d follow shortly.

Was this really Sherlock? The madman obsessed with deduction? Yet, once the detective had left, Sherlock could no longer suppress a smile: “Brilliant!”

The four serial suicides thrilled him so much he could scarcely contain his excitement. He was still that madman!

Unraveling mysteries through deduction is the most alluring aspect of detective fiction—no amount of praise could do it justice. Sherlock’s masterful reasoning quickly identified the suspect, his concise logic rendering the case crystal clear. Combined with the earlier investigative details, everything gradually fell into place.

“No matter when this story is set—be it the nineteenth or the twenty-first century—a genius remains a genius, and a madman is still a madman!”

Chen Haodong couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. He had truly underestimated the brilliance of this story; to spend over ten minutes on a mere thirty thousand words was unthinkable for him under normal circumstances.

After a long silence, Liu Qiao chimed in, “I thought it was unbelievable as well. This is basically ‘A Study in Scarlet’ from the Holmes canon, but dressed up in modern clothes—it fits perfectly, not at all out of place.”

“You can tell the author made clever, playful changes that suit the modern world,” Chen Haodong replied, excitement evident in his voice. “For example, the dying message: ‘RACHE.’ In the original, Holmes explains that it’s the German word for revenge, but in this story, Sherlock dismisses Lestrade’s ‘revenge’ theory and points out it’s actually a woman’s name—Rachel, the victim’s deceased daughter, as well as her phone password.”

“Thanks to that clue, Sherlock activates the global positioning system and begins tracking the suspect,” he continued, more animated than ever.

There were many other meticulously crafted details in “Detective Sherlock.” In a smoke-free London, the once-chain-smoking Holmes no longer had his classic pipe, relying instead on nicotine patches to keep his mind sharp. All these little touches paid tribute to the original, and this homage shone brilliantly.

“I think the modern setting works extremely well,” Liu Qiao said. “All the high-tech gadgets make Sherlock seem much closer to us. Mr. Chen, do you think this story will make the first cut?”

She asked deliberately, eager to see the story published in the next issue of Age of Mystery, so more readers could discover it.

Chen Haodong glared at his proud assistant. “The first cut? This is beyond that—I think it could win an award! Such an outstanding story deserves to be seen by online readers, even those abroad. Let them know a Chinese author can write detective fiction this good!”

“Alright, I’ll take it through the process right away—it made the last submission deadline just in time,” Liu Qiao said. Though she felt “Detective Sherlock” was remarkably good, there was little time left for online voting—just three or five days, compared to a month for the other entries.

To climb the ranks in so short a time, they could only hope for a miracle.