The Great Demon Holmes

"Would you like to tell me about your wife?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes," replied Bishop Bader, without giving the other a chance to speak. He began, "Karin was 35 years old. She had a small social circle and a quiet personality. She liked warm-colored objects and would visit art exhibitions almost every week. To my knowledge, she had no enemies and no financial problems..."

He spoke plainly, with a monotone voice, as if he had rehearsed everything about his wife many times in his mind.

"Do you know why she was in that alley on that day?" Sherlock inquired.

"I don't know."

"What do you speculate about the word 'YES' written on the victim's insides?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you know what clothes your wife was wearing that day?"

"I don't know. I'm not interested in her attire."

Bishop Bader calmly answered the following questions, mostly with "I don't know." Nevertheless, Sherlock began to form an understanding of the deceased.

He started to contemplate, and the room fell into a momentary silence...

After a few minutes:

"Mr. Sherlock, perhaps I shouldn't have disturbed your work, but... I would like to hear your analysis of the case," Bishop Bader broke the silence, his tone still devoid of emotion and even polite.

But Sherlock knew he should provide an explanation.

It was already 4 a.m.

The daylight in London was always short, and before the next sunset, he had to find the culprit... It was not just the anger of a clergyman over his wife's death; it was also about the face of the Church. A killer who had taken the life of a clergyman's family member, and yet still survived under the radiance of holiness. Every second he lived was a blasphemy against the Church.

And here he was, the only detective responsible for this case, sleeping soundly at home... He had to provide a convincing explanation.

"Well, actually... the case has not been entirely stagnant," Sherlock leaned forward slightly and said, "Regarding why the killer took the victim's clothes, I have considered many possibilities. However, the most plausible one is that... the clothes would reveal the killer's identity.

As for the word written on the internal organs, I have racked my brain, and it seems that 'YES' only holds significant meaning when it appears in a wedding ceremony or an oath.

Considering the recordable nature of vows, the single word 'YES' cannot carry too much significance on its own.

Therefore, I am more inclined towards the latter, which is the wedding ceremony."

"A wedding ceremony?" Bishop Bader questioned.

"Yes," Sherlock nodded. "When 'YES' appears in a wedding ceremony, it does not require any further explanation."

While saying this, he mimicked the gesture of holding a vow, lowering his voice and imitating the tone of an elderly priest:

"Beautiful bride, are you willing to marry this man?

Through good times and bad, riches and poverty, health and sickness, joy and sorrow, will you love him forever?

Will you cherish him, respect him, trust him, care for him, and be loyal to him?"

...

Bishop Bader fell silent, his eyes lowered, as if contemplating the accuracy of Sherlock's deduction.

After a long while, he whispered:

"Yes, at that time... she said 'YES'."

This was the first visible emotional change he had displayed since entering the room.

Meanwhile, a muffled sound echoed!

Sherlock was all too familiar with this sound—the breaking and friction of bones and muscles. He lowered his head, staring blankly as an arm disappeared into his chest. Blood struggled to flow through the collapsing wound.

He maintained the same expression as the moment before, until the wall clock's second hand moved back a step, and only then did a slight frown form due to the pain.

The gas lamp above swayed slightly, casting a chaotic reflection in the room.

Bishop Bader, without showing any emotion, placed his other hand on Sherlock's shoulder and gently pushed. The body, due to gravity, fell backward, and the bloody hand within the chest naturally withdrew.

At that moment, the wall clock's second hand finally moved back another step.

Only two seconds had passed...

A vibrant life had vanished in the hands of a Bishop of Judgment, without struggle or resistance.

Contractors and ordinary humans... that was a gap not easily crossed.

Ordinary contractors were relatively manageable, as the distance between them and ordinary humans was not too great. A burst of bullets could bring death upon them. However, when it came to contractors in the second stage of evolution, it was an entirely different concept.

They could easily slaughter hundreds of ordinary humans. When they wished to kill you, your life would become a trembling candle in the face of a towering wave. You couldn't fathom how to plead.

Furthermore, most of the second-stage contractors were clergy under the Church.

This resulted in your death being just a death—helpless and futile. Even if, by some minuscule chance, it was proven that he was indeed killed by a Bishop of Judgment, the Church would never punish one of their own for the sake of an ordinary woman. Moreover, this woman was the property of the Bishop himself...

However, what annoyed him was that the father of this woman was also a clergyman within the Church.

In terms of bloodline, it was an internal slaughter within the Church... something unforgivable!

Fine, he hadn't planned for things to become so troublesome... it was just his wife who had died. Even if this detective from the lower district could truly point him out as the killer, so what? The Church would never punish a Bishop of Judgment for a mere ordinary woman.

Besides, this woman belonged to him, the Bishop...

However, what he found distasteful was that this detective was now dead. In the end, everything was over.

Dragging the body, Bishop Bader reached the doorway, preparing to leave...

At the moment his hand touched the doorknob...

"Indeed, it is the vow from the wedding ceremony."

The voice of the detective once again came from beside him...