You say, my friend, that Majesty stems not from the
accidents of heredity, but dedication to the truth.
When the truth flows from the heart, he is the Emperor
for those few minutes. A palace is simply the home
of he who is always the Emperor.
In perusing my notes, I find that Holmes surpassed himself in every possible way during that definitive meeting with Emperor Meiji and the other members of the team who knew of Operation Kobe55. From the time I had known him, Holmes had approached each assignment with a clinical mind; matters of the state or matters touching upon crime or others of significant import to his clients were handled with utmost precision and professionalism. Even today, I am unable to make public certain cases of great sensitivity. Those that the reader has learned about are no longer likely to make a difference to the lives and careers of men or women who were involved. In a few instances, Holmes suggested that I make changes in describing events or locations. I always obliged because I knew what that great mind was capable of calculating.
With so many years having elapsed after the event, perhaps the reader might wonder at the dilemma confronting me. Does the reader not deserve to know the facts? Or does the sensitivity of the matter warrant secrecy for at least another hundred years? Sherlock Holmes recommended the former, for, in his view, the lessons derived from our experience touched upon so many aspects of diplomacy and crime that it could even serve as a kind of elaborate monograph on aspects of diplomatic convention and crime detection. I do believe an aspect of his ego was involved in his coming to such a conclusion. This, in my view, was quite forgivable. Sherlock Holmes did not believe in unnecessary modesty and, in his view, this particular case represented the apex of his career.
The emperor was announced and we all stood as he walked in swiftly, accompanied by two guards. He was not in his formal robes, yet his elegant kimono and bearing made it clear that he was royalty; he glanced in our direction and nodded. We bowed low and waited for him to sit down and permit us to be seated as well. He did so with a wave of his hand.
Emperor Meiji was in his late thirties at that time and presented an impressive sight. Holmes had told me that he was a strong and far-sighted visionary. He was also an introspective poet of some standing and given to the study of the classics.
Standing behind him, at attention, were his guards.
He looked slowly across the assembly and then directly at Sherlock Holmes. A current of respect flowed between them and then the moment passed as Holmes bowed.
Otawa-san stood up and bowed again to the emperor, addressing him in Japanese. He told me later that he had sought permission from the emperor to have Sherlock Holmes present a report of immense significance and sought pardon for requesting an audience at such short notice.
The emperor addressed Holmes through Otawa-san since his command over the English language was poor.
‘I am grateful to you for having taken so much trouble for the sake of Japan over the past three years. I am ready to listen to what you have to say.’
Holmes nodded.
‘Thank you, Your Majesty. I have much to say and I ask for your patience and that of my colleagues here.
‘I arrived in this wonderful country, escorted by your esteemed ambassador to Switzerland Mr. Sugiyama, and was briefed on Operation Kobe55 by Mr. Oshima. Thereafter, I met all the members of the group, one by one. I regret the recent passing of Mr. Nishikawa, Mr. Takenaka, and Mr. Kasama. I believe that they fell in the line of duty, assassinated by forces inimical to Japan, perhaps bent on creating a crisis for the country and lowering its standing in the eyes of the international community. I must compliment the members of this group for having recognized the cancer as it developed and taking a courageous decision to deal with it.
‘You may be aware that I spent a few months in Japan in the company of Jiro Hamada, primarily in Tokyo and Osaka, to become acquainted with the many aspects of Japanese culture. He taught me the basics of your fine language, introduced me to the sport of sumo, took me to the kabuki theatre and to music performances. All this was to let me immerse myself in the culture and pick up the nuances of Japanese customs. The other reason was, of course, to learn about the Yakuza from experts in Mr. Sasaki’s organization. Why did I do this? Quite simple—I had to prepare for my assignment in Europe and had to plan my course of action. What was the assignment? To independently gauge the extent of the Yakuza’s infiltration into the Japanese Diplomatic Services and understand how the nexus with Professor Moriarty’s organization and the Shanghai Opium Triad was operating. Let me make myself clear once again—that is what I understood the assignment to be. However, I was quite unprepared for what I discovered—but I shall come to that later.
‘Working closely with Mr. Oshima, Miss Nohara, Mr. Otawa, Mr. Sasaki, Mr. Nishikawa, and Mr. Yoshida, I first prepared for myself the infrastructure I would need in order to operate undercover in Europe. Since the world at large was convinced that I had been killed at Reichenbach Falls, I needed time to allow the matter to die down and to prepare a separate identity. This I did with the assistance of Mr. Yoshida, who created an elaborate set of identities for me, sometimes as an American businessman, other times as an English banker, elsewhere as a Spanish violinist, and more. My financial needs were to be taken care of by Mr. Nishikawa’s arrangements; I needed clear assurance that I would have access to money when necessary. Mr. Sasaki’s undercover network was to help me with weapons and access to police information when needed. Mr. Oshima arranged for my activities in Europe to be seen as legitimate—I was set up to import sake from a bona fide manufacturer in Sapporo and other liquors from other countries. All this was very important; we believed that it might take over a year to fully assess the extent of the problem and develop a plan. Mr. Takenaka in France and Mr. Sugiyama in Switzerland were judged to be best placed to help me with diplomatic couriers when I needed to communicate with Mr. Oshima or Miss Nohara or provide me with a safe haven if necessary.
‘I visited Shanghai on my way to Europe and met Mr. Kasama, your dynamic consul there. I was thoroughly impressed by him. A perceptive and dilligent man, he was very knowledgeable about the activities of the Shanghai Opium Triad. In fact, he had independently developed his own intelligence network and was aware of the expansion plans of the Triad to a far greater extent than anyone else. This was not surprising given his location. He was also a gregarious person, who had developed good relations with members of the Diplomatic Services of other countries who were stationed in China. Indeed, I recall that my first appreciation of the enormity of the problem came from Mr. Kasama’s insights.
‘I spent two weeks in Shanghai with Mr. Kasama. We visited a couple of opium dens together, incognito, since he wanted me to understand firsthand the extent of the opium business and how it affected people. It was there that I noticed a few Europeans walking about—some were customers, while some seemed to actually be involved in running dens. That is when Mr. Kasama broke the news to me at a small restaurant.
‘Holmes-san, you will find Europeans of every nationality involved in the opium den business.’
‘Not surprising,’ I said. ‘People are driven by the same desires everywhere.’
‘But what may be surprising to you is that there are some European diplomats who are involved—not just as consumers of opium but as active business partners.’
‘What?’
‘That is correct. Certain diplomats are in the employ of the Triad. They have business interests and are often used as couriers—not necessarily of opium, but to guarantee the movement of funds.
‘It is possible that it is not just the Japanese Diplomatic Service that has been compromised at many levels—the rot has spread to the other consuls based in Shanghai as well. From there it will move elsewhere.’
Holmes turned to me. ‘Watson, do you recall the mysterious affair of Miss Bryant, who said she was the tutor to the children of the Japanese consul in Shanghai? That was an obvious lie as I knew Mr. Kasama, the consul-general, and he did not have children. She turned out to be an expert in Chinese martial arts in the pay of the Shanghai Triad, assigned to assassinate anyone who took too active an interest in the affairs of the Triad. It was she who slipped a sleeping potion in your tea, entered your cabin via the porthole and killed Mr. Hashimoto, your friend. And do you recall hearing some sounds earlier that you were wondering about? That was her practising for the kill. She had the slim build needed to enter the narrow porthole and the high intelligence to stage such a daring murder. I believe she had discovered that Mr. Hashimoto was in fact a member of the Japanese Secret Police returning to Japan after a meeting with Scotland Yard.’
‘That…that…is astounding, Holmes!’ I stammered, recalling the pleasant lady who had travelled with us. She was actually a cold-blooded trained assassin!
‘You would also recall that the ship’s doctor commented that he was puzzled by the nature of the wound. You did not have a specific response at that time, but I noticed that the wound was particularly narrow and deep and that the knife had been plunged in under the ribs at the diaphragm and then up cleanly into the heart. Death must have been very quick. I conjecture that Miss Bryant hung down from the side of the bridge, broke open the porthole, quickly entered the cabin and surprised Mr. Hashimoto. She struck him under the ribs, the long knife directly hitting his heart, precisely as planned. This was the work of a professional assassin, gifted with ruthlessness, knowledgeable about the human anatomy, using the right instrument and fully aware of the advantage of the element of surprise.’
I shuddered, thinking of that morning of discovery.
‘That should also explain to you too, Watson, why the two Japanese men who boarded at Marseilles were surprised to see Miss Bryant. They knew she was an operative of the Triad and did not expect her on the ship. I would not be surprised if it was Miss Bryant who subsequently killed Mr. Kasama in Shanghai. Who could ever imagine a small, slim Englishwoman of uncertain years as a professional assassin? I believe she was Professor Moriarty’s “ambassador,” if you will, to the Triad. Their calculation was perfect. I would suggest, Mr. Sasaki, that you ask your Chinese counterpart to detain this lady, who, I think, would not be difficult to trace in Shanghai.
‘David Joyce, who I knew personally, was from Scotland Yard and had been deputed by Lestrade to keep an eye on me and Colonel Sebastian Moran, masquerading as Colonel James Burrowe. Joyce joined us at Marseilles to allay any suspicions. I am sure that it was Miss Bryant and the two Japanese who murdered David Joyce under the direction of Colonel Moran, who was equally shrewd and must have guessed who Joyce was and that he was watching him. But the matter was executed with such professional finesse that we shall never have conclusive proof on the matter. Who induced him to open the cabin door, who killed him, who threw him overboard? The body will never be found and we shall have to declare him “Lost at Sea, Presumed Dead.” Miss Nohara can easily trace these two Japanese and that should not concern us further.
‘But to return to my story: Sometime after I met Mr. Kasama, I left for Marseilles and then Paris, taking on the identity of an American businessman, Jim Hodges, supposedly running a business importing wines into the United States. I took up rooms in the Le Marais neighbourhood and changed my appearance, for obvious reasons, and was seen as a stooping, balding middle-aged businessman. Of course, I had connections in the Paris underworld but I avoided using them, as it was risky. I created my own network, using the good offices of Kazuo Takenaka, your ambassador to France.
‘This was by no means easy—but by setting up a legitimate business that involved importing beverages from various countries, including sake from Japan, I was able to visit the Japanese Embassy from time to time and meet the ambassador. We communicated, when necessary, by meeting each other accidentally at the Louvre or the Catacombs.
‘You will recall Mr. Takenaka, an extremely gifted man with a great facility for languages, history, and economics. A man of utmost integrity and circumspection—a credit to your Diplomatic Services, Your Majesty. He will be missed.
‘Then began the very difficult process of investigating the matter. I was soon able to befriend the Japanese commercial attaché at Paris, who Mr. Takenaka believed was involved in the matter. His intuition was correct, and the attaché, Mr. Takada, proved to be my primary source of information for a long time, before he returned to Tokyo earlier this year. You can perhaps have him detained shortly after this meeting.
‘I remember meeting him at the Café Le Petit Château d’Eau near the Eiffel Tower once we had become very friendly.
‘Hodges-san, how your business is doing?’ he asked me, over a meal of escargots and veal and some excellent Bordeaux wine.
‘Very well, Takada-san, but I occasionally worry that supply from Hokkaido is not regular and predictable.’
‘Why you import only wine? Why you not try something new, Hodges-san?’
‘Well, you know, I’ve been in the spirits business forever, Takada-san. My father built his whiskey business in Kentucky and that’s the only thing I’ve ever done. Would I be able to understand a new business?’ I demurred.
‘New things happening in the world today, Hodges-san! Can I give you idea?’
‘Of course!’
‘You good man, Hodges-san. Many business enquiries today about opium importing. People in Japan need reliable agent in Paris to distribute. Very easy business. Much demand. You make the money. You import wine. You import opium.’
‘But isn’t it illegal?’
‘All business have problems, Hodges-san,’ he shrugged, rolling his eyes.
‘What you mean by illegal? Everything legal, everything illegal. You take risk and you make the money. Why you worry? Why you not try? I introduce you to my tomodachi—I mean friends—who distribute opium.’
‘Why not? Let’s play ball!’ I said. We proposed a toast to a new business possibility.
‘And so I entered the world of opium smuggling. The front was perfect—an American businessman involved in a legitimate wine import and export trade in Paris, secretly acting as a conduit for opium distribution.
‘Now I visited the Embassy more frequently. I kept Mr. Takenaka informed in our usual way, but the meetings were with Mr. Takada. Within days, he introduced me to other Japanese individuals who were clearly not always diplomats; I met Mr. Murakami, who Miss Nohara had told me about. There was no doubt about it—this man was from the Yakuza. Junior diplomats were also affiliated.
‘Murakami and I became friendly. I behaved as a naïve oafish American, easy to manipulate. Later, I was to learn that he had my references checked in Sapporo, but Mr. Oshima had made precise arrangements and they passed. I was completely legitimate.
‘Let us understand the matter again. The Japanese Embassy in Paris was used to facilitate commerce by issuing permits and identities to the Yakuza and also by identifying channels such as my business for the import of opium in various ways. The Yakuza liaised with Professor Moriarty’s network for two reasons—for the actual distribution of the opium in Europe and to ensure that physical protection was provided against any investigation by the police—the Sûreté in this instance. The Chinese Triad used the channels created to push opium into Europe through the protection of the Yakuza and Professor Moriarty’s network, which was finally involved in creating opium dens and creating and fulfilling the demand. They also knew the right persons in the Customs Department and in the Police Department. Everywhere—whether in England, France, India, Japan—corruption exists and is endemic. Everyone needed each other. I hope this is clear.’
We all nodded, leaning forward, fascinated by Sherlock Holmes’ narrative.
‘My company now started importing opium, though smuggling might be a better word. Please remember that I was not the only importer. There were quite a few, and I have the list. The imports were in very small quantities. It was decided that the market and system would be tested for a couple of years before a full-scale operation. This kind of layered strategic thinking could only have come from Professor Moriarty himself.
‘Soon I spoke to Mr. Takada, expressing happiness that the new business was showing signs of promise. He was pleased and asked me to meet his other friends if I wanted to expand my business in Europe. I readily agreed and we travelled together to Madrid, Lisbon, Zurich, Rome, Warsaw, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Moscow, and London—yes, Watson, I visited London at least five times during the period you thought I was dead! I assiduously built my image of a corpulent, malleable American businessman for whom only profits were important and the law existed to be ignored or used to his advantage.
‘The sophistication of their planning was truly remarkable, Your Majesty. At each Embassy, I met diplomats who would otherwise have passed for upstanding representatives of the Japanese Diplomatic Services, but who were completely in the pay of the Yakuza. They identified importers and cleared the way. The Yakuza took over and liaised with Professor Moriarty’s men and kept accounts of the transactions. I thus slowly but surely created a directory of all members of the Diplomatic Services who were—are—involved. This took me almost two years. Remember, I had to develop relationships one at a time and gain the trust of everyone. In return for sake and whiskey, the diplomats would slowly yield and take me into confidence.
‘I actually met Professor Moriarty himself in Paris. It so happened that Mr. Takada, getting bolder and bolder with every success and transaction, told me about his connections with the underworld. We were at the same Paris café, meeting for an early Sunday lunch and had this conversation.’
‘Thank you, Takada-san, this business is very interesting and not so difficult. My Sapporo source receives his shipments of opium from Shanghai—he does not know what it contains, but is kind enough to add the package to the exports he sends to me. No problem at Customs.’
‘You are very reliable man, Hodges-san, we are happy, very happy! We soon expand the business many times and you and I become very rich.’
‘Your network is very strong. I admire you,’ said I, raising my wine glass in his direction.’
‘You want to meet the man who does the distribution? He is great man, Professor Moriarty—very smart, very smart. Not so easy to meet him but we can try.’
‘Certainly! It would be an honour. If it weren’t for him, I can’t imagine how this would have worked right under everyone’s nose!’
‘And so, two weeks after that meeting, Mr. Takada and I, accompanied by Mr. Murakami, set out to meet Professor Moriarty. Our coach went to various places and finally reached…the Louvre!’
‘I could not imagine Professor Moriarty being willing to meet anyone in public. The most shadowy figure in Europe, the greatest criminal mind I had ever encountered—why would he seek sunshine? Then again, I could see why that locale was perfect because who could imagine that the most feared and dangerous man in Europe would meet people in one of the world’s greatest museums? Remember, there was not a single case ever registered against him anywhere in the world. Suspicion, merely suspicion, yes—but never anything definitive.
‘We purchased tickets and wandered about the magnificent museum. The delicacies of Japan, the treasures of China, the wonders of India, vignettes of Assyria, the mysteries of Arabia, the treasures of Rome, Etruscan vases, the paintings of Leonardo—the distilled beauty of the world’s culture were all present at the Louvre and I could have wandered about for days. But that day, my mission was different.
‘“How will we find him?” I asked Mr. Takada.
‘“He will find us,” he responded, with a knowing nod.
‘And sure enough, as we turned into the deserted Egyptian section and looked with some awe at the sarcophagi and other fascinating examples of the art of that culture, a voice spoke brusquely behind us.
‘“You are late!”
‘We turned around. Professor Moriarty was standing at the opposite wall, his back turned toward us, his hands clasped behind his back. I would have recognized him anywhere, so many months after our last encounter at Reichanbach Falls. He wore a long overcoat and had a walking stick. As he turned, I saw that he had changed little; the same glowering deep-set eyes, the huge frontal lobe of his cranium suggesting extreme intelligence, thin-set lips, a pale face, a balding head with hair straggling behind and to the side, the slight stoop in his posture.
‘He glanced at us and I was pleased that my disguise had been effective.
‘He did not offer his hand to shake.
‘Mr. Takada and Mr. Murakami bowed to him, while I doffed my hat. He did not respond.
‘“Is everything going well?” he asked Mr. Takada. “The last shipments were delayed. I cannot accept that. This is too small a business for me to worry about such matters. I am more interested in ensuring the system is in place.”
‘“I apologize, Moriarty-san,” responded Mr. Murakami, practically grovelling. “There were some delays in the arrival of ships and it seems that shipments out of Shanghai were delayed too. Very sorry.”
‘“I am not interested in excuses,” snapped Moriarty, his choleric temperament on display. “If there is a delay again and I am diverted from my other businesses, I will consider shutting down this activity. I am in any case not very happy with the blunders of your people in Berlin and Copenhagen. They seem utterly inept!”
‘“May I have pleasure of introducing you to Mr. Hodges, Moriarty-san,” said Mr. Takada obsequiously, eager to change the topic. “He import our material from Shanghai through sake manufacturer in Sapporo. We very pleased to work with him.”
‘“At this moment, I am still not satisfied that we can expand to the scale I need,” Professor Moriarty said, ignoring me completely. “If your men with the missing digits don’t show more urgency and intelligence in dealing with my men, I will reconsider. Why you use such people who will be noticed easily is something I cannot understand.
‘“And talk less!” he snapped, this time at Mr. Takada. “The more you talk, the more you are in danger of exposure. You are expanding too fast—and carelessly. I do not believe in short-term profits at all. This is not just a matter of money. My goal is beyond—to control Europe and its economy.
‘“Good day, gentlemen,” he said abruptly, and turned and departed. We looked after him in silence.
‘“So that was Professor Moriarty?” I remarked.
‘“Yes. Very ambitious. He have big plans. Very good businessman. Very good methods. But very dangerous. Very dangerous. Maybe you never see him again.”
‘And indeed, I did not have a chance to do so.
‘In the meantime, Mr. Kasama’s prediction had started proving to be accurate. One day at Mr. Takada’s office in the Japanese Embassy, we had a couple of visitors. They were from the commercial section of the Portuguese Embassy and knew Mr. Takada well. D’Silva and Sequeira came straight to the point. They were already involved in small-time smuggling and were quite interested in the opium angle.
‘“We do test for one year in Portugal, D’Silva-san. Murakami-san visit Lisbon with you to see how it work.”
‘It was agreed and Mr. Takada asked them to meet a certain contact of his at the Japanese Embassy in Lisbon. It was made clear that the network was in place and that diplomats from other European countries were also interested in sharing the expected profits. We had De Groot from Holland, Herr Schmidt from Germany, Senor Cruz from Spain, Markevich from Russia—and even Cosgrove from the British Embassy, to my personal agony, a man from Cambridge, no less! Yes, Murakami helped me connect with the Japanese Yakuza network in all the European capitals. It was an extraordinary situation.
‘In effect, Your Majesty, I am telling you that the Diplomatic Services of most European countries have been compromised and, far from being standards for probity and dignity, are involved in smuggling. This is extremely painful for all concerned.’
‘What must be done?’ the emperor asked, clearly shaken. ‘If I understand you correctly, our Embassies have been responsible for legitimizing smuggling and laying the foundation of a vast network for opium trafficking and consumption in Europe. And they have induced several European diplomats to become part of their plans.’
‘That is correct. And to answer your question, it seems clear, Your Majesty, that you will have to personally do something. I have with me the complete list of all diplomats from all countries who have been involved in a small or big way. I obviously have the list of Japanese diplomats as well, which no doubt will be most embarrassing for all of you, because they have operated under the watch of the Foreign Ministry and Japanese Secret Police. It has taken me a long time to gather these names; I regret to say that every second person in every Japanese Embassy in Europe is suspect, including some ambassadors—’
‘Where is that list?’ interrupted Sugiyama-san. ‘Our ambassador at Moscow—’
Holmes shook his head. ‘No, he is clean, but I would not like to speak for or against any diplomat here. That is not the point. It is for you,’ he nodded at Sasaki-san, ‘to quickly verify the case. You can take care of that quite easily, by calling them to Japan on some kind of apparently legitimate briefing mission and then arresting them. But the bigger fallout will be the exposure of the European diplomats, who can quite easily claim that their Japanese friends entrapped them. This can be very embarrassing.
‘I believe, Your Majesty, that the only way for you to handle this is to preempt the matter—before you are confronted by other countries with evidence of the involvement of Japanese diplomats. I suggest you write a letter directly to the head of state of each country, carried by a personal representative. Give a compressed version of the facts and provide the names of their diplomats along with circumstantial or direct proof of their involvement. I possess such proof against each name.’
There was silence.
‘There are 138 Japanese diplomats involved and about seventy-nine European diplomats.’
‘Why did you not send us details along the way?’ asked Oshima-san, sounding a little angry.
‘For a simple reason that you will appreciate immediately. I had no guarantee that my correspondence would not be intercepted. The only things that I could write to you about were my financial needs and general information that was not really a secret—for example, the recent cases of the investigation of the murder of Admiral Santiago or the case of the abduction of the heir to the throne of Schleswig-Holstein. As events have proven only a few hours ago, my suspicions were perhaps well-founded; the Yakuza has penetrated your offices. And your own case of fugu fish poisoning was anything but accidental.’
Yoshida-san spoke. ‘At what point did you decide that Operation Kobe55 had reached a logical conclusion? Why did you return?’
‘I came back because Professor Moriarty had become suspicious. Mr. Takada had taken me to many cities to introduce me to his counterparts in the Embassies as a legitimate importer of Japanese sake who could additionally import opium. Then he returned to Japan. His successor is clean and not involved—yet. In the meanwhile, rumours spread that an American businessman had started expanding his business quite well in Europe. That would not have been a problem, except for the fact that Professor Moriarty investigated my American background and was not satisfied with the results, or so I believe. He became suspicious. When my requests for appointments at the Japanese Embassy in Copenhagen and then in Berlin were turned down by the very same persons who had met me at least three times before, I understood that something had changed. Your attaché in Berlin, Mr. Uchiyama, met me in a park and confessed that he had been given instructions by the Yakuza—who in turn must have received instructions from Professor Moriarty—to keep an eye on me. I then went to London to find a means to convey my accumulated information to you and to consult Lestrade and Mycroft. I believe I was followed across the English Channel.
‘Mycroft, as you are possibly aware, holds a sensitive position at the Home Office, where his sagacity is much valued. While I have always had the inclination to action, he prefers to address challenges of great import from his chair. He wields enormous influence and it would be no exaggeration to say that he occasionally is the government. He could not be bothered if you agreed with him on any matter or disagreed. He prefers spending time at the exclusive Diogenes Club, where speaking is strictly forbidden—such is the loathing of its strange members for social intercourse. But I digress.
‘I had, of course, kept him generally informed of my whereabouts in Europe. He often told me to immediately cease what he called a juvenile adventure, most likely to end in an unfortunate way. He had already concluded that these were deeper waters than was apparent and had even deduced who the persons involved were. But he did not think it necessary to intervene, feeling that my tiresome ways were perhaps more suitable to the handling of the situation.
‘He is the person who advised me to leave forthwith for Japan and seek an audience with you directly, Your Majesty. He further hypothesized that it was very possible for the Yakuza, given his knowledge of the psychology of successful criminal groups, to precipitate matters in a clouded political environment by taking extreme and very bold action. Specifically, he felt that the possibility of an assassination attempt on your person by insiders could not be ruled out, and he wanted me to warn you. I believe that the two Yakuza gentlemen on board the North Star were the appointed assassins, having been specially trained by Colonel Moran himself in the handling of air rifles that use revolver bullets, which is why I needed to reach Japan before the arrival of the ship into Yokohama. They can doubtless now be detained on arrival.’
While the group struggled to find expression, Holmes continued. ‘Lestrade was, of course, absolutely delighted to see me. He too believed I had been killed at Reichenbach Falls. I explained the situation and he, after some initial incredulity, understood the gravity of the matter. He agreed that I should make good my escape to Japan soon and try to speak to you directly. We hit upon the idea of having Dr. Watson carry the information to Tokyo without his knowledge.’
‘Holmes!’ I exclaimed, outraged.
‘It was all quite simple, Watson. We arranged for your ticket on the North Star and created the blind—it was quite easy to fake a letter from Japan supposedly stamped in Yokohama.’
‘How did you have him carry the information?’ asked Oshima-san. ‘Would that not have been equally dangerous?’
‘If a person does not know he has information, that information is safe with him.’ Holmes’ face was flushed with triumph. ‘And this is what I did—I had the entire list of names and proof against each person codified into musical notation and transcribed. In short, I used a cipher that only the trained eye could have made sense of. The sheaves of “music” that emerged could not possibly have been recognized as a list of any kind. Lestrade arranged for one of his agents to enter Dr. Watson’s house and place it with my violin, which was in his possession, and which he had very graciously not opened even once after my “death.” And so Dr. Watson carried my violin with him throughout. Along the way, on the few occasions I opened the case and played my violin, I told him the sheaves were the compositions of a young composer in Prague. Here they are!’
Sherlock Holmes waved the sheaves of sheet music triumphantly in the air. This was his moment of glory, without a doubt.
‘That paper, Holmes-san, contains the complete list of diplomats, Japanese and others, who have been part of this operation. And specific proof of their activities. Is that correct?’ asked Emperor Meiji.
‘That is correct, Your Majesty.’
‘Was it wise to have travelled in such a manner with such sensitive information?’ asked Miss Nohara.
‘Naturally I had taken precautions. But I could not do it any other way. A letter would have taken too long and might have been lost or stolen.’
‘What is the cipher?’ asked Otawa-san.
‘An ancient but effective system devised by the Italian composer Porta. In his system, the first half of the alphabet would be matched to a sequence of thirteen half notes going up the notes on a musical stave and the second half of the alphabet to a descending sequence of thirteen quarter notes. However, a musician would find any such score unusual and potentially unmusical. The system was altered later by another composer, Thomas Thicknesse, so that it made musical sense. Perhaps it sounds complicated. But that does not matter at this stage; the deciphering is easy and will not take long. I can do it myself within two hours.’
‘Innovative and admirable, Holmes-san,’ nodded the emperor.
Holmes bowed. ‘This, Your Majesty, is your property now for you to act on in the manner you deem fit. I request that my suggestions be taken into consideration. I have been witness to many diplomatic challenges and have discovered the great value of being candid as a means of diffusing tension. Taking immediate steps is important. If you do not, it is likely that Professor Moriarty will communicate with foreign governments in a manner different from ours. Japan will be accused of misusing its diplomatic channels to encourage criminal activity aimed at undermining the sovereignty of independent nations. Unfortunately, the personal actions of diplomats cannot be distinguished from those of the nations they represent and then you will not be able to convincingly deny that this was part of an official strategy. Retribution will be swift and may include the arrest of Japanese diplomats, the suspension of treaties, and confiscation of Japanese assets. It may include war, if the objective of deliberately subverting European governments and cultures by distributing opium through diplomatic channels is accepted by various governments. It is not a price you can afford to pay, especially given your recent initiatives to modernize Japan.’
The emperor nodded, his face pale.
Holmes stood up, his expression grim and solemn.
‘At the same time, it is also my painful duty, Your Majesty, to say that this group has been compromised. The Yakuza has infiltrated the core committee overseeing Operation Kobe55. I regret to say that you have a traitor in this very room.’