Detective Mary

Chapter 41

"It was indeed books that informed me of the answer," she returned with a smile as she finally tickled the corners of her mouth, "it was Das Kapital, sir."

But Mary was half lying.

The First World War had been far more extensive and damaging than Mary could have imagined in a time of peace. But the cold, hard statistics in the history books, and the potential for an even more horrific Second World War, were enough to send chills down her spine.

A war of this magnitude was naturally caused by a complex combination of political, economic, cultural, and other social factors, which ultimately ignited long-suppressed realities, spreading a spark of hatred and death throughout the world.

But among all these factors, the fundamental cause is the nature of capitalism itself.

The visionaries smelled the crisis that lay beneath the noise and the bustle. Not only James Moriarty, but Engels predicted the great wars of the future with perfect precision.

And the "Great War", when capitalist industrial production continues, and continues, and the resulting overcapacity, is far worse than Engels ever predicted.

--The Industrial Revolution was in full swing, millions of landless peasants were being turned into workers in factories, machines were appearing, technology was advancing, productivity was getting faster and faster, and the demand in the British market was fixed, so where was the excess to be sold?

Abroad.

But the UK is far from alone in needing overseas markets.

The world is a big place, but the ambitions of the capitalist countries that want to colonize it are more terrible than all the continents put together. Germany, a latecomer, was not willing to let all its overseas markets fall into the hands of other countries, and in order to compete for resources and markets, the war began.

So Mary paused, seeing Holmes still waiting for his explanation, then spoke: "Do you know the theory of surplus value, sir?"

"I know it," Holmes replied, "I have read more or less on the subject in order to deal with the workers."

"......"

Surprisingly, it's just for dealing with workers!

Mary could no longer describe her feelings with admiration when she heard this - the textbooks alone had made her want to snatch her head from the ground during her lessons, and Mr. Holmes had flippantly said, "I've read it," just to gain the approval of the workers?

Surely he was a pragmatist. Mary laughed and cried, but at the same time she was vaguely touched.

The slums of London were crowded with people as extraordinary as Miss Mary Morstan, but also with a great number of bullies. There were many ways of trying to please them, and Holmes had chosen the most difficult, and the most sincere, one of all: to understand them.

No wonder that the Irish workers changed their attitude as soon as they heard the name of Holmes, the detective respected the poor, respected their human dignity, and solemnly promised to do them justice.

Who, then, would not place him on a rather high pedestal?

"That explains it," Mary's expression unconsciously softened a few points, "that Professor Moriarty controls the vast majority of the overseas market for cotton raw materials - I'm afraid it's still in an illegal way, thus creating a monopoly of the market. After the illegal monopolization of the market has taken shape, whoever he wants to die will have to die."

Holmes: "......"

"Not only that," Mary inhaled deeply, "think I'm afraid I'm easing the conflict by destroying domestic overcapacity, sir."

Since one of the major reasons for the war was overcapacity, all that had to be done was to destroy that capacity.

Half a century later, not long after the end of the Second World War, Western capitalist societies entered into state monopoly capitalism. Under the control and manipulation of a high degree of monopoly, social contradictions were to some extent within the realm of the ostensibly "controllable".

What Prof. James Moriarty has done is to take the model of future market manipulation and apply it to the present.

A few traces of surprise flashed in his light-colored eyes, but that quickly that surprise turned into a daze, and then Mr. Holmes fell into deep contemplation.

But the contemplation did not last long.

More than Mary, who had only learned the rudiments of the art of traveling through time and space, Holmes possessed an intelligence above that of mortals, and, more importantly, he had walked among the classes of London, had seen the factory owners, the great aristocrats, and the poor people of the slums in all their forms.

He had experienced and seen it with his own eyes, so even though his theoretical knowledge was not as good as Mary's, he quickly understood the meaning of her words.

It was just that the detective's entire mind was focused on solving the case, and he didn't connect all the clues at once. When Mary reminded him of this, he immediately reacted.

Holmes wrinkled his brow deeply, ''The domestic market is not enough to dump goods, so in the future there will inevitably be a world war because of the competition for the market. James Moriarty destroys the economy, reduces the production capacity, and slows down the development of society in this way, which is used to slow down the pace of the coming war."

With that, he bowed his head, his expression growing more and more grave. Holmes subconsciously raised his hand, his index finger falling to his lips.

-It was his signature thinking posture now! Mary was energized to see him in his classic pose, for the next Holmes was bound to tell a useful clue.

"No, it's not just industry at home," he said, "I'm afraid there are what he calls 'agents' all over Europe - such arrogance to try to resist the war on one man's own!"

Toward the end of his speech, the detective, who had always been cold and calm, showed a few moments of disgust.

More than arrogance? This matter is crazy!

Even if James Moriarty completely destroyed the world's cotton spinning industry, would that stop the war? Without cotton to sell, there would be countless other products. And how would the workers who lost their jobs at home due to factory closures be able to make a living, and wouldn't the social unrest at home caused by large numbers of workers being unemployed and unable to survive really instead intensify conflicts earlier, causing chaos and sparking a war even earlier?

Taking a step back, even if his plan could succeed, it would be putting countless poor people to death.

Mary thought carefully and felt that things would not be that simple, if the professor's thinking was so direct, it would be too much of a loss.

This seems to stand at the top of the pyramid looking down on all living beings, treating the poor as grass as the behavior, obviously touched the bottom line of Sherlock Holmes, he inhaled a breath, instantly turned around, pacing up and down inside the parlor: "Such arrogance, such arrogance and pride, how dare he?!"

"He will not succeed."

"Of course he won't, we have to stop him."

"No, sir," said Mary heavily, "even if we can't stop him, his plans won't come to pass. Unless James Moriarty can completely annihilate the bourgeoisie and destroy the capitalist relations of production, war is bound to break out."

Holmes paused in his steps.

His eyes fell back on Mary, and the detective looked at her in silence for half a minute.

Such a stare made Mary inexplicably weak, "Sir?"

Holmes: "You admire Marx's doctrine."

Mary: "......"

The detective's tone was calm, and looking at him for a moment as he searched his gaze, Mary still couldn't help but have her heart beat a few beats faster.

An unmarried young lady born in the countryside of the South, she had never left the county, let alone seen the world in a big city, especially an industrial one. Mary had never seen a factory or a single worker before she came to London, but she spoke eloquently of the theories that guided the working class.

Anyone would have been surprised.

"Yes."

But Mary admitted it anyway.

Fortunately, Mary wasn't just a fool who knew how to show off, and it wasn't as if she hadn't thought of that.

"My father brought the books of Rousseau and Montesquieu home from London, and I had nothing to do right or left, so I took them and read them," she could have been telling the truth, "but Rousseau and Montesquieu did not answer my doubts."

"What doubts?"

"Why is the society we live in the way it is now? Why the Glorious Revolution, why the guillotining of kings, why there are now more factories than farmland in the North, why London is getting busier and dirtier?"

Without thinking, Mary blurted out what was on her mind, "They can't, Marx can."

However Holmes did not seem to accept Mary's statement.

Even if a single aristocratic woman living in London had uttered these words, there would still be a few plausible points. But Mary's living conditions were far from the city, far from industry, and the South of England had far fewer conflicts than the big cities, and there should be no theorists in her life - she didn't need them.

But even though Sherlock Holmes has his doubts, he does not despise Mary for them.

Perhaps the detective disdained social niceties and was arrogant because of his superior intellect that doubted everything, but he would never deny a person's talent.

"I'm impressed by your remarks, young lady," the detective praised bluntly, "not all ladies, or even men of your stature, may be able to possess such insight. And it comes from your personal reflections alone."

"......"

Neither is it!

After a few encounters, Mary had also gotten a feel for what the real detective's exact personality was like. He has a reckless disregard for etiquette and no tolerance for low-level blunders-such as being late, or reckless or anything like that-but Holmes also doesn't mince words in showing emotional support when others do something he agrees with.

Having been complimented by the detective several times in a row, Mary was getting used to it!

And Mary had still gone to school and listened to courses on the subject.

But she couldn't confess this to the detective, and had to take the compliment with a stiff upper lip, "Thank you for your approval, sir. However, my thinking remains at the level of cause, and I can't imagine getting what to do to stop Professor Moriarty."

She had no clues in her hands, no data, and that was all secondary to the fact that Mr. Holmes didn't have any either. What mattered was that everything Mary knew was on the theoretical side; it was fine to talk and wax eloquent on paper, but to actually put it into practice was confusing.

For example, now, knowing that James Moriarty hands control a large number of cotton raw material merchants, but Mary really do not know where to start, go forward to stop him well.

"It's not easy," Mr. Detective nodded, "This case is bigger and more involved than I thought, and I need to think."

Said he, a smile of interest sketched into his cold face.

"Ha!"

The normally cool and aloof gentleman burst out laughing like a child after returning to reality from his thoughts.

"Although economic cases are not my forte," he said, "this is getting more and more worth looking forward to."

Well, it's not looking good, but there's Sherlock Holmes now.

Watching the detective take up the challenge with gusto, Mary inexplicably let her heart drop. She couldn't help but tickle the corners of her mouth as well, "So what's next, sir?"

"I need to investigate, a lot."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Actually, Mary felt that there was very little she could do at this point - again, Miss Unmarried's status was holding her back. Still, she refused to give up on the first question; maybe there was a surprise?

And Holmes never let Mary down.

"I have to make a trip to the slums," the detective nodded, "and you may well join me if you wish."

"Really?!" Mary's eyes lit up.

"Naturally," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "after this, I think Hamp should make amends to Henry Decker, too, with a share of credit to you."

Sherlock Holmes went straight to the coat rack, "I will ask Miss Morstan to notify you otherwise."

"Wait."

Mary suddenly remembered the handkerchief that had been handed to her yesterday, "Your handkerchief, sir! I'll bring it to you."

Holmes puts on his hat, "Some other time."

With that said, the detective was ready to leave as if he had arrived in a storm, without bothering to greet his hostess, Mrs. Gardner.

Mary said a few more words of farewell to the detective, and saw him out herself. No sooner had Holmes's carriage departed than Mr. Gardner, who had gone out early, came in joyfully.

He did not even open his mouth to inquire when he saw Mary standing at the door. The wise and enlightened uncle raised the print in his hand at Mary, and said with immense relief, "Congratulations, Mary, the proofs of the new issue of the Seaside Magazine are out, and Editor-in-Chief Hall has sent them to my office."

What!

Mary's spirits lifted: her serial was finally published in book form!