The Musgrave Ritual

The next morning, the fog over London had yet to lift.

Ye Yan had just finished breakfast and was raising his teacup for the last sip of black tea when he heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairs. Jules bounded up two steps at a time, a copy of The Times, still smelling of ink, in his hand.

"This morning's paper." Jules unfolded it across the dining table and lightly tapped a spot on the front page. "Something happened at St. Pancras Church."

The printed headline leaped into view:

A Century-Old Library at St. Pancras Church Caught Fire Last Night

"How could this be such a coincidence..."

Ye Yan murmured, his gaze lingering on the words "severely damaged" in the paper.

Though reason told him the accident had nothing to do with him, a nameless unease still welled up inside. After all, only yesterday he had been in that very library, studying Sanskrit texts under Archbishop Alvin.

Ye Yan couldn't help wondering how the Sanctum's Light Servants would view the incident.

An outsider had just left, and then the church's century-old library had suffered such a disaster. He wondered if they might think of him as a jinx.

He set down his teacup and decided to go to the church in person.

Seeing him rise, Jules frowned and asked, "Are you going to St. Pancras Church?"

Ye Yan nodded and picked up his umbrella.

"All right." Jules waved him off. "I'll take the day off and watch the shop for you. Don't be too long."

As Ye Yan opened the front door and was about to step down, he saw Dr. Watson coming out of the neighboring house.

"Ye, are you heading out?"

Ye Yan paused on the bottom step and gave a slight nod. "I heard there was a fire in the library at St. Pancras Church. I was going to see how things were."

At once, Watson waved a hand.

"There's no need to worry. I just spoke to Archbishop Alvin on the phone. The damage to the library wasn't as bad as the paper made it sound, and all the important texts have been safely secured. He specifically asked me to tell you that you should still attend your lessons next week as planned."

Ye Yan paused, and the unease in his heart eased a little. "The archbishop... didn't mention what caused the fire?"

Watson shook his head.

"The archbishop didn't say much, only that it was an accident."

Ye Yan thought it over. His doubts hadn't entirely faded, but he didn't press further.

"Oh, by the way." Watson took a letter from his pocket. "Sherlock sent this and asked me to pass it on to you. He said he'd found out something about the matter you asked him about earlier."

Ye Yan took the letter. It felt strangely cold to the touch.

He was about to open it, but Watson reached out to stop him. "Sherlock said you'd be better off reading it somewhere quiet."

At that, Ye Yan raised an eyebrow and put the letter away.

"I understand."

He looked at Watson, who was getting ready to take his leave, and asked in an offhand manner, "By the way, what case has Mr. Holmes been working on lately? I haven't seen him in quite a few days."

Watson stopped.

"It's a long story." He glanced around, then lowered his voice without meaning to. "Last week, Holmes received a letter asking for help. It was from Sir Reginald Musgrave, a former classmate of his at Cambridge. The letter mentioned a series of strange events at the family estate.

"Since the matter might involve family secrets, Sherlock accepted the case and went alone to investigate at Hurlstone Manor."

At Watson's description, Ye Yan immediately realized this was the Musgrave Ritual case.

In the original story, Holmes had taken the case in the fourth year after graduating from university. By interpreting an ancient ritual, he had solved the puzzle of the Musgrave family's century-old treasure.

Now, the story had already changed.

Holmes had taken the case two years later than in the original story, so the investigation was bound to unfold differently.

What's more, the case involved an ancient family ritual called the "Musgrave Ritual."

In the original story, the question-and-answer record of the ritual was actually a cipher, concealing the location of the Musgrave family's hidden treasure. But in this world, the mysterious was closely tied to rituals, so it might well be a genuine, unknown ritual.

That could be why the detective had been unable to solve the puzzle for so long. The mysterious was interfering with his powers of deduction.

"Dr. Watson, how long has Mr. Holmes been away?" Ye Yan asked.

"About three days," Watson replied.

"Have you been in touch during that time?" he asked.

"Yes, we've been in touch every day. Sherlock's been sending updates on the investigation by telegram. Today, he mentioned that he'd found some interesting traces in the manor's cellar."

"I see."

Ye Yan drifted into thought without realizing it.

Seeing that Ye Yan's jaw was still tense, Watson smiled.

"Ye, I know what you're worried about, but there's no need. The Administration's investigation found that neither the butler's disappearance nor the mad maid's escape had anything to do with the mysterious. The disappearance is strange, but it's just an ordinary case."

"You're right." Ye Yan let out a long breath, and his tense shoulders finally relaxed a little. "I was overthinking it."

If both Holmes and Watson thought there was nothing to worry about, then he was probably just being paranoid.

Holmes had escaped Moriarty's traps unscathed and always managed to find the truth. Surely a mere treasure-hunt riddle couldn't defeat him.

There was almost no puzzle in this world that could stump the great detective.

Ye Yan gave Watson a relieved smile.

"Doctor, if you hear anything new tomorrow, please let me know. I'm quite interested in the case too."

Watson nodded, his eyes full of warmth.

"Of course. Sherlock said he should be back by the day after tomorrow at the latest. We can go to a concert together then."

Ye Yan watched Watson disappear around the corner, then returned to the Bookhouse.

Jules was sorting through the books. Hearing him come in, he looked up in surprise, the feather duster in his hand suspended in midair.

"How are you back so soon?"

Ye Yan smiled and hung his bowler hat on the rack by the door. "I ran into Dr. Watson as soon as I stepped outside. He told me the Sanctum was fine."

"So the library..."

"The paper just exaggerated things. Archbishop Alvin also asked Watson to tell me that Sanskrit Class will go ahead as usual next week."

"That's good." Jules sounded a little brighter. "I was worried it would disrupt your studies."

Ye Yan's gaze swept over the neatly arranged books on the shelves. He suddenly stopped. "Uncle Jules, could you watch the bookstore for me? I need to take care of something upstairs."

"Sure, sure. Go ahead." Jules pursed his lips indifferently and waved the feather duster in his hand. "I was planning to take the day off anyway. You could stay in your room all day if you wanted."

Ye Yan nodded and turned toward the second floor.