Welcome to Baker Street

100. Rewriting history

"She is not simply tied to a pole. She is standing on a stake."

"Excellent deduction, Doctor Watson," Moriarty compliments him and widens the frame of the camera to show Molly standing on a pyre of hay and deadwood. A few feet away, a burning torch is being mechanically lowered towards the bonfire. It gets closer and closer with each passing second.

Sherlock tries to convince himself that all the chills running down his spine are nothing more than a figment of his imagination. He strives to regain his composure by clenching and releasing his fists.

"Earlier, you said that death is the key, so I'm assuming it was a hint of the next riddle we must solve. And since fire is clearly the threat against Molly, I guess the weapons symbolised by those three levers are supposed to refer to someone else's death," he argues, striving to sound as dispassionate as possible.

"Correct. But whose death, Sherlock?" Jim teases him. "This is what you have to find out. When you've made up your mind, you pull the lever."

Holmes lowers his eyes on the machine on the wall and the miniature weapons (a gun, a dagger, and a grenade), imagining all the different scenarios, then gives voice to his worst nightmare.

"And if it's the wrong lever, the torch won't stop and will fall onto the pyre, lighting it up."

Moriarty nods complacently. "Glad that the rules are clear. You have ten minutes. You'd better start reasoning; things are heating up for Molly Hooper." And with one last predatory grin, his face fades out from the screen.

"Wait!" Sherlock shouts, a note of despair taints his voice.

Giulia raises a brow at him. She has never heard such an urgent tone from him, not even in the direst situations (of which there have been quite a few, over the past months).

"Wait," he repeats, stepping toward the monitor, where the outline of Moriarty's face gets more defined again. Jim looks genuinely surprised.

"I reckon that the main clue is probably an important historical figure, and we must find out who that person is and how they died, but you haven't given us any information. How are we supposed to identify the right person and connect them to one lever?" Sherlock protests fervently.

Jim tilts his head, almost confused at the scene.

"Mr Holmes, did something get you distracted? I gave you some hints, already. But fine," he concedes, "I'll provide you with some more clues. The person in question was a man quite obsessed with Germany. He was the leader of the armed forces and was so ambitious that he even tried to conquer Britain. I'd say we could almost consider him as an emperor. Quite the historical character, undoubtedly, but who are we talking about? You have seven minutes."

"Seven? You said we had ten," John objects. Even if Sherlock has known Molly the longest, she is his friend, too.

"That was before Sherlock asked for extra help. I don't grant anything for free. Six minutes and fifty seconds to go. Tick tock." Jim's voice dies out while the monitor switches off.

They stare in horror at the burning torch speeding up its descent towards the pyre.

Sherlock turns his back to the disturbing scene and looks at his flatmates. "We don't even have to discuss it, do we?"

John cocks an interrogative brow in response, so Sherlock says, "Alright, I admit that without those additional sentences, the guess would have been entirely arbitrary. However, after Moriarty's extra clues, there should be no doubt whatsoever. It's plainly obvious that the man is Adolf Hitler."

"Nothing is ever obvious in this game," Watson argues.

At those words, Giulia's eyes widen in realisation, and she comments, "Hitler is a reasonable option, but—"