"But..."
Russell continued asking questions, nitpicking as if looking for bones in an egg:
"How loud would that be? And surely there must be gaps between the walls, ceiling, and floor?"
"Gaps can be concealed with decorative molding and skirting boards.
"As for the sound—you underestimate our engineers, child.
"Provided the design is proper, the best craftsmen can make a stone door weighing a ton move more quietly than a lady's sigh!"
Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, each reading the same message in the other's eyes.
—Found it.
The way that ghost enters and exits the room.
Ring—
The bell signaling the end of class rang at just the right moment, interrupting Professor Fields' torrential flow of speech.
The students, who had been drowsy, felt as if they had been granted amnesty and began packing their things to leave.
"Alright, students, that is all for today."
Professor Fields put down the chalk, still seemingly unsatisfied, and dusted off his hands.
"Oh, right." He suddenly remembered something, his gaze falling upon Russell and Mary.
"Miss Morstan, Mr. Watson."
"Here," the two replied in unison.
"The topic you just raised is very interesting. regarding the design of utilizing redundant space for dynamic connection... mm, very interesting."
The professor nodded with satisfaction.
"For this semester's final report, the two of you shall use this as your theme. I look forward to your results."
"....?"
Russell froze in place.
What did he mean, my question became my homework?
He slowly turned his head, looking at Mary with an expression of disbelief.
Mary did not look at him.
The young girl was lowering her head, methodically packing her notebook into her satchel.
Those beautiful azure eyes curved slightly, and the corners of her mouth held a smile that could not be hidden.
Only after finishing the work in her hands did she turn her head to look at Russell.
"Mm, is there a problem, Student Russell?"
The young girl raised her head, those smiling eyes appearing exceptionally bright under the sunlight.
"No... nothing."
Russell withdrew his gaze, wearing an expression of resignation.
Thinking on the bright side, at least Mary Morstan was a top student.
Compared to others who didn't even know what their future assignments were, or who would have to struggle to find teammates when the time came...
Wasn't he avoiding a few months of detours?
He even had a strong teammate to lean on.
If worse came to worst, he could shake Charlotte over here to do the work.
He ended up in this result for her sake, after all.
If she dared to say no, he would... he would go take the civil service exam!
Since things had come to this, he could only comfort himself this way.
Russell followed Mary up and left the lecture hall, arriving at the cafeteria.
The two found a secluded corner to sit. Russell picked up his double bacon and ham sandwich and took a vicious bite.
"Looking at it this way, it seems my hypothesis holds water?"
Mary took a sip of black tea and spoke after moistening her throat.
Russell did not answer; he simply chewed his food quietly while thinking in his mind.
There were still problems.
There were a few problems that couldn't be explained.
He swallowed the food in his mouth, then looked at Mary and spoke:
"There are still problems."
"Mm-hm?" Mary raised an eyebrow. "What problems?"
"Two aspects." Russell held up two fingers.
"First, material transport, processing of the building, renovations—these things cannot be completely hidden from people's eyes and ears.
"Ms. Holly Davey said that the apartment has shown no signs of renovation recently, and the elderly people in the apartment hate noise.
"Speaking of the elderly, this is the second and most main problem."
Russell paused, then continued:
"Living next door is a lady in her seventies."
"A lady in her seventies?"
Mary's action of drinking tea paused slightly, a look of confusion revealing itself in her eyes.
"We met her yesterday." Russell nodded.
"A very kind old person. Do you think a seventy-year-old lady would have the energy, or the physical strength, to complete the magic trick Professor Fields described?
"Moreover, she doesn't look like the kind of pervert who would collect used coffee cups, spray someone else's perfume, or even sleep in someone else's bed."
This was the most fundamental and unavoidable problem.
An old person with slow movements, versus an architectural modification requiring precise calculation and massive engineering.
The two could not be equated no matter what.
Mary did not answer immediately.
She gently set down the teacup in her hand, making a crisp sound.
The young girl's gaze moved away from Russell's face and cast toward the window.
At this moment, the afternoon sunlight was just right, stretching the shadow of the distant clock tower very long.
The cafeteria was noisy with human voices; students gathered in twos and threes, discussing courses, weekend plans, or irrelevant gossip.
Everything was filled with a fresh sense of daily life belonging to youth.
It seemed out of place with the topic the two were discussing.
Just like that old person, and that spatial magic.
Unknown how much time passed, Mary finally withdrew her gaze. she gently stirred the black tea in the cup with a teaspoon, watching the small red vortex, and spoke softly:
"Perhaps, from the very beginning, our direction was wrong?"
"What direction?" Russell took another bite of the sandwich and asked indistinctly.
"Time."
Mary said softly.
Russell paused slightly.
"Until just now, in our hypothesis, that passage existed in the 'present' and was built for Ms. Holly Davey, which is why we struggled with these questions."
She raised her head, her azure eyes gazing at Russell, speaking word by word:
"But what if—"
"What if that passage existed from the very beginning?"
Russell picked up the rest of the thought.
"Just like Professor Fields said, in certain buildings from the early Victorian era, similar designs existed.
"Perhaps it was the previous tenant, the tenant before that, or even from the day the apartment was built—this passage existed.
"It wasn't built for Ms. Holly Davey, but for other reasons.
"That ghost simply happened to discover this passage and utilized it."
"Mm-hm."
Mary picked up a sugar cube and dropped it into the black tea, stirring gently until the sugar cube completely dissolved.
"Now, the first problem is solved."
She lifted the teacup and took another sip, feeling the mellow fragrance and sweetness of the black tea spreading over the tip of her tongue.
"Next, it is the turn of the second problem."
The true identity of the ghost.
"Regarding this point, I'm afraid we have to return to the initial hypothesis," Mary said.
"Wasn't hiding someone in the apartment already ruled out?" Russell asked.
"We ruled out Ms. Holly Davey's apartment,"
she said.
"But what if the person is hidden in another apartment?"
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