The morning classes finished in the dullest, most uninteresting way possible.
Charlotte did not pay attention to a single word during the lectures. To her, the knowledge the professor shared was utterly unnecessary.
Mary hadn't listened to any of the course material, either. For her, attending the class was nothing more than a formality. She spent the entire class talking with Charlotte.
Russell, on the other hand, hadn't listened at all because he'd been sleeping the whole time. Ironically, he was the one who learned the most that morning.
Who else could relate to that unique sense of guilt when you wake up only to find another 200 points of malicious intent have accumulated in your wallet?
After the morning classes ended, the three of them—feeling the stares of their classmates—left the lecture hall together and headed to an empty classroom to wait.
"How are you feeling?" Russell asked, looking at Charlotte. "How does your first day at university feel?"
"A waste of time," Charlotte replied bluntly, delivering a crisp verdict.
"The classes themselves were unbelievably boring. Now I finally understand why you always nap during lectures," she quipped.
"Finally, you see my point!" Russell raised his coffee as if toasting.
"I just wish you'd stop sleeping so much during class," Mary couldn't help but comment.
"How about… taking some notes for a change?" she suggested.
"Well then, please pardon me," Russell shrugged with mock apology.
Just then, Charlotte seemed to remember something and spoke up, "By the way, regarding the professor…"
Before she could finish, Mary, who had been standing by her side, suddenly paused; her eyebrows knit together almost imperceptibly. "Why are you still thinking about the Professor?"
"What's with the professor?" she asked, her tone carrying just the right amount of curiosity.
"I'm just wondering… whether there's any connection between him and Moriarty," Charlotte replied.
The moment she said those words, deathly silence fell over the classroom.
Both Russell and Mary, surprised by this speculation, paused whatever they were doing.
It was Russell who finally broke the silence. "Why do you ask? Is there some link between those two?"
"Perhaps," Mary interjected. "And didn't Moriarty also stop the professor's scheme at Lloyds Bank?"
"What if…that was all part of the professor's plan, too?" Charlotte said.
"Maybe, from the very start, those who attacked the bank were just pawns—meant to draw attention and set the stage for Moriarty to swoop in."
As she spoke, she paced back and forth through the classroom.
"If Moriarty acted alone, even if he succeeded in the end, the attention would have all landed on him. But if he brings along a bunch of small fry and casts himself as the hero—Zorro-style—then the situation changes, doesn't it?"
She turned to look at the other two.
"Is that so…?" Russell glanced uncertainly towards Mary.
Why are you asking me?
Mary shot Russell a look. "I'm not the professor, you know."
After a pause, she looked at Charlotte. "But if we follow your logic, then the coincidence of Moriarty and the professor both focusing on Lloyds Bank begins to make sense."
"Not only that," Charlotte continued, "but Scotland Yard's investigation is now solely centered on the professor."
Yet, the professor's identity—much like Moriarty's—was cloaked in profound secrecy.
"That's not the only key detail," Charlotte went on. "There's one more crucial point."
"What is it?" asked Russell.
"Timing," Charlotte said. "When the professor disappeared, and when Moriarty appeared."
"We know Moriarty appeared a year ago, but what about the professor?" Russell asked.
"To be precise, Moriarty appeared one year and three months ago," Charlotte corrected him. "And as for the professor, according to various accounts and information I've gathered…"
Barring his time at Lloyds Bank, the last public sighting of the professor was one year and four months ago. One vanished, and one appeared—separated by just a month.
Isn't that too much of a coincidence?
Couldn't it just be a coincidence?
'Back when I'd just turned 18, a cheat system and my favorite time-travel gift set just showed up in my life. If you've got a cheat code, wouldn't you use it? If you're framed, wouldn't you resist?'
Russell mused inwardly.
"Maybe it really is just a coincidence," he offered weakly.
"One coincidence is happenstance. Two is at best another coincidence. But when you have three or more, Watson, it's no longer just coincidence," Charlotte intoned.
Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—no matter how improbable or unacceptable—must be the truth.
"But all we need now is one last piece of coincidence," Mary commented from the side.
"Lloyds Bank, the professor's disappearance, Moriarty's re-emergence—so what's the third?" Russell asked.
Charlotte fell silent. She swiftly rifled through all the cases in her mind where the professor supposedly put into action things learned from his students.
The annoying reality was that, although those people all knew the professor's name, their first real encounter with him was this Lloyds Bank incident.
Otherwise, all they knew about the professor's accomplishments came secondhand—from colleagues or superiors.
Still…
Charlotte shook her head, candidly admitting her lack of evidence. "I tried to get information from them about cases the professor was involved in, but none of them would talk."
Or maybe, what they said was so many times removed, based on other people's accounts as to be untrustworthy.
"Does Scotland Yard not have a file?" Russell asked.
Would you really leave your own name at the scene after crafting the perfect crime plan?
Charlotte shot back with her own question. "And these are crimes from a year ago, or even older. We don't even know what the professor was planning. How are we supposed to look up files? A perfect crime doesn't always mean the criminal is never caught."
For the professor, accomplishing his goals without ever revealing his identity—that alone was the ultimate aim, and clearly, he had been successful.
Charlotte paused, then added, "But judging from the testimonies back then, Bilson seemed to know quite a lot about the professor. Maybe he knew about some other operations the professor conducted, or was even involved himself."
"So, are we saying we've come full circle?" Russell arched a brow. "If we could catch Bilson, perhaps we could dig even deeper into the professor's identity."
"At least in terms of outcomes, yes," Charlotte nodded.
"So, where is Bilson now?" Mary asked. "Has Lestrade found him?"
"As far as I know, not yet." Russell shrugged.
Mary: "But there's still something bothering me."
"What?" Charlotte threw her a sidelong glance.
"If Moriarty and the professor really had a connection, then…" Mary hesitated for a second, staring at Charlotte. Confusion clouded her blue eyes.
"Why would Mycroft cover for Moriarty?"
…