"What Do You Mean?"
Russell furrowed his brows. "Didn't you hear from Mr. Tommy?"
"Mr. Tommy?"
The security guard looked confused. He exchanged glances with his colleague before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but there is no branch manager named Tommy at our bank."
Upon hearing this, both Russell and Charlotte were stunned.
"No?" Charlotte frowned as an ominous premonition crept into her heart.
She took a step forward, about to speak, when Russell grabbed her arm.
"Understood. We'll make a change."
He smiled, picked up a pen, crossed out the purpose he had initially written on the registration form, and wrote a new word instead. "Can I make a deposit here?"
"Regarding the deposit…"
The security guard frowned. "Pardon me, but do you have cash with you?"
"Indeed." Russell avoided giving a direct answer. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, showing it to the guards.
Inside was a thick stack of banknotes—the money he had earned from selling flyers on Fleet Street last time. He simply hadn't had the chance to deposit it yet. Since he was heading to Lloyds Bank today anyway, he figured he might as well do it while he was here.
It was an easy task for him.
Seeing the thick bundle of notes, the security guard's expression softened noticeably. He exchanged a glance with his colleague and finally stepped aside to let them through.
"Very well, please come this way."
Russell tucked the envelope back into his pocket, winked at Charlotte, and the two of them entered the bank lobby one after another.
"You're still carrying around that much cash?" Charlotte glanced sideways at him.
"Since we're here anyway, I might as well deposit it," Russell shrugged. "If Moriarty wants to steal it, he can go ahead."
As he spoke, he walked toward the counter where deposits were handled.
Meanwhile, Charlotte ignored Russell and instead planned to find Tommy and get to the bottom of the truth.
"Hello, I'm looking for your Supervisor." Charlotte approached one of the counters and showed the documents in her hand, which bore the Scotland Yard seal.
The receptionist glanced at the documents and immediately nodded.
"Please wait a moment, madam."
She picked up the receiver and dialed a number.
"Mr. George, a lady is looking for you. She says it's not about business but that she's a consultant for Scotland Yard… Understood."
The receptionist nodded, hung up the phone, and looked up at Charlotte. "Mr. George says he would like you to come up to the second floor to meet him. His office is the first room on the left on the second floor. The number is written on the door, madam."
"I see." Charlotte nodded, then turned and walked over to Russell. "Have you finished your business?"
"Yeah." Russell carefully put away his savings account documents. "Where to next?"
"Go to the Supervisor's office." Charlotte tilted her chin toward the second floor, then asked, "What was the name of the Supervisor when you last came to Lloyds Bank?"
"Tommy."
"Tommy what?"
"I have no idea." Russell shook his head. "What's wrong?"
An unpleasant premonition.
Charlotte said nothing more and began climbing the stairs leading to the second floor. Russell quickly followed.
The two reached the second floor and immediately spotted the room with the sign reading "Supervisor's Office."
The office door was slightly ajar, so Charlotte pushed it open without knocking and entered. Russell followed right behind her.
At that moment, a middle-aged man in a well-tailored three-piece suit, with neatly combed hair, was sitting behind a large desk, working on the documents in front of him. Hearing the noise, he looked up. His sharp, arrogant gray eyes scanned Charlotte and Russell.
"Are you two the consultants from Scotland Yard?" he asked, without taking his eyes off the documents in his hand.
"I am Charlotte Holmes, and this is my assistant, Russell Watson," Charlotte said.
George nodded and gestured for them to sit in the chairs opposite him.
"Please have a seat."
Charlotte pulled out a chair without hesitation and sat down. Russell followed suit and sat beside her.
"On behalf of Scotland Yard, is there anything I can assist you with today?"
"We came here to access the underground vault room, Section A-3, at Lloyds Bank to verify a few things," Russell said. "Inspector Lestrade had already sent prior notice."
"Have you already greeted him?" George raised one eyebrow and looked up at Russell. "Who?"
"The supervisor."
"Which supervisor?"
"Supervisor Tommy."
Upon hearing this, George put on a professional smile.
"I'm sorry, but there is no Supervisor named Tommy at Lloyds Bank. The only supervisor here is myself, George Adler."
"How is that possible? When we came here last time, that man named Tommy was still here," Russell said.
"Last night, Lestrade told me he had already spoken with that man named Tommy," Charlotte interjected.
"Yes, to both of you." George set down the documents in his hand, interlaced his fingers on the table, and looked at the two. "Last night, the board of Supervisors impeached and dismissed Mr. Tommy. Therefore, any agreements he previously made with Scotland Yard or anyone else are now void."
"Why was he fired?"
"Is that even a question worth asking?" George smiled. "Of course, it was because of that terrible robbery incident last time."
He spoke with thinly veiled contempt. "They failed to detect the forged identification, allowed Moriarty to break into the underground warehouse, and couldn't even discover that there were other criminals hidden within the security team. Moreover, after the incident, their first action wasn't to compensate customers or apologize, but to pressure the newspapers to cover it up, deceive public opinion, and damage the organization's reputation."
He paused for a moment before looking up at the two. "If you two had been on the board, would you have allowed such a person to remain as a Supervisor?"
"Moriarty has even infiltrated Buckingham Palace. I don't think that was Tommy's fault for failing to stop it," Russell countered. Who could have imagined something like that would happen?
"This isn't about whether we considered it or not, but whether we carried it out," George said, looking at Russell. "As a bank Supervisor, his top priority is to ensure the safety of customer assets. Since he neglected his duties, it's only natural that he bears the consequences."
Charlotte said nothing, simply staring intently at the man before her. Her gray-blue eyes showed no emotion.
"And so," George set down his coffee cup and picked up the documents on the table again, "any agreement Inspector Lestrade made with Tommy is now invalid. Without formal permission from the board of Supervisors or a higher authority, entry to the underground vault is strictly prohibited."
"We have permission from Scotland Yard," Charlotte finally spoke. Her voice was calm and steady.
"It's useless, madam," George said. "As I mentioned earlier, without formal approval documents from the board or higher, no one can make any changes."
"Scotland Yard is out of the question?" Russell asked.
"It requires even higher-level authorization," George replied, looking at Russell. "We fully understand and respect that Scotland Yard is responsible for maintaining order, but Lloyds Bank is not a street-level shop. Our underground vault holds the absolute trust of tens of thousands of customers. Among them are many enterprises that have built the foundation of the Empire. This trust is built upon a system that transcends the authority of any individual or single police station.
"Do you know how much effort we have put into maintaining this trust relationship? To open that door, we need to see a court order signed by a magistrate, clearly stating the scope of the investigation and the legal basis. Alternatively, it could be a special approval document jointly signed by a majority of the bank's board members. What you two have brought clearly does not meet either requirement."
He paused briefly before continuing. "Furthermore, even assuming the Scotland Yard permission is actually valid, how can we confirm that the authentication you hold is genuine?"
"What do you mean? Are you questioning us?" Russell frowned.
"This is merely reasonable doubt and speculation, sir." George looked at Russell and asked word by word: "After all, didn't Mr. Tommy previously cause losses in this area, resulting in huge financial damage to Lloyds Bank? So, how can we confirm that the permit you hold was not forged by Moriarty?"
…
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