Russell listened in silence. He had no desire—or position—to refute her. He had been talking about Moriarty; what did any of it have to do with him?
"What's wrong?" Mary asked. He seemed hesitant to speak. "Why aren't you saying anything?" "Nothing." Russell shook his head. "I just suddenly thought… you have a talent for being a kindergarten teacher."
Mary tilted her head, smile deepening. "Does that mean I'm good at taking care of children?"
"Yes. Mary would definitely make a good mother."
The smile vanished from her face instantly. A blush spread from her snow-white neck to her cheeks in a heartbeat. Double kill!
When she looked at Russell, her usually confident blue eyes were filled with rare panic and embarrassment. The once-calm Aegean Sea had been whipped into raging waves.
"W-What ridiculous thing are you saying?!" Her voice jumped several decibels. She instinctively lifted her half-eaten sandwich to hide her burning cheeks. "It's very rude to say something like that to a woman, you know? If this happened in high society and someone overheard, they'd call you shameless!"
"I'm really, really sorry." Seeing her agitation, Russell's smile only grew. Finally scored one victory point!
"It was just a spur-of-the-moment comment. No other meaning."
"You… you shouldn't have said that!" Mary buried her face deeper into her scarf, only her indignant blue eyes visible.
"Understood. I apologize." Russell raised both hands in surrender.
"If an apology is enough, then what's the point of Scotland Yard's existence…" she muttered.
This conversation sounds familiar. Russell suddenly thought of something.
Should I start with cooking next?
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it," he said, spreading his hands helplessly. "What else does Mary want? Call the police and have Inspector Lestrade arrest me?"
Mary looked up and glared at him. "Hmph. Arresting you would be a waste of public resources." Her tone had softened, though embarrassment and irritation still lingered. After a pause she changed the subject.
"So… what plan does Charlotte have for Billson and Emily Collins? Should Scotland Yard issue an arrest warrant?"
"Charlotte intends to leave things as they are for now. Emily Collins probably still doesn't know we're watching her—this is an opportunity. Billson will almost certainly avoid appearing in public from now on. Whenever he needs something, he'll have to rely on Emily Collins. So if we locate her, we can infer his location."
"That's a good idea." Mary finished her sandwich; the blush had mostly faded. "How does Charlotte plan to find her? Southwark is huge—intentionally hiding a woman won't be easy."
"Let's start with cigarettes." Russell was concise and to the point.
"Cigarettes?"
"Yeah." Russell explained Charlotte's reasoning. "Billson is a heavy smoker—he can't calm down without a pack a day. Given his current situation in Southwark, going out himself is too risky. So he'll have to send Emily Collins to buy them. They don't have much money, so the best they can manage is five cheap Woodburn cigarettes for a penny. Cigarettes sell well in chaotic areas like Southwark, but Emily Collins' looks and presence alone are enough to make her stand out. If we watch the tobacco vendors carefully, we should find clues."
"Really… that does sound effective." Mary nodded thoughtfully. "It'll definitely come in handy later."
She looked up at him.
"What about you? Did Charlotte give you any work?"
"Not at the moment. Free time is rare, so let's leave the legwork to Lestrade. Even if someone gets caught, the promotion won't go to me anyway. Right now, the most important thing for me is passing the final exams and avoiding failure."
Mary nodded. "That task seems harder than catching Billson."
Russell shrugged and didn't argue.
Lunch break ended quickly. The bell rang; they stood and left for the lecture hall.
"Oh, right." Mary, walking ahead, suddenly turned. "Which sold more copies—The Times or The Guardian?"
"Well…" Russell stroked his chin, pretending to think hard. "The Guardian seems to be ranked slightly higher."
"How much higher?" Mary's blue eyes sparkled with anticipation as she kept walking. "A few hundred copies or so. I didn't see the exact numbers, but they were pretty close."
"A few hundred is still quite a lot." A proud little smile appeared on her lips. "It looks like I won this round."
She clasped her hands behind her back and walked with light, peacock-like steps, showing off her victory. Russell watched her happy figure and couldn't help laughing as he recalled Charlotte's expression—trying so hard to stay calm while clearly worried.
"That's right. You win. You're the big winner." He caught up and walked beside her.
"That sounds too formal," Mary said reproachfully. "It's the truth."
"Got it, got it. It's true."
Russell nodded repeatedly. At his overly formal tone, Mary once again gave him an exasperated look. They bickered lightly all the way back to the lecture hall.
The afternoon classes were as boring as ever, but Russell maintained perfect posture the entire time—he never once slouched. How much he actually absorbed didn't matter. What mattered was showing the professor that he was paying attention.