Again?
Alarm bells went off in Russell's head.
Inside, waves were crashing. On the outside, he maintained the exact right expression—polite confusion, tempered with a touch of curiosity.
"Miss Morstan is interested in street gossip too?"
"Yes," Mary nodded. "To be honest, last night I confronted him for a while.
I almost caught him. He got away in the end.
And he also stole a brooch worth five thousand pounds. I meant to wear it for today's opening ceremony."
Her tone was flat, with no obvious anger or agitation.
You almost caught me? Since when? I must have missed that part.
Russell scoffed internally, while letting his face arrange itself into an appropriately shocked expression.
"I didn't realize you were that capable, Miss Morstan. But… you don't sound very angry?"
"Oh? You noticed?" Mary looked faintly surprised.
"Eyes don't lie, Miss Morstan," Russell said smoothly. "May I ask why?"
At his insistence, a subtle ripple appeared in Mary's blue eyes—as though an unseen pebble had disturbed an otherwise calm lake.
She stopped walking, turned slightly toward him, and wore a smile that carried an ambiguous weight.
"Because I find him interesting, Mr. Watson."
"Interesting?" Russell lifted an eyebrow, a quiet sense of foreboding rising in his chest.
Interesting how, exactly? You're not right in the head.
"Yes," Mary said. "Interesting."
Her gaze drifted past Russell to the bustling crowd in the distance. Her voice remained soft, but every word landed clearly.
"Scotland Yard paints him as an outlaw villain. The papers portray him as a righteous thief who robs the rich for the poor.
But to me, he seems more like a child looking for amusement."
"A child?" Russell's expression turned complicated.
Charlotte called him a performance artist. Mary called him a child.
What was this—an unsolicited literary critique panel?
"Then what else would he be?" Mary turned back, her eyes refocusing on Russell.
"The things he steals are all over the place. He never hurts anyone. He even returns what he takes.
That doesn't feel like crime. It feels like a game—a game spread across all of London.
And the people he visits… are only toys he uses to entertain himself."
Russell tugged at the corner of his mouth, struck by the distinct sensation of encountering an overly confident reader trying to explain his own work back to him.
Is that what I think I'm doing?
Fine. If that interpretation makes you happy.
"Forgive me," Mary said with a gentle smile. "I've just said something rather strange."
"It's fine," Russell shook his head. "If there's nothing else, I should head back—Mrs. Hudson asked me to help Miss Holmes move her things."
"Of course. See you tomorrow," Mary nodded.
"See you tomorrow."
Mary turned with effortless grace, her silver hair tracing a soft arc through the air before she merged into the flowing crowd and disappeared.
Russell stood in place and let out a long breath, feeling as if he'd just finished an exhausting examination.
Charlotte Holmes. Mary Morstan.
One could see straight through his actions. The other could infer his motives.
London…
It truly was a city where dragons hid in the weeds.
·
·
By the time Russell returned to Baker Street, Charlotte had already "settled" into the room next door.
Though calling it "settling" was generous.
She had simply tossed her belongings into whatever corner looked acceptable and stopped caring after that.
Most notable among them was a human skull placed on the mantel above the fireplace.
Russell desperately wanted to ask whether it was real, but prudence informed him it was better not to.
Charlotte stood in the center of the sitting room, facing a wall where a large map of London had been pinned up, lost in thought.
Her gaze wasn't truly fixed on the map itself—more as if she were looking through it, toward something deeper and farther away.
Russell lingered by the doorway, watching her absent expression, unsure whether he should speak.
Mrs. Hudson's instructions still rang in his ears: Take good care of her.
But how exactly was he supposed to "take care" of someone like this?
"Do you need any help, Miss Holmes?" he ventured cautiously.
"Your room… doesn't seem fully arranged."
"No," Charlotte replied without looking back. "Leaving it like this is best. That way I can always find what I need."
"Fair enough…" Russell wasn't surprised. "If you need anything, I'll be next door—"
He turned to retreat to his own room.
That was when Charlotte called after him.
"Mr. Watson."
"I'm here."
"What do you think about a locked-room murder?"
Charlotte turned her head to look at him.
"A locked-room… murder?"
"A homicide committed in an enclosed space under conditions that exclude the presence of anyone else," Charlotte said briskly. "A murder featuring logical contradiction."
"No—no need to explain the term," Russell said. "I'm just surprised you're asking me."
"I need a control," Charlotte said, matter-of-fact. "To verify whether my reasoning is being skewed by common assumptions."
"…" Russell pointed at himself, feeling the phrasing land oddly. "So I'm 'common assumptions'?"
Charlotte merely tilted her head, neither confirming nor denying—effectively confirming.
She walked to the sofa, pulled a file from a pile of clutter, and tossed it onto the coffee table.
"Case materials. Lestrade had someone deliver it just now.
A well-known painter. Found dead in his own studio, which was locked from the inside. Cause of death: ingestion of a highly toxic pigment—Prussian white."
"Can you really show this to just anyone?" Russell asked, even as he obediently picked up the file.
So that was why Lestrade hadn't had time to hate him properly—he was busy.
Inside were several photographs: an elegantly arranged studio; an elderly man collapsed in front of an easel; a half-finished oil painting with fierce, saturated colors.
"Well?" Charlotte pressed, like a teacher waiting for an answer. "What do you see?"
"What do I see?" Russell spread his hands. "I see it with my eyes, Miss Holmes."
He continued, deadpan:
"This is a professional matter. You should ask Scotland Yard—not a freshman who's just survived an opening ceremony and wants nothing more than to sleep."
"If Scotland Yard were capable of seeing anything worthwhile, I wouldn't be asking you," Charlotte shot back without mercy.
"Please. As my new neighbor, could you at least refrain from being utterly boring?"
"All right, all right…" Russell sighed and looked again at the file.
"Locked-room murder. Poisoned pigment. We have location and method. Next comes time and motive."
"Time of death was four hours before the body was found," Charlotte supplied. "Forensics confirmed it was a slow-acting poison."
"So we're missing motive," Russell concluded.
"Greed?" he tested.
"No signs of rummaging. No valuables missing."
"Then… revenge?"
"The victim, Nicholas Winter, had a social circle as clean as blank paper," Charlotte said crisply. "He devoted his life to painting and lived almost entirely apart from society.
His only meaningful relationship was with his sole apprentice.
His enemies, if any, would be art dealers whose offers he refused—but none would resort to something like this."
She dismissed the idea cleanly.
"Only apprentice?" Russell caught the key detail. "Then the apprentice is the only suspect."
"Obviously," Charlotte said, tossing the photographs back onto the table. "Lestrade already has him in custody.
Only two sets of fingerprints at the scene—the victim's and the apprentice's. The apprentice admits that during the time window of death, he was the only person entering and leaving the studio.
Every piece of evidence points to him."
"Witness and physical evidence," Russell said. "So what's the motive?"
"Inheritance," Charlotte replied evenly. "Winter had no children. His will states that all his paintings and property pass to his apprentice, Edgar Wright.
Enough money for a poor boy to step into high society overnight."
Russell rubbed his temples, feeling less like he was helping solve a case and more like he was being forced to play along in a genius's deduction exercise.
He picked up the photograph of the apprentice. Edgar looked thin, timid, and fragile. In the picture, two policemen were holding him upright. His face was streaked with tears and despair.
"So it all fits," Russell continued, following Charlotte's line.
"The apprentice wanted the inheritance early. He exploited his teacher's trust, laced the pigment over time, and then performed a grief-stricken act for sympathy."
"Entirely correct," Charlotte's mouth curved slightly as she lifted a coffee cup.
"But there's one more problem."
"What problem?"
Charlotte looked at him, calm as ever.
"He won't confess."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (90 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (94 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (75 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (30 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (34 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it