The next day. Imperial College lecture hall.
Russell, unusually, did not doze off during class. Instead, he was fully absorbed in filling out the questionnaire with various questions that the professor had distributed.
He continued writing at a leisurely pace until the professor told everyone to stop, then stretched and waited for Professor Fields to come collect the answer sheets.
"How are you feeling?"
After the professor left, Mary finally asked in a lowered voice.
"It already smells like butter cookies," Russell said.
Hearing this, the girl raised one eyebrow. "That confident, huh?" She asked, "Did you stay up late studying last night?"
"No, I didn't study last night," Russell replied, lying across the table. "Last night, I went to the North London Highland Sanatorium with Charlotte and Lestrade."
"Why did you go there?"
"Lestrade called and said Charles had recovered," Russell said casually.
Mary paused slightly at those words, her expression freezing for a brief moment.
Fortunately, Russell was yawning at the time and didn't notice her momentary loss of composure.
Stay calm, Mary.
The girl thought to herself.
The situation hadn't yet reached an irreparable stage.
If that man had truly recovered, Russell shouldn't be contacting her like this right now.
"Charles recovered?" she asked again, sounding uneasy.
"He recovered, but not completely," Russell said.
"What do you mean by 'not completely'?"
Mary continued, though a faint tension she herself hadn't noticed flickered in her blue eyes.
"Exactly that," Russell said, yawning and returning to his usual lazy demeanor. "The man can talk, he can walk, he knows not to eat food out of the trash, and he knows to take shelter under the eaves when it rains. His thought process is basically normal."
"What about the abnormal parts?"
"He'll immediately react and fly into a rage if a certain name is mentioned or a certain phenomenon is observed."
"A certain name?"
Mary's heart skipped a beat.
"Moriarty," Bertrand Russell answered concisely.
Hearing this, Mary finally let out a sigh of relief.
"In fact, even if the name isn't spoken aloud, as long as his brain automatically connects it, he'll go mad," Russell added. "Charlotte only asked him for the vault's password, but Charles automatically connected the dots and lost control."
"So… in the end, did they get the password?"
"No."
Russell shook his head.
After hearing Russell's explanation, the anxiety that had filled Mary's heart finally settled.
"That's really unfortunate."
She spoke quietly, her voice carrying just the right amount of regret.
"So it was a wasted trip even though you went all that way?"
"Not necessarily," Russell shook his head. "We didn't get the password, but at least we managed to narrow down the possibilities."
"Possibilities?"
Mary's heart skipped another beat.
"Well…" Russell told Mary the two key pieces of information he had drawn from Charles the previous night—"Area A-3" and "Vault 12."
"Charlotte plans to go to Lloyds Bank this Saturday, and she's taking me along."
"I see."
Mary nodded and asked no further questions.
The risk of recovery certainly still existed.
The girl slowly averted her gaze, hiding the shadow that had briefly appeared in her eyes.
Everything was still the same as before.
…
Russell was sound asleep on Saturday when he was jolted awake by the sound of violent knocking on the door.
"Open the door within one minute, or I'll break it down."
Charlotte's irritated voice echoed from the doorway.
Russell reluctantly rolled over in bed and went to open the door with his hair still disheveled.
Charlotte stood there in her usual trench coat, looking clean and composed.
"Good morning, Charlotte."
Russell yawned.
"Good morning," Charlotte said, looking at him. "I hope you haven't forgotten what we're supposed to do today."
Russell fell silent for a moment, then glanced back at the clock. He turned back to Charlotte.
"Lloyds Bank opens at 9:30, but it's only 8 o'clock right now."
"The first tram from Baker Street to Lloyds Bank arrives at 8:30 a.m."
"…" Russell sighed. "Give me ten minutes."
"Mrs. Hudson will have breakfast ready in five."
With that, Charlotte turned and headed down the stairs.
Five minutes later, Russell appeared at the table right on time.
Mrs. Hudson's breakfast consisted of bacon sandwiches and either coffee or tea. It was simple but satisfying.
Charlotte was already seated, holding this morning's newspaper and reading it with deep concentration, as if everything around her was irrelevant.
Russell pulled out a chair and sat down, quickly finishing his breakfast.
After the meal, the two got up and headed to the nearest tram stop.
"You do realize we don't need to go this early, right?" Russell said, leaning against a nearby lamppost.
"Let's finish this quickly and get back. We have to go to Buckingham Palace this afternoon."
"This afternoon?" Russell frowned. "Wasn't it tomorrow?"
"Mycroft told me," Charlotte said casually. "He asked us to come a day early. That way, Buckingham Palace won't be open to the public. It's also to prevent anyone from sneaking in tomorrow."
"Where are we staying?"
"Buckingham Palace is huge—there should be plenty of guest rooms, right?"
Charlotte glanced at him.
"You should be grateful for this opportunity to enjoy several more royal-hosted afternoon teas and dinners."
"That's true."
Russell pondered it and felt it was a worthwhile investment. Accommodation and meals were included, and transportation costs too. Maybe he could find an excuse to hide away, transform, and cause a few injuries at work…
Where in the world could you find such a good job?
The tram arrived at the station on schedule, and the two boarded in turn.
The carriage wasn't crowded, and they found window seats. The cityscape outside the window slowly receded in the morning light.
"Did you talk to Lestrade about the Lloyds Bank matter?" Russell asked casually while looking out the window.
"Hmm," Charlotte replied without looking up from her newspaper. "He contacted Tommy, a director at the bank, in advance. We can head straight to the A-3 section once we arrive."
"He's not coming?"
"Scotland Yard is swamped with work right now. He doesn't have time to go to the bank with us and dig through piles of documents." Charlotte said indifferently. "It would be much better for him to use that time to catch a few thieves on the streets and boost his arrest numbers."
Russell smiled and said nothing more.
The tram ran smoothly and soon stopped near Lloyds Bank. They got off and walked a short distance to the magnificent building.
Following the previous incident, Lloyds Bank had implemented a comprehensive system upgrade. Now, even entering required registering one's name, purpose of visit, and time.
Russell bent down to fill in his name and purpose on the registration form, then prepared to enter with Charlotte.
But at that moment, they were stopped.
"I'm sorry."
The security guard pointed at the registration form, looked at Russell, and said in a businesslike tone,
"We have received no notification from Scotland Yard."