This ti, Mary had drawn the scene from when she and Russell had taught each other at the Faidon Tearoom last ti.
However, the strokes this ti were not as simple as before—they had a semi-realistic style.
The scene was shot from Mary's first-person perspective. On the small round table were several plates of desserts and two notebooks. Directly across stood a familiar figure.
He held a pen, one hand resting on his chin, seemingly lost in thought. In the picture, he wasn't reading a book nor looking at the person sitting opposite him. He was simply tilting his head slightly, gazing out the window.
The mont Charlotte saw the drawing, her lips twitched slightly.
The suppressed, detestable competitive spirit flared up again in her heart like a lit fuse.
"Boring," she muttered in a voice only she could hear. You don't concentrate in class and just doodle whatever.
The important thing is that you're already drawing. Why obsess over style? Fine, you like curly hair, huh? Then I'll curl yours too!
Charlotte picked up a pen, thought for a mont, then drew a horizontal line across the lower half of the blank space on the paper. The line separated the upper image from the lower blank area. In that wide space, Charlotte began creating her own work.
First ca the outline of a kitchen, then the stove, the sink, and the window letting in morning light.
Her drawing skills were not as refined as Mary's. The lines were simple and unpretentious, yet they accurately captured the atmosphere of that mont. The morning scene was faithfully reproduced in her notebook.
Once finished, Charlotte closed the notebook with satisfaction and returned it to Russell's backpack as if nothing had happened.
anwhile, Russell was already exhausted from the monotonous, repetitive work.
Jeter Rogers (45 years old), mber of Parliant, married. Honorary Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, Adrian Knox (62 years old), married.
Russell yawned, rubbed his slightly aching eyes, and continued copying the next docunt.
"Arthur Morstan (52 years old), founder of the Morstan Group and trustee of the Royal Charity Foundation, is a widower," Russell stopped his pen.
Did I misread?
He rubbed his eyes and looked at the file again.
It was correct. Arthur Morstan's marital status was indeed listed as widower.
Does this an Mary's mother has passed away?
He was surprised by the sudden discovery. Mary had never ntioned her mother in front of him.
After thinking for a mont, he opened the next page detailing family relationships.
In his mory, the girl's world seed to consist only of her strict father and herself. There were only two nas written: Arthur Morstan and Mary Morstan. The "Mother" column was blank.
Russell set the docunt down, stood up, walked to the coffee table, and poured hot tea into the empty teacup.
"What's wrong?" Charlotte's voice ca from the side. She put down her ledger and looked at him.
"Nothing," Russell shook his head, picked up the teacup, and took a sip. "I just found out that Mary's mother passed away."
"She passed away?" Charlotte raised one eyebrow, then looked away. Her expression barely changed.
After a brief silence, she finally spoke. "Is the date of her death recorded?"
"No." Russell shook his head. After a pause, he seed to understand her intention. "That wouldn't be appropriate, Charlotte."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"I know exactly what you're thinking."
Russell looked at her. "You're wondering if Arthur Morstan's safe combination is his wife's date of death, aren't you?"
Charlotte didn't deny it.
"I would never ask Mary sothing like that," Russell said. "It would be extrely rude. We haven't even confird whether Arthur Morstan and the Professor actually have any connection. Even if we ask, we should wait until we get the safe combination from Charles Brown."
"I know," Charlotte said irritably. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
"If it were when we first t…" Russell shrugged.
He was silenced by her glare and couldn't finish.
"Fine." Charlotte closed the ledger in her hands and tossed it aside.
She stretched, revealing her slender waistline beneath the gray turtleneck sweater.
"That's enough for today. I'm tired."
"So early?" Russell glanced out the window. It was just starting to get dark.
"Continuous high-intensity ntal work consus a great deal of energy, Watson." Charlotte said calmly. "Besides, you always complained when I stayed up late before. Now that I finally want to rest early, you have sothing to say again."
"I was just curious." Russell said, "It's not like you."
"I've narrowed down the general location," Charlotte said with a yawn. "The rest of the work can be postponed. We can wait until tomorrow."
"So fast?" Russell was sowhat surprised.
"This ledger contains many transaction records, but most of them are ordinary business dealings," Charlotte explained.
"Wait a mont," Russell interrupted. "What do you an by 'ordinary business transactions'?"
"Is there a problem?"
"This is a huge issue. Isn't this a smuggling ledger?"
Russell said. Is there even a single normal account in here?
"To , any account without suspicious points is normal. Is that not allowed?" Charlotte tilted her head and asked.
"Fine, you decide." Russell gave up arguing with her and looked back at the ledger.
"So what exactly constitutes accounting fraud?"
"Not that many. About seven or eight tis."
Charlotte stretched and sank into the soft armchair with a thud.
"The main issue is that the goods and amounts feel slightly unnatural. If the fund flows are real, then the corresponding goods must be fake. Recording intentionally conducted transactions using counterfeit goods in an encrypted ledger is obviously suspicious."
Hearing this, Russell picked up the ledger and casually flipped through the pages. Charlotte had marked all the transactions she considered problematic with a pen.
"There is one common point in these records: none of them specify who the transaction partner was."
Charlotte's voice ca from the side as she explained to Russell. This ant one thing.
She drew out her words while looking at him, as if waiting for the answer he wanted to give.
After thinking for a mont, Russell said, "Hannigan knew this person very well and was extrely close to them."
…
…
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