Charlotte's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Billson."
Along with the face on the wanted poster, the familiar na flashed through her mind.
In an instant, all the fragnted clues connected.
"I see."
She said concisely and hung up the phone.
"Looks like you already have the answer?" Russell looked at her.
"Honestly, your thinking can sotis be a bit simple and direct, but it's definitely useful."
Charlotte stared at Russell and said, "Billson."
"Billson?" Russell frowned. "That guy again?"
Why is it always you?
"The specialty of the Bohemia region in Czechia is called Pilsner beer," Charlotte said.
"Fortunately, Lestrade is an alcoholic, so he was very helpful."
"If the culprit is Billson…" Russell faltered. "Then everything fits, right?"
"Yes." Charlotte walked to the information wall, picked up a pen, and boldly circled the three nas: [Professor], [Hannigan], [Billson].
"The Professor orchestrated the Lloyds Bank heist, and Billson was one of the executors."
After the operation failed, Billson went into hiding. No one in London could find him until the Hannigan incident.
"But why did he suddenly go looking for Hannigan?" Russell frowned. "Wasn't he hiding perfectly before?"
"According to them, Billson's status is undoubtedly that of a person with considerable influence, even if not massive."
Would soone who has lived such a life be satisfied spending the rest of it hiding like a rat?
Charlotte countered with a question.
"The reason he was able to hide for so long was probably because the Professor helped him. Otherwise, Scotland Yard would have found him even after searching all of London."
The most reasonable explanation was that the Professor intervened to protect Billson and hid him to prevent him from being exposed and charged.
"However, Billson didn't want to remain a shadow figure forever. He wanted to leave London, start anew elsewhere, and expand and strengthen his business."
Russell continued, following Charlotte's lead.
"Then he found Hannigan and proposed the idea of smuggling him out."
Hannigan rejected him for so reason, and the two clashed. Fearing betrayal, Billson killed him to silence him.
Then, when he went to the bedroom to steal more valuables, he accidentally saw Moriarty's card again.
All of this happened because of Moriarty.
Therefore, he harbored a grudge against Moriarty and decided to fra him to complete the logical chain.
Russell looked at the circled nas together.
"What a roundabout way! The next step is to find Billson."
"Yes, it feels like we're back to square one." Charlotte still avoided a definite answer.
"It's been a month since Billson was put on the wanted list, yet Scotland Yard still hasn't caught him."
If the Professor had been protecting him before, that might no longer be the case.
Billson killing Hannigan was definitely unexpected for the Professor. The fact that he was hiding in London proved it.
The Professor had no intention of allowing Billson to resurface and planned to keep him hidden until he died.
But Billson clearly had his own ideas.
"With Billson doing this, the Professor should be worried by now."
Russell's tone was full of schadenfreude.
"The Professor can no longer protect him. Therefore, the chances of Scotland Yard finding him have increased."
"The chances of discovering him have increased, but whether they find a living person or a corpse is another matter."
Charlotte picked up her coffee cup.
"Given the current situation, the Professor must have given up on him. Protecting him is out of the question."
Now that Billson was out of control, the best way to prevent him from being caught by the police and exposing everything was to kill him and silence him forever.
"Maybe the Professor is looking for Billson right now to clean up the organization."
She took a sip of coffee and set the cup down.
"From now on, it's a race between us and the Professor."
Whoever finds Billson alive first wins.
"What if we let Lestrade publish a news article?"
"If Billson surrenders, Scotland Yard would offer him asylum and a lenient sentence. Do you think he would do that?" Russell asked.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, seemingly considering the possibility.
In the end, she shook her head.
"Unlikely."
"Why?"
"Billson is not the kind of person who would willingly beco a prisoner just to save his life," Charlotte analyzed.
"Otherwise, he could have just stayed hidden. There was no need to take the risk of approaching Hannigan."
That man was ambitious by nature. Even if promised safety in exchange for prison, he would choose to take the risk.
"That makes sense. So what's next?" Russell asked. "Just wait? Or are you going to talk to The Tis?"
He glanced at the clock on the wall.
"If you go to The Tis now, your statent will be on tomorrow morning's front page."
Of course, unless sothing unexpected happened, the Guardian should have already received Mary's ssage.
"Therefore, the outco of this competition will be decided by tomorrow's newspaper sales numbers," Charlotte said.
"After visiting The Tis, go to the Guardian as well and deliver the news."
"Huh?" Russell paused. "Why?"
He looked at Charlotte in confusion.
"Just so you know, Mary already knows the inside story of this case. If you tell The Tis now, they will get the latest and most complete information."
From that perspective, the Guardian's report would be nothing more than an insider leak, while The Tis revealed the truth, creating a difference in sales.
Telling the Guardian would an losing all advantage against her.
Charlotte simply gave him an indifferent glance.
"Watson, I don't need to prove anything in this way."
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at Baker Street gradually being enveloped by the night.
"If we're going to compete, let's compete fairly and openly."
Assuming the sa level of intelligence, let's see whether The Tis' writing is sharper or the Guardian's is more appealing.
"Proxy war," Russell said in a sowhat lancholic tone.
He himself didn't understand why the two were suddenly being compared, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for him.
After all, watching cute girls fight was far more interesting than solving any case.
I love watching girls fight.
"Of course, that's not the main reason."
She stopped, turned around, and looked at Russell. Her eyes darted around sowhat unnaturally.
"Buying clothes always costs money, right?"
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