Work Text:
Setting: 221B Baker Street, London, England
Time: 8:00 AM
Mrs. Hudson: "Sherlock! What the bollocks is a University student doing here?!"
Mr. Holmes: "Ah, Edward Warren. Let him in, Mrs. Hudson, I invited him. I need to...know something from him."
Mr. Watson: "What do you want to know from a University student?"
Mr. Holmes: "A lot, actually. Have you not read the newspaper? Some University students' families were sent kidnapping notes by someone, and now that the kids are out, I intend to know who—and why Scotland Yard failed to catch them."
Mr. Watson: "That's weird. How could anyone breach the security of a place like Durham University? There are loads of guards there, it's an aristocrats' place."
Mrs. Hudson: "Someone could've breached from the inside, could he not? With a disguise and all that..."
Mr. Holmes: "Correct, Mrs. Hudson, I have been thinking the same, but a motive is also important..."
Mrs. Hudson: "Yeah, yeah...what would a big deal want from other big deals? Definitely not money."
Mr. Holmes: "In order for us to know that, can you please open the door for us, Mrs. Hudson?"
Mrs. Hudson (looks weird at Sherlock): "Ugh, fine!"
Mrs. Hudson opens the door, letting Master Warren in the room.
Master Warren: "What day is it, again...?"
Mr. Watson: "It's...Saturday today. 19th January. Why?"
Master Warren: "Oh Lords, I can't even believe that four days had passed back in the University. It was comfortable. Like any other lecture. We thought it was just a single class going on like every other alternate day. We didn’t even realize how much time had passed. Honestly, we didn’t even feel hungry or tired. It's like...we were stuck on the subject our professor was teaching us."
Mr. Watson: "Who was your professor?"
Master Warrren: "That's the thing, we—we don't remember who it was. No one does, really. Not us students, not the other professors, no one."
Mr. Holmes: "Then what did you do back in the University?"
Master Warren: "Sums, formulas, revisions, tiny little tests, it felt like any other Maths lecture. I remember everything he taught us, but no one can remember his voice, nor how he looked. It’s still weird to think four days passed. It didn’t feel that long."
Mr. Holmes: "Do you know when he wrote those kidnap notes and sent it to your families?"
Master Warren: "Well, maybe he wrote it while he was typewriting math assignments for us, I don't know how he sent them outside, though. He never opened the door, nor did we. He just...typewrote the assignments, gave copies to each of us students and while we were solving questions in-class, maybe that was his own free time. Maybe he wrote it then."
Mr. Watson: "Do you know when your families got the notes?"
Master Warren: "Oh yes, my father told me he got the note the very day he found me. He was worried because Durham's not really far from my home and I could go back home after class every day, so he was waiting for a note. Once he got it, he immediately got all of us, too. It was quite sudden. We were just solving an assignment yet again, then the police just BARGED into the door along with our parents. They were crying and all, saying they've missed us. We students were all confused, it genuinely felt like only a few hours had passed, and when I looked down to the professor's table, nothing was there. No parchment, no typewriter, even the assignments we were doing, just—gone. In a flash. And by the time I returned back home, I remembered each and everything he said, but not his voice, remembered him walking round the room as he explained, but not how he looked. Just...nothing, really."
Mrs. Hudson (placing a plate with three cups of tea in it on the table): "I’ve brought tea. You look like you need it. By the way, do you have the note with you?"
Master Warren (fishing for the note in his bag): "Oh, yeah. Had it in my bag ever since then, here you go."
Master Warren hands a piece of parchment to Mr. Holmes.
══════════════════════
To the Warrens,
Your child is presently within my custody.
If you wish to see them again, you may direct your attention to Durham University, London, England.
You are free to act as you see fit.
Inform the authorities. Gather your influence. Exercise whatever power you believe is afforded to you. You will find no restriction from me in that regard.
However, understand this:
Every action taken in haste, every decision made in fear, will carry consequences that you alone will have chosen.
You exist within a society that places faith in status, in wealth, in the illusion that authority ensures safety. It does not.
Here, such distinctions are meaningless.
Your child is no exception.
Consider carefully what you place your trust in—your position, or your judgment.
You will learn, soon enough, which of the two holds any real value.
—Mr. J
══════════════════════
Mr. Holmes: "Mr. J, huh? And I suppose, you do not remember his name, either?"
Master Warren (drinking the tea Mrs. Hudson had made for them): "No. No one remembers a single thing about him. Nothing."
Mr. Holmes: "Any attempts to leave the room?"
Master Warren: "...no. No attempts, he just...stayed."
Mr. Watson: "Did any student leave the room?"
Master Warren: "We didn't feel the need to. So we stayed too."
Mrs. Hudson: "How was he...as a professor?"
Master Warren: "Oh, an excellent teacher was he. Always asked if we were bored or not, kept the class interactive, was easy to approach and ask questions to...I feel bad, not remembering anything about him. He really does deserve the credit for everything."
Mr. Holmes: "Hm, I suppose you would be free until the new professor is chosen?"
Master Warren: "Yes...Maths was quite the indulgent subject, especially with a professor like him, so I only had that as my main. I guess I am free until the next professor comes in."
Mr. Holmes: "I can call you later for more questions, and for now, the note stays with me. Fine with that?"
Master Warren: "Yes, I am alright with that."
Mr. Holmes: "...you can leave now."
Master Warren (keeping the empty cup of tea back in place): "Of course, thank you, Mr. Holmes."
As Master Warren left the room, he closed the door behind him.
Mr. Holmes: "At least I have now got something to keep myself busy with. Paper, ink… and by extension, the typewriter. That should suffice."
Mrs. Hudson: "And can you PLEASE stop with the drugs whenever you're idle? I'm not your housekeeper, I won't be cleaning up your messes whenever you're drugged up!"
Mr. Holmes (apporaching the little microscope with the parchment in hand): "Yep. Got it."
Mr Watson just stayed there, confused, finishing his own cup of tea and watching Sherlock inspect the parchment.
Mr. Watson: "Sherlock...doesn’t any of that strike you as unusual?"
Mr. Holmes: "...That is...rather the point, John."
✧ ─────────────── ✧
SKIP TO THREE MONTHS LATER, THE NOAHTIC ACT
Woman #1: "Amazing! How did you know that gentleman was a soldier? Did you happen to know that beforehand?"
Woman #2 (pointing to someone): "Well, what about that man? Can you guess what line of work he is in?"
Mr. Holmes (giving the man a look, then searching for John): "Yep, I got it."
Woman #1: "You really do?"
Woman #3: "If you get this one, right, this one will be ten in a row!"
Woman #2 (to the man she had pointed at): "Pardon us, sir, we are wagering right now."
Man: "A wager, you say?"
Woman #2: "Yes, he'll look at people walking by and guess their occupations."
Woman #1: "Come on! Tell us quickly ! What does that gentleman do?"
Mr. Holmes: "Hey, hey, can't you tell already? His line of work...is as a mathematician."
Woman #3: "What makes you think that?"
Woman #2: "Please tell us your reasons!"
Mr. Holmes: "Well, it's one hell of a spiral staircase, don't you think? I can see why you'd admire it. Right, Mr. Mathematician?"
Man: "What makes you think I am a mathematician?"
Mr. Holmes: "Huh? It's clear as day. Whilst gazing at the spiral staircase, your time, distance, and lastly angle. See here. This is a matter of simple deduction based on observation and knowledge. Despite being absorbed in thought as you were walking along, you stopped in front of the stairs. Almost as though you had found a sight that caused your train of thought to come to a momentary halt. Indeed, the stairway is beautifully adorned, and worth a look. But your attention was not focused on the intricate ornamentation; rather, he took a step back, and observed the staircase as a whole. What profession looks not at the splendid appearance of the staircase and instead take interest in it's construction? An architect? Or perhaps a physicist? No, on the contrary. His gaze did not fall upon the column. This was because his interest was not with how the stairs were supported. So then, what was it that he wanted to see that made him step back? He wanted to see something, he wanted to confirm something. Whether the curve traced by these stairs was based on something or not. That is...whether it is the Golden Ratio."
Man: "Indeed, you are quite the keen observer. Your logical argument was a tad forced, but it is true that I do teach mathematics at Durham University."
Mr. Holmes: "Ah, Durham. New to the position, I presume?"
Man: "Recently appointed. I heard the previous professor left rather suddenly."
Mr. Holmes: “Yes… quite the odd case. Several students missing, then reappearing. No perpetrator.”
Man: “How fortunate, then, that they returned unharmed.”
✧ ─────────────── ✧
SKIP TO ONCE SHERLOCK GETS BACK HOME FROM THE SHIP
Mr. Holmes: “John… did you see that blond mathematician on board? The one with the scarlet eyes? I neglected to ask his name. Irritating.”
Mr. Watson: “Oh? Yes, I spoke with a few University students. Not Master Warren, though. They mentioned him—the new mathematics professor.”
Mr. Holmes (glancing up): “…Did they.”
Mr. Watson (casually): “William, I believe. William James Moriarty.”
Sherlock stilled.
The name settled.
The letter.
—Mr. J.
Mr. Holmes’ eyes widened, just slightly.
“…Moriarty.”
Silence.
And then—
the faintest hint of a smile.