Recaps

Lanny asked Watson about a long-suppressed shooting at their university and learned that the student who killed several people had shown signs of severe distress before the attack. Concerned that Lanny had no friends, Watson asked him to invite classmates to dinner, and Lanny recruited Lucian, who mistakenly believed Lanny was offering to help him get high scores.

• Watson came home cheerful and gave Lanny a fortune cookie whose message read, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
• Lanny asked Watson about a rumored tragedy in the mathematics department, and Watson described a shooting at the L Teaching Building that killed or injured at least eight or nine people.
• Watson recounted how the student responsible had once behaved erratically, become isolated, and grown increasingly distrustful before the shooting.
• Watson invited Lanny to bring friends to dinner the next day, and Lanny agreed despite having no friends to invite.
• Lanny approached Lucian after class, asked him to help find people to pose as friends, and showed him his quiz scores.
• Lucian eagerly thanked Lanny for the opportunity and promised to do his best, leaving Lanny confused about what Lucian had understood.

Lanny met Watson and Lucian for dinner after a misunderstanding about the friends Lucian had brought to meet him, and Watson gently forgave Lanny for pretending to have friends. Their meal turned serious when Inspector Lestrade arrived and asked Lanny to come to Scotland Yard because of a murder connected to him.

• Lucian's group of students crowded around Lanny, and Watson and Lucian realized they had mistaken the gathering for Lanny's friends.
• Lucian sent the students away, and Watson took Lanny aside, forgave his lie, and admitted he had worried about Lanny's wellbeing.
• Watson, Lucian, and Lanny ate together, where Lucian warned them about attacks near the University West Gate and the station.
• Watson explained that he had returned to the University of London after hearing Lanny mention the Mathematics Department, and Lucian inferred that Lanny was a withdrawn overseas scholarship student.
• Inspector Lestrade arrived at the restaurant, told Lanny a murder was connected to him, and asked him to go to Scotland Yard after finishing dinner.

Lanny was taken to Scotland Yard and questioned by Lestrade about the murder of Lily Schneider, a fellow scholarship student. The interrogation was just beginning when a detective revealed that the police had a witness to the murder.

• Lanny returned to Scotland Yard with Watson and was brought into an interrogation room by Lestrade.
• Lestrade questioned Lanny about his whereabouts, his familiarity with the M Teaching Building, and his connection to Lily Schneider.
• Lanny admitted that Lily was his main competitor for a scholarship but said he was confident he would earn the award through hard work.
• Lestrade switched places with another detective after telling Lanny that he believed him, and Lanny realized the police were trying to make him lower his guard.
• The new detective told Lanny that there was a witness to the murder.

Lanny was questioned over Schneider’s murder but helped Detective Frisies identify the teaching building’s roof as a clue, and the investigation revealed that a professor had killed Schneider and framed Lanny. After leaving Scotland Yard with Watson and Sherlock, Lanny learned that Moriarty had arranged to meet him and had made lecture attendance count toward grades starting next week.

• Detective Frisies questioned Lanny about his campus visit, his lack of an alibi, and his connection to Schneider, while Lanny suggested the rooftop meeting and the witness’s account deserved scrutiny.
• Lanny proposed that Schneider’s weakness or a dispute over grades might explain the crime scene, and Frisies left to investigate those possibilities.
• Lestrade released Lanny after the case was solved, explaining that Schneider’s killer was a professor who had falsely testified and relied on another person’s false alibi.
• Moriarty approached Lanny at Scotland Yard and suggested they meet during the Christmas break to make up for what had happened, but Lanny declined.
• Watson and Sherlock waited for Lanny, and Sherlock explained that the rooftop’s location had exposed the killer’s plan; he then teased Lanny about Moriarty’s invitation.
• Lanny suggested that he, Watson, and Sherlock buy a car, and Sherlock agreed to consider it before Lanny received Moriarty’s message announcing that lectures would count toward grades starting next week.

Lanny reflected on how he had cooperated with Professor Moriarty to secure a temporary peace, then stayed up waiting for the manga update until Mrs. Hudson comforted him. The next morning, Mrs. Hudson mistakenly believed Lanny was missing his family, and Sherlock grew suspicious of his explanation for being awake.

• Lanny reasoned that Professor Moriarty had used Watson’s account of the mathematics department murder to steer him toward someone, so he chose to approach Moriarty and cooperate first.
• Lanny kept refreshing the manga late into the night until Mrs. Hudson brought him milk tea and encouraged him to rely on others.
• Lanny went to bed grateful for Mrs. Hudson’s kindness, though the manga still had not updated by morning.
• Mrs. Hudson scolded Sherlock for dismissing Mycroft’s chocolate, believing his behavior might hurt Lanny, who she thought was missing his family.
• Lanny claimed he had stayed awake over a difficult problem, but Sherlock questioned him sharply as they left for school and work.

Lanny read the manga’s account of Professor Moriarty investigating Professor Connor Schneider’s murder and recruiting Lanny to help expose the people behind it. The chapter ended with students at Scotland Yard volunteering alibis for Lanny, while Moriarty wondered what to make of his apparent popularity.

• Sherlock warned Lanny to keep his distance from Professor Moriarty and not rush into confronting him.
• The manga showed Lily Schneider investigating his grandfather’s murder and revealed that Mathematics Department professors had arranged the killing and planned to murder Lily as well.
• Lanny analyzed attacks near the school and warned Moriarty that a coordinated crime was imminent; Moriarty asked him to help by acting as a suspect while Moriarty provided his alibi.
• Lanny agreed because he believed Moriarty was a good person, and Moriarty was visibly moved by his trust.
• At Scotland Yard, Watson gathered Lucian and other students to testify that Lanny had been in the library, prompting Moriarty to reflect on Lanny’s claim that he had no friends.

Lanny watched the comic show Sherlock confronting Professor Moriarty about their connection, while Moriarty admitted that he and Lanny shared a secret relationship unrelated to the case. Sherlock noticed Moriarty had described that relationship in the present tense, suggesting their cooperation might continue, and Lanny ended the chapter relieved that he might still be safe.

• Lanny worried that Professor Moriarty might still consider him a threat, then read the comic’s account of Moriarty exposing the suspect professor’s false testimony.
• Sherlock confronted Moriarty and questioned his relationship with Lanny, while Moriarty inferred that Sherlock was a consulting detective and challenged him in return.
• Moriarty said he and Lanny had a secret relationship unrelated to the case, and Sherlock pointed out that Moriarty had said it was, rather than was in the past.
• Sherlock teased Moriarty about Lanny skipping his class, leaving Lanny to realize his absence may have complicated matters.
• The investigation concluded smoothly, and Sherlock pondered Moriarty’s present-tense wording as Lanny took it as a hopeful sign that their cooperation could continue.

After taking temporary teaching-assistant jobs, the narrator went to Professor Moriarty’s house to collect class materials and met Albert, who invited them in. After playing chess with him, the narrator was pushed into the library, where Albert said Moriarty was sleeping, and found the door locked behind them.

• The university hired the narrator as a temporary teaching assistant for four lecture courses after staff were reassigned or investigated.
• When Professor Moriarty missed work and left students without discussion materials, the narrator agreed to collect them from his home.
• At Moriarty’s house, Albert welcomed the narrator inside and played several chess games with them, despite the narrator being a beginner.
• Albert led the narrator to the library and said Moriarty was sleeping inside, then pushed the narrator through the doorway and shut the heavy door.
• The narrator tried to open the locked library door and realized they were alone in the silent room with Moriarty supposedly inside.

The narrator explored the library and found Professor Moriarty asleep in a beanbag chair. Seeking petty vengeance for his earlier actions, the narrator tried to pinch his cheek but froze when Professor Moriarty opened his eyes.

• The narrator checked the manga forum for new information, then considered what he knew about Albert and Professor Moriarty.
• The narrator spotted a family photograph on the library desk and turned to find Professor Moriarty asleep nearby.
• Remembering Professor Moriarty's role in dragging him into trouble, the narrator decided to pinch his cheek as revenge.
• The narrator crept closer and touched Professor Moriarty's cheek, but Professor Moriarty opened his eyes before the narrator could pull away.

Lanny helped Professor Moriarty prepare discussion-class materials at his home, where their conversation turned to Moriarty’s mathematics and Lanny’s strained family relationships. Moriarty let Lanny leave after dinner was offered, joking that he might need to eat more to open the library door; Lanny forgot his coat.

• Lanny tried to explain why he had touched Moriarty’s forehead and covered him with his own jacket, but Moriarty stopped him from leaving until he explained how he had arrived.
• Moriarty asked Lanny to help prepare study materials, and they discussed mathematics, Moriarty’s book Asteroid Mechanics, and Lanny’s family.
• Moriarty asked about Lanny’s lack of family photographs, and Lanny grew uncomfortable before redirecting their attention to the completed questions.
• Moriarty invited Lanny to dinner, but Lanny declined and discovered he could not open the library door himself.
• Moriarty opened the door and joked that Lanny should eat a little more; Lanny left without his coat.

After her exams, Lanny spent the start of her holiday catching up on the comic and reflecting on Sherlock, Watson, and Professor Moriarty. A severed head and a frightened visitor disrupted her morning, and a delivery from Mycroft arrived just as her comic notification sounded.

• Watson recounted how he and Sherlock had solved A Study in Scarlet while he wrote his blog, and Lanny advised him not to publish overly detailed crime methods.
• Lanny reread the comic, remembered Watson’s role in the case, and reconsidered Professor Moriarty’s behavior and the story of Lily Schneider.
• When Lanny found a severed head in the first-floor fridge, she carried it upstairs to clean it and accidentally shut its eyes.
• A middle-aged guest attacked Sherlock with a blade, then surrendered after seeing Lanny with the bloodied head; Lanny made him clean the floor and blamed Sherlock for arranging the scare.
• Lanny found her eggs in the second-floor fridge and carried a package addressed to Sherlock upstairs, where she discovered it contained crawling French snails from Mycroft.
• Lanny said she did not want to eat the snails, and her phone chimed with a new comic-forum notification.

Lanny packed to leave the 221B Apartment after Sherlock teased her with a snail, then reconsidered and unpacked. Reading the manga preview, she learned Sherlock would be sailing on the Noah cruise and ended the chapter telling Watson she would be more accommodating while still planning to move out during the holiday.

• Sherlock teased Lanny by calling her afraid of snails and trying to put one on her, so she retreated to her room and gave him the silent treatment.
• Lanny recalled that Mycroft had offered to fund her move and began packing, but she reconsidered, unpacked, and worried that leaving would upset Mrs. Hudson and Watson.
• Lanny read the manga preview, which showed a cruise aboard the Noah and a violent encounter in which a black-haired young man stopped an assassin who attacked Sherlock.
• Watson called Lanny after Mrs. Hudson heard her packing, and Lanny insisted she was not angry with Sherlock and would be more accommodating.

Lanny joined Sherlock, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson for a celebratory Japanese dinner, where their kindness stirred his fear of becoming attached to the flat. After deciding to tell Mycroft he no longer wanted to leave, Lanny stepped on a snail in the dark and ended the night in horror.

• Lanny followed Watson upstairs, where they found snails scattered through the kitchen and a bloody human head by the sink; Watson gathered the snails while Sherlock admitted he had left their box open.
• Sherlock invited Lanny, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson to dinner, and Watson toasted Lanny’s success in his studies.
• Lanny felt overwhelmed by the group’s concern, but Mrs. Hudson comforted him on their snowy walk home.
• Lanny decided he wanted to stay at the flat and wrote Mycroft a long letter saying he no longer wanted to leave.
• Lanny went upstairs for his cup in the dark and crushed a living snail under his bare foot.

Lanny learned that Lucian’s invitation to the Noah cruise was connected to a case involving Ivan Taber and Maren Flynn, and Sherlock decided to go. Lanny agreed to join Sherlock, insisting that Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Watson come too; on the morning they left for the port, Lanny encountered Professor Moriarty.

• After finishing repairs to a damp room at 221B Baker Street, Lanny answered the door and found Lucian waiting.
• Lucian invited Lanny onto the Noah, a cruise ship his family had opened for a trial run, but Lanny tried to redirect the invitation to Sherlock and Watson.
• Lucian revealed that wealthy businessman Ivan Taber and his wife Maren Flynn had booked passage on the Noah’s maiden voyage with a lawyer, and Lanny guessed they planned to sign an asset transfer document.
• Sherlock agreed to go on the cruise and told Lanny to come with him; Lanny accepted but insisted that Mrs. Hudson and Mr. Watson join them.
• On the morning they left for the port, Lanny encountered Professor Moriarty approaching and feared for his life.

Lanny and the residents of 221B prepared to spend Christmas aboard the Noah, where they unexpectedly encountered Professor Moriarty. Sherlock led the group away after Moriarty greeted him, leaving Lanny convinced that the two men were studying each other and that a confrontation was beginning.

• Lucian arranged two additional first-class tickets for Lanny, and Lanny told Mrs. Hudson and Watson about the weeklong cruise.
• Lanny packed and reflected on Professor Moriarty's possible motives while the group traveled to the port and waited to board the Noah.
• Lanny recognized the elderly Talbot and Maren Flynn near the ship, then saw Professor Moriarty approach and ask if his presence would cause Sherlock discomfort.
• Sherlock reminded Lanny of something Lanny had said and led the group away, while Professor Moriarty watched them leave.

At the Noah’s sailing celebration, He Xue confronted Mrs. Attwood over her insulting treatment of him, forcing her to apologize in front of other guests. Afterward, Albert questioned whether anyone had ever bullied He Xue into crying, and He Xue quietly put distance between them.

• He Xue checked on Frida, who said she was nervous and bored while Lucian socialized with his parents, and invited her to join his table.
• Lucian introduced He Xue to his mother, Mrs. Attwood, who made dismissive remarks and treated him with apparent contempt.
• Albert arrived and identified He Xue as his younger brother William’s favorite student, prompting Mrs. Attwood to reconsider her attitude.
• He Xue asked Mrs. Attwood if she was racist and explained how her words and behavior had made him feel; she denied it and apologized before forcing a smile for him.
• Albert told He Xue that most people would see his confrontation as a counterattack, then asked whether anyone had ever bullied him into crying.
• He Xue quietly kept his distance from Albert.

Lanny spent the first morning of the cruise talking with Sherlock over breakfast and reflecting on his plan to move into the student apartments after the holiday. Sherlock eased Lanny’s worries, and they ended by discussing Mycroft’s possible Christmas visit to their empty apartment.

• Lanny recalled that Albert had said Professor Moriarty was unwell and resting in his cabin, and declined Albert’s invitation to visit him.
• Lanny met Sherlock at breakfast and ordered him a bowl of shrimp wonton soup, then learned Sherlock was twenty-seven.
• Sherlock noticed Lanny was distracted, and Lanny told him he planned to move into the student apartments after the holiday.
• Sherlock told Lanny not to rush a decision he could not yet make, which helped Lanny feel less troubled about leaving.
• Lanny asked whether Sherlock had told Mycroft they would be away for Christmas, and Sherlock replied that Mycroft was a grown man.

Sherlock told Lanny that a body had appeared on the cruise ship’s deck and vanished, then took him to a fortune-teller’s parlor as part of an investigation. While waiting in line, Lanny met Albert, who said Professor Moriarty was unwell and had not eaten since the previous day.

• Sherlock showed Lanny the spot where he had seen a dark shape, along with scrape marks and a strand of silver-gray hair that suggested a body had been there.
• Sherlock told Lanny that a woman had screamed “A ghost!” after seeing the shape, but he said they should verify several details before contacting the police.
• Sherlock took Lanny to a fortune-teller named Valentine Butler at ten o’clock and told him to wait in line while he went elsewhere.
• Albert met Lanny in the line and told him about a university friend he had tricked with a scorched replacement copy of a horror novel.
• Lanny asked about Professor Moriarty, and Albert said the professor was unwell, had taken medicine, and had not eaten since the day before.

Lanny enlisted Watson to care for the ill Professor Moriarty, then helped Sherlock approach Maren Flynn by pretending to tell fortunes. Maren’s panicked denial that she had killed her husband revealed she knew he was dead, and Sherlock kept the body’s location secret from Lanny.

• Lanny persuaded Watson to visit Professor Moriarty and look after him, despite Albert’s objections.
• Sherlock led Lanny to Maren Flynn, who wanted help with a serious problem, and Lanny won her trust with a staged book-finding game.
• Lanny charged Maren for a private consultation and deduced that her trouble involved her husband, Mr. Talbot.
• When Lanny told Maren her husband was lying somewhere on the ship, Maren immediately insisted that she had not killed him.
• Sherlock told Lanny that Maren had given herself away, and covered Lanny’s mouth when he asked how long Sherlock planned to hide the body.

Lanny realized Sherlock had hidden the body to draw out the Lord of Crime group, then accepted Moriarty’s invitation to help with Asteroid Mechanics calculations. The chapter ended with Sherlock and the others overhearing Moriarty tease Lanny about touching his face, leaving Lanny flustered under their scrutiny.

• Sherlock explained that he suspected a group of at least four consultants, including the Lord of Crime, was behind the unusual cases and was aboard the ship.
• Sherlock revealed that the body had been hidden with the Attwood family’s help and said he planned to provoke the group into exposing itself.
• Watson told Lanny that Moriarty had a fever but was working on Asteroid Mechanics and wanted Lanny’s help, and Lanny eagerly accepted.
• Lanny visited Moriarty’s cabin and examined his derivation of Newton’s law of universal gravitation from Kepler’s laws.
• Moriarty teased Lanny about touching his face, and Sherlock, Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and Albert reacted as though they had overheard a revealing exchange.
• Albert jokingly asked Lanny whether Moriarty’s face had felt nice, leaving Lanny desperate for help.

Lanny copied Professor Moriarty’s equations so he could work on the calculations, then agreed to meet the fortune-teller Valentine Butler after Sherlock urged him to finish the challenge sooner. Sherlock praised Lanny as amazing, leaving him stunned as Valentine Butler greeted him at the exhibition hall.

• Lanny explained Professor Moriarty’s work on deriving Newton’s law of universal gravitation from Kepler’s laws and asked to copy the whiteboard equations.
• Albert agreed to let Lanny take the problems so Professor Moriarty could rest, and Mrs. Hudson made Lanny finish lunch before returning to work.
• Lucian told Lanny that Valentine Butler was waiting in a rented exhibition hall to challenge him.
• Sherlock told Lanny to finish the challenge sooner, prompting Watson to realize Sherlock had arranged it and protest.
• Sherlock praised Lanny as amazing, and Lanny followed Lucian to the exhibition hall, where Valentine Butler asked if he was Lanny Hamish.

After Valentine Butler and Maren Flynn were arrested for setting fire to the Noah, Lanny reviewed the case and worried that Professor Moriarty had engineered the crime to protect his identity. The manga revealed Fred Pollock’s role and hinted that Lanny Hamish already suspected Moriarty was the Lord of Crime, then its title, “Noah Incident (Part 1),” left Lanny fearing the case was not over.

• In Liverpool, Lanny waited with Mrs. Hudson while Sherlock and Watson gave statements to the police, and Lucian explained that Maren Flynn had used fake husbands to steal Talbot’s money after arranging his death through Valentine Butler’s curse business.
• Lanny reasoned that Professor Moriarty might have manipulated Maren and Butler into setting the fire to create a new crime and keep Sherlock from exposing his identity, though Lanny had also arranged fire precautions to protect the passengers.
• Lanny checked the manga update and saw Fred Pollock, disguised as Butler’s secretary, send a message confirming that his mission had succeeded.
• The manga comments claimed Lanny Hamish already knew Professor Moriarty was the Lord of Crime, making Lanny anxious that his words during the escape had revealed his suspicions.
• Lanny reread the manga and discovered its title was “Noah Incident (Part 1),” leading him to fear that another part of the incident was still to come.

After the Noah Incident, Lanny worried that Frida’s suicide might be connected to the next part of the danger and felt guilty for disrupting Sherlock’s plan. Sherlock reassured Lanny that he should act like himself, and the two left the shop together after receiving permission to return to the Noah.

• Lanny learned from the comic’s comments that Lucian’s girlfriend Frida had died by suicide after a villain manipulated and drugged her, and suspected the next Noah Incident might involve her.
• Watson found Lanny standing in the cold and ushered him into Mrs. Hudson’s shop, where Lucian was sitting with them.
• Sherlock called Lanny over to a distant table, and Lanny apologized for acting against Sherlock’s plan to catch the Lord of Crime.
• Lanny explained that he had feared Maren Flynn and Valentine Butler might escape or set the ship on fire, while Sherlock admitted he was displeased but told Lanny to be himself.
• Sherlock recalled several times Lanny had disobeyed him, then explained that he had called Lanny over because he looked as if he expected punishment.
• After they received permission to return to the Noah, Sherlock placed his warm blue scarf around Lanny’s neck.

On a shore excursion in Liverpool, Lanny encountered Louis Moriarty while browsing a secondhand bookshop, then discovered that he had entered the Noah’s Chess Club competition too. Lucian decided Louis was trying to get Lanny’s attention, and the chapter ended with Lanny realizing that failing to clarify a misunderstanding could lead to trouble.

• Lanny went ashore with Lucian and Frida, then explored a Liverpool market while the couple spent time together.
• Lanny found a first edition of The Design of Experiments in a secondhand bookshop and met Louis Moriarty, who insisted on buying it despite Lanny’s warnings about its condition.
• Lanny learned that Louis had paid full price for the book and later saw that Louis had entered the same Chess Club competition as him.
• Lucian said Louis was trying to get Lanny’s attention, and Lanny told him to be quiet.
• Lanny assumed the misunderstanding was over, but later events made him realize he should have clarified what he meant.

He Xue entered the Noah cruise chess tournament hoping to win enough money for a warm jacket, then defeated Daly Bell despite his greater experience. Louis challenged He Xue to a second game, betting that a loss would make He Xue stay away from Moriarty, and offered a thousand pounds if He Xue won.

• He Xue entered the chess tournament and learned that many of its contestants were experienced players, including Louis.
• Daly Bell introduced himself to He Xue and revealed that he worked as the director and financial officer of the Noah cruise ship design project.
• He Xue beat Daly Bell after turning his early Scholar's Mate attack into a complicated game, and Louis stopped Daly Bell when he tried to grab He Xue.
• Louis challenged He Xue to a chess game, wagering that He Xue would stay away from Moriarty if Louis won.
• He Xue asked Louis for a hundred pounds, and Louis offered a thousand pounds if He Xue won their game.
• He Xue accepted the challenge, played Louis, and later counted a thousand pounds in banknotes while trying to remember what they had forgotten.