Chapter Summaries

Lanny skipped Professor Moriarty’s lectures because his presence made her anxious, then reassured Watson that she was well and explained how she liked to study. Sherlock tried to help by offering her a five-year work visa, but Lanny angrily rejected the gesture before the household settled back into its usual morning routine.

• After learning attendance counted for tutorials rather than lectures, Lanny skipped Moriarty’s lectures and received no response from him.
• Watson visited Lanny with candy, checked on her wellbeing, and heard her explain why she preferred reading several books at once.
• Watson accepted Lanny’s unusual approach to studying and encouraged her not to overwork herself.
• Sherlock presented Lanny with a signed five-year UK work visa application, but she crumpled it in frustration.
• Watson gave Lanny a biscuit to calm her, and she admitted it was delicious before greeting Sherlock and Watson the next morning.

After earning high quiz scores, Lanny worried about keeping her scholarship and tried to catch up by watching Professor Moriarty’s lectures. Professor Moriarty found her studying a recording of his class and politely asked to enter her library study room.

• Lanny received quiz scores of 98, 97, 99, and 98, while worrying that future results would determine whether her tuition remained waived.
• Lanny discussed notes with Lucian Attwood, who thanked her for lending them and asked to borrow them again before the next quiz.
• Lanny watched a recording of Professor Moriarty’s lecture and was impressed by how clearly and engagingly he explained difficult mathematics.
• Professor Moriarty tapped on the glass of Lanny’s study room, noticed the lecture recording on her screen, and asked, “May I come in?”

The narrator awkwardly explained to Professor Moriarty why they had stopped attending his lectures, then tried to manage their uneasy conversation over coffee. After Moriarty left with his mood suddenly changed, the narrator checked the manga forum and saw that the preview had updated.

• Professor Moriarty visited the narrator, noticed the recorded lecture, and confronted them about missing his classes.
• The narrator blamed work schedule conflicts for their absences, and Moriarty revealed he had seen them studying his lecture recording.
• The narrator invited Moriarty for coffee, where they discussed his popularity at the university.
• Moriarty's expression briefly turned cold after the narrator questioned the reliability of intuition, and he soon left for another commitment.
• The narrator repeatedly refreshed the manga forum until a notification announced that the preview had been updated.

Lanny read a manga preview depicting Moriarty imagining a shooting at the university and then speaking cryptically with him about an approaching show. Fearing Moriarty planned to use him in a school incident, Lanny hurried home, was followed on a dark road, and was rescued when Mycroft turned his car around.

• Lanny read the manga preview, which showed Moriarty imagining a gunman attacking a lecture hall before revealing that the massacre was only a scenario in Moriarty’s mind.
• Moriarty greeted Lanny in the imagined classroom and asked how an inevitable event could be made random; Lanny proposed two mathematical approaches, and Moriarty said their thinking matched.
• Moriarty told Lanny that the show was about to begin, leading Lanny to suspect he was being targeted in a planned incident at the school.
• Lanny walked alone along a dim road after dark and realized someone was following him.
• Lanny spotted Mycroft’s Maserati and tried to get help, but it drove past before returning with its headlights on the pursuer, who fled.
• Mycroft rolled down the window and teased the shaken Lanny about his nighttime training, relieving him.

Lanny returned safely to 221B Baker Street with Mycroft, then shared dinner with Sherlock and considered whether to tell him about the danger and problems surrounding Professor Moriarty. The chapter ended with Lanny revealing that someone had followed him, while Sherlock responded with a cutting remark and Lanny waited for Watson to return.

• Lanny rode home with Mycroft and suspected that a third party connected to the Workhouse case had sent someone to follow him.
• Mycroft explained that he had brought Lanny home because Mrs. Hudson and Watson were out and Sherlock needed dinner.
• Lanny found Sherlock waiting with a roast meal, then learned that the meat was kangaroo taken from a criminal's home.
• Lanny considered asking Sherlock for help with his school troubles but decided not to involve him because of Professor Moriarty.
• Sherlock invited Lanny to share what was troubling him, and Lanny admitted that he had been followed and nearly failed to escape.
• Sherlock mocked Lanny's physical ability, and Lanny waited by the entrance for Watson to return from his date.

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.