Chapter Summaries

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.