Hearing Sherlock say that, Iver raised an eyebrow and smiled meaningfully. "What do you think?"
"...I had someone in mind."
Sherlock narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze growing sharp. "But now I'm starting to suspect it's you. Even if it isn't, you at least know what's really going on."
"Who did you have in mind?"
Iver asked with interest.
Sherlock bit down on the unlit cigar in his mouth and replied, "I originally thought... could the Professor still be alive?
"Because this new minister's style of doing things looks somewhat similar to his. There are very few people who can come into contact with the Queen and earn Her Majesty's trust without any accomplishments to their name. Excluding those who are already ministers, there really aren't many people left."
There was no doubt that the "Professor" Sherlock referred to was Iver's adoptive father, James Moriarty.
When Sherlock had investigated him before, he had nearly been killed by Edward. In the end, Sherlock had chickened out at the last moment, and Edward had spared him for the sake of their friendship instead of killing him to silence him.
Although Sherlock had already declared that he would stop investigating, he had not forgotten what he had learned during the investigation.
"Since you faked your death, and I faked mine... is it possible that the Professor faked his death too?"
Sherlock made a very reasonable deduction.
Other people might not think of this for a while, but this particular matter fell within Sherlock's range of knowledge. Since Sherlock had realized it, he could naturally guess that this possibility existed.
"From that perspective, perhaps the minister could also be Edward. The Professor faked his death publicly, then secretly became Edward's adviser..."
"Why couldn't he simply be Edward?"
Iver asked with some amusement. "Why does