As the words settled, Cloris and Wilson exchanged a glance.
Of course they knew Mary Morstan. In fact, they had heard her name long before they ever heard the name Russell Watson.
Before Russell's name ever made it into The Times, Mary's name was already known to every last soul at Imperial College.
Imperial College's freshman representative. Daughter of a business magnate. The most dazzling girl in the entire year.
The fact that she sat beside Russell had stopped being a secret a long time ago.
Even before The Times piece came out, plenty of people had been speculating about what exactly was going on between her and Russell.
After all, Russell was the only person at the Icebreaker Party who had managed to get her onto the dance floor.
Cloris's gaze swept back and forth between Mary and Russell, and the corners of her mouth twitched upward.
There's a story between these two. Definitely!
She filed the observation away at lightning speed, keeping a professional smile fixed on her face.
"Of course. Of course we don't mind," she said. "If Miss Morstan would like to join us, the honor's ours."
Mary inclined her head slightly and said nothing more.
"In that case, let's go."
The four of them walked out of the lecture hall.
The corridor was quieter than before.
Most of the students had already left for the canteen or the library, and there was hardly anyone in sight now.
Cloris led the way, her steps quick and light, as if she were afraid that a moment's delay would give Russell time to change his mind.
Wilson followed behind her, notebook and fountain pen clutched tight in his hands, nerves written all over his face.
Russell walked in the middle, with Mary at his side.
Neither of them spoke, though Russell could feel the girl's eyes settling on him every so often.
The empty classroom came up quickly.
It wasn't the secret base he and Mary had used before. Just an ordinary classroom with nobody in it.
"Here we are." Cloris pushed the door open first and waved them in. "It's quiet in here. Nobody will come and bother us."
Russell and Mary went in and took their seats.
The two of them sat in the same row, with Cloris and Wilson opposite, a desk between them.
Sunlight slanted in through the window, cutting the desk into halves of light and shadow.
Cloris opened her notebook. Wilson raised his pen. The two exchanged a glance, as if checking that the other was ready.
Watching them set up like this, Russell nearly laughed.
"No need to be so tense," he said. "I'm hardly anyone important."
"You absolutely are!" Cloris blurted out, then realized how carried away she sounded and coughed twice to cover it. "I mean, you made the front page of The Times, and you've been to Buckingham Palace, and… and…"
"And he tried to run away from the freshman opening ceremony at Imperial College," Mary added. "One does wonder what the principal thought when he read that article."
Cloris blinked, then lost the fight and laughed out loud.
Wilson laughed too, and the strain finally eased out of his face.
Russell glanced at Mary.
The girl returned an entirely innocent look.
"So you're with them now?"
"Hardly." Mary tilted her head, laughter under her voice. "I'm just helping them warm up the room."
Cloris's eyes made another circuit between the two of them, and the gossip burning behind them flared higher.
She cleared her throat and worked to arrange her face into something professional.
"So… shall we start?"
Cloris drew a deep breath and turned to the first page of her notebook.
She began with questions that barely differed from the ones he'd been asked during the interview for The Times.
For those, Russell gave Cloris exactly the answers he had once given Miles at The Times.
How he and Charlotte had met, their later collaboration, what daily life with Charlotte was like.
When asked about Charlotte's professional ability, Russell gave her nothing but praise, and there was something in his tone that he himself never noticed.
A trust so complete it needed no explanation.
Mary's gaze rested on the side of his face for a moment, and something flickered behind her eyes.
Cloris missed the detail entirely. Her head was down, her pen flying, and she was muttering to herself as she wrote:
"…trust so complete it needs no explanation."
Wilson chimed in from beside her. "And what's your usual dynamic with Miss Holmes like?"
"Dynamic?" Russell thought about it. "She solves the cases, I assist. She talks, I translate. She stays up all night, I make breakfast. She forgets to eat, I remind her to eat."
"It sounds like," Wilson said, choosing his words carefully, "you… take rather good care of her?"
"It's no trouble." Russell shrugged. "Honestly, everything you're asking is already in my answers in The Times. There's no need to confirm it all over again."
Mary's fingers paused again.
This time the pause lasted longer than the last.
"No trouble," she repeated quietly.
Russell looked over at her.
Mary raised her head, met his eyes, and gave him a small smile.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
The girl withdrew her gaze and turned to Cloris across the desk.
"Any other questions?" she asked, perfectly casual.
Cloris hurried to turn a page.
"Yes, yes!" she said. "The next question — um — it's about getting into Imperial College in three months."
She lifted her head, eyes shining as she fixed them on Russell.
"How did you do it?"
Russell was silent for two seconds.
"I… read the books," he said. "Then I memorized what was in the books. Then I sat the exam."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Cloris and Wilson exchanged a look.
"But," Wilson said, gathering his courage, "getting into Imperial College in three months, that's really… quite incredible. Do you have some special study method? Or… some secret?"
Russell considered it.
"I do."
Both their faces lit up at once.
"What secret?"
"Read more books, read more newspapers, eat fewer snacks, get more sleep."
Cloris's pen froze in midair.
Wilson's mouth hung slightly open. The two of them stared at Russell with the look of people who'd had the pause button pressed on them.
"…"
"…"
They stayed quiet a moment longer, apparently waiting for Russell to continue.
Russell did not continue.
"You… you're joking, right?" Cloris finally managed.
"Not at all." Russell's face was perfectly serious. "That's my secret. You asked, I told you, and now you don't believe me. There's nothing more I can do about that."
He spread his hands with an air of helplessness.
Wilson gave a dry laugh and scratched his head. "That secret seems… a little too plain."
So it all came back to the fundamentals.
"Plain is exactly what's true." Russell leaned back in his chair, earnest as a schoolmaster. "Or would you rather I said I slept two hours a night and memorized every book cover to cover? Would you actually believe that?
Or that I stole the Imperial College exam papers in advance and learned the answers by heart? Take your pick."
Cloris and Wilson looked at each other and fell silent.
Only Mary, sitting beside him, let out a soft laugh, the sound of it like a silver bell, unmistakably clear in the quiet classroom.
Cloris shot a quick glance at Mary, then dropped her head and pretended to be leafing through her notebook.
There's a story between these two. Definitely.
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