Becoming Professor Moriarty's Probability

Several days after Adler, in danger of being preserved alive, managed to flee Britain with Lupin narrowly,

- Ding...♪

“Welcome.”

The door to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, located in Michigan, opened, and a familiar blond visitor stepped inside the establishment.

“Did you contact us earlier?”

“... Ah, yes. Haha.”

“Please, take a seat then. I have prepared some tea for you.”

Bowing to him in greeting, the woman gestured towards the sofa.

“Um... I just came to file a case. There’s really no need for all this hospitality...”

“I insist. It would put me in a tough spot otherwise.”

Placing the cup of tea in front of him, she refused Adler’s insistence with a professional demeanour and relayed to him,

“If we neglected a VIP like Isaac Adler, we’d definitely get an earful from the higher-ups.”

“Uh... I’m a VIP?”

Seeing the bewildered look on Adler’s face as he asked in an absentminded tone, the woman sighed before answering,

“Mr Adler, you’ve commissioned hundreds of cases to us over the years. You should already be aware of your importance to us, right?”

“Uh, well...”

“Considering the chaos you’ve caused moving through New Jersey, Milan, and Warsaw all your life, it’s fairly impressive that you haven’t commissioned more cases to us.”

“.......”

“I almost thought you’d grown wiser since you moved to London and the requests stopped altogether. The uproar I have seen in the British newspapers suggests otherwise, however.”

The woman spoke with next to no emotions on her face or voice. Suddenly, she leaned forward before whispering to him in a chilly voice.

“You haven’t changed agencies now, have you? You should know that no one can ever provide you with a better service than us.”

“T-That would be unlikely...”

“Speaking of that, there have been a few scandals involving that fledgling detective in Britain, maybe...”

“... Holmes is not a fledgling.”

As Adler was about to dismiss the remark, her next statement made him flare up momentarily, making the woman frown.

“My hunch was right, it seems.”

“.........”

“So, why are you here? Just to say your farewells as an old patron?”

“B-Before that... may I ask a question?”

“... Go ahead.”

Adler, gauging her reaction, finally asked in a whispery note.

“If you don’t mind me asking... who are you?”

“... Haa.”

His words elicited a monetary look of utter disbelief from the woman. She was rendered speechless for some time before sighing out loud. She then opened her mouth to answer,

“Director of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency’s Western Regional Division.”

“Oh, is... that so?”

“I also manage the Michigan branch office.”

When Adler looked puzzled by her words, the woman added with a frosty glare that threatened murder.

“... And until a few months ago, I was your exclusive agent. Not that you remember as you have shown. I was promoted because you stopped sending cases. While my position has risen, my salary has unfortunately decreased.”

“Ah...”

“How did you even forget about me when we worked for such a long time? Oh, but considering you meet a new woman almost every day, it’s no wonder that you conveniently forgot about my existence.”

When the woman chided him with a bone-chilling tone, a slightly aggrieved look appeared on Adler’s face.

“You forget about someone who risked their life for you, and then you have the gall to look aggrieved?”

“... I’m sorry.”

“Haaah... never mind. Honestly, the money was definitely the motivation behind taking your work, not you. So, I’ll consider us even.”

Mumbling those words under her breath with a frown, the director soon reverted to her expressionless professional demeanour.

“Let’s get back to the main issue. Are you receiving death threats from another woman again?”

“... Something along those lines, but I assure you that it’s not quite what you’re thinking right now.”

“That’s fine. Just tell me the information. Or are you being threatened by someone unknown again?”

“... I am being threatened, yes. But that’s not the point. I need you to find someone for me.”

Adler handed her a note with the personal details of the individual he wished for the Pinkertons to find.

“Female, under 20 years old, presumed student, gloomy and dark personality, racist, uses a Western accent, introverted...”

As she read through Adler’s request with narrowed eyes,

“... Lastly, her name includes Lovecraft.”

After reading through the personal details without pausing, the director tilted her head and spoke,

“Do I need to protect you from this woman?”

“No, I would like you to find her.”

“And after finding her?”

“I’ll... take care of the rest myself.”

At Adler’s reply, a displeased look broke through her expressionless mask.

“Even though you have specified a lot of details about the person... America is still quite vast. It will take a considerable amount of time to find her without knowing the area she lives in.”

“... That’s exactly the reason I came here.”

“What I’m trying to say is, it will require appropriate compensation.”

At her words, Adler wordlessly placed his bag on the desk.

- Click...

“This should cove...”

He then started unzipping the bag to show the contents inside,

“Ugh, ugh...!”

- Bang!

But when his eyes met Watson’s, still tied up inside the bag and glaring at him with a murderous look, he hurriedly zipped it close again in haste.

“What just...”

“I’m sorry. I got the bags mixed up.”

With utter nonchalance, Adler paced the bag down before placing another bag on the desk.

“Wait a second. There was definitely a naked woman inside...”

- Click...

“... Hmm.”

When he opened the bag again, the director, who had started questioning him with a bewildered look, immediately closed her mouth.

“There’s $6000 in cash in the bag. I can give you more if you want.”

“... If you are willing to spend so much on capturing one woman, it must not be a trivial matter.”

“She is a significant threat. You’ll need to deploy the very best agents you have.”

“Hmm...”

Adler’s following words made her contemplate the matter seriously for some time.

“... If we shied away from danger, Pinkerton wouldn’t have come this far.”

Murmuring in a subdued voice, she reached her hand towards the bag.

“Ah, of course, you’ll get the money when you succeed on this task.”

“........”

“But I’ll still provide a down payment of $1000. How does that sound?”

However, before she reached it, Adler pulled the bag away from her, eliciting a glare from the director.

“You know we take payment upfront.”

“Hehe...”

“Don’t laugh. Not everything in the world can be overcome with your laughter and good looks.”

Admishing Adler, the director leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

“Don’t be mistaken. It’s because you’re a VIP... that I’m willing to bend the rules this time.”

“Thank you. And good luck with the case...”

“... But, we have one condition.”

Tilting her head to the side, she gave Adler a long stare before speaking.

“A... condition?”

“It’s nothing much. We have a case we’re handling, and we could use some help with it.”

“... That does sound like something actually.”

As Adler showed a reluctant expression, the director calmly continued her statement.

“We’ve got most of our best people involved in that case. That’s why, to resolve Mr Adler’s case even a day sooner, the current case needs to end quickly.”

“I’m willing to cooperate if that’s the case but... The matter is quite dangerous, isn’t it?”

“I won’t force you. But if you help, we’re also willing to reduce the price.”

Adler paused, contemplating for some time.

“... Let’s hear it out first.”

“You’ve made a wise decision. Let me give you the rundown.”

Moments later, as he quietly observed the director’s mood and spoke, she again reverted to a professional stance while explaining the case to him.

“Not to digress, but I have a client from the western region under my jurisdiction, Vermissa Valley...”

“... Valley of Fear.”

“What? How do you know that?”

Hearing Adler’s words made the director pause mid-sentence. Her eyes became comically large in surprise as she queried Adler in a grave tone.

“Oh, no.”

“What do you mean, no? How do you know the local slang used by the client in that area, Mr Adler?”

“... Perhaps, I saw it in the newspaper?”

“Reading American newspapers while you are in London?”

“You really enjoy digging into details, don’t you? Actually, a friend of mine – a detective – has been focusing on that area lately. That’s how I know about it.”

Adler, sweating coldly, made excuses while avoiding the director’s gaze.

“... Hmmmm.”

The director could not help but look at Adler with an annoyed expression.

“Anyway... I’ve heard that a dangerous gang has been flourishing there recently.”

“... A gang?”

“Please infiltrate that area, Mr Adler.”

“Um... Excuse me.”

At her words, Adler looked at her in bewilderment.

“Isn’t that something specialists should do? Why should I, someone well-known...”

“... You are the right person for the job. Honestly, it seems better to deploy you alone than sending out all of our agents.”

“But, why exactly?”

At his question, the director only gave him an indifferent reply.

“... All the members of the gang are women.”

“Ah.”

Realizing immediately, Adler nodded with a bright smile.

“Just leave it to me.” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

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Meanwhile, in Britain,

- Crunch...

Sitting in her office, the professor chewed on a sugar cube with a furious expression on her face.

“... So you are in America, huh.”

She erased the complex formulas that had been used to bypass her eavesdropping and silently stood up.

“Just you wait, Adler.”

On the other hand, Charlotte had tracked down Adler’s location with the implant she had slipped on Watson from her boarding house. Inspector Lestrade did the same with the marriage contract she had made with Adler. Just like that, all three women were now aware of Adler’s location.

“””This time, I will definitely preserve you alive.”””