A Study in Gray · Chapter 13

What I Missed

Doctor

I apologize, but Miss Rachel has already been released from hospital care.

Lily

What?

Doctor

She was in critical condition, and our clinic had no way to treat her.

Master Henry took her to treat her in a special facility.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of help.

Gwen and Lily left without being able to see Rachel.

Gwen

She needs special treatment at the Research Institute? Are we too late?

Lily

You tried your best, Boss.

Gwen

That's not enough. If Rachel doesn't wake up, I...

Lily

Boss...

Gwen

Damn it. What's the Professor talking about? What did we miss?

Nothing came to mind.

But there was one strange thing that came to mind.

Gwen

...The doll.

Lily

Doll? What are you talking about?

Gwen

The doll we got from Rachel's friend.

Lily

What about it?

Gwen

Director Stapleton took that doll with him when he fled from the mansion basement.

But why? This is something important to Rachel, not him. So why'd he even bother bringing it along?

Lily

Hmm. I'm not sure...

Gwen

Maybe that doll is the director's dirty little–

Lily

Stop! Stop! How do you always end up with these obscene guesses?!

Gwen

But it's weird! It's not something a grown man would typically like!

Like Rachel said, it's just an ugly doll!

Lily

But the doll's important to her!

Gwen

Yeah, to Rachel! Not to Director Stapleton!

But he picked it up, even while he was trying to run away.

And the doll was there where he died.

Why? Is the director the kind of saint who'd remember to bring Rachel's doll?

If he was, he never would have turned her into a monster in the first place...

Gwen took a closer look at the doll.

But no matter how hard she looked, the only thing she noticed was that the doll was dirty and worn.

Gwen

Agh! I don't know!

Gwen gave up, shouting with her head in her hands.

Lily

We should clean the doll up and patch it up before giving it back to Rachel. It's torn.

Gwen

Oh, that's true.

Gwen paused, staring at the torn part of the doll.

Gwen

Lily... This was cut up with a knife.

Lily

Huh?

Gwen put her hand in the opening and tore open the doll's belly.

Inside, she found crumpled scraps of paper and an ampule wrapped in bloodstained cotton.

She opened the paper to find out that it was covered in tiny scribbles.

Gwen

"To the fake detective from Baker Street"...? Did Director Stapleton write this?

The two girls started reading the suspicious letter.

As soon as they finished reading it, the two jolted up, their faces pale.

Lily

D-do you think this is true, Boss?

Gwen

I don't know, but my gut's saying...

If he remembered to bring the doll that was important to Rachel...

He wouldn't have tried to turn her into a monster. So this letter could be true.

No. Actually, this is the only explanation! Do you remember how Mr. Henry looked when we came back?

Lily

...He looked really happy.

Gwen

Even though Rachel was still unconscious!

He wouldn't have held a press conference if he was genuinely worried about Rachel!

Hurry! If the letter's true...

The Professor's in danger!

Devastated, the two dashed out of the clinic.

The Professor stood without an umbrella, looking down at the rainy night view of NOA.

A short moment later, she heard the footsteps of someone in dress shoes approaching.

Henry walked up beside the Professor and shared his umbrella with her.

Professor M

Quite the gentleman.

Henry

No one's ever invited me to the rooftop, not even when I was a teenager.

So it's quite exciting to receive an invitation, especially from such a beautiful woman as yourself.

I was up to my neck trying to catch up to my peers in school, with no time for anything else.

Professor M

Of course. Because you're a third-rate magical scholar.

Henry's expression grew stiff as he heard the word "third-rate."

Professor M

So, where's Rachel?

Henry

She's at the Baskerville clinic for treatment... Did you want to see her?

Professor M

Let me ask a different question. Then where the Hound of the Baskervilles–ah, I misspoke.

I'm sure you made a new name for it, since you seem to have an inferiority complex.

Henry

W-what?

Professor M

Four times.

Henry

What?

Professor M

You called yourself "third-rate" four times in front of me.

You make it quite obvious that you feel inferior compared to others.

Well, I do understand. You said your father raised you like a tool, did you not?

But with your third-rate talent, that must've negatively affected your ego and twisted your personality.

Henry

What is the meaning of this?! You may have helped House Baskerville, but I will not suffer any further insults!

Professor M

Back in the wasteland, you mentioned...

The feeling of omnipotence that comes from doing what other scholars could not.

Henry

The act of accomplishing what others could not.

A kind of omnipotence that makes you feel like a god.

Professor M

So, did it make you feel like a god?

Turning Rachel into the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Watching Miss Gwen fail to sniff out the truth behind the Hound of the Baskervilles even as it was under her very nose.

Looking forward to your plan coming to fruition and witnessing Jack's ruin.

Henry

*Sigh...*

Henry ran his hand through his hair.

Henry

There must be a misunderstanding. Why do you suspect me, of all people?

Professor M

I'd say it's completely rational to distrust a man who's been lying from the very first meeting.

Henry

Are you saying I lied?

Professor M

Remember what you said to Miss Gwen when you first led us to the scene of the crime?

Henry

It's... I'm sorry. Ever since I saw my uncle's body, even just thinking about blood makes me... Hrrk!

Jack

*Cough!* So the fake detective finally arrives. You were later than the third-rate magical scholar over here.

Henry

Again with that "third-rate" spiel? You never stop, do you?

But look at you now. You've been beat by that very third-rate scholar.

Professor M

The man who claimed that even the thought of blood made him sick seemed completely fine after killing Director Stapleton.

Did you overcome your trauma with your sense of justice and rage in that short period of time? If so, I commend you.

Henry

You're jumping to conclusions—

Professor M

Also, anyone who looks at children the way you do would naturally arouse suspicion.

Henry

You should visit there sometime. The children there are simply wonderful...

Professor M

Do you like children?

Henry

Of course. Because they have the potential to become anything.

Professor M

The beautiful "potential to become anything." The hope they symbolized for a third-rate scholar.

Almost like the hopes that parents pin on their children, seeing them as nothing but tools to make their failed dreams come true...

Or, in your case, not a parent, but a third-rate scholar.

There were more lies. Everything in Baskerville has been yours all along.

Director Stapleton was just a puppet that didn't hold any real power.

Henry

That's not true—

Professor M

Do you remember what you said at the end of the dinner you invited us to?

When I said I'd bribe him?

Henry

...How do you bribe a man who already owns everything in Baskerville?

Professor M

Surely there must be something you possess that he wants, Mr. Henry.

Henry

I don't know. How do you know what Director Stapleton wants?

Professor M

If you truly never owned anything...

You would have been curious as to what you possessed.

Rather than being surprised by the fact that I knew you possessed something he wanted.

Henry

That's quite a keen observation, but I'm afraid you're grasping at straws—

Professor M

Of course, we can't forget the records of personnel appointments in the Baskerville Research Institute.

Gwen

"Four reassigned as Baskerville Research Institute researchers. Approved by Charles Baskerville."

"Eight appointed as Baskerville Research Institute guards. Approved by Henry Baskerville..."

Oh, come on. They're all just signed by some Baskerville.

Professor M

None of them were signed by Director Stapleton himself.

You claim that the Baskerville Research Institute is Director Stapleton's kingdom...

But what king asks someone else's permission for hiring his servants?

Henry

Hahaha.

The man who took over the reins after the sudden death of the former family head...

Who also conducted suspicious experiments on children and looked down on the new family head.

I thought you'd see him as the undeniable villain of the story.

Have you always had trust issues?

Professor looked up at the raining sky.

Professor M

Charles Baskerville died, and the death looked like a murder.

In the eyes of most, Director Stapleton would be the prime suspect.

But there is an expression that my only friend and I hated more than any other phrase.

"Everyone would..." "Most people might..."

Henry

So you are just distrustful. You did seem sharper than most.

Professor M

I disagree.

As I understand it, distrust is a cognitive act—one triggered by anxiety from an inability to believe in someone or something.

So I've never been "distrustful."

Because this desaturated world never offered me any expectation or trust.

...With the exception of one person.

Henry

So you're just as twisted as I am.

You should've told me.

After all that effort I put into appearing powerless...

Professor M

Oh, your acting itself wasn't the problem. I'd even say it was passable. The issue was your inability to keep your lies in order.

And you should've prepared more thoroughly.

The guards blocking the family head seemed bored.

Everyone stayed so calm even when such a momentous crime like the Hound of the Baskervilles was revealed.

All those researchers kneeling before you and confessing their sins, like actors in a poorly rehearsed play.

It was tough to hold in my laughter in the face of such a farce.

Henry

My, my... So I've made mistakes everywhere.

Professor M

There was plenty of evidence on top of your pitiful mistakes.

Director Stapleton bought multiple batches of materials that are used to create the Hound of the Baskervilles.

But the sheer amount made it seem like he was going to open a zoo of hounds.

Unless he was embezzling research funds or material, there's only one explanation to be had.

He was conducting medical experiments to produce an antibody.

In other words, Director Stapleton wasn't trying to create the Hound of the Baskervilles. He was trying to find the cure against it.

Henry

That's correct. But I knew it was impossible.

So I looked past his silly experiments. The cost was just a drop in the bucket, anyway.

Oh, did you figure out what kind of deal we had?

Professor M

No, I don't.

Henry

Well, that's the interesting part.

I intended for you to find clues leading to the Baskerville Research Institute.

It was all a part of my grand—

Professor M

Just to be clear, I'm not interested.

Henry was momentarily delighted to discover something that the Professor didn't know, but her curt answer quickly put a damper on his mood.

Henry

Excuse me?

Professor M

I am not interested in the slightest.

Why should I care about the petty schemes of third-rate villains?

The question of who tricked who, or what promises were made behind closed doors are of no concern to me.

Besides, I've already figured out what your operation was about.

Henry

And what, pray tell, do you mean?

Professor M

Your secret research institute in the wastelands, of course.

Henry's face darkened at the mention of the lab.

Professor M

You were disposing of your failed creations there, weren't you?

The Professor took out an aged automaton part and held it before Henry.

Professor M

These parts look like they were torn apart by a beast rather than in a battle against another automaton.

There were also parts with rust on them, alongside the unique stench that comes from a magical and biological organ that is rotting.

I imagine you were trying to create the Hound of the Baskervilles for several years at the very least.

And the animal cries that the locals heard were the sounds of the failures.

You were using automatons to take care of your failed creations.

Henry

Hmm. I see them as attempts to try something new, not failures.

Though I'll admit that even I didn't expect Jack to make his final stand there.

That's where he desperately struggled to turn Rachel—no, B-132—back into a human.

Do you know how hard it was to hold myself back from bursting into laughter back then?

Hahaha. He was supposed to be a genius, who'd earned the praise of magical academic circles.

Yet, in the end, all he could do was wave around a primitive stick to fend off my automatons. It was quite the touching scene, really.

What a fool he was.

As if his pathetic efforts could ever undo my magnum opus!

Hahaha...

Professor M

I refuse to entertain more of your sickening nonsense.

Henry

Pardon me? What offends you so?

Don't tell me your worthless sense of justice is—

Professor M

No, of course not.

What irks me is something else.

It's the fact that you dare call such shoddy handwork your "magnum opus" when it's not even worth grading.

I'm afraid I have to fail you, Mr. Henry.

All you've done is shamelessly and clumsily plagiarize the research of others who came before you.

And this is all you have to show for it? You consider this your masterpiece, Mr. Third-Rate Scholar?

No, perhaps "scholar" is more praise than you deserve. You're just a petty thief.

As for me...

I'm here to dispose of your failed vanity project.