"The Invisible Guest" and "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"—these were the scripts Edward prepared for Moriarty's debut. One was a brilliant mystery film, and the other a classic in the detective novel genre—perfect stages for Moriarty's appearance.
The Invisible Guest would be used to introduce Moriarty, while Styles Manor would become the battleground of wits between Moriarty and Holmes. As for having Moriarty appear in person, Edward remained uncertain.
Too low-profile? That wouldn't do.
Too high-brow? That'd make the script too hard to write.
Most of the iconic detective plots from his previous life had already been adapted. Arranging Moriarty's role properly had become a real dilemma for Edward. He had even considered referencing some real-life cases from his previous world, but few of them suited Moriarty's grand persona.
After all, by design, Moriarty was a supervillain, the shadowy professor who commanded all of England's criminal underworld—undeniably a force to be reckoned with.
"Forget it, I'll decide once Giovanni shows up," Edward muttered, shaking his head as he signed his name on the contract. With that, the commission with Grey was officially sealed. Now all that was left was to wait for Grey to complete the script and send it over.
Edward had confidence in Grey's skills. But the main reason he chose him was simple—Grey was a pure mystery novelist. Every plot point, every character, every scene he wrote served the purpose of deduction.
In terms of a certain island country's literary circles, he'd be classified as a honkaku (orthodox) mystery writer.
Writers like that might not specialize in comedy or lighthearted charm, but when it came to the core of a mystery—the logic, the deduction—they delivered with full weight.
While Edward did plan to sprinkle some humor throughout Sherlock Holmes to make the series more entertaining, he understood that the foundation of Holmes was always deduction. That aspect had to be taken seriously.
With the contract done, Edward bid farewell to Grey.
"Miss Sara, is everything running smoothly at Devon Corporation?" Edward asked casually as they walked down the street.
Sara, head of Devon Corporation's legal department, was considered a senior executive. She had also known his father, Joseph, for some time, so Edward felt comfortable chatting freely with her.
"Everything's fine, mostly. Though President Joseph has seemed a little unsettled lately," Sara said.
Edward paused, then turned to look at her.
What? His father was unsettled?
He hadn't noticed anything at home. His father had been as busy as usual and still made time for family dinners now and then. He'd even praised Edward recently for his new movie breaking five hundred million at the box office—with a smile on his face.
So where was this restlessness coming from?
"I think it has something to do with the prison," Sara continued. "I saw President Joseph visit someone there recently."
She didn't keep it a secret—after all, her main reason for personally accompanying Edward to sign this contract was to bring this matter to his attention. Normally, signing a writer wouldn't require the head of legal to get involved; Edward's film company already had a legal team for that.
"Prison?" Edward frowned.
He wasn't worried that his dad might be hiding some secret love child—if that happened, well, so be it. But a prison? What kind of problem could be bothering his father that badly?
Then a thought struck him.
A person he had personally handed over to Officer Jenny.
Zinnia.
It wasn't exactly an arrest—more like Edward had subdued her and turned her in. So it wasn't wrong to say that he had been the one to capture her.
Edward ran through the possibilities. The only person connected to his father who could still be causing this kind of emotional turmoil… was Zinnia.
After all, from his older brother Steven, Edward had learned a few things—how their father had once helped the League in a mission to capture Rayquaza. How they had actually succeeded in subduing Rayquaza for research purposes.
But Rayquaza wasn't without its protectors.
The Draconid People had long worshipped and guarded Rayquaza.
The incident had caused them heavy losses. Many died.
And Zinnia's hatred for the Stone family stemmed from exactly that.
"What a pain…" Edward muttered, rubbing his brow.
He really didn't have a good solution for the Zinnia situation. This was a deep, blood-soaked grudge. If Zinnia couldn't let go of it herself, no one could persuade her otherwise.
And clearly, from his father's troubled state, Zinnia hadn't let go. She still harbored bitter hatred toward the Stone family.
But Edward hadn't expected her to forgive.
Let's be real—talking someone out of a lifelong blood feud with just a few words? Not happening.
He didn't have "talk no jutsu" maxed out.
So, for now, there was really nothing he could do.
A few words to make someone give up revenge? Yeah, I'm the top hypnosis expert in the Pokémon world now.
If he ever got back to his previous world, maybe he'd write a novel with that title just for laughs.
"Anyway, I've told you what I needed to," Sara said cheerfully as she walked away.
Edward, as a Stone, would have to deal with this mess. Whether it got resolved or gave him a headache—it wasn't Sara's problem.
Edward could only sigh. Fair enough—this was his burden to handle. His older brother was busy dealing with Team Aqua and hadn't been back in a while.
"So if I think about it… Brother's swamped because of me, and Dad's troubled also because of me?" Edward let out a helpless laugh.
Still, he had a few ideas on how to approach the situation with his father. He might not be able to get Zinnia to let go of her hatred, but he knew his dad.
A man who'd dominated the business world for years, crushed rivals, and led Devon to become the top corporation in Hoenn—his father had a strong mindset. He wouldn't spiral into guilt just because someone didn't forgive him.
So, what was troubling him must be something else.
Edward looked up at the sky.
What his father was really worried about… was probably the impending crisis.
"The meteorite, huh…" Edward scratched his head.
There was one surefire way to deal with it:
Find Rayquaza, resonate with it, and unlock its Mega Evolution.
That power would be enough to destroy the meteorite outright.
But finding Rayquaza… and getting it to Mega Evolve?
That was the tricky part.
"I mean… I can't just shout 'Rayquaza, come out!' and expect it to show up, right?" Edward murmured to himself.
And then—
He noticed he was suddenly enveloped in a shadow.
(End of Chapter)