7:00 a.m., Office of the Serious Crime Unit of Scotland Yard
James Morrison sat at his desk, repeatedly reviewing the police deployments. He knew that midnight tonight was the appointed time. If the "Phantom" really was going to show up, it would definitely be then.
He had to ensure that the police arrangements were flawless and leave the other party with no opportunity to take advantage of.
"Within a hundred meters around the manor, all roads are under our control, and even the underground pipelines haven't been overlooked. There's no problem there.
The food and drinking water are all provided by us, and the chef is changed for each meal. That's also fine.
All the positions around that are suitable for sniping are under our control. There's no problem with that either.
Phantom, do you really dare to come?"
On the other side, London, Dream-Fulfilling Community
Victor Black walked out of his home and headed towards St. George's College. The college was only a few hundred meters away from his residence, so he usually walked to work.
The weather today was very nice, sunny with a gentle breeze. Victor closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly back, and felt the morning breeze caress his face. He was in an especially good mood.
Along the way, the acquaintances nearby greeted him.
"Good morning, Mr. Black!"
"Good morning, Mrs. Smith."
"Victor, are you going to work?"
"Yes, Mr. Brown."
"Would you like to come to my place for dinner tonight?"
"Haha, let's talk about it later."
In less than ten minutes, Victor entered the school.
Noon, Office of the Serious Crime Unit of Scotland Yard
James stared at the two identification reports on the desk, his brows furrowed. One was a fingerprint identification report from a mobile phone, and the other was a pigment identification report of the number "1" on the mobile phone.
Originally, he didn't have any expectations for these two reports, but the results were unexpected.
First of all, there were actually fingerprints left on the mobile phone, which was very unreasonable. Judging from the Phantom's current performance, he was a person with extremely strong anti-reconnaissance abilities. Since he could consider the issue of the signal source, how could he overlook the fingerprints? However, the fingerprint comparison result showed that there was no match in the database, which was reasonable.
Secondly, there was the result of the pigment identification. The result showed that this pigment was a long-discontinued inferior product that had been withdrawn from the market more than twenty years ago.
James couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought. Clearly, there were countless common pigments available on the market. Why did the Phantom specifically use this long-discontinued inferior pigment? Although this pigment was also difficult to trace, it always felt strange.
He thought about it for a long time but still couldn't understand the meaning behind it and could only make guesses in his heart.
"Regarding the fingerprints, could it be that he deliberately left them as a provocation?
Does the choice of pigment hide some meaning?
Also, what does the number '1' represent? The first target?
Forget it. Once we catch the person, everything will be clear."
Noon, Canteen of St. George's College
Victor Black sat side by side with a tall and thin young man while having a meal. The young man's name was Eric Matthews. Although his name was elegant, his appearance was very different from his name—he had a long, thin face, small eyes, and there was always a hint of cunning in his smile.
Eric was Victor's colleague, and both of them taught in Class A of Grade 12. Victor taught mathematics, and Eric taught chemistry. Although their personalities didn't match very well, Victor needed a friend—it was very beneficial for his plan.
"I say, Victor, you seem to be in a good mood today!" Eric poked the French fries on his plate with a fork, "What's the good news?"
Victor smiled: "Tomorrow is the weekend, and we have a holiday. Don't you think that's good news?"
Eric was taken aback for a moment, and then he also laughed: "That's true."
"By the way, I was just going to ask you, do you have any plans for tonight?"
"No. Why?"
"Let's go to the Kensington District. I heard that there's a newly opened barbecue restaurant there, and the food is supposed to be good. Do you want to give it a try?"
When Eric heard this, his eyes immediately lit up: "Are there any beautiful women there?"
Victor rolled his eyes: "No."
As soon as he heard that there were no girls, Eric's smile instantly faded.
"I tell you, Victor, I'm really puzzled. For someone with my looks, it's normal not to have female friends. But for someone like you, it's not normal that there's not a single beautiful woman around you!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Just tell me if you're going or not."
"Sure."
"Of course I'm going! It would be a shame not to take advantage of a free meal!"
10:00 p.m., London, Kensington District
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was evening.
After the evening self-study ended, it was already 9:30. Victor Black and Eric Matthews left St. George's College together, took a taxi, and headed to the newly opened barbecue restaurant in the Kensington District.
When they arrived at their destination, it was already 10:00. Although it was getting late, the streets were still brightly lit and bustling with people. London's nights were always like this. In this metropolis with nearly ten million people, the nightlife was rich and colorful.
When having barbecue, drinking and chatting were essential. By the time the two of them were full and had their fill of drinks, it was close to midnight.
After coming out of the restaurant, they went to the banks of the River Thames to take a rest. On the other side of the river was a high-end villa area, the Kensington Villa Area. From this position, they could just see John Wilson's villa.
On the bench, Eric slumped down, reeking of alcohol: "Great!"
Next to him, Victor stared straight at the opposite bank and replied indifferently: "It's not bad, right?"
"Indeed, it's great, especially the lamb skewers. They were simply amazing."
Victor smiled, glanced at his watch out of the corner of his eye, then stood up and stretched: "I'm going to the restroom."
Eric waved his hand, indicating that he could go ahead.
A moment later, Victor walked into the nearby public restroom, took out a mobile phone from his pocket, quickly operated it a few times, and sent a message. Then, he walked out of the cubicle as if nothing had happened.
Office of the Serious Crime Unit of Scotland Yard
James Morrison paced back and forth in the office, feeling anxious and restless. He didn't know why he was so anxious. Clearly, the police deployments were foolproof, and the Phantom couldn't possibly succeed. However, he always had an ominous premonition in his heart, and this premonition was getting stronger and stronger.
He looked at the time. There was only one minute left until midnight. He was really not at ease and was just about to call Thomas to confirm the situation.
Just then, his mobile phone vibrated, and a text message popped up. Seeing that it was from an unknown number, his uneasiness instantly reached its peak. He instinctively clicked on the text message, and there were only three words on it: I'm here!
The moment he saw the text message, James' pupils suddenly constricted. He quickly dialed Thomas' number and almost shouted: "Hurry! Go and check if John Wilson is okay!"
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, and then the sound of rapid footsteps came. Clearly, Thomas was running. The waiting time seemed to be stretched out. Those dozen or so seconds felt like an eternity.
A dozen or so seconds later, there was finally some movement on the other end of the phone—two voices, one was Thomas', and the other was a woman's voice.
"John! Wake up! Wake up!"
"Ah!"
"Clatter—"
James felt dizzy, and the mobile phone slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. There was only one thought left in his mind: "How is this possible? How could this be possible!"