With the knowledge they have, the trio looked at each other, before Lila questioned the necessity of their presence, if indeed the person who sent Theodore the tickets' the same as the one who Samuels Argyle partnered and helped steal the classified equipment.
If the spurred partner wanted revenge against Samuels Argyle, inviting the Doctor to his soft opening didn't make any sense, and would've implicated him more than anything, too.
It'd make sense if the spurred partner would've used what knowledge they had of the classified equipment, what Al did to hack into it, and wreck havoc on the guests and Samuels Argyle.
However, if this indeed was a low-rung employee who wouldn't known any better, well, then Lila's as mystified as the men on why they're even here.
Samuels Argyle didn't know the Doctor and the tickets would've said something along the lines if the spurred partner wanted Samuels Argyle to know the Doctor's among the attendees.
None of this made any sense, leading Al to try to find the source of the tickets, as he didn't believe the spurred partner would've been that sophisticated in finding the only phone number in the known universe that has a direct line to the Doctor, much less get tickets with peanuts without Samuels Argyle finding out.
With that big of a target on his back, Samuels Argyle would've taken some precaution, although, it wouldn't surprise any of them that he'll overlook Theodore and Lila, seeing that their tickets were paid for, however that's suspect.
It'll take time, but Al's invested in this mystery.
"You don't suppose the company found out where their equipment went, do you?" Lila looked towards Theodore as he held his large hand under his chin, pondering their situation.
In his mind, he played it back.
The spurred partner realized that he didn't have anything left to lose and went back to the private sector, prepared to throw Samuels Argyle under the bus to save his neck, and the private sector had a better idea.
Wouldn't make sense for the spurred partner to call someone who would've figured out his role in the theft, but a company with bones to pick, would have a reason in arranging the tickets, especially if they can afford the ticket price and arrange a bank account that Samuels Argyle couldn't recognize as a red flag.
"Why wouldn't they've have told you upfront?" Lila wondered before Al gave his idea.
Military surplus with more red tape than a red tape factory, the private sector probably had some knowledge of the Doctor, wanted to keep things on the need-to-know basis, and they would've known that the Doctor would've figured things out on his known, but without a person from the company with the insight, the Doctor couldn't try to get more information than needed.
It's almost a good plan.
"Yes, them going to the authorities wouldn't work, either, not with the stolen equipment, they wanted me to come and solve this mystery for them because it's less risky for them," Theodore finally said as he looked up at them from his spot on the plump chair, a leg over the other as he's pondering to himself.
Nodding, Al added, "Yeah, if they get the authorities involved, Samuels Argyle would've known the jig's up and who knows what he'll do in a panic?"
The sight of police officers would've unnerved Samuels Argyle and make him do something foolish, which the company didn't want because of the controversy that would follow afterwards.
One man he didn't know from a hole in the ground's not going to rouse his suspicion.
"Another thing's bothering me, what then, do they expect us to tie everything up in a neat present for them when everything's said and done?" Lila questioned how the private sector expected them to apprehend Samuels Argyle and what the company wanted them to do with him after that fact.
It didn't appear there's some secret agents waiting to get the drop once they conclude the adventure.
"I'm not sure, but since I can't get into a server and root around, I'm just basing off what I can. I can't even root around the equipment I patched myself into, a lot of it's been bungled by Mr. Magoo trying to cover his tracks and trying to make it something that it's not," Al sighed as he informed them that he doesn't have much, only what he found, and what he can find on the private sector the stolen equipment's from, the purpose of the stolen equipment, and why the private sector went out of their way in getting the Doctor of all people.
Clicking his tongue against his teeth, Theodore responded that they'll have to make do with what they have, now they must play the part as aloof people that paid for the tickets, see what they can make out of the situation.
He wanted Al to keep trying to learn about the stolen equipment what about it made the private sector send him to the museum to apprehend Samuels Argyle in their stead.
Nodding, Al says he can do that, while playing the part as the inspector, since it's evident the simulation put him as the man.
Al gotten a hold of the script so he can do it easily, put his personal touch, and the machine wouldn't know the difference because of Samuels Argyle's meddling.
"Okay, inspector, what's the skinny?" Lila asked Al why he "came" the Holmes flat and Al said that he was made aware of the murder from earlier by the two bobbies.
Naturally, he'll come to Sherlock Holmes and see what the famed detective had to say about the murder.
Gesturing, Al said it was Theodore's turn to respond.
Nodding, Theodore responded that he doesn't believe the woman murdered earlier that night was a prostitute, which Al agreed with his point, in the script, she wasn't.
"Why did she have my address, inspector?" Theodore asks Al as he silently read the script to himself before he answered.
Al says, "She was coming to you because of another murder that happened earlier in the week, you weren't here for it, because you were solving a murder in Scotland Yard."
The woman, that Al read, was a victim of a crime, her husband murdered earlier in the week, but couldn't get ahold of Sherlock Holmes sooner, so she attempted to come to him when she heard he'd arrived back in London.
When asked about her husband's murder, Al said that he had been harassed by a "phantom" hunting him menacingly, up until the "phantom" killed him, and there was only one witness who came forward, saying they witnessed a man clad in black stepping out of the alleyway where the husband was murdered.
"Not really a Sherlock Holmes story," Lila's reading between the lines and none of this sounded like something from the books and Al confirmed that it's because of Samuels Argyle meddling with the machine.
Shrugging, Theodore asked for more detail, leading to Al cheating as he looked through the script more, before saying the witness, who might've been drunk at the time, stated that he saw what he thought was…
"Huh, that's weird, the script flipped," Al commented that the script he's reading suddenly changed on him, he waved as hand as he expressed that the script originally said it was a man clad in black, nothing more, but for some reason, it now says that the man was clad in an outfit worn by doctors of yore.
A plague doctor costume.
"Al, you're kidding me, right?" Lila hoped that the AI was only pulling their legs, but he said he wasn't, but he thinks something might've been wrong with the machine, understatement, he knows, but he can't figure it out.
Theodore implores Al to tell him more about the crime and Al responded that he read that the woman wanted Sherlock Holmes's help in solving her husband's murder before her untimely death.
Which, going by the script, still says the man, now wearing the plague doctor costume, also killed her after tracking her down.
With Al's access to the script, the two continued the simulation, wanting to complete it while understanding what Samuels Argyle did to the machine, as Al worked in trying to find some way into the deeper parts of the software for the machine, still locked behind more firewalls than the sun, despite the tampering.
"Where do we go next, Al?" Theodore pulled on his black dress jacket while Al read the script, his eyes going side-to-side before saying that after they leave 221B Baker Street, they're supposed to go to Union Street where they're supposed to catch a glance of the man in the plague doctor costume.
After that, they're supposed to chase him along Main Street, which Al says they're supposed to lose sight of him.
Once that happens, they'll find another victim, from there, they''ll have to fill in the blanks while Al's busy.
The plan in motion, they left the flat, passed Mrs. Hudson along the way as she asked when they'll be back, Theodore gave a roundabout answer, before he closed the door behind him.
Exiting the flat, Al says he'll meet them when he has something definitive, before disappearing, leaving the two to continue the simulation on the path that Al told them.
Finding the path to Union Street, they begin their walk, eyes trained for any sight of the costumed killer, arms interlocked, the fog setting in, thick enough that they couldn't see anything in front of them, but they tried.
Theodore sees they arrived on Union Street, passing closed pubs along the way, no one else in the vicinity.
His icy blue eyes gliding through the thick fog, waiting for the killer's appearance, Theodore turned his head when he saw a shape in the distance, tall, wide shoulders, dark, when it moved, he saw the familiar beak.
Reminding themselves of what to do after this encounter, they drew closer to the figure as it hung around the corner, and stopped when they saw the head turn towards them.
… The sight made Lila prepared to run, Theodore shocked at the sight, as he tried to reason what they're looking at, but as the figure moved, lifting one of its legs, Theodore sees the large foot with five talons.
"What… the hell… is going on?" Lila whispered to him as she clung to him, feeling her heart raising a few beats as they see the tall figure in the distance, scratching itself with its bird-like foot, before lowering it, covering it with the blackness draping it.
Theodore winces as he tells her, "I… I don't know…"