With this information, James began to plan a meeting with the real Professor Ivar Peterson at Cambridge. Before they parted company, James asked for Gordius' name, and after some thought he replied with Ivar Peterson.
He challenged James and two other boys to a card game called Hearts, which James was able to win, much to Gordius' dismay. Gordius agreed to come to the school crossword society meeting, but the man that came was less interested in crosswords than in the letter left by Fairburn. They then worked through two more clues and deduced that a man by the name of Gordius, an alieus used by the morning crossword setter that had replaced Fairburn. Bond then arranged with the school Danger Society to make a copy of the letter by spying on the Headmaster from the glass roof of his study.
The Headmaster then took it to his office, but by remembering a phrase from the letter, the boys realized that it was a puzzle with their first hint being from the morning crossword, which had been set by Fairburn, "Solve Seven Cryptic Clues". Pritpal read the cryptic letter, but could make nothing of it. Fairburn had sent a vague notice of resignation, and a letter to Bond's messmate Pritpal Nandra, which they hoped might help them understand the situation. Months into the school year, James was again contacted by the Headmaster regarding the disappearance of their maths professor, Alexis Fairburn.
At the Duck Inn in Pett Bottom, James Bond was contacted by his headmaster, who informed him of the cover story for the events of Blood Fever, and told James to stay out of trouble and never to speak of what had happened to him. While visiting Highgate Cemetery, Professor Alexis Fairburn, a professor at Eton College, was kidnapped by two thugs for his knowledge of "Project Nemesis", but he dropped a clue on his way out of the cemetery.