Sherlock - The Game Is On!

The Reichenbach Fall- Ten

Chapter Ten

With the room darkened and the sodden shutters closed. Anderson set up his equipment for Sherlock to use. Shining an ultraviolet light onto the wall beside the boy's bed he discovered the words 'HELP US' being written on the wall. "Linseed oil."

"Not much use. Doesn't lead us to the kidnapper."

"Brilliant, Anderson."

"Really?"

"Yes. Brilliant impression of an idiot." I responded. "The floor." Sherlock stated. There are several sets of illuminated footprints of varying sizes leading towards the door. Sherlock slowly follows them. "He made a trail for us!"

"The boy was made to walk ahead of them." John looks to the shapes of smaller footprints on the floor. "On, what, tiptoe?"

"Indicates anxiety; A gun held to his head." We follow Sherlock as he slowly walks into the corridor. "The girl was pulled beside him, dragged sideways. He had his left arm cradled about her neck." A few yards away the glowing footprints stop. "That's the end of it. We don't know where they went from here. Tells us nothing after all."

"You're right, Anderson. Nothing." Sherlock takes a intake of breath. "Except his shoe size, his height, his gait, his walking pace." Tearing the blackout material from the closest window daylight floods back into the room. Kneeling down, Sherlock takes out his wallet of tools and a small lidded plastic Petri dish from his inside pocket. While the police go back towards the bedroom, he puts the dish on the floor, opens the wallet and chuckles contentedly. John and I squat down beside him. "Having fun, darling?" I asked. "Starting to."

"Maybe don't do the smiling. Kidnapped children remember?" John states. Lowering his head again he begins to concentrate on scraping some of the dried linseed oil and floor wax loose with a small scalpel and then using tweezers to pick up the loosened pieces and put them into the container...

Sitting in a taxi, John starts his detestable questioning. "But how did he get past the CCTV? If all the doors were locked?"

"He walked in when they weren't locked."

"But a stranger can't just walk into a school like that."

"Anyone can walk in anywhere if they pick the right moment. Yesterday was the end of term, parents milling around, chauffeurs, staff. What's one more stranger among that lot?" I rhetorically asked.

"He was waiting for them. All he had to do was find a place to hide." Sherlock finished.

Jumping out the cab, we made our way to St Bart's hospital. Just as Molly Hooper was reaching for the fire doors, we hustle past. "Molly!"

"Oh, hello. I'm just going out." Putting my hands on her shoulders, I maneuverer to the way she's just came from. "I've got a lunch date." She protested. "You don't now." Sherlock reached into his coat pockets, dramatically producing bags of Quavers. "Cancel it. You're having lunch with us."

"What?"

"Need your help. It's one of your old boyfriends, we're trying to track him down. He's been a bit naughty!" Turning around Sherlock shows a glimmering smile to Molly. "It's Moriarty?"

"Course it's Moriarty, John."

"Er, Jim actually wasn't even my boyfriend. We went out three times. I ended it."

"Yes, and then he stole the Crown Jewels, broke into the Bank of England and organised a prison break at Pentonville. For the sake of law and order, I suggest you avoid all future attempts at a relationship, Molly." Brandishing the bag of crisps to her again, we walk ahead.