Sherlock's Daughter

14 - A Visit by a Detective

A Visit by a Detective

It takes a lot to surprise Sherlock Holmes. So when Irene Adler began to break down into a quivering mess of tears let's just say Sherlock felt...shocked. It turns out that this isn't the first time Sherrinford Holmes has faked his death but has done a few years previous when he was quite close to The Woman. This is why that now everyone is sat in the living room of 221B Baker Street waiting for Irene to calm down so she can express her story without snivelling; she is sat on the sofa with Juliet next to her who is trying to be comforting, Sherlock is sitting in his chair, John in his and Mycroft is standing up, leaning on the mantel piece. "I am sorry for raising my voice." Juliet apologises politely feeling slightly embarrassed that she showed weakness in front of all these people. "I didn't mean to agitate you." She turns to Irene with a sorrowful smile.

"It is fine." Irene states.

"I have a question Miss Adler." Mycroft speaks up, "If you haven't seen my brother in years then why do you think of him as insane?" Everyone turns to Irene who takes a large inhale to steady her nerves not daring to look anyone in the eyes.

"Mr Holmes, maybe if you spent a little less time toying with James Moriarty then you would see the disasters unfolding in front of us all." She flickers her eyes briefly making eye contact with Mycroft who sighs. He hates this ghastly woman.

"What do you mean?" John questions with his brow furrowed.

"Well John, the problem with today's society is that the news follows the massive big stories like if an earthquake hits or terrorist activity but then the tabloids follows the meaningless celebrity gossip." She explains, "But what about the smaller stories? They appear on the local news but who watches that?"

"So your saying that-" The army doctor is interrupted by the dominatrix.

"If a house was burgled two streets from you, you probably would never find out." Sherlock smirks when he sees something dawn on his blogger's face. "Sherrinford knows this too. He plans to commit or help commit small meaningless crimes that will never make the news to raise his funds and to raise his reputation in the criminal world so he can do something big." She pauses for breath, "Something big enough to get noticed by James Moriarty, so they can join forces."

Juliet blows a raspberry before laughing out loud making everyone look at her. "Moriarty...would never...be part...of a team." She spits out between each chortle.

"Yes but what happens if they do?" Irene replies with a rhetorical question making Juliet shut up. She is right, if Sherrinford and Moriarty join forces then the United Kingdom will fall, then Europe and then...the world.

"Anarchy." Sherlock states with a raspy tone before scrunching up his nose and sniffing. "Can you smell smoke?" He asks no one in particular and the group start to sniff also. Sherlock turns his head and realises the window is open because of the warm weather so he shuffles to his feet, strides to the window and peers down to see who is smoking. It is Lestrade. "Oi Gary!" Sherlock exclaims through the narrow gap, "Fancy coming up instead of tempting me with your cigarette?" Sherlock shuts the windows waiting for the detective inspector to wander up the stairs.

"It's Greg by the way." He grumbles as he appears at top of the stairs, being slightly astonished about the mass number of people in the room.

"Who's Greg?"

"Him!" John, Juliet and Irene all exclaim in unison pointing at Lestrade whereas Mycroft just rolls his eyes at his younger brother. On a regular day Lestrade would probably chuckle at Sherlock or roll his eyes like Mycroft but today something does not seem right.

"Are you alright Greg?" John asks.

"You look as white as a sheet." Irene adds. Lestrade looks around for a place to sit so John stands up and points to his chair before moving to lean on Sherlock's desk.

"What do you need help with Lestrade?" The consulting detective asks the detective inspector who looks like he has seen a ghost or something else supernatural.

"Missing persons." Greg mumbles, "Lots of staff are going missing...my Chief Superintendent, Detective Inspector Dimmock, Detective Inspector Carter, Anderson and now Detective Sergeant Sally Donovan." He takes a deep breath, "I'm worried that I am next."

"Sherlock..." John trails deep in thought, "These are all people that we have had dealings with." He stands up straight and turns before he starts to type on his laptop looking for his past notes while everyone stays silent. "Yeah see! The Chief Superintendent is the one that I may have punched when they arrested you-"

"They arrested you?!" Juliet and Irene exclaim in unison but are ignored.

"Then DI Dimmock helped us with the Black Lotus lot and DI Carter I met just before I was dragged to Buckingham Palace in a helicopter." He rambles as he scrolls through his typed notes.

"I hardly would say that we dragged you." Mycroft mutters under his breath.

"Dragged or not, the point is that we've met all these people. There has to be a connection." He waggles his index finger to and fro as if it makes his point more valid.

Irene leans in towards Juliet and whispers into her ear, "When did Dr Watson become so clever?" Making the young Holmes giggle.

"The curtain rises." Sherlock gasps with a smirk.

"No, no, no, no, no." John rushes while pointing a finger accusingly at the high functioning sociopath, "Last time you said that we ended up being acquainted with Moriarty, were then a part of his game and I got strapped to a bomb." This statement starts to spark up conversation with Juliet asking all sorts of questions about this game and what happened, Irene claiming she knows all the details because she 'used to be so close to Jim' and Mycroft rolling his eyes with a tut every so often while Lestrade is on the edge of hyperventilating.

"Not exactly helping guys." Greg breathes heavily.

"Don't worry Lestrade." Sherlock attempts to soothe, "We will help plus I am sure my brother will give you maximum protection." He grimaces in attempt to annoy Mycroft who huffs.

"Really?" He replies peering around to look at the oldest Holmes brother who is leaning by the fireplace. When he notices that the detective inspector is looking at him he plasters on the fakest of smiles and nods but it does make Lestrade feel reassured.

A phone chimes somewhere in the flat making everyone look up; Juliet scampers to her feet and into the kitchen while murmuring an apology when she realised that the phone is hers. The group continue to chatter in the living room apart from Sherlock who wonders who is texting his daughter. She has no friends – not yet anyway – she is not enrolled to a school yet. Juliet unlocks her phone to find an unknown number texting her:

Leave the building and turn right until you reach the corner. There is a car waiting for you there.

Whoever has sent her the message has not signed it off and she wonders why she should even trust this mystery man – she says man because of balance of probability and all that. "Everything alright?!" Sherlock calls making her look up.

"Yeah." She responds as another message comes through:

Come...or they will die.

"I've got to go out." She announces to the rest of the group while pocketing her phone. "I won't be long, do you need anything from the shop?"

"No..." Sherlock trails, "Don't be long." She nods then skips down the stairs and out onto the street. She follows the mystery messenger's instructions and she is surprised yet relieved at who she sees on the corner...

A/n who do you think it is?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUPERT GRAVES A.K.A LESTRADE! 

Anyway, please remember to vote and please comment. I love to hear what you have to say! ~ Mae