Sherlock: The Nanny's Anomaly

"Freaks"

Susanna watched Sherlock in her peripheral as he crouched beside one of the female victims. As he examined the body, she decided to examine the two males, who were closer together than the rest, and also the furthest out.

Andersen had begun to process one of them, so she knelt by the other and then looked around the chamber, taking a sweeping view of the scene. She then looked at the body. Caucasian, blonde, tall and lanky. His attire consisted of a grimy, dark street clothes. A hoodie, sweatpants, trainers, and a wool cap. On his side, as were the others. She moved his hood down and checked his neck. There was a faint pink impression where someone might have strangled him- or...

Susanna took another look at the other bodies, specifically their arms and hands. One of the females had their hands and arms barely together, as if she had been ripped away from holding onto someone. Susanna took ahold of the male's hands and found the impression marks of where an engagement band or wedding ring would be.

Susanna removed the cap next, having ruled out suffocation as cause of death. She found a wound on the right side of his head, near the ear and temple, likely blunt force. She checked his left side, which was pressed against the concrete. Blood and abrasions, "Killed by blunt force trauma while trying to escape with or protect his fiancee, or perhaps wife, but I'd bank on the former." She pronounced and took another look at the suspected partner. She had obviously been dragged away from the man, struggling. They'd both had their rings taken from them.

"What?" Lestrade gaped. Donovan sneered.

"Great, we've got another freak on our hands!" She bemoaned. Susanna pursed her lips and stiffened, but ignored the Sergeant, "Seriously do we need another psychopath?"

"I thought police were supposed to discourage bullying, Sergeant Donovan." Susanna quipped, flashing a cold glare.

"It's true though. We can barely manage one freak. I mean, the only only person who could have 'deduced' that would be our favorite psychopath." Donovan murmured. Susanna had her back turned and was glad she did. She took a deep breath and bit her lip, blinking to force back the temptation to lash out and or cry.

Sherlock didn't seem to have heard anything. He was already examining the second woman, and had made no comments. Susanna chewed on her lip and kept steady as she stood up and turned, looking around the scene once more.

A scenario played in her head, derived from everything she knew. The killers, there had to be at least two, had fled into the darkened section near the second male. They could still be here. She yanked on a strand of stray hair and and then twisted it around, debating her options.

The safest but most dull option would be to stay where she was and wait for Sherlock. Of course, that meant enduring Donovan. Another option would be to tell Lestrade and the police to search, but it would cause too much chaos and probably get several people upset if the killers were gone. She had plenty of training for self defense and could hold her own, if she went on her own to have a look.

Last option is was. Susanna waited until Andersen had Donovan and Lestrade to the side. Sherlock had assumed his mind palace pose, looking the opposite direction. Susanna retrieved her phone, flashlight and multitool from her purse and stepped into the shadowed hallway where she suspected the killers would have fled.

She followed it for thirty meters, winding through the corridors, before she smelled tobacco- freshly put out and strong, "Okay. They know I'm here then."

She followed her nose for a few more minutes, until she'd climbed to the top story of the warehouse. She heard voices and crouched, powering off her flashlight and edging closer.

"The coppers are here and we need to get out. That shipment is due to the States in two days, and those idiots couldn't keep government spooks away from it!"

"There's probably a vent or fire escape we can use. They're not that smart. They'll collect the corpses and move out. They won't make it up here. That one that was following us got lost." Two females. Susanna shut her eyes and inhaled.

"What if they do though? They could have gotten their consulting detective to come and he's supposed to be able to sniff out anything!"

"He'd be too wrapped up with the five bodies to follow us. Thinking, that's what. By the time he'd get here we'll have been gone." Susanna heard their footsteps approach, and then retreat.

Two women. Of course. This is drug cartel business, otherwise Mycroft would not have enlisted Sherlock.

Susanna bit her lip. Okay, running off on Sherlock and the police probably wasn't my brightest idea. I only have my multitool and I can risk being caught, or letting them get away.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, amplified by the metal post behind her.

"What was that!?"

Uh oh.

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