The Soldier, The Messiah & the Pariah

Chapter 13

SHAD SANDERSON BANK

Sherlock led Lex back into the bank, wanting to check the latest travels of their new dead person. The best way to get information was first to find out what he did last. There was definitely a connection, they simply had to find it.

They both stood at each side of the rich man's assistant, Amanda, who was looking at an online calendar.

"Flew back from Dalian, Friday. Looks like he had back-to-back meetings with the sales team." she explained after a moment of silence.

"Can you print us up a copy?" Sherlock asked.

"Sure"

Lex was next. "What about the day he died? Can you tell us where he was?"

The assistant looked at the screen. "Sorry. Bit of a gap" The calendar showed no entries for Monday the 22nd, causing the genius man to look away, frustrated. Lex made a face, realizing that the man might have actually left his dirty undies in the suitcase for days but quickly focused on the situation, once Amanda started to speak again. "I have all his receipts."

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After a small wait, Amanda had spread out Van Coon's receipts on her desk. Our heroes were by her side, once again, looking over them as well.

"What kind of a boss was he, Amanda? Appreciative?" he asked.

"Um, no. That's not a word I'd use. The only things Eddie appreciated had a big price tag."

Sherlock knelt on the floor to give himself easier access to the receipts. While he was taking off his gloves, he saw a pump-action bottle of luxury hand lotion at the back of the desk.

"Like that hand cream. He bought that for you, didn't he?"

Fiddling nervously with a pin in her hair, Amanda looked at him in surprise. Lex lifted an eyebrow and looked at her before focusing on inspecting each receipt.

"Sherlock," she said once she picked one and looked at it twice, to confirm her suspicions.

She handed it to him, letting him see that it was a receipt from a licensed taxi. Dated 22 March 2010 and timed at 10:35, the receipt was for £18.50. Sherlock looks at it and then hands it to Amanda.

"Look at this one. Got a taxi from home on the day he died. Eighteen pounds fifty."

The assistant frowned her eyebrows. "That would get him to the office."

"Not rush hour; check the time. Mid-morning. Eighteen would get him as far as ..."

"The West End. I remember him saying"

Sherlock this time was the one to find a new clue, most specifically a London Underground ticket with the same date on it and issued at "Picadilly". He handed that up to Amanda.

"Underground. Printed at one in Piccadilly."

"So he got a Tube back to the office. Why would he get a taxi into town and then the Tube back?"

Lex tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. "Because he was delivering something heavy. Didn't want to lug a package up the escalator" she looked at her companion who gave a nod.

"Delivering?" Amanda repeated, not exactly understanding what they were talking about.

"To somewhere near Piccadilly Station. Dropped the package, delivered it and then ..." Sherlock stopped for a moment, his eyes landing on another receipt. Standing up, he grabbed it and saw it was from the Piazza Espresso Bar Italiano... stopped on his way. He got puckish."