You And I Against The World: Part II

Chapter 3: The riddle

*Sherlock POV*

My eyes widen as I hear the guard say his name. But it can't be real. It's too good to be true! Jim Moriarty can't possibly be here. Right now. Only a room away from me. It must be a ruse. It can't be. Can it?

"Are you sure that's his name?" Graham asks the guard. Sorry I mean Greg. Or is it Gavin? Geoff? Giles? God knows, all I know is that his name is G.Lestrade.

"Yes."

"Can you give a physical description?"

"Um, he has quite a slim figure, black hair and has maybe an... Irish accent? You should come, Inspector. And he's asking to see Sherlock too."

"Fine. Donovan come and uncuff Sherlock and meet me in the lobby." He says and then proceeds to get up and leave the room with the guard.

"Right, come on freak. Looks like your boyfriend finally decided to show up!"

"Fuck off."

After Donovan uncuffed me I made my way to the lobby. I could feel my palms beginning to sweat and my legs starting to feel week. But it can't be this straightforward. After 7 years, it can't be this effortless. But then I saw the man, hands cuffed behind his back, with short black hair. I approached him but the closer I got, the more I started to see the differences between how he used to look and now. His body shape is different and even the tint of his hair seemed a bit off... This isn't Jim. Is it. At this point, I was standing about a meter away from him and his back was still turned in the other direction.

"You're not Jim. Are you?" I ask the figure in front of me.

"No, not quite! I'm just his messenger. But that's close enough, right?" The man says as he turns around to face me. His face looks nothing like Jim's and his accent isn't even Irish! It's fucking Scottish! They're nothing alike for crying out loud! How did I know that it was too good to be true.

"Okay, so why did he send you?" I ask him with a tang of annoyance present in my voice.

"Well, he wants you to solve a little puzzle for him, and say hi." The messenger replies playfully with a smirk. He definitely has the attitude down that's for sure.

"Well tell him that I'm a little occupied with the twenty other murders he's left me to solve. But I'll gladly complete a puzzle with him in person, is it a 1000 piece?" I ask him, getting a little chuckle out of him.

"Oh, you're funny, aren't you. Mr Moriarty did tell me extraordinary things about you. He also told me that you'd say something along those lines. So he also informed me to enlighten you that if you solve this problem of his, he'll tell you who killed all those people."

"But then where's the fun in that?" I ask amused.

"Did you miss hear me? I'm sure that I said it. But just in case, let me repeat myself. He'll tell you who killed all those people."

"Wait, do you mean that he'll tell me in person?"

"Oh, so you're finally catching on!"

"Okay. What's the problem then?"

"Take a look in my left pocket."

I reach my hand into his pocket and pull out a note. It reads:

Where the corpses bloomed along our path,
Their poison takes our troubles from the past,
Bringing them to the afterlife,
To illuminate our hearts with light.
Where their petals fell came eternal darkness,
Let the red blood rain,
Take us into pure nothingness.

- J.M <3

"Signed J.M with a lil heart. I never knew that anyone could ever love you, freak." Anderson said, completely ruining my mood.

"Oh kiss my arse!"

"I'd rather not. Unlike you, I'm not gay."

"I'd be careful if I were you, the last person who said that is 6 feet under..."

"Was that a threat?"

"No, just a statement." I say smiling at him.

"So Sherlock, what have you gathered from that message?" Inquired Garge.

"Well, he's talking about the school shooting and the Lycoris radiatas."

"The whats?"

"The red spider lilies!"

"Oh don't go changing the names on me!  And why is he talking about those flowers? Nowhere in this poem does he mention anything about flowers!"

"Half the the damn thing is talking about the flowers! Where the corpses bloomed, their poison takes, to the afterlife, their petals! Come on!"

"What do you mean come on! The only thing to do with flowers is the word petals!"

"Lycoris radiatas symbolise death, so the fact that he wrote 'corpses bloomed' means he's talking about the flowers, their bulbs are poisonous, he mentions poison, the flowers are used as offerings at funerals to help the dead to make their way into the afterlife, he says afterlife, and of course the word petals! It's obvious!"

"Don't come pulling the 'oh it's obvious on me! It was not!"

"It was you're just an idiot!"

"Says the person who fell in love with a class A criminal!"

"Oh shut up you sound like my brother."

"And anyways, you said that it's half about flowers and the other half the school shooting."

"Yes, he's talking about 'our troubles from the past', that being the fact that everyone was homophobic, he killed a bunch of them, 'bringing them to the afterlife'. The fact that he killed them was liberating, and 'illuminated our hearts with light'"

"Okay but what about the last three verses 'Where their petals fell came eternal darkness, let the red blood rain, take us into nothingness'?"

"Well in the first verse he's either talking about the bodies he left behind whilst walking with the bouquet in his hand or he's talking about when he gave me the bouquet and left me. In the second he's either giving a clue on where he's hiding or he's talking once again about the dead, maybe both, and in the last one he's talking either about where he is or the feeling of loss he felt and is still feeling to this day, once again maybe both."

"Well where do you think he is then?"

"I've told you everything I know inspector. Do not expect me to tell you more. I don't know where he is and if I were to find out, I would not tell you. And with that, I bid you adieu." I say and then proceed to turn around and leave the building, none of them noticing that I kept the paper with the handwriting of the one that I dearly love.