Sherlock - The Game Is On!

The Reichenbach Fall- Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

A minute or two later, the Chief Superintendant walks out onto the street holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose. Whilst Donovan gets towed away in an ambulance with a broken nose and arm.

Slapping handcuffs on John, we are shoved against a police car. Sherlock looks across to us with an amused expression on his face. "Joining me?"

"Yeah. Apparently it's against the law to chin the Chief Superintendant." Sherlock then looks to me. "What did you do?"

"I may of head butted Sally which resolved in breaking her nose then I may of broke her arm." I mumbled, frustratingly. An armed officer unlocks the cuff on Sherlock's right hand and transfer it to my right wrist, chaining us together. "Hmm. Bit awkward, this."

"Huh. No one to bail us." John concludes. "Well my aunt could bail us but I was thinking more about our imminent and daring escape." Looking down, I see a radio lying on the dashboard of the car that we're leaning against. The radio squeals as the dispatcher speaks. "What?"

I reach through the open window of the car with my free hand and press down on button. Instantly the officer behind us double over in pain. Sherlock reaches behind him and pulls the officer's pistol free, instantly raising it. I suddenly get yanked by Sherlock and John follows. Sherlock calls out as he aims the pistol towards the nearest officers. "Ladies and gentlemen, will you all please get on your knees?"

Lestrade mumbles a 'For fucks sake'. When nobody reacts, Sherlock raises the gun and fires twice in the sky. "NOW would be good!" Pointing to the police again, Lestrade instructs everyone: "Do as he says!" He gestures everybody downwards and all the police start to kneel. We start to back away. "Just so you're aware, the gun is his idea. I'm just a... You know..." Sherlock aims the pistol to John's head. "My hostage."

"Hostage! Yes, that works, that works!" We continue to back away "So what now?"

"Doing what Moriarty wants, I'm becoming a fugitive. Run." We race off down the road with John stumbling behind. "Michelle, take my hand. John take Michelle's."

"Now people will definitely talk." Sirens approach at a junction ahead. We all swerve from Sherlock's lead, causing the pistol to fall within the process. "The gun!"

"Leave it!" I shout. Shoving us down a side alley, a police car races straight across the junction. Sprinting down the alleyway we reach high railings. Sherlock leaps up onto the top of a dustbin and vaults straight over the top of the railings. John and I are left behind. Pulling Sherlock close to the bars I speak: "We're going to need to coordinate." Sherlock quickly scans around us. "Go to your right." John kneels gesturing for me to climb on him. A few minutes later we reach a T-junction Sherlock turns to the right, then immediately brakes and ducks back again as a sirening police car races past the end of the alley. We lean side by side in height order against the wall catching our breath for a moment.

"Everybody wants to believe it, that's what makes it so clever. A lie that's preferable to the truth. All my brilliant deductions were just a sham. No one feels inadequate, Sherlock Holmes is just an ordinary man." Sherlock predicts correctly. "What about Mycroft? He could help us." Grunting, we're dragged across the opposite side of the alley. "A big family reconciliation? Now's not really the moment." He spins around, dragging us in a circle behind him and looking back the way they came. John spots something at the end of the right arm of the T-junction. "Sherlock."

I elbow him in the direction John was looking. A face is peering around the corner at the end of the alley. "We're being followed. I knew we couldn't outrun the police."

"That's not the police. It's one of our new neighbours from Baker Street. Let's see if he can give us some answers." I break into a run, away from the man in question. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to jump in front of that bus." Sherlock stated. "What?!" Already on the move John follows us freely out into the street. The assassin races after us. Halfway across the road, Sherlock screeches to a halt directly in front of the approaching bus. John's impetus carries him past Sherlock before he's able to stop and turn and now we're all facing the bus and not moving. The assassin charges into the road, throws himself at us, shoving us out of the way. Tumbling to the ground the bus driver blares his horn. Before the assassin can recover, Sherlock sits up and drags the man's own gun from his jeans, then cocks and points it at him. "Tell me what you want from me."

"He left it at your flat."

"Who?"

"Moriarty."

"What did he leave?" I asked. "The computer keycode."

"Of course. He's selling it, the programme he used to break into the Tower. He planted it when he came around." Three gunshots ring out and the assassin reels and drops to the ground. We stare up in the direction the bullets came from before racing off. As police sirens approach again, we duck into an open doorway and yet another police car drives past the end of the road. We take another moment to catch our breath. "It's a game-changer. It's a key, it can break into any system and it's sitting in our flat right now. That's why he left that message telling everyone where to come. 'Get Sherlock.' We need to get back into the flat and search."

"CID'll be camped out. Why plant it on you?" John stated, breathing heavily. "It's another subtle way of smearing my name. Now I'm best pals with all those criminals."

"Yeah, well, have you seen this?" Stiffly picking up a copy of 'The Sun' we read that's from a Kitty Riley. "A kiss and tell. Some bloke called Rich Brook."

"Who is he?"

Sometime later, Sherlock, John and I are sat waiting inside Riley's flat. She hesitantly pushes the door open and reaches for the light switch on the wall. The lights comes on and she is greeted with the sight of us, drumming our fingers on handcuffed hands. "Too late to go on the record?"