𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝑮𝒐 (𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒐𝒏)

Chapter 7 Teaser

It's a short while later that John has caught up with Cora and Sherlock hobbling along on his cane after them down the street as he now asks, "Where are we going?"

"Northumberland Street's a five-minute walk from here," Sherlock informed him.

"You think he's stupid enough to go there?"

"No," Sherlock returned expectantly with a smile, "I think he's brilliant enough. I love the brilliant ones. They're always so desperate to get caught."

"Why?" the older man frowned in question.

"Appreciation!" Cora told him with a smile almost as equal as her brothers, "Applause! At long last, the spotlight. That's the frailty of genius, John: it needs an audience."

"Yeah," John now offers the female Holmes a pointed look.

Oblivious to the implications, Sherlock spins briefly around on his heel to specify the area before them when all Cora did shake her head and pinch the bridge of her nose for him being such a show-off as they continued down the street.

"This is his hunting ground, right here in the heart of the city. Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go," Sherlock holds his hands up either side of his head trying to concentrate on his thoughts, "Think! Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?"

"Dunno. Who?" John asked them with a shrug.

"Haven't the faintest. Hungry?" Sherlock replied as he and Cora uncaringly shrugged both of them just as stumped about it.

Since having lowered his hands, Sherlock and Cora lead John towards one of their favourite places to eat in London. A waiter stands near the small restaurant's entrance, and it's clear to John that they know who the twins are and takes them to a reserved table in the front window.

Cora offered her appreciation as they now took off their coats and sat down, "Thank you, Billy."

The twins instantly now turned to gaze out the window, just as John sat down, the female Holmes nodding at the building across the road, "Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Keep your eyes on it."

"He isn't just going to ring the doorbell, though, is he? He'd need to be mad," John conveyed to them.

"Need I remind you that he's already killed four people," the female Holmes recalls to him with a scoff.

"Sherlock!" a man bellows joyously with a grin approaching their table, briefly shaking hands with the male Holmes, "Anything on the menu, whatever you want, free," he lays out some menus, "And of course the stunning Cora who's always with her brother accompanying even when he's on a date anything on the house for you as well," Cora couldn't help but smile at the large man laughing a little at how he possibly thought John was her brother's date.

"Do you want to eat?" Sherlock now turned to John.

"I'm not his date," John implied to the man.

"Oh, my apologies," he awkwardly cleared his throat before looking between the female Holmes and John, "Then you must Cora's date."

"He's not my date," Cora implied seriously with a frown leaving an awkward silence in the air.

"Oh, well, these two here got me off a murder charge."

"This is Angelo," Cora introduced to John, who briefly shakes the other man's hand as she continued to explain, "Three years ago, my brother and I successfully proved to Lestrade at the time of a particularly vicious triple murder that Angelo was in a completely different part of town," she added lastly, "House-breaking."

"He cleared my name."

"Just a little bit," the female Holmes reminded Angelo.

"Anything happening opposite?" Sherlock now asked.

"Nothing," Angelo shook his head before turning to John again, "If it weren't for them, I'd have gone to prison."

"You did go to prison," Sherlock frowned at him.

"I'll get a candle for the table. It's more romantic," he suggested looking to John once again before walking away

"I'm not his date or hers!" John returned indignantly as the man walked away.

Cora gently placed down her menu to look at him and casually suggested with a slight shrug of her shoulders with a genuine smile, "You may as well eat. We might have a long wait."

A few moments later, Angelo placed a small glass bowl containing a lit tea-light upon the dining table, giving a thumbs-up to walk away again.