Royalty

Chapter 27: They're All Pressing Until They're Solved

 (A/N: 

How did I do that? How the actual hell did I reach 1K READS?!

Primarily, thank you so much. Like holy crap I was just hoping for ... one person to notice this and maybe if I was lucky, like it, so this is insane to me, thank you so much.

I'll ask again if there's anything you guys would like me to do for the 1K, I'm pretty much open to anything (within reason)

I guess I'll just say thank you again, and I hope you enjoy! Plus, I tried James' POV, please let me know if it's alright!)

"Remind me what exactly we're supposed to be doing," I said, taking another swig of water.

A heavy sigh from Sherlock. He does that a lot. "We're just looking for any sort of trail, any kind of clue."

"But she was kidnapped over a month ago now. Wouldn't the police have found something?" John remarked.

"Well, I didn't have any other ideas," Sherlock snaps. "Besides, we can still look at her phone's history."

"... which is at the police station, and nowhere near her school, where we're standing," I commented. Sherlock shot me a glare, and I sighed, adjusting my arm in the sling, wincing as I moved it. It hurt a lot more than I was letting on.

I was fine.

I would be fine.

Maybe.

But for now, I let Sherlock feel like he was being useful. And he was technically right, there was a chance we could find something. But it wasn't great.

I sighed. We were standing in front of the girl's school. It was a little past noon, and I was starting to get kinda hungry.

"Okay, so what's her most likely route? If she was going to Scotland Yard," John said.

"I'm not sure. There are a couple of options. First of all, did she know she was in danger? If she didn't, she would have taken the most obvious or simple route --"

"But if she knew she was in trouble, then she either would have taken the most direct or fastest route," I finished.

"Or, she would have taken the most discreet route, to try and stay out of sight," Sherlock added.

I pulled a skeptical face. "Or, if she knew she was in danger, she would have picked the most crowded route, so there was less danger of being taken or hurt, which would probably be the Tube."

I was vaguely aware of John rubbing his temples as Sherlock listed off the options. "So either the least crowded route, the most crowded route, the most obvious route, or the fastest route."

"Scotland Yard is far enough, we won't have time to completely search all four routes," John reminds both of us. He is right. Sherlock nods, and as he speaks, his hands articulate his words. He does that a lot, using his hands while talking.

"So let's narrow it down. The most crowded route and the fastest route would probably be the Tube. So now that's three possible routes."

"And if we can figure out if she knew whether she was in danger, we can knock out another option."

"Have you looked at the sketchbook yet, Astra?" John asks. I shook my head.

"I haven't gotten the chance, really, but I do actually have it on me ..." I reached into my jacket pocket, flipping through the sketchbook. "Did you get a look, Sherlock?" I asked as I looked at each drawing. He nods distractedly.