Constellations Strung With a Shooting Star | Sherliam

Chapter Nineteen

An evening had been spent alone at the local library, and Sherlock has come out of it quite satisfied.

That time in the library was used to search through maps for Milverton's villa address, and such was successful. He knew that it was in Brighton, but the particular spot had been a mystery to him. When he found it, though, it all made sense. Of course Charles would choose to take secure homage along the English channel. It's a near perfect spot for one that considers themself a predator, much like the blackmailer.

After planning and plotting it out bit by bit in his head, he'd left as soon as that. With as little time as they have to prepare, little to no time could be wasted.

... Or perhaps it was simply because he was getting hungry. Whatever the case, he'd left right after that piece had been polished.

And after that, he briefly stopped by for lunch for both him and John. He had the doctor take up the job of searching for items they could use in the basement. Said basement is endlessly filled with things that Sherlock's collected and kept from various crime scenes, as they tend to come into good use. And Watson seemed thrilled about the idea of rummaging through it, so it's a perfect way to have him spend the time.

But now, with that evening business concluded, Sherlock returns home with the bag of lunch in his hand, still warm and fresh. He keeps what he has in mind for tomorrow night shelved for now, letting it sit in the back until he so needs it. He directs his thoughts elsewhere, as he steps through the entrance and enters the flat. He also happens to walk into a conversation between Hudson and John, though the doctor quickly discards whatever it was at the very sight of the ravenet.

"I'm back," he announces briefly, quickly grabbing Hudson's eyes and attention as well. She turns around, arms crossed with an inspecting gaze; but John immediately brushes past her and nearly knocks her over out of increased excitement. His almond eyes are almost ablaze, kept behind an eye mask that he must have found in some crevice of the basement.

He doesn't even notice the bag in the detective's palm as he rushes towards him. "Sherlock! Look what I've found!" He marvels, gesturing to the mask strapped around his head. Admittedly, it more so looks ridiculous on him rather than impressive, but Holmes won't admit that to his face. "I found a few in different colors, so there's one for you, too!"

Passively and without much thought, Sherlock slumps his shoulder and glides right past the doctor. "Ah. Aren't they dashing." He doesn't make any attempt at making it sound as though he's genuine; he knows for a fact that him and John won't need masks like that when they actually take their step into the mission. It could obscure their identities, but such a problem is minuscule in this case.

As Sherlock sets the lunch bag down on the coffee table, Watson chuckles and crosses his arms overneath his chest. "Oh, please. You don't honestly think that, do you? You could give them a proper look!" When he earns an unserious snort from his partner, he sighs under his breath and swiftly decides to alter the subject. "Well, then. How was the library? Did you find everything?" He glances over Sherlock's shoulder, taking note of the bag this time.

The ravenet gives him a nod, a slight satisfied smile on his lips. "Yeah, that I did. His house is in East Brighton, right atop the famous seven sisters cliffs along the English channel. Perfect viewing point; from there, he can take in everything coming and going. Like a vulture on its perch," he grumbles, snaking out a marked map from the lunch bag.

The other man takes a short look at it, nodding his head some. "Right, well.. That makes sense. And at least we know when he'll be out, so that eliminates a lot of problems." He takes the map, observing how Sherlock had marked it. Some of it is unclear, things that only the detective would be able to interpret out of himself; though most of it manages to make enough sense. He purses his lips, setting the map down and removing the eye mask from his head. "Well, we have the lay of the land down. That's good. What else is left for us to prepare?"