Stolen Kill

A Masterful Plan

Irene hated London weather. This morning, she had done up her hair all intricately, but now the rain had ruined that completely. She was standing in the rain, which was coming down heavily, and bouncing up from the floor, splattering her leggings. Fun.

She saw somebody running towards her in black.

"You're late!" Irene yelled over the crashing of the rain.

"Sorry about that," Mary Watson said when she reached her. "Come on, let's go inside."

The warehouse was big. It was one big cavernous room, dark, damp and dusty. There wasn't much around, just a few tables. Some massive bulks, covered in tarp, were strapped to the ceiling far above with rope.

"So, why did you actually call me here?" Miss Adler asked, grimacing with distaste at her surroundings.

"Because wandering around a warehouse is really boring on your own," Mary answered. She was looking up at the objects hanging from the ceiling.

Irene glanced up at the ceiling and shuddered. There was something suspended directly above her. She shuffled to her left, her head spinning with vertigo and the fear that it might fall on her.

Mary jogged to the centre of the room, focused on the other shapes hanging from the ceiling.

"What do you think they are?" Irene wondered. She was perched on a table, swinging her legs and generally being useless. Well, why should she help? It was Mary's kill anyway.

"The death of Klaus Kraven," grinned Mary. "Those ropes look pretty old.... It would be an awful shame if that huge, piano-looking mass were to fall on top of him."

"Clever," Irene agreed, nodding. "Very clever. Unless..."

Mary shot her a look like Irene was the target. "Unless what?"

"Unless he's moving around? I mean, how long is it going to take for something to fall from the ceiling? At least two or three seconds. How do you expect him to stand there for that amount of time?"

Mary scowled at her friend.

Irene knew that Mary hated bringing her on these trips sometimes - Irene made Mary look like less of a genius. But that wasn't true. Irene knew about the business of assassination. She'd dabbled in it once, but it wasn't for her. It took days to think and re-think every scenario of a plan. Mary would've thought about the fact that Kraven could've just moved away, but Irene thought of it quicker. Well, she couldn't blame Mary. When you're in that blur of excitement when you've come up with a plan, you dismiss any thought that it may be flawed.

"This is an empty warehouse. There's nothing for him to do here. He probably just sits around at a table and scribbles," Mary grumbled.

Irene laughed. "You are so stubborn. Kraven is up to something and you know it. Come on." She began walking to the other end of the warehouse, smirking. Mary reminded her of Sherlock sometimes. She was an absolute genius, but could be awfully stubborn when she was wrong.

Mary sighed as Irene inspected the end wall. She walked the length of it, and couldn't help smiling when she saw a door. So he doesn't just sit at a table and scribble. "Hey, Mary?"

"What? What is it?" demanded the assassin, racing across the warehouse to meet her.

"I found a door," Irene declared. She tried the rusty handle as Mary caught up. It was locked. "Crap."

"I could shoot it open... But I'm pretty sure he'd realise that his lock has been shot at when he returns tomorrow. You got any ideas?" Mary asked, turning to Irene.