And then there was three; a Sherlock Fanfiction

Four

John Watson sat in the back of a cab, still grumbling quietly. He watched out the window as his small suburban home came into view.

When the car came to a stop John stepped out and walked to his front door, pushing it open angrily. As he entered he called for Mary; he had to voice his anger to someone.

"In here John!" Mary called from the living room, "You're home already?" She asked, setting her book down in her lap as John entered the room.

John huffed, sitting down in a chair heavily. He snatched the newspaper from the table beside him and flipped to a random page aggressively.

"Should I ask why you're home already?" Mary asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Because of Sherlock bloody Holmes that's why!" John slammed the paper back down on the table, furious, "one of my oldest friends stops by to visit and he just snatches her up! They all got in a cab and he shut me out of it: told me to 'get the next one' when I don't even know the address!" He was fuming. Mary attempted to mask her laughter with a cough, but failed to disguise it when she saw the look on John's face.

John glowered at her. "This is serious Mary! He's going to get Lilly blown up or something!" John stood up, Mary laughed even harder. "She's working on a case! It could dangerous!"

"John! She's going to be fine," Mary said, calming down a bit, "I'm sure she can handle herself. Don't worry, you're just a little jealous," she smiled mischievously at him.

"Jealous? What are you talking about?" His fury only made Mary start laughing again.

"John, your two best friends are spending time together without you. It's natural to feel jealous,"

"I am not jealous!"

•••

The late Gracie Brown's house was almost completely destroyed by the fire. It was scorched black, and several walls were coming down. The fire had obliterated everything in its path. Before it, the house was probably a cute little bungalow, but the fire made it look dark and menacing. Inside the house was even worse. But of all the rooms, the kitchen was the most depressing scene."

As they entered the kitchen, the three had to step around a lot of fallen debris. Sherlock pulled out a magnifying lens, studying the charred remains of the oven. He moved quickly, scanning the appliances rapidly, moving on to the surrounding cabinets.

Lilly's eyes scanned the rest of the room, taking in the damage. "And where was the body found?" She asked Amelia, her eyes still focused on the room.

"Um, right there" she pointed to the floor, directly in front of Lilly. It was next to the fridge, about four feet from the oven.

"What way was the body facing?" Lilly asked, kneeling to study the floor. Sherlock was busy studying a pan discarded on the stove to notice.

"She was face down; the police think she panicked and tripped, hitting her head when she fell. Apparently she was unconscious when she died..." She faded off, staring at the spot where her sister spent her last few minutes sadly.

"Was she facing the stove? When she fell I mean?" Lilly looked at Amelia this time. She couldn't help it, she felt bad for this woman.

"No, she was facing the other way, towards the door,"

Lilly nodded, her mind racing, "and how would you describe your sister?" She stood up, brushing off her knees.

Amelia thought for a minute before she answered, "Stubborn. Gracie was extremely stubborn. She was smart too, but she didn't push herself enough. She went to school for graphic design and computer programming for a while, but she dropped out." She stared into space wistfully,

"She was loyal, too. She was always there for me, when we were kids. Gracie would get into fights with everyone. She didn't have much respect for the rules, so she'd get in quite a bit of trouble. Her heart was always in the right place though," Sherlock was listening now, taking notes in his head.

"Curious," Lilly commented eventually.

"What?" Amelia asked.

"The way you described Gracie, it doesn't match." Lilly paused as Sherlock reviewed everything in his head, attempting to understand what he'd missed.

"You explained Gracie as tough, 'fearless' in a sense, right?" Amelia nodded. "Okay, and the body was found face down, her head pointing towards the exit, like she was trying to get out, correct?"

"Yes but I don't see why-"

"It doesn't fit. When given the choice between fight or flight, Gracie shows clear signs of preferring fight. But in this situation she chose to run..."

"It doesn't fit!" Exclaimed Sherlock, "If it were an accident she would have simply put out the fire. Oh this is brilliant!" Sherlock flipped the collar of his coat up, and spun a stunned Amelia around once. She stumbled backwards as he let go, watching as Sherlock strode back to where they'd entered, "c'mon John were going to the morgue."

"John's not here Sherlock," Lilly said, passing Amelia to follow him out.

"He isn't?" Sherlock turned around, searching the surrounding area, "no, he isn't, is he? Where did he go?" He asked as he turned back around.

"I'm not sure, he never arrived," Lilly answered, trailing out the door behind him.

"Hm, strange," he reached the sidewalk and held his arm up to hail a cab, while whipping out his phone.

St. Bart's Hospital
15 minutes
Meet you there
SH

He hit send and climbed into the cab.

After the two were inside, and Sherlock gave the cabbie the destination, he turned to Lilly, breaking the silence.

"You know, you seem a bit overqualified for a secretary," he raised an eyebrow, studying her with his piercing blue eyes.

Lilly looked back at him innocently, "Isn't everyone overqualified for a secretary?"

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That was kind of a lame ending, but oh well! Today was my first day of exams and let me tell you studying helps a lot! I've finished Biology and French, so only four more to go! Thank you for reading!

Au revoir!
M