Just another case... (on hold)

4 - Polite Stranger

John's POV
I went home. I couldn't think of a way around Sherlock. At one point during my taxi ride home, I thought of following him, but he would notice. He's like that. Then I thought that maybe I could investigate Lestrade and Mrs Hudson's disappearances myself. That way I could find out who this woman that had such an astonishing effect on Sherlock is. This seems like a good idea at first, but then I remembered when I investigated that man who got killed and found on the train tracks alone. Sherlock always finds a way to figure out whatever I am doing. Why does he have to be so damn smart?

He didn't care about my personal investigation about West but... judging from how sensitive he got in Costa just now... I knew that he definitely wouldn't like it at all if I tried to investigate this.

I had no choice.

I had to leave him to himself.

I had to trust him.

Meanwhile...
Sherlock had left Costa only about 5 minutes after John had. He just had a few more questions to ask the waitress.

He pulled out his phone, typed something in and showed it to her.

"That dark-haired woman. Is this her?" he asked, trying to stay calm at the sight of her again.

The waitress looked at the webpage.

"Yes. I think so." she said. She sounded quite concerned after seeing this page. "Why do you have that on your phone? What is she doing on that website? Inspector Lestrade wasn't... doing anything... Was he?" She was clearly starting to panic and freak out. "No. No. Mrs Hudson was here. She wouldn't be involved with that sort of thing... Would she? Oh my God... This is weird...What are you doing on that website? Why do you even know about it? You are meant to be some sort of detective and detectives are much more professional than that. Are you justsome sort of perverted loner? Get out of this café! I dont want to see you back here!" She hardly stopped for a breath.

"Okay." Sherlock replied, surprisingly calmly. "But I am not a pervert and I just one more thing from you."

"DO I HAVE TO GET THE MANAGER??" She was screaming now.

Sherlock placed a hand on her wrist to try to calm her down. "Where did they go. Did you see where they went?"

"Someone help me! He's grabbing me! Get off you perv!"

Two of the customers walked over. They were both quite big men.

"Come on. Leave this poor girl alone." One of them put their hand on Sherlock's shoulder. Sherlock tried to ht it away. They looked strong, but not skilled.

"I just need to know whe-" he was cut off but a fist connecting with his face.They would usually be no match for Sherlock's skill and technique but, unfortunately, the thought of this woman, The Woman, was distracting him. He couldn't focus. He was weak, especially after that punch. The two men dragged him outside. He didn't bother trying to go back in. There was no point. His nose was bleedong so he pulled out a tissue. He was about to start walking away when he heard a voice.

"Are you okay?" It was a girl. Quite young. possibly about 14 or 15. She wasnt like other teenagers, that much was clear. She wasnt wearing anything fashionable and had no make up on. Sherlock could immediately tell from her tone of voice that she was the sort of person to always help if she could.

She was quite tall. No that tall but quite. About 5'6" or 5'7". She had long brownish-blond hair and blueish-grey eyes. She was wearing a pale blue floral dress. She was obviously dressed up for something. That was when he saw a young boy, about the same age, come out of Costa staring at her in shock.

"You can't just walk out. Come on Jessie. I am taking you somewhere else. Away from this crazy guy." He looked at Sherlock. Great, he thought, everyone saw that display.

"No. I am staying here." She replied fiercely

"Didn't you see what just happened? He was touching that girl."

"I believe that isn't true. Did you see him do anything inappropriate? Didn't think so. I believe there is a reason for him being there and, you never know, we could help."

"You can stay then. I am going home. This date is over. Don't expect another one."

"I don't want one. Just go. I don't care."

"Seriously?"

"Look at me."

"Okay... What am I looking for? I don't see anything."

"Well that's because there is nothing to see. No emotion. I don't care. ALREADY OVER YOU. Bye!"

Sherlock said nothing this whole time. For once he felt that he didn't need to say anything. This girl had everything sorted. The boy left and the girl turned back to Sherlock.

"So. Are you okay?"

"Um... Yeah... Did I just ruin that for you?"

"Well... you made the date end quicker... but that's a good thing... I had high expectations for my first date but that was just boring."

"Right. Well I'll be going now." Sherlock had never felt comfortable having conversations. There was nothing to criticise about the way she spoke, what she was doing.

"Wait. What exactly were you looking for, may I ask? I am guessing you were looking for someone. A woman, from the way you acted, that you quite like but I can tell that the thought of her being here and having something to do with the person who has gone missing, I'm assuming, kinda scares you. Am I right?"

"Yes. Near enough. Missed a few things though."

"Let me continue then. The woman you are asking about, she has some sort of website with very.... intimate... photos of herself on it. That is why the waitress thought you were a pervert. You are quite upset at the thought of her and you don't want anyone to get involved because they all think something and they are all wrong. You don't want the truth coming out but... in a way you do... is that everything?"

"Ahhhh. So you're a real genius too?"

"No. I just pay attention to details. Especially when I am being bored out of my mind by some ordinary prick." Clearly she was referring to the person she was with earlier.

"Right. Okay. You might be useful, in that case."

"How long have you been there?"

"Not long but we have been around town all day. If you are asking where that woman and the other two went, they went that way and then right down that alley." She said as she pointed behind her. "I would say that they were going to that abandoned car park down the road."

"Right. Thanks. See you around, Jessie, was it?"

"Yep. And you are the famous Sherlock Holmes. Good to talk to you. I love your website by the way. The Science of Deduction. Brilliant. See you around, Shirley."

"Please don't call me that."

"What are you gonna do? I will call you what I like, Shirley." He knew she was joking but it didn't matter because they probably wouldn't meet again. She went off down the road and Sherlock went the way she had directed. Well. That was weird. She almost made Sherlock look like a normal human.

Okay. I hope you liked this chapter. It was a really long one and I put a lot of effort into it. 1243 words!! That's about 3 times the normal length.

See ya lovelies.

12-6-17-17-10-6 Xx