Believe in Sherlock

Chapter 30-Maggie's POV

We rushed out of the flat building with a very confused John being tugged along by Sherlock. Literally. Sherlock had a rather tight grip on John's collar. John can never keep up with Sherlock's long strides.

"Sherlock! Let go of my collar!" John shouted and tried to rip his collar out of Sherlock's grip. Sherlock abruptly released John, causing the sandy blonde haired doctor to stumble and nearly fall to the ground. I caught him and helped him steady his footing.

He smiled gratefully at me and I returned the gesture. Sherlock stopped walking and turned to face us. "Did you happen to notice anything with his fingers?" Sherlock asked me.

"They were rough. He cleaned them often. But that doesn't tell us much." I replied.

"Did he smoke?" Sherlock asked.

"No. He didn't smell of it nor did his hands give anything away." I replied. "Where are you getting at, Sherlock?"

"There was a cigarette laying in his bathroom. It was still warm which mean someone had to have been there before us. Someone who smokes." Sherlock said.

"Wait, can you all just explain everything you saw? I was stuck in the sitting area the whole time." John said, joining our conversation.

"The tea was drugged." Sherlock said simply.

"What? How-" John started.

"I smelled it. I can tell the difference between the smell of tea and the smell of a sedative." I interrupted. "That's why Sherlock took your tea into the bathroom to dump it and why I spilled mine all over the carpet. Sherlock, you did keep one of the cups, right?"

Sherlock presented a glass teacup out of his pocket.

"Oh, did you see anything in the kitchen?" Sherlock asked me.

"When I went into the kitchen, he indeed did have a dinner set up." I said.

"And....?" Sherlock pried for more information.

"I don't think it was for a date. It looked setup to be a...meeting of types." I said.

Sherlock nodded in agreement.

"What about the bathroom? Other than the cigarette what did you deduce?" John asked.

"Mr. Brown had a visitor earlier. One who smoked and most likely is rather close to him. He wasn't dressed up in a suit and tie so it must have been a man. Not a woman. A man he must be familiar with and might even be seeing him again later tonight." Sherlock said.

"So, let me get this straight because I am obviously not on the same page. Someone was with Jim earlier and now they are coming back later tonight? Why wouldn't they just stay and discuss whatever they need to talk about when they were there earlier?" John asked curiously.

"Because, John, we scared them away." Sherlock said with a rather disappointed look at his partner and friend.

"How could they possibly have known we were coming? We weren't exactly loud getting in." John argued.

"They didn't have to hear us to know we were coming." I answered.

"Wait, so how did they know?" John asked.

"For Gods sakes,John! Do you have to ask so many questions?" Sherlock shouted, exasperated.

"That's the one thing we aren't sure about." I confessed to John. Sherlock sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as if to wipe away all unnecessary information.

"So what now?" John sighed and folded his arms across his chest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, as if afraid of what Sherlock had planned.