Hello Detective

The Hounds of Baskerville Part 4

"You do?" The Major asked confused.
"I'm getting a little slow on faces but Mr. Holmes here isn't someone I expected to show up in this place." Dr. Frankland said. Shit, shit, he was going to give us away. I knew he recognized you all.
"Oh, well..." Sherlock began.
"Good to see you again, Mycroft." Dr. Frankland said, which surprised all of us. "I had the honour of meeting Mr. Holmes and his assistant Miss Gregson at the WHO conference in... Brussels, was it?" Dr. Frankland said, shaking Sherlock's hand.
"Vienna." Sherlock said, playing along.
"Vienna, that's it. This is Mr. Mycroft Holmes, Major. There's obviously been a mistake." Dr. Frankland said, why would he protect us?
"On your head be it, Dr. Frankland." Barrymore said, still displeased.
"I'll show them out, Corporal." Frankland said, leading us reluctantly through the door.
"Thank you." Sherlock said when we were out of the building.
"This is about Henry Knight, isn't it? I thought so. I knew he wanted help, but I didn't realize he was going to contact Sherlock Holmes!" Dr. Frankland said. Sherlock smiled briefly.
"Oh, don't worry, I know who you really are. I'm never off your website. I thought you'd be wearing the hat though." the doctor said again.
"That wasn't my hat." Sherlock said. Dr. Frankland turned to me.
"Touchy subject." I smiled.
"I love the blog too, Dr. Watson." Frankland said.
"Oh, cheers." John said.
"The pink thing. And the one about the aluminium crutch. Didn't expect to see you though Sergeant Gregson, is the Yard in on this one too?" Frankland asked.
"No, I'm on holiday." I lied, but sometimes that was easier.
"You know Henry Knight?" Sherlock asked him.
"Well, I knew his dad better. He had all sorts of mad theories about this place. Still, he was a good friend." Frankland said, he turned his head to see Major Barrymore staring at us suspiciously. " Listen, I can't really talk now. Here's my cell number. If I can help with Henry, give me a call."
"I never did ask, Dr. Frankland, what exactly is it that you do here?" Sherlock asked.
"Ah, Mr. Holmes, I would love to tell you, but then, of course, I'd have to kill you." Dr. Frankland laughed.
"That would be tremendously ambitious of you. Tell me about Dr. Stapleton." Sherlock said.
"I never speak ill of a colleague." Frankland said.
"But you'd speak well of one, which you're clearly unable to do." I pointed out.
"I do seem to be, don't I?" He said with a smile.
"I'll be in touch." Sherlock said, holding up his business card as he walked away, we all followed.
"So? What was all that about a rabbit?" I asked, Sherlock fixed his coat and put his collar up.
"Oh, please, can we not do this, this time?" John asked when he saw what Sherlock was doing.
"Do what?" He asked, confused.
"You being all mysterious with your... cheekbones, and turning your coat collar up so you look cool." John said as he got in the car. I couldn't help but laugh. Sherlock gave me a look.
"Aww, don't be mad." I said, hugging him.
"I don't do that." Sherlock argued.
"Yeah, you do." I laughed as I got in the back of the car.
"So the email from Kirsty. The missing luminous rabbit." John began.
"Kirsty Stapleton, whose mother specialises in genetic manipulation." Sherlock said.
"She made her daughter's rabbit glow in the dark?" I asked.
"Probably a fluorescent gene. Removed and spliced into the specimen. Simple enough, these days. So we know that Dr. Stapleton performs secret genetic experiments on animals. Question is, has she been working on something deadlier than a rabbit?" Sherlock asked.
"To be fair that is quite a wide field." John said.
I noticed that the car pulled up to a huge house. I figured it had to belong to Henry Knight, but Jesus this place was huge. I followed the boys to the front door where Sherlock rang the bell.
"Hi. Come in, come in." Henry said, as he opened the door.
"This is beautiful." I told Henry.
"Are you, um, rich?" John asked.
"Yeah." Henry said.
"Right." John said.
Henry led us into the kitchen where he gave us coffee. John looked at his watch and slipped you a few more pills.
"You're a lifesaver Watson." I smiled.
I sat down at the counter while Henry began to talk.
"There's a couple of words, it's what I keep seeing. Liberty and In. Just that." Henry began as John wrote down the words in his notebook. Henry turned to put something back in the fridge.
"Mean anything to you?" John asked Sherlock.
"Liberty in death? Isn't that the expression. The only true freedom." Sherlock whispered.
"What now then?" Henry asked.
"Sherlock's... got a plan?" John said.
"Yes." Sherlock said after taking a sip of his drink.
"Right." Henry said.
"We take you back out to the moor." Sherlock began.
"Okay..." Henry sighed.
"And see if anything attacks you." Sherlock finished.
"What?" John and I asked at the same time.
"That should bring things to a head." Sherlock said.
"At night?" Henry asked, nervous. "You want me to go out there at night?"
"That's your plan? Brilliant!" John laughed.
"Got any better ideas?" Sherlock asked,
"That's not a plan." John argued.
"If there is a monster out there, John, there's only one thing to do. Find out where it lives." Sherlock said.
I was tired and needed a nap but I wanted to be a part of the investigation and help. I was feeling a little better than I was this morning with all the medication John has been giving me, but I was nowhere near 100%.
As the sun set, Henry led Sherlock,John, and I to the moor and down to Dewer's Hollow. We each had flashlights in hand. I stayed close to Sherlock, after a little while of walked I turned around and noticed John was no longer there. He must have seen something and followed it.
"Met a friend of yours." Sherlock said, when we were almost there.
"What?" Henry asked.
"Dr. Frankland?" Sherlock said.
"Oh, right. Bob, yeah." Henry said, absentmindedly.
"He seems pretty concerned about you." Sherlock noticed.
"Oh, he's a worrier, bless him. He's been very kind to me since I came back." Henry told us.
"He knew your father?" I asked.
"Yeah." Henry answered.
"But he works at Baskerville. Didn't your dad have a problem with that?" I asked him.
"Well, mates are mates, aren't they? I mean, look at you two. You hate police Mr. Holmes yet you're dating one." Henry said.
"The rest of the police force are mormons, I've just managed to find one that isn't." Sherlock said.
"Dewers Hollow." Henry pointed once we had arrived.
The Hollow was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was like we were down in the earth surrounded by large trees. I felt like the headless horseman was going to come running through the wood any moment. In all fairness, the place did have an eerie feel about it. It seemed like the temperature dropped ten degrees when we got there. I moved closer to Sherlock as I looked around.
    When I made it to the bottom your head began to spin. I noticed several large footprints on the ground. There was something so dark about the place. I began to feel light headed. It was almost as if every breath I took was making me more and more light headed. Like I was breathing something I shouldn't. My heart was racing, almost like fear.
    I began to hear howling and as I turned around to find the noise my legs gave out. I fell, completely unconscious. I had never fainted before, there was something wrong with this place. On your way down, as my eyes rolled to the back of my head, I tried to grab Sherlock's arm but I missed.
    "Adelaide?" Sherlock yelled, as he turned and saw me on the ground. He knelt down beside me, placing my head in his hands. He was shaking in fear, he couldn't believe what he had just seen. He checked to make sure I had a pulse, which I did. I was just out cold.
    "Oh my God. Oh my God." Henry kept repeating. "You saw it, didn't you? She must have seen it."
    Sherlock picked me up and carried me out of the Hollow. Once at the edge of the woods near Henry's house we ran into John. Another howl filled the air.
    "Did you hear that? Oh my God, what happened?" John asked when he saw Sherlock carrying me.
    "We saw it. We saw it!" Henry cried.
    "No, I didn't see anything. She's unconscious, she must have fainted." Sherlock answered.
    "What? What are you talking about?" Henry asked, knowing Sherlock had seen something.
    "I didn't see anything." Sherlock repeated as he carried me into Henry's house and laid me down on a couch.
    "I saw it. He must have. I guarantee she saw it too, that's why she fainted." Henry said. Sherlock knew that wasn't the reason I fainted, it must have had something to do with the fact that I was sick. He was having trouble believing what he saw though. Henry kept rambling about seeing it.
    "Henry, Henry, I need you to sit down. Try and relax, please." John pointed to a chair while he checked on me. He too checked my pulse, relieved when it was there. John used his flashlight to check my pupils. I seemed to be fine, I would have a terrible headache when I woke up though.
    "This is good. I'm not crazy. There is a hound, there is. And Sherlock, he saw it too. No matter what he says, he saw it." Henry said.
    I began to stir while John knelt beside me.
    "Adelaide? Adelaide, can you hear me?" John asked, as my eyes slowly blinked open.
    "John?" I asked, slowly looking around. "What happened?"
    "You fainted, we need to get you back to the Inn and to bed. I knew it was a bad idea to bring you..." John began.
    "Did you see it?" Henry asked me suddenly. My head was spinning, I had a migraine, and I just wanted to go to bed.
    "I don't.. I..." I muttered, holding my head in my hands.
    "Henry, I'm going to give you something to help you sleep, but I need you to calm down okay? I need to get Adelaide home." John said, as he helped me to my feet.
    He brought me back to the Inn & pub and Sherlock was sitting in front of the fire. When he saw me walk in, holding onto John's arm for support, he jumped to his feet.
    "Are you alright?" He asked, placing his hands on my arms, examining me. I nodded slowly.
    "I was taking her to the room." John said.
    "I'll take her." Sherlock said, leading me back to the room while John stayed in the pub.
    Inside the room, Sherlock sat me down on the bed and sat down next to me.
    "Did you see it too, Adelaide?" Sherlock asked, nervously.
    "I don't remember, I don't think so." You began to cry, he wrapped his arms around me. "Sherlock, that place, there something bad there. I heard something and when I turned around everything just went black."
    "I know, I know. I don't know what I saw. I'm sorry, I got you into this mess. You could have been safely at home." Sherlock said as he held me.
    "It's not your fault. I don't know what happened in the Hollow Sherlock, but it wasn't your fault." I told him.
    "Go to sleep." Sherlock said, kissing my forehead. I nodded and laid back in the bed. I crawled under the covers as Sherlock left to meet John in the pub.