Stereotypical (BBC Sherlock)

Chapter 5 - Just an Accident

Sherlock decided to leave the next day. John stayed behind to help me with Nancy. We were leaving at the same time, all crowded in the hall in front of the door. Sherlock pulled his bag tighter on his shoulder, just having finished telling us what to do. He wanted us to find the friends and see if Nancy had been in any danger. Did she have any enemies, anyone she hung around who wasn’t trusted. Were her friends really her friends? Anyone have a reasonable motive? Anyone know where she had been going that night. So on…

He left us to fend for ourselves with the reporters, climbing into a cab and speeding off. John and I grabbed the next one and headed to King’s. It took hours but we finally managed to find the friends Lisa had written for us. John did a lot of the questioning, having been filled in on the case. I stayed to the side and studied their expressions and reactions. I only spoke when I wanted more clarification on why they had reacted a certain way to a certain question.

The friends explained what the three were like. Nancy, Lisa, and Martha had no enemies and got along well-enough with each other’s friends. Everyone agreed that Lisa and Martha didn’t like each other. Lisa thought she was weak and Martha thought Lisa was stubborn. Martha was described as the worrier. If something happened or Nancy was stressed, Martha was the one who panicked – though she often wasn’t sure why. When she felt the need to be strong and struggled to hold herself together, Lisa kept the silence.

As it turned out, all the friends were clean. They all knew she had struggled after her mother and brother’s death and that had brought on her disassociation when she was just a kid. But no one had known her back then, they just heard bits and pieces of it. It wasn’t until I got a hold of Nancy’s doctor that we found out a little about it.

“Her mother and brother died in a terrible car accident. No one’s sure what happened, there was practically nothing left. It’s a miracle Nancy survived. She was only seven. She thinks there’s more to it. I don’t know why, but she thinks something major happened. Martha has nightmares about it and Lisa hates sitting behind the passenger seat. Other than that, I don’t know what’s on about it. She’s determined to figure out what really happened. No one can convince her that it was just a freak accident. Probably skidded on some ice, it was in winter after all.”

I nodded and wrote down what he said. When we left, I called Sherlock.

“Something’s not right about the father.”

“Hello, to you to.” I said.

“Yes, hello. The father is suspicious. Step-mother says she and the girls all got along very well. Seemed afraid to talk around her husband, though. I need you.” He sucked his teeth. “Nancy is calling. Hold on.” He hung up and then called back a minute later. “It was Nancy this time. She’s ready to talk. Figure out what you can and then come here. I need you to talk to the step-mother.” He hung up.

I rolled my eyes. “I had some info, too.” I muttered. “Come on, John. Nancy wants to talk.”

She opened the door and brushed her hair back with a nervous smile. “Hi. Come in.”

John stared at her as she went into the kitchen to get us some tea. I elbowed him. “You have a girlfriend.” He smiled at sat back. Nancy sat in the armchair across from us.

“So um… where do we start?”

“Were you the one who was assaulted?” She nodded and I leaned forward. “Tell us what you remember.”

“I was headed home from the library. Had been looking into um…”

“Your mother and brother’s death. We talked to your doctor.”

“Yeah. I was walking down the street, just needed some air. All of a sudden this guy grabs me from behind. Tells me to stop snooping around. Nothing happened to my mother but I was getting too close to things I didn’t need to know about. That’s what he said. I started trying to fight him and we tripped and went down. I guess I blacked out and Martha must have woken up.”