Stereotypical (BBC Sherlock)

Chapter 9 - Risks

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Lestrade lead us out of the hospital. "Case wasn't mine to start. I just got it along with the information that we've been tipped off. That's how they found the first one. Someone called and told them. I just got a call telling me about this one. Our killer's overconfident."

The flat smelled from outside. I buried my nose in my collar and followed them in. John knelt beside the body. "Dead maybe 3, 4 days? No fatal wounds but he went through quite a bit of torture." He opened the man's mouth. "Cyanide pill. He went on his own terms. Probably didn't give them anything."

Sherlock shook his head. "I wouldn't say so." He pointed to the crooked picture on the wall. Taking it down, he found a hole in the wall. "His eyes told them what they needed to know, most likely. Probably looked at it before he died."

An officer looked inside, flashing a light. "Empty."

"Careless killer, leaving the bodies like this." Lestrade remarked.

I shook my head. "He's tipping you off, probably tipped off a reporter or two. He's leaving a trail. He wants his targets to know they’re next. It's a game of manhunt. You're in the dark and all you know is that someone is after you. The only thing is, you don't know who."

Sherlock nodded and gestured towards the body. "What have you got?"

I stepped forward hesitantly. I'd seen the bodies in the morgue and I'd seen the pictures. But I'd never actually... I shook myself and looked at the body.

"Oh God."

"Jordan?" John grabbed me and pulled me away. I covered my mouth and turned my face into his shoulder.

"It's Tim."

"Tim?"

Lestrade spoke for me. "Timothy Allen. Biochemist working for a facility about twenty minutes away."

"He was the kind of man that would definitely die for his country. I just didn't think it would ever come to that. He didn't have the formula to Project Jade but he could get them a step closer to it."

"So we have to get there before him." Sherlock remarked calmly, looking at me carefully.

"I don't have clearance, I can't get you far. But I can get you farther than him."

John rubbed my back and held me tight. I pulled away and looked at Sherlock pleadingly. He nodded and I rushed out of the flat. They came to get me a few minutes later. John held me close and helped me into the cab.

"We're going to the facility tomorrow. You alright with that?"

I nodded slowly and looked out the window. I hadn't known Tim well; we'd only seen each other once or twice. But he'd been friendly and funny and it had been interesting to learn about his work. I could have been good friends with him. And now he was dead. He'd endured possibly hours of pain and then ended it on his own terms. I knew he had no one to go home to. The Project tended to appoint men and women who had no attachments. Relationships were cultivated at the employee's risk. No one would miss him but me, it seemed.

"You didn't know him well. I don't understand why you're upset." Sherlock remarked.

I shrugged. "I liked him. And now he's dead. I mean... It's just not fair, is it?"