The Case of the Meddling Siblings [BBC Sherlock - Johnlock]

3

John was surprised to wake. Surprised because he didn't mean to fall asleep, and because he was not woken by anything specific. No murderer trying for a third kill; no Sherlock speaking aloud -- or banging about -- because he'd forgotten (or didn't care) that John was slumbering; no nightmares. His cheeks grew hot -- falling asleep on sentry duty was poor form; it was lucky that the murderer had not returned.

He lay alone in the early morning light and listened for signs of Sherlock. But he had apparently crept out of the room without disturbing John. All was quiet, except for the songs of birds outside.

John washed and dressed quickly before proceeding to the dining room, where Eesha was laying out one lonely place setting at the table in the center of the space. "Sherlock around?" he asked Eesha.

She looked up at him curiously. "No, he ran off over an hour ago -- and without any food! I offered, of course -- but he ignored me." She frowned.

"Yes, well. Sorry about that." He scrubbed his neck, trying to think where Sherlock might have gone. He pulled out his phone to text him, then put it away again; Sherlock rarely responded to texts, despite his generous use of them to issue summons or directives to others.

"Well. I can wrap something up for you to take to him. Wrap something for both of you, if you're in a hurry?"

That assumed, of course, that he'd see Sherlock again sometime soon. He glanced out the front windows and saw that the rental car was missing. "I'm not in a hurry."

"Right." She brightened. "Fry-up? Becks is in the kitchen; She can cook you one right away."

"Yeah, all right." John returned her smile and sat down.

Being the only guest at breakfast was truly an odd experience; at dinner last night, he'd at least had Sherlock to share the attention. The staff had insisted on cooking them a full dinner, so eager to actually serve guests that John hadn't the heart to refuse, despite the oddness of being the sole focus of attention -- had even eaten some of Sherlock's untouched food surreptitiously, to keep the owners from worrying about their cooking, which was quite excellent. Breakfast was excellent, as well, so he did his best to ignore the scrutiny and enjoy it.

After eating, still having heard nothing from Sherlock, John decided to interview each of the staff in turn. In the interest of not having them influence one another more than they already had, John spoke to them each individually in the library. He started with Anna.

She looked very young in the morning light. He wondered if she was long out of school. "So, did you notice anything odd around the time of the deaths?" John asked Anna.

She laughed tightly, startling him. "Anything odd? What hasn't been odd, lately?" John raised his eyebrows, and she threw up her hands. "Ghosts! Murders! Guests with snakes! And now the two of you. No offense."

"None taken," John said drily. It was far from the worst they'd been called.

She was looking a bit nervous; he noticed her hands clenching the fabric of her skirt in her lap. He decided to back up a little, to try to put her at ease. "So how long have you worked here?"

"Going on three years now."

"And you like working here, for Ms. Karim and Ms. Alison?"

"Well, aside from the murders, it's great, yeah." John's lip crept upward, and after a moment, so did hers. "They're great to work for." She took a deep breath and released some of the tension in her shoulders. Then she added, "Well, the past several months have been rough. But it's not their fault -- Eesha and Rebecca are aces."