Eye Contact *ON HOLD*

The Consulting Detective

After Sherlock hailed a taxi, Maggie and John had to rush out of the flat to keep Sherlock from leaving without them. Although Maggie doubted he would have, she wasn’t going to leave it up to chance.  The taxi was silent for a few minutes as Maggie sat across from the two men and Sherlock kept his eyes locked on his smartphone. Soon after, however, he seemed to finish whatever he was doing and lowered the phone, sliding it into the pocket of his greatcoat.

“Okay,” he murmured. “You’ve got questions.”

John and Maggie both nodded. Sherlock pointed to John. “You first.”

“Where are we going?”

“A crime scene. Next?” he asked, now to Maggie. 

“Umm…” she said, looking down so her hair hid some of her face. “I guess, what do you do? And why am I being ‘tested?’”

Sherlock clicked his tongue. “What do you two think I do?”

Neither answered immediately, but John spoke up hesitantly a few moments later. “I’d say private detective…” he trailed off.

“But?” Sherlock asked.

“But the police don’t go to private detectives,” Maggie answered.

Sherlock sighed. “I’m a consulting detective. Only one in the world. I invented the job.”

“What does that mean?” John asked.

“It means that when the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me.”

John stared at him for a moment. “The police don’t consult amateurs.”

Sherlock threw John a slightly venomous look. Maggie raised an eyebrow. So he was prideful as well as dramatic.

“When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said, “Afghanistan or Iraq?” You looked surprised.”

John turned slightly in his seat to look at Sherlock. “Yes, how did you know that?”

“I didn’t know, I saw. Maggie did as well.”

Maggie looked up ever so slightly. “Hmm?”

Sherlock looked at her. “You could tell he was an Army man, couldn’t you? You saw it, right?”

John looked at her in surprise. Slowly, she nodded.

“What, is there a sign on me or something?” he asked.

She shook her head. “It’s.. your haircut, and the way you hold yourself - your posture. It says military.”

Sherlock nodded. “Of course you saw that.” He turned back to John. “And I knew you were a doctor because of your conversation as you entered the room. Do you remember what you said?”

John shook his head.

Sherlock frowned. “Well, that’s no good. You really should try to remember what you say to different people. It may be very helpful in the future, since you never know whether -”

“Sherlock,” John interrupted, “what did I say?”

Sherlock sighed. “”Bit different from my day”, is what you said, as you looked at all the equipment. You were trained at Bart’s, so not just in the Army but an Army doctor - obvious. Anything you’d like to add, Margaret?”

She scowled, although he probably couldn’t see it through the curtain of her hair. “Maggie, please,” she said with annoyance. “But there’s also the factor of your tan.”