Case Closed

• Fifteen •

His words did hold her back. But only for a few moments. She dashed to the window and peered out, craning her neck to see down into the street below. Seconds later, a whirlwind in a white lab coat stormed out of the Yard's main entrance. As he strode down the sidewalk, people around him stepped away and looked down, put out by the manic look she assumed his eyes held.

"Don't do anything stupid Prof, please..." she groaned. He crossed over to the other side of the road, almost getting hit by a lorry halfway, and disappeared into the newsagents. Opening the window felt like a good way to find out more, but all the sounds of London reached her, blocking out any conversation below. She was reaching out for her coat to tail him when he appeared on the pavement again. Wanting to laugh at the obscene gestures he was making in the direction of the shop, she focused again on the street.  Behind him, a disgruntled looking older lady shook her head and shut the door. It would have been some kind of comedy sketch scene, if she was not so worried about what he might do next.

What she saw after, however, was not in the slightest bit funny. The Prof stood for a few minutes on the pavement until the doors opened again to give way for- "Oh no."

Thought for whether confronting him was safe barely passed her mind as she tugged her coat off the hook and bolted for the door. Taking the stairs four at a time led to her almost falling to her death more than once, but there was no time to waste. The Prof couldn't see him, not now that she had figured it all out.

How had he found her?

She thought, after the hospital, he'd finally gone away. And now he was back. Her suspicion had arisen after the Prof had explained the case to her; she had no doubt about who this man was anymore.

"Lucy, Lucy, wait!" It was Hilda, the last person she wanted to talk to at the time. "I need to talk to you. About the other night..."

"Um, Hilda," she began, "I don't really care any more. I don't want to know why you followed us, and I don't care about your excuses. But I need to go, so if you still want me, I'll talk to you later." Holding ver breath, she waited for her boss' reply.

"Oh, er, ok." It shouldn't have been that easy, but she wasn't complaining.

Throwing the doors open, she scanned the street for the Prof, but it was too late. He was striding down the road, sticking close to the buildings on either side. And about 20 metres in front of the Prof, she saw him.

"Crap." She wouldn't be able to get to them without the Prof flipping at her. And anyway, he looked like someone who didn't want to be followed - tailing these people was her job. There was something strange about investigating her own partner, but that didn't matter right now. Blood pumping, as it often did before a chase, she set off down the road, walking quickly enough to move towards them, but slowly enough that she didn't look too suspicious. She kept her eyes glued to the Prof's back so that there was no chance of her losing sight of him. The busy streets of London, while offering substantial cover, made it very easy to lose the trail of a sus- person. He was not a criminal.

Just like that, he vanished. Lucy stopped abruptly, scanning for a place he could be hiding. Did he know she was tailing him? She sprinted forward again, pushing and shoving through the bustling crowds of commuters, scanning for a flash of red hair.

There.

There was a side alley to her left that she darted down, following it round to the back of an old bookshop she had visited before. The Prof stood at the end, bus back to her, and his arm against... his neck.

"Prof?"

"Lucy?" The surprise was evident in his face, which sharply flicked back to Potty Prof's snarl, as he growled, "I told you to stay in the office!"

"You're not wrong, but, er- what are you doing?"

"Settling a dispute. Get lost."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Prof. Let him go."

"Why should I?" his eyes bored into hers'.

"Firstly, 'cause this is sort of illegal. Secondly," she put her hands on her hips, "I think you owe me an explanation."

"Fine."

He grabbed the other man's collar and pulled him around. Even though she knew it was coming, Lucy gasped as she took in the contrasting yet similar faces of the two boys from the family photograph.