Sophia Holmes and the Great Game (Sherlock's Daughter Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Four - Ian Monkford Part I

We meet Lestrade at Scotland Yard the next morning for the follow up of the Carl Powers case.

Dad moves across to the window, his mind still trying to figure out what happened last night. It's clear Lucy didn't have anything to do with it, but we might need to go back there again.

"She lives in Cornwall," Lestrade says, and I realise I must have missed John's question. "Two men broke in wearing masks, forced her to drive to the car park and decked her out in enough explosives to take down a house." I turn around and walk over to Lestrade's desk and dad follows me over. "Told her to phone you. She had to read out from this pager." He puts a pager down onto the desk and I smirk happily and take it from John's unexperienced hands to look at it.

"And if she deviated by one word, the sniper would set her off," dad completes.

"Or if you hadn't solved the case," John adds as dad begins to walk back to the window.

"Oh. Elegant," he says softly to himself.

"'Elegant'?" John repeats, sighing and raising his head in exasperation.

"But what was the point?" Lestrade questions. "Why would anyone do this?"

"Oh - I can't be the only person in the world that gets bored," dad replies.

"He's showing off," I explain. "Finally stepping up to take credit for the murder of Carl Powers."

"Our bomber is the murderer?" Lestrade says, looking confused.

"Why else would he keep the shoes?" I say.

Lestrade opens his mouth to say something else, but the pink phone beeps, signalling a new message.

"You have one new message," the phone says, and dad walks back towards the desk as the phone sounds the Greenwich pips, each of us counting.

"Four pips," John voices.

"First test passed, it would seem," dad says. "Here's the second." He turns the phone around to show us a close-up picture of a car, a Mazda RX-8 to be exact. Lovely car to run, apparently. Its number plate is clearly visible in the image, and the driver's door is wide open. It looks abandoned.

Outside in the main office, a phone rings. I don't know why I'm bothered by it - phones ring all the time here, it's a police station. But there's something wrong.

"It's abandoned, wouldn't you say?" I suggest, passing over the phone.

"I'll see if it's been reported," Lestrade volunteers, picking up his phone.

As he does so, Donovan enters, holding another phone. "Freak, it's for you."

I glare at her as dad walks over, takes the phone, and silently walks out into the general office. For mine and John's benefit, I tap into the conversation and prop it up on the table on speakerphone.

"Hello?" I hear dad say into the phone, and John looks anxiously at my mobile.

"It's okay that you've gone to the police," a frightened young man says - another hostage.

"Who is this?" dad questions. "Is this you again?"

"But don't rely on them," the man continues, ignoring dad.

I hear Lestrade on his own phone as he calls around the different departments trying to trace the car, but he isn't getting anywhere yet.

"Clever you, guessing about Carl Powers. I never liked him." I clench my fists tightly at this but continue to listen as the hostage fights back some tears. "Carl laughed at me, so I stopped him laughing."