The Great Game [Reader Insert]

The Golem

     (*Sigh* Life is hard when you're a writer who can't write. Okay, here we go.)

     "The gallery attendant," Sherlock muttered.

     "Sorry, what?" John asked.

     You were in a cab with the boys headed to the gallery, the one Woodbridge worked at. Sherlock was on the far right, John in the middle. Which obviously meant you were on the left side of the car. It was just pulling up beside the museum.

     "John, I need you to find out all you can about the gallery attendant," Sherlock said, louder this time, as he opened the door. "Call Lestrade and he can tell you the address." He stepped out. "(Y/N), come on."

     "Wait, Sherlock!" you called. "Are you really going to trust John to investigate?" You glanced back at John. "No offense," you added. He just rolled his eyes.

     "Good point," Sherlock admitted.

     "I'd better go with him. And hey, when you get in there, get a picture of the painting and send it to me."

     Sherlock nodded and shut the door.                                                                                                                

     -----

"We'd been sharing about a year," Julie- Alex's flatmate- said, leading you and John into his attic space. "Just sharing."

     While John stared around the room, adorably pointless as he was, you did some investigating. Julie hovered anxiously in the background. She was breathing so loudly you wanted to strangle her. (I'm usually watching the episode as I write, but I seriously can't right now, because loud breathing is like a pet peeve of mine. Sorry, Julie.)

     Your eyes fell on an object on the other side of the room, covered in a large white sheet. You danced your way across the room (goshdarnit, it was figurative- you didn't do the moonwalk across the floor or something), careful not to step on any of Alex's things scattered about. 

     Under the sheet was a telescope. You smiled. You liked to stargaze in your childhood, although you could never afford a telescope. You'd always wanted one. "Stargazer, was he, Julie?" you asked.

     Julie seemed startled to be addressed. "Y-yeah. Mad about it! It's all he ever did in his spare time..." she smiled faintly. "He was a nice guy, Alex. I liked him. He was, uh..." Julie laughed. "Never much of a one for hoovering."

     "What about art?" John asked. "Did he know anything about that?"

    Julie shook her head and shrugged. "It was just a job, you know?"

     You looked around the room. The only things here were necessities or things to do with astronomy. Did Alex really have no other hobbies? It seemed so. You didn't know whether to be relieved of suspicious. If it the only thing he ever did in his spare time was look at the stars, that made your job easier. But people are rarely so simple.

     "Has anyone else been round asking about Woodbridge before or after he died?" you asked Julie. 

     "No," Julie answered. "But we did have a break in the night before. Nothing taken. Oh- there was a message left for Alex on the landline."

     "Who was it from?" you asked, moving from where you stood to a map of the stars on the wall. One area was circled in red marker, and written beside it were the words ' Van Buren Supernova! '.