Mrs. Holmes [Book III]

Dessimination

Sherlock had to call Scotland Yard to take care of the body. Luckily the phone was actually registered to the man- Darren Nelson. Along with the rest of the information stored on the phone, this turned over a new clue as to whom they were after. Niles and Mycroft were informed by John while Sherlock calculated where the shot had come from and what weapon would have been used to make for an easy getaway.

Eventually they returned to 221B to go over the new evidence. Missus Hudson met them at the door and when she saw Sherlock spattered with blood and both of them looking nearly frostbitten she gasped loudly, "Are you boys alright?!"

"We are quite alright and the blood isn't mine," Sherlock quickly replied, "Has anyone come by?"

"No clients or otherwise, not while I've been here. And I bolted the door when I went to Speedy's for lunch. But Brooklyn's here. "

"Susanna?"

"She's been alright, but I think this whole thing's got her pretty stressed out. She's been baking with Brooklyn, though, to try and distract herself."

"Mmm... Smells like some sort of bread," Sherlock turned to head upstairs, "Thank you for watching her, Missus Hudson."

"No problem, dears."

The duo bounded up to the flat and the smell of warm bread of some sort- savory and buttery, with a note of sweetness- wafted through the seams of the doors to greet them. John chuckled, "Maybe they'll let us have some. Smells wonderful from out here."

"Don't get your hopes up too much. If this is to satisfy cravings then I doubt we'll get any." They chuckled together.

They walked in and shed their outer layers, welcoming the warmth of the flat. They found Ziva sprawled out lazily in front of the hearth, warming her belly- spanning its length from tip to tail. She twisted to look at them and mewled before turning back to the fire. Brooklyn peeked out of the kitchen, "Oh, hello, b- What the heck happened to you two?!"

"It's nothing-"

"What happened?" Susanna called from the kitchen. Sherlock strode in and found her plating a batch of baked, misshapen golden brown balls of dough and basting them with melted butter. He recalled that they were called Biscuits in America- her mother had made them a few times for them when they visited Florida and they'd been served at the resort. She turned around and paled, "Sherlock, are you and John both hurt!?"

"No, the blood isn't mine. Neither of us are injured, Love," Sherlock assured, "It belongs to the man who was stalking us since October for whomever is planning to attack your family.  A sniper finished him off before he could talk. The good news is we have his phone and new evidence to process."

"I'm just glad you're okay. I don't particularly like seeing my husband come home with blood on his face and clothes- wait, a sniper?!"

"Yes. A single bullet. They only wanted to plug a leak, indicating that John and I weren't the targets. Relax, Susanna," He placed his hands on her shoulders and kneaded them a bit, trying to relieve the tension there, "John is curious about what you've been baking."

"Oh, just proper southern biscuits and banana bread."

"Explains the sweet scent."

"Yeah, I haven't made banana bread in a very long time though so I hope it turns out," She hummed as John and Brooklyn joined them, "You and John are welcome to the biscuits. The banana bread is for me and Brooklyn."

John looked a little upset that the banana bread was off limits but gladly took his share of the fluffy buttermilk biscuits. Sherlock took a couple too and leaned against the counter beside Susanna as he talked through the case out loud. Brooklyn sighed, "So they already know all about our habits and daily routines?"

"Yes."

"Which also means they've probably been following my pregnancy as well- whoa..!" Susanna broke off and let out a small puff.

"Susanna, are you alright?" Sherlock probed, reaching out and pressing his hand to the small of her back.

Susanna nodded, resting her hand against her tummy, "Yeah. Just Braxton-Hicks."

"Braxton-Hicks?" Brooklyn inquired.

"Practice contractions," Susanna breathed through her nose and then relaxed, "Only the second time that's happened. So don't worry, I'm not going into labor. I've still got weeks before then." That was aimed at both Brooklyn and Sherlock.

The banana bread came out and the guys retreated to the living room to sift through the new information and attempt to ignore the yummy fragrance of the baked goodies. Sherlock added to the wall and worked at picking apart the phone, bouncing questions off of John.

Finally Sherlock delved into his mind palace and froze in front of the wall, hands pressed together under his chin as he puzzled and dessiminated the clues.

Niles had updated the list of potential enemies behind the ploy- narrowing it down and switching a few people out with new suspects. Sherlock cut and pasted his information to compare with each candidate.

Eventually he eliminated about half of them from the list. As he came up for air, Susanna lifted a small plate holding a thick slice of warm banana bread and a generous slathering of butter up in front of his face, "Want some?"

"I thought it was off limits."

"I'm offering it to you, Darling." He smiled and accepted it, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Thank you, Love." She nodded and then looked at the papered wall. Sherlock tucked into the banana bread- allowing his brain a brief reprieve. Behind him he could hear Brooklyn handing John a slice too- the doctor was quite enthused about it.

"I recognize many of the names." She mused.

"Niles said you would."

Susanna faced him again, "Have you gotten anywhere with the phone?"

"Not very far."

"Let me take a look. I can hook it up to my laptop."

"Seriously?"

"Did it with Irene Adler's phone. There might be more hidden on his phone than you think."

Thank you for reading!!