Fate Without Time

Chapter 14

Alis' POV
When I awoke, I found myself laying on the couch in the flat again. But this time, Mycroft was there. "Mycroft, what are you doing here? More importantly, why am I back at the flat?" I asked. "You passed out while on a case. Sherlock gave me strict orders to bring you back here and to not let you go anywhere else until he and John returned to the flat," he said. "Why would he do that? I feel fine," I said. "Because, like me, my brother is very concerned for your health and safety. I would have done the same thing if I was in his situation," he said. "I swear, Sherlock can be such a party pooper sometimes," I said. Just then, we heard the door open and close. "Speak of the devil! They're back," I said as Sherlock, John, and Sarah came into the room. "Ah, you're awake. How is she doing, brother mine?" asked Sherlock. "Better. But I'll let you determine if she is fit to continue the case with you," said Mycroft. "Thank you for looking after her," said Sherlock. "No problem. See you around, Alis," said Mycroft as he left the flat. "So, what did you three get while I was out?" I asked. "They'll be back in China by tomorrow," said John. "No, they won't leave without what they came for. We need to find their hide-out; the rendezvous," Sherlock paused as he looked at the photos above the fireplace. John and I went over and looked at the photos as well. "Somewhere in this message it must tell us," he said. The three of us fall silent for a moment. "Well, I think perhaps I should leave you to it," said Sarah. "No, no, you don't have to go ..." John paused as he looked at Sherlock. "... does she?" he asked. "You can stay," I said. "Yes, it would be better to study if you left now," Sherlock said at the same time I did. I threw a dark look at Sherlock before turning back to Sarah. "He's kidding. Please stay if you'd like," I said. "Is it just me, or is anyone else starving?" she asked. "Ooh, God," said Sherlock, sighing and closing his eyes in exasperation. Shortly afterwards, John opened the fridge to find it almost empty apart from a couple of bottles, a can, and what might well have been an eyeball lying on a shelf. He sighed. In the living room, Sherlock had sat down at the dining table which was covered with photos, notes and drawings of various pictograms. As he rummaged through them, Sarah stood nearby, looking at all the pictures stuck to the mirror. "So this is what you do, you and John. You solve puzzles for a living," said Sarah. "Consulting detective," said Sherlock, not looking up. "Oh," said Sarah. Then, Sarah walked over to Sherlock and looked over his shoulder. She pointed to the paper he was looking at. "What are these squiggles?" she asked. "They're numbers. An ancient Chinese dialect," said Sherlock, still not looking at her. "Oh, right! Yeah, well, of course I should have known that!" Sarah exclaimed. John eventually found some cheese puffs in the fridge and emptied them into a bowl as Mrs. Hudson walked in. She had brought even better food, to our relief.  

Back in the living room, Sherlock was just about to commit murder as Sarah picked up the photograph of the brick wall which Dimmock had brought back sealed in an evidence bag. He glared at her in utter fury and then turned his head away, his teeth bared. "So these numbers -- it's a cipher," said Sarah, oblivious to Sherlock's rage. "Exactly," said Sherlock, gritting his teeth. "And each pair of numbers is a word," she said. Sherlock's head popped up. "How did you know that?" he asked, meeting her eyes for the first time ever. "Well, two words have already been translated, here," she said, putting the paper down and pointing at the spot in question. "John, Alis," said Sherlock as he took the paper from Sarah and stared at it. "Mmm?" we asked. "John, Alis, look at this," said Sherlock. We both stood up and ran over. "Soo Lin at the museum – she started to translate the code for us. We didn't see it! "NINE," "MILL." said Sherlock as he read the translation out loud. "Does that mean 'millions'?" asked John. "Nine million quid. For what? We need to know the end of this sentence," said Sherlock as he went over to get his coat and scarf, tossing my coat to me. "So, I assume that this means that I'm fit to get back to work now?" I asked. "You are correct," he said as he helped me put my coat on. "Where are you two going?" asked John. "To the museum; to the restoration room. Oh, we must have been staring right at it!" said Sherlock as he put his coat on. "At-at what?" asked John. Sherlock showed the photo to John. "The book, John. The book – the key to cracking the cipher! Soo Lin used it to do this! Whilst we were running around the gallery, she started to translate the code. It must be on her desk," said Sherlock as we went out of the flat.

"Taxi!" I yelled. But I accidentally swept past some tourists, hitting the man hard enough to knock his book to the ground. " Hey, du! Siehst du nicht wo du hingehst?" the man yelled. He was German. I looked over to Sherlock. "I've got this," I said. Then, I turned to the man. "Entschuldigen Sie, bitte," I said, speaking in fluent German and offering the book back to him. I have Fabian Müller, my high school German teacher to thank for giving me those extra lessons after school. The tourist angrily took the book back. "Ja, danke!" he said as he walked away, speaking so quietly that I couldn't hear him. "Impressive," said Sherlock. "Wait a minute," I paused as I saw an Asian couple consulting an A-Z as they tried to work out their route. I looked back at the books that we sorted through last night. The A-Z was on top of the pile. "That's it! Please, wait! Bitte!" I yelled as we ran back to the German couple.   "Was wollt er? Was will er?" asked the male tourist. Then, I ran up to him and snatched the A-Z out of his hands. "Hey, du! Was macht du?" asked the tourist. "Minute!" I said in German. "Gib mir doch mein Buch zurück!" the man said angrily. Ignoring him, we turned our backs on the couple, who eventually walked away. I handed the book to Sherlock and let him translate the cipher. "Page fifteen, entry one. Page fifteen, entry one ..." Sherlock paused as he turned to the correct page and looked at the first entry. It read "Deadmans Lane NW9." "Dead man. You were threatening to kill him. It's the first cipher," he said. We eventually completed the translation, which read "NINE MILL FOR JADE PIN DRAGON DEN BLACK TRAMWAY." 

Once we got back to the flat, we ran upstairs. "John! John! We've got it! The cipher! The book! It's the London A to Z that they're using..." Sherlock stopped talking as we realized that neither John nor Sarah were anywhere to be seen. "Oh, God! We have to find them! They could be killed!" I exclaimed as we ran over to the bookcase. "Tramway," Sherlock paused as he found a folding map of London, which he spread out on the dining room table. "There," he said as he pointed at the area in which John and Sarah were being held captive at. Then, we grabbed the map and quickly got into a taxi, gave the driver the destination, and were on our way to save John and Sarah.

When we got to the tramway, Sherlock told me to stay hidden while he did the work.

A/N: I'm just going to give you guys a clip of this scene. I'm too lazy to do the transcript. Also, stop the video at 2:42.

After the incident, Sherlock and I were talking to Inspector Dimmock as John was leading Sarah away. "We'll just slip off. No need to mention us in your report," said Sherlock. "Mr. Holmes..." "We have high hopes for you, Inspector. A glittering career," I interrupted him. "I go where you point me," said Dimmock. "Exactly," said Sherlock as he put an arm around my shoulder and we walked away.  

A/N: I'm just going to stop the Blind Banker there.