Sherlock: His Lover Called A [Sherlaide II]

The Shannon Case

Sherlock strode into the skyscraping tower, more confident and determined than he had been in weeks. He and Lestrade were joined by John, who was pleasantly surprised at how composed his best friend was. Right call letting Adelaide take him, "Hullo, Sherlock."

"Hello, John. Enjoyed your week off? Of course you did, you were able to spend time with Mary and Rosie in Ipswich."

John didn't bother to wonder how the brunette had deduced that. He just nodded and smiled, "Glad to be back on cases though. Mary says I do get rather restless when you're not dragging me around London. And you, mate? Good week? You certainly seem in high spirits."

"I am in high spirits precisely because this round is not going to be another loss. And since you must know, the past week has been good," The detective responded and then tsked, "Now to this case. The network has decided to deviate from homicides, thus this is an abduction case. Lestrade?"

"Er, yeah. Thirty five year old woman named Bridget Shannon, works for the company here as a chief editor. Her co-workers reported her missing when she didn't attend two meetings and found her office ransacked. Looks like the security cameras were hacked as well."

"There must be a message in that office then. In their boredom they will have left it in plainer view."

They got to the office crime scene and Sherlock wasted no time investigating and deducing from the clues there. He left no stones unturned and within minutes found the network's message on Bridget Shannon's desktop, confirming their involvement.

Lestrade and John stood back while the hat detective turned the entire office upside down. The DI hummed, "I hope this one doesn't turn out like that one before."

"With the ambassador's kids?" John clarified.

"That's the one." The army doctor sighed and shifted on his feet.

"Yeah, that was what started the downhill spiral. But I don't think this case is going to be a repeat of that. From what Sherlock's said this is just another round in the network's game. Besides, I don't think it could get that far again."

"Let's hope so."

Sherlock was studying the floor when he finally found two sets of scuff marks on the metal door frame that had been there for a while, matching up with when Bridget Shannon had been abducted. Bingo. Men's size 12.5, flat soled brown dress shoes. The abductor was likely disguised as an office worker. The other marks belong to Shannon, signs of struggle as she was led from the office. Balance of probability suggests that she was threatened into compliance. Peculiar trace of dirt from the tread mark. I will need to visit the lab to analyse it.

"Andersen, here," Sherlock brought the forensic scientist in and had him collect the dirt samples while he stood and addressed John, "We need to make a stop at Molly's lab. The dirt sample can be analysed there along with the other fibres."

"Alright, mate."

Once the samples were ready they took them and raced out to flag a taxi to St. Bart's. Sherlock checked his phone and found a sweet text from Adelaide, reminding him to be safe and cheering him on. He smiled and responded appropriately before giving Molly a heads up.

While he was analysing the samples and working at the case, Molly couldn't help but go over and ask, "So, Sherlock, how are things between you and Adelaide?"

"Adelaide and I are doing quite well, Molly. Although I believe you are also enquiring as to our wedding plans."

"W-well, I'm just curious, with everything that the network has been putting you through, if you two have been having trouble with the planning?"

Sherlock sat back and looked at her. He knew she meant well and unlike John, she had a softer approach that he often appreciated. He sighed, "To answer that question, yes. The network has stalled our planning process. But I am fairly certain that after this round we will be able to rectify that."

John piped in, "And you do know that you can come to any of us for help, Sherlock, if you get hung up on the wedding?"

"Of course, John."

The computer beeped, having finalized the analyses, and the final readouts popped up on the screen. Sherlock turned his attention to it and quickly deduced where they would need to look, "You know where we're going, Sherlock?" John asked.

"Yes. Inform Gary and have him meet us in Wapping," Sherlock threw on his coat and tied his scarf, "The Game is On."

Thank you for reading!! 😘 Stay tuned!!