The Holmes Called A [Sherlaide III]

Recall [A]

One Day Later

After pushing around the leftover food on my plate for half an hour, not having enough of an appetite to finish, I sigh and push it away. Mycroft, who has been sitting across from me at the little kitchen nook, clears his throat, "At least eat one half of that. Then you'll have sufficient protein and other nutrients to last until dinner."

"I can't, Mycroft. I'd rather be out looking for clues and finding my husband than sitting here."

He looks up from his phone, "We have not determined who took Sherlock yet, and until we do we cannot confirm whether they were and still are after you. And Sherlock would want you safe and secure here. When we find him, will be his first question. Asking whether you are safe and well."

"... I know. But I can't bring myself to eat any more right now."

Mycroft nods and stands up. He picks up my plate and takes it to the counter, selecting a plastic container and transferring the food into it to save for later, "Stop thinking about whether you should have skipped the confectionery and stayed with him. Because you split off, the kidnappers could only get him and not the both of you since you were with a lot of other people. The car park was nearly empty so Sherlock was alone when he was ambushed."

"But at least I'd be with him, Mycroft."

"If they'd gotten you both then no one would have called me and John to start looking for you, let alone the police. We're lucky you decided to go looking for sweeties. And Sherlock is probably well aware that you are safe, which will help him remain calm and patient," He explains and walks back over to me, "We will find him, Adelaide. I've always found him in the past and I won't stop now."

I smile tearily, "Thanks, Myc."

"No need to thank me, sister in law. Just don't use that nickname around anyone else." At that I laugh a bit.

"I won't."

We hear the front doors open and I turn to watch John and Greg run in, "We have the results for that substance on the syringe from yesterday, and we found another syringe today. Different liquids but similar properties." John announces breathlessly.

"Really!? What are they then?"

"They will help us nail down who is responsible. Do share the results." Mycroft adds.

Greg holds up a folded stack of papers, "You were right, Mycroft. No sedatives or tranquilizers. None. But they weren't drugs either."

I stand up, "Then what were they, Greg?"

"Basically poison. Compounds synthesized from different toxins. The tests show that they would have affected his nervous system and muscles. And the doses would have been enough to lay him out so they could shove him in their getaway car and run."

The three men start discussing the implications and risks given that the liquids were toxic. Meanwhile I drum my fingers on the table. Toxins targeting the nervous system...

Probably a concentrated dose of poison and venom.

Why does this sound familiar..?

"Greg, what kind of toxins were they?" I suddenly ask, walking over to him. He hands me the results and flip through them.

"Oh no..," I murmur as I analyse the charts, "No..."

"Adelaide, what is it?" John asks.

"These compounds. As a whole, they're synthetic. But broken up, they're all biological chemicals. They ultimately came from animals or even plants that are exotic and difficult to acquire."

Mycroft takes the papers and scans them over, "Indeed they are. But you're not a Toxicologist. How would you know what toxins they were built with?"

"Because I work with animals that can be toxic. Either poisonous or venomous. And I recognize those compounds."

I have seen these somewhere before. When!?

"The specific formulas. I know them..." I admit, taking back the toxicology report.

"Wait. Toxic compounds, used to make synthetic solutions... Wasn't that the poaching case from over a year ago?" John ventures.

I freeze up and drop the papers, " They got out of prison, then. And came back for revenge!"

"Who?"

"Creighton Lowry and Jacob Powell! They were partners and we locked them away together! Creighton had developed a number of synthetic venoms and poisons from those he was able to procure from specimens he'd poached. Jacob made sure no one found him out and took care of the poached animals when Creighton couldn't," I massage my temples, "I got a chance to look over their formulas for the court case to help the prosecution... That's why I remember these. Although they've been tweaked."

"Which implies that they've been experimenting to perfect their essential biochemical weapons," Mycroft states and pulls out his phone, "Lestrade, phone the Prison and figure out how and when they got loose and why they weren't recovered. John, Adelaide, try to recover the rest of the formulas and figure out exactly what effects they have."

I nod, eager to finally be doing something useful. John and I call the Case Attorneys and with a little help from Mycroft are able to request the original formulas and other evidence. They email us the scanned documents and we use the house's computer to start looking through them.

So organized and detailed... I remark as we analyse the formulas and the recorded data associated with them. There are plenty of observation notes detailing the effects of the toxins on animals. Many of them are horrific. I gulp, "If they're using Sherlock as a test subject...John, we have got to find him before they kill him."

He squeezes my shoulder, "Don't worry. We'll find him, Adelaide."

Stay Strong, Sherlock. We're coming.

Thank you for reading!!! ❤💕