I am not lonely [Mystrade] - BOOK 2

CHAPTER 202 : Flight back

A steward was slowly walking up the alley, discreetly scrutinizing every passenger in the dim-lighted cabin of the plane. The light had been turned off right after the diner to allow the passengers to sleep and this was usually the moment were the cabin crew found themselves allow resting in the front of the plane before serving breakfast. To have a steward walking up and down the alleys without having been called by anyone at this time of the flight was quite odd, in Mycroft's opinion.

The politician gently shook his husband by the shoulder to awake him from his nap and silently pointed his finger toward the crew member. Greg, asleep and tired was not really in the mood to play a 'guess what is happening' game but after a couple of minutes observing the middle-aged man he had to admit that all this searching was an unusual thing to do in a plane. The steward finally retreated behind a curtain, in the space were all the crew members shall have been taking their break.

Still silent, the elder Holmes stood up from his seat and gestured to the other man to follow him. They swiftly made their way to the curtain behind which the steward had disappeared and got through it. Five crew members were apparently discussing a pretty serious matter according to the expressions on their faces but none of the visitors were able to catch anything about it before the employees noticed their presence and shut up.

"What can we do for you sir ?" the senior flight attendant wondered in her most professional voice.

"Detective Inspector Lestrade, Scotland Yard." the policeman stated, showing her his card. "What is going on ? You've got intelligence to look out for someone on this plane ?"

"How do you know that ?" the woman retorted, quite impressed and scared.

"We saw you scrutinazing the face of everyone in the cabin." Mycroft explained quickly.

"And who are you ?" the stewardess questioned, suspiciously looking at the tall man with the bossy voice.

"Earl Holmes, senior civil servant at the Cabinet Office." the politician dismissed the question. "So who are you looking for ?"

"We've received this picture taken at the airport when the passenger boarded." the woman explained, showing them a blurry CCTV image of a white man in his twenties or thirties in a black jacket and jeans, carrying a little backpack.

"Have you found him ?" Greg wondered, taking a closer look at the picture.

"We are not sure, we've found at least three people who could match this picture." the steward the two men had first saw searching explained. "It's night, difficult to see for certain."

"Were they all sleeping ?" the elder Holmes asked, interested.

"Yeah, why ?" the employee nodded, not understanding what was the reason to such an interrogation.

"Well I don't know you, but if I was to do something that was sufficient to get myself searched after by the police on the ground, and they couldn't even wait until the landing to stop me, I wouldn't sleep that well." the politician exposed in a smirk.

"Were the toilet locked when you checked the passengers ?" Greg suddenly questioned as if an idea had just crossed his mind.

"One of them yes, but it might just be someone needing the gents." the steward replied, quite overwhelmed by the situation.

"The 'fasten your seatbelt' sign is still up and people usually respect that." the policeman retorted. "Which toilets are the one you spotted ?"

"Down here, the first one on the right, I'll show you." the flight attendant lead them out of the crew space.