Ashes, Ashes

The Beryl Coronet

- c h a p t e r   e i g h t -

Sherlock found himself bored within 221B once again, something that seemed to occur every other day. If he wasn't working on a case, then he wasn't entertained. He didn't want to use any of his brainpower to further investigate whatever Emma was currently going through, either. All of her glitter and fancy new outfits remained pushed aside.

He'd been continuing to help John and Mary with their wedding planning, something that was fairly thought consuming while it lasted but also rather dull and tedious. There had to be better things for him to do than just help the soon to be married couple, he felt sure of it.

But unfortunately, all of the cases he had access to at the moment all seemed to be horribly dull. He could solve most of them just by glancing at a few details and staying in the flat. Most of the clients that had come as of late could be solved within 221B as well - Sherlock wanted much more than that.

He craved the excitement of running from or to a serial killer, of truly understanding what had happened in a sudden instant, of solving the case after it had been puzzling for far too long. In hopes he might somehow be able to find something to ease his woes, he glanced out the window to see what was going on out there, if perhaps there were any clients coming.

John and Mary both followed hs gaze out the window, trying to see what Sherlock was looking at out there.

"Oh my goodness, that man looks absolutely mad!" exclaimed Mary. She was right - the man was walking around in more or less of a zig zag pattern, and even from the window it was easy to tell that his face had turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"And I think he's coming this way," John added in. He'd dealt with some interesting clients before, but ones who were particularly emotionally charged were always the most difficult...but for Sherlock, they tended to be the most interesting. They more often than not carried fascinating cases along with their wild emotions, and that was the one thing Sherlock wanted most.

They waited patiently for the man to continue making his way into the flat. Now that they knew he was coming, however, time seemed to move significantly slower. In their anticipation, all three migrated back towards their seats and waited for the man to enter.

The man barged into the flat as if he'd been waiting to get inside for hours and needed nothing more than to gain entrance. But then he continued walking straight forwards, rushing straight towards the wall where he began to beat his head repeatedly.

"Oh, God, don't do that," John cried out, leaping out of his seat in order to prevent the man from causing damage to himself. He gestured for Mary to come along and help, which she did immediately. While the two of them were working to help the man get calmed down, Sherlock just stood aside and waited for them to get through it all.

This was one of the reasons he enjoyed having other people around whenever he started taking new clients - they could do the parts that he couldn't, such as dealing with normal people. Then he could spend his energy on working on the case and figuring it all out. He waited a few more moments longer before speaking up.

"You have a case for me," Sherlock said. He didn't seem to be taken aback by the way the man had come rushing in like a madman, going straight to bang his head against the wall. If anything, Sherlock seemed amused by this behaviour - whatever had caused such a reaction must be particularly interesting.

"I do," the man said, the redness in his face gradually starting to fade away. "I thought that you would figure that much out at least...well..."

"Something was stolen from you. Something extremely precious...most likely something with a high monetary value."