Sophia Holmes and the Abominable Bride (Sherlock's Daughter Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Nine

As promised, we catch the very next train down to Tyntesfield House in Bristol. Although the traditional Victorian trains would run at half the speed of the modern trains, inside The Framework, they run just as fast - if not faster.

We spend most of the journey in silence: John and I watching the scenery go by out of the window as dad sits with his eyes closed in thought beside me. It's one of the many times these past few months that I've wished dad had thought to add wifi into our 19th-century Framework, but I suppose that would decrease the authenticity of it all. 

Utterly bored, I turn my thoughts to the case. Both Moriarty and Ricoletti shot themselves in the mouth, in front of witnesses, and somehow survived. The only apparent difference between the two is that Emilia had two guns whereas Moriarty just had the one. Could she have pretended to fire the gun in her mouth but actually shot the second gun? It's times like this where we could do with a modern-day forensics team and a detailed ballistics report. 

If that's the case, why would she go to the trouble of faking her death in the first place? In my mind, that just causes more trouble than it prevents. Couldn't she have just shot her husband first, and then herself, if she was going to kill herself anyway? What could possibly be the motive behind faking her death first? Increase fear? Publicity? And what were these 'invisible enemies' that Mycroft was referring to? Is it possible we're actually looking at a vengeful ghost case better suited to the British Men of Letters?

"You don't suppose ..." I start, but dad interrupts. 

"I don't, and neither should you."

"You don't know what I was going to say."

"You were about to suggest there may be some supernatural agency involved in this matter, and I was about to laugh in your face."

I roll my eyes. He's literally been possessed by a demon and helped stop the Leviathans from taking over London, and yet he's still denying the existence of the supernatural?

"Papa, as I told Lady Carmichael, this happens to be one of my specialities. I've talked with a ghost before, and we have acquaintances who make a livelihood dealing with instances such as these. Isn't it just worth considering that this is a supernatural being we're dealing with?"

John, who has been looking stunned throughout my argument, suddenly speaks. "You've talked with a ghost?"

I wave it off as tactfully as I can. "A long time ago, before we met." I look pointedly at dad who finally opens his eyes. 

"You may rest assured there is no ghost in this case, Sophia. This has all the makings of a perfectly straight-forward - if not extra-ordinary - explanation, but as you will recall Mrs Ricoletti was cremated shortly after her autopsy. If what you have told me about ghosts is correct, then Mrs Ricoletti cannot be one. No, we must look to a simpler solution to explain his return."

John frowns. "What did you say?" Dad doesn't respond, his eyes closed again. "Holmes? What do you mean 'his return'?"

As he gets no response from dad, he looks to me but I turn back to the window, resuming my thoughts.