His Favorite Melody

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The trio sat across the road from The Lucky Cat at a dingy little cafe in plastic chairs, around a small table. Melody blew the steam from the cup of coffee she had ordered. The waitress, a kind young woman, dropped off a muffin and smiled. "The muffin is on me. It's been a long time since I've had a customer so genuinely delightful to serve."

Melody looked up at her with wide eyes and smiled brightly. "Oh, goodness. Thank you so much!" She said in excitement, feeling flattered. The waitress walked away with a nod and a smile.

Sherlock watched the exchange with a half smile, before scribbling ‘1’ and ‘15’ on the back of a serviette.

"Two men travel back from China. They both come straight to the Lucky Cat Emporium. What did they see?" John questioned.

"It’s not what they saw. It’s what they brought with them in those suitcases." Sherlock replied simply.

"You don’t mean duty free."John followed his line of reasoning perfectly.

"Precisely." Melody mumbled through a mouthful of muffin.

The young woman brought their food - a sausage sandwich for John, and a grilled chicken croissant for Mel. They waited for her to go before continuing their conversation.

"Think about what Sebastian told us. About Van Coon; about how he kept afloat in the market." Sherlock reminded them.

"Lost five million..." John remembered suddenly.

"Made it back a week later. This is how he made such easy money..." Sherlock explained.

"He was a smuggler." Mel said simply. "A guy like him - he would have been perfect for it. A businessman who took regular trips to Asia? Who would ever suspect?"
"And Lukis too - a journalist, writing about China. They smuggled something out. The Lucky Cat was the drop off." Sherlock confirmed.

"Why did they die? It doesn’t make sense... If they both turned up at the shop and delivered the goods... why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event? After they’d finished the job?" John asked the pair.

There was a moment of silence as they pondered.

"What if one of them was light-fingered?" Sherlock mused.

"How d’you mean?" John asked in confusion.

"One of them stole something, something from the hoard."

Melody realised what Sherlock meant, and gasped in excitement. "The killer doesn’t know which one of them took it! So he threatens them both." She exclaimed.

It seemed, however, that Sherlock was no longer listening. He was staring out of the window across the street. "Remind me: when was the last time it rained?" He said, seeming a bit preoccupied.

"I believe Monday. Why?" Mel asked.

"I believe it's time to pay a visit to Soo Lin's apartment."

Melody got a to go bag for her and John's remaining food, and tipped the kind waitress generously. Once she finished, they walked to the door outside The Lucky Cat. Sherlock examined the door to the flat above. The bell said ‘SOO LIN YAO’.

Mel noticed that telephone directory on the doorstep was still in its little plastic bag, which was torn at the corner. The directory wass standing on end, leaning against the door. If someone had opened the door it would have moved, but it was still perfectly placed.

Mel pointed it out to Sherlock, who ripped the bag open - showing that the pages were swollen with rain water.

"That’s been on the step since Monday." He confirmed. He rang the doorbell No response. "Noone’s been in this flat for at least three days."

Sherlock suddenly darted down the side of the building into a side alley, leaving Mel and John scuttling after.

"They’re away on holiday. So what?" John asked.

"Do you leave your windows open when you go away?" Melody asked, looking up.

The boys looked up to see that the window of the flat was gaping wide open. There was scaffolding at the back of the flats that allowed entrance to the window.

Sherlock jumped up on a dustbin, hauling himself up on the scaffolding. He reached the windows of the first floor flat, Mel looking up at him with wide eyes. He jumped inside the window, causing John to hiss his name.

"Moron." Melody snickered. There was no way she could jump up there, she was only a few inces taller than John. So it looked like the pair was grounded while Sherlock explored the flat.

They walked around front, and John rang the doorbell. He bent down to shout through the letterbox. "You think maybe you could let me in this time?"

Melody snorted loudly.

Sherlock didn't answer.

"Oh for heaven’s sake." John muttered. "Can you not keep doing this, please?" He called.

"I’m not the first." Sherlock's voice was muffled by the door.

"What?" Mel called.

"Someone else has been here. Someone broke into this flat. He knocked that vase, just like I did."

Mel and John looked at eachother in confusion. "What on earth?" John mumbled.

"Size eleven. He was tall. But not heavy." Sherlock continued. "Long, thin fingers. Our acrobat."

"What are you saying? You're muffled, darling." Mel called.

No response. Everything was silent.

"Any time you want to include us, that would be great." John yelled.

Again, no answer.

"I’m obviously wasting my breath. ‘I’m Sherlock, and I always work alone because no one else can compete with my massive intellect!’" John shouted through the mail slot.

"Oi!" Melody said indignantly.

"My apologies, sometimes Melody is acceptable to work with." He added.

"Better." Mel approved.

The door opened suddenly to reveal a mildly disheveled Sherlock. "The milk’s out of date. And the washing - it’s started to smell. Someone left here in a hurry. Three days ago." Sherlock explained in a hoarse voice that he definitely didn't have a few minutes ago.

"Someone?" John questioned.

Sherlock pointed to the name on the bell. "Soo Lin Yao. We need to find her."

"How exactly?"

"Start with this." Melody said as she picked a note up off the doormat. It read: ‘SOO LIN. PLEASE RING ME, TELL ME YOU’RE OK. ANDY.’.

She turned the paper over, revealing that it was an old envelope from the National Antiquities Museum.

"Off we pop." Sherlock announced, grabbing Mel's hand and dragging her along.

"You sound croaky. Are you getting a cold?" John asked him as they walked.

"It’s nothing."Sherlock brushed off causing his two companions to exchange dubious glances.