Patrick Calling Patrick

CHAPTER: 1 INTRODUCTIONS

"Boys! You've got an early one today!" Mrs. Hudson called up. Soon her little feet could be heard plodding up the stairs.

It was a usual morning for Sherlock and John. The detective and blogger duo had shot to fame after detective inspector Lestrade's recent interview which glorified the Bakerstreet boys, and John's blog gained tens of thousands of followers from around the globe. Like every morning, john was having breakfast and looking through the paper while Sherlock was in his room, probably working on an experiment.

"Hoo hoo! I brought him up. Poor chap, looks so disheveled. I'll get you a cuppa and some biscuits, my dear." The man nodded. "I'd love that, thank you ma'am." He said shyly. John greeted him politely. "Have a seat, please." He said. "Sherlock will be here soon." He led him to the chair reserved for clients, and the man sat down with a grateful nod.

"I came down here from Manchester. I have heard of Mr. Holmes' capabilities, I was hoping that he would help me."

"Of course, yes Sherlock's as clever as they come."

"Here's your drink... oh dear, I spilled some onto your leg, I'm so sorry... Sherlock! Why do you leave these limbs around the flat? I almost tripped over the foot!" Mrs. Hudson left, muttering under her breath. The client took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe off the drink from his leg, accidentally pulling out his wallet and card holder as well, which fell onto the carpet. He fumbled between balancing his cup on his knees, the biscuits in his right hand, and the tissue in the other.

John meanwhile delicately picked up the foot and looked around for a place to keep it. "I didn't quite catch your name..." he said apologetically.

"Oh yes. Sorry. Patrick Fletcher. "

"John Watson, nice to meet you."

"So...what's the hurry?" Sherlock emerged from his room.

"This is Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, Patrick Fletcher." John introduced.

Patrick picked up his fallen belongings. "Umm...excuse me? "

"I said, what's the hurry? You're obviously in a rush. Something happened between 1am and 5am today, that made you come down here, you haven't had anything to eat since last night's dinner, which didn't account for much anyway being...tomato soup only. You haven't slept well last but you're not an insomniac. You work at ABC Constructions, no, used to work there; you had a high position there which you got quite recently, but you worked long hours and no vacations even before you got a good position. Then you lost your job or you quit. You have no intentions to stay the night, you won't be able to even if you wanted to since you have no way you can pay for it. So. Mr. Fletcher, what was so urgent? What happened earlier this morning?"

"Wha- how... how do you know all that?"

Sherlock sighed. "I simply observed. You said you came here from Manchester. You don't have a suitcase or clothes with you, which means you reached here quite recently, more specifically by the first train to London, which departs at 05:05 from Piccadilly station. Because it is a two hour long journey, you reached Euston train station at 07:05, and you're here at 07:10, which means you took a cab here, didn't walk even though it was hardly a ten minute walk, hence you must've been in a hurry. The last train to London departs at 1am but you didn't take that one, so nothing happened before then. But you took the 05:05am train in a rush, seeing the unkempt clothes and mismatched socks, meaning something happened between 1am and 5am. You had tomato soup for dinner since there's a distinctive stain on your shirt, which you haven't changed out of since last night after you came home from work-seeing that they're formals but having crinkles and sweat stains, probably because you lost your job then, and which added to your sleepless night. You didn't eat anything else at dinner, and this morning as well, because there's still a bit of soup on your upper lip, which would've been wiped off had you eaten or drunk anything else, or even washed your face afterward. So you were clearly not in a good state of mind. As i said, you couldn't sleep last night due to job issues, but you also haven't been sleeping well for a week, seeing the hints of dark circles and bags under your eyes. not for longer than a week though, and not an insomniac too, because the bags would be heavier, and insomniacs are almost always used to the lack of sleep but you aren't- your hair is messed up in a way that suggests that you tried to get in a little nap on the train with your head in your hands."

"But how did y-"

"How did I know about the job? Well, the tissue you used to wipe the tea from your trousers had the name of ABC const., so obviously that is where you work. But they don't give out such tissues to all workers, which meant you had a high position there. The clothes you are wearing from last night are simple, showing that you must have gotten the promotion recently, which is why you've not switched to wearing expensive clothes. Furthermore, you have absolutely no tan lines and your skin is pale, which shows you haven't taken any vacations in a long time. Not just that, but most const. companies have a 9-5 shift, but your pale skin shows you haven't been in the sun much, hence you came in to work earlier than 7:30 and left later than 6:30 which means you worked overtime. However there's no business card in your card holder, meaning they took it away, meaning you don't work there anymore.

You have no suitcase, so you won't be staying the night, but even so your card holder doesn't have your credit card, and you sold your watch for the train ticket instead of using your debit card, which means your bank account is empty and does not allow overdrawing. I knew about the watch by observing your wrist. The marks on your skin indicate that you wore the watch at all times, but it isn't there now, and you have no money, so why else would you remove it. Again, your clothes are quite simple, so there would be no reason for you to buy yourself an expensive watch. Therefore the money you got in exchange for it bought you the train tickets and a cab here, and the couple of notes in your wallet are the leftovers. So, you're hoping I can solve things for you, so you intend to make do till then by selling your belongings."

Sherlock finished his little speech and settled down on his usual armchair, picking up the day's newspaper abandoned by John.

"I told you, he's as smart as they come," smiled john "probably even smarter."

"Well, you're right, Mr. Holmes, something did happen to me. Patrick began quietly. "I'll start from the beginning."

Hey! Author here! :)) I'm a HUGE fan of Sherlock (the BBC version), and if you are too, I LOVE YOU STRANGER!

 Just a little note for y'all: i know this chapter was a little lengthy, but this is my first attempt at writing fan-fiction, and it'll get better i promise! 
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