The Soldier, The Messiah & the Pariah

Chapter 10

Once Sebastian had shown the vandalism and perhaps hidden message that was left, he led them back in his office and was showing them the security footage of the office from the previous night.

"Sixty seconds apart," he said and flicked back and forth between the still photograph taken at 23:34:01 which showed the paint on the wall and on the portrait, and a minute earlier – 23:33:01 when the wall and portrait were still clean. "So, someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around, then left within a minute"

"How many ways into that office?" Sherlock asked.

"Well, that's where this gets really interesting"

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He led them out again and this time took them to the reception area, only to show them a screen on a computer which had a layout of the trading floor and its surrounding offices. Each indicated door had a light against it showing its security status.

"Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet" he explained.

"That door didn't open last night"

"There's a hole in our security. Find it and we'll pay you – five figures" he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and took out a cheque. "This is an advance. Tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way"

"I don't need an incentive, Sebastian" Sherlock said and walked away.

John and Lex exchanged looks before she faintly motions for the army doctor to make a move. Then, she followed after the sociopath to make sure that nothing would happen. After all, he might not show it, but she could see he was annoyed by the situation and how he had been offended by this Sebastian.

He might have tried to play it tough and not caring but she could see right through him. However, the problem was that she couldn't approach the subject or say anything since he would just dismiss it and pretend that nothing was going on.

So, she stayed quiet and just looked at him as he was in Sir William's office and was taking pictures of the graffiti. Then, she stayed quiet and watched him work. He moved from place to place, almost dancing as he tried to take in everything, test each scenario and possibility, make sure to leave nothing uncovered.

She leaned on the railing and watched, a smile on her face while her eyes showed nothing but admiration. She loved to see him work, getting glimpses of how his superior mind worked in ways so different from other people; how he took advantage to it and brought the idea of deduction to a whole new level.

He finished and closed his eyes for a moment, letting his mind process all the information. He erased senators, plans and ideas; connected dots and images and faces and names. Once done, he opened his eyes and looked at his audience.

He could feel her eyes all the time he was thinking and doing his thing but never bothered, instead, he found it slightly strange and yet welcoming. He locked eyes with her, seeing the admiration in those brown hues of hers. She was the only one along with John and his landlady to look at him like that like he wasn't someone crazy or strange or a freak.

His mind played the scene in the office and how she had defended him even though she didn't have to. She had done t same with Sergeant Donovan and Sherlock couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

He suspected and deducted that it was her nature, but he had managed to get glimpses of a much colder and harsher side which made him doubt. He had the hypothesis that she saw hi friend, something strange and yet he didn't bother to question or correct it.