The Autobiography of Mycroft Holmes

Chapter 29: Beginning of the Aftermath

When I got home that night, it was to a sight I could never have expected. Mike Stamford's belongings were out on the street, and he was loading some of them into a moving van.

"Mike! What's going on?" I asked him, although I already sort of knew.

"My rent payments finally caught up to me," he said with an apparent weariness in his voice that I'd never heard before.

"Where will you go now, Mike? There aren't many cheaper places around here, and I thought you wanted to be near the Scotland Yard headquarters."

"An old friend of mine who used to work at Scotland Yard and is now a landlord will rent out a new flat to me. And the new one's not even in a basement!"

"Well, I wish you luck. But you won't find a nicer landlady than Mrs. Hudson anywhere else. You know that, right?"

"My friend won't be as lenient with payments as she was. But the new flat is, after all, much nicer. And in the long run, the cost for me will have been much cheaper."

"Fine then. You have my mobile and Sherlock's mobile right? And you have our home telephone number?"

"Yes. I'll call you in a week or so to tell you how it's going."

"Until then, Mike, so long."

"So long, Myc," Stamford said, getting into the moving truck.

As the truck left Baker Street, I watched it disappear around the dark corner far away. All good things do have to end, but Mike Stamford remains the most pleasant and well-intended man I have met in my life.

Instead of going home just yet, I decided to visit Mrs. Hudson in her shop. I opened the door and was promptly greeted by my elderly landlady and my boyfriend, who she had hired to work in the café portion. He waved enthusiastically at me as I sat down at one of the tables.

He walked up to me and set a cup of complimentary coffee at my table. He embraced me tightly in a playful manner, and I awkwardly returned it. After all this time, why did I still feel awkward?

"It's great to see you, Mycroft!"

"Pleasing to see you as well, Chris," I returned.

"So how was your day?"

"I had a standoff with the murderer tonight," I said.

"Wait... The murderer?"

"Yes, the one from the night of the gathering at the Diogenes Club."

"How did it go? Was your sister there as well?"

"Not a chance. Lestrade was there, though. You remember, my friend the Detective Inspector?"

"I... I think so..."

"Well, she- never mind that. It was certainly an interesting encounter, though. You may want to have been there just for the excitement; it was very exciting."

"Right... Well, my day was pretty boring. I just worked all day."

"Okay," I said, still thinking about Lestrade and the murderer Moriarty and Mike's exit from 221 Baker Street. But at the forefront of my mind was the girl who looked just like me, the assassin, the one who was in love with Moriarty...

"Mycroft? Is everything all right?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Well, for me, at least."

Chris suddenly gave me the most sideways look I'd ever seen in my life. "Okay, then. Enjoy the coffee."

"Thank you, Chris," I said happily as he walked away, likely a bit frightened by my last few statements.

I took out my phone and saw a message from Tom Saylor.