MARIA - A Sherlock Fanfic

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

The accused man was in the corner.
“Be careful with that,” he said to one police officer, who had picked up a vase. “You’ve searched everywhere,” he told Lestrade. “I’m telling you, I didn’t steal any jewels!”
“Just precaution.” Lestrade told him. “You have the motive and no alibi.”
“I didn’t know I’d need an alibi!” the man responded. “If I had, I would have called my girlfriend, rather than stay home all night!”
Sherlock ignored the bickering and examined the mirror. There it was, written in red. Maria. Sherlock frowned. Something wasn’t right. He pulled out the photos for comparison. The word. It should be in capitals. Why would she change now, he wondered.
“That was odd,” John murmured to him.
“Odd?” Sherlock asked distractedly, wondering about the change in pattern.
“What do you mean this happened before? How did you know about the writing? Does this have to do with Mycroft?”
“Everything has to do with Mycroft,” Sherlock said. Why change the pattern now? And the crime. The others were verified crime scenes. Yet this was one that was only accused. The writing verified his guiltiness, but why? Why not a murder or something like that? He realised John was still talking.
“Really, John, can’t you see I’m busy? Go play with the police officers or something.”
John frowned. “You know Sherlock, you can be really rude sometimes.”
Sherlock gave him a look, then returned back to the mirror. John made a noise and walked over to Lestrade. Something else too. Was this a test? A test, yes, that made sense. Let’s test the great Sherlock and see if he’s worth the effort. Would the others receive a test too? Mycroft and Moriarty? Maybe, or maybe only if he failed. He better not fail then. Something else was wrong with it.
“Ah.” He said.
Everyone froze.
“Uh. What’s up Sherlock?” John asked.
“Look at the name, John.” Sherlock said.
“It’s just a name.”
“Yes, but look at it! Can you see it? It should be easy for you?”
“I don’t see anything, Sherlock.” John replied firmly.
Sherlock sighed. “Of course you wouldn’t. Look at where we are. Searching for missing jewels. Now look at the name. More specifically, the i.”
“I don’t…It’s a normal ‘i’ Sherlock.”
“No. It- It isn’t! Look at the dot!”
“What about it?” John asked annoyed.
“It’s a circle. I mean look at it,” he ranted. “She clearly did this in a hurry, look how messy it is. And for some reason she chose lower case letters, instead,” he presented the photos, “of upper case ones.”
“How did you get those?” Lestrade demanded. “Those are classified-”
“Please Lestrade, I’m busy,” Sherlock cut in.
“So it’s lower case.”
Sherlock sighed louder. “It’s a circle. The case is the clue. It’s smaller for a reason. The ‘i’. The dot.”
“It’s a circle.”
“Exactly! It’s a circle! Why, in a rush, would she stop and draw a perfect circle?”
“I-”
“You wouldn’t! Unless it was a clue.”
“That still doesn’t help us.”
“I…” Sherlock was at a loss to answer his friend’s stupidity. “Of course it helps us! It’s…It’s like one of those children’s books. When you find the difference, you circle it.”
“Sherlock, honestly. You are making no sense at all.”
Sherlock stepped backwards, then jumped behind the couch, watching his actions in the mirror. “If I’m correct, and I usually am, the jewels will be…here.” He said, and let his hand smash through the green wallpaper, into a hidden safety spot. Sherlock’s hand enclosed around a small bag, and he pulled it out. “See?” he said.
There was a silence.
“Is that?” John began.
“The jewels?” Sherlock pulled a face. “Yes. But that doesn’t matter.”
“I’d say it does,” Lestrade interrupted, as he grabbed the accused man. “You’re under arrest.”
“No,” Sherlock said, chucking a police officer the jewels. “What matters is, I have a new case.” And he smiled.