Young Sherlock | School of Deduction (Book One)

Chapter Sixteen

Suddenly, it all clicked into place and Sherlock recognised the man from a dusty corner in his mind palace - he had been the one lurking around in Sophie's apartment on the night of the accident!

"Hello, my darling niece," Charles said, his smile thin and twisted. "I hope you had fun solving my little puzzle."

"Puzzle?" Sophie exclaimed. "What - I don't - why - you tried to have me killed and I ended up in Hospital! You kidnapped 30 or so innocent people! This is not a LITTLE PUZZLE!!"

Sherlock saw angry tears forming in Sophie's eyes, but she blinked them back, determined to appear strong.

"I trusted you, Auntie Martha trusts you - what on Earth possessed you to do something like this? Are you insane?!?!"

"Yes," said Sherlock. "He has several stress marks near his eyes, fresh bite marks on his lips, his eyes keep glazing over whenever he talks -"

"NOT NOW SHERLOCK!!!" Sophie yelled.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds until Sophie broke it.

"Why?" she choked. "I want to know everything."

"Of course, my dear," Charles said grinning. "It's quite an interesting story.

"I've always hated London. Why Martha chose to give up the Lake District for this still continues to amaze me. So I looked for a way to cause a bit of trouble. Not much at first, just enough to make me feel like I wasn't the only one who was having a bad day.

"But then, I finally found where I belonged and something I was good at. As I continued to cause trouble, I discovered that crime gave me a kind of rush. I enjoyed it, and I was amazing at thinking up new crimes and escapades. And before long, I was ready to do things more complicated than holding up queues at ATMs and shutting down CCTV in shops. Now, I could steal people's bank details at ATMs and I could raid the shops.

"Recently, I even decided to set up my own crime network to pull off a huge kidnapping unlike anything the world has ever seen before. It was difficult to find the right people to work for me, but I 'persuaded' them.

"And then you came along, Sherlock Holmes, and befriended my niece. I knew you two would be trouble together the moment I saw - and heard - you together on my bus. Bus driving isn't a particularly exciting occupation but it has its uses as a criminal, especially if you have an advanced CCTV.

"But I can't risk losing my chance of being the world's greatest criminal to you two. You notice things, and that makes you very, very dangerous."

"And there you have it! The reason I'm doing this is because your aunt ruined my life and you're too smart for your own good."

"What?" Sophie croaked. "You did what?!?"

"How did you persuade people to do what you wanted?" Sherlock asked suddenly.

"Oh, your brother was able to help me there," Charles said, gesturing casually a laptop on a nearby desk.

"Mycroft's laptop!" Sherlock said, outraged. "I was blamed for taking that!"

"It was worth it," Charles answered, a deceitful grin plastered across his face. "Thanks to all his connections, I have quite the criminal network going now."

"And you're going to end it now," Sophie said. "I am not letting you get out of this before you've left all this criminal nonsense behind you."

"Oh my dear, you are sooo predictable," Charles laughed. "But then again, I guess my response is also predictable - if you try to make me do that, you won't leave here alive."

And at was when he pulled out the gun.