Working with Sherlock Holmes ~ BBC (Sherlock X OC)

The Woman in Pink

The three sat in silence for a long time while Sherlock sits with his eyes fixed on his smartphone, while John and Anna keep stealing nervous glances at him. Finally Sherlock lowers his phone

"Okay, you both got questions."

Anna was the first to speak, "No he does, I'm done with the questioning."

"Fair enough. John?"

"Ya, where are we going?" he asks.

"Crime scene." Sherlock answers.

"Obviously." said Anna.

"Next?"

"Who are you? What do you do?" he asks Sherlock.

Sherlock looks at John, "What do you think?"

John slowly, hesitantly responds, "I'd say private detective ..."

"But?"

" ... but the police don't go to private detectives." John finishes.

"I'm a consulting detective. Only one in the world. I invented the job." Sherlock explains.

That immediately brought Anna's attention, "Ya, what the hell is that? Cause I never in my life heard of a consulting detective."

Sherlock looks at Anna with a blank face. "It's when the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me."

"The police don't consult amateurs." said John.

"You know I'm right here right?" Anna commented.

John looks at Anna then gave out an embarrassing gesture. "I'm so sorry." He whispers.

Sherlock throws a look at John. "When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said, "Afghanistan or Iraq?" You looked surprised."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I didn't know, I saw. Your haircut, the way you hold yourself, says military. But your conversation as you entered the room, said trained at Bart's, so Army doctor – obvious. Your face is tanned but no tan above the wrists. You've been abroad, but not sunbathing. Your limp's really bad when you walk but you don't ask for a chair when you stand, like you've forgotten about it, so it's at least partly psychosomatic. That says the original circumstances of the injury were traumatic. Wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan – Afghanistan or Iraq." Sherlock explains. Leaving Anna and John baffled.

"You said I had a therapist." John adds.

"You've got a psychosomatic limp – of course you've got a therapist." said Sherlock. Anna thought about it and he was right, if she was in Johns shoes she'd have a therapist too.

"Then there's your brother." Sherlock continues. "Your phone. It's expensive, e-mail enabled, MP3 player, but you're looking for a flatshare – you wouldn't waste money on this. It's a gift, then."

By now John has given him the phone and he turns it over and looks at it again as he talks. "Scratches. Not one, many over time. It's been in the same pocket as keys and coins. The man sitting next to me wouldn't treat his one luxury item like this, so it's had a previous owner. Next bit's easy. You know it already."

Anna looks at Sherlock, "The engraving?"

Sherlock turns an points at the engraving on the back of the phone were the words:

Harry Watson
From Clara
xxx

Sherlock continues explaining, "Harry Watson: clearly a family member who's given you his old phone. Not your father; this is a young man's gadget. Could be a cousin, but you're a war hero who can't find a place to live. Unlikely you've got an extended family, certainly not one you're close to, so brother it is. Now, Clara. Who's Clara? Three kisses says it's a romantic attachment. The expense of the phone says wife, not girlfriend. She must have given it to him recently – this model's only six months old. Marriage in trouble then – six months on he's just given it away. If she'd left him, he'd have kept it. People do – sentiment. But no, he wanted rid of it. He left her. He gave the phone to you: that says he wants you to stay in touch. You're looking for cheap accommodation, but you're not going to your brother for help: that says you've got problems with him. Maybe you liked his wife; maybe you don't like his drinking."