SHERLOCK I, II, III & IV • #wattys2016

John Reveals the Story

“Well, you’re quite right, again. I just wish it hadn’t ended as soon as it did. I’m beginning to miss her.”

“Give her a ring. Tell her how much you miss her and love her; you can’t go wrong with overdoing it.”

The doctor sighed and resumed to staring out at the blurring countryside. Liverpool was approximately four hours away, not that far, but far enough to feel like forever—especially to a reminiscing doctor and an enthusiastic detective.

When they had at last arrived in Liverpool, after the changing of several cabs and stopping for meals, Sherlock whipped his scarf tighter around his neck and fixed his collar. The streets were damp and the air was thin and biting. It looked as if it had just rained, and they had come during a thunder break. John stepped out of the cab and rubbed his icy hands vigorously together.

“Well, what exactly are we looking for?” John asked as Sherlock headed off down the street.

“We’re going to be looking around; observing. Not in the mood for chitchat.”

“And…that’s it? We drove four hours to Liverpool and you won’t talk to anyone?”

“No, no, just not today. I plan to stay here for a bit. Maybe two days.”

John dropped his arms by his side and his mouth parted in astonishment at the unexpected news. “Good. Thank you, Sherlock. I haven’t packed anything for a two day stay here.”

“Oh, you can live without a few grooming tools, John. This is far more important. You were wondering why Seth Mullen would be involved in sex trafficking. Well, there are various forms of how this affair is taken place, and in Mullen’s case, it was through military prostitution. Traffickers would sell their victims to men in the military for a certain amount of wages. It’s a hush-hush process, and I’m sure it occurs mostly on leave, which, as you know, are one of the few times a soldier is left alone. There was nothing in it for Mullen to begin with, except for pleasure. But he got his hands in it deep and couldn’t find a way out of it. So, betray his country, it is. Why would he shame his whole regiment and risk his life over several prostitutions?

“Easy, the trafficking was formed by the enemy used to pull information out of the opposite side. Perhaps the girls were rigged to pull information out of the men during the height of passion. Now, when the solider comes to his senses, he has several choices. One, escape the base and risk being caught. Two, commit suicide, or, three, do what Mullen did, which was joining the other side. By joining the enemy, he still stays in the military and is “under protection.” If Mullen didn’t choose any of those options, otherwise he would be dispatched in shame or worse.”

“But, I still don’t understand, I mean, I know there was talk about him dabbling with the other side, and we did mean to let him go. We should have done it sooner, but—,”

“But you promised him something that staggered the process of him being found out.” Sherlock stopped and faced his companion with a growing suspicion. “You found out what he was doing, and you were a respected soldier, meaning that if you ratted out Mullen, everyone would believe you. Mullen knew that, so he chose you to keep your mouth shut. But what could he have possibly threatened you about? You’re a strong man, doctor, what could he have made you so scared about?”

John’s mouth trembled and his eyes avoided all contact with Sherlock. “Listen. Before you get ideas in your head, I wasn’t involved with Seth’s illegal acts. I know myself; I would never get caught up in anything I couldn’t get out of—unless it’s with Sherlock Holmes—but! I knew Seth always envied me for something. He was always competing with me, always trying to be better. He wouldn’t work with me whenever we came in contact. And a man can only take so much…negative pressure.”

Sherlock led John off of the street and between a butcher shop and recycling cage. “Yes, go on.”

“We were out on the fields, you see,” John began in a low voice. “I had been running around fixing people and calling for help and all that stuff. I came across Seth lying on the fields wounded. I didn’t recognize him at first, but I knew he was on our side. I ran over to him and quickly began getting my supplies out. Seth had a third degree burn across his side, several oozing wounds, and lots of other nasty cuts. Anyway, as I stared down at him, I actually wanted to get up and leave him for dead. I really wanted to because it would’ve just ended this secret we both knew. But, as I stood up to leave him, he took a knife out on me. I acted quickly and pinned him down. I remember looking down on him as he told me how he would find and kill me.

“At that moment, I didn’t know what he would kill me for. He then accused me for ratting him out. I later found out that his wounds were caused by his fellow soldiers who had found out about his trafficking and possible betrayal. I think they saw a perfect opportunity to save the dirty work by killing him in the thick of a battle. I think Mullen hated me because he thought I had sent them out to kill him off. I swore to him that I hadn’t, but he didn’t believe me. Instead, he overpowered me and wrenched my gun off of me. That’s when I got shot in shoulder. I managed to get away. I didn’t know what became of Mullen—or, his real name was Matthew Churchhill, but, I never heard about him afterwards until now.”

Sherlock hummed and stepped outside of the alley. “Well, the man sure knows how to hold a grudge. I’m just wondering now how he’s climbed so high in sex trafficking and what benefits he’s getting from it? Or, why did he go into that business? Must be linked with the enemy.”

John, with his hands in his pocket, swiveled on his heels and pursed his lips. “Well, it’s been years since I had last seen Mullen, and I remember him as being very cruel and smooth-talking. He could be very dangerous now, Sherlock. If he’s under protection from a higher power, we could get over our heads in this.”

 “Don’t worry about Mullen right now. He probably doesn’t know that we’re here. So, in order to continue to make him believe we’re still in London, I want you to lie in your blog. Make up a false case. That way, we’ll be waiting for him in Liverpool when he returns from Eastern Europe. I’m guessing he’s located in Serbia. Mostly in Kosovo.”

“And, how would you know that?”

“Well, there’s a distinct flight pattern that can transport people within exactly an hour instead of two hours and a half. There’s also an underground tube than can transport people in the same amount of time right into Liverpool’s ports. Now, someone of Seth’s important and, I’m sure, wealth, would want to use the fastest routes in case of an emergency, which tells us that he’s in Serbia.”

“That makes sense. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Nonsense, John. Just use your Smartphone and observe your suspect. Also, from the photograph, he’s wearing Eastern European made boots.”

“Are you saying that by his boots, he would be in Serbia?”

“Well, obviously! He likes that brand and place, so, why not pamper himself by moving to his favorite place? Those military boots are custom made—they won’t hold up as well as the usual brand, which means that he indulges himself. Little things like that, John, can open a new realm of clues.”