THE BAKER STREET TRIO (SHERLOCK X READER)

Chapter 66: The Spotted Circle

Y/N took off Sherlock’s dressing gown and grabbed her clothes for the day. She pulled on a pair of slacks and a blouse. Sherlock followed suit, putting on his pants and dress shirt. He pulled on his jacket while Y/N buttoned up her shirt. He interrupted her on the fourth button, grabbing her hands. He moved her hands aside, his grasp lingering on the ring on her left hand, so he could press a kiss to her chest, just above her heart. She felt her heart swell and her pulse race at the attention. Sherlock pressed a second kiss to the inside of her wrist, and then a third to her lips.

“Good morning, my love.” He said.

Y/N stood in a brief haze of amorous bliss while Sherlock left the room before returning to her senses and finished getting dressed. She consulted her watch and decided she had time to hear the case before heading to work.

John had joined the party, his hair slightly messy, but otherwise awake and ready to take notes on Ms. Stoner’s case. Y/N took her place on the arm of Sherlock’s chair.

“You’re shivering, Ms. Stoner. I can turn the heat up–”

“No thank you, Dr. Watson. I’m not shivering from cold.” She said.

“What, then?” Sherlock asked.

“It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror.” She said, looking at each of them in turn.

Sherlock sat back, steepling his fingers.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll be taken care of.” Y/N assured her. “You came in on the first train this morning?”

“Did I say? I had forgotten.”

“No,” Y/N smiled. “I noticed your ticket in your pocket, saved for your return trip to Surrey.”

“I see.” Ms. Stoner nodded. “Anyway, I was in a bit of a rush. I have come to–well, no use in sugarcoating it. I believe my mother was murdered, and I think I’m next.”

John leaned forward, his pen poised and ready to take down the details.

“A year ago, my mother remarried. My stepfather is Dr. Roylott, and prefers to use the title although his medical license has been revoked. He was once a very esteemed doctor in Dubai, but he got into trouble regarding the hippocratic oath and…well, he came back to England with his favorite plants for the greenhouse and never went back. I was living with my mother after finishing my Masters degree, but when they got married, she wanted to move to Dr. Roylott’s home in Surrey. He inherited the estate of Stoke Moran. It’s a beautiful house, but appears fairly forbidding. No one ever comes to visit and the three of us were the only ones living there.

“A few months ago, my mother asked me if I had been hearing noises at night. She said every night, just after midnight, she’d heard a whistle outside of her room. I hadn’t heard them, and I told her as much, but she insisted that she heard it.”

“Did Dr. Roylott hear the whistle?”

“I don’t think so. They shared a bedroom, but he usually spent the night in his office next to their room. Even without his license, he consults with some old colleagues in Dubai to make a living. The time difference requires him to work at night.” Ms. Stoner said. “On the night of  February 12th, we had a terrible storm. Despite the thunder and lightning, I woke up to the sound of my mother screaming. I got up and went out into the hall where I heard the whistle followed by a loud crash, like something made of metal falling. I went to her room where I found her very pale and swaying as if she was drunk. Her knees buckled and and ran to her, holding her while she shook and endured a lot of pain. I thought she was having a fit, but she managed to say something to me. She said, ‘Oh God, Helen! It was the circle! The spotted circle!’ She pointed to the wall she shared with Dr. Roylott’s study before shaking even more and falling unconscious. I think she was delirious. I got up and went to find Dr. Roylott, but he was already coming from his study. She was dead by the time he could look her over, let alone by the time the ambulance arrived.”