Sherlock One shots and Imagines

The Knave of Hearts - Part 8 - Sherlock x John x Reader

John made his way outside to find Sherlock in front of the gardens. The consulting detective standing as still as statue, with his eyes closed; the soft breeze moving a few of the looser stands of hair, from his slicked back coiffeur.

"Sher.....................?"

"What did the companion tell you.............?" Sherlock interjected, before the doctor could say anything more.

"Oh, well.............she told me that she didn't see anyone out of the norm in the market; that she didn't see anyone that she didn't recognise. Though she did say that Lady Royston did seem a little changed after they made a visit to Bess' father.............."

"Yes, it would appear that that was the first time that the Lady saw the man.....anything else............?"

"Um.............there wasn't really anything else about what happened today. Only that she is worried about (Y/n). That she really thought that her friend was going to faint; that all the colour drained from her face. But she did............."

"Did what...............?" Sherlock interrupted once again, as he turned to look at the doctor.

"She did say something about what happened when the lady was held for ransom. Bess had expected (Y/n) to come home as she always did when the term ended; but days after she was due to arrive home, Lord Royston received the first letter from the kidnappers. Bess didn't know what the note said, but she knew that it was bad, as the police came to the hall. She said they were from London, and from the description that Bess gave, the man in charge sounded a lot like Lestrade........."

"Of course, the daughter of a member of the House of Lords gets taken on the continent; and that Lord just happens the know my brother, it is obvious that Lestrade will get called in. That would explain why the lady didn't seem to object when I mentioned having Lestrade and his men come up and take over control of security at the hall, until after the masquerade ball; Mycroft probably mentioned the detective's name to her. Though it does not explain why the detective inspector didn't say anything when I spoke of Royston Hall. When I noted that the next target of the Knave could be the jewel that Lord Royston is to present his daughter with." Sherlock mused. The consulting detective beginning to wonder if there was more to the taking of the lady than it would appear. Wondering whether Mycroft was far more involved than it might first appear.

"There was something else.............." John suddenly continued. Sherlock's brows quirking as he turned his attention back to the doctor.

"Bess told me that Lord Royston received three notes in total about (Y/n)'s kidnapping; each one hand delivered. It was the night that second one was delivered that she saw someone................."

"Saw whom...............?"

"Bess was outside the cottage that she shared with her father, that night. His ill health had started to take its toll and she had only just settled him; she went outside for some air, and it was then that she saw him........."

"Him..........? Please Watson.............."

"She saw a man; a man that she didn't recognise. A man that didn't look as though he belonged................"

"And what did this man look like...........?" Sherlock enquired; his attention suddenly caught by the sight of the two women in one of the windows. The pair holding hands, as they sat in the nook and spoke.

"All she could say was that it was dark, but two of the gas lamps on the lane across from the cottage allowed her to make him out; not perfectly, but..........he was tall, rather upright, stiff in appearance; she said that it was more like he was marching than walking. And it appeared that he was sporting a moustache............"

Tall........rather upright..........moustache.............? There was a possibility, just a possibility. The description that the blacksmith's daughter gave, had similarities to the one that Lady Royston had given him of the conductor on the train. Coincidence? Sherlock didn't believe in such things; especially not as far as all this was concerned. It seeming obvious to the younger Holmes, that the man that Miss Buxton had seen and the conductor on the train, was one in the same. It not being a huge leap to think that the dark-haired man that the lady had seen in the village earlier, and the man that had fed her during the time that she was taken. The man that had touched her hands, who had caressed her cheek. The man that told her that she was beautiful; that even though he knew her father would pay the money and he would have to return her, he would always be with her; and one way or another, he would get her back, had come to do what he had said. He had come to take her back. Sherlock now believing that the Knave didn't just steal jewels.

"We need to speak to Lord Royston straight away, and I need to get word to Mycroft." Sherlock suddenly announced, as he turned and made his way back towards the halls.

"Sherlock. What.................?"

"I believe that the Knave isn't coming for the necklace that Lord Royston is to present his daughter; he is coming for the lady herself. The Knave, and one of the men that took her, are one and the same............."

"The man that Bess saw...............?" John asked, almost barreling into Sherlock, as he suddenly stopped and turned to look at the doctor.

"No, Watson. The man that Miss Buxton saw is just the messenger; the man that drugged Lady (Y/n) on the train and took her. The Knave is the man that the lady saw today; the mastermind of it all. The man that was watching her, and I believe has been doing for some time. Now, no more questions; we must act so that the lady doesn't find herself back with her kidnappers." Sherlock explained, before spinning on his heels and setting back off to find the ladies father.