The Baker Street Brothers

Chapter Four

Enzo kneels with his head in the toilet as he throws up "Enzo?" Sherlock calls from outside the bathroom. "Give me a minute." he calls back, throwing up again. Sherlock ignores him and opens the bathroom door, walking in and passing his brother a glass of water. Enzo takes it and takes a small sip from it before sticking his head in the toilet again, Sherlock taking the water and putting it to the side "You need anything?" he asks. Enzo goes to respond "I'm not telling you where I hid your stashes." Sherlock cuts him off. Groaning, Enzo rests his head on the toilet seat "Sherlock? Enzo?" John calls. "In the bathroom." Sherlock responds, checking his brother over visually. "What are you...?" John asks, cutting himself off as he stops in the doorway. Enzo weakly waves, shifting so he's leaning against the wall "You alright?" the doctor asks in concern, taking in Enzo's pale face. "Never better." Enzo tells him with a weak smile. "We'll be in the living room." Sherlock tells his brother, walking past John and down the hallway. John gives Enzo another look before following the older Holmes down the corridor, Enzo sighing and cleaning up before following them himself.

Walking into the living room, Enzo finds John looking out the window and his brother lying on the sofa "Move your feet." he tells Sherlock, making his brother move his feet so he can sit down. "What's wrong?" Sherlock asks John, who is still looking out the window. "Just met a friend of yours, both of you." John responds. Enzo and Sherlock frown in confusion "A friend?" Sherlock asks. "An enemy." John reiterates. The brothers immediately relax "Oh. Which one?" Sherlock asks. "Your arch-enemy, according to him. Do people have arch-enemies?" John asks, turning to face them. Enzo closes his eyes, shaking his head at his eldest brother's attempt "Did he offer you money to spy on us?" Sherlock asks, looking at him. "Yes." John nods. "Did you take it?" Enzo queries, opening his eyes to look at John. "No." John responds. "Pity. We could have split the fee. Think it through next time." Enzo tells him, rolling his eyes at Mycroft's attempt. "Who is he?" John asks. "The most dangerous man you've ever met, and not our problem right now." Enzo responds. "On my desk, the number." Sherlock tells John. "Jennifer Wilson. That was... Hang on. Wasn't that the dead woman?" John asks, reading the piece of paper. "Yes. That's not important. Just enter the number." Sherlock tells him.

Shaking his head, John gets his phone out his pocket and starts to type "Are you doing it?" Sherlock asks. "Yes." John responds. Enzo closes his eyes and tilts his head back against the back of the sofa "Have you done it?" His brother asks John. "Ye... hang on!" John tells him. "These words exactly: 'What happened at Lauriston Gardens? I must have blacked out. Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Please come'." Sherlock tells the man. "You blacked out?" John asks. "What? No. No! Type and send it. Quickly." Sherlock responds, getting up and walking over the table to the kitchen. Enzo opens his eyes and watches as his brother picks up the suitcase they found, putting it on dining chair as he sits in his armchair "Have you sent it?" Sherlock asks. "What's the address?" John frowns, still typing on his phone. "Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Hurry up!" Sherlock tells him. John finishes the message, turning to see the case which Sherlock has opened. "That's... that's the pink lady's case. That's Jennifer Wilson's case." John realises. "Yes, obviously." Sherlock tells him. "Oh, perhaps I should mention: We didn't kill her." Enzo sarcastically tells John. "I never said you did." John tells them. "Why not? Given the text I just had you send and the fact that I have her case, it's a perfectly logical assumption. " Sherlock tells him.

"Do people usually assume you're the murderer?" John asks. "Now and then, yes." Sherlock responds. "Okay... How did you get this?" John asks them. "By looking." Sherlock responds. "Where?" John frowns. "The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention, particularly a man, which is statistically more likely. So obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realise his mistake. We checked every back street wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed. Took us less than an hour to find the right skip." Sherlock explains, subtlety looking at Enzo who's put his hands over his eyes to block out the light. "Pink. You got all that because you realised the case would be pink?" John asks. "Well, it had to be pink, obviously." Sherlock responds. "Why didn't I think of that?" John asks himself. "Because you're an idiot. No, no, no, don't look like that. Practically everyone is. Now, look. Do you see what's missing?" Sherlock asks. "From the case? How could I?" John asks, looking at the case.

"Her phone. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there's no phone in the case. We know she had one. that's her number there; you just texted it." Sherlock explains. "Maybe she left it at home." John suggests. "She has a string of lovers and she's careful about it. She never leaves her phone at home." Enzo pipes up, lying on the sofa. "Er... Why did I just send that text?" John asks, looking at his phone. "Well, the question is: where is her phone now?" Enzo tells him. "She could have lost it." John responds. "Yes, or...?" Sherlock prompts. "The murderer... You think the murderer has the phone?" John asks. "Maybe she left it when she left her case. Maybe he took it from her for some reason. Either way, the balance of probability is the murderer has her phone." Sherlock responds. "Sorry, what are we doing? Did I just text a murderer?! What good will that do?" John asks. As he says that, his phone starts ringing "A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her. If somebody had just found that phone they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer... would panic." Sherlock says, the phone stopping.

Enzo sits up weakly as Sherlock shuts the case and walks across the room, picking up his jacket and putting it on as he heads to the door "Have you talked to the police?" John asks. "Four people are dead. There isn't time to talk to the police." Sherlock tells him as Enzo stands. "So why are you talking to me?" John asks. Sherlock grabs his coat and looks at the mantelpiece "Mrs Hudson took our skull." he tells John. "So I'm basically filling in for your skull?" John asks. "Relax, you're doing fine." Sherlock tells him. "Well?" Enzo asks John. "Well what?" John asks. "Well, you could just sit there and watch telly." Enzo tells him. "What, you want me to come with you?" he asks. "I like company when we go out, and we think better when we talk aloud. The skull just attracts attention, so... Problem?" Sherlock asks, seeing John's smile. "Yeah, Sergeant Donovan." John responds. Enzo rolls his eyes at the mention of the Sergeant  "What about her?" Sherlock asks. "She said... You get off on this. You enjoy it." John responds. "And I said 'dangerous', and here you are." Sherlock points out, walking out of the living room with Enzo following after him.