Improbable Truth (Sherlock Fanfic)

Chapter Three

Sherlock's POV

Location: St Barts Hospital

Time: Present Day

Greetings, dear reader. Yes, please do calm down, I have broken the fourth wall into pieces. I understand that John has given me the absolutely mundane and boring task of writing out my experiences, seeing as he couldn't remember how I achieved my conclusions, only remembering the conclusions themselves.

Here we go.

Now I recall that we left Baker Street after we received Lestrade's message. Sophie Black's body was already lain on the morgue table, with the new corpse of Mike Denvers lying next to her. You, dear reader have probably known that I had already inspected the scene of the crime and gathered my evidence. Yes, I had indeed gone to the scene of the crime, but there was nothing much of note.

The killer was highly professional, leaving shoeprints far too large and far too shallow to match up to any ordinary stature, thus indicating that he faked the footprints. Asphyxiation was the primary cause of death, as seen in the absense of any injuries save those on the victims' necks.

Nothing else could be found. No other signs of struggle nor any skin samples under the fingernails of the victims showed that the killer was quick on the job, immensely strong and lightfooted as well. Both victims were killed in the same clinical fashion.

"Golem,' I said. 'Have you had any news of his whereabouts?"

"Sorry, who? What Golem?" That would be Anderson. Clueless as ever. Wearing that ridiculously quizzical smile on his face. I preferred when he actually doubted my deductions, merely so that I could prove him an idiot. Now he hung on to my every word like gold. Ignorance truly is bliss.

"The Golem, Anderson. The serial killer, Oscar Dzundzar, modus operandi of strangulation. Tall, uncommonly strong, which fits in with the swift deaths of the victims. Need I go on?"

"Oscar Dzundzar? Yes, we have him on record. He's not in any prison in England, although-"

Sometimes, Lestrade could learn the lesson that a simple 'free as a bird' could suffice.

"Which means he's on the loose. Moriarty-" at this I paused to recollect my thoughts. "He hired him to kill the night guard at the museum a few years ago. Suffice to say, we didn't sit for tea and crumpets together. I've got my Homeless-"

Something close to emotion had triggered in my brain.

Oh, alright.

As John so nicely put in, I have to be honest. I did indeed feel emotion. All these years I used my Homeless Network without a thought about their own lives. Their lives literally meant nothing to me back then. Now, I felt blind. Blinded not only by the fact that my 'eyes and ears' all over London were threatened, but blind all this while to the outside world of suffering and pain.

But anyhow. The matter at hand mattered more than sentiment, and I, Sherlock Holmes am not a man of great sentiment.

"Network," I continued. "I used them to track him down once, but seeing as the Network is currently at risk, it would be best not to use their services for the time being." I continued with a slight cough.

Lestrade didn't notice the slight pause, as usual. Nor did amy of the others. He nodded to John and I, then started placing calls on his phone while I reviewed my knowledge of the Golem's modus operandi on my phone. John helped Molly load the corpses back into the freezers without a word.

"So... Sherlock?"

"Hmm?"

John inhaled heavily. "Erm... what next, then?"

"What?"

"You know who I'm talking about. Moriarty. You come back to London for him, even got a message from him, but I think you're acting way too calm now. What about the fact that he's still out there?" The question came out harsher than expected.

I put down my phone. "Moriarty is dead. I saw him commit suicide with my own eyes."

"Well I saw you commit suicide with my own eyes at the same time."

Touche. I raised my eyebrows at the comeback. John rarely did comebacks. "Yes, but-"

"Could it have occured to you that Moriarty might have faked his death too? That he is still around here somewhere? He hired the Golem to kill someone in that twisted plot of his, the one that nearly blew us sky high, remember? Even you said it yourself. What's to say he won't do it again?"

"Because he's dead, John!"

A heavy silence fell over the room.

I composed myself. Continued.

"There was no way for him to have escaped. I thought about it long and hard in the two years I was gone, but there was no way he could have escaped. Someone is using his name as a message to draw me back, and I want to know why. The text I received was not from the phone number of Jim Moriarty, it was clearly sent from a burnt phone. Moriarty is dead, John. Can't you see?"

I must admit that I was quite frustrated at that point. I understood that John was still touchy about the whole 'fake your death and come back after two years' thing, but somehow Moriarty struck a bad chord with me. Mentioning his death, even more so.

John opened his mouth, then closed it again. He patted my shoulder, mouthing 'sorry'. I nodded sharply in understanding. Lestrade resumed his frantic phone calls after checking to see if everything was alright. Then-

I'll leave John to continue. His fiction writing is admittedly slightly better than mine, although he doesn't know it. In the meantime, a short monograph on the Science of Asphyxiation. Enjoy.

Asphyxiation, or suffocation, is a method of death primarily employed by killers to avoid blood splatters or other messy residue that would implicate them with murder. However, telltale signs of strangulation can point to asphyxiation as the main cause of death in many cases, such as bruising around the throat, or even the lack of blood or toxins. Slightly protruded eyes, a tongue hanging out are also signs of this death, which can be use to pinpoint notable killers of this modus operandi. Known employers of this method are often strong bodied, with uncommonly large upper body strength. Or course, strangulation can still occur using other mechanical solutions-

John clearly does not appreciate little tidbits of knowledge in his book. He calls it 'disturbing'. I beg to differ.

-SH

END

Heyy guys!!!! How do you like this special Sherlock POV? I apologize if it's slightly shorter, and I wanted to experiment with Sherlock actually writing out his experiences. In the original canon he does this "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier", so I'm trying to learn his style. Thanks so much for the support, and as always,

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