Burning In Water (A Moriarty Fanfiction)

Chapter Five: Discoveries

She is standing out the back, white hands twisting around her apron.

"It was you," I claim.

She nods softly. "It was him that made me do it though. I didn't know that it was happening. He just came in here and told me what to do. He paid me a lot you see, but I swear I didn't know. All he said was, 'You put this salt packet onto their plates. You make sure that it's on theirs.' But his voice, it was so soft and gentle, like honey..." She trails off. Her face drains of its colour as she fights to rip her apron off.

"I don't think I'm quite well-" and then she keeled over.

"Oh god. Sherlock call an ambulance," John says, kneeling next to her. "Hey there. Hey. It's going to be ok. Just listen to my voice. That's right, you'll be fine." But I knew that she wouldn't be.

The ambulance's keen wail faded off into the distance, blurring with the hum of London traffic.

"Well someone didn't want us knowing that," says John. I nod in agreement but Sherlock was just staring into the distance. His reverie was broken when his phone started ringing.
"Gavin?"
There was a momentary silence, and then, "We're coming."

"What's happened?" John questions.

"They've discovered something on the body of the first victim. They want us there now."
My phone buzzes, coming up with a text from an unknown number.

'Meet me in the park if you want answers. Don't bring those two.

JM'

JM? Who was that? Well, I was always one for action, so instead of following Sherlock and John to the hospital I made up an excuse of being hungry and make my way to the park.

When I arrive, I am greeted by a dark figure.

"Darcy. How nice of you to come!" It was a male's voice, with a singsong tone to it. Had I head it before?

"Who are you?"

"I thought that you would have remembered me," he chuckles, his head tipped to one side as he steps into the light. His face triggers my memory instantly.

"Jim," I breathed out.

"Hello again Darcy. Did you miss me?" He smirks.

"Wait, so you're telling me now that you're some kind of evil genius?"

"Meet the real me. Did you like the underwear? I think it added a special something. Jim is so innocent, isn't he?" He laughs again, a loud noise that unsettled my stomach.
"So why did you ask me here?"

"Why did you come?" He quips back. I thought it over. Why had I come?

"Because I wanted information."

"Wrong! You came because you were bored. It was a pretty straightforward case, wasn't it? All the right clues, left in all the right places. Almost like it was a trap," his voice softens towards the end as he steps closer to me. My brain is racing, but I don't miss his smirk.

"What are you going to do to me?" I say defiantly.

"Oh don't be boooring. I just came to say hello. I'm still allowed to do that, aren't I?" He says, baiting me.

"Not if I can prove that you did it."

"Oh she's good. She's very good!" He does a dramatic turn, as if he talking to a studio audience. 

"Well, I must be going. I must say that our little talk was very educational. I'm sure I'll be seeing you very soon," and with that, he walks away. I don't follow him.

I arrive at St. Barts, clutching a bag of chips to support my alibi. I am directed upstairs and walk into the morgue, to see Sherlock, John and another girl crowding around the body. One glance and I could tell that she had it bad for Sherlock; the newly applied lipstick was a dead giveaway.

"What took you so long Darcy?" Sherlock doesn't even look up.

"There was a long line. You British people and your lines," I joke, popping a chip into my mouth to accentuate my point.

"So what do we have here?" I ask.

"He died of cyanide poisoning as I suspected. Oh, Darcy, this is Molly."

"Hello Molly," I say, shaking her hand firmly but offering no smile.

"Uh hello Darcy. I've heard a-a lot about you," she stammers.

I grimace in her direction, the closest to a smile that I can currently get.

"Found anything that I don't know?" I joke.

"Actually yes. Look over there," says Sherlock, his head tilting towards a tray beside the body. I stride over to it, and see something that made my heart stop and my head spin.

It was a white piece of paper, crumpled as if it had been crushed in someone's hand. Only 5 words. 13 letters.

'The game is on.

JM'