Burning In Water (A Moriarty Fanfiction)

Chapter Seven: The Solution

"Moriarty? Is that Moriarty? HOW DOES MORIARTY HAVE YOUR NUMBER?" Sherlock yells at me.

"Oh is that dear Sherly? Say hi to him from me." I can practically hear the smirk in Moriarty's voice.

"Yes it is Moriarty, and I don't know how he has my number. He also says to say hi," I say defiantly. I don't like being yelled at.

"Give me the phone," Sherlock gestures towards me.

"If you give him the phone, I will blow this place up," Moriarty threatens.

"You're bluffing."

"Try me."

"Sherlock, I can't give you the phone. He says that he will blow us up if I do," I say trying to stay calm. Sherlock's face goes even whiter than normal.

"Ask him what he wants."

"What do you want, Moriarty?"

"That's simple dear. I want a challenge. I played with Sherlock and he was bo-o-o-ring so I thought it would be fun to bring one of his old friends into the mix. I must say, you have certainly been an interesting challenge. Much more complicated than Sherlock. And much prettier."

"So what's the challenge?" My voice sounds raspy due to the lack of moisture in my mouth.

"Well this is the part that gets interesting. I have a bomb wired up in the center of this hospital. If you don't solve my problem in the next, oh let's say...five minutes, I'll blow you all to smithereens. Of course I don't want to, but I have such faith in you that I'm sure you'll be able to do it. Good luck!" With that, he hangs up. My hand is trembling as I turn my phone off and drop it onto the table as though it was burning hot.

"What did he say? Darcy? DARCY? TELL ME WHAT HE SAID!" yells Sherlock.

"He said that if we didn't solve his problem in the next five minutes he would blow up the hospital." My voice is stronger than I thought possible, but dies off at the end.

"What problem?" asks John.

"The one we've been working on. Oh god, we only have five minutes," Molly says. "We're going to die."

"No we're not." I pull out some paper and a pen and sit down heavily at the desk.

"We can work this out."

Three minutes later, and all we have written down is what has happened so far.

Puzzle box - Johnson dies - man killed with cyanide in salt packets - salt packets found at Elements cafe - waitress dies and her last words are Moriarty - traced video footage and found him in the hospital - called Darcy and threatened us, giving us 5 minutes or the bomb will explode.

"So Moriarty had something to do with the entire thing. The people dying, they were murdered. Johnson said that he had been framed, but by who. Oh my god!" I summarise, yelling at the end when I realise what has happened.

I look over at Sherlock and his eyes mirror show his understanding as well.

"So he-"

"And Johnson-"

"And the salt-"

"It was all-"

"But what about the cafe? What did that have to do with this?" I ask.

"What just happened?" John asks frantically. I realise that Sherlock and I have been yelling at each other without explaining what has happened to the others.

"We've worked out what happened. Except for the cafe part," I explain.

"Guys, we only have one minute left. Please hurry up, I don't want to die!" Molly says frantically.

I rip out my phone and call Moriarty back.

"You have 40 seconds. Have you figured it out yet?" he asks.

"You framed Johnson. The people who were murdered were people who were on your bad list. My guess is they didn't pay you or they tried to revolt against you. You killed them using the girl at the elements cafe and when you were done you punished Johnson by keeping him alive and framing him," I say hurriedly.

"Very good Darcy!" he praises. 

"One question though, why did I use the Elements Cafe? I could have used any old cafe. Why that one?"

I look at Sherlock with despair. I have no idea. Sherlock's eyes shine with despair as well until he starts frantically gesturing at me and hitting his chest.

"15 seconds darling."

Sherlock starts making love hearts and I suddenly understand.

"You wanted to make a statement about someone you love. The elements symbolise the creation of the Universe so you wanted to send someone, somewhere, a very sick and twisted message." There is silence at the end of the line and then I hear a small beep and 'Bomb disarmed.'

"Well done Darcy. I must say, I'm impressed. Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other very soon. Until then, sweetheart." The phone clicks, signaling that he has hung up.

"What is with him and weird pet names?" I mutter.

"Are we safe?" asks John, holding his breath.

"For now."