The Great Game (Sherlock x Female!Reader)

Chapter 6: The Bruce-Partington Plans

There's a short pause, then the kid's voice comes through. "Please. Is somebody there? Somebody help me!" The child said as all of you let out a relieved breath.

"There you go. Go find out where he is and pick him up." Sherlock said to Lestrade and he gives you and John a long look then turns and points to the dots in the sky of the painting.

"The Van Buren Supernova, so called. Exploding star, only appeared in the sky in 1858." He said as he holds up his phone over his shoulder so that Wenceslas can see the screen. He, then, turns and throws her a triumphant look and then walks away. You and John walk over to the painting for a closer look.
"So how could it have been painted in the 1640's?" You said, grinning at Wenceslas and then follow Sherlock. John keeps staring at the painting when he gets a text alert. He digs out his phone and reads the text:

​​​​​​​My patience is
wearing thin.

Mycroft Holmes

​​​​​​​John growls slightly then he looks up at the painting and switched his phone off and follows his two friends.

At Scotland Yard, you, Sherlock and Wenceslas were in Lestrade's office sitting in chairs across from Lestrade's desk. Sherlock had his hand in the prayer position under his chin. "You know, it's interesting. Bohemian stationary, an assassin named after a Prague legend, and you Miss Wenceslas. This whole case has distinctly Czech feeling about it. Is that where this leads?" Sherlock asked Wenceslas but she doesn't respond.

"What are we looking at, Inspector?" Sherlock asked him. "Well, um, criminal conspiracy, fraud, accessory after the fact at the very least. The murder of the old woman, all the people in the flats..." Lestrade started to say when Wenceslas panicked and turns to Lestrade. "I didn't know anything about that! All those things! Please believe me." She pleaded.

You and Sherlock stare at her for a moment, looked at each other then to Lestrade and nodded to him to confirm that she's telling the truth. "I just wanted my share--the thirty million." She said as she looks at you and Sherlock then sighs and lowers her head.

"I found a little old man in Argentina. Genius. I mean, really: brushwork immaculate, could fool anyone." She said.
"Hm!" Sherlock said sarcastically.
She looks over at him and said. "Well, nearly anyone. But I don't know how to go about convincing the world the picture was genuine. It was just an idea--a spark which he blew into a flame."

"Who?" Sherlock asked sharply.

"I don't know." She replied and you laugh in disbelief.

"It's true! I mean, it took a long time, but eventually I was put in touch with people...his people. Well, there was never any real contact; just messages....whispers." Wenceslas said. Sherlock leans closer to her, face intense. "And did those whispers have a name?" He asked. She gazes ahead of herself for a moment, then looked across to Lestrade before nodding. She turns to you and Sherlock and said. "Moriarty."
Sherlock sinks back in his chair and looks over at you as your eyes widen. That name is back! Moriarty! You thought. Who is he?

At Battersea, John is walking along the railway lines with the Tube guard who found Andrew West's body. "So this is where West was found?" John asked him. "Yeah....you gonna be long?" The guard asked.
"I might be." replied John.
"You with the police, then?" He asked. "Sort of." John said.
"I hate 'em." The guard said.
"Police?" John asked looking over at the guard.
"No. Jumpers. People who chuck themselves in front of trains. Selfish bastards." The guard replied.
"Well that's one way of looking at it." said John as he squats down to look more closely at the railway track.
"I mean it. It's all right for them. It's over in a second--strawberry jam all over the lines. What about the drivers, hmmm? They've gotta live with it, haven't they?" The guard ranted as John runs his fingers along the track, then lifts his hand to look at it.