The Side of The Angels (A Sherlock Holmes Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Five: Clostridium Botulinum

When we returned to the flat, there were only three hours remaining to solve the puzzle.

"Poison." Sherlock muttered as we came in.

"What are you going on about?" Mrs. Hudson asked gently. Sherlock slapped the table and she jumped, running out of the room. Poor woman.

"Clostridium botulinum!" He shouted. John looked confused.

"It's one of the deadliest poisons on the planet." I explained.

"Carl Powers."

"Oh, wait. Are you saying he was murdered?" 

"Remember the shoelaces?" Sherlock asked. I stopped.

"Oh...of course." Sherlock gave me a nod of understanding.

"The boy suffered from Eczema. It's the easiest thing in the world to introduce the poison into his medication. Two ours later, he comes up to London, the poison takes effect, paralyses the muscles and he drowns." 

"But how come the autopsy didn't pick that up?" John inquired.

"It's virtually undetectable. Nobody would've been looking for it, it was an open-and-shut tragic accident." I stated. Sherlock started typing on a laptop.

"There are still tiny traces of it left inside the trainers from where he'd put the cream on his feet. That's why they had to go." He hit enter.

"So how do we let the bomber know?" 

"Get his attention." Sherlock replied, his hands on his hips. "Stop the clock."

"The killer kept the shoes all these years." John said.

"Yes."

"Meaning...he's our bomber." The phone rang and I jumped, grabbing it and answering it on speaker. The woman sobbed into the phone.

"Well done, you two. Come and get me."

"Where are you?" I asked. "It's ok, we just need to know where you are." She sobbed out an address.

"Text my brother." I told Sherlock. "Everything is alright."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Police are on their way, alright? Just sit tight."

"Thank you."

~~~Sherlock~~~

I sent out a message to Lestrade when I got another text from Mycroft.

I approve.

-Mycroft

I didn't ask for your approval. I responded. What do you approve of?

-SH

Claudia.

-Mycroft.

Again, not seeking your approval. How'd she do?

-SH

Solved the case in half an hour...off of a photograph on Facebook.

-Mycroft.

I looked up at the girl. She tucked her short brown hair behind her ear, nodded as she spoke into the pink phone. Her hand came up to her neck, and I realized she was wearing a necklace. it was a silver chain, and on the other end, resting in her fingers, was an engagement ring. My eyes trailed to her left hand where a tan line was fading. She was engaged, but not anymore, and she wears the ring as a necklace. Her fiancé is dead. I found this fact quite refreshing.