Sophia Holmes and the Empty Hearse (Sherlock's Daughter Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Eighteen - The Empty Hearse Part VI

"Oh, he would have needed a confidant ..." Mary points to dad, who nods in agreement, but trails off at John's look. "Sorry." She refolds her arms and looks back down. I can't tell whether she knows that from watching crime dramas in media, or whether she knows from personal experience. There's definitely something about her which isn't adding up for me.

"But he was the only one?" I say. "The only one who knew?"

Dad closes his eyes briefly and forces the next sentence out. "Couple of others." I grit my teeth and John lowers his head. Dad speaks quickly. "It was a very elaborate plan - it had to be. The next of the thirteen possibilities ..."

"Who else?" I interrupt. "Who else knew?" Dad hesitates. "Who?"

"The Doctor," dad blurts.

"The Doctor?" I repeat, in disbelief. "The fucking bastard. I called him to let him know about what happened but he never replied."

"I know, he showed me," dad replies and I shake my head. "He wanted me to tell you, or even to bring you along. He was how I was getting around, but he left after dropping me in Serbia."

I sit in stunned silence for a moment as I consider that, but then my eyes widen. "So it must have been him who left the message."

"What message?" dad frowns.

"How I found you," I explain. "Anderson was tracking your movements, the little cases you were doing along the way. Each place you visited began with a letter from my Name: Shannan, Amritsar, Hamburg, Prague and Osijek. The only letter missing was the 'I' so I predicted you were heading to Ivanjica. Obviously the Doctor orchestrated the plan so that you visited each city just when the terror cells had moved there." I frown. "But that wouldn't have happened easily. How long have you been gone?"

Dad smiles, almost proud I'd figured it out. "It's barely been six months for me, but you're right: the Doctor had to time it just right so it took a lot longer."

"Nice of you to take the shorter route," John says, bitterly. "Who else?"

"Molly."

"Molly?" John repeats, angrily.

"John," Mary says softly. Of course: she must have faked his records. Moriarty had obviously forgotten about his former girlfriend allowing her to go under the radar.

"Molly Hooper - and some of my homeless network, and that's all."

"Okay," John says, sitting up a little and glancing round at Mary, who gives him a sympathetic smile, before he turns to dad again. "Okay. So just your brother, the Doctor, and Molly Hooper, and a hundred tramps."

Dad laughs. "No! Twenty-five at most." John hurls himself across the table and aims a punch at dad's lower jaw at his response. Twenty eight people knew he faked it. John's letting him off lightly.

***

After being thrown out of the café, we relocate again to a kebab shop. John, Mary and I stand with our backs against the counter while dad takes his coat off and grimaces as he dabs his bust lip with a napkin.

"Seriously, it's not a joke?" dad says as he does, gesturing to his own top lip. John doesn't meet his gaze. "You're-you're really keeping this?"

John clears his throat and meets dad's eyes. "Yeah."

"You're sure?"

"Mary likes it."

"Mmmmmm," dad considers, "no she doesn't."

"She does," John protests.

"She doesn't," dad asserts.

John glances briefly round at Mary for backup, then does a double-take at her expression. She makes incoherent apologetic noises. "Oh!" John cries, trying to cover his moustache with his hand. "Brilliant."