The Art Of Deduction (A BBC Sherlock Fanfiction)

48. The Diogenes Club

TWO MONTHS LATER.
***********************

Elisabeth goes to a NatWest ATM machine and inserts her card. Typing in her PIN, she then selects a transaction. After a few seconds she is greeted with the onscreen message:

There is a problem with
your card
Please wait

Elisabeth grimaces and a second later a new message appears:

Thank you for
your patience.

A moment later the message adds:

Elisabeth

Elisabeth frowns and behind her a black car pulls up to the kerb and stops. Elisabeth turns and looks at it, then turns back to the ATM, sighing in exasperation. She meekly gets in and allows herself to be driven to an elegant white painted building which has a brass plaque outside declaring the venue to be THE DIOGENES CLUB. She goes inside and enters a large room which – back when the building used to be a house – was probably a drawing room. A large marble fireplace surrounds an unlit fire and the walls have heavy wooden panelling and ornate white plaster coving. The room contains five small round tables, each with a single armchair beside it, and four of the chairs are currently occupied by smartly dressed middle aged or elderly gentlemen reading newspapers and taking no notice of each other or of the new arrival. Elisabeth looks around and then walks over to one of the older men sitting at the far end of the room.

"Er, excuse me. Um, I'm looking for Mycroft Holmes." She says.

The old man's face becomes appalled but he doesn't look up.

"Would you happen to know if he's around at all?"

Some of the other inhabitants of the room behind Elisabeth look round at her but don't speak.

"Can you not hear me?"

The old man looks up at her, huffing indignantly. Elisabeth holds out a placatory hand to him.

"Yes, all right."

She turns around to the others in the room.

"Anyone?"

The others turn their faces away from her.

"Anyone at all know where Mycroft Holmes is? I've been asked to meet him here."

The old man lifts his walking stick and pushes the end of it repeatedly onto a button on the nearby wall. A distant bell rings.
Elisabeth looks around in confusion while the gentlemen either ignore her or look at her in annoyance.

"No takers? Right. Am I invisible? Can you actually see me?"

Just then two men wearing dress coats walk into the room. Elisabeth turns to them.

"Ah, thanks, gents." She says.

Behind him, the elderly gentleman flaps his hand frantically at the new arrivals as if to say, 'Get her out of here!' The dress coated men, wearing white gloves and soft white overshoes to muffle their footsteps, walk briskly over to Elisabeth.

"I've been asked to meet Mycroft Holm..."

She breaks off as the men walk either side of her and firmly seize her arms.

"What the ...? Hey!"

As they almost lift her off her feet, one of them puts his other hand over Elisabeth's mouth to silence her. Her muffled protests continue while they rapidly bundle her out of the room. Suddenly all the years of training kick in as she frees herself of her restraint, and elbows one of the men in the groin. She turns, and punches the other, knocking him out. While, one of them is still hunched over in pain, she knees him in the face. Also knocking him out. Four more people appear and finally manage to apprehend her. And then Mycroft comes from in front of them.