A New Mystery at 221 Baker Street

Chapter 15: The Hiker and the Backfire

AN: Episode Transcript provided by Ariane DeVere/Callie Sullivan

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Alice and John sat in a police car on their way to the countryside. "What are we doing?" John asked, still confused as to how he and Alice ended up in their current situation.

"We're investigating a crime scene because Sherlock is being a jackass and refusing to cooperate," Alice replied, typing on her phone.

Earlier that morning a man had come to the flat requesting for Sherlock's expertise. His car had broken down the day before on a quiet, country road. He had noticed a hiker standing in the nearby field, his back to the road. When he restarted his car, it backfired. When he got out of the car again, the hiker was no longer there.

"Who are you texting?" John asked.

"Mycroft,"

"Why?"

"Because sometimes it's nice to take a break and have someone else deal with Sherlock,"

"Why is he making us do this?" John pointed to the laptop between them.

"Again, he is a jackass." Alice looked out the car window, "We're here,"

Having expected a casual looking man, Detective Inspector Carter was surprised to find an attractive young woman step out of the car "Sherlock Holmes?"

"Alice Whitmer," Alice introduced herself to DI Carter. "You must be Detective Inspector Carter,"

"Yes, ma'am," Carter then turned his attention to John. "And you are...?"

"John Watson," John said as he stood by Alice's side, "Are you set up for wi-fi?"

Ten minutes later, Alice and John were walking with DI Carter through the field. "You do realize that this is a tiny bit humiliating," John asked Sherlock who was on the laptop screen.

"It's okay, I'm fine," Sherlock said, grabbing a mug of tea before walking over to his open laptop. "Now, show me the stream,"

"I didn't really mean it for you," John groaned.

"Look, this is a six. There's no point in me leaving the flat for anything less than a seven. We agreed. Now go back and show me the grass, closer," Sherlock instructed. Alice complied and adjusted the screen.

"When did we agree that?" John asked.

"We agreed on it yesterday, Stop!" Sherlock leaned closer to his computer screen to get a better view of the mud on the ground.

"I wasn't even home yesterday. I was in Dublin," John argued, turning the laptop around so Sherlock could see him. "D'you just carry on talking when I'm away,"

"Yep, normally I try to tune him out," Alice said, taking the laptop out of John's hands and pointing it towards the car that backfired.

"Now show me the car that backfired," Sherlock instructed once more, Alice rolled her eyes but complied. "That's the one that made the noise, yes?"

"No, it was the other car," Alice said sarcastically. "Do you have to be dressed in just a sheet? You couldn't even bear to wear a shirt and pants?"

"Proper dress requires at least a six and a half,"

"I am rally tempted to punch you right now," Alice mumbled. "If you're thinking gunshot, there wasn't one. He was killed by a single blow to the back of the head from a blunt instrument which magically disappeared along with the killer. I've already narrowed it down to two possibilities."

"That's got to be an eight at least," John added.

"You've got two more minutes, then I want to know more about the driver," Carter said, reminding the trio that he was there.

"Oh forget him, he's an idiot," Sherlock said, waving his hand "Why else would he think himself a suspect,"

"I think he's a suspect," Carter argued back.

"Having driven to an isolated location and successfully committed a crime without a single witness, why would he then call the police?" Sherlock asked, mocking Detective Inspector Carter.

"He's trying to be confident,"

"A morbidly obese, the undisguised halitosis of a single man living on his own, the right sleeve of an internet porn addict, the breathing pattern of an untreated heart condition, low self-esteem and a limited life expectancy. And you think he's an audacious criminal mastermind?" Sherlock asked Carter.

"What did you say?" Their client asked from behind Sherlock "Heart what?"

"Go to the stream," Sherlock instructed.

"What's in the stream?" Carter asked.

"Please just go and see. You might find the answers in the craziest places," Alice said to Carter, walking back to the road and John.

"You both solved it didn't you?" John asked, seeing Alice's smirk as she handed him the laptop.

"Easy enough. Think about it: the hiker was looking up, what was he waiting for?" Alice turned to see John tapping the keyboard, trying to fix something.

"I've lost him- I don't know what-" John said, confused.

A young officer walked up to the two of them holding a phone. "Dr.Watson, Miss. Whitmer, it's for you,"

"Yeah, thanks," John replied, holding out his hand for the phone

"Uh, no sir. The helicopter," The officer corrected. John and Alice turned around to find a large black helicopter landing at the end of the field. John looked at Alice, confusion written all over his face.