Did You Miss Me?

Chapter 4: Happy Birthday

"So what exactly are we looking for?" John asked, sitting down at the kitchen table across from Sherlock.

Sherlock reached across the table and slid the cup of tea over to him. "Thank you."

"That was mine."

"I know."

John scouled and went to pour himself another cup.

"So what are you hoping to find?" He said again, his spoon clinking against the sides of the cup.

"A name." Taking another sip, he tapped on the paper. "Maria Wright. Ring a bell?"

"Ummmm," Watson thought for a moment, "No, not really."

"It should. She's Jacob Phillips' brother's girlfriend."

"I'm sorry, how do you know that?"

"It was in Phillips' file."

John shook his head, amazed at Sherlock's impecible memory. He knew his friend had only held the file for a few minutes and yet, he seemed to have memorized the entirety of its contents.

Sherlock's phone dinged a little tune. John recognized it as 'God Save the Queen.'

Shaking his head at the petty antics of the brothers, John returned to his drink as Sherlock answered the phone.

"Hello."

Sherlock paused as Mycroft spoke before sighing and turning the phone on speaker. "Better?"

"Yes, much. Hello Doctor Watson."

"Hello?"

"Is that all? No good morning, Mycroft? No how are you doing, Mycroft? My my, Sherlock really is rubbing off on you. Unfortunately. Anyhow, I got your text, Sherlock, and I've sent you the information you requested."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"And you couldn't have sent this in a text."

"You know how I despise texting, dear brother. Plus, I haven't heard from you in a while."

Sherlock scoffed at that. "More like you wanted to annoy us with the scathing sound of your voice."

There was an audible sigh from the other end of the phone before Mycroft said, "Goodbye brother mine."

Sherlock hung up without responding.

"What information did you want from Mycroft?"

"My brother loves to keep tabs on everything," Sherlock said, standing and finishing his tea, "he keeps detailed records of everything. Including outgoing mail."

"But we already know that the head was shipped from his building. Or at least had the return address there."

"Yes, but what we don't know when it was mailed."

"Why would that matter?"

"If it were on the list, that would mean the head was placed in the outgoing mail bin. Everything is put in and documented in sight of security cameras. If we're lucky, we will have our culprit in camera."

**********

The camera clicked as Rosie smiled, looking up at Mrs. Hudson affectionately. The elderly woman set her down as Watson looked at the picture he'd taken in his phone.

"She's really getting big, isn't she?"

"That's what children do, Mrs. Hudson. We'd have a problem of she wasn't."

"Oh you know what I mean." She said before seeing the smile that Sherlock was desperately trying to contain.

"I'm not wholly oblivious to social context."

"Daddy!" Rosie said her arms outstretched, reaching for John.

"Sure you aren't." John scoffed, scooping the toddler up into his arms.

"It's a bit dark in here. Don't you think?"

"We'll turn some more lights on after we sing happy birthday." Sherlock said, clearing plates of pizza off the kitchen table.

"What happened to Lestrade and Molly? I thought they were supposed to come."

"Lestrade was but he phoned to say something came up and couldn't come. Molly came by earlier while you were out. Said she had a date tonight." John told her, setting Rosie down in her seat.

"Not an evil mastermind this time, I hope."

"No, not this time." Sherlock said.

"You would know, John said, rolling his eyes, "You stalked him for a week."

"Given her history of choices, I just wanted to make sure she would be safe. Also, it was not stalking, John. More like monitoring."

"You hacked your brother's bloody security system to do it!"

"Again, not stalking... It's monitoring. Mrs. Hudson?"

"Yes, dear."

Sherlock continued to search through the kitchen drawers. "Do you happen to know where the lighter is. I can't find it anywhere."

"That's because I borrowed it. I think I left it in my flat. I'll be right back."

As Mrs. Hudson made her way down the stairs, John turned to Sherlock.

"I didn't know she liked those scented candles."

"She dosen't."

"Then why-"

Mrs. Hudson's voice interupted John from down the stairs, "It's not recreational. It's for my hip."

The two men held back laughter at her sudden defensiveness.

As Mrs. Hudson returned, John had set out the ice cream along with the cake that Sherlock had made earlier. The detective had dubbed it, 'The epitome of science and flavor. A decadent experiment.'

After lighting the candles, they began to sing happy birthday to Rosie. Sherlock's voice was almost giddy and John's was full of the love and pride that shine in his eyes. Mrs. Hudson was gazing at the small family, tears in her own eyes as she sang out the simple tune.

***********

"John."

They were on his laptop, looking through Mycroft's security footage.

"Yes, sorry. What?"

"That must be her." Sherlock said, pointing at the screen where a woman was holding a large package. The camera was fuzzy, but John could make out the short ginger on the monitor.

"Why couldn't we have just looked at the tape and tried to ID her?"

Sherlock stood rather abruptly and grabbed his coat.

"Come now, I've already texted Lestrade to bring her and her boyfriend in for questioning."

Following Sherlock's lead, John grabbed his own jacket from the back of his chair, "Yes, but you didn't answer my question."

"No time for that, the game is on!"

"I know, I know the game is on," John mimicked Sherlock throwing his hands up as he said it, "but now you're dodging the question."

Sherlock looked up at his compatriot who was standing at the top of the stairs. Sighing in defeat and knowing all too well just how stubborn John was, he gave in.

"Because I didn't think of it, alright!"

John grinned and made his way down the steps. He gave Sherlock a cheeky grin knowing that he now has ammo to hold over his head.

"Well, come on. The game is on!" He told Sherlock.