Fight for Me

Chapter 28

Lydia tried to stifle a yawn as she looked over Sherlock's shoulder at the mess of photos and files spread chaotically across his desk. If he noticed her approaching from behind, cup of much needed coffee grasped in her hands, he did not react, remaining focused on the case laying out before him.

All three victims were women who appeared wealthy to the unobserving eye, but their fancy clothing and accessories were all knock-offs. They all held rather boring jobs that paid well enough, but clearly not enough to afford the lavish lifestyle that they appeared to enjoy. But the only think linking them together was the facade of wealth they put on.

Sherlock had John's laptop out in front of him and was currently trying to hack into the cameras around the most recent crime scene, both to test their strength but also to look at any activity logged in the system that could lend a clue to the investigation. He let out a disappointed sigh as he failed for the third time in a row on the current system he was trying to crack, moving on to the next and final camera.

"Are there not assets at Scotland Yard that would be better trained for this kind of thing?" Lydia inquired, sipping her coffee in a desperate attempt to get energy pumping through her. It had been a while since she had pulled an all-nighter and her body was not being very cooperative.

Sherlock sent a glare her way before starting to type on the computer. "I'm fairly certain no one there is actually competent at the tasks they are meant to accomplish. I doubt they would have any better luck than what I am having. However, I do have someone else I can reach out to if I can't get into this last system."

"How about checking their phone records? That's what they do on the telly, anyway."

"It is unlikely that we'll find anything of value in them, serial killers don't tend to personally reach out to their victims before killing them. Or at least they wouldn't do so over the phone with a trackable number. They are smarter than your average killer, more thought out. Still, I'm sure Scotland Yard is working that angle so if there is anything of value in the phone records, they should be able to find it. I'd rather focus on more fruitful searches. Now shut up, I need to concentrate."

Lydia sighed as the room fell back into silence save for the incessant typing coming from John's computer. Although she knew there was nothing else to find in the files that Lestrade had dropped off for Sherlock, Lydia picked them up and began to read through them for the third time. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to be helpful to the case considering she had no obligation to help solve it, but she would feel guilty getting some sleep or scrolling aimlessly through the internet while Sherlock was slaving away on the case.

Only about five minutes had passed before Sherlock was interrupted again, this time by John coming home from his date, which had clearly gone well considering he had stayed the night and the content look on his face. Sherlock couldn't understand why sex had such an impact on John's behavior, nor why he sought it out so often. But he had a bigger mystery to solve than John's libido.

"Morning," John smiled at the two of them as he walked into the flat, hanging his coat up.

Lydia offered him a bright smile, "I trust your date went well?"

"Yeah, she's amazing. We're going out again on Monday. I think this one might actually last a while."

"Not likely," Sherlock muttered under his breath, not glancing up from the laptop.

In response, Lydia elbowed Sherlock and growled, "you can just let him enjoy it, you know. Besides, from what John's told me, you're the reason for most of his break ups."

Sherlock slammed the lid of the laptop closed in frustration, "thanks for that, I was almost in. Now I am going to have to start over."

"Sure you were, I think it might just be time to seek help from whoever it was you were referring to earlier. You aren't exactly a seasoned hacker, Sherlock."