A Study in Dance - A BBC Sherlock Fanfiction

Chapter 4

A/N: hi guys!

sorry, this is a pretty short chapter, but i hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

- jawn

"Taxi!"

The black car stopped at the side of the road and hurriedly Sherlock and John got in.

"University of London, please," Sherlock directed the driver, then leaned back.

John stared at him unabashedly.

"So we're taking the case."

"That's what I said, yes."

"Just like that."

"Just like that."

"But," he furrowed his eyebrows, "why?"

"Because it's a promising case. That's why," Sherlock replied simply, without looking at him.

"You wanted to throw Carrie out of the flat like the old lady at the beginning."

"Change is the only constant in life."

"I don't want to have Heraclitus quoted to me now."

"You know it's from him?"

"Believe it or not, yes. Stop deflecting."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

John took a breath and forced himself to remain calm.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty annoying at times?"

Sherlock just gave him a mocking look in reply and then looked out the window again.

"The stick figures," he explained.

"That's the reason I took the case."

John waited.

"I thought it had just been a normal kidnapping. But what kind of kidnapper sends stick figures and goes to the trouble of contacting his victim with them weeks in advance?"

"I don't know," John said with a shrug. "A psychopath, maybe?"

Sherlock grinned, but then shook his head.

"No. Well, maybe, but that's not the reason.

The perpetrator must have intended something. He or she specifically set it up to scare Juliet. And Juliet was scared, obviously. You can only be scared of something you know, though, so she must have known either the perpetrator or those stick figures."

"And which of the two did she know?" asked John.

"Both," Sherlock replied.

"Both?"

"Yes, both."

He averted his eyes from the window and looked at him.

"The number is from Chicago. You can tell by the area code - 001 60644.
We know that Juliet moved from Chicago to England about four years ago for reasons unknown, and since then she has tried at all costs to hide anything to do with her past and therefore with Chicago.
Now, after four years, she contacts a number from Chicago. Coincidence? Unlikely.
Juliet usually tells Carrie everything - except her past.
Judging by her reaction when Carrie saw the messages, this number must have something to do with her past. Juliet didn't want Carrie to read them or know anything about the number.
But to act so differently just because of a number that came from a country more than 18 hours away from here? No.
The only logical conclusion is that Juliet knew who this number came from. But since it is rather unlikely that she remembers a random number from Chicago that she last contacted perhaps years ago, the sender must have given her a clue somewhere as to who he was, and she got it. So Juliet knows these stick figures too.
But actually she has nothing to fear - Chicago is almost 4000 miles away from London. So the sender must have told her something that scared her."

"And how are we supposed to find out what that was, please? We don't even know if it's even a recognised secret language."

"Good question at the wrong time," Sherlock replied, sighing and looking back at the window.

"I honestly have no idea yet."

John sighed as well.

"Okay, what else?" he asked.

Sherlock turned his head back to him.

"How do you know I've figured anything else out?"

"Did you?"

He and looked at the window again and the corners of his mouth twitched. How well John knew him.

"Juliet didn't disappear by choice. Quite obvious. She wants to avoid her past - why suddenly return to it, after four years, in the middle of term? To her family, with whom she's had no contact since? No, an excuse."

"So she was kidnapped."

"Or blackmailed- the question is, with what."

"But why now?"

John furrowed his eyebrows and raised his shoulders.

"Why now, after four years? Why would someone she obviously hates suddenly contact her after four years?"

Sherlock was silent for a moment before answering.

"Because that someone wants Juliet back," he then said. "And is mercilessly exploiting the fear she feels to do so."

"But they could also just.... kill her!"

"I haven't told the reasons. But I hope not. I really hope not."

John leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

If Juliet was already lying in a forest, pale and without a pulse.... God, how would Carrie react? And how would they even find her? What if she was already on the next plane to Chicago? There was no way he and Sherlock could catch up with her and the case would be over for them. Just like that. While a young woman was forced to leave everything that was important and meaningful to her.

The taxi stopped and Sherlock handed him the money before getting out and John followed.

He shivered as the cold air hit him. By now it had become quite dark, but John could clearly make out the large building they were standing in front of. It was somehow antique and orange and quite intimidating.
Despite the weekend, the small park in front of the university was quite crowded and animated voices filled the square. Small children frolicked on the grass in thick jumpers and shooed pigeons into the air and couples enjoyed the fresh afternoon air hand in hand.
Everything seemed so peaceful.

John sighed and looked at Sherlock standing close beside him. His dark curls blew in the wind and the cold made his cheeks rosy as he looked critically at the building.

He flipped up the collar of his coat and looked at him.

"Okay, let's go," he said.

"There's nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."