Oh, my. This one is long... I should regulate the chapter lengths... eep :/ Oh well, please comment!
(Alice’s POV: )
In the morning we met up at Scotland Yard. We were all in Lestrade’s office. Sherlock was standing at the window with his hands raised in front of his mouth and his fingers tapping together. John was sitting opposite Lestrade at his desk. I was leaning against the wall by the door with my hands in my pockets and one foot against the wall.
“She lives in Cornwall. Two men broke in wearing masks, forced her to drive to the car park and decked her out in enough explosives to take down a house.” Lestrade said. He looked up at Sherlock as he walked over to the desk. “Told her to phone you. She had to read out from this pager.” He finished, putting the pager onto the desk in front of John, who picked it up to look at it.
“And if she deviated by one word, the sniper would set her off.” I said, very much enjoying myself.
“Or if you hadn’t solved the case.” John added. I was smiling at the… oh, I couldn’t find the word. Sherlock had walked back to the window and softly as if he was talking to himself said,
“Oh. Elegant.” He said quietly. I grinned, as I had found my word, and Sherlock agreed with me. John raised his head and sighed in exasperation.
“’Elegant’?” He asked, face palming.
“But what was the point? Why would anyone do this?” Lestrade asked, surprised anyone would.
“Oh – I can’t be the only person in the world that gets bored.” Sherlock said as if it was obvious. He glanced at me and I glared at him, not wanting to get into a conversation like that right then. Just then the pink phone beeped a message alert. John turned round to him as he activated the phone.
“You have one new message.” The voice alert announced. As Sherlock walked towards Lestrade’s desk, the phone sounded the Greenwich pips again, but this time there were three short pips and one long one.
“Four pips.” John said, stating the bl**din’ obvious. I rolled my eyes.
“First test passed, it would seem. Here’s the second.” I said. Sherlock showed a new photograph to the others. It was a close-up of a car with its driver’s door open and the number plate clearly visible. John and Lestrade got up to take a closer look, and outside in the main office a phone rang.
“It’s abandoned, wouldn’t you say?” Sherlock asked.
“I’ll see if it’s been reported.” Lestrade said, picking up his phone. Sergeant Donovan came in holding another phone.
“Freak, it’s for you.” She said. Sherlock walked over to the door and took the phone from her. I gave the woman a nasty look before her leaving. John sat down again and Sherlock walked out into the general office and raised the phone to his ear. I followed him.
“Hello?” He said. The frightened voice of a young man came over the phone.
“It’s okay that you’ve gone to the police.” He said.
“Who is this? Is this you again?” Sherlock demanded, getting angry.
“But don’t rely on them.” He continued. In Lestrade’s office, John looked round and sat up as he saw the look on Sherlock’s face. “Clever you, guessing about Carl Powers.” He congratulated. “I never liked him.” Sherlock looked round sharply at that. “Carl laughed at me, so I stopped him laughing.” John came out of the office and walked closer to Sherlock, looking at him in concern. I held a hand out towards John, telling him to wait.
“And you’ve stolen another voice, I presume.” Sherlock asked into the phone.
“This is about you and me.” A bus drove noisily in the phone.
“Who are you?” Sherlock asked again, losing patience. More traffic went past. “What’s that noise?”
“The sounds of life, Sherlock.” The young man answered. “But don’t worry...I can soon fix that. You solved my last puzzle in nine hours. This time you have eight.” In the office, Lestrade was talking into the phone.
“Okay...Great.” He said, putting the phone down and heading towards the door.
“We’ve found it.” He announced. Sherlock’s phone had gone dead. The gears in my head were turning as we followed Lestrade out the door.
Close to the river, the police had arrived at a large open space where the car was found. Forensics officers in protective clothing were working on the car as Lestrade lead Sherlock and I towards it. John and Sally Donovan were walking along behind us.
“The car was hired yesterday morning by an Ian Monkford. Banker of some kind; City boy. Paid in cash.” Lestrade said, looking over notes. Sherlock looked closely as they passed a woman talking with a female police officer. “Told his wife he was going away on a business trip, but he never arrived.” He continued. As Sherlock, Lestrade and I reached the passenger door of the car, Sally turned to John. I pretended to not notice but listened carefully.
“You’re still hanging round him… and her…” She said distastefully.
“Yeah, well...” John began.
“Opposites attract, I suppose.” She said, looking at Sherlock and me.
“No, we’re not...” John tried again.
“You should get yourself a hobby – stamps, maybe. Model trains. Safer.” She interrupted, going to stand beside Lestrade as Sherlock leaned into the car to look at a large amount of blood smeared over the island between the two front seats. I opened the glove box on the opposite side.
“Before you ask, yes, it’s Monkford’s blood. The DNA checks out.” Lestrade said, feeling good about himself for thinking ahead. I found a business card in the glove box and took it out, giving it to Sherlock and closing the lid. I straightened up and walked back to the proper side of the car.
“No body?” I asked, more for Johns sake of understanding than mine.
“Not yet.” Donovan said bitterly.
“Get a sample sent to the lab.” Sherlock commanded Lestrade, who nodded. Sherlock and John walked away and when I saw what they were doing I decided to stay next to Lestrade; Sherlock pretending to be someone else properly weirded me out. Lestrade turned to Donovan and looked at her pointedly. She stared back at him indignantly but he held the look and she grunted in exasperation and stomped away. I smiled and looked over to Sherlock, shoving my hands in my pockets. Sherlock walked over to the woman who was talking with the police officer.
“Mrs. Monkford?” He asked. She turned to him tearfully.
“Yes.” She answered. She looked at Sherlock and John and sighed. “Sorry, but I’ve already spoken with two policemen.”
“No, we’re not from the police; we’re...” John began. Sherlock held his hand out to her, his voice tearful and tremulous.
“Sherlock Holmes. Very old friend of your husband’s. We, um...” As she shook his hand, he looked down as if fighting back his tears. “...we grew up together.” He choked. I chuckled and Lestrade gave me a funny look.
“Sorry. Sherlock is…” I laughed. “…acting.” I finished. He looked at the two and smiled, but immediately went back to his work.
“I’m sorry, who? I don’t think he ever mentioned you.” Mrs. Monkford asked.
“Oh, he must have done. This is ...this is horrible, isn’t it?” Sherlock asked, still tearful. John looked away, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to keep his face neutral. Seeing me laughing wasn’t helping. “I mean, I just can’t believe it. I only saw him the other day. Same old Ian – not a care in the world.” Sherlock smiled tearfully at her.
“Sorry, but my husband has been depressed for months. Who are you?” She asked, getting a bit offended.
“Really strange that he hired a car. Why would he do that? It’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it?” By now Sherlock had tears running down his cheeks and I had to cover my mouth to quiet my laughter.
“No, it isn’t. He forgot to renew the tax on the car, that’s all.” Mrs. Monkford said, very confused.
“Oh, well, that was Ian! That was Ian all over!” Sherlock said, feigning to reminisce.
“No it wasn’t.” Mrs. Monkford argued. Instantly Sherlock’s fake persona dropped and he looked at her intensely.
“Wasn’t it? Interesting.” He said, turning and walking away. I ran up to them as She glared after Sherlock. We headed to the police tape as a female police officer went over to Mrs. Monkford.
“Who was I talking to?” I heard her ask. I smiled a little bit, and Sherlock appreciated me taking what he just did so lightly compared to John.
“Why did you lie to her?” He asked.
“People don’t like telling you things, but they love to contradict you. Past tense, did you notice?” Sherlock answered, taking off a glove to wipe the tears away.
“Sorry, what?” John asked. I held back a sigh.
“He referred to her husband in the past tense. She joined in. Bit premature – they’ve only just found the car.” I explained.
“You think she murdered her husband?” John said, surprised.
“Definitely not. That’s not a mistake a murderer would make.” I said immediately. Sherlock nodded.
“I see. No, I don’t. What am I seeing?” John asked, shaking his head. As we walked past Donovan she called out,
“Fishing! Try fishing!” John turned around and gave her an exasperated nod before following us again. I smiled.
“Where now?” John questioned.
“Janus Cars.” Sherlock said simply, handing the business card to John. “Alice just found this in the glove department.”
Two chapters today, look at that! I must be on a roll :)