Chapter 6
It’s just a list
The first few weeks of school crept by slowly. John plodded though the days. Sherlock was a constant annoyance yet John found his feelings for the younger boy were strange. All mixed up and confusing him. He would sort them out later. But he liked to think that he and Sherlock were friends. Even if it was an unusual, uneasy friendship. After all Sherlock was... Sherlock.
“John!” Sherlock practically barged into their dorm, coat flowing out behind him. The teacher’s had given up telling him to take it off. John thought it looked rather good on him...
“Not now, I’m doing homework.”
“This is important.”
“More imp-”
“Yes.” Sherlock stormed over, slapping a piece of paper down in front of John. “Look.”
“What about it?” John frowned, eyes narrowed at the paper. A list of some sort. With names and items. “It’s just a-”
“On contraire, it is not! You always see but you do not observe, John.” Oh brilliant. Sherlock was in one of his extra strange moods. John wished the fifteen year old would stop trying to be detective sometimes.
“It’s a list of all the missing or possibly stolen items.” Oh look he was continuing. “I crossed out all those that were returned or found. They were only four left. For each year, in the past four years.” John looked closer and saw that this was in fact true. Curious.
“And what sparked your sudden search for this list? And your interest in stolen items?” John looked at Sherlock sceptically. Sherlock just shrugged.
“I was thinking. You know how Irene had those bar cuffs go missing a week ago, or so she claims. Then Molly couldn’t find her necklace? Well the disappearances were to close together to be a coincidence. So I decided to look into it.”
“Of course you did,” John rolled his eyes, which had no effect on the tall boy standing impatiently beside him.
“Well, go on. Take a closer look. See if you can crack the code.” John leant forward, scrunching his eyes up so he could see the words more clearly.
STUDENT
ITEM REPORTED MISSING
DATE
RHIAN LANCASTER
FLUFFY EXPENSIVE MITTENS
ZOE TORREDEN
AMETHYST
HUGH STONE
JOURNAL
SARAH IRVINE
LAZULITE
CAITLIN SINCLAIR
PINK SCARF
IAN BRODY
GOOD ART PIECE
JOSEPH URQUART
OVERALLS
SOPHIA MCNEILL
‘MY FAMILY’ PHOTOGRAPH
KATHERINE IRVINE
FOSSIL
CARL POWERS
SNEAKERS
LAUREN BRODY
ELEMENTAL NECKLACE
CATHERINE CARTER
CELLPHONE
IVAN BROOKES
RAFT BUILDING KIT
OLIVIA THORNE
BOOK OF ANIMAL ART
AUGUSTINE HARDING
ALTOMETER
ARTHUR MORAN
CALL BOOK
IRENE ADLER
BAR CUFFS
MOLLY HOOPER
NECKLACE
“Nope, no idea,” John frowned. “Some strange items, though. If they mean anything they would be in groups of four...”
“Of course, I know,” Sherlock snapped in an irritated manner, grabbing the paper off John. He flopped over onto his bed, paper beside him. Not a single other word came from his mouth as he pressed his hands together under his chin.
John arched an eyebrow, relishing the silence. He would leave Sherlock to ponder over the missing items giving him much needed time to complete his homework. He was sure nothing would come from what Sherlock was so excited.
So John turned back to his schoolwork while Sherlock did his own special type of work.