~~~
"What are you doing?" John says as he comes up the stairs and sees Kat sitting on the couch with Sherlock. Sherlock's feet were in Kat's lap while he laid vertically, his eyes closed and his arm out groaning slightly. Kat looked up at John from her book.
"Nicotine patch." Sherlock replies. "Helps me think. Impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days. Bad news for brain work."
"It's good news for breathing." Kat says still looking at her book.
"Oh, breathing! Breathing's boring." Sherlock groans.
"Breathing keeps you alive." Kat points out.
"Eh." Sherlock shrugs.
"Is that three patches?" John questions.
"It's a three-patch problem." Sherlock replies simply.
After a few minutes of silence John speaks up. "Well? You asked me to come, I'm assuming it's important."
"Oh, yeah, of course." Sherlock says as if suddenly remembering. "Can I borrow your phone?"
"My phone?" John asks incredulously.
"Always a chance that my number will be recognized. It's on the website."
"Mrs. Hudson's got a phone."
"She's downstairs. I shouted, but she didn't hear." Sherlock answers.
"I was the other side of London." John replies angrily.
"There was no hurry." Sherlock assures him.
"Here." John hands him his phone. "What about Kat?" He questions as Sherlock places the phone in between his two hands, the tips of his fingers against his lips.
"Hey, I offered, but he refused." Kat defends holding her hands up.
"So what's this about," John starts. "The case?"
"Her case." Sherlock muses.
"Her case?" John repeats again.
"Her suitcase, yes, obviously. The murderer took her suitcase, first big mistake." Sherlock explains.
"OK, he took her case. So?"
"It's no use, there's no other way." Sherlock looks to Kat who finally puts her book down. "We'll have to risk it."
"Are you sure?" Kat verifies as John looks between the two confused. "Well, if there's no other way."
Sherlock hums then holds out John's phone to him. "On my desk there's a number. I want you to send a text."
"You've brought me here to send a text." John questions incredulously.
"Text, yes. The number on my desk." There is a few moments of silence when Sherlock opens his eyes and looks to John. "What's wrong?"
"Just met a friend of yours." John answers.
"A friend?" Sherlock asks, surprise showing on his face and in his voice.
John corrects himself. "An enemy."
Sherlock nods understandingly. "Oh. Which one?"
"Well, your arch-enemy, according to him." John corrects himself again. "Do people have arch-enemies?"
All Sherlock said was: "Did he offer you money to spy on me?"
"Yes."
"Did you take it?" The detective questions.
"No." John replied.
"Pity, we could have split the fee." Sherlock said slightly disappointed. "Think it through next time. Kat, if my "arch-enemy" ever approaches you and offers you money to spy on me," Sherlock turns to Kat who is looking at him with a curious expression. "Don't be afraid to except his generous offer, we could split the fee." Sherlock finishes with honest sarcasm.
"Well," Kat starts with a smile. "If it means that much to you." She jokes and Sherlock smiles at her.
"Yeah, but who is he?" John questions breaking up the two of them.
"The most dangerous man you've ever met and not my problem right now. On my desk, the number!" Sherlock replies getting a little harsh at the end.
"Jennifer Wilson." John reads off the note. "That was Hang on. Wasn't that the dead woman?"
Sherlock groans impatiently. "Yes. That's not important. Just enter the number." He pauses for like 2 seconds then says. "Are you doing it?"
"Yes." John replies.
"Have you done it?"
"Yeah, hang on!" John answers frustrated.
"These words exactly." Sherlock tells him. " 'What happened at Lauriston Gardens? I must have blacked out. 22 Northumberland Street, please come.' "
"You blacked out?" John questions looking to Sherlock.
"What? No, No! Type and send it. Quickly." Sherlock sits up. "Have you sent it?"
"What's the address?"
"22 Northumberland Street. Hurry up!" Sherlock reaches down and pulls out the pink case, unzips it, and sits there with Kat looking at the bag.
"That's- That's the pink lady's case, that's Jennifer Wilson's case." John says staring incredulously at the pink case that is in Sherlock's possession.
"Yes, obviously." Kat answers instead of Sherlock. "Oh, sorry that was mean."
"Yeah and perhaps I should mention, I didn't kill her." Sherlock tells him.
"I never said you did." John replies defensively.
"Why not?" The detective asks. "Given that text and the fact I have her case, it's a perfectly logical assumption."
"Do people usually assume you're the murderer?" Kat asks genuinely curious.
"Now and then, yes." He replies back jokingly.
"Okay. How did you get this?" John asks.
Sherlock shrugs replying simply: "By looking."
"Where?" John pushes.
"The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in a car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention," Sherlock explains. "Particularly a man, which is statistically more likely. So, obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realize his mistake. I checked every backstreet wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed. Took me less than an hour to find the right skip."
"Pink." John said impressed and maybe a little scared. "You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?"
"It had to be pink, obviously."
"Why didn't I think of that?" John asks sarcastically.
"Because you're an idiot." Sherlock replied bluntly. "No, no, don't look like that. Practically everyone is." He adds after seeing the offended look on John's face.
"Now, look. Do you see what's missing?" Sherlock questions gesturing to the bag.
"From the case? How could I?" John asks sarcastically again.
"Her phone. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there's no phone in the case. We know she had one. There's her number, you just texted it."
"Maybe she left it at home." John offered an alternate solution.
"Well if she really had all those lovers that Sherlock says she had, she would be really careful about it." Kat explains. "She'd never leave her phone at home."
"Er, why did I just send that text?" John asks.
"Excellent deductions Miss Moore." Sherlock complements Kat then turns to John. "Well, the question is where is her phone now?"
"She could have lost it."
"Yes, or?" Sherlock prompts.
"The murderer- You think the murderer has the phone?" John asks alarmed.
"Maybe she left it when she left her case. Maybe he took it from her for some reason." Sherlock muses. "Either way, the balance of probability is the murderer has her phone."
"Sorry, what are we doing? Did I just text a murderer?" John questions slightly angry. "What good will that do?"
Sherlock was about to reply when John's phone starts ringing. The three of them turn to it expectantly.
"A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her." Sherlock explains. "If somebody had just found that phone, they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer," He pauses as if for dramatic effect. "Would panic." He finishes slamming the lid of the pink case closed and standing up abruptly.
~~~~~~~~~
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