Chapter 1 – Pictures
A woman sits tied to a chair, her face was flooded with tears and her eyes were black from the lack of sleep; the smell was horrible and noises of scattering appeared every now and then.
Down in the dark smelly basement, there were wires and flashing lights, different colours would flash after every thirty seconds, red, green, and red, green.
The woman was almost nine months pregnant, she wore a blue dress that covers her knees with a beige cotton cardigan and light brown boots that just come over her ankles - she weeps in pain from her wrists being bound together.
.
"That was DI Lestrade, we have been summoned Mr Watson." Sherlock says as he clicks his tongue, he quickly tucks his phone gently into his pocket and jumps up to his feet. John puts down his cup of coffee onto the table; and he gets up grabbing his jacket as he rushes after Sherlock.
"We'll be back soon Mrs Hudson," John called as they rushed out of the door.
They later arrived at DI Lestrade's office.
Lestrade handed Sherlock a missing persons file, Sherlock glances at it with disappointment in his eyes.
"Katie Harris, she's been missing for the past 24 hours, no one knows where she could have gone." The DI explained.
"And? What was I called for?" Sherlock said putting the file back into the DI's hands.
"She's almost nine months pregnant, she is due anytime." Lestrade replied.
"So? Have you checked all the hospitals?" Sherlock said with a hint of sarcasm.
"This was left for you; this is why I called you in." Lestrade passed an envelope to him with Sherlock's name written across it neatly. His face lit up when he realises who it's from, only he who knows what is in this envelope.
He takes it from the DI's hand and quickly scans it with his eyes, up close, from a far, to see if he could find any prints of clues. He then gives it a quick sniff, Lestrade and John both stand there watching Sherlock and his weird movements.
"Of course," Sherlock muttered to himself.
Sherlock glances over to John; he then starts to carefully and slowly open the envelope. He pulls the piece of paper out slowly, it was pink.
"Pink?" Sherlock questioned.
His face drops as he reads the message.
Let the games begin - JM
"Who's JM?" The DI asks, as he peeks at the piece of paper over Sherlock's shoulder.
Sherlock stood in silence as he read the message over and over again in his head.
"Jim Moriarty," John answers breaking the silence.
"Is he responsible for Katie's disappearance?" The DI asks.
"Maybe, anything is possible. But, what games? What does he have up his sleeve?" Sherlock says, as he thinks to himself. John shakes his head and lets out a heavy sigh.
Sherlock throws the letter onto the DI's desk and shoves his hands in his pockets; he presses his lips together as he falls into deep thought; Lestrade and John both exchanged glances.
"Where do we begin?" Sherlock finally spoke; Lestrade clapped his hands together catching both of their attention.
"I have to introduce you to my new DI." Lestrade says as he ushers the pair out of his office, they finally arrived to the lobby and approached a woman, long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was fairly tall.
"This is DI Sophie Andrews; she will take you to Katie's house to question her husband to find any information." Lestrade ordered.
"Nice to meet you, Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson," She offers her hand but Sherlock looks at it, John takes her hand and shakes it. Sherlock studied her from head to toe; he seemed weary of the young woman.
"Sophie, you live alone?" Sherlock squint his eyes at her, he was observing the young woman. She stood confidence as he scrutinized her.
"Oh, Sherlock, not now," John sighed.
"So, where did you come from Sophie? Oh wait; you finished your training didn't you? The Detective Institute right? Why do you live alone Sophie? No pets, no boyfriend. Any siblings who live close by?" Sherlock finally finished, Sophie stood there staring at him for a moment. She glanced at John and then back at Sherlock.
"Does he do this all the time?" Sophie asked.
"Yes," Lestrade and John said in unison.
"Finished studying me? I am from up north, yes. I finished my training at The Detective Institute and yes I do live alone, not like it is any of your business and no I have no siblings." Sophie replied. Sherlock turned away; and he marched out of the lobby.
John raised his eyebrows.
"Come on." Sherlock called, Sophie and John rushed after him.
.
They knocked on Katie's front door, her husband answers it.
"DI Sophie Andrews, these are my partners Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. We are here…" She started, but was quickly interrupted.
"Can we come in?" Sherlock spoke and walked inside the house.
"Sorry, he does this all the time." John apologized to Sophie and the husband.
They went inside the house after Sherlock. Sophie started glancing around the house and saw pictures of the couple; the husband shuffled his feet inside.
"My name is Ben, have you heard any news yet?" the husband asked.
"I'm afraid not, but we do have a couple of questions for you." Sophie started.
"What's this?" Sherlock picked up an envelope which was on the coffee table with the rest of the post. It has Sherlock's name on it.
"That only came five minutes before you walked through the door." Ben explained.
Sherlock opened the envelope and pulled out a photo, he quickly glanced at the photo.
"What is it?" John asked.
"Clothes," Sherlock responded.
"Clothes?" John mimicked.
"Yes John, clothes."
"There is something written on the back." Sophie pointed out. Sherlock turned it over.
"Occupation?"
"Could that mean Katie's occupation is something to do with clothes?" John suggested.
"Of course it has something to do with clothes." Sherlock said as he glances over to the husband, who looked slightly confused.
"Where does Katie work Mr Harris?" Sophie asked calmly.
"She is a fashion designer," He replied. Sophie quickly turned her head to face Sherlock; his eyes fell upon hers.
"She works at the company, The Magazine?" Sherlock questioned, the husband nodded his head.
"How?!" Sophie exclaimed.
"How did I know that? It's obvious." Sherlock replied flapping the photo in his hand around, "This is the game now."
"This is Moriarty's work" John mentioned.
"Who's Moriarty?" Sophie asked curiously.
"Someone you don't need to concern yourself with." Sherlock replied bluntly. He started to walk towards her.
"Well, if he is a suspect, we will need to question him." Sophie determined. Sherlock stopped right in front of her; he leaned forward and looked her straight in the eyes - she didn't move or flinch.
"You've heard of him before." Sherlock insisted; he was studying her reaction.
She hesitates slightly and takes a step back allowing her some room between the pair.
"I've heard of him. I've seen his name pop up in a few cases." Sophie responded.
"Moving on," Sherlock turns away.
"He's a stubborn twat." Sophie mouthed over to John.
"No, I'm not." Sherlock called back. Sophie glanced over at John who shrugged his shoulders; the pair followed after Sherlock, just before leaving out the front door. Sherlock put his arm out stopping Sophie from exiting the house.
"You stay here." Sherlock ordered.
Sherlock and John disappeared in front of her eyes down the street, she placed her hands on her hips and she went back inside, she turned to face Mr Harris who looked confused, she shrugged her shoulders.
"Does that all the time, apparently,"
.
Sherlock and John both turned up at the company, they took a quick glance around as they strolled into the main lobby.
"Can we speak to Katie Harris's manager please?" John asked at the main desk.
"May I ask who's asking?" The receptionist asked.
"John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, we are here to ask questions about Katie's disappearance." John carried on.
"Take a seat and she will be right with you."
Sherlock and John both sat down on the dark blue sofas in the lobby. John turned his face to look a Sherlock, he went to open his mouth but Sherlock shushed him; John thought about what he is going to say and attempted again.
"What do you think of Sophie?" John wondered.
"I don't know, there is something about her, and it doesn't seem quite right." Sherlock said pursing his lips together.
"What do you mean?" John asked curiously.
"She knows too much about Moriarty, that's the impression I get." Sherlock insisted.
"But she said she has only seen his name pop up in certain cases?" John questioned.
"Don't tell me you believed her? She's met him before." Sherlock stated.
"What makes you say that?"
"I'm not sure, but I want to find out."
Sherlock suddenly stands up.
"Where are you going?"
"Nowhere, but you are going back to Mr Harris's house." Sherlock ordered.
"Why?" John asked.
"John, please with the questions, just go." Sherlock said, pointing towards the door.
John left without any questions.
.
"John you're back, where is Sherlock?" Sophie asked, she looked behind him expecting to see Sherlock.
"Busy," John replied bluntly, slightly annoyed.
A couple of minutes later, John's phone started ringing, and he answered it.
"Get Katie's bank transactions." Sherlock said, and then he hung up. John huffed as he put his phone back into his pocket; he then glanced over at Sophie.
"He is so arrogant." Sophie scrunches her face in annoyance.
"Right can we have Katie's bank transactions please?" John asked, facing the husband.
Mr Harris leaves the room and within a couple of minutes he comes back with the transactions, he hands them over to John who takes them gently from the husband's hands.
"Right, we have to go, but soon as we know anything we will be in touch." John said, comforting Mr Harris just before they leave.
The husband kindly showed them to the door as Sophie and John both left the house.
"So, where to now?" Sophie asks.
"Sherlock's," John smiled sarcastically.
Sophie lets out a tired sigh.