"You're insane," Sally Donovan stated flatly.
But Phillip Anderson was adamant.
"Insane?" he laughed without humour. "INSANE! We once entertained the possibility that Sherlock Holmes was a fraud. Now I believe the evidence suggests we must INSTEAD entertain the possibility that we were wrong. I'm not insane, Sally. What I might have been is WRONG. And it has cost a man his life."
"Speak for yourself, Phillip," Donovan said, with a hint of frustration beginning to tinge her voice.
Phillip Anderson sighed deeply. Ever since Sherlock Holmes had leapt to his death off the roof of St. Bartholomew's, he had been haunted.
The What If's had haunted him. They were the stuff of his nightmares. They were what robbed him of sleep and refused to allow his mind to rest.
Phillip Anderson wasn't stupid. He was, in fact, a very gifted forensics officer. He had worked many successful cases with Greg Lestrade's team without Sherlock Holmes within reach.
"WHY is it so bloody hard for you to accept that maybe we were mistaken? WE. Not just you. But US. Look Sally, I've had time to settle with the evidence, to REALLY look at it. It's not adding up. None of it. Sherlock Holmes might have been a pain in the ass but I no longer believe he was…" he trailed off.
Sally Donovan huffed in frustration. "He was a freak bordering on psycho, and I'm beginning to think you are too."
"Greg believes in him, Sally," Anderson finally said softly. "Greg Lestrade has more years on the force than you and I put together. For fuck sakes the man has FORGOTTEN more about the job than we've even learned yet. He has never doubted Sherlock. NEVER. So why are we suddenly doubting GREG. Why do we suddenly mistrust a man we had no qualms trusting with our LIVES in the past?"
Sally frowned, looking as though something was beginning to leave a very bad taste in her mouth.
"So you're suggesting that all of our own experience up until now has been nothing but shite?"
"No, of course not," Anderson sighed with frustration. "Sherlock rubbed everyone the wrong way, especially you and me. He was rude, he was condescending, he was an annoying dick. But none of that makes him a fraud. What evidence had we prior that Jim Moriarty wasn't exactly who Sherlock Holmes and John Watson always said he was? If he was the criminal mastermind we were lead to believe, why wouldn't he be capable of doing exactly what…"
Anderson trailed off, suddenly exhausted.
"Exactly what Greg has said he's been doing. I get it, Phillip. Why are you suddenly so intent on clearing the Freak's name?"
"Because clearing his name will clear OURS. And I'll be able to sleep at night. A good man is a good man. It doesn't mean he has to be likable. It only means he must be on OUR side. So the hell what if he was an utter arrogant condescending cock. That doesn't mean he wasn't on our side, and that he wasn't on the side of the good."
"Clearing Sherlock's name would clear Greg's as well," Sally conceded. "He's in enough trouble with the Chief Superintendent."
"That too," Phillip said, finally sounding relieved. "We need the likes of him. I once heard him called the best of Scotland Yard. He's being brought down because his gut tells him he's been right all along. And not just him. Gregson too, and other senior officers who used Sherlock's services…"
Sally Donovan frowned. Phillip was a man of science and logic. She had always trusted him.
She had always trusted Greg Lestrade, too.
Why, suddenly, was she beginning to doubt herself, then?
"He's not a Detective Inspector because he's stupid, Donovan," Anderson said. "He's earned his place, and he's earned his respect. I think we've been duped, I really do. We were duped into believing that Lestrade no longer merited our respect, because he believed in Sherlock Holmes. Well, I believe in Sherlock Holmes now too. Do as you wish Sally. With or without you I'll prove I'm right."
"Tell me more, then," Sally finally said, sighing. "I'm not saying I'm wrong, mind. I'm just saying you may be right. For Greg's sake and nobody else's, I'll listen. Hell we're on suspension anyway, I've got nothing but time."
Anderson finally heaved a breath of relief, smiling. His blue eyes shone as he nodded.
"Thank you, Sally. We'll do it, I promise you that. We'll vindicate everyone. You and I, and Greg, and Sherlock Holmes. When we're done, I swear to you, we'll all be back on the side of the angels."