Life with Sherlock
John heard the slapping of bare feet going down the hall of 221B Baker Street. He turned to look at his alarm clock, 3:07 it read. John sighed, his roommate Sherlock was apparently having insomnia again. It was an ongoing problem, if John didn't interfere there might be another horrid experiment, such as the time when Sherlock wanted to grow five different kinds of mold on old food in the kitchen. Even though John wanted to keep sleeping, he knew he would have to interfere for his sanity later.
John came into the sitting room to find Sherlock, sitting on the floor, with a small cage with a bat inside, books spread out all around. "Sherlock for goodness sakes, you need to go back to bed." John was at the end of his rope. "I was not able to sleep knowing Boswell still has a broken wing, that needs setting. I am close to figuring out how to administer treatment." Sherlock blankly stated not even looking at John.
30 minutes later… the bat's wing was set. John had to try to get Sherlock back in bed. "Sherlock, why don't you take a shower? It might help you be able to sleep," John suggested.
"Alright," Sherlock sighed. When John heard the water in the bathroom start to run, he knew he was finally able to go back to bed.
When John awoke the next morning, he found Sherlock sitting at the kitchen table eating Chinese take away food. "I'm glad to see you are eating," John commented as he cooked his egg. Because somedays Sherlock would forget to eat; even if it was Chinese for breakfast, the doctor in John was glad to see his flat mate eating.
Sherlock's phone beeped. The detective read the message, "I see that Lastrade needs us on a case at the Rose Crown Pub. The murder is most likely caused by poisoning," the idea excited Sherlock.
Within half an hour, the detective and his doctor assistant appeared at the crime scene. "It's a poisoning, pretty open and shut, the cook obviously did it. But I wanted you to see it anyways," Lestrade reported. He led John and Sherlock to the body. The Rose Crown Pub was still crowded as people were standing around not wanting to leave until the football game ended, but were not able to sit at any of the booths, because the restaurant was technically closed. With the green leather booths and Tiffany style lamps suggested the pub had a normally cozy feel to it, when there were no corpses lying around.
The victim was a skinny woman, with long dark red hair. She wore a short black dress with black heels. Sherlock started to analyze the victim. "She appears to be in her early thirties. Judging by the size of the diamond, it was a rather public engagement. I'm thinking she was a public figure. Judging by her outfit I'm thinking news reporter." Lestrade and John jotted down notes.
Sherlock looked down at the victim's face, "Judging by the vomit around her mouth, she probably suffered from food poisoning, botulinum," Holmes observed. "She must have been exposed to a very large amount of it" Sherlock concluded.
"Get microbiologists to inspect the kitchen," Lastrade ordered.
"Did she have any identification on her?" Sherlock asked.
"None," Lestrade explained.
Sherlock, John, and Lestrade sat on a bench waiting on the lab technicians to finish their analysis. Two of Lestrade's officers came back with a pizza and a tray of sodas. "I figured we were all getting a little peckish ," Lestrade then handed a slice of pizza to John and then tried to hand a slice to Sherlock. "I like cheese, not pepperoni," Sherlock said bluntly.
"For goodness sakes, Sherlock, you can pick the pepperoni off," John said irritated.
Sherlock sighed.
The angry restaurant owner, Ed Harrison came storming into the main seating area, where the rest of the investigation was going on. "What the heck, is going on in my kitchen?" he boomed.
"We are checking for traces of bacteria in the kitchen," Lestrade explained trying to calm down the irate cook. "The food poisoning didn't come from my kitchen!"
Sherlock squirmed in his chair, "How do you know it did not originate in the kitchen here?"
"Because I am the best cook in this doggone city,"
"Noted", said Sherlock looking uncomfortable. John leaned towards Sherlock, "Don't torture yourself, just go to the loo". "I am perfectly fine," said Sherlock not moving a muscle. "I know your body is just for transport, but you need to take care of it," Watson ordered. "Fine," Sherlock and John both sighed at the same time.
Sherlock walked into the restroom. A tall man with was at the sink, he had long brown floppy bangs and a bow tie. Sherlock recognized him as one of the lab technicians investigating the kitchen. "Have you found any traces of botulinum, yet, Doctor?" Sherlock asked. "No we haven't, but aren't these black and white tiles amazing very art deco." The Doctor said rather randomly.
Sherlock and the Doctor reemerged. "Did anyone see her enter?" Sherlock asked. A slender waitress came into view, "I did,"
"Who are you?" Lestrade asked.
"I'm Lily Yang, I am a hostess. I noticed 'Cat', as that is the name she gave me for her table, because she was the only person here today who did not mind sitting away from the telly. Which was odd with the big football game going on. She said she was waiting for someone, but because the crowd was so large I lost sight of her." Lily explained.
"Did anything else unusual happen?" John asked. Lily thought for a moment. "Well she walked into the restaurant. Smiled at the new greeter, I think he gave her a mint," Lily answered.
Sherlock put his hands together in his thinking position, "Do you think 'Cat' knew the greeter?"
"I don't know I haven't seen him before this moring. I believe he is called Ted Becker."
Sherlock jumped to his feet, "We need to find Ted and the mints,"
All of a sudden Sherlock got a text alert on his phone. He looked at it in horror, "John-, mummy and Mycroft are joining us for dinner. What fun," Sherlock said sarcastically.
"I believe the mints came from under this server desk," Lily explained as she pulled out a small black basket. "I believe these are the same ones," Lily handed the basket to the "Doctor". "I will take this to the lab, to run some tests on it," the Doctor explained.
"I will run the name 'Ted Becker' and see what we have on him," Lestrade announced.
When John and Sherlock got back to Baker Street, Sherlock's mother and Mycroft were already were already in the flat. "Sherlock dear, hang up your coat. I've gotten dinner started. I'm making Mycroft's favorite," Mrs. Holmes explained.
"Judging by that repulsive order, I would say you are making meatloaf and Brussel sprouts," Sherlock said disgusted.
"It is just like when you were a little boy. You are going to eat your dinner or you will not have any dessert." His mother scolded. "Meatloaf and Brussel sprouts sound fine," John said. Sherlock left the room Mrs. Holmes sighed. "Honestly John, how is Sherlock doing?"
"Well," John thought for a moment, "He seems to have some strange sleeping habits. Some nights he is up with insomnia, other times Mrs. Hudson and I have to practically drag him out of bed in the morning. He is becoming more of a picky eater, and does not do a good job listening to his body, and can leave the flat in a mess when he is really focused on something," John explained.
"I'm afraid he has always been like that," Mrs. Holmes sighed, "you know he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome?"
"I figured as much," John concurred.
"Sherlock, Mikey, John time for dinner, oh, don't forget to wash your hands," a mutual groan came from the three men.
Mrs. Holmes served up the meatloaf and Brussel sprouts. John and Mycroft ate the meal heartily, Sherlock just picked at his. "Sherlock you need to eat," his mother fussed. "Do what mummy wants, brother dear," Mycroft said snidely. Before Sherlock could retort his brother the phone rang.
"Oh I'll get it," Mrs. Holmes picked up the phone, "hello."
"It's the Doctor, may I speak to Sherlock?"
"The 'Doctor', who?"
"Not, Doctor Who, just the Doctor. May I speak to Sherlock?"
Mrs. Holmes put her hand on the mouth piece, "Sherlock someone calling himself the Doctor, wants to speak to you,"
"This is very important, mummy," Sherlock jumped up from the table and grabbed the telephone.
"What are the results?"
The Doctor cleared his throat from his side of the line, "The tests on the mint basket came back positive for traces of botulinum. We are guessing that the mint the victim ate was created in a laboratory, using a very high concentration of the bacteria."
Sherlock smiled "Just as I thought".
"I can bring the exact report details over to you," the Doctor offered.
Sherlock thought for a moment, then smiled mischievously, "Why don't you come over right now, the address is 221B Baker Street,"
"Of course it is".
Sherlock walked back to the table. "What was that about, dear?" Mrs. Holmes looked concerned.
"Just my case, the game is a foot!"
"Who did you just invite over?" Mycroft demanded.
"Just a friend of John's and mine from the microbiology lab."
"Sherlock, there's a strange man at the door for you," Mrs. Hudson called from down stairs.
"Right on cue, tell him to come on up".
The Doctor walked into the flat carrying a file folder, "I didn't realize you were having dinner. I don't mean to interrupt," the Doctor looked a tad embarrassed.
"Here have mine," Sherlock said passing the Doctor the plate with the offending dinner. The Doctor started to eat it. "This would be really good with custard." He responded.
"Who is this man?" Mycroft demanded. But before anyone could answer the elder Holmes brother, a loud knock on the door disrupted everyone. Lestrade walked into the room, "we found another body, and you will want to see this," Lestrade handed Sherlock a photo. Sherlock, John, and the Doctor gasped upon seeing it. "The room in the picture, has a photo of the dead woman," John observed. "Do you think he is the murderer?" Mrs. Holmes asked concerned.
"No," Sherlock announced, "he is another victim, and appears to have been engaged to the first victim." Everyone looked at the photo again. "See the picture of both victims together on the book shelf, they were killed by the same person,"
Sherlock's mobile rang, "It's Molly, she says the victim's cause of death was affixation". Sherlock reported, "To the morgue, the game is on!" Sherlock yelled.
"But Sherlock," his mother called, "you haven't had your dinner. And I made a vanilla cake, just like you like it."
"There will be time for that later," Sherlock grabbed his coat and bolted through the door followed by Lestrade. John turned to the Doctor who was sitting on the couch. "The loo's down the hall, and the closet has blankets. Don't wait up".
Sherlock, John, and Lestrade walked into the morgue. "The victim's name was Rory Milton," Molly reported. "And from the victim's Facebook page, the woman's name was Cat Greene." Lestrade explained.
"According to this container found near the body," Molly picked up the container with a gloved hand, "he was exposed to a mixture of bleach and ammonia. Even though neither chemical was found in the victim's house."
"Have you run the name Ted Becker yet?" Sherlock asked.
"We are about to run it right now, because of the second corpse we hadn't been able to run it yet," Lestrade explained.
When John and Sherlock were alone again, a question came into John's mind, "What is it with the relationship between you and your mum?"
Sherlock sighed, "It goes back to when I was very young. I was always being compared to Mycroft, the perfect child. If I didn't like what was served for dinner it was always, 'Mycroft finishes his food', if I had an accident, 'Mycroft always makes it to the toilet'. It was so hard living in his shadow, and I'm still in it," Sherlock sighed again.
"But how is that fair he is seven years older, of course he would have those things mastered." John concluded. "Well that's the way it is and will always be," Sherlock shrugged. Before anyone could say anything else, Lestrade walked back in. "If I'm not interrupting anything we have found our man."
"So it turns out that Ted was an amateur chemist, who had developed an obsession with Cat Greene from watching her on the news. When she announced her engagement to Rory, Ted had to do something. Cat recognized Ted because he often came to news recording sessions. He used the familiarity to poison her, he planted the container with the hazardous chemical in Rory's apartment. Because Rory lived on left overs, Ted new he would open it to smell the contents. So that's the case in a nut shell," Sherlock turned to his mother, "cake please". Mrs. Holmes was unmoved, "You will not have any dessert until you finish your dinner."
"But you gave the Doctor a slice," Sherlock begged.
"He finished his dinner," Mrs. Holmes smiled at the Doctor.
Sherlock gave up, "I'm going to bed,"
