A Chance to Practise
By KathyG
In this story, set in "The Great Game", it occurs to Sherlock that he could teach John to observe and deduce by assigning him the missile-defense case that Mycroft has given to him. Thanks to besleybean, from the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum, for beta-reading and Brit-picking my story!
Sherlock sat at the kitchen table, which was littered with photographs and printouts of newspaper reports of Carl Powers's death from 1989, his laptop sitting open in front of him. Carl's trainers lay in the bag nearby, on the table to the left of Sherlock's laptop. In the living room, on the other side of the closed doors, he could overhear John pacing back and forth. It was clear to him that John was worrying about the woman hostage who was going to be blown up unless he solved the puzzle in the next five hours. You're worrying needlessly, John! he thought. I will solve this puzzle before the nine hours are up.
As Sherlock reread one of the articles yet again, John suddenly stopped pacing. An instant later, the frosted-glass kitchen door slid open, and he stood in the doorway. "Can I help?" he asked.
Sherlock neither spoke nor looked up. He kept his eyes fixed intently on the photos and articles.
"I want to help," said John. "There's only five hours left." Sherlock knew, of course, that he was referring to the hostage.
Before either of them could speak any further, John's mobile phone chimed. Another text had arrived. Mycroft, Sherlock thought, quick to hide his irritation from his flatmate.
John removed the phone from his trouser pocket and looked at the message.
"It's your brother. He's texting me now." A pause. "How does he know my number?" He sounded puzzled.
Of course, he knows John's number. I might have known he'd start harassing John, Sherlock thought. Out loud, he said, thoughtfully, "Must be a root canal." He was already needing one when he came to visit me this morning. I could tell.
For a moment, as Sherlock continued to gaze down at the papers before him, he started thinking about their morning in the laboratory at Barts. Sherlock had told John to try and deduce the trainer that had been left in 221C. He didn't do a very good job, but he tried. And he did get a few things right, even though he missed almost everything of importance. Perhaps, with training…
John said, "Look, he did say 'national importance'." Sherlock didn't look at John, but he could tell from the footfalls as his flatmate spoke that John was entering the kitchen.
Still gazing down at his papers, Sherlock snorted. "How quaint."
"What is?" John asked.
"You are. Queen and country."
"You can't just ignore it," John said sternly.
"I'm not ignoring it," Sherlock said, shifting his attention from one article to another. "Putting my best man onto it right now." He continued to keep his eyes on the article before him as he spoke.
"Right. Good." Another pause. "Who's that?" The puzzlement was back in his voice.
Sherlock finally laid the papers down and looked at John. "You."
John gaped down at him. "Me?"
"Yes. You."
"But I'm not Sherlock Holmes!" John protested.
"No. You're not." Sherlock smirked. "But you've been watching me and working with me for a few months now, so you've learned a few things. Now is a good time to put them to use, John." He looked his flatmate in the eye. It was the same facial expression that he had worn that morning, when he had ordered John to examine the trainers and deduce what he could from them. "Go and investigate the stolen missile-defence plans."
Shaking his head and scratching his scalp, John left the kitchen. Sherlock watched him as he disappeared out of sight, and then he rose to slide the kitchen door shut. That will shut him up for a while! He returned to the table and sat down. For a long moment, he looked at the kitchen door, thinking.
He really does need to learn the skills of observation and deduction. Those skills will be invaluable to him in his work as my colleague, he thought, as he picked up one of the articles again. John is not a genius like Mycroft and me, but he does have above-average intelligence. He could learn those skills if he had a chance to learn them and practise them. Well, now, he will have that chance to practise and develop them, but I'll keep an eye on him in the background and be ready to intervene when he's in over his head.
Sherlock turned back to his research. Now he'll be off to interview Mycroft. He'll have to do that before he does anything else.
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