The Curious Case of the Man Downstairs.
Warning: This starts out light-hearted but veers darker toward the end. Tell me if you think the rating should go up.
Disclaimer. I own nothing.
Chapter one:
In which Mrs Hudson takes a new lodger.
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Basement flat to let. 221b Baker street. Low rent.
To tell it truthfully, Mrs Hudson had forgotten all about the notice in the paper. She'd thought she might as well give it a try. Its not as though she couldn't use the extra money, what with the discount rate the boys were paying. Not that she minded of course.
It was no surprise that no one wanted the basement of a damp, dark Victorian house, the place was a recipe for black mould and clinical depression, not to mention the cold. Still, she thought, given some notice she could get some heating going and re-paper the walls, it wouldn't be so bad for a short term, summer let.
But then the boys had moved in and taken on cases and, she assumed, only a deranged madman wold want to live in the same vicinity as Sherlock Holmes. What that said about John she wasn't sure. But she had forgotten, until one cold November day she got a knock on the door.
A quiet, dishevelled little man. Not much presence, she could tell he wasn't used to talking to people, he spoke with a debilitating stammer. He sat on the edge of her sofa nursing a cup of tea, looking nervously about the room as though someone would leap out form behind a pot plant and attack him.
"So Mr..."
"Higgins." He replied. " R..Reg."
"Reg! well love as I've told you it's not set up for living in, to be honest I wasn't expecting anyone to be interested..."
"Oh , no n..No, Mrs H...Hudson that's fine, you see it's not the flat as s... Such, it's the n...Neighbourhood. It's close to work and...W...w...Well if the r...r...rent is cheap..."
"What do you do Reg?"
He shifted slightly. "Oh I... W..." He paused, breathed deeply for a moment till his stutter subsided. " Work the n...Night shift at a big h...Hotel near here. This area, well everyw..Where is so expensive and I hate to c...Commute."
"So you won't be here much?" She asked.
"Oh, n...No , I work Tw...Twelve hour shifts most nights , come home to s...Sleep a f...f..few hours during the day and head off again. " He explained.
"Well... "She said with a polite smile, despite the fact she wasn't entirely convinced. "You seem a pleasant sort and it would be nice to get someone in there, run the boiler, heater and whatnot. Shall we take a look?"
The man smiled at her. "Y...Yes please Mrs Hudson." He stammered. "Th...Thank you!"
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"It's not acceptable! " Proclaimed Sherlock as he collapsed onto the sofa. "She has no right to upset the balance."
"The balance of what?" Asked John, as he turned the page of the Daily Mail. "No... On second thoughts don't tell me." He took a sip of tea. "Oh would you look at that! Illegal Immigrants running a brothel in Brixton."
"The balance of the house John! Of 221b Baker's Street! She's introduced a foreign element into the ecosystem. This could prove disastrous!"
"What? The new tenant?" Retorted John. "He's been here a full week Sherlock and you didn't even realise..."
"I had cases John! I was preoccupied!" He scolded. "I had no time to waste on noticing such things."
"Mmm? Thing like the strange man living downstairs who you did in fact meet, going out or coming in, on three separate occasions?"
"Three? Sherlock rolled his eyes dramatically. You see? He's insinuating himself into the fabric of my existence without permission."
"He's never here Sherlock, he's out all night and half the day and if he isn't he's sleeping, he's the perfect neighbour."
Sherlock ignored him. "I don't like it." He summed up.
"Of course you don't. You hate change , that's because you have some kind of high functioning autis..."
"I mean!" Sherlock interrupted, "He could be any kind of mad man! What do we know about Mrs Hudson's process of judging character!"
"She rented to us."
"Exactly!" The Detective huffed. The sound of the front door closing distracted him he went to the window and looked down at the darkening street outside.
"There he goes... Off to do God knows what to God knows who." He murmured, narrowing his eyes.
"He's a night porter at the Victoria Lodge." John supplied.
"You've spoken to him?" Sherlock's head spun around.
"Yes Sherlock I have spoken to him, he's been here a week."
"Tell me everything." He demanded.
John Sighed. He was afraid something like this would happen , The good weather of late had seemingly dried up the crime rate in the greater London area. A slow week for Lestrade and co. meant Sherlock's oversized brain had found a way to entertain itself.
"Reginald Higgins, Early 30s, low income, stutter, Reg for short." John Summarised.
"Is that it?"
" That's what I have gleaned from brief conversations in the front hall yes. "
" Reginald Higgins." Sherlock said the name like it had power in of itself. " I don't trust him. He's hiding something John, and I intend to find out what."
"You didn't know he existed until this morning!"
"Still..." Sherlock got up and skulked to his room. John smiled to himself behind the paper. At least he's found something to amuse himself he thought ... Poor Reginald Higgins.
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Three days later and no cases. John was at the clinic all day, it wasn't so bad for him. Sherlock, on the other hand... Had nothing but time. John supposed that if anyone thought long and hard about their neighbours habits they could get a little paranoid.
Even so. A movement sensitive alarm by the door seemed like overkill.
"Jesus!" John screamed at the sudden noise as he walked in after returning from work.
"Oh, John it's you!" Sherlock said with relief as his head rounding the corner.
"Turn it off!" Shouted John over the blaring alarm. "You'll disturb Mrs Hudson!"
Sherlock produced a remote and pressed something. Silence.
"What the hell did you install that for!"
Sherlock didn't answer him, just grabbed his sleeve and pulled him inside. John saw that Mrs Hudson was in the their kitchen, doing dishes.
" What the hell was that cacophony about?" He cried.
"Quiet!" Sherlock whispered "He's downstairs now, "Sleeping" ."
"Well not after the alarm he's not!" John began.
"Shut up John, listen to me!" Sherlock said, his eyes feverish. " Your idiotic good faith in people had once again been proven false..."
"Hello Dear!" Mrs Hudson greeted him.
"Hello Mrs Hudson." John replied. "Please tell this idiot he's being an idiot."
"On the contrary John! Mrs Hudson will back me up on this." Sherlock smirked. "Tell him!" He said to her. "Tell him about the so called Mr Higgins's suspicious behaviour!"
"Well... " Mrs Hudson began doubtfully. "I'm not sure it's suspicious as such, and I'm not one to invade people's privacy. But I tend to get up with the birds, I suppose my internal clock is just set like that... My age and all..."
Sherlock rolled his eyes but let her continue at her own pace.
" Anyway... The walls are old and thin, as you know. I noticed that when Reg comes home from work, usually about six or seven in the morning... Well, He gets in and I hear him scrape his shoes and the boiler comes on for the shower and I presume he goes to bed then... Thing is, You know there's no telly down there..."
She looked hesitant for a moment.
"I don't know if its anything to remark upon really, but I hear him talking to himself. Maybe he talks in his sleep? I can never really hear what he's saying, sometimes a word or sentence but... l... but it's definite conversation. One sided but still, sometimes it seems to get quiet loud and heated!"
"Paranoid Schizophrenic..." Sherlock decided "Or multiple personalities. Mark my words John he'll be up here soon enough and you'll be thankful for that alarm... Mrs Hudson, you should have one fitted too, and stay with us until your house is maniac proofed. "
"For Christ's sake Sherlock!" John sighed. "Mrs Hudson, don't let him drag you into his delusions. He's just bored without a case. The man's lonely Sherlock. He's entitled to have imaginary conversations if he wants. Maybe its because his neighbours are so bloody unfriendly!." He snapped at them, leaving them to their tea and gossip.
As he retired to his room, John could hear Mrs Hudson and Sherlock continue their chat.
"You know" she said "The funny thing is, when he talks to himself, he doesn't seem to stutter at all..."
