Author note:
I got some inspiration for another story, I hope you'll all like it! Now, I hope I was able to explain the grifter/conman part a bit, if you still don't understand please let me know and I'll change it. Please, leave a review, they keep me motivated! Writer out.
"Why are we here again?" John followed Sherlock into the theatre hall and sat down on his assigned seat. The detective ad started a new case, and for a reason John had forgotten this place had something to do with it.
"Our missing witness will be here tonight" Sherlock replied, pointing at the stage. There had been multiple witnesses that had told their story to Scotland Yard, but Sherlock was convinced the witness with actual useful information was already gone when they got to the crime scene.
"And why don't we just walk to her backstage? We can get in, you know."
"Because I don't know which girl it is...
At least not yet."
John sighed. Here without a clue to talk to? This was a typical Sherlock thing. He'd often have a vague idea about what was going on, but needed to observe before he could be sure. But that didn't withhold him from investigating. No leads? Sherlock will think of some leads and see if they are true. That's who he was. But having to pay twenty pounds for a play without knowing who they were looking for seemed a lot to John.
"And we do know she'll be here tonight because..."
Sherlock was quite amused by the fact that John was so clueless. It was almost endearing. He smirked and turned towards John to explain.
"The murder took place yesterday evening at seven. That's an hour before the show starts, and around the time every actor should be backstage for hair, make-up and costumes. On the footage there was a woman, mid twenties who was dressed quite plainly, and after the murder she headed in the direction of the actor's entrance of the theatre. The footage was too blurry to identify her by her face. However, judging by the fact that she left in a hurry and towards the theatre, we'll find that she's on stage today for tonight's show."
Once again, Sherlock's theory was based on facts normal people wouldn't think of at first. The room lights turned off and the stage play started. It reminded John of the film Burlesque (yes, he had seen that once. His date had insisted on watching that movie.), and for a small production it wasn't all that bad.
During the second dance, John felt Sherlock's elbow nudging his arm. He looked at the detective, who had a smirk on his face.
"That's her" he said in a hushed voice, before John could even say anything. John looked back at the stage, trying to figure out which of the girls Sherlock had meant and frowned.
"Who?" he replied. "I can't see how you picked her out of a group of ten..." he took a better look, trying to figure out which one Sherlock meant. Sherlock leant a bit closer to explain.
"Second to the left. She's got extensions in her hair." John was about to ask Sherlock why that was the woman they were looking for, but Sherlock interrupted, further explaining what he meant.
"Most people witnessing a murder, no matter if you're late or not, will stay to talk to the police. So we're not looking for a random actor. I hadn't figured out yet what she would have been instead, that's why I had to watch this, and now I've found out."
Sherlock however didn't get to continue, as the person next to him started complaining, telling him to shut up. Before he did, he leaned a bit more towards John and whispered: "I'll explain the rest later. Just keep your eyes on her, and see if you can figure out why she's our witness yourself."
If John had been there to actually watch the play in the first place, Sherlock's comment would have completely ruined his night. Because now John looked at the play in a completely different way, and he figured this was how Sherlock looked at things. Not watching it for fun, but for observing. John was focused on the woman Sherlock had described. It actually took a while to see that the long locks were extensions, they were quite cleverly blended with the rest of her hair. Determined to figure out what Sherlock had meant, John compared her to the others, but never noticed anything significant. Occasionally he'd look over to Sherlock, who was looking at they play with a small grin on his face. Apparently he was quite amused about something.
After the show, Sherlock insisted on waiting outside the theatre, in the cold. John's hands were practically freezing, but had stopped complaining about it after a few minutes. It wasn't going to change Sherlock's mind anyway. John thought back to the reason they were there. He had asked Sherlock, of course, and the detective had been happy to explain.
"She's a grifter" he said, and John frowned, not exactly understanding it. "A con artist, John. She picks a mark, makes the perfect character, figures out what the mark wants and give it to him. Meanwhile the mark will start to trust the conman, give her access to important files, and the conman will take the mark's money, or information if they need that and get out."
"So that would have been why she skipped testifying. She was afraid she would get caught…" John replied, hoping he was at least on the right track.
"Maybe" Sherlock said, looking over to the doors of the theatre before looking back to John. "Or she was somehow involved with the murderer. That's why I think she has information. And before you ask, the reason we're waiting outside for her is to prove a point. Actually just to find out how good of a people reader she is… She'll come over here herself if she noticed us."
John was confused. "Wait, she reads people? Like you? The way you can see what a person has done that day by looking at the state of their clothes?" Sherlock nodded at his comment.
"Yes, however grifters aren't as specific as I am. They focus on gestures and the way people act to manipulate them."
John didn't respond at this, because Sherlock had turned to look in the direction of the theatre's doors. John followed his gaze, only to see a young woman walking towards them. She looked much younger than the one Sherlock had pointed out during the play, but she had short hair, just like Sherlock had pointed out. Besides, like the detective said the woman walked to them.
"Good evening, gentlemen." She said when she was within hearing reach. "Enjoyed the show?" Now John got a good look at her she didn't seem older than 21, which was odd because during the play he could've sworn she was 25.
Sherlock noticed the confused expression on John's face and smirked. "Hair and make-up John, change that and you can make a woman look completely different." Ah. So that was it.
"And we sure did enjoy the show. You're a good dancer."
The woman smiled, which made her seem even younger. God, who were they dealing with?
"Well, that's what I enjoy doing the most." She held out her hand and Sherlock shook it. "My name is Caitlin. And yes, it's my real name. Not in character right now."
Sherlock frowned a bit. "I thought most grifters never use their real identity."
Caitlin held out her hand to John and he shook it in reply. "That's because for them it's a full time job. I'm in university, no way grifting can be a full time job for me. But you needed me for something."
"Yes, of course." The detective said and John was glad Sherlock was getting to his point now. "We are here because you never talked to the police."
"Did I have to?" Caitlin raised her eyebrows and grinned a bit.
"Of course not, but I think your information will be very useful for our case. You see, nobody of the witnesses had any useful information, it was the usual 'but he wore a mask so we didn't see anything' information."
Caitlin chuckled for a moment but stopped almost immediately and looked really serious. John could swear that for a moment she looked… worried.
"I can't. I'm sorry, I've been tailing that man for a while, but I'll get killed myself if I say anything important." She hesitated a while, before speaking again. "All I can say is that if you catch him, murder will not be all he has to be put in jail for. Now excuse me, I have to go back to my hotel."
And with that, she brushed past John, smiled a bit and walked away to get a cab.
"Well… What do we do now?" John said as Sherlock too walked towards the road. He followed the detective, and got in the cab Sherlock had stopped. "We wait." Sherlock answered.