When I went to bed yesterday, I thought this day was going to be just like every other. I woke up this morning in an oddly cheerful mood. Exactly one year ago is when I had first moved in with Sherlock, a fact that I was immensely proud of. Despite the assumptions our friends had made, it was a long and rocky path. I've had my moments, where I was helping my sister, or in some sort of imminent danger because of him, and Sherlock has been... well, Sherlock. Even after all of the near death misses, fights, and other difficulties, I've managed to stay in the same flat with the same man for a whole year, and damn it all if I'm celebrating the fact.
I rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchen. The whole flat was quickly filled with the scents of cooking bacon, and Sherlock's favorite, smoked ham. I wasn't sure if he was awake yet or not, but when he finally made his way to the kitchen he would have something good to eat. I set the pan to the side and sat down at the table. As I was sitting down and spreading the jam on my biscuit Sherlock appeared in the doorway.
"What's the occasion?" He asked, inspecting the ham in the pan before picking it up with his hand and taking a small bite. We both knew he was well aware of what the occasion was and was simply asking as a formality.
"It's our anniversary!" I replied, setting my jam biscuit down.
"That's an interesting way to phrase that." Sherlock quipped, raising his eyebrow.
Immediately my face got hot. "That's not how I meant it!" I snapped. Sherlock flashed me one of his rare smiles, making me feel a bit rash for yelling at him. Of course he knew how I meant it, Sherlock just loves getting under my skin. I picked at my piece of bacon, trying to keep my face straight. I was determined to make today a good day, no matter what happened.
The doorbell rang. I looked up in surprise, but Sherlock just said "Client" without bothering to finish chewing his ham. Oh, that's right. I agreed for a old woman named Katherin to come in today and do an interview. She was upset by the recent death of her dog, and suspected fowl play. I bet it's just an old woman with heartbreak and she'll be gone after two minutes with Sherlock. Since Sherlock hated my blog (didn't stop him from reading it) I was the one who set up all the appointments.
I quickly dabbed at my mouth with a napkin and headed down stairs. If I didn't get there quick enough Mrs. Hudson would get to the door first, and if she found a strange, upset, old woman at the door she would make idle chatter that was impossible to get away from. I loved our land lady, but she could talk for hours. And if I didn't get the client to Sherlock in ten minutes he lost interest. It was all rather frustrating at first, but I had gotten a system down, and that relied on me reaching the door first.
With Mrs. Hudson nowhere in sight I swung open the door. "Hello Mrs-" I cut off as I saw the girl in front of me. It wasn't an elderly lady, the girl in front of me was about my age, with a nice looking black suit. She had long blonde hair and teary blues eyes, I could tell immediately I was sold. "Huh" I managed,feeling my face grow hot again.
"Victoria." She said simply, wiping her eyes quickly and holding her hand out. I shook it vigorously. "My mother wasn't feeling well, poor dear, so I came in her stead."
"Oh, that's to bad." I consoled her, and then took a step back. "He's right upstairs if you want to come with me. I'm sure we'll get right on your case." For some reason, I was excited to take the case, and solve it quickly. I lead her upstairs and into the living room, where Sherlock had taken to sitting in his favorite black chair like a hawk, tapping his fingers impatiently.
"This is Victoria." I said, waving at the girl next to me. Sherlock looked unimpressed.
"You can just call me Vicky." She added, nodding weakly at him.
"So Victoria," Sherlock said formally. "What seems to be the problem?"
The woman sat down across from Sherlock and crossed her arms, her bag swung wildly from side to side. "It's my dog, or rather, my mother's dog. He was such a nice dog, an old bulldog. Since we lost my father she's been so lonely, and the dog was really all my mother had." Vicky stopped to dab at her eyes with a hankie she had pulled from her pocket
"That's very nice and all," sighed Sherlock. "but what's the crime I'm supposed to solve?"
"Sherlock!" I snapped, embarrassed as normal by his lack of tact.
"No, no, he's right." Vicky sniffled. "After all, can't waste a genius's time can I?" She sat up straight. Sherlock threw me a glance that said 'at least someone get's it.' In return I gave him a look that I hoped said 'shut up' but it may have just said 'I like jam' instead. I'm not really sure.
"It happened yesterday, at the park. I was taking Riley, the dog, on a quick walk next to our apartments during the rain. We like to go down to the dog park since he was such a good dog. After a few minutes he broke free from the leash to chase a cat. I wasn't holding on to tightly because he had never done something like that before. When I caught up to him he was yelping up a storm and biting at his chest. I found a set of holes and realized he must have been bit by a snake. I looked around, but couldn't find it so I just drove him to the vet, but he died on the way there." She stopped and sniffled.
"This is boring." Sherlock whispered, and leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. I could tell he wanted to dismiss her so I spoke up first.
"Where was your husband during this time?" I asked in a casual manner.
"I'm single." Vicky replied in a questioning way.
"We should take the case." I whispered to Sherlock. He glared back at me furiously, and I knew I was going to be in for it later. Finally he leaned forward and looked into her eyes.
"There's a few more things I need to know before I decide if I want to take the case or not." He said pointedly. I felt like he was talking directly to me, but the next question was toward Victoria. "What park were you at?"
"The little point dog park." Vicky frowned.
This time Sherlock let a small smile grace his lips. "well that makes things interesting. If you'll excuse us for just a moment, we need to discuss this." He said, standing up and indicating I should follow. I rolled my eyes and told Vicky we would just be a moment before joining Sherlock in his bedroom and shutting the door.
"It's most definitely fowl play, and this should be a very fun case." Sherlock said quickly.
"And how do you know that?" I asked, slightly taken back by how interested he seemed now.
"Oh don't be a fool John! The only venomous snake in England is the adder, and it's difficult to find one in the rain unless it's flooding their dens out. Since yesterday was a light rain there would be no reason for one to leave it's hole. No, not at all. The difficult part should be finding the culprit. See, she looks very upset, and since she came here instead of her mother, the old woman must be worse. They didn't see anything like this coming so it had to be a random act of violence. But why kill a dog? Why this 'sweet' Riley over every other dog?" Sherlock stopped pacing and turned on me.
I really hoped he didn't want me to supply him with an answer, because I was still trying to process everything he had just said. Of course it made sense after he pointed it out, but I had no clue what he getting at.
"I know!" Sherlock said suddenly, looking uncharacteristicly excited. "Let's make this more fun! Since it's our anniversary we should do something different, a contest if you will. Let's see who can solve the case first. No don't give me that look, you've been solving cases with me for a whole year, you know the basics. In fact, I'll help you out. It'll be fun!"
I stared blankly at him. Had I put something in his ham by accident this morning? Turning a case into a game? I was about to protest, but I couldn't. Something about how he was smiling made me want to agree to anything he said. "Fine." I sighed. "Do I get something if I win?" Not that either of us really expected me to win.
"If you win you can go out with Victoria." Sherlock replied, returning to his calm demeanor. Of course when he's calm I'm angry.
"You can't just tell me I have to win a game to go out with a girl!" I growled furiously.
"And if I win you stay home with me and help me update my blog tonight." Sherlock continued without even acknowledging me. "Maybe it'll help me get more popular."
"I already run a blog about you, I don't need another." I frowned.
"Great it's settled then!" Sherlock said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Go tell her that we'll take the case, and then ask her for a ride home. We'll need to go to her apartment next."