SHOCK...
Welcome to my first Sherlock fic...*breaks out the sparkling wine* .Now a quick thing to note...
This fic will eventually lead with the slash of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson (as they are frankly adorable together), so if you're not into that for whatever reason I'm sorry to say but this fic isn't for you. But if you are also into Merlin I can recommend some brilliant non-slash fics including 'The lost day' by SummerQuill! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the genius which is Mr Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes had many qualities, some good, some bad, some genius and some verging on psychopathic. For many people these qualities were overshadowed by his amazing skills of deduction and rather abrasive personality. This however could not be said for his roommate Doctor John Watson who had done the impossible- he had managed to befriend the unfriendable.
That wasn't to say that the two friends got on constantly. In fact it seemed the strain of having a sociopath as a roommate often made John dread coming home at night through fear of what he would see. The incidents had ranged from the small such as finding a homeless man sleeping in his bed (a 'very important informant' Sherlock had said), to the rather more outlandish which had included coming home to a dead body ('I had to see the effect of dragging a body up the stairs for my new case' was his excuse).
John had learnt in all cases the best thing to do was to give a polite nod and allow the eccentric man to carry on his business (the exception to this rule being moving the homeless man out of his bed as John was sure the man had lice). Whilst Sherlock went on these mad rampages to solve case after case (which often resulted in John being dragged along too) John had decided to settle down a bit and get a real job in the GPs round the corner.
John remained in hope that one day he would come home and the flat would neither be a wreck or a sanctuary for the dead and homeless. Unfortunately for John that night was not the day...
"For God's sake Sherlock if you insist on putting eyes in the microwave will you please clean up afterwards." He shouted at the man sitting in the living room chair. His eyes then returned to the mess which Sherlock had made in the microwave. "Oh for God's sake Sherlock, it smells as well."
"Then I would suggest you do not smell it." Sherlock said dismissively.
John rolled his eyes and then opened the fridge. An assortment of unusual items were scattered amongst the normal food which included an old man's hat. John shook his head and delved in for the milk. He picked up the carton and studied its contents.
"Sherlock..." He called out.
"Yes." He replied back.
"Why didn't you get any milk?" He asked.
"I was far too busy today." Sherlock said before adding. "Couldn't you tell that from my experiment in the microwave?"
"Surely it wouldn't have been that much hassle to go to the supermarket." John said, slamming the fridge.
"Yes but supermarkets are such dull little places, filled with dull little people talking about their dull little lives." Sherlock said. "Also I needed to make sure that they eyes were in there for five hours exactly. A second longer and the experiment would have been counterproductive and pointless."
"I know that it is hard to believe Sherlock, but going to a supermarket is something which isn't optional. You need to do it." John said.
"And why would that be?"
"In order to get food."
"But there are many things to do in the human day, Why waste them getting food? Anyway I did text you that I would be too busy for your trivial tasks."
"You know full well that phones aren't allowed in the surgery!" John said. "Couldn't you have called me?"
"I prefer to text." Was Sherlock's response.
"Fine!" John said before storming up the stairs.
- :) -
John reflected upon his outrage of the night before as he waited for his next patient. He had not spoken to Sherlock since their confrontation and when he got back he intended to do the same. The familiar buzz came from the reception. He pressed the button and said down it.
"Bring them in."
A small elderly woman appeared through the door. She didn't walk in and it was more like a slow shuffle. John smiled at her and gestured towards the seat. She sat there and John smiled. The first moments of meeting a patient were always the most awkward.
"So, Mrs..." John said, before glancing down at the computer to find the small elderly woman's name. "Higgins, what appears to be a problem?"
"It's me back doctor..." She said.
Outside in the surgery waiting room Sarah stood at the reception desk. She leant against the wooden surface and glanced down at the computer screen. It was only twenty minutes until her shift started and already she was dreading it. The waiting room was starting to fill up with a large amount of ordinary people- only half of which actually appeared to be sick. It was so boring, and so dull.
And then it happened...
THUD
The noise came from John's office. Finally some excitement. People were looking around and staring at the room.
THUD
Sarah moved away from the reception desk and towards John's room with slight speed. She knew that she was being watched by the others. She attempted to open the door, but as she pulled down the handle the door remained closed. He had locked it...
CRASH
"Doctor Watson open this door." She said quietly.
No response.
"Doctor Watson open this door!" She said her voice raised slightly.
More heads were beginning to open.
"John open this damn door!" She shouted.
At that moment Dr Patel ran out of his room and towards Sarah. The waiting room was starting to fill with the buzz off gossip. Sarah pounded on the door and called John's name three more times in desperation. Dr Patel stood by her and said.
"What appears to be the problem?"
"John's locked himself in with a patient." She said to him.
"Well I'll just go and get a key from the reception desk." He said. He then walked over to the desk and searched through the key hook. He then raised his eyebrows and saw a blank key hook with no keys inside. He stared down to see if it had dropped at all. None where there. The key was gone.
He then ran over and pulled Sarah out of the way.
"What are you doing?"
"There's no key." He said. "Something must be wrong."
He then ran into the door and knocked it off its hinges.
"Shit." Was his only word to the scene that was before them.
- :) -
Sherlock Holmes sat in his living room chair and studied the outside world through his windows. He glanced carelessly at the time and noted that he still had a full four hours until his roommate would come home. That would give him plenty of time in which to conduct and experiment in the study of what would happen to a dead body if it were emerged in some kind of frosting (for pure curiosity).
That's why the great Sherlock Holmes was not home when the phone rang bringing some rather important news. It was left to Mrs Hudson the land lady to pick it up.
"Hello Mrs Hudson speaking." She said down the phone. "Who's speaking?"
"Is Sherlock there?" A deep voice asked. "It's important."
"No sorry dear he's just gone out." She said. "May I leave a message?"
"Don't worry Mrs Hudson, I know how to track the great Sherlock Holmes even if he is too vain to admit it." The voice said. The phone then went dead.
- :) -
Sherlock stood by the dead body and examined it. He turned to the nervous assistant and said calmly.
"Yes he will do."
As Molly whimpered and began to lift up the body, the door slammed open. Sherlock Holmes didn't even turn around as he said.
"Anderson what the hell are you doing here?"
"Detective Inspector Lestrade sent me." He growled.
"Well get out here." Sherlock said. "I can't work with you here."
"Why?" Anderson said.
"Your face is annoying." He said back.
"You haven't even seen my face yet."
"And yet still it annoys me."
"Lestrade wants you to see him now."
"Let me guess a case in which the brilliance of a criminal has once again outwitted the police force of London."
"Are you coming or not?"
"And why has he called me so early?"
"What makes you think he called you early?"
"Your face, it is red suggesting running which would be unusual as I would guess from the growing waistline that you have recently become more accustomed to getting a taxi." Sherlock said. "That suggests that Lestrade refused to let you take your ordinary taxi and you had to run over here. From the phone clutched in your hand I deducted that Lestrade threatened to call you within in a certain time and if you were not in the place you would have to suffer the anger he has due to his failing marriage..."
"Oh come on that is common knowledge that Lestrade is in marital counselling."
"Something which I did not claim you didn't know. Keep up." He snapped before saying. "Anyway due to all of these facts suggests that unlike other cases I must need to be there quickly. So I'm going to ask...what is special about this case?"
"It's Doctor Watson." Anderson said.
Sherlock froze.
- :) -
Sherlock Holmes walked through the empty surgery. The two colleagues that Sherlock remembered were sitting by the desk, and the girl was looking upset. But Sherlock Holmes did not have time for all of this fake sympathy, and he presumed even if he did pretend it would be obvious through the tone in which he spoke. He then made his way into the room and through the tape.
"Sir you need to wear this." One of the police offers said.
Sherlock walked straight through.
Sherlock looked at the room. It was right what Anderson had been blubbering in the cab on the way there, the room was a mess. But there was something he had got wrong, something he had got so wrong.
"Anderson you said there was a sign of a struggle." Sherlock said.
"Well yes, I think that's quite obvious." Anderson said.
And to the untrained eye Anderson was right. There were books scattered on the floor, a plant was knocked over and the patients chair was broken. But the computer remained intact, with a blinking screen distracting them all. There were four for police men stuck in forensic clothes and Lestrade was amongst them.
"This wasn't a struggle..." Sherlock said.
"What do you mean this wasn't a struggle?" Anderson asked.
"By this wasn't a struggle I mean this was no struggle." Sherlock said. "The books are knocked over yet there is no sign of footprints. Surely if John was going to knock books to block an attacker, he wouldn't mind stepping on the same books to avoid capture. The window is broke from the inside, as you can see from the distribution of the glass to the outside. The chair in which the elderly woman is sitting is broken, and yet the one in which John sat was completely intact. That means that if there was an instrument used it was blunt, as you can see from the splintering, and that they were aiming first for the elderly lady...strange...very strange indeed."
"So then you think John Watson went willingly?" Anderson asked.
"No, that much is obvious from the imprint in his seat." Sherlock said. "There is a line in the middle of the chair. The line suggest clenching and clenching suggests shock. Doctor John Watson was not expecting the attack. However as you can see the line is not complete and at the top and the bottom the line is compressed. That suggests he fell off his chair."
Lestrade looked confused as the others.
"But Sherlock there are signs of blood on the desk, and the carpet."
"Both place opportunistically, but with direction towards the glass. However as you can see when you are looking outside there is no trace of his blood on the outside..." Sherlock said. "If he were bleeding he would be bleeding both inside and outside. This is not blood from his body, well not blood from his body today anyway. It was released from a valve."
"And how you can tell that?" Lestrade said.
"The blood is smeared in a more circular spread whilst if it were pouring straight out his veins it would have done so in a downward fashion." Sherlock said. "This person is clever..."
"What do you mean clever?" Anderson said. "You've been able to tell their every mistake."
"That's because they wanted me to." Sherlock muttered.
DUN DUN DUN!
And so ends the first chapter...
Will Sherlock ever find the killer?
Will John ever be found?
Will Anderson's face ever stop being annoying?
FIND OUT NEXT TIME