A New Puzzle
"Hello class, Ms. Carter is out today, so I'm your substitute teacher, Mr. M" the man said writing his name on the board, "now today I'm going to do something a little bit different. Ms. Carter said in her note that you were studying family relationships, so I would like to know how many of you lovely ladies older brothers have?"
More than half of the class raised their hands. Mr. M scanned the room and smiled.
"Good, now if you young ladies would please follow me." He said opening the classroom door beckoning the girls out into the hall.
()
'Blocked Number' that was what the caller ID on Sherlock's phone said when he answered, putting the call on speaker.
"Hello?" he said.
A girl's voice came from the other end of the call and I watched as Sherlock's mind immediately began to race.
"Hello again handsome. Long time no see. I thought it would be fun to give you another puzzle to solve…for old times' sake."
"Moriarty." Sherlock said under his breath, and I could hear both, excitement and rage boiling up in his voice. "What voice have you stolen this time?"
We listened as the girl on the other end let out a small sob "No one of importance, just a student from St. James Senior Girls School, but I do believe that the little Miss has something she wishes to tell you." Her tone of voice changed from the 'I'm saying what I'm told' to what sounded like a sincere plea.
"Mr. Holmes. We will all be fine. Please, whatever case offers don't take."
I looked at Sherlock, and by the look on his face I might have deduced that he knew the girl on the other end of the call.
"Now that the little Miss has said what she wanted to say," the robotic tone was back in her voice. "The puzzle this time is a little bit different because dear Sherlock, you won't have John to help you. Doctor you're needed here at St. James, I'm afraid that some girls are in need of your care. And for you Sherlock Holmes, 36 hours to solve the puzzle I've just sent starting…"
The call went dead, but not long after, a text came up on the screen and Sherlock opened it to find a picture just like the first puzzles Jim Moriarty had sent.
He ran for his coat, "John. Let's Go! We have a case. And some girls are in need of medical care."
Everything was moving so fast the next thing I knew; I was in the back of a cab with my medical bag in hand on my way to St. James Senior Girls School.
()
Sherlock had taken a separate cab than John, and was on his way to the location shown in the picture Moriarty had sent- An old church on the edge of London.
()
The cab pulled up in front of the school and the lot was empty. 'I guess that the only ones who really understand what's going on are the girls being held hostage.' I thought as I got out of the cab and paid the driver.
I walked up to the entrance of the school and tried the door: it was locked.
I turned and sat on the front stairs, about to text Sherlock and tell him I couldn't make it inside when my mobile rang with a block number.
"Hello?" I answered
"You're not even going to knock?" The girl said in her robotic tone, "How rude. Doctor Watson, this is an all-girls school; use your manners." Then the other end of the call clicked off.
I took a moment to stare at my phone before I stood up and went back to the front door, and knocked, once, twice, and was about to knock a third when I heard the locks click open. When no one opened the door I opened it myself, and entered into the school.
I knew I was heading in the right direction as I made my way through the halls because of the sound of crying girls grew slowly louder.
()
"London Historic Landmark." Sherlock read aloud from the sign in front of the old church from the picture Moriarty had sent. He looked around trying to find what Moriarty had hidden for him to find but saw nothing. He pulled his mobile out of his coat pocket and scrolled through his contacts until he found the right one and hit 'Call.'
"You called!" Moriarty's voice rang out through the speaker.
"I'm at the church but there is nothing here." Sherlock said rage welling up within him.
"Oh, poo, and here I thought you wanted to talk. But, oh well. Here you go…Sexy."
Then 'Click'
'Boom!'
Right as the line went dead the old church went up in smoke, Sherlock swore under his breath as the fire in front of him grew, and the sound of sirens blared behind him.
()
I found the girls being held in the gymnasium, huddled together in small groups, some crying, some whispering, and some watching the girl balled up and alone in the corner.
'That is probably the one Moriarty is using to communicate with us.' I thought as I made my way over to her.
As I walked by girls would look up at me and by the looks on their faces I could tell they didn't know if they should be happy or scared that I was there.
"It looks like he's going to talk to Bristol." I heard one girls whisper.
"We'll know if we can trust him by her reaction right?" another asked quietly.
The girl in the corner, Bristol, didn't look scared like the rest, she was calm, her dark curls were pulled into a pony tail on the side of her head, and her uniform dirty and torn with wires poking through her jacket collar.
As I got closer I saw a small gash on her cheek, 'ring' I guessed. It seemed Moriarty had no problem hitting someone even if that someone was a girl.
I started to kneel down next to her, "Hello, I'm Dr. John Watson, I'm here to-"
"Them." She whispered cutting me off.
"What?"
"Not me. Help them first." Her voice was still soft but I could hear the fear that she was trying so hard to hide from her peers.
I started to walk away, when I heard a faint whisper coming from the corner, "Dammit."
()
"Lestrade, I am telling you I had nothing to do with that fire!" Sherlock said fighting against his handcuffs in the back of the police car he was in.
Lestrade looked in the rearview mirror rolling his eyes at the struggling detective, before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the road ahead.
()
"I'm Dr. John Watson, I'm here to help. What's wrong, are you Ok?" I said that to every girl I went up to in the gymnasium. Each one didn't seem to be that badly injured or ill, but they did seem to trust me…at least a little.
"Doctor Watson." It was Bristol, "Moriarty wishes to speak with you."
"With his own voice or yours?" I asked making my way towards her.
"Mine." She said, before her tone changed. "Doctor, I need you to choose a girl to run a quick errand for me."
()
Sherlock sat on a concrete block, behind a heavy steel door wearing an orange jumper with the number 10967 boldly printed on the breast pocket.
"Well, Sherlock, only six hours in, and you already got a package. It's already been checked, so…I hope you like reading." Lestrade said opening the door and tossing a small let thick package wrapped in brown paper, to the imprisoned detective.
"Who sent it?" Sherlock asked, catching the parcel feeling the weight in his hand, trying to deduce the contents.
"She didn't say, looked like a student from one of those all-girls schools. Well anyway enjoy." The door slammed behind Lestrade as he walked out of the small cell, and back into the prison hallway.
Sherlock looked at the package and slowly ripped off the paper, to reveal a large leather bound book with "Les Miserables. Victor Hugo" stamped in gold on the front.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" He said flipping through the thousand page novel to find an envelope hidden among the pages. The outside of the envelope was blank and the note inside only had a couple short sentences: 'Call me, when you figure out who you are. XOXO James N. Moriarty.'
()
The girl who went on the errand for Moriarty came back sobbing and the other girls crowded around her, trying to help her take off the explosives she was wired with.
"I'm such an idiot." I said sliding down the wall, next to Bristol.
"No you're not." She said placing a comforting hand on my shoulder "How were you supposed to know Moriarty was going to wire her with enough explosives to take out the London Eye?"
"That's just it! I didn't know! I should've figured that it was what was going to happen."
I felt the squeeze on my shoulder, and looked up to see Bristol's concerned green eyes "It's been a long day Doctor you should get some sleep."
I shook my head" I'll be fine. You're the one he should sleep."
She shook her head, "No. I haven't slept the entire time we've been here. In case...In case."
"Moriarty has something to say to someone?"
She nodded.
()
24 hours left to solve the puzzle and Sherlock was only a quarter of the way through the massive classic that Moriarty had sent.
"Valjean, Javert, Fantine, Cosette, blah blah blah! This book is ridiculous!" Sherlock said slamming the book shut and throwing it against the far wall of his cell, only to have it ricochet and come back and hit him in the face "Dammit!"
()
Bristol finally let me look at the cut on her cheek. It wasn't as bad as it looked.
"I've been meaning to ask, how long have you girls been locked up in here?"
"About 2 days" she said.
It seemed that Moriarty had taken his time in planning this puzzle.
()
Sherlock stood pacing in his cell for 6 hours mumbling to himself and staring at the novel laying open on the floor when he looked up and saw a face he really didn't want to see.
"Anderson. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if it was true. The great Sherlock Holmes arrested for...Arson."
Sherlock rolled his eyes and started pacing around once again, "Leave, your face is putting me out of my thoughts."
"Come now I want to know how you managed to burn down an entire church, in a matter of minutes."
Sherlock stopped pacing once again and stared at the man standing in his doorway and then his eyes scanned the room when his gaze met with 'Les Miserables' where it had landed on the floor. Slowly he picked it up and felt the weight in his hand.
"Anderson, have you ever heard of 'Les Miserables'?"
"Is that what that is? I'd rather watch the musical then read that."
"Well maybe you should give it a chance!" The detective said as he threw the hefty novel with all his might, only Anderson slightly move and dodged the blow and Sherlock watched as it fell over the ledge.
"Anderson! Leave Sherlock alone!" Lestrade's voice echoed after the 'thud' of the book landing on his head had finished echoing.
"I'd watch myself if I was you homes." Anderson said starting to exit the small cell, pulling the door closed behind him you could get five years for arson plus some for attempted assault of an officer. Then you'll become Scotland Yard's own personal...Jean Valjean."And then the door clicked shut.
Sherlock's mind began to race immediately "Jean Valjean?"
()
"Do you hear the people sing? /Singing the song of angry men/it is the music of the people/who will not be slaves again." Sang the voices in my head. But, when I opened my eyes I saw that the voices were not in my head but the girls. "When the beating of your heart/echoes the beating of the drums/there's a light about to start when tomorrow comes."
"Good morning Doctor." Bristol said walking over.
"It's morning?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, and sitting up.
She shrugged "don't know. All I do know is that today's the day. We either live or boom!"
Just then the song changed. One girl started, "one day more/another day another destiny."
"'Les Miserables.' It fits our situation, doesn't Doctor?"
The girl kept on singing and I listened for a bit before I answered "I guess it does."
"Bristol it's your turn, you're the best a Eponine's part." One girl said.
Bristol smiled and began to sing," One more day all on my own/one more day of him not caring/for a life I might have known/but he never saw me th-" she stopped and silence filled the room for a minute before she slowly reached up and pulled the earpiece out of her ear, I watched as her knees began to buckle under her and I managed to catch her right before she hit the ground "It's over. We're free."
()
Sherlock stood outside St. James, his coat pulled tightly around him in attempt to hide the orange jumper he was still wearing, but to no avail, for the bottom portion of the pants refused to stay folded neatly above the coats hem.
He waited tapping his foot impatiently, "John where are you?" he asked himself, watching sobbing girls file out of the school.
After a few minutes he saw the small stature of his blogger helping a girl out of the building, and quickly ran over to the two of them.
"John, and um…" he said as he stopped in front of them.
"Bristol Howard." The girl said, releasing her arm from around the Doctor's shoulder. "Thank you for saving us Mr. Holmes."
"You're welcome. But are the two of you alright?"
John nodded, "I'm fine, but Bristol is…"
"I'm fine Doctor." She cut in, but she started to fall forward straight into Sherlock chest.
He caught her by the shoulders and looked to his blogger. "John go and get one of the blankets form the paramedics, I need to speak with Miss. Howard."
"Sherlock, the girl is in shock."
"John. Blanket. Now. Please." Sherlock said sitting on the stairs with Bristol leaning against his shoulder.
"Fine."
()
I ran down the stairs toward the paramedics who were helping the other girls by draping blankets across their shoulders and helping them call their parents.
"Excuse me? But can I get one of those blankets for the girl up there?" I asked an EMT.
The guy nodded and went to go and grab one. When I looked up I saw Bristol and Sherlock talking in what looked like a more causal way than he normally would talk to someone.
"Here you are sir." The EMT said coming back and handing me a thick green woolen blanket, as a long black car with tinted windows pulled up in front of the curb.
"Isn't that Bristol's brother's car?" a girl behind me asked.
"Yeah." Another answered, and then called up. "Bristol your brother is here!"
When I looked back behind me I saw Bristol and Sherlock walking down the stairs and I went to meet them at the bottom.
"Thank you for all of your help Dr. Watson." She said walking over and kissing me on the cheek, "and you as well Mr. Holmes." She said turning and doing the same to Sherlock, "I hope we will meet again someday." Then she went and got into the car and she was gone.
"Come on John, let's go home." Sherlock said once the car was out of sight, turning up his coat collar and started to walk toward Baker Street. I nodded, and caught a glimpse of something before catching up.
"Um…Sherlock?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you wearing orange pants?"
A/N: This is the first in a series I am working on there will be another full story and a few mini stories woven in. I Hope you enjoyed and if you did please R&R.
love. LOVESNOW3