Sweepstake

by johnsarmylady

Over the years Sherlock and John have fallen into various routines that, despite their lack of ability to observe, have not gone unnoticed by various members of Lestrade's team. There is one in particular, that the team decide is worthy of a little harmless betting. A 221B in response to a challenge in Mrs Hudson's Kitchen by GrimmGirl8

Using a tried, tested and well loved format, here is a 221B response to a challenge set in Mrs Hudson's Kitchen by the lovely GrimmGirl8 - enjoy!

It had been going on for months. Every time Sherlock and John arrived at a crime scene Donovan and Anderson would surreptitiously wander away to where a clutch of constables and SOCO's would stand discussing the possibility that they might be the lucky winner today.

You see, the pair had a sweepstake running. Each entrant had to claim a time at which Sherlock and John would gaze lovingly at each other, making Sherlock momentarily lose the thread of his deductions.

No matter what the crime or crime scene, it happened regularly. They would stop. They would stare. And then they would carry on as if nothing had happened.

Jeannie Cartwright seemed to be the luckiest member of the 'syndicate', having won several times. Some of her colleagues put it down to pregnancy hormones, others said her condition should prevent her from being on crime scenes, either way, she was here today, and willingly put her money in.

Just as it looked like today wasn't going to be anybody's lucky day, in one magic moment their eyes locked across the decomposing corpse. Jeannie had won again. Laughing, she took her winnings for her 'Baby Pot' as she liked to call it.

Nobody had seen her wink at Doctor Watson.

And nobody saw his and Sherlock's answering wink as they passed her by...

A/N: For those unfamiliar, a sweepstake is a form of betting where groups of people get together (informally) and bet a specified amount against an outcome...the most common version here in England is the office sweepstake on the biggest race in the steeplechasing calendar - The Grand National.