A/: So my life has basically been turned upside down for a while and I just never had to time to continue writing or well posting and editing it. But right now I have a day off and I figured I'd write a new story. I really wish my other computer was working cause I have all my saved work but right now I'm just using my dad's in the mean time till I have the money to fix it. But I'll try and get to work finishing all my stories. I'm so sorry I've been horrible about it. -ohhaymisskay
Sherlock: A Game of Thieves
It was a boring mundane and absolutely ordinary day. The kind of day Sherlock Holmes despised and detested with every fiber of his being. He lay back on the familiar leather couch, hands folded in thought above his pursed lips and eyes staring heavenward. He had no cases and John was ever absent as of late. Sighing he reached for his phone in his robe pocket but then upon remembering he looked scathingly across the room where it sat at his desk next to his lap top. He glared at it and hoped someone would come home soon to hand it to him so he wouldn't have to get up and ruin his train of thought...not that he had much to think about but then at the same time his brain was running eight hundred miles an hour. He sighed and returned to staring at the ceiling before John came through the door carrying groceries.
By looking at his partner and all intensive purposes his only friend in the world, he noticed by the dew drops on the shoulders of his jacket it had lightly started to rain outside. By the mud at the heel of his shoes he deduced that John had walked a few blocks instead of taking a cab. Judging by the length of time he was gone he hadn't of walked more than a half an hour distance either way and there were only a few markets in that distance. Then John pulled out a few brand items and concluded he had just returned from Whole Foods that was the exact distance of time either way through Regents Park.
"You've been lying there since I left." John pointed out as he came into the sitting area. Sherlock rolled his eyes for he hated stating the obvious. They were a waster of one's breath.
"Brilliant observation. I didn't know I was lying here going out of my mind while you ordinary people point out the cold hard facts of the obvious. With skills like that we can solve anything!"
"Okay you're grumpy. And I don't appreciate the sarcasm." John returned to putting groceries away and Sherlock sat up swinging his long legs around before his bare feet hit the floor. He ruffled his curls in thought before he stood up and stroll over to his desk. Snatching up his phone he unlocked it before he began to search for the internet for cases. It was then his phone beeped and with eager fingers he opened the text message.
Meet me at the yard, there's a high profile case for you. -L
"John the game is afoot!" Sherlock yelled as he bolt into his room and not a minute later came blundering out dressed in black slacks, a plum button down and his peacoat and scarf in hand. He slipped his shoes on hastily and John came out and watched his friend scramble.
"We have a case?"
Sherlock paused and gave him a look and John rolled his eyes as he grabbed his own coat and followed the eccentric detective out the door.
Hailing a cab they slid in and were on their way to Scotland Yard.
"So what's the case about?"
"I have no idea." Sherlock said as he stared out the window watching the world pass by before him.
"That's not like you."
"I'm bored."
"What if it doesn't catch your fancy?"
"Lestrade said it was a high profile case. It must be important because he never gives away details over text unless this is the creme of the crop and requires my area of expertise. I'm intrigued."
The ride wasn't long, because they were used to it by now. When they pulled up they exited the cab and walked into the station. Many people gave them questioning if not glares since most did not like Sherlock and did not approve of John's association with him. They just made their way to Lestrade's office and he looked up from his paperwork at his desk and sighed.
"I wasn't expecting you two this soon." he said and Sherlock looked up in annoyance then back at the chief inspector.
"What high profile case do you have?"
"Well first thing first...this rap sheet is rather long." Everyone sat and Lestrade took the file from his stack and handed it to Sherlock. Sherlock opened it and gingerly flipped through photo's news clippings and Interpol faxed files. It was literally a novel in his hands.
"The name she is going by nowadays is Selena Kyle...fitting because she's a notorious thief."
"With a sense of humor." Sherlock mused.
"But the ground is growing thin for this one. Her real name is Eve Campbell. She's American, highly dangerous and wanted internationally."
"An international super thief. Yes, very intriguing." Sherlock agreed as he stared at the picture of the woman in the file before him. A heart shaped face, pixie like features, large eyes that where hazel and smoldering and long black hair.
"Well it gets better. She's a witness to murder. Last night at four in the morning she stole four priceless items from the British Museum while someone else was stealing a painting. They shot and killed a security guard."
"Sounds like you have two cases then." John said and Lestrade nodded.
"Yes but the murder would be more prudent to solve at this point."
"You must have proof she's a witness." Sherlock stated as he closed the file but gave no motion to give it back.
"We have rare footage of her." Lestrade turned the screen of his computer around and brought up a file as he pressed play on the museums security feed. There crouched behind a large statue was a woman in a black cat suit and night vision goggles. You could see three men enter and drop the guard to his knees. The statue blocked most of the carnage but the bright flash from the gun firing and the guards body falling was enough. Eve peered around the statue, not even flinching when the gun went off, and then skillfully darted as the motion sensor camera followed her as she climbed and scaled walls like a cat and was out a window into the night. The other thieves didn't even notice her presence.
The camera couldn't make out any face but her's for it was too pixilated and blurry as you looked into the background.
"Well it's too blurry to make anything out. Are you sure that this is Eve Campbell?" John asked what Sherlock was thinking. For once the both of them were on the same frequency.
Lestrade sighed as he pulled up another screen. It was a picture of a glass case where four Roman vases had been held and there in their place was a small figurine in the shape of a black cat.
"The cat is her signature. They're different every time and rather cheap, locally bought and all with cash. We tried getting leads off of them but it always just turns everyone around that takes her cases and leads them away from her trail. This is also the first time in three years anyone's gotten a glimpse of her or footage none the less."
"May we see the crime scene?" Sherlock asked and he stared intently at the screen. He needed to see all of this first hand.
Lestrade nodded as they got up and gathered themselves and Sherlock passed the Campbell file to John who held onto it and also made no move to give it back. John and Sherlock took a cab while Lestrade took his car and they made their way to the British Museum. Upon arriving there was press everywhere and up the front steps they made their way in passed the yellow tape and into the main atrium where the crime happened. Sherlock looked up at the large Statue of David before him and then began his inspection. Walking around the statue he looked up at the high ceiling and saw a camera. He stepped side to side and watched as it followed him and he then crouched down and examined the floor, the statue behind him and then the windows above him. He noticed on the white marble a slight scuff, it was faint but it was there and standing he placed his foot next to the scuff where a heel would have made the impression. So she wore heels...a fashionable thief, not exactly the most practical but it led him to believe she was concerned with appearances.
Walking to the pillar in which she climbed up and then looked up at the skylight she escaped out of he smirked. Her abilities were commendable if not a bit out of reach. He then made his way into the display room full of glass cases and examined the case that now held a single black cat figurine. He circled around the case as John and Lestrade walked into the room as well.
"We have no clue how she got into the case. The sensor wasn't tripped nor the glass cut." Lestrade explained.
"That's because she didn't infiltrate it from the inside. She went under the case, hacked into the panel and took what she needed. It was only a few seconds but to a thief that's all the time in the world to accomplish a task."
"How do you know?" Lestrade asked.
"Basement access. I noticed it when we first walked in. Only way in and out from under the museum. But she wasn't expecting other players and she was forced out of her hiding place. They tripped the alarm and so her method of escape led her to improvise. Hence whey we have rare footage of her that would otherwise not exist."
"How did she manage to take four vases out of the museum? They aren't exactly small." John said as he looked around at the other vases and items in the room. It wasn't like it was a small trinket of value.
Sherlock thought on it and grinned before turning around to the other two in the room. He took off for the basement access and when he reached the bottom level he started to walk around until he found what he was looking for. On the ceiling was a hole and on the ground was abandoned drilling tools and tech.
"She was here earlier this morning to retrieve her pay load. She knew she couldn't very well take them having the alarm being tripped like it was so she abandoned it all and opted to come back in plain sight."
"That's impossible the only people on scene are police and museum workers." Lestrade scoffed.
"Perhaps we should take a look at this mornings security footage then." Sherlock countered.
Making their way back upstairs, Lestrade asked the curator for this mornings security footage. The old man was much obliged and then led them to the security box were he pulled up the feed. Sherlock watched intently as employees and police scoured the place. He did a few clocks with the mouse before finding a camera angle that was pointing towards the basement door. Watching and waiting then the door opened and a woman stepped out dressed in a medical examiners jump suit and two bags in hand.
"Ms. Campbell walked right out the front door with the vases and no one though twice. It was risky but she is a professional after all. She's a grade above the rest and knows it."
"Dammit." Lestrade sighed. "Well can you find her?"
"I believe so. She would have abandoned her disguise at least three blocks from the crime scene. She needed a car. There's a parking garage a half mile from here. Come John we'll start there."
They took a cab to the parking garage and found in the side dumpster an abandoned medical examiners uniform. Sherlock examined it and then brought the collar to his nose.
"Chanel number five. She's a woman of exceptional and expensive taste."
They then proceeded to get the garage footage which took time because the attendant needed roof the were with the police. It took an angry phone call from Lestrade but eventually they found what they were looking for. A Rolls Royce and Sherlock memorized the license plate before setting off. He had a small window to find her before she was gone. And if he was so sure of her movement patterns he had seventy two hours till she would strike again and be lost to the world forever.