"I should well hope that you shall be content with the accommodations. I deeply regret that I couldn't have gotten you a hotel or a nice family to stay with-" He was cut short.

"It will be fine, Mr. Holmes. She shan't know what she's missing. And, as you say, it will only be for a short while," Roland Maxwell assured Mycroft Holmes. "And I will not ask where the flat is. I trust that you can get ahold of her if need be, yes?"

"Yes, sir," Mycroft replied. "If you are truly sure that this will work out; I have described to you the occupants of the flat." Mycroft wasn't sure whether the placement of Mr. Maxwell's daughter would work out.

"Yes. I have utter faith in you, Mr. Holmes. You have dealt with some other affairs in which I believe you made the correct, rational decisions," Roland stated.

He rose from the chair he had been seated in and made a motion toward the door. "Good wishes, Mr. Holmes. I hope to see you in a few months, unscathed." Mycroft watched as Roland Maxwell exited into out into the world, not knowing for certain if he would see the gentleman again.

Mycroft shook his head and picked up the telephone on his desk.


"Mr. Holmes?"

Mycroft Holmes looked up from his back seat window to the girl to right. "Yes, Miss Maxwell?"

"How long will my parents be away?" she inquired.

"I'm sorry. I don't know the answer to that," Mycroft replied honestly and went back to staring out the window. A brief silence enveloped the automobile.

"Are they safe?" the girl asked in almost a whisper.

Mycroft looked over at her with sadness glinting in his eyes. He wasn't sure how to answer her. He looked into her aquamarine eyes, and replied, "They are as safe as they can be given the situation."

The girl didn't say anything; she simply nodded. She rest her head against the cool glass of the window and looked out into the streets, her thick brown hair shrouding the emotions on her face. The people outside were bustling about in their rain gear. They were just going about on the dismal spring day, absorbed in their own tasks. She imagined she were one of them, that it was just another normal spring Thursday in London. But for her it wasn't.