Chapter 1: Prostate or Lung?
The day started of like any other for Molly Hooper. The air outside was icy and the atmosphere seemed as if it was going to pour. It was London after all, rain and cold, nothing too different. Tugging on her coat, Molly walks briskly into St. Bartholomew's Hospital. She strides past sorrowful faces and focuses on the upcoming soulless bodies. Molly loves her job; helping the police solves the mysteries of the dead made her feel important. That is all she needed to feel – important. As she entered her lab, Detective Inspector Lestrade was already there with another man who was looking into her microscope.
"Oh. H-hello." Molly stuttered out in absolute surprise. She was absolutely confused on how they got inside the lab. She had locked the door when she left last night.
"Hello, Dr. Hooper." Lestrade says turning around. "I hope you don't mind us coming here so early, the monitor let us in."
"It's fine." Molly stares at the tall, dark-curly haired figure. "Must be an intriguing case."
"A man who should have been dead was seen in security cameras of the Bank of England." He answered, scratching his head.
Molly chuckles. "I guess the dead are walking now. Zombie apocalypse. It's happening."
"No."
But it was not the detective inspector's voice. It was a deep, honey-like voice that made Molly's heart flutter in her chest. The enigmatic man looks up from the microscope, revealing his ocean blue eyes and sharp cheekbones. His eyes travel down her as if he was calculating who she was. Her blood pumps fast to her cheeks; leaving her face looking like a ripe tomato.
"E-excuse me?" She stammers.
"There is no apocalypse and there was no dead man." He shrugs like it was obvious.
"What do you mean?" Lestrade questions whilst walking towards him.
"The apocalypse is not factual because it is an illusory story spewed by the Christians with their Bible and shenanigans. And the man is in fact alive and was never dead. The grave is empty was and has been empty for the last ten months. He faked his own death to claim his life insurance for his wife and three children. He was fired two weeks before he died with tremendous amounts of debt and mortgage to pay off…" He rambles on talking to the detective inspector and Molly cannot take her eyes off the extraordinary man in front of her. He seemed different to her - distant, off in his own world, yet fascinating.
"Molly." Lestrade touches her shoulder to get her attention. "Can you believe this? He got all this by one security tape and a button of a suit."
"It is obvious but ordinary people like you would not see it. Especially when you have apes working for you. Why did you think Anderson could help you? He has a brain of a… never mind, I don't believe his brain can function anyway." The unknown man dismisses the presence of Molly and walks past her out the door.
"Sh-" Lestrade starts to yell but is interrupted by the man who walks back in with a strange expression.
"Is it prostate or lung cancer?" He asks Molly?
"What?" This took Molly by surprise.
"Prostate or Lung Cancer." He says a bit more clearly as if talking to a child. "You're a doctor, you should know what it means."
"Y-yes but…" Molly starts to say something but is caught off when he walks directly in front of her.
"You live alone in a flat whose rent is way too high for what it is giving you. You might want to find a new place. It's infected with termites. No close relations other than your father. You have one no two close mates. But one with the blonde hair secretly hates you; you might want to break off your friendship. You have self-esteem issues and need a new wardrobe. Also, you father is sick and dying of prostate or lung cancer." He finishes off with a smile looking pleased with himself.
Molly stands there with her mouth slightly open. She glances at the detective inspector but he just stands there with a barely noticeable grin on his face. She looks back at the mysterious man with a puzzled look.
"So, what is it? Prostate or Lung?" He asks coldly. "I don't have all day. There is a dead man on the loose."
"N-neither. He has Thyroid cancer." Molly embarrassingly splutters out and watches his smile slowly disappear off his face.
"There's always something." He mutters. He turns to Lestrade "Are you coming? I can't arrest the dead man without you, unfortunately."
"Oh, yes. By the way this is Molly Hooper." The detective inspector introduces.
"I know." The man says while flipping his collar up and walking quickly out the door without another word.
"And that was Sherlock Holmes." Lestrade pushes himself off the counter. "Consulting detective."
"Consulting detective?" Molly asks.
"The only one in the world. He made it up himself. I've got to go before Sherlock does anything. Have a wonderful day, Dr. Hooper." The detective inspector bids goodbye as he leaves the lab and Molly alone in the room, with a stupid smile on her face.
"Sherlock Holmes." Molly says. "Has a nice ring to it."