AUTHOR'S NOTE: In order to fully understand this story, you must first read "This Should Be Alluring" chapters 37-40 on Time Lord Victorious' page. Don't worry; reading those will not ruin the rest of the story. They are independent of all but a few random chapters before them. And this is written with full consent to use her characters. Or what is left of them at least.
FRAMED
JOHN
I wake to the sound of Sherlock calling my name4, telling me to get up and get dressed. Apparently we had a case.
I look at my clock and groan Three o'clock in the morning
Wishing I could just tell him to sod off, I reluctantly get up and get dressed as fast I can before rushing downstairs where I find a cab waiting for us.
I climb in and look at him expectantly but he is too distracted by the phone from Moriarty, almost as though he is expecting it to ring any moment. But in an anticlimax, it remains silent the entire journey.
When we arrive, I am shocked to see we are at the pool we had been at only a few hours earlier with Hannah and Michael. "Sherlock, you don't think that Moriarty…"
My voice breaks off mid sentence.
"It looks as though he did, John."
Bracing myself for the worst, I put on a brave face and walk in behind Sherlock.
When we get to the pool side, we are greeted coldly by Sergeant Donovan. "Freaks. What are you two doing here?"
Sherlock can't restrain himself from insulting her intelligence. "Because unlike you, Lestrade values the opinion of those who are cleverer than himself. And unlike anyone with the Yard, I don't make mistakes."
She can't help but return with an equally cutting remark. "What about Moriarty?" she asks incredulous. "If you don't make mistakes how come we haven't seen or heard from him since his 'games'? Why don't we have him behind bars?"
At that moment, DI Lestrade came up, saving us from Donovan's questions. "We don't have time for this. In case you haven't noticed, this is a crime scene. We have two dead children, Sherlock, apparently drowned, if you'll come this way.
We follow him to the edge of the pool were I see the dead bodies of Hannah and Michael. I bite my tongue to prevent giving away the fact that I had met them previously.
Sherlock immediately sets about examining every detail to identify whatever he could about their deaths. He checks their mouths, then their skin for discoloration. He then examines the abrasions on their wrists.
The last thing he does is depress their chests. Water spills forth from their lifeless lips.
"Oh, he is CLEVER," says Sherlock. "Very clever indeed."
"Excuse me Sherlock, if I don't find this 'clever' as you termed it, but this is a murder scene," interrupted Lestrade. "So if you could please tell mu what you can see, it would be much appreciated."
"These children weren't drowned!" exclaims Sherlock as though we are all incredibly dense. They were poisoned, with cyanide. You can see the burns on the inside of their mouths."
"Does anybody else find it suspicious that the first place he checked was their mouths?" asks Donovan. "Doesn't that strike anybody else as odd?"
"Oh, like I would kill them on the night I saved their lives."
This revelation shocks everyone in the room, except me.
"You've met these children before, Sherlock?" asks Lestrade.
"A few times," responds Sherlock nonchalantly. "Moriarty seemed to think they were important to me. So he kidnapped Hannah to bait Michael and I. But I pulled a stunt he hadn't expected and managed to save their lives. Moriarty got away and I figured they were safe. Looks like Moriarty had a contingency plan."
"Or you wanted to prove Moriarty wrong," says Donovan. "If he even exists. All we have to go on that is your word, and the word John." She turns to face Lestrade. "Sir, all the evidence we have points to Sherlock. We don't even know if there is such a person as Moriarty!"
Lestrade weighs this in his mind before saying to Donovan, "Very well, Donovan, arrest him. Sherlock Homes you are hereby charged with the murders of Hannah Jones and Michael Roberts. Sherlock struggled like mad as Donovan cuffed him. "You've got the wrong man!" he yelled. "It was Moriarty" I swear to God. It wasn't me!"
By that point they had taken outside.
And despite the rest of the investigators still present, I felt as though I was the loneliest man on Earth.
