The air was crisp and cold. Trees rustled gently in a stiff Autumn breeze, their few remaining leaves threatening to tumble down to the pavement below; leaving the branches bare and empty until Spring.
The street below these wooden towers was alive with organised chaos. White vans along with fluorescent Police cars stood guard outside a large ornate building. Darting in between them were hard hatted officials with fluorescent jackets barking out orders; their words condensed to vapor in the cold air, along with their authority. A group of white clad forensic investigators huddled round one of the white vans and began to talk in hushed voices.
"I can't believe he kicked us out again!" Said one of the youngest officials. "We're losing valuable time, and for what? Some private eye to get a look in?"
A few of the other young investigators nodded their heads in agreement.
"He knows what 'e's doing, does Lestrade, don't you worry." Said a male northern voice from the boot of the van. All the forensics team turned towards him, he was sat relaxed with his face unmaxed and head uncovered. He was the eldest, the most experienced; and therefore the most respected.
The young investigator who first spoke looked at him defiantly, but hid behind his face mask. "I'm just saying you'd think Scotland Yard's finest would be able to find a stolen painting by himself without calling in the help of some junkie sociopath." His voice was bitter but muffled by his mask.
He looked around his fellow colleagues to find support but found that others averted their eyes as if they feared what was about to happen next. He turned back to find he was stood in the shadow of the eldest investigator who now loomed over him.
"Listen 'ere lad" He said pointing his finger like a weapon at the young man's chest. "That junkie has saved more lives than I care to count! And Lestrade is Scotland Yard's finest, know why?"
"Because he solves the most cases?" Said the young man in a trembling voice.
"No, because 'ee's man enough to admit and accept that someone else is smarter than 'im, a quality you seem to be lacking in." He straightens his back and looks around the rest of the group daring them to argue; none of them do.
Satisfied he's made an impact he walks away and headed up the stone steps towards the entrance of the building where a disgruntled looking Lestrade was standing.
"Everything ok, Sir?" He asks jovially.
Lestrade turns his head towards him "Hmm, oh yeah, thanks Norbury."
The older man smiled, out of the many D.I's he worked with throughout the years Lestrade was one of the very few who bothered to remember his name.
"That's 'awright sir, crime scenes can get pretty stressful" He said conversationally.
"Oh you have no idea…" Lestrade laughed half heartedly. "I was just going to look for you actually, I wanted your team to…" He paused, something seemed to have caught his eye over Norbury's shoulder. The older man turned to find his entire team kitted out in their forensic uniforms lugging their gear up the stone steps in a uniformed line.
The first to reach them was the young lad who Norbury just scolded "We just saw Sherlock and Doctor Watson leave, is it alright to go in now Sir?" He asked Lestrade who simply gawped at him for second, he'd never seen such a organised forensic team "Er, yeah sure" He said unsure of what had got into the new recruits.
"Thank you" He turned towards Norbury "do you want us to wait for you Sir?" He asked politely.
"No, no you get started I'll meet you inside after I've spoken with Lestrade" he said lightly with new found authority.
The young investigator nodded respectfully and headed inside with the others.
Norbury turned back to Lestrade who looked simply dumbfounded. "How the hell did you get them that organised so quickly?" he asked.
The investigator didn't know what to say so he just shrugged.
Lestrade laughed "Anderson couldn't even get them to listen to him!"
"No one listens to Anderson Sir" He found himself saying.
Lestrade laughed again "No, well whatever you did worked, so thank you Norbury. They really seem to respect you."
"Oh I don't think it's really me they respect Sir" He said truthfully.
Lestrade was about to ask what he meant when he was called away by a sergeant. "I'll catch up with your team later Norbury" he said as he walked away.
Norbury chuckled to himself as he headed inside the building to find his team, he figured Scotland Yard's finest would be figure out who he was referring to...eventually anyway.