"So?"
"So?" The D.I challenged.
Sherlock rolled his eyes and sighed before turning to glare at Lestrade.
"What can you tell me about the body?"
Ignoring him Lestrade lifted up the police tape outside the terraced house. Sherlock strode past him, heading towards the crime scene, stopping to send another glare towards the D.I when he realised that he wasn't following him.
"Morning John." Lestrade greeted to the shorter man as he too passed under the tape. "How's the baby treating you?"
"She's fine, finally started to sleep through without waking most nights." He replied, smiling at Lestrade.
"Oh for-" Sherlock stormed over to the pair. "Why don't you chat in your own time Inspector?" He turned back towards the house, giving John a look as to make him follow.
John shot an apologetic look at Lestrade before they both jogged to catch up to Sherlock, as a young officer allowed them into the house.
"The victim, Andrew Grant, was found this morning by his cleaner with his throat slit and his body hanging from the ceiling. He's been dead about 13 hours. He was forty-five and an antique dealer and collector." "Dull." Muttered Sherlock, as Lestrade led them into the living room.
Sherlock marched over to the suspended figure, stopping in front of the deceased man, his eyes in line with the man's neck. He pulled out his magnifying glass, muttering to himself as he danced around the body.
"Do you know anything else about the victim?" John asked.
"He lived alone, as far as we can tell, no immediate family, but we are looking at finding his next of kin. So far there isn't any trace of the attacker, however Mr Grant had a security system installed in the house, we informed the security company and they are meant to be sending some people down to have a look. Otherwise we haven't got that much on him." The D.I replied.
"John!" The consulting detective called.
John turned and walked over to Sherlock. "Any ideas?" he asked.
"I'll just leave you to it then." Lestrade muttered.
Lestrade stepped out into the hallway, away from the consulting detective, just as a young Sergeant walked over to him.
"Sir, there are two people over there saying they're from some security company." He said.
"Right, thank you Sergeant." He replied.
He turned in the direction of the front door and saw a tall young man in a navy suit, with black round-framed glasses over his heavy brown eyes, his pale face looking rather tired. He ran a hand through his ash brown curls, his posture rigid, showing his frustration towards his partner.
The partner in question was a young woman with brown skin and long soft black hair tied messily in a bun at the back of her head, her round face was pulled into a frown, dark eyes glaring at the man. She wore a grey blazer with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a navy shirt and black leggings and small ankle length black boots were crossed over each other on her feet.
She had a black messenger bag on her shoulder, and Lestrade could see wires poking out of the top of it. He watched the two and listened to the conversation going on between them.
"Why am I here?" The woman asked. "I didn't even work on this system. Why didn't you ask Max? I have things I need to do in the office." She whined.
"Things?" The man queried.
"Work." She replied.
"This is work." He stated, sounding extremely fed up.
"Important work!" She snapped.
Lestrade cleared his throat to get their attention. They both turned to face him, the man looking rather embarrassed and the woman- well girl, frowned at him.
"Detective Inspector Lestrade." He said, holding out his hand towards the man. "I trust that you're from the security system company?" He asked.
"Yes, yes um sorry," he stumbled over his words, as he shook Lestrade's hand. He struggled before he seemed to remember what he was supposed to say. "My name is Henry Williams, and this is my assistant Anna Green."
The girl snorted. "Assistant? Really?"
Henry ignored her and continued. "We are here representing Active Protective Technology Security, better known as APT Security. We are here to retrieve any data left on Mr Grant's system to help you with your err... investigation."
"Yes, right, where do you need to go?" The D.I asked.
"The main security console should be in the dining room." Anna muttered.
"Follow me this way then please." He said, eyeing the girl, wondering why she was in such a foul mood.
Lestrade led them into the dining room, Henry scanning the room before locating the console, while Anna trudged behind him, slinging her bag off her shoulder and dumping it unceremoniously onto the floor next to Henry. Crouching down, she proceeded to pull two long grey cables out of the bag, followed by a laptop which she powered up and placed on the beige carpet.
"Help me plug this in Henry." She drawled, handing him the ends of the two cables. He obliged, opening the compartment on the side of the console and plugging in the wires. "Thanks." She murmured.
Lestrade watched amused, as Henry appeared confused by Anna's actions on the laptop, as he sat slightly back from her, trying not to get in her way. He remembered the girl's earlier response to being referred to as an assistant and realised that the situation was probably the opposite.
At that moment Sherlock and John entered the room and walked over to the Inspector to inform him of Sherlock's findings.
Sherlock began talking immediately as he approached the D.I.
"The murderer was very thorough, most likely male- mid twenties to thirties, as they would have required some strength in order to tie the body to the ceiling. It looks like an act of rage due to some smaller lacerations and bruising on the victims torso and face; probably some form of revenge, could be related to his line of work but I'll need to look into it." He started, but then paused. "Who are they?" Sherlock asked, gesturing to the two crouched in the corner.
"They're from the security company." Lestrade replied. As the three turned to watch the pair.
"So do you think it was murder?" They heard Henry whispered to Anna.
Sherlock opened his mouth to say something, but he was beaten to it.
"Oh yes because the man just decided to slit his own throat perfectly from left to right; then proceed to tie himself to the ceiling. I didn't think you were capable of saying something so utterly stupid." Anna replied, clearly frustrated. "Someone was clearly very angry with him and wanted to make that fact very obvious because they displayed his body like they were showing off. It wouldn't surprise me if he pissed someone off as from what I'm told he seemed to have that affect on people. However I don't approve of the way they handled the situation, it is a bit over the top."
She pulled the wires harshly from the console and stuffed them and the laptop back into her bag. She sighed loudly as she rose from her crouched position on the ground, brushing her hands on her thighs.
"I need to run this data through a different computer to even be in with a chance of decrypting it, the data is seriously corrupted due to the old system and the method of accessing it." She announced. "Do you have a number I can contact you on when I find anything Detective Inspector?" She turned to face Lestrade.
Lestrade began digging in his pockets for a spare card, as Sherlock stepped towards Anna, flicking a piece of card between his fingers in front of her face. "Here is my number, text me when you find anything of use." He interrupted.
Anna took the card slowly, looking puzzled. "And who are you?" She asked, her eyes tightening into a frown.
"Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective." He smiled.
"Oh right." Her features relaxed slightly.
Lestrade handed his card over to her. "When you find anything I will need a statement detailing the evidence. Will that be all?" He asked, extending the question to Henry as he turned slightly towards him.
"Yes, thank you Detective Inspector, Mr Holmes, I'll be in touch." Anna concluded, without waiting for Henry's reply. She then walked out of the room, meandering past the officers in the hallway and out the front door.
Henry grimaced and faced the group.
"Sorry, she's annoyed because I dragged her away from lazing around the office, but she is one of the best when it comes to this stuff. Thanks for your help Detective Inspector, we'll definitely be in touch as soon as possible." He smiled, and held out his hand for Lestrade to shake, then dashed off out the door after his partner.
"Right, well, Come on John." Sherlock declared. "Lots to do. Good Morning Inspector!" He waved a hand in the air in acknowledgement towards the Inspector, before striding out the room, John following closely behind. Lestrade just rolled his eyes.
"Mornings are always the worst." He muttered.
A/N: Hello! My first fic for a while, I'm a little bit rusty but hope my writing is better than it was 2/3 years ago when I was 14/15. It is embarrassing going back and reading some of the things I used to write. Anyway hope you enjoy, I've got this story planned quite well so far, so hope I can stick with it, I'm really excited about this story.