A/N: Expect a little bit of romance and a lot of suspense. There will be clues, some of them not so obvious. I hope you enjoy!
2008, Bemidji, MN
The nursery was still except for the rumblings of a loud talk show downstairs. Toddler Greta Grimly slept soundly, her little fingers welded tight to her rattle.
Downstairs, the father's prone figure lay sprawled somewhat awkwardly on the couch, snoring. Even under the influence of sleep, his face appeared tired and sad. Unfortunately, so thick was Gus Grimly's stupor that he would never heard Greta's terrified wailings - or the sound of her rattle shaking like sleigh bells.
For now, however, the nursery was still. A bowl-haired man stood with his elbows propped on the crib railing, gazing into an oblivious face.
Bemidji was a small town. Too small for Sherlock. If London was the wardrobe with the portal to Narnia, this sad excuse of a city was a cabinet with a few shreds of web.
"Bored," he'd muttered when he saw the speck from his plane window. He was not looking forward to mingling with 14,000 snow-crusted yokels.
At any rate, this was to be the detective's new home. Having eaten breakfast at Lou's Coffee Shop, Sherlock now slogged through the snow with the bent posture of a senior citizen. A gray building began to come into view through the white opacity. BEMIDJI POLICE DEPARTMENT, it said.
As soon as he reached its awning Sherlock began to brush the snow off his suit and tie. Minutes later, he was shaking hands with Police Chief Molly Grimly (née Solverson, as Sherlock had learned from reading about the famous Nygaard case). She'd come to welcome him to the job.
"Hello, Mr. Holmes. You'll be specializing in missing persons, is that correct?" Molly Grimly was a woman in her thirties, and could be described perfectly as anything but flamboyant. She spoke softly and her smile was natural, crow's feet and all.
Nevertheless, Sherlock could tell by her body language that this was a woman who could give orders. "Bit of a humorous accent ya got there," Police Chief Grimly said after introducing some of the other "folks" there. "Why'd ya come all the way from England, if it isn't rude of me to ask?"
He could see no reason to withhold the information anymore - and having seen the intelligence in Grimly's eyes, Sherlock wasn't going to give the bullshit answer that he wanted a "change of scenery." Sherlock explained his real reason for coming to Bemidji and the fact that he had to make a living while being stuck in Minnesota. He had conveniently failed to mention these plans during his interview, but Police Chief Grimly didn't seem to mind. "As long as it doesn't interfere with the work," she said, "ya can work at Lou's Coffee Shop fer all I care."
Then Grimly smiled at Sherlock sadly. "You remind me of someone else I know. Always had his heart in the right place. Well, Mr. Holmes - or should I say Detective Holmes - why doncha follow me to your desk and I'll brief ya on the basics."
The Minnesota Murderer.
Practically all of England knew his name, but little beyond that. London's string of passionate homicides - bodies mutilated, entrails used to spell out messages like "MN" - had become an unavoidable subject of conversation for months.
Sherlock had reluctantly come here at Mycroft's urging. While Scotland Yard continued to pursue fruitless leads close to home, the British Government had decided to take the matter into his own hands and send Sherlock off to do his dirty work. The young detective couldn't help feeling like a glorified bloodhound.
At any rate, the Minnesota Murders case would be a chance for Sherlock to prove himself. Scotland Yard hadn't hired him in any official capacity, obviously because the words "consulting detective" didn't mean anything to any police force anywhere in the world. Not yet, anyway. Sherlock was still trying to get the title recognized.
But as Sherlock sat down at his desk and began flipping through folders, he felt a thrill of hope for the fame and glory that would rain down on him one day. As soon as the the Yard witnessed Sherlock's brilliance on the field, they'd be consulting with him for every case.