Chapter 1: Coffee and a case

It was a beautiful spring morning. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and Kat felt like murdering someone.

"What do you mean 'it's gone'?", She asked bitterly.

"I mean it isn't there anymore, I checked all the accounts. It's gone.", her boyfriend replied.

"It can't just have vanished, right? There has to be a trace of it", she tried, "Have you messaged him yet? I'm sure there's an explanation for all this."

"I've left texts, phone calls, emails, everything." ,He sighed in defeat, "I'm afraid we've been had."

Kat's world stopped for a moment. She should have known better. She shouldn't have let someone else in on her business plans. She shouldn't have been so stupid.

"You're not blaming yourself for this, right? There is no way you could have known he was going to walk away with your money. Don't beat yourself up about it." ,Ned advised,

"How much did you even put into that account?"

"Practically all of it.", Kat confessed, "I put almost all of my bloody money into that account thinking I could trust the fucker with his perfect suit and flashy smile. God I wish I could just grab a stick and shove it up hi-"

Ned stopped her, "Sweetie, I understand you're mad but wishing threats upon the jerk that did this really isn't going to change anything. Sure, we could sit idly by and hope the money returns magically, but that's not going to happen anytime soon."

"Then what do you suggest? Go to the police and be put on an endless waitlist? ", she asked with an exasperated sigh. "Things like this happen all the time and law enforcement can't do anything about it because there is no trace left of his actions, you can't catch a ghost."

"We call in a private detective", he simply replied. "That way you'll know for sure that someone is working on it, also, a detective will actually try to go the extra mile for his money."

Just that moment the waitress of the pub decided to show up. Ned flashed her a smile before ordering them both a coffee. The girl giggled and made a comment about his 'cute' American accent. Kat eyed her suspiciously before sending her a death glare telling her to back off. The waitress got the hint and scurried away. She hated it when people pried on her boyfriend. Not that she didn't understand the attention. He was tall, well built and to be honest, very cute. And with them both having brown hair and dark green eyes, they could be mistaken as siblings. Still, it angered her when a girl decided to flirt with him and tended to get very defensive. He just sent her a look saying 'You have nothing to worry about, I'm very happy to have you". God, she loved him, he would always keep her grounded. From little things such as making sure she didn't burn herself to death when cooking, to right now when she felt like smashing this pub like the incredible hulk. And he was right once again, she needed help with this. No matter how badly she wanted to do it herself. She didn't have any detective skills and Ned was never good investigating either. Maybe a detective wasn't such a bad idea.

"You're right", she finally answered, "But how will I pay him? I barely have enough money left to buy groceries." she sighed.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it.", just as Kat tried to argue he followed with, "No discussion there, I won't let you become completely broke from trying to take back what's yours.", Kat grabbed his hand and smiled, she silently promised to pay him back once this was all over. "I heard a friend talk about a detective who lives downtown. He calls himself a 'consulting detective', whatever that is. Maybe we could hire him" He added.

She contemplated a second before answering, "Okay, we'll give him a try. In the meantime, you think I could stay with you for a while? My lease is up this week and as you might recall, my money has gone 'poof'. It won't be long, I promise.", she pleaded.

Ned started laughing, "Are you asking to move in with me? I don't know, this is all so sudden, we aren't even married yet." , he joked, which earned him a slap on his bicep. "Of course you can, stay as long as you want", he added, smiling.

Kat replied by pressing her lips against his, "Thank you" she breathed. Just as he was kissing her back, the flirty waitress returned with two coffee cups. She shifted uncomfortably when Kat intentionally moaned against her boyfriend's lips. When they parted lips to take their coffee, the girl scurried away awkwardly. "That'll show her", Kat smiled to herself.

After breakfast, when they arrived at Ned's apartment, he went straight to his laptop to contact this 'consultant' guy. This gave Kat time to admire his place. It was quite small, but cosy. The walls were decorated with white paint and framed movie posters. Across the room was a big flat-screen television with DVD's surrounding it and a big, red couch in front of it. Many nights she spent there, cuddled up against Ned, watching all kinds of movies. She smiled to herself, happy to have found such a sweet boyfriend. On the right of the TV was a door that led to his bedroom and on the left was his open kitchen. He was a sous-chef at a nearby restaurant and so the cupboards were filled with fancy cooking tools. She recalled a night in which he vowed to teach her how to cook, only to be traumatized when she succeeded in setting all the pans on fire. Ever since that 'incident' he hasn't suggested to try again. She smiled to herself, she would most likely starve if she didn't have him to cook for her. Especially since now all her money was gone. Damn it, she had almost forgotten about that.

"I've found him, his name is Sherlock Holmes. He lives at 221b Baker street which is also his office.", Ned called from his desk, "That's not too far from here, we could go visit him later if you want."

"Why not go right now?", she replied, suddenly feeling a surge of confidence, "The sooner we get help, the sooner we catch this guy."

Before Ned could reply she had already grabbed her coat. As she was making her way out the door he stopped her.

"Don't you want to get your stuff first? You said yourself you're supposed to be out your apartment in a few days so it's best to get most of your things out before you're not allowed in anymore."

"There he is again, Mister sensible", she joked, "But no, I really want this over now so we won't have to think about it for the rest of the day. You know me, if we don't put this in someone else's hands I will fret about it all the way to my apartment and back."

Ned sighed in defeat and grabbed his coat, there was no arguing with her. They walked out the door to his car. "You think he'll be old?", she suddenly asked, "Or shady? With weird secretive files everywhere? Or looking out his window everyday with his binoculars just spying on people?" Ned chuckled, she could be such a dork sometimes.

When they arrived at the address Kat was feeling a hint of anxiousness. What if this detective guy couldn't catch him either? And she would have spent her last dime on some idiot failing at his job? She mentally shook her head. She shouldn't worry so much, it was all going to be okay... she hoped.

Before Ned rang the doorbell he asked her, "You ready?", she just nodded in response. He rang the bell. After a few seconds the door was opened by a lady with an apron on.

"Hello, we're sorry to bother you, but does a 'Sherlock Holmes' live here by any chance?" Ned asked ever so politely.

"Hello, you must be clients. Come on in dears, there's no use in standing outside is there?" She motioned them inside.

"Thank you miss-?", Kat asked.

"Hudson, I'm the boys' housek-" she sighed "landlady." She corrected herself when an alarm started beeping in the back. "Oh dear, my potatoes", she exclaimed, "The boys are upstairs, I'm afraid I'm needed in the kitchen." She said before quickly returning to her cooking. Ned and Kat shot each other a look and walked upstairs.

Before they could knock on the door a man with greyish hair walked out while shouting "Mrs Hudson? I heard the bell ring are there any cli-" He got cut off by Ned bumping into him. After they had both regained their composure, the man continued, "Clients.. You're here for Sherlock i assume"

"Yes we are.", Kat answered, "And you are his-?"

"Colleague." , he answered, "Come on in, he's in his room. He will be out any second." The man introduced himself as John Watson. When they were all seated, a tall, slender man with a mop of curls on his head walked out his bedroom.

"You must be Sherlock Holmes." Kat said, "Hi I'm Katherine and this is my b-"

"Your boyfriend who you dragged here because you messed up and want me to fix it. Something to do with money" Sherlock finished for her.

Kat and Ned stared at him agape, baffled by his bluntness. Before either could reply, he spoke again.

"You are a psychology graduate who worked as a waitress for years to save up money for your own clinic. You then met a man who promised he would help you and you, very stupidly, trusted him." Kat was staring at him agape while he continued, "When you put all your money in his account for investment purposes he took it all and disappeared without leaving a trace. Scamming case, not my usual. You have two minutes, entertain me."

This was going to be interesting.

(A/N) Thank you so much for reading. I'm sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors, English isn't my native tongue. This is my first fanfiction and first time writing in english so all reviews are welcome. I'm really trying to improve. Also next chapter will be a bit longer i promise :)