The serial killer worked for the 'Black Lotus'; a secret crime organisation that focused mainly on the purchasing and selling of expensive items on the black market. In order to do so, they had more than a few allies. Banker, Eddie Van Coon, and reporter Brian Lukis had been helping the 'Black Lotus' ship over items from China to England so they could sell them on. Unfortunately for them, the organisation did not take kindly to thieves (strangely enough) and when both men brought back unaccounted items they were instantly hunted down. The assassin was a trained climber and was able to get into the two men's flats whilst they thought they were safe behind closed doors. The idiots on Detective work were still dawdling on whether it was suicide by the time I'd found the killer.

Soo Lin's- an ex-employee at the Antiques Museum- disappearance had coincided with the murders and as it turns out, she had been hiding from her brother after she had abandoned the 'Black Lotus' in an attempt to start a normal life. He soon came looking for her and if it wasn't for mine John's incompetence, she may have survived. She did manage to partly decode the writings on the train track wall; however, we still had no clue as to what book she used. Soo Lin also revealed the name of the killer- Zhi Zhu- and many secrets as to the running of the 'Black Lotus'.

That night, John and I sorted through every book in the victims' collection to try and figure out which was used in the code. I obviously needed complete silence however John kept endlessly trying to make conversation- he said it kept him awake. Most of the time I ignored him but he seemed sad when I did that.

"You've got a girlfriend." Okay, so I started the conversation, shoot me.

"No, not exactly, just someone that I may possibly imagine dating in the near future." We both chuckled.

"You should take her to that circus in town, one night only." I continued to sift through the mountain of books- was I missing something?

"Don't take offense, Sherlock, but please come back to me when you have any sort of knowledge on dating."

"I have knowledge on dating; I've not been living under a rock all my life." 'Don't take offense'. What was that supposed to mean anyway?

"Could have fooled me." He paused, "What's the fourth planet away from the-"

"Okay, I get it. I need to know more about the solar system. But why even bother? So the earth goes round the sun; it wouldn't make a difference to me if the sun went the earth or we all went round and round the garden. It's not important."

"It's not-" He sighed. What had I done wrong?

There was about five minutes of peaceful silence before he piped up. "You said you had knowledge on dating…"

"Yes, is it such a foreign thought to you that I may have, in the past, engaged in some sort of relationship with anyone at all?"

"Well, I just thought-"

"Don't think, John, you'll hurt yourself." That was about as much socialising I could handle. The rest of the night was spent with odd spatters of 'You found anything yet?' followed by a sarcastic remark that went something along the lines of; 'If I'd have found something don't you think I would be off to catch the killer by now'. If I had taken the time to care, I would probably be worried that I had upset him in some way.


Once I had worked out the code, I thought shutting down the organisation would be a piece of- let's say pie; after all, I never really liked cake. But I hadn't counted on the annoying fact that I now had acquaintances that could be used as leverage. I found John in an abandoned tramway tunnel along with his 'new not-really-a girlfriend'. They thought that John was me… John! I don't even see how it is possible to make that mistake. If anything, the fact that he has no intellectual prowess at all should be a decision-clinching factor. Luckily, however, I managed to save them. Well, I got strangled whilst John freed himself and pushed Sarah away from the deadly device's firing line. But I distracted them, so I suppose you could give me the credit.

I don't think he saw Sarah after that.

To fill time, he spends his nights at 221B blogging about our 'adventures'.

"'The Blind Banker'… Seriously?" I scrolled down his computer screen, frowning at the fact that he made me seem like a character from a teenage novel. John was in the kitchen, trying to scavenge items from the cupboard. I just hoped that he didn't find my experiment on male semen- that would be a hard one to explain. I chuckled to myself; I do believe that I just made a joke.

"Yeah, because of-"

"Yes, yes. I get it John I just don't see why it has to have a title at all."

"Because that what the readers want." He stared at me furiously; did it really take him that long to realise? "That's my computer."

"No! Really?" I loved sarcasm; it was just a beautiful concept.

I tried to protest but he shut the laptop lid and slid it under his chair. "You can't just take things, Sherlock. How did you get into it anyway, it was password-"

"Yes, well, it wasn't quantum physics."

"Rocket science… It wasn't-" He sighed.

"Yes, that's what I said."

He went back to the kitchen and put the kettle on, "You want tea?"

"No, I'm thinking." I tapped my fingers on the desk; I was still hung up on the fact that I had let the leader get away.

"About what?" I huffed, what part of 'thinking' did he not understand. I flicked my mind back to the previous case.

I knew that General Shan wasn't the ring leader; she wasn't clever enough to head a giant crime organisation like the 'Black Lotus'. But I'd still let her get away. And now I'd have no hope of destroying the group. I decided not to dwell on it.

"Have you finished your trip to your 'mind palace' yet?" I could see he was being spiteful.

"I was thinking; thinking doesn't require the use of-" I suddenly realised how stupid it sounded; maybe I should find another name. "That place." Inventive Sherlock… Inventive.

"I apologise, how silly of me for even suggesting it." Sarcasm was wrung through his voice; it was only beautiful when I did it.

"I'm bored."

"And I'm hungry; since we have no food whatsoever in the cupboards, I'll take a walk and pick up a takeaway. You want anything specific." I didn't give an answer so he took his coat and left swiftly.


Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored.

I wanted a cigarette, badly.

I wanted to feel the rush of something. Anything.

My fingers tapped rhythms on the chair arms and my brain swirled around in my head.

Why was John taking so long?

Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored…

I heard the front door open downstairs. I heard the footsteps climb up the rickety staircase. I regretted not telling him which takeaway to get now because I really didn't want Chinese food.

John came in bearing a glum expression and a bag of what smelt like Indian food. "Why so glum, chum." I giggled to myself, "That's a saying right?"

"How many nicotine patches are you wearing?" He looked genuinely worried, which was odd, why should he care about me?

"Four." I smiled and reached over to grab the nearest pot. It smelt good.

"I'll go and get forks." He mumbled as he walked over to the kitchen.


We sat watching Midsomer Murders, which John initially thought was a bad idea. But after a while it was clear that he found it completely hilarious when I shouted the answers at the TV.

"You do know that DCI Barnaby can't hear you, right?" He gasped between tears of laughter.

"I am perfectly aware of that fact, John. But how can he not know that the murderer was the widow we saw at the start?"

"I have no idea; I mean it's completely obvious."

"Always with the sarcasm."

"I find it's the easiest way to engage with you." His attention wavered as he stared at something on the bookshelf. "Please tell me that's not Cluedo. Oh, could this day get any better?"

"No, John, I played it once and it was the worst game I have played since I tried Jenga in 1994."

"We are playing this, whether you like it or not." He cleared the table and laid out the board and pieces.

I'd rather not talk about what happened. Just that the Cluedo board ended up pinned to the wall above the fireplace with my pocketknife. And I never want to play it again.


"Face it, you lost." John chuckled as he put what was left of the game back into its box and turning the TV back on before sitting on the sofa beside me.

"I didn't lose, it was a flawed game."

"Right, okay. So it was the games fault."

"No, I was merely saying that-" He interrupted me.

"Sometimes I wish you'd just shut-up." Rude. "No, I didn't mean it… Look, I like it when you talk. You make so little sense that I just can't help but listen. But sometimes, just sometimes, silence is a good thing." He sat up on the chair, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me in. At first, I didn't really know what to do. I mean, I knew what to do, but I hadn't thought that he- you know.

To be honest, I don't even know.

It was awkward and didn't last very long. I don't know how good my kissing was but I can imagine that I'm not really seen as experienced. He pulled away gingerly and stormed upstairs to his bedroom.

In an attempt to prove that I am not out of touch with reality… Boy, that escalated quickly.