Title: Conversations From Q Branch
Parings: James Bond & Q; James Bond/Q (ranging in time from pre-relationship to relationship). Sherlock Holmes & John Watson.
Disclaimer: I own no rights. I make no profit.
Chapter 2 – Rain was Falling
Sherlock Holmes was pacing round and round the sitting room in 221B. He'd pause every now and again and peer at the wall where he had tacked up a large map of London and a variety of photographs. The photos were connected to the map and to each other by bits of multicolored string. All in all it looked like a spider on LSD had attempted to spin a web on top of an esoteric piece of modern art. I continued editing my draft blog post.
He stopped suddenly and exclaimed, "There is no way he could have been burgling a shop in Knightsbridge within 10 minutes of being spotted in Bethnal Green. All my deductions indicate he was in Knightsbridge except the eye witness who isn't lying." He looked at the wall again, "But rain was falling and there was no indication of water in the stairwell our witness saw him enter!" he blurted then started pacing again
"Maybe he teleported." I joked not looking up from my laptop then continued, "Could the eye witness have been imagining things? Mistaken a similarly dressed bloke for our burglar?"
"Not with what he was wearing when Lestrade picked him up later that night. It matched the witnesses' description exactly."
Sherlock made another circuit of the sitting room.
"What did the witness see or imagine he saw?" he asked rhetorically then stopped dead in his tracks.
I'd seen this before. Momentarily he'd be off on a new series of deductions or decide that more research on a completely different subject was necessary. This time when he surfaced he grabbed his phone from off the mantle and dialed a number. Now that was different. Sherlock hated to call when he could text instead. In fact there was only one person I knew that he was more likely to call than to text.
"What would it take," he started in without preamble "to project an image on a rainy evening capable of fooling a witness less than half a block away into thinking there was a person there?"
As he listened to the reply his face took on a look I knew well, he was on the verge of a solution to the mystery of the teleporting thief.
"Send me a list and good luck getting your favorite agent to bring your toys back in one piece." He paused then added "No, you only sound that frustrated when the odds of things going cleanly start getting into the 15% range." Sherlock listened a moment longer then said "Yep" and rang off.
Less than 5 minutes later I had a document from Sherlock's younger half-brother Quentin. As befitted the Quartermaster of MI6 it simply opened on my computer with no indication of how it got there.
"What," I asked Sherlock, "do you want me to do with this list of random technology and irrigation system parts?"
"Forward it to Lestrade and tell him to check the alleged burglar's financials for similar purchases. He used a projection on a fine mist of water to fool the witness. The witness didn't notice the curtain of water because it was raining."
I hurried to do as Sherlock asked as he settled into his chair for the first time in at least twelve hours.
Sherlock looked at me then smiled. "When Lestrade confirms do you want Chinese?" was all he said.
Author's Note: I was surprised at how quickly this next one came after the first one. As always comments, questions, typo catches and brit picks are welcome either in the reviews or via PM.