Twenty minutes later Victoria, Sherlock, and myself stood in the middle of the high point park, presumably searching for clues. I watched as Sherlock did his thing. No matter how many time I watch him do it, it's always so fascinating. Watching him take in his surroundings and coming to correct solutions in the bat of an eye. He turned back to us, but instead of telling me what he figured out in a condescending voice, he simply stared.
"Well?" I asked, but Sherlock ignored me.
Instead he turned on Victoria and spoke in a calm voice. "You can go back to your apartment, we'll contact you once we find something."
She looked a bit surprised, but I knew there would be no changing Sherlock's mind on the matter. I sighed inwardly, I was going to have to save a little face if I wanted her to like me. "Can I get your number so I can contact you if we have anymore questions? And do you want mine?" I added as an after thought, hoping I wasn't being to blatant.
"Oh, of course." Victoria said with a smile. I heard Sherlock scoff behind me, and hoped that our client didn't hear it. She wrote out her number on a small shred of paper and handed it over. I tore a shred from the corner and quickly jotted down my own number before handing it back. Victoria gave me a sweet smile as she took the paper. "Even if you don't feel free to call."
I was sure I was smiling like an eleven year old who just got his letter to Hogwarts. Sherlock gave me a hard stare, but I found it in myself to not care about his judgments for once. I even let out a giddy laugh as she walked away. My laughter quickly died away as I turned to face Sherlock.
"You may not call her unless you solve this case." Sherlock said furiously. "We had a bet."
I stared at him uncomprehendingly. Sure he had made a silly little bet, but I had no idea it was going to take it so seriously. I really hoped that if I play along he'll let me off the hook. "Alright, what were the rules again? Do I really have to solve the case by myself?"
Sherlock visibly relaxed. "No, I'll give you a few hints. In fact, I have the case all figured out."
"Sherlock, I thought I was supposed to be beating you." I sighed. Honestly, worlds greatest detective versus me. What did he expect would happen? "How can you possibly still consider this a bet if you've already won it?"
Sherlock considered this. "Well, we'll just have to change the rules now won't we?"
I groaned out loud. Why couldn't he just go to the police with what he knew like a normal person? Of course, hoping Sherlock would act like a normal person was like hoping for it to start raining jam and biscuits. Hopeless. So instead I figured I would let him have his day and pretend it never happened next month. "Alright, new rules." I said. "What'll it be?"
"That's more like it." He said. "I'll give you hints, but you'll have to ask me for them. You can only ask me three questions."
"Can I ask you who did it?" I muttered.
"No, and now you've only got two." Sherlock replied sharply. I opened my mouth, but no sounds came out and I ended up looking like a fish out of water. I decided I wouldn't ask any more questions, because I figured even if I asked for a pen he would count it. "You may only talk to Ms. Victoria's mother or other witnesses, not Victoria."
"I don't have her mother's number, and there were no other witnesses." I interjected angrily, then backtracked. "Wait, Ms?"
"Quit interrupting me." Sherlock snapped. "You also have a seventy two hour time limit, starting-" He looked down at his watch. "Three hours ago when she first walked into the flat. Sound good?"
I nodded, those were ridiculously fair terms seeing as Sherlock was the one giving them. Minus the not talking to Victoria bit. "So, where should I start-" I began, before clamping my hands over my mouth. It was to late though, I could see the wicked gleam in Sherlock's eyes.
"I would recommend examining the body of the dog, you might find something that could help you out." He said knowingly. "And now you've only got one question left." That bastard.
"Fine." I snapped at him. While they were traveling to the park, Victoria had told them where the body of the poor dog was. However, Sherlock seemed to have solved the entire case without seeing the body. "Sorry for missing something that every other average person would miss in my shoes."
"But you're not average, not at all." Sherlock grinned. "You put up with me on a daily basis, and have not yet tried to throttle me, which makes you above and beyond every other person I've met. You did punch me once though." He added, rubbing his cheek as if he could still feel it.
"I punched you after you asked me to, and then you still punched me first." I reminded him, but I highly doubted he needed any reminders. I gave a resigned sigh. "Well, come on then. Let's go look at Victoria's dead dog."
