After they had finished their morning tea, Sherlock and Jim returned to the puzzle on the floor. It took them just over an hour to finally finish piecing it together, and they both looked down at it inquisitively when they had.
'Well,' remarked Jim. 'This is new.'
'Yes,' replied Sherlock. He turned to look at the man next to him. 'And you're sure this has nothing to do with you?'
Shaking his head in denial, Jim replied: 'I promise it had nothing to do with me.
'I think I'd better call Mycroft.'
Jim stayed by the puzzle as the detective called his brother, trying to figure out what it could mean. It was an ornate stained glass image of a diamond encrusted crown, and it took only a short while for Jim to fathom a few theories about its meaning.
'Mycroft, I've solved it.' Moriarty listened as Sherlock talked on the phone, half concentrating on what was being said, half studying the puzzle.
A long pause.
'No, this is important. You need to see it.'
The pause was shorter this time.
'See you then.' Sherlock hung up and turned to Jim. 'He said he'll be around in about five to ten minutes.'
'Would you like me to leave while he's here?' he knew what Sherlock was worried about, understood it; whatever was going on between them would be obvious, and would no doubt lead to awkward questions neither of them were willing to tackle at that point in time.
'No, no no, you don't have to leave,' assured the taller of the two as he watched Jim get up from the floor and move to the window. 'If you like, you can just stay in my bedroom. Get dressed for dinner.'
'So dinner's a definite, no matter what your brother says?' asked Moriarty as he pulled aside the curtains to give himself a clearer view of the street outside.
'Mycroft doesn't control me.'
'I never said that,' Jim pointed out.
'You implied it.'
'Not consciously.' He looked out of the window, waiting for a black car to drive up.
They stayed in silence for a while, until Jim saw the vehicle pull up in front of the apartment and Mycroft Holmes step out of it.
'Well, I'd best be off,' he said as he turned and headed to the bedroom as the sound of the door being opened and closed came from the hallway below.
His arm was grabbed, and he turned around to face the detective who had taken hold of it.
'Jim, thank you for helping me,' Sherlock said quietly. 'I know Mycroft wouldn't appreciate it but I do and…' He moved to quickly place a kiss on Jim's lips before letting his arm drop and leaning back so he was a distance away.
The consulting criminal nodded silently as he heard Mycroft enter, and made him way to the bedroom.