The flat that Sherlock had picked out was at a prime location, it seemed to me that it would be more than I could afford. She must have noticed my worry for as soon as she saw me she said that the land lord owed her a favor. "What did you do for him?" I asked as she knocked on the door.
"Mr. Hudson's stepson found himself on death row in Florida a few years back."
"So you got him off?" I asked.
"Oh, no, I ensured it," just as she looked up the door flew open and a sweet old man swept her into a huge hug.
"My dear Sherlock," he said hugging her, "When was the last time you ate? You're as thin as a stick."
"Mr. Hudson it's good to see you too," she said with a smile. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend Joanna Watson."
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Hudson said offering a hand that I shook.
"You too," I said.
"Well, we better be getting inside," he said as he ushered us inside and into a little entry hall. "Up stairs is you alls flat," he gestured up a set of well worn wooden stairs.
Sherlock and I cautiously walked up the set of stairs and ended up in a cozy sitting room with a rather large kitchen attached to it. "The bed rooms are right down the hallway over there, the only minor issue is that you two will have to share a bathroom," Mr. Hudson said pointing down the hallway.
"I think we can manage," I said as Sherlock nodded in agreement.
"Good," he said smiling, "you two can move in as soon as the paperwork is done up."
"Good, good," I said looking at the news paper sitting on the side of the coffee table. Then I asked Sherlock, "So what do you do?"
"I am a consulting detective," she said looking out the window of the room into the street bellow.
"Which is what?" I asked sitting down in one of the chairs in the sitting room.
"What I'm good at."
"And that is…?"
"Deducing," she said off handedly.
"I'm lost."
"No, you have an alcoholic sister and you have a psychosomatic limp because you fought in Afghanistan, but you're not lost," Sherlock said as she went down stairs to help Mr. Hudson with the papers.
I stood for a few minutes stunned and then ran down the stairs after her, "How in the world did you figure that all out?"
"I deduced it. Deducing is gathering the information around you and figuring things about a person from that," she said turning to me, "When we were in the lab you were surprised about my question 'Afghanistan or Iraq?' Well I read your military career in the way stand, it says military, you are tan, but not above the wrist, so obviously you weren't tanning on vacation so military, active duty only place that fits the bill is Afghanistan or Iraq. Then there is your alcoholic sister, I read that in your phone which has strap marks around the charger plug in, obviously an alcoholic's phone, but you don't fit that, so a hand me down then. So parent, no it's a newer one and older people don't bother with that kind of things, so only thing left is sibling, I took a lucky guess with the sister, but apparently I got it right," she then added with a knowing smile. "When the police are out of their depths they come to me."