Welcome back everyone. We took a slight detour in the last chapter and I apologize for that. But now we're going to get back on track and get right back to the story. So, we're starting right after Chapter 2. Holmes is back at Baker Street, examining the pie. Watson is back at home with Mary, so he's going to be absent for this chapter. So let's not waste time. Let's get into it.
The entire flat of 221b Baker Street was filled with the smoke from Holmes' pipe. Watson had gone home to see Mary, as Holmes had promised the jaunt over to Fleet Street and then Watson could go home, which is just what Watson did. Holmes knew that Watson was fast asleep at Cavendish Place, but there would be no rest for Holmes that night. He was still pondering on his encounter with Sweeney Todd. The man intrigued Holmes. He seemed like a simple barber, but Holmes' instinct told him there was more to this man than met the eye. He kept replaying Mrs. Lovett's reaction to his request of wanting a shave in his head. Why was the woman so shocked when Holmes requested a shave? Almost as if nothing good would happen should he get shaved by Sweeney Todd. Holmes knew he would have to go back there the next day and investigate. First, he would have to have a talk with Mrs. Lovett to see what she knew. The woman wasn't evil, he knew that much. She was just a woman who fell into the wrong situation. He would have pity on her. But, there would be no pity for Sweeney Todd. Holmes knew that tonight would be a three, or perhaps four, pipe night. He grabbed the pie that Mrs. Lovett had given him and sat down at his examination table. He took his tweezers and his pincers and started to deconstruct the pie. After the crust was off, Holmes could get a good look at the inside. It looked like a standard meat pie, but Holmes knew there was more to this little culinary delight than what was on the outside. He pulled out the meat and decided to examine that separately from the pie. He decided to eat the crust, as that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was the meat, which he would get to. He took a big chunk of meat out of the pile. He scraped all the custard off of it and took a look at it. The meat was a dark red and looked to have been ground up in a meat grinder. He took a bite of it and then spit it out. Without a doubt, the meat was horrible. But more than that, Holmes couldn't recognize the taste of the meat. He went over to his cabinet and pulled out his meat samples. He looked through all the meat he had and tried to pick the right one. He excluded the fish meat, as the meat from the pie was a dark red. He grabbed the deer, cow, pork, and rabbit meat. He brought them to the examination table and laid them out. He first took the deer meat and held it up against the pie meat. The dear meat was slightly pinker than the pie meat, so he eliminated that. He then took the cow meat. The cow meat was the right shade of red, so Holmes sniffed them. But it was wrong again. The cow meat was much more sweet smelling than the pie meat. The pie meat had a putrid odor. So, Holmes eliminated the cow meat. He then took the pork meat. The pork meat was much too light, so he eliminated that immediately. He then took the rabbit meat. The rabbit meat had the right color, when he smelled it, it had the right smell. Putrid. Then he had to do the deciding factor. Comparing the tastes. He took a bite of the pie meat. It was very stringy and really chewy, but also had a rancid and pungent aftertaste. He took a bite of the rabbit meat and instantly frowned. The rabbit meat was very coarse and hard to chew, and it also had a very slimy and wet aftertaste, completely unlike the pie meat. His spirits low, he put the meat samples back. The meat used in the pies was obviously a special kind of meat, a meat Holmes had never eaten before. He knew he would have to get to the bottom of this. That would mean going to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop and talking to her. As he puffed the last bit of smoke from his pipe, he grabbed his violin. He put more tobacco in the pipe, lit a match, and puffed. As his pipe was smoking, he picked up his violin and started to play a melancholy little tune. He puffed and played at the same time. He sat in his chair and let the smoke and music take him over. There would be no rest for Sherlock Holmes tonight.
~o0o~
Meanwhile, at Mrs. Lovett's pie shop, Sweeney Todd was getting ready to clean up and close for the day, when the young boy Mrs. Lovett kept around, Toby, came running in.
"Mr. T!" he said. Sweeney was cleaning his razor as Toby ran in. He looked over and smiled.
"Toby. What can I do for you, lad?" he asked.
"Mrs. Lovett said that there's someone down in the shop asking for you," Toby said. Sweeney put down the razor and followed Toby out of his parlor to the shop. He walked in and saw... Dr. Watson.
"Dr. Watson? To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" Sweeney asked. Watson smiled.
"I just came back to get two of those delicious pies, and also to talk to you, Mr. Todd," he said. Mrs. Lovett ran to get the two pies. Watson and Sweeney sat in the booth.
"Mr. Todd, don't take this the wrong way, but Holmes seems to think that you are not who you say you are. Now, I don't find anything wrong with you, but Holmes is not so sure. His instinct seems to be telling him that you have performed some sort of crime. If you have, Mr. Todd, please tell me. I will do everything in my power to give you a fair trial, should you confess," Watson said. Sweeney smiled. Leave it to Watson to be too smart for his own good.
"I assure you, Dr. Watson, that there are no criminals in this shop. Before I came to London, I spent fifteen years in Australia honing my craft. I learned from the best barbers in the world. I do not fault Mr. Holmes for acting on suspicion, but I assure you, Mrs. Lovett and I are honest citizens. But, should anything here that is worthy of the title 'criminal action' happen, we promise to let you know. Isn't that right, Mrs. Lovett?" Sweeney said. Mrs. Lovett nodded, bringing Watson the pies.
"Thank you, Mr. Todd. You have eased my mind enormously," Watson said, walking out with his bag of pies. He tipped his hat to Mrs. Lovett, shook Sweeney's hand, ruffled Toby's hair and left.
"Toby, why don't you go and get me some groceries from the market? Alright, love?" Mrs. Lovett asked. Toby nodded as Mrs. Lovett gave him the money.
"Alright, Mum," he said, running out of the shop. Sweeney was looking out the window, his hands clenched. Mrs. Lovett came behind him and rested her head on his shoulder, her arms around his body.
"I underestimated him, Mrs. Lovett. He's smarter than I gave him credit for. If he finds out what I'm doing, I'll never get Johanna back. There must be some way to get Holmes to give up on the case," Sweeney said. Mrs. Lovett let go of him and walked over to her counter, starting to make the first batch of pies for the morning rush.
"It's a shame we don't know a loved one he has so we could threaten 'em. We could threaten Dr. Watson, but it wouldn't be as satisfactory as getting someone Holmes actually loves. A shame, really. A man like Sherlock Holmes must have many female admirers," Mrs. Lovett said. Suddenly, Sweeney lifted his head.
"That's it," he said. Mrs. Lovett looked at him.
"What's it?" she asked. Sweeney went over and took her by the shoulders.
"You're it. Alright, listen. When Holmes comes in tomorrow, I want you to try and get him to talk about how much he knows," Sweeney said. Mrs. Lovett's eyes widened.
"Now, how do you suppose I do that then?" she asked. Sweeney smiled.
"Use your gifts. You know, your feminine wiles. Turn on the charm. Sweet talk him," Sweeney said. It took Mrs. Lovett a few seconds to put the pieces together, but when she did, she smiled.
"Mr. T! You're suggesting I seduce a man I don't even know?" she asked.
"Oh, come now, Mrs. Lovett. You must agree that it is a genius plan," he said.
"Well, it is a good plan. I doubt Holmes is gonna be able to resist me," she said. Sweeney smiled.
"It would be impossible for any man not to resist you. If you do this, Mrs. Lovett, then we can both be together." he said, smiling sweetly. Mrs. Lovett grinned.
"Alright, Mr. T, I'll do it," she said. Sweeney smiled sinisterly.
"Good," he said. He went back upstairs to his barber shop and left Mrs. Lovett alone to contemplate the plan. By noon tomorrow Sherlock Holmes's entire investigation would be undone. All he had to do was wait.
Alright, we're going to leave it there. Sorry for the short chapter but I got everything in that I wanted. So, the next chapter will be the execution of the plan. Sorry I lied about Watson, but it was a surprise. Stay tuned.