"Mobilicorpus," Hermione murmurs. Mrs. Hudson's unconscious body gets lifted and slowly levitates to the bedroom. Hermione plays the words Moriarty said to them five minutes before like a broken record in her head.
"Here is what you two need to do. Sherlock has played this game before. Last time he had to solve cases so I do not blow up random strangers. But now that my secrets are out, I decided, hmm, why not I add some magic to this? So you can participate as well. I am nice that way. So here are the rules—Sherlock solves the mystery of the corpse while you find out what ails Hudson who is not their housekeeper," Moriarty pauses to laugh at his own joke, "If Sherlock solves it and you find out what is wrong with her, I let her have the antidote. Simple as that."
Hermione gasped. Moriarty continued, "As to you Miss Granger, you have done this before. Like your heroic contributions during your second year. You have twenty four hours." The phone disconnected.
Sherlock did not say anything after that as he whipped around and disappeared into the kitchen while Hermione took Mrs. Hudson to her bedroom.
Hermione comes out and joins Sherlock in the kitchen. He says, "He was asphyxiated with a rope or a cord. And death might have occurred in the last eight to twelve hours. From his fingers I can say he was in some sort of work regarding construction. Plus there is some fine gray dust on his shirt which, while I haven't tested it out, might be cement."
Hermione nods. She had pocketed the necklace after putting it in a clear sandwich bag. She brings it out and says, "This is a cursed object. When Mrs. Hudson touched it, it started working. Whatever spell she is under, it is deadly; otherwise Moriarty would not have said anything about an antidote. What it is though…" She shakes her head sadly.
Sherlock says in a quiet voice, "Our work is set then."
She makes eye contact with him. She grabs unto the sleeves of his robe and says, "Yes. We can figure this out, right?"
He fears his own voice. He cannot deny he does not feel a bit apprehensive. He releases her tight grip on his robe with his finger and takes her hand. He says, confidently this time, "Yes, we can."
Hermione taps the bricks with her wand. She hopes she is in the right place. One day to find an unknown curse? Moriarty was as sick as they can possibly get. The bricks move and an entrance gets formed. Diagon Alley teemed with people already, this early in the morning. But her final destination is not Diagon Alley. It is the seedy alley beyond Diagon Alley. A place she shunned all her life. Except for that one time she spent spying on Malfoy. The heels of her boot clack on the stones as she treads towards Knockturn Alley. Oh how she hates this place. While working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement she had strived to eradicate this place devoid of all dark objects and magic. But like a zit that never leaves, Borgin and Burkes still existed, despite her best efforts. And now she is going to drop in there, terrific.
She pushes open the door with the tinkling of a bell. Her presence brings out a short man out from behind a dark curtain to the counter. He smiles, giving her a full frontal view of tobacco stained teeth. She looks around before making her way to the counter. After the Second Wizarding War, every possible object that emanated the foul doings of Death Eaters was destroyed. But everyone in-the-know knew that some things remained. For instance, Hermione recognized three illegal items on her journey to the counter.
"Yes, what can I do for you miss?" the man asked.
Hermione takes a gulp. She says, "Uh, do you have any books on cursed objects and dark curses?"
The smile falls from the man's face in an instant. He says, "Sorry miss. After the war every book was confiscated—"
"And destroyed," she whispers, cursing herself. She had absolutely forgotten that she was on that committee. Terrific.
The man pretends not to hear it. He continues, "If miss really wants to know…" He helplessly puts his hands up and sighs.
She narrows her eyes. Of course. She delves in her satchel and extracts a Galleon. She slaps it down on the counter. The man hurriedly pockets it and giving her a smile again says, "Miss can go over to Malfoy Manor if she wants to. I hears that there are still books there, of the kind miss wants."
She snarls, "Impossible!"
"Yes miss. There is. Mr. Malfoy wanted to sell me some," he puts a fist on his chest and says, "But I refused miss."
She highly doubts that. She murmurs, "Okay. Thanks."
She exits the shop with her heart heavy. She really does not want to visit Malfoy Manor because well for one she never hoped to enter that place after all these years and two, she would have to encounter Draco. But does she have any choice? Right now she will take any help she can probably get.
With a heavy heart and a troubled conscience she sends a Patronus to Draco Malfoy.
The plan was to ensure Lestrade knew only what he needed to know. So now, when Lestrade crowds the room with his team in Mrs. Hudson's flat, Sherlock stands with John at a distance. He has told the same story to John and Lestrade.
"Mrs. Hudson woke up to find this man lying on her floor, very dead. She fainted right away. As you all know what Moriarty did last time, this time to he called me and told me to solve this. I need to figure this out within twenty four hours."
Lestrade wants to question Mrs. Hudson and John wants to check in on her. Sherlock vehemently says not to. So that leaves a very frustrated and confused DI Lestrade and John Watson.
John follows Sherlock up to his flat. John finally speaks, "Where is Hermione?"
That question throws off Sherlock a little. He mutters, "She left for work very early."
John nods. He says, "So what now? Which bloke is strapped with Semtex?"
"I don't know," Sherlock says.
"He did not say?"
"No."
"What does he want?"
Sherlock just shrugs. He has a mystery to solve now. He hears Lestrade's footsteps on the stairs.
Lestrade walks in and says, "Okay we have found out who this bloke is. George Fortis. He works as a landscaper in Acton. He is twenty six years old and unmarried."
Sherlock nods. He grabs his coat and beckons John to follow. When he is halfway out the door, he turns around and says, "Let me know the murder weapon."
Lestrade shouts after Sherlock has made down the first flight of stairs, "You going to Acton then?"
John answers instead, "I think so."
Lestrade murmurs to himself, "How did the body get here then?"
