"Well, as it turns out, it belongs to the victim, Kate" Lestrade said to the group, confirming their suspicions.
"Shouldn't you ask the employees if anyone saw someone enter Kate's office Saturday afternoon?" John asked
"We are, and we've told the men that the place is open again to get footprint analysis, but it might take a while for everyone to arrive and tell their story and stuff" Lestrade said
"Let's focus on another question then- What's the motive?" Sherlock said, and all went silent in thought.
"I'll leave you guys to it" Lestrade said eventually, and left the group in the office. Silence overtook the room again.
"Maybe she had a lover in the office?" Claire finally broke the silence "Is she married?" More silence as no-one had an answer. "I'll go check with Lestrade"
"Ask for some information on her ranking in the office while you're there, there may have been someone below her that wanted her position" Sherlock said, and Claire nodded in response.
"I was right" John said, after Claire had descended down the steps to Lestrade.
"How so? Only Claire and I guessed the room would belong to Kate."
"I was right about Claire helping, though. Even if it wasn't in the way I expected"
"Ok, you got me there. She has been helpful"
"She's definitely a smart one" John said, and the silence returned. It was broken a minute later by Claire re-entering the office.
"Lestrade said he'd ask about the lover, but she had no partner. As for position in the office, she was fairly high-up, but everyone he'd talked to so far had said she was a lovely woman, very kind and not demanding. Overall, she had no enemies on that standpoint."
"Well I guess it looks more like an office romance gone wrong" Said Sherlock
"Seems that way" John said
"Time to figure out whom with" Said Claire
"How are we going to do that? Isn't that what Lestrade is trying to do?" John said, doubtful.
"We know a little about the girl. She doesn't seem the type to go for a married fellow. We should search the building for an office, probably near hers, that shows some sign of her. It's likely they would have something of hers in their office, or more likely the office bin, seeing as she's now dead. What harm can trying do?" Said Claire, trying to convince Sherlock and John
"What are the chances of finding one thing in an entire office?" John said
"There's three of us, and there's nothing wrong with searching" Claire said.
"May as well" Sherlock said "No point in just waiting around. Which room do we start in?"
"The ones near hers."Claire said, and they all exited Kate's office. They entered the one on the right of Kate's.
"Next" Said Claire, almost the instant she stepped in the room.
"How'd you figure that out?" John questioned. Sherlock saw what Claire meant and moved to the next room.
"The picture on the shelf, it's of a family. The person who works in this office has a wife or husband and kids" Claire explained to John. They saw Sherlock exit a room and enter another five doors down.
"This is easier than I thought" Called Sherlock from down the hall. John and Claire walked over to the fifth door, only to have Sherlock exit it and make them all move to the next one. Each of them noticed different things, some rooms were dismissed quickly, some took a little longer, but they were all dismissed within thirty seconds. Suddenly, Sherlock stopped searching.
"The carpet! It had to have come from one of these rooms, how else would no-one notice!" He exclaimed, and realization dawned on the other two in the group. All had assumed the killer had brought it with him, hidden it in a briefcase or something, but it made sense he would get it from his own office. People would search Kate's office, but not his own. The group split, each searching all the room's quickly to check for missing carpet. It didn't take long for John to find the hole in a room. Sherlock and Claire went to fetch Lestrade while John stayed in the room.
The owner of the room was quickly identified, and it was soon realized he was missing from the employees being interviewed. The police split up, some went to the killer's apartment and some, at Sherlock's request, went to the London City Airport. It was the airport group that captured the very disgruntled Jack Blaine, whom it turned out, was indeed Kate's secret lover. His cold-heartedness had turned her away, and he didn't take it well. She had been the only person that he communicated with out of work, and his depression and loneliness had spiraled into hatred enough to kill her. He had a history of mental issues, and something inside of him snapped. He was sent to the police station. All in all, a very successful case.
Once word had got back to the building that Jack was caught, the buzz of the place seemed to calm down. Some paperwork would need to be done, some cleaning up, but as a general rule the case was closed. Sherlock, John and Claire headed towards the police tape once again. Sherlock walked on, but Sergeant Donovan stopped John and Claire.
"How'd you get Sherlock to let your girlfriend on the case?" She asked John, her gaze shifting between him and Claire.
"She's not mine, she's his" He said, jerking a thumb in Sherlock's direction.
"Surely you don't mean she's his... girlfriend?" She asked, a small crowd gathering around Donovan, John and Claire, most notably including Anderson and Lestrade.
"I'm sorry, was my implication not strong enough for you?" He said, pulling up the tape and walking under it. Claire attempted to do the same thing, but Donovan stopped her.
"Do you realize you're dating a crazy psychopath?" Donovan said slowly, as if talking to a particularly dense person.
"High-functioning sociopath, Donovan, do catch up" Said Sherlock, who'd wondered back over to see what was holding up John and Claire. He lifted the police tape and Claire ducked under it, and the three walked away from a crowd of shocked investigators.
"That went pretty well" Sherlock said, chuffed to have stunned the crowd, especially Anderson and Donovan.
"The case or getting past Donovan?" Claire asked
"Both" Said Sherlock, almost glowing with happiness.
"It sure wasn't a boring day, now was it?" John said.
"Definitely not." Said Claire "I'd better be off; I've got to get ready for work. It was great solving a crime with you guys, I hope I will be invited to do it again some time."
"It was great having you here. I'll be sure to call you if a good case comes up" Sherlock said
"It was fun" Said John
"I'll catch you both later" Claire said, walking off to try and find a cab
"Claire, wait up!" Sherlock called, and he lightly jogged over to her.
"Yea?" She said. A little awkwardly, Sherlock put his arms around her and gave her a semi-awkward semi-sweet hug. When he let her go, her cheeks were redder than before.
"I'll see you soon" He said.
"Yea" She said softly, her mind swirling. She blinked a few times, waved, and headed off once again in pursuit of a cab. Sherlock turned back around to John, his smiling face quickly turning into a scowl. John felt awkward. Was he supposed to turn his back? Sherlock walked right over to him, but passed straight by him. John turned around to apologise, only to see a guilty looking Donovan, followed by a shocked Anderson and a slightly grinning Lestrade. Sherlock was walking over to them, probably to give them a piece of his mind. John raced to catch up to his friend. He didn't mind a few snide comments, and he believed they were well deserved, but he didn't want his friend getting violent.