Some days later, early in the afternoon, Giulia appears in the living room of 221B wearing her coat and scarf.
"Hanging out with some friends?" John asks standing up from his armchair and stretching his back.
"I'm going out on my own, actually. I wanna stroll about and discover some new places."
"Didn't you go for a walk yesterday?"
"Yes, and the day before. What can say? I adore wandering around this city" she simply answers with a shrug.
"London is quite big: are you planning on visiting it all by walking?"
"Maybe, who knows? See you later, guys!" she says before disappearing down the stairs.
John gives ear to her footsteps and mutters, "I'm embarrassed to say it out loud, but I still have doubts."
Sherlock, who has remained silent until this moment, grumbles idly, "I won't explain to you this morning case again. Ask Lestrade for clarification."
He finishes his sentence and considers confused his own words.
John ignores his comment and notes, "I was talking about Giulia."
"I thought you chose her."
"To be precise, she was the only possible choice since everyone else literally legged it out of this flat. I was simply pointing out that we don't know her very well... Yet."
"If you don't like her, there's still time to kick her out."
John turns to face him. "No, Sherlock. I just mean that she looks suspicious, sometimes."
"How?"
"She often goes on long walks, and God knows where she roams and who she meets".
He moves closer to the window and looks down on the street.
Sherlock rolls up his eyes, "You could know it, too. Ask her."
"I don't want to sound intimidating."
"Believe me, you really wouldn't."
John looks directly into his eyes, "The point is that I am not completely sure we can trust her."
"She's not a threat."
"How would you know?"
"I deduced her" Sherlock replies firmly, almost offended.
"I'm sorry, but it isn't a certainty."
Sherlock suddenly raises his head and glares at him. The doctor doesn't bat an eyelid and retorts, "Remember Jim Moriarty?"
Sherlock's expression changes immediately after that mention.
John argues disapprovingly, "A criminal mastermind, the most dangerous man we'd ever met...
and the only thing you deduced out of him on your first meeting was his sexual orientation."
Sherlock rides the rap, but replies, "She is not like Jim Moriarty."
John observes her ambling into the distance, then asks, "Where do you think she's going?"
"Why don't you follow her and find it out by yourself?" his friend answers ironically.
"Precisely my thoughts."
Sherlock looks at him in disbelief, "Are you serious?"
"I just need to check" John tries to explain.
"If it makes you feel better..."
John takes his jacket from the coat rack and asks innocently, "You are not coming then?"
"On a manhunt for our new flatmate?"
"Have you better things to do?"
Sherlock stares at him and wrinkles his nose, "Don't know. Is it possible to die of boredom, doctor?"
John smiles, and they rush downstairs together.
Once out in the street, they go in the same direction as Giulia, trying to spot her in the middle of a crowd of pedestrians.
"Here she is; I recognise her coat" Sherlock exclaims vaguely excited.
The streets of London are his battlefield, that's a fact.
The two men start to follow her keeping their distance.
It isn't a difficult task after all, and Sherlock gets bored soon.
"Can we go back to the flat now?"
"Why?", John constantly keeps an eye on the girl and never looks away.
"Because this is utterly pointless. We've been following her for almost an hour, and she hasn't done anything else but walking, looking around and taking photos. I see nothing suspicious in it."
"She might plan to go to a specific meeting point."
"Given the route she's made so far, I highly doubt it" Sherlock snorts.
"Ok. And what if she's going to meet someone, maybe an enemy of ours?"
"Under the London Eye? How daring of her! It's not really a secluded place for a secret meeting."
"Alright. I simply want to check. Just a few more miles, then we're back to the flat" John announces trying to keep pace with Giulia.
Two hours later, they finally reach Baker Street while Giulia, some steps ahead of them, unlocks the front door.
Sherlock scowls at John and complains, "Just a few more miles, right? I hadn't been on such a ridiculous chase since the day we followed that taxi."
"It was the day we moved to Baker Street" John recalls.
"Yes, and I have never been more pleased to come back home."
He steps forward, but John gets hold of his arm and whispers, "Wait. We can't enter so soon after her; that could seem fishy."
"For God's sake, John! At this point, I couldn't care less."
"Ten minutes, please" John begs.
"Fine! But not a minute longer."
After what looks like an eternity, they climb up the stairs and get in the living room, completely worn out.
Giulia turns to them with a smile and greets, "Evening. I was sure to find you at home when I came back. Were you two on a case?"
"Erm... yes, yes. The usual, you know" John replies absent-mindedly.
"Of course. Murder, this time?" she inquires.
"Yep."
"You look awful: was it so distressing?"
"A bit tiring, yeah" John murmurs sinking heavily in his armchair.
"And did you move a lot around the city?"
"I'd say so."
Giulia steps into the kitchen but re-emerges soon after. "Oh, I almost forgot ... Next time we're going to Notting Hill, ok? It was a shame we couldn't walk down there, today."
John raises his head, dazed, "We?"
Sherlock sighs taking off his coat. "When did you realise we were following you?"
"Twenty minutes after I had left this flat. You aren't too good at tailing people" she replies shaking her head.
"So you didn't have to go on such an endless walk!" John howls exhausted.
"I'm glad you got it, in the end. I hadn't planned to wander for so long, but I did want to see how far you could go. Sort of a test. And revenge, of course."
John rubs his sore feet. "Well, I'm sure you are waiting for an apology. We're very sorry; we should have never done it."
"You really shouldn't: wasted effort. You could have just asked me. Luckily, there's still time. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
"Can we trust you?" Sherlock intervenes bluntly.
Giulia tilts her head. "Wrong question."
"Why?"
"Because you don't directly ask someone if he is trustworthy; they will always tell you so, then let you down. So, I kindly suggest that you look at me and decide it by yourselves."
Sherlock stares back at her, "I am looking at you. But I am interested in your opinion, too."
"Yes. Of course, you can. I am a loyal person, always have been. Besides, I wouldn't have any interest in betraying you."
"You are vengeful, though" John breathes out.
"I am. But my anger blows over in a second."
She goes into the kitchen and comes out with a tray full of biscuits. "Are you hungry?"
"Not really" Sherlock mumbles sitting down.
"Okay. I'll leave them here, just in case" she says placing the tray on the tea table.
John looks at it and his eyes light up. "Where did you buy them?"
"You know I didn't; you followed me for miles on end. I baked them myself the moment I got home."
Sherlock steals a glance at the food and comments, "Did you add poison?"
Giulia smacks her forehead, "Poison! Here's what was missing from the recipe; I knew I had forgotten something."
"You don't seem to appreciate my humour."
"Not at all. I'm just considering the distinctive flavour it would have given them."
Sherlock waits a moment, then stretches his hand and catches a biscuit. "I'll have one, anyway. Just to check; I don't want you to poison both me and John."
She rolls up her eyes, "I thought that John was the one with trust issues."
The doctor smiles and takes a fistful of them, "Since I'm starving, I think I'd rather be poisoned right now."
He eats a few morsels and adds, "It wouldn't be the first time a flatmate of mine tries to poison me, by the way."
Sherlock turns to him and claims, "You mean at Dartmoor? It turned out it wasn't a hallucinogenic drug, in the end."
"But you thought it was in the sugar and deliberately put it into my coffee!"
"I needed answers, John."
"So you chose me as your lab rat?"
"Not again, please!" Sherlock sighs tiredly.
"You two are impossible!" Giulia comments lying down on the couch and observing them fighting.
"Welcome to our world, stranger" Sherlock winks at her.