When Molly awoke the next morning in the spare bedroom, she heard her sister-in-law in her music room down the hallway, playing something that Molly didn't recognize, though it was a beautifully peaceful way to wake up. With the sound of a shower running in the bathroom just across the hallway, she knew there wasn't much point in being in a hurry to get up for the loo.
Molly lay there awhile, taking in the sunlight pouring in through the window and basking in the quaintness of the Lestrade cottage, her spirit soothed by Eurus's cello. The odd occasion, when she and Sherlock had happened to spend the night there for whatever reason, one of Greg's better kept secrets - his prowess on an acoustic guitar - had joined his wife's violin to urge the Holmses' gently to wakefulness.
But finally, her grumbling belly urging her along, Molly got out of bed. Heading into the kitchen, She heard Rosie moving around in the spare room, presumably getting dressed, and heard Eurus's music come to a definitive halt.
"I've found this," Eurus said as she entered the kitchen a few steps behind Molly, picking up a small stack of papers from the printer as she walked past the small desk that had been set up in the corner. She handed them over to Molly as she continued to walk towards the oven, grabbing a pair of oven mitts and opening the door to remove a baking pan of sweet rolls.
"This area was apparently hit hard by the Spanish Influenza pandemic in 1918," she said from the other side of the kitchen. "Given the age of the children and the fact that they appear to have passed away at around that same time, is it possible they contracted the virus and succumbed?"
Molly, studying the printouts that Eurus had handed to her, slowly nodded. "I think it's a very real possibility, though why the family chose to bury them as they did is a mystery to me. Unfortunately the conditions of their burial spot are not conducive to the survival of any viral evidence to confirm Spanish flu. I mean, it's been done, but only when the remains have been frozen shortly after burial... certainly not under these particular circumstances."
"Why they weren't buried in the church cemetery is a mystery to me as well," Rosie said. Molly started, winced hard, and swore under her breath. It was no wonder Rosie's policing skills seemed to be sailing along. The girl was bloody stealthy, and Molly wondered if it was possible for such a skill to be genetic, considering Mary's professional assassin-for-hire background. Molly turned around, finding her niece in her full duty PC uniform.
"Perhaps the family had no money for proper burial, or they were simply so bereaved that they were unable to handle the details," Rosie said, walking over to the counter and filling up a travel cup with the fresh coffee Eurus had just made. "I mean, four children lost all under the age of 2 years at essentially the same time had to have been shattering. I'm planning to look through burial records today after my shift to see if I can find anyone who may be kin to these little ones. They deserve a proper burial, and maybe we can solve the mystery of why they were interred the way they were."
"Well, I believe the boys are due home later this afternoon," Eurus said, as she tossed a few muffins she'd made the day before into a baggie, handing them to Rosie. "If I could catch a ride in to the city, I have a feeling we're nearing a conclusion to this. I also need to figure out how to explain to Gregory why we've torn up the floor in our bedroom, though I'm positive that once he hears the whole story he will be more than understanding."
"Oh, Charlie's just pulled into the driveway," Rosie said, glancing out the window. Holding the coffee and the muffins skillfully in one hand and turning to give both her Aunt and her Godmother a one armed hug and a kiss, she said, "I will see you later. As I said, I'll see what I can dig up after my shift, or maybe during my meal break. Shall we meet back here again this evening to compare our findings?"
"Oh yes, I'm counting on that," Eurus said. "I'm making dinner for Molly and the boys, it would be good if you could join us. In the meantime I'm planning to look into the archives at the library this afternoon as well. Molly, do you know when you'll be able to get to the postmortems on theā¦" Eurus hesitated, not wanting to call these forgotten babies "remains". "On the little ones?"
Molly crossed her arms. "Well, I have two autopsies ahead of them but it's a relatively light caseload today. With them being over a century old there isn't much to go on, so they shouldn't take long. I'm expecting the cause of death will be the same in all four of them."
"Well then, I'll see you both later then. Love you!" Rosie said, waving her way out the door with her free hand.
"When did you have to be at St. Bart's?" Eurus asked Molly, walking over towards the coffee pot to see how much her niece had left for them.
"Oh, I've got some time yet. What's just come out of the oven? I'm famished and it smells divine!"
