Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock Holmes. He belongs to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.


"Okay, now we get the following data. An old man and a young woman are working together. She steals Ann-Marie's machine, gives it to the man. He goes back in time, knocks Watson out and brought Holmes into this century. They still have the time machine and do not know Holmes had been turned into a boy and attends our school. The woman is six-feet tall, wears dancing shoes, has blonde hair and has a high intelligence while the old man is fit, sixty at least and is familiar with a hammer." Lauren stated. Holmes considered the diagnosis. Each had been sound and concise. It was true that they had practically no work to focus on. How are they going to find out who had stolen the machine?

Just then, Alice slapped her thigh. "Of course, how could I have been so stupid?" She cried, and then faced Holmes. "What did the man look like? Be clear and precise about his features and clothing."

"He was five feet six, wears plastic slippers, has brown hair but often hides it in his blue cap. He was tanned, wore spectacles and a white shirt with blue trousers. His eyes were green and he had a hooked nose and thick lips. His eyebrows were thick but at the middle of the right, there was no hair growing. His face was of an oval shape, his ears were pierced for ear rings and he had a general air of self-satisfaction."

"By Jove, it is the school janitor himself. He is sixty four years in age and is a big fan of Alice's great-great grandfather's stories. The young woman must be his grand daughter, Denise. She is my rival for the Smithson Scholarship. You know the one which only high intelligence girls could go for." Ann-Marie exclaimed.

"That would explain the intelligence, the non-smoking and the dancing shoes. But what about her height, I don't think that a girl fifteen years of age could be six-feet tall." Lauren replied.

"I've met her once. They say that her maternal grandfather was once the tallest man on earth, almost eight feet when he died! The janitor is on her father's side, so he didn't have her tallness." Alice stated.

"What are we waiting for, let's go now!" Ann-Marie jumped up to her feet. But Holmes had caught her by the shoulder. "We need some evidence." He quietly said. The three girls groaned.

"We can't let the authorities know about the machine; they would take it away then try to go into the future. We have no choice." Alice reminded Holmes. He hesitated for a while, and then he nodded. They had to get the janitor before he knows about their plan.


The janitor, a Mr. Johnson was packing his bag when he saw three girls and a boy rushing towards him. The three girls, he remembered, were Lauren Moran, Alice Sargon and Ann-Marie Moriarty. The boy was William Holmes. He stiffened then he ran away at breakneck speed towards his grand daughter's house. He could not afford to let them catch him with the time machine, even at the cost of his precious Strand magazines.


"He's gone! Dang! Why did I never think of it before! Look at that!" Alice pointed at his locker. Piles of Strand magazines were tucked away neatly at the back. "All are old and first editions, as you can see, so they belong to his grandfather. And here's your proof, Holmes!" She held out a piece of note paper. It read:

Be at the stone gargoyle at noon. I've got the machine and would be waiting for you. You can finally get your man at last.

"The man refers to me and the stone gargoyle is at the church tower near the school! How could I have been so blind as to overlook the obvious? Let's hurry to Victoria Station; he might be there to catch the 5.45" Holmes said. It was a quarter past five by the time they reached the station. They found the janitor and dragged him to Lauren's house. They questioned him. It went something like this:

Alice: Give us back the machine!

Mr. Johnson: What machine are you talking about, young lady!

Ann-Marie: The machine in which your grand daughter Denise stole from my safe!

Mr. Johnson: Oh I see; you are trying to implicate Denise O' Riley too! She is innocent, and I demand that you let me go at once!

Lauren: We have proof! We have the letter in which you received from Denise and it was found in your locker!

Mr. Johnson: What! You dared to break into my locker!

Holmes: You left it open, Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson: So what if I did! Give it back! (Tears the paper into pieces)

Lauren: Only a guilty party would do that. If you do not give us back the machine, you are going to be so sorry.

Mr. Johnson: Try me!

Ann-Marie: Very well! (Takes out her phone and makes a phone call)

Ann-Marie: There, Denise is taken out of the Smithson scholarship for cheating in the entrance exam. She would not be allowed to contest for it any more!

Mr. Johnson looked very sorry. "Don't let Denise into this; she is my only grand daughter. Yes, I did it because I really wanted to see Sherlock Holmes in the present time. I asked my Denise to steal the machine for me. I went into the past to get Holmes. I had knocked his friend out and used the time machine to get him back. But when I stepped back into the present, he was not with me. He was lost between times, I think. Here is your machine!" He took out the machine, hands it back to Ann-Marie and escapes through the window. He was last seen running away from the house.

"Was she really cheating?" Alice asked.

"Yes, she was using mirrors to do so. But the first exam, we are expected to cheat anyway. That phone call I made was to Denise. She confessed to me the truth when she knew she was found out."

"Goodbye Holmes. I would really miss you!" the three girls waved at him. Lauren turned the dial, stepped out of the circle and watched William Sherlock Holmes disappear into the past.

Holmes stepped out of the machine. He looked at himself. He was back in his old body once more. It seemed, by the time, that he had been gone only one minute. Watson was still knocked out in his chair. Holmes woke Watson up. The latter was pretty annoyed at having been knocked out and insisted that they catch the mysterious visitor, as he called it. Holmes knew that they won't catch him anyway; he was way into the future. He walked into his room, changed into his nightclothes and sat down in his bed. He wondered what he could do for those girls in the future. He thought for a little while and then slept with a smile on his face.


2009, Christmas Day

Lauren and Alice were staying at Ann-Marie's house for a sleepover. They were recollecting the past as they sat down in their beds. They missed Holmes, his entire detective prowess and the case in which he worked with them. It was time they used the time machine again. Just as they were about to open the safe, Ann-Marie's mother walked in.

"The postman has just arrived with three presents for you!" she told them. Looking puzzled, they each emerged through the doorway.

"Special delivery for you, Miss Moriarty. There are three presents and two letters. My employer specially implied that they had to be opened now." He replied, handing them the objects.

"I've got the whole collection of Holmes's stories!"

"The god has been kind to me! Look, a fine collection of books on guns!"

"I've just received a book on the Binomial Theorem and several other mathematical books! One letter is addressed to Lauren while the other is addressed to the three of us. The latter is from Holmes. He wishes us a merry Christmas and that we would enjoy our gifts." Ann-Marie screamed.

"The other is from Jade Hudson, Mrs. Hudson's descendant. We are to report at 221B Baker Street next Monday. Plane tickets are enclosed. We're going to London!"Lauren screamed.

"Thank you, William Sherlock Holmes. We appreciate the gifts a lot!" Alice shouted. The mail man had gone by then.

Somewhere out there, Holmes smiled in satisfaction.


A/N: This story is finally finished. Look out for a sequel. The Binomial Theorem wasn't a mistake, and I think you know who had the book on guns and Holmes stories as a present! Fine piece of detective work, if I say so myself. You can ask me how are the deductions based.

Happy New Year!