Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock.


Detective Inspector Dimmock unlocked the door to Brian Lukis's flat and, reluctantly, let the three of them enter. Fortunately for them he was desperate otherwise he would normally have never let them near the crime scene.

John ducked under the crime scene tape after Sherlock and Morgan. He followed them up the stairs, carefully dodging the numerous books that littered the steps. As he stepped into the flat he realised it wasn't just the stairs that was crowded with books. Almost every inch of the flat was covered in books. The man had obviously loved to read.

He stepped back and watched as the two Holmes's wandered through the flat, their eyes taking in all the details John was sure he missed. Dimmock stood beside him with his familiar irritated expression. As John's eyes scanned the floor he noted a small black origami flower, identical to the one found in Van Coon's mouth. Any doubts that the murders weren't connected instantly vanished from his mind. These two men had definitely been killed by the same person. The questions remained though, how and why?

"Four floors up," Sherlock mumbled as he drew back the kitchen curtain to glance at the streets below. "That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain across the door, bolt it shut, they think they're impregnable. They don't reckon for one second that there's another way in."

Dimmock, who had been listening to his mutterings, looked even more irritated and confused. "I don't understand."

"We're dealing with a killer who can climb," Morgan explained as she walked past the detective into the hallway. She stood on a box and reached up to open the skylight. "Clings to the wall like an insect. That's how he got in."

"What?" Dimmock asked as he watched her stick her head out of the skylight.

"He climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof and dropped in through the skylight," Sherlock said as he stepped up beside his daughter to examine the skylight.

"You're not serious?!" Dimmock scoffed. "Like Spiderman?"

"He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building, jumped the balcony and killed Van Coon." His tone was becoming more exasperated as Dimmock still doubted his deductions.

"Oh, hold on!"

"And of course that's how he got into the bank," Sherlock said as he stepped down. His abrupt movement caused Morgan to wobble on the box. His hand instantly shot out to steady her. "He ran along the window ledge and onto the terrace." His hand remained firmly around Morgan's until she'd stepped back down onto the stairs. "I have to find out what connects these two men."

Morgan wandered down the steps, glancing at the many books on them, when one of them caught her eye. "Dad." She flipped open the book on international journalism and saw a stamp from the West Kensington Library. She glanced up at her father, now standing beside her, to see him smiling.

"Let's go to the library."

They left Dimmock standing in Brian Lukis's hallway as annoyed as ever.

The taxi ride to the library was spent in silence with so many questions running through everyone's mind. How were these two men connected? Why were they killed? Who killed them? Was anyone else going to be killed? Any normal person would be frustrated at so many questions and their lack of answers; however, Sherlock had never been accused of being normal. Morgan could see the excitement pumping through him. The unanswered questions only pushed him on, made him more determined to find their answers. This, this is what he lived for. The rush and excitement these cases bought.

They arrived at the library and quickly located the shelves Brian Lukis had been browsing last night.

"The date stamped on the book is the same date he died," Sherlock said as he began searching through the shelves and pulling out books. Morgan joined him while John lingered behind, unsure of what they were looking for. He began running his finger along the spines of the books next to him when his eyes caught a glimpse of yellow. He pulled out some books to see the same symbols from the bank had been sprayed onto the back of the bookshelf.

"Sherlock. Morgan."

They walked over to see what he was staring at. Morgan reached forward to remove more books from the shelf. Staring back at them were the two yellow symbols from the bank.

The three stood in silence for a moment, staring at the symbols. Its appearance raised more questions than it answered.

"I guess we can't call it a coincidence?" John said.

"The universe is rarely so lazy." Sherlock pulled out his phone to take photos of the symbols. Once he was done Morgan and John shoved the books back onto the shelf. "So, the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher, Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in. Hours later, he dies."

"The killer finds Lukis at the library, leaves the cipher on the shelf where he knows it will be seen," Morgan said as she nodded her head towards the shelf beside them. "Lukis goes home, later that night he dies too."

"Why did they die?" John asked.

"Only the cipher can tell us." Sherlock looked down at the image on his phone. "The world's run on codes and ciphers. From the million pound security system at the bank to the PIN machine you took exception to. Cryptography inhabits our every waking moment. But it's all computer generated- electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods. This is different. This is an ancient device. Modern code-breaking methods won't unravel it."

"How do we figure it out then?" John asked

Morgan grinned as an idea popped into her mind. "I think I know someone who can help us."


Since Morgan had said they were going to visit an expert on paintings, John hadn't been surprised when they'd pulled up in front of the National Gallery. However, he was surprised when they didn't go inside. Instead they heading around the back of the building into the alley. His attention was immediately caught by the teenage boy who appeared to be spray painting the building. John's surprise only increased when it became clear to him that the boy was who they'd come to see.

"Raz!" Morgan called out.

"Hey Morgs!" Raz grinned as he saw her approaching him. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"We need your help," Morgan said.

John frowned as he wondered how Morgan knew Raz. He certainly wasn't the kind of boy he would want a child of his hanging around with. He looked over to see what he had been spray painting. It was an image of a police officer with a pig nose.

Raz, who saw John looking at it, grinned. "Part of a new exhibition," he said as he resumed painting. "I call it urban bloodlust frenzy."

"Catchy," John said.

"I've got two minutes before a community support officer comes around that corner. Can we do this while I'm working?"

Sherlock reached into his coat and produced his phone, offering it to Raz. Raz chucked one of the paint cans in his hand to Morgan who easily caught it.

"Know the author?" Sherlock asked as Raz scrolled through the photos from the bank and the library.

"I recognise the paint," Raz said. "It's like Michigan…hard core propellant. I'd say zinc."

"And what about the symbols? Do you recognise them?"

"I'm not even sure it's a proper language."

"Two men have been murdered Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them."

"And this is all you've got to go on?" Raz asked. "It's hardly much now is it?"

"Can you help us Raz or not?" Morgan asked.

Raz's expression softened as his gaze shifted from Sherlock to Morgan. "I'll ask around."

"Somebody must know something about it," Sherlock said.

"Oi!"

The four of them whirled around to see two Community Support Officers had rounded the corner and were heading straight for them. Instincts kicked in and not a second had passed before Raz had dropped the cans and ran. Sherlock's hand wrapped around Morgan's wrist as he spun around. The two of them quickly sprinted in the same direction Raz had headed. Sherlock's hand remained firmly around Morgan's until they reached the front of the gallery and disappeared into the large crowd. Morgan spun around, expecting to see John trailing behind them but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's John?" she asked between breaths.

"He got caught," Sherlock stated.

"What?"

"He didn't run." Sherlock started weaving through the crowd, his eyes searching for a taxi.

Morgan followed behind him. "Wait, we can't just leave him!"

She may not have many friends but even she knew when they got into trouble, you didn't leave them behind. Sherlock either didn't hear her words or just ignored them as he continued making his way through the crowd to the street.

Frustrated, Morgan whirled around and began pushing her way back through the crowd. She was tightly clutching the spray paint can, still in her hand from when Raz had thrown it to her. Sherlock may not care about what happens to John but she did.

She quickly made her way around to the back of the building, running the opposite way she'd just come. As she crept up to the corner she could hear John proclaiming his innocence.

"Well if they aren't yours, whose are they?" one of the officers asked.

She took a deep breath before stepping out around the corner. With their backs to her, the service officers didn't notice her presence. John, however, immediately spotted her and raised his eyebrows in surprised and relief.

"Hey!" Morgan yelled before she raised her arm and threw the spray can. It struck one of the officers in the shoulder as he turned around. "Looking for me?"

She shot John a quick wink, hoping he'd realise her plan, before she sprinted away. She could hear both of the officers shouting as they chased her, meaning John was free and clear to get away. She easily ducked through the crowd out of the front of the gallery before running across the streets, narrowly avoiding the passing cars. It wasn't long before she'd lost both of the Community Service Officers.

She slowed her pace as she wandered through the streets, catching her breath. Just as she thought about hailing a taxi, one pulled up beside her. She grinned when she saw John in the backseat. She quickly climbed in and collapsed in the seat beside him.

"Thank you," John said breathlessly as the taxi pulled back out into traffic. The relief and gratitude was clear on his face.

"No worries," she replied. "I felt terrible about how we just left you. It's kind of instinct to run when you see an officer since not everything we do to solve a case is legal."

"I'll have to work on that then," John said jokingly. "Thank you again. They probably would've given me an ASBO. I was hoping your friend might come back and own up."

Morgan let out a little huff of laughter. "If you knew Raz you'd know that's the last thing he would do."

"How do you know him?" John asked.

"We went to school together, briefly, before he dropped out and I was put ahead grades."

John wondered if they had been friends. Morgan had always told him she never had many friends at school but John had definitely noticed that Raz had a soft spot for her. He wondered what might have happened between the two of them.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the taxi pulled up at 221B. They entered the flat to see Sherlock standing in front of the fireplace. He was staring at the mirror and wall which was now completely covered with images of various symbols and the pictures of the ciphers.

"You two took your time," Sherlock said without averting his gaze from the images.

"Yeah, well running away from two officers can take some time," Morgan replied. "Thanks for your help by the way."

"You had it under control," Sherlock mumbled. He picked up a book and quickly glanced through it before snapping it shut. "This symbol, I still can't place it."

John, who had been standing in the doorway, began to remove his jacket when Sherlock suddenly rushed over and forced it back up onto his shoulders. "No, I need you two to go to the police station and ask about the journalist. The personal effects would have been impounded. Get a hold of his diary or something that will tell us his movements."

Morgan sighed as she followed John out the door and down the stairs. Sherlock was hot on their heels as he slipped on his own coat.

"I'll go and see Van Coon's PA," he said as they all emerged onto the street. "If we retrace their steps, somewhere they'll coincide." Without another word he spun on his heel and walked away.

John hailed a passing cab and opened the door for Morgan. As she climbed inside, John felt someone's eyes on them. He looked across the street to see a woman aiming a camera at them. A passing truck obscured his view of her. Once it had passed, he saw the street was empty. Brushing it off, he got into the taxi and within 15 minutes they were pulling up in front of Scotland Yard. Detective Inspector Dimmock wasn't exactly pleased when he saw the two of them approaching his desk for the second time that day.

"What now?" he asked without any pleasantries.

"We need to see Brian Lukis's personal effects," Morgan said as she stood before him desk. "We're looking for his diary."

Dimmock leaned back in his chair and for a moment Morgan could see him considering refusing their request even though the box containing the items was on the floor beside him. A moment passed before he sighed and leant down, picking up the box.

"Mr Holmes," Dimmock said as he searched through the box. His eyes quickly glanced to Morgan before he spoke again. "…he's an arrogant sod."

"Well that was pretty mild," she replied. "People usually say a lot worse than that about us."

She could see the immediate regret in his eyes as he realised he'd insulted her by insulting her father. Since they were so alike in so many ways, when someone insulted Sherlock, they were insulting her too.

Dimmock opened his mouth, no doubt to apologize, but Morgan spoke first. "The diary please."

Dimmock quickly handed it over without comment. Morgan immediately walked away while John muttered some form of thanks to the Detective Inspector.

"Luckily for us Lukis wrote almost everything he did down," Morgan said when John joined her in the elevator. "Means less legwork." She smiled at the inside joke only the Holmes family got.

She handed the diary over to John who flipped through it. "So he flies back from Dalian and immediately goes to a shop in Chinatown."

"Let's go find out why."


Thank you so much to everyone who left a review for the last chapter: 19jacinta88, Jen3smith, Spitfire303 and angel897. I love getting reviews and yours always brighten my day!

Please leave a review below if you like the story and want to read more!

Don't forget to go to my profile and click on the link for my fanfic tumblr account. There's pictures for this story and you can ask me questions too!

Oh, and one last thing. I'M MEETING BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IN LESS THAN A MONTH!

He's coming to Adelaide for Oz Comic Con so of course I bought tickets! I'm so excited to get an autograph and photo with him! It's sure to be the best day of my life!