Sherlock sat examining the pieces of plaster under a microscope while Lestrade informed: "Another two have been smashed since the Welsborough one. One belonging to Mr Mohandes Hassan-"

"Identical busts?" John questioned, and Lestrade nodded as he explained: "Yeah, and this one to a Dr Barnicot in Holborn. Three in total. God knows who'd want to do something like this."

He glanced at his watch, while John pointed out: "Yeah, but some people have that complex, don't they? An idée fixe."

He looked at Sherlock pointedly as he continued: "They obsess over one thing and they can't let it go."

"No, no good." Sherlock replied flatly, missing the jibe at himself entirely. "There were other images of Margaret..."

He broke off, raising his eyes as he questioned: "Margaret...?"

"You know who she is." John sighed, and Sherlock finished: "-Thatcher, present at the first break-in."

He picked up a different piece of plaster as he continued: "Why would a monomaniac fixate on just one? Ooh!"

He broke off with an excited exclamation as he stared at the new piece of plaster, and John asked: "What?"

"Blood." Sherlock explained, quickly examining the piece under the microscope. "Quite a bit of it, too."

He looked up at Lestrade, asking: "Was there any injury at the crime scene?"

"Nah." Lestrade replied with a shrug, while glancing at his watch again.

"Then our suspect must have cut themselves breaking the bust." Sherlock mused, before he ordered: "Come on."

He packed up the small piece of plaster with the blood on it, while Lestrade asked in surprise: "Holborn?"

"Lambeth!" Sherlock corrected, and Lestrade repeated incredulously: "Lambeth? Why?"

"To see Toby." Sherlock replied, and John said easily: "Ah, right. Who?"

"You'll see." Sherlock replied mysteriously, and John shrugged: "Right, are you coming?"

He looked over at Lestrade, but Sherlock interrupted before the DI could reply: "No, he's got a lunch date with a brunette forensic officer that he doesn't want to be late for."

"Who told you?" Lestrade asked, staring at Sherlock in shock, and Sherlock answered easily: "The right sleeve of your jacket, plus the formaldehyde mixed with your cologne and your complete inability to stop looking at your watch."

John leaned in to smell Lestrade, realizing Sherlock was right, while Lestrade gaped and Sherlock finished: "Have a good time."

"I will." Lestrade said firmly, glancing around at the other two one more time before he started to leave.

"Trust me, though, she's not right for you." Sherlock added casually as he typed a message in his phone: 'Busy?'

"What?" Lestrade questioned, and Sherlock called louder: "She's not the one."

Lestrade blinked before saying sarcastically: "Well, thank you, Mystic Meg."

He walked out, hurrying away, and John asked Sherlock curiously: "How do you work all that out?"

"She's got three children in Rio that he doesn't know about." Sherlock answered, still texting, and John snorted as he asked: "Are you just making this up?"

"Possibly." Sherlock grinned, before turning and walking out as well.

"Who's Toby?" John called as he hurried after Sherlock.

"Sherlock?" John called when there was no reply, but Sherlock had already bounded down the stairs and into Mrs. Hudson's flat.

"Marie, let's go." He announced, and both women stared at him.

"Sherlock?" Mrs. Hudson asked, while Marie asked: "Go, where?"

"To see Toby." Sherlock beamed, and Marie raised a brow.

"You took Lestrade's case?" She questioned, and Sherlock nodded as he added: "And you're coming with us."

She raised her other brow.

"No." Marie stated, and Sherlock whined: "Come on, it'll be fun and it'll do you good to get some fresh air after spending all this time inside with the kids."

"You got that out of a book." Marie pointed out, and Sherlock retorted: "Everyone gets it out of a book."

"Sherlock, we agreed that we wouldn't take the twins out on cases with us." Marie reminded him, and Sherlock pointed out: "I'm not suggesting they come with me, I'm suggesting you come with me."

She gave him a completely unimpressed look, and Sherlock sighed: "Please?"

"Oh, go on, dear." Mrs. Hudson chuckled. "I'll look after the babies, you two go enjoy yourselves on a nice mystery."

"At least you didn't say a murder case." Marie sighed, before she stood up. "Thank you, Mrs. Hudson, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Mrs. Hudson giggled, while Sherlock beamed as he held out Marie's coat.

"I can't believe I was that predictable to you." Marie sighed as she shrugged on the coat, and Sherlock answered lightly: "Well, you could never resist a good mystery, either, and you've been holed up inside long enough."

"And what makes you so certain I needed a mystery in my life?" Marie teased, and Sherlock grinned back: "Because you married me."

Marie laughed at that as John joined them, and they waved to Mrs. Hudson as they left the flat, Mrs. Hudson waving the twins' hands back with a smile.

"You're coming with us?" John asked as they headed out into the street to catch a cab, and Marie nodded.

"I guess I should stretch my feet once in a while." She admitted, and John nodded as Sherlock caught a cab and opened the door for Marie.

"So, want to explain where we're going?" John asked as they drove off, and Sherlock explained as he tucked one of Marie's hands in his: "There's a kid I know, hacker, brilliant hacker, one of the world's best. Got himself into serious trouble with the Americans a couple of years ago. He hacked into the Pentagon security system, and I managed to get him off the charge. Therefore he owes me a favour."

They arrived outside a nondescript London house, and Sherlock thumped the front knocker.

"So, how does that help us?" John asked, puzzled, and Sherlock asked: "What?"

"Toby the hacker?" He questioned, and Marie chuckled while Sherlock replied: "Toby's not the hacker."

"What?" John asked, frowning in confusion, as the front door opened to reveal an overweight man with frizzy hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

"All right, Craig?" Sherlock asked with a polite smile, and Marie also smiled as Craig greeted: "All right, Sherlock? This the missus, then?"

He nodded at Marie, who greeted politely: "I'm Marie. Pleasure to finally meet you, Craig."

Craig smiled back, while Sherlock explained to John: "Craig's got a dog."

A bloodhound walked out of the house at that moment, sniffing around Sherlock's legs in greeting, while John said flatly: "So I see."

"Good boy!" Sherlock smiled, petting the dog and ignoring John, while Marie knelt down to pet Toby with Sherlock.

"Hiya!" Mary called as she suddenly popped out from behind Craig's door, carrying a baby in a fluffy pink bunny suit.

"Hey, Mary." Marie called, unsurprised, while John stared.

"Mary?" He questioned. "What are you...? No, we, we agreed we would never bring Rosie out on a case."

"No, exactly." Mary beamed as she handed the baby over to John while holding a baby carrier in her other hand. "So... don't wait up. Hey, Marie, Sherlock."

"Hey." Sherlock answered monotonously while Marie stood up to smile and press her face against Rosie's.

"Hello, Rosie." She cooed, and Sherlock rolled his eyes at her while John asked Mary in bewilderment: "Mary, what are you doing here?"

"She's better at this than you." Sherlock informed him bluntly, still bent over Toby as he glanced over at the Watsons.

Marie rolled her eyes while Mary grinned, flattered, and John repeated incredulously: "Better?"

"So I texted her." Sherlock nodded, and John demanded: "Hang on, Mary's better than me?"

"Well, she is a retired super-agent with a terrifying skill set." Sherlock pointed out. "Remind you of anyone? Of course she's better."

Both Mary and Marie grinned, while John shrugged in agreement: "Yeah, OK."

"I thought Marie was around for higher intellectual company." John commented, and Sherlock shrugged as he replied: "There's nothing wrong with having another experienced eye around."

"Nothing personal." Sherlock added, and Marie nudged him with her elbow as she walked over to join him.

"What, so I'm supposed to just go home now, am I?" John asked, and Mary smiled as she asked: "Aw, what do you think, Sherlock? Shall we take him with us?"

"John or the dog?" Sherlock joked, and Mary laughed while John said sarcastically: "Ha-ha, that's funny!"

"John." Mary said cheekily, and Marie laughed while Sherlock pretended to think about it: "Well..."

"He's handy and loyal." Mary added, and Marie teased: "And he's got a good nose."

"That's hilarious." John deadpanned, before adding to Mary jokingly: "Is it too early for a divorce?"

"Oh." Mary pouted at John while Marie laughed, and Sherlock called: "Barnicot's house, then."

He took hold of Toby's leash as he asked with a grin at John: "Anyone up for a trudge? Keep up, he's fast."


The four stood around Toby by the telephone box, Marie and John – who was now carrying Rosie in the baby carrier strapped to his chest – staring down at the bloodhound with frowns while Sherlock stood beside his wife, staring off into the distance. Mary was holding Toby's leash, her lips pursed as she scratched the top of the dog's head hopefully but so far it was for naught.

"He's not moving." John commented at last, and Sherlock replied shortly: "He's thinking."

Toby whined as Mary continued to scratch at his head, and John glanced back down while Marie lifted her head.

John stared at the dog for a moment longer, before he said to Sherlock: "He's really not moving."

"Slow but sure, John, not dissimilar to yourself." Sherlock replied, glancing down at Toby for a moment.

John frowned, and looked back at the dog again, before he asked bluntly: "You just like this dog, don't you?"

"Well, I like you." Sherlock retorted, and Mary noted flatly: "He's still not moving."

"Even Scottie crawls faster than this dog." Marie agreed, and John said in surprise: "I thought you said he hadn't started to crawl yet."

"Exactly." Marie said flatly, and they all lapsed into silence once more.

Marie was staring up at the sky, while John frowned down at the dog, Sherlock examined Toby, and Mary once again stared into space with pursed lips.

"Fascinating." Sherlock murmured, and Mary sighed: "Oh!"


When Toby finally started to move, however, they were kept running at a brisk pace while the dog barked as it sniffed out their mystery bust-breaker's scent.

Marie and Sherlock took the lead, Marie handling Toby when they figured out he liked her the best and went quickest with her. John brought up the rear, carrying Rosie, while Mary alternated with Marie as Toby's second-favourite human lead.

Their path took them all around the area, circling different blocks in seemingly random patterns.

"Well, what do you make of it?" Sherlock asked as they ran down another road, and Mary pointed out: "They were looking for something."

"But it wasn't just a random burglar, they were looking specifically for the Thatcher bust and knew where it was." Marie pointed out.

"And why? Why that Thatcher bust?" Sherlock added in frustration as they ran down another street, and Marie frowned.

"Sherlock, this leads to the Borough Market." She pointed out, and Mary suggested skeptically: "Maybe he was looking for somewhere to lie low…?"

She trailed off as they made their way through the market and Toby led them right to butchery. The dog whined, and Marie sighed as she stared at the enormous pool of blood lying on the ground, with sawdust sprinkled over it to soak, while butchers carried pig carcasses around the area.

The four all stood there, staring in varying degrees of disbelief and admiration.

"Clever." Sherlock admitted, and Marie noted: "Too clever."

"Well, if you were wounded and you knew you were leaving a trail, where would you go?" Mary asked rhetorically, and John sighed: "Like hiding a tree in a forest."

"Or blood in a butcher's." Sherlock muttered before walking forward and crouching before Toby.

"Never mind, Toby," he said as he petted and scratched the dog, "better luck next time, hmm?"

He looked around again as he added to his friends: "This is it, though. This is the one, I can feel it."

"Not Moriarty?" John asked incredulously, but Sherlock argued: "It has to be him."

Marie frowned while Sherlock continued: "It's too bizarre, it's too baroque. It's designed to beguile me, tease me and lure me in. At last, a noose for me to put my neck into."

He walked off, leaving John to stare after him while Mary and Marie exchanged anxious glances.


"Sherlock."

Sherlock glanced up at Marie as she stood before him.

"Yes?" He questioned.

They'd parted with John and Mary after returning Toby to his owner. Marie was about to head home, wanting to get back to the twins, but she pulled Sherlock aside outside Craig's house to chat quietly.

"Sherlock, it's about this case." Marie said seriously, and Sherlock commented a little dryly: "I'd assume so, given how serious you're looking and the most recent development."

"Sherlock, I'm serious." Marie warned. "I just…"

She took a deep breath before she peered up at him with worried green eyes.

"What you said earlier… about a noose to put your neck into." She said softly, and Sherlock blinked.

He recalled his words as he left the market earlier, and said quickly: "I just meant-"

"I know what you meant." Marie said seriously. "And I understand how you work, but please, just keep in mind that I worry about you."

Sherlock's gaze softened and he reached for her. She came willingly, and Sherlock murmured as he wrapped his arms around her: "I seem to be worrying you a lot lately."

"It's kind of hard not to worry with that mysterious message floating around." Marie sighed, and Sherlock kissed the top of her head softly.

"It'll be fine." He promised. "I told you I knew what we were up against – I'm just waiting for the right time."

She sighed, but nodded, and the pair stood for a brief moment longer before they parted ways for the night.