Author's Note:
This chapter is for Bkpeake (Guest) who left a lovely review. I totally agree with you on the professional editors thing (and the history facts). As an English student, it is very easy for me to pick up most grammar mistakes and, yes, I pick up on them in published books. I'm glad you displayed an interest in this: the connected blog post.
I've attempted to get the formatting as close to what it is on the BBC website as possible. I also researched things to do with American security services but if I've got anything wrong, let me know. The accent thing actually happened to us! When I was a baby, we lived in the States and my mum (who's British) says everyone loved her accent. In the UK, it's the opposite. I can, on occasion, do an American accent and people think it's awesome.
Please leave a review. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6 (Part 2)- or, Sherlock and John go to America
12 May
The American Dream
We originally received the email about a month ago from someone very high up in United States security. Sherlock rolled his eyes and said it was 'boring' and 'barely a 4'. It was only two weeks later that he finally decided it was worth looking into. I'm still not sure if it was his idea or a certain government official who happens to be his brother. From here on in, I don't know how much I can tell you. We had to sign the Espionage Act (a bit like our Official Secrets Act) before we could do anything. Although, from Sherlock's current rate of texting, Mycroft will soon know all. It's a welcome relief from him reading this over my shoulder, though.
That was the deal. I would go with him to America and he would stop correcting everything I type. He seems to be sticking to it, for now. We arrived at about 10am local time at Washington Dulles International Airport which was an enormous building of glass and white painted metal. We were greeted by members of the secret service and, after Sherlock finally convinced border security that he was allowed in the country (the idiot forgot his visa), we were escorted to a flashy car like something out of an action movie. The car took us straight to Capitol Hill where we met various officials whose names I can't remember and can't tell you anyway. We were briefed on the case and the info they already had. Sherlock barely listened but I took notes. He managed, somehow, to refrain from insulting anyone too important. Then we set off to do research.
We didn't get much sightseeing done but we saw the Capitol building and House of Representatives up close. We didn't meet the president, unfortunately, because he was 'too busy'. Like Trump is ever actually busy. The civilians were captivated by our accents and were constantly asking us to talk, say strange things to them. It was bizarre. They seemed nice enough.
The case itself involved a lot of computer work, some coding, some physics, and an imprisoned Russian spy. It really wasn't my kind of thing and I felt like a loose end for most of the investigation. Sherlock seemed to be enjoying himself. He got to boss around a lot of men in suits and practised some Russian he had picked up on the spy. My main role was to stop him from either getting himself shot or insulting someone so badly we got kicked out of the country. It wasn't easy when he insisted on calling the head of the FBI a 'vacant-minded moron with clear anger management issues.' We did finally solve the case and the information we dug up was… interesting. I can't tell you any of it, of course. But I'm sure it be all over the news soon enough. Now let's see how long it takes for him to complain about something.
