A/Note: I'd like to also thank ZeroYouth and AllyCat2000 (good to see you again!) for favoriting this story this early. You guys have so much faith! Also thanks to kyliemylie15 for not only going back to my older stories, but leaving a nice review for The Catalyst. I was going to reply directly to you, but couldn't. I'm thrilled you liked it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are the Johnlock soup for my ff writer's soul.
8. Her interests
Amy was Kathryn's best friend and they managed to meet at her flat after she was done at work. She was voluptuous, with shoulder length straight black hair, brown eyes, very pretty. Her eyes were puffy and red.
'Amy,' John said, 'we're here because we saw the texts you've exchanged with Kathryn in the middle of the night, then around lunchtime of the day she died.'
She broke down and started crying.
John said in a soothing voice, 'Take your time.'
She tried to control her tears. 'Sorry, sorry. Dr. Watson, she sent me those texts right before she died. But we never did get to talk. Her mum went over the flat for a visit that afternoon and found her dead.' She burst into tears again. John patted her hand as Sherlock looked away, uncomfortable with her emotional outburst and John's attention.
'I'm sorry,' she sniffed. 'We've known each other since we were six.'
Sherlock couldn't contain himself, 'You replied to her text in the middle of the night. You were clearly waiting for that text. Why? What do you know? Who had just left?'
John shot him a stern look, while Amy blew her nose and sighed. 'She wanted to try new things. A month ago she joined a site that matched people with similar tastes. Similar sexual interests. She was contacted by a couple and they exchanged a few emails, met a few times at different caffs in Oxford, and eventually she decided to try a threesome. They were to meet for dinner, then go to her flat that evening.'
'What do you know about the couple?' Sherlock had a glint in his eyes, finally we're getting somewhere!
'She was very enthusiastic about them, she said both looked like models and were super nice and fun. The man was - in her words - "astonishingly handsome, seductive and sexy". She was a bit nervous, of course, she had never been with another woman before. It took her a while to come around that fact, but after a few meetings, she made up her mind and decided to give it a go.'
John asked, 'Didn't that worry you?'
'Of course it did! I tried to talk her out of it. Not because I was being moralistic about it, but because you just don't know who these people are. I'd be much more comfortable if she tried things with someone she actually knew, not someone she just met online. I was very nervous for her and made her promise to text me and let me know she was all right.' Her eyes filled with tears again and she blew her nose again. 'We never did get to talk.'
'I'm sorry Amy.' That was always the hardest part on a case, dealing with people's grief. John always felt there was really nothing he could say to comfort the victim's family and friends.
Sherlock could read John all too well. Stupid girl, stupid sentiment, stupid voluptuous body. She's too young for him and he knows it. Even though he wouldn't pursue anything with her, he finds her attractive. He's desperately trying not to stare at her breasts. Perhaps Victor was right. Men are such visual creatures. Pathetic! 'Why didn't you tell that to the police? They might have been the last ones to see her alive,' Sherlock asked, untouched by her tears. He felt John's disapproving stare at his tone.
'Mr. Holmes, the police said it was a heart attack. I'm convinced they had nothing to do with it, she was alive when they left her. This was something so private. It's not something you want the whole world to know about. And unless there's the need for it, I won't betray her trust. I just can't imagine letting her mum know about all this.'
'Too late, the autopsy and the fingerprints already suggest two people involved,' Sherlock said dismissively. 'The only information you've added was to confirm that one of them was a woman. Not that it was needed, given all the evidence found in her flat.'
'Please don't judge her, Mr. Holmes, she wasn't promiscuous or anything like that. She had an outgoing and fun personality, but had only had three boyfriends in the past. Jeff, the last one, was too boring and thought she was just being weird whenever she asked him to try something new,' Amy said. 'That's why she broke up with him. '
'Was he the jealous type?' John asked, trying to take control of the questioning before Sherlock went off on her.
'No. Wait no, that's not right. The thing is, he didn't talk much, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time. I always felt he was a bit creepy, to be honest.'
'How did he react when she broke up with him?'
'Well, at first he didn't react much. Again, most of the time he kept his emotions to himself. But then, for a while he kept calling her, trying to talk to her at work - they worked at the same office. She asked him not to do that at work, it would make both of them look bad. Eventually, I think he accepted it.'
'Did things get unpleasant?'
'For a while it did, she wanted to quit her job, but couldn't find anything else. Things eventually calmed down, so she stayed. Mind you, not unpleasant as in stalk-y, or violent. Just tense, which was normal under the circumstances. I told her, that's why you shouldn't date someone you work with.'
'Did she ever tell you what she wanted to try that he didn't?' John was trying to determine if it involved anything dangerous.
She hesitated, her face flushed. 'She said mostly toys, and he might've even agreed to a few in the end. Either way, it didn't help their relationship. She just wasn't in love with him, that's all.'
'Has she ever mentioned another co-worker named Kevin?'
'Has she ever! He's the office creep. She complained about him a lot. He would compliment her clothes every single day. But the thing is, there is something in his manner that gives you a bad vibe when he says it. She felt he was constantly checking out her body, so she started wearing boring conservative clothes to work, to hide her shape. She was, um, big on top, you know? So she wore baggy blouses buttoned up to her neck, dresses with no waistline, that type of thing. Every now and then he'd mention in passing he'd be going to a pub after work and hint she'd be welcome to join him. Granted, she said he did this with all the other young women in the office. Once, he actually told one of the girls - who's only nineteen, mind you - that there were many very attractive women in the office and that many of them wore clothes that were too provocative for the workplace. The poor girl wasn't sure he was talking about her, or what. He just kept going on and on about it. At that point, Kathryn stopped wearing skirts to work.'
'Has anyone ever called him out on harassment?'
'The girls complained to a senior manager, who tried her best to talk to him and make him understand boundaries, but he just doesn't get it. Or pretends he doesn't. He's the bookkeeper and has been there for ten years or so, so it's unlikely they'll get rid of him. He's very religious and "holier-than-thou". Management likes him, they say he's a good worker. Between Kevin and Jeff, she would've left that place in a heartbeat had she found something else.'
'How long did Kathryn work there?'
'Hmm, I think almost two years. She always said she couldn't imagine making it to five. She wanted to move on. She was still looking for another job.'
'And what exactly did she do there?'
'It's a law firm, so she did research for the solicitors - anything ranging from birth certificates, newspaper articles, to looking into court rulings to find out if there were precedents in one matter or another. Just dogsbody work, really. She said it wasn't too bad, if it weren't for Jeff and Kevin.'
Sherlock piped in, 'What kind of cases do they usually deal with?'
'They do a bit of everything, wills, divorces, corporate contracts. I don't think they do criminal law.'
...
'Where to now, Sherlock?'
'Time to learn what exactly Jeff didn't want to do in bed.'
John paused. He could sense something was off. Despite the neutral tone Sherlock seemed irritated, but John couldn't pinpoint what could have possibly caused it. Sherlock was already far away with his purposeful and determined stride, so he brushed it aside and sped up after him.
