Chapter 8

I do not own Sherlock in any way.


"Where are we going?" John asked.

"Northumberland St's only a five minute walk from here", Sherlock told him.

"You think he's stupid enough to go there?" John asked.

"No, I think he's brilliant enough", Sherlock said, "I love the brilliant ones. They're all so desperate to get caught".

"Why?" John asked.

"Most serial killers kill because they want the fame", Olivia supplied.

"Correct. Appreciation! Applause! At long last the spotlight. That's the frailty of genius, John, it needs an audience", Sherlock told him.

John looked over at Olivia, who quickly looked away.

"This is his hunting ground. Right here in the heart of the city. Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go. Think! Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes wherever they go unnoticed? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?" Sherlock asked.

"Don't know. Who?" John asked.

A taxi cab drove past them and Olivia stopped.

"Olivia, what is it?" Sherlock asked her.

"Taxis", she murmured.

"What? Don't be abs…" Sherlock said, "That's it!"

"The murderer is a taxi cab driver Sherlock! That's the only way all the clues make sense!" Olivia said.

"Oh Olivia, you brilliant girl!" Sherlock said.

John half expected Sherlock to kiss her with how excited he was.

"Well, we've nailed down the method, now all that leaves is…" Sherlock said.

"Finding the actual killer", Olivia finished.

"How are you two going to do that?" John asked.

"Haven't the faintest. Hungry?" Sherlock asked.

They continued down the road until they came upon a small Italian diner.

"My favorite", Olivia said smiling at Sherlock.

John rolled his eyes. How these two weren't dating was a mystery to him.

"Thank you, Billy", Sherlock said to host.

Olivia and Sherlock took a seat at their usual table.

"22 Northumberland St", Sherlock said as they sat down, "Keep your eyes on it".

"He's not just going to ring the doorbell. He'd need to be mad", John said.

"He has killed four people", Sherlock told him.

"Sherlock! Olivia! Anything on the menu you want, free. On the house, for you and your date", Angelo said.

"I'm not his date", John and Olivia said at the same time.

Sherlock looked at Olivia, who simply blushed and looked down at her menu.

"This man got me off a murder charge", Angelo told John, "And of course the beautiful Olivia helped".

"This is Angelo. Three years ago I proved to Lestrade at the time of a particular vicious triple murder that Angelo was in a completely different part of town, house-breaking", Sherlock told him.

"He cleared my name", Angelo said.

"I cleared it a bit", Sherlock said, "Anything happening opposite?"

"Nothing. But for this man, I'd have gone to prison", Angelo said.

"You did go to prison", Sherlock reminded him.

Angelo walked off.

"You may as well eat. We might have a long wait", Sherlock told John.


"People don't have arch-enemies", John said taking a bite of his food.

"I'm sorry?" Sherlock asked. He hadn't been paying attention to John at all.

"In real life. There are no arch-enemies in real life. Doesn't happen", John said.

"Doesn't it?" Sherlock asked, "Sounds a bit dull".

"Like I said, Mycroft is a big drama queen", Olivia said, taking a bite of her pasta.

"So how come you and Olivia aren't…?" John asked.

"Aren't what?" Sherlock asked.

Olivia was glaring at John.

"Well, you two seem to get on well", John said.

"Olivia is, like I said, a close companion", Sherlock said, "Besides, I consider myself married to my work".

John looked over at Olivia, who was quietly pushing her food around on her plate. He glanced back at Sherlock, who was staring out the window again. He wondered if Sherlock knew the way Olivia felt about him. Judging by Sherlock's answers, he guessed that Sherlock had no idea Olivia was in love with him.

"Look across the street. Taxi. It's stopped. Nobody getting in and nobody getting out", Sherlock said. Sherlock got up and grabbed his coat. "Olivia? Coming?" Sherlock asked.

"No, you go ahead", she said.

Sherlock's smile dropped for a second, before he quickly covered up the slip. He gently stroked the back of her head with one hand before leaving the diner.

John got up and went after him, leaving his cane.

Olivia watched them take off before tears started to leave her eyes.

"Is everything alright, Miss Olivia?" Angelo asked her.

She quickly wiped her tears with her napkin and said, "What do I owe you?"

"It's on the house", Angelo said. He placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry. He'll come around some day".

"Thank you Angelo", she said. She got up, grabbed John's cane, and left the diner. As she walked back to the flat, she pulled out her phone and called her uncle.

"Olivia? What is it?" Lestrade asked.

"I just thought you'd like to know that Sherlock found Jennifer Wilson's case. I'll meet you back at the flat", she said and hung up. She should have never told John Watson she was in love with Sherlock Holmes.