Sherlock Holmes looks into her face and then turns away. Maddy jumps as if she has seen a ghost, then she follows him. He crosses the bridge and walks down the street. She follows several paces behind. He doesn't stop at the first corner or the second. He weaves between the buildings turning into one alley and then another. She follows him as best she can trying not to run despite the fact that his long legs allow him to go so much faster than her.

As she rounds the corner, Maddy sees him turn off sharply and pass through a door. She runs to the door, hesitates for a moment, and then rushes through. She sees him lift a finger to his mouth motioning for quiet. They wait in silence for about five minutes, then he gestures for her to follow him.

They enter a stairwell and walk up to the top. He opens a door and enters a cleaning closet, then he pulls down a ladder and climbs up through a vent in the ceiling. The place holds air conditioners and ventilation fans for the building. There is a constant whirring sound. Sherlock Holmes covers the opening to the closet below, and leads her to a wall where the louvered vent allows a view of the city lights. There is a bed roll and a pile of clothes here. The man sits down and motions to her to sit beside him.

It is a strange thing sharing a bed with Sherlock Holmes. They sit for a while in silence simply looking out at the city as the equipment groans on behind them. He says, "You could have done that better."

"Done what?"

"Follow me. You were easy to see. If it wasn't for the fact that people are predisposed to ignore you then everyone would have noticed that you were following me."

"I wanted you to notice," Maddy says. "I came to meet you. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I am dead," he says, "and I plan to stay that way, at least until my business is done."

He stops talking then and silence falls. Maddy doesn't want to know what his business is. Perhaps it is revenge, to get back at those who threatened him. Perhaps it is something else. It doesn't concern her. The only thing that Maddy has left to do is bury Abud. She doesn't know what to do after that.

"Maddy, I need your help," he says.

He stares into her eyes, but she won't keep his gaze. Sherlock holds up his phone and shows her a picture of the man with the blond hair. He's sitting at a table wearing a blue striped jumper with a warm smile on his face. "Do you know this man?" he asks.

"Yes," Maddy says. "I've seen him with you more than once."

"And he has seen you, that makes things a bit difficult, but not impossible as John's memory is incredibly bad. Of course, you are female, and he does have a special talent for remembering anything that is female, but it can't be helped. I want you to follow him."

"Follow him where? When? For how long?"

"Starting today, for as long as you can."

"Why me?" Maddy asks. "The network is dissolved. We've all gone our separate ways. Why do you want me to still work for you? You could have picked anyone."

"I picked you, because I trust you Maddy. I trust you with my most important mission."

"What mission?"

"To watch over John," he replies, his voice cracking at the sound of his friend's name.

Maddy does look into his eyes then, and she sees something that she had never noticed before. She sees that he is human. He is not Santa, or a ghost, or anything else mystical. He is a man alone sharing a bunk with her and asking for her help.

"I can't do this," Maddy says. "I live somewhere else. I'd look suspicious. I can't be around him all of the time. Also, he might take a taxi and I couldn't follow him."

"If you can't follow all of the time, that's fine," he says, "but I need to know that someone is watching his back. I need to know that I can contact you to find out how he is doing. I need to know if he is alright."

Maddy looks at the man's face. She had thought it expressionless, but now she can see the concern in the firmness of his lips, and the furrowing in his brow. She reaches out her hand to him, but pulls it back before she touches him. "I'll help," she says. "I know what it's like to be worried about the safety of someone that you care about."

"I know," he says. "I could tell."

Maddy looks at him suspiciously. "How do you know that? What do you know about me?"

"I only know what I observe."

"What do you mean, observe?"

"It's obvious," he says gesturing at her body. "Your whole life is here. First, the fact that you are homeless at all at your age shows that either you have no living parents, or that your parents are people that you could not bear to live with. That necklace you wear. Obviously a memento of your past. A choker, but not your size. It belonged to someone else. I would guess your mother from the age, and the style of the chain. You touch it unconsciously which means that you think of her often. On the end, a St Christopher medal. Your mother was Catholic. St Christopher is the patron saint of travelers, but that's probably not why she bought it, it would be for his other role as one who intercedes for those who are ill. Your mother was ill. Most likely she died of the disease.

"What of other relatives? There must have been a father, brother, someone. Why didn't you stay with them? Your words said it all, 'I know what it is like to be worried about the safety of someone that you care about.' You said 'safety'. The person that your mother lived with was abusive. That's why you left after she died. That's why you aren't going back.

"Your other other necklace is fanciful. Peppers. Obviously a gift as it doesn't match your coloring. You are sad, but you wear it still which suggests that the person who gave it to you is also dead.

"Your clothes when I first met you were baggy and dull. You didn't want to be seen as female. You didn't want people to think of you in a sexual way. Now, things are different. The color of your shirt, the way you style your hair say that you found someone who you wanted to see you as a woman. I told you, Maddy, I observe."

"But you still haven't told me why you picked me. Not that first time. That was just random. I mean in the square, you sought me out. You had a phone already prepared for me. What made you want me out of all of the homeless people in the city?"

He smiled. "Because, that first day outside my flat, you were hungry. Your stomach growled. I could tell that you had lost the money that I gave you, because you were hungry. If you had the money you would have bought something to eat. How could I tell that you were trustworthy and dependable? Because I paid you first, and you lost all of the money, but you came back anyway and gave me one of the best and most thorough leads that I'd got in months. That and the poem."

"The poem?"

"Yes!" he says excitedly. "It was the most important part. You use mnemonic devices to remember things. That means that expanding your mind is important to you. That means that knowledge, discovery, and problem solving are things that interest you, and if they do, you more than others can understand my desire to solve cases. All of these things make me trust you, and that is why I am giving you, of all my irregulars, the most important charge of all. To watch my friend. So Maddy tell me, will you do it? Will you help me keep John safe?"

Maddy looks up into his eyes. Human eyes. Concerned eyes. She touches her necklace. "Yes, whatever you need. I'll help."

He gives her a sad smile and says, "Thank you Maddy. Thank you."