Danger in the Shadows
Chapter 9: Revelation
Dawson awoke the next morning and found Basil at the front door speaking with a distraught Officer Hawkins from Scotland Yard. As Basil turned to him with a grim expression, Dawson knew; the killer had struck again. As Basil hastily pulled on his coat and hat, Dawson quickly followed suit and they headed out the door.
Hawkins explained that a security guard had just been found dead at Lloyd's Bank just down the road, and a considerable amount of money- around £1 million - missing. Dawson shuddered to think that the crime had happened so close to home. They met Inspector Grayson at the entrance of the building and followed him to the scene of the crime. Even with his iron constitution from his days in the service, Dawson felt his stomach turn as Grayson lifted the sheet from the victim's face. The body was a bloody mess, covered in the same deep gashes as the other victims. His face was so distorted that the only means of identifying him was an identification card in his inside pocket: Phillip Knightly.
Dawson shook his head sadly. Not long ago, Knightly had been falsely accused of being an accomplice in a robbery of this same bank, but Basil had proved his innocence. And now he had met a grisly end while doing his duty. One more on the list of this killer's victims. One more devastated family whose husband and father would not be coming home.
That same grim expression remained on Basil's face as he examined the scene. Blood on the floor, Knightly's discharged weapon and other signs of struggle indicating he had tried to fight his assailants, several safes that had been forced open, a small scrap of cloth that had snagged on a jagged edge of one of the destroyed safes. After questioning the owner of the bank and speaking briefly with Inspector Grayson, Basil and Dawson returned to Baker Street. Basil immediately went to work at his chemistry table to study the cloth he had found, and Dawson sank down in his chair wearily. He decided to look over the newspapers and police reports of the crimes of the past few weeks, trying to find some link, some clue, to help stop this villain.
Basil grunted and slammed his fist down on the table in irritation, causing several test tubes to clank together, before making his way to the fireplace where he lit his pipe and began pacing back and forth across the room.
Dawson shared his frustration. Their only witnesses were Fidget, who could be anywhere, and the first victim Harold Kingston, whose condition had worsened. "So," Dawson sighed, shifting through the papers scattered at his feet, "the only thing we know for certain is that all the victims were killed in the same manner… no discernable pattern other than that the crimes all occurred at night… the victims are basically mauled to death… How any sane person can commit such atrocities I'll never understand. But there must be something else, some clue… anything!"
"There is," Basil stated.
"There is?" Dawson repeated quizzically.
"Of course," said Basil matter-of-factly. "Don't you see it? One other factor that links all these crimes together. Think for a moment, Doctor. What is the one thing that all the victims have in common other than the method in which they were attacked?"
Try as he might, Dawson couldn't come up with the answer. "I haven't the foggiest."
Basil placed his hands on Dawson's shoulders and looked him the eyes. "Dawson, how is it that we know these people?" "Because they… they've come to us for help." Dawson gasped at the realization. "Great Scot, they're all past clients."
The detective nodded slowly.
Dawson pondered for a moment. "Whoever is behind all these crimes… could they specifically be attacking them as a means to get at you?"
"It is a great possibility," Basil nodded gravely. "Which also means that anyone who has come to us in the past for help is in mortal danger- Ah!" Basil gasped suddenly and jumped back as if he had been shocked. A look of horror crossed his face for an instant, and was next replaced by anger. He ran his hand through his disheveled hair and nearly cursed. "I am such an idiot!" he hissed. "Quickly, Dawson!" He dashed for the front door, stirring up the papers scattered on the floor and nearly knocking a side table over in the process.
Perplexed, Dawson asked, "Basil, what in the world-?"
"There's no time, lives are at stake!" Basil shouted as he flung the door open and ran outside.
Dawson followed as quickly as he could, although he had no idea what had caused Basil so much distress. When Dawson stepped outside, Basil had his fingers to his mouth, whistling shrilly. A few seconds later, Toby ran around from behind the building and skidded to a stop just inches away from them. The detective immediately leaped up onto the dog's back. "Come on, we've not a moment to lose!" he yelled as he reached a hand down to the doctor. Dawson was surprised at Basil's strength as he pulled him up with hardly any effort. As soon as he was seated behind Basil, Toby took off.
Basil used the dog's collar to steer Toby in the right direction, although Dawson couldn't even begin to guess where they were headed in such a hurry. He tried to question Basil as to their destination, but the detective didn't seem to hear him. He only muttered over and over, "I'll never forgive myself if anything's happened…never…" He dug his heels into the dog's sides, urging him to go faster. Dawson shut his eyes tightly, feeling as if he would be flung off Toby's back at any moment. "No, we're too late!" Dawson heard Basil cry as they rounded a corner. He pulled hard on the collar, causing Toby to slow down. The detective leapt from Toby's back before he had come to a complete stop and sprinted forward.
Dawson finally opened his eyes, but was almost blinded by the sudden brightness. Although the day was almost spent and it was growing dark, a fire that was rapidly consuming the building in front of him lit the night sky an eerie, glowing red-orange. "Stay, Toby," Dawson said breathlessly as he slid off the dog and rushed after Basil.
At first, Dawson didn't realize where they were, since he had kept his eyes closed for most of the ride. But then, his heart sank as he saw the broken sign hanging from the doorway of the burning building.
Flaversham's Toy Shoppe.
There were several mice already at the scene of the fire, and Dawson ran to where Basil was interrogating one of the firefighters. To Dawson's surprise, Basil grabbed the unfortunate mouse by the collar and yelled, "You mean they're still inside?"
Before Basil could question the poor fellow further, three mice emerged from the flames carrying another soot-covered mouse between them. As they took him a safe distance away from the fire, Basil and Dawson ran to them.
"Flaversham… is he alright, Dawson?" Basil asked worriedly.
As he examined the toymaker, Dawson nodded. "He has a few minor burns, but he'll live."
"Thank heavens-" Basil began, but he was interrupted as Flaversham came to. He coughed and tried to sit up, then began struggling frantically.
"It's alright, Flaversham!" Dawson said, attempting to calm the frightened toymaker. "It's me, Dr. Dawson, and Basil. You're safe now."
"No!" Flaversham cried. "Y-You don't understand! Olivia! I-I must find Olivia!"
Dawson gasped and Basil's face grew pale. "She's still inside?"
"I-I don't know!' he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I was searching for her, but I-I must have fainted…I…I must go back!"
"Don't worry, Flaversham, we'll save her- Basil? Basil, what are you doing?"
The detective had jumped up and was sprinting directly towards the burning shop. He was lost to view as he ran through the door into the inferno.
Author's Note: I am soooo very sorry for the incredibly late update on this story. It's only been, what, 6 or 7 months? But seriously, thank you guys for being so patient. Now that "Echoes" is finished, I will be focusing on this one, so I'll do my very best to keep it updated much more often
So... we have a bit of a breakthrough (although several of you saw it already... took Dawson a little longer to figure it out) So NOW you know why I brought Miss Abby back from my "Case of the Emerald Ring." Knightly, the guard at the bank, is a character from another fic I had planned on writing, but never got around to. And I don't remember if I've mentioned Stephen Hawkins in this fic yet, but if not, he is another OC of mine and is based off of Stanley Hopkins
And of course I just had to leave you on yet another cliffhanger. The poor Flavershams just can't get a break can they?
So will Basil be able to reach Olivia in time? Why is this villain attacking Basil's past clients? For revenge? Who is the villain and what is his game?
