Chapter 10

Both Sherlock and John are up early the next morning because neither of them could sleep. Sherlock was up first and has brewed some coffee. John helps himself to a cup of java. Both men sit across from each other at the table. Each of them has mellowed from their anger last night. Knowing that Sherlock will never be the first to break the silence, John clears his throat preparing to say something to Sherlock.

"Good coffee, Sherlock," compliments John.

"Yes, if I say so myself. Glad you like it."

"Sherlock, ummm, last night…."

"Yes, John, do you have something to say?"

"Yes, Sherlock, I do. I would really appreciate if you would be kinder to Mrs. Hudson. She is the closest thing I have to a mother. I don't treat your mother that way, and so I would really like if you could be kinder to Mrs. Hudson".

"I understand, John. I will try to be kinder to her."

"Thank you, Sherlock, that's all I ask."

Sherlock nods and grins back to John.

"Anything exciting going on today?" asks John.

"Not as of yet. Really hoping to get a call to come in to talk to Cumberbatch today."

"Perhaps you should call them."

"Was thinking the same thing."

They spent the morning chit chatting about weather, restaurants, Lestrade, Molly Hooper and Mycroft. When the hour approached that the acting agency reception office was open for business, Sherlock placed a call to them.

"Good morning! Conway Van Gelder Grant. How may I help you?" said the receptionist answering the phone.

"Ah, hello! This is Sherlock Holmes".

"Good morning, Mr. Holmes. How are you?"

"Please, call me Sherlock. I am doing fine. I am calling to inquire if Mr. Cumberbatch has arrived home earlier than planned."

"As a matter of fact he has."

"Splendid! Any chance I can meet with him today?"

"I was about to call you in 5 or 10 minutes. I have been in touch with him about your request and that is the main reason he cut his stay abroad short. He is most interested in meeting with you this afternoon. Can you be here for 1:00PM?"

"Yes, I can. Thank you so much," he says cordially.

"You're welcome…looking forward to meeting you Mr….er…Sherlock."

"Later, then. Good-bye."

"Good-bye." The receptionist says ending the call.

"We got a meeting, John, at 1:00 this afternoon."

"That sounds perfect."

"About those notes you took….don't forget to bring them." Sherlock reminds John.

"I won't Sherlock. I won't."

That being said, they settle back into their soft cushy chairs. John reads his book and Sherlock plays his violin until it is time to go to their 1:00 meeting.

Part 2

Benedict is impatiently waiting in his personal assistant's office for the arrival of Sherlock Holmes. He has admired this man and his ingenious methods for solving crime since he was old enough to appreciate the science behind it. Wondering what in the world this iconic man would want to see him, a mere actor, about has caused him some uneasiness. Hearing some voices at the receptionist desk he realizes he is about to find out. Chuckling to himself, he thinks….just made my own deduction!

The door to the office opens and the receptionist announces

"Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson are here for your 1:00 appointment, Mr. Cumberbatch."

"Please show them in," instructs Benedict.

Sherlock and John enter the room. As Sherlock introduces himself and John, he shakes hands with Benedict and then John follows suit.

"Hello, I'm Sherlock Holmes and this is my assistant, Dr. John Watson."

"Yes, I recognize you both from your pictures in the papers. Pleasure to meet you and Dr. Watson.

I have been a big fan of yours for many years. Your methods for solving crime are just brilliant!" says Benedict a bit star struck.

"Thank you, and you are probably wondering why I requested a meeting with you."

"Yes, I admit, I am," Benedict replies.

"I'll get right to the point so as not to detain you. I know you are a very busy man," says Sherlock.

"I cleared my schedule this afternoon, Mr. Holmes, no need to rush off."

"Please, call me Sherlock."

"And you can call me Benedict or Ben."

"Which do you prefer?"

"I fancy Benedict. But won't be offended if you occasionally call me Ben. Most people do because sometimes it's just easier. But NEVER call me Benny!" And he rolls his eyes to indicate that he really doesn't like that name.

"I'll make sure not to, Benedict," reassured Sherlock.

Benedict chuckles and nods slightly to indicate he is satisfied, "Thank you!"

"The reason I am here is because my landlady had a visitor recently that caused me to have some concern. I had a gut feeling that this visitor was hiding something. Investigating about her a little further I discovered she had a sealed police record. Detective Inspector Lestrade was helpful in having the records unsealed."

"Go on…I am following you," said Benedict.

"Going through the file the only thing in it was an incident at the Chelsea flower show this past summer. Does the name "Hyacinth Bucket" ring a bell?"

Upon hearing that name that he has successfully tried to forget, Benedict turned as white as a ghost.

"Oh yes, I have been trying to forget that name and that incident. Her lawyer assured my lawyer that the record was sealed, though, and was almost impossible to unseal, so my mother and I could forget the whole incident even happened. "Almost impossible" for anyone except for Sherlock Holmes. So what is going on now?"

"I am sorry to be bringing this up again, but when one sees a sealed police record on someone who is in the company of someone you care deeply about then it is only natural to want to investigate further to protect that loved one."

"I agree," joined Benedict.

"Good, I felt you would. Now in your own words, please tell us what transpired that day between you and Hyacinth Bucket," Sherlock reiterated.

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out and leaning back in his chair, Benedict pauses and thinks as if to organize his thoughts. He looks at Sherlock, and begins.

"Well, to the best of my recollection, because I have really tried to put this out of my mind and totally forget it, this is my side of the story."

Benedict continues, "The BBC invited my mother and I to co-host the opening of the Chelsea Flower show. Of course, my Mum being the flower lover and gardener that she is, was very willing to do it and I couldn't let her down. I enjoy flowers too, but spending a delightful day with my mother, which I don't get to do too often anymore due to being so busy in our line of work, was going to be more meaningful to me than hosting any TV show."

"It all started out fantastically well. There were many people there…many of our fans, in fact, but they were being most courteous and respectful of our privacy. BBC shot a few interviews and some footage of us walking around the exhibits. It was just a delightful day and things were proceeding so well. Then all hell broke loose."

"Mum and I were standing at an award winning exhibit admiring the colors, textures, sizes, placement, and sweet aromas of this particular exhibit. And a strange woman comes up behind us and starts bragging to us about her award winning roses as if we knew who she was. When she finally made eye contact with us, I asked her if we knew her because she was saying things about her roses and the Queen and I don't even remember what else at this point in time…things one wouldn't say to someone unless they knew them."

"Interesting," Sherlock states, "How did she respond to your question?"

"She didn't…She recognized us and that was the end of my beautiful day with my beautiful mother. This mad woman, Hyacinth Bucket, latched on to my arm and pushed and shoved me all over the place. And because of this, the other fans who were there probably felt that if she could 'touch' me, then so could they. A crowd of fans and people formed around us and they kept nudging my mother out of the way. But there is one thing for which I must give credit to Mrs. Bucket."

"It's pronounced BoooKay!" Sherlock reminds Benedict.

"I don't give a flying….I mean, I don't really care how she pronounces it…it is spelled b-u-c-k-e-t and that spells "bucket", a device you carry water in like Jack and Jill."

"She really gets under your skin doesn't she?" Sherlock asks him.

"No shit Sherlock! What was your first clue? Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I sincerely apologize. I shouldn't be taking it out on you. Please forgive me."

"Not a problem," reassures Sherlock, "I understand."

And Sherlock looks at John who is diligently taking notes. John nods indicating that he is getting it all down.

"So, Benedict, what is it that you give Mrs. Bucket credit for?"

"She would not let me nor anyone else get a word in edgewise. The other people just gave up and left us alone. Someone later told me it was because they felt sorry for me that this mad woman ruined the day for my mother and I and they didn't want to make it any worse. So they just decided to leave me alone."

"And you think that was good because why?"

"Oh I didn't say it was good…I said I give her credit for getting the fans to leave me alone. The result was good, but her method was not."

"When you put it that way, I have to agree," said Sherlock.

"So now, my mother is nowhere in sight and I am becoming a bit concerned about where she was and who was with her. I tried to tell Hyacinth that it was a pleasure meeting her and needed to find my mother…but she wasn't even listening to what I was saying. She just kept on bragging about herself and dropping names like petals falling off a flower. Then suddenly her demeanor changed and she became pushy and shoved me onto a park bench and instructed me to stay put. She told me she wanted me to meet her husband but had to go fetch him. I thought, perfect! This will be my opportunity to escape the clutches of this mad woman. When she was out of my sight, I knew it was OK to disappear. I found a dark secluded spot where I could hide to try to call my mother as to her whereabouts. But you will never believe what happened next."

"Go on," urged Sherlock.

"The dark secluded spot I chose to hide out in, already had someone else hiding there."

"Really?" said Sherlock.

"Yup! Two women…who were also hiding from Hyacinth…HER 2 WACKO SISTERS!"

"Oh, this is getting good now. So then what happened next?"

Sarcastically, Benedict replies, "So glad you are enjoying this, SHERLOCK!"

"Sorry…please continue."

"Well, I didn't know they were there until one of them sneezed. They heard me gasp because I thought it was Hyacinth."

"Why would she be hiding?"

"I have no idea…the woman is looney tunes! I figured she saw something that upset her when I said I noticed her demeanor changed before she pushed me onto a park bench. Now in hindsight I can probably conclude that it was….her sisters."

"Good deduction, Benedict," remarked Sherlock smiling.

"So there I am, with my mobile phone in my hands placing a call to my mum, and these 2 women recognize me immediately. One locks arms with me on my left arm and the other on my right and they drag me out onto the exhibit floor, each one tugging on my arms trying to get me over to them and rid me of the other. They were so loud security came to investigate. But before security got there, the 2 sisters noticed another woman and called out to her…their 3rd sister….Hyacinth Bucket!"

"I am telling you, Sherlock, my scariest nightmare ever was not as chilling as this! Security told the women to let go and they took the two women, Daisy and Rose, to their office and called the police. But I still had no idea where my mother was at. Security pulled me aside to ask me some questions about the incident and then let me go to find my mother. I was going to call her but noticed there were texts on my phone from her. They said she was outside in the company of two very kind gentlemen who promised not to leave her alone until I came to fetch her. As I am walking out into the outdoor garden, I can hear Hyacinth calling my name and running to meet up with me. I panicked and ran outside into a group of paparazzi who were there trying to capture photos of me and my Mum. I pleaded with them to surround me and protect me from that mad woman. At this point I didn't care who it was. Even they were being more sensible than that Bucket woman was."

"Unbelievable," Sherlock adds.

Benedict continues, "But, the story has a good ending. One of the gentlemen who was with my mother, a rather scruffy and gruff old bloke, escorted my mother to me and made the paparazzi back off…no more photographs were taken because Onslow, that's his name, threatened them with bodily harm if they did. He was a gigantic sized man. All he needed to do was put the fear in them. What they didn't know was that he was as gentle as a teddy bear. But I am grateful they didn't know because Onslow got them to back off."

"Not only that, Onslow offered us a ride home and we gladly accepted. There was no way we were getting into my mother's car to drive home…paparazzi would have followed us and never let up.

So we thanked Onslow and took him up on his offer. He took us right to my Mum's front door. And the bloke didn't ask for a dime. He made us think he would think of something we could do for him on the drive home, but he was just being funny. That old jalopy car of his is his pride and joy. But it backfires constantly. Mum and I just had to laugh. It was an unbelievable day!"

"The next day the paparazzi had the photos all over every single newspaper in England. My acting agency wasn't too happy for the negative attention, but hey, I reminded them that even negative attention is good….better than no attention at all."

"In a few days my lawyer and Hyacinth's lawyer agreed on the deal to seal the police record on this incident…even though no laws were broken. Hyacinth and I both have reputations to uphold and neither one of us wanted this to ever be brought up again once the attention died down. I believe the 2 sister's records were also sealed. It wasn't until I read about the whole ordeal in the newspaper did I realize that one of the 2 sisters, Daisy, is Onslow's wife."

"Talk about a nightmare that won't end," Sherlock says empathetically.

"That's for sure," Benedict declares.

"Did you ever get introduced to Hyacinth's husband?" Sherlock asks.

"No, I did not."

"I met him a few weeks ago when he brought Hyacinth to visit with my landlady."

"Is he anything like his crazy wife?" Benedict wants to know.

"Not in the least! Actually felt sorry for the man. He was very "hen pecked".

"I believe it!" adds Benedict.

And the three men chuckled over that.

"Well, I won't detain you any longer. Thank you…you have been very helpful." Says Sherlock indicating he has heard enough.

"You are very welcome. Glad to be of assistance. If there is anything I can do for you concerning your landlady's welfare, please don't hesitate to ask. It was very nice meeting you and Dr. Watson.

Hope we can get together again, but not under these circumstances, replies Benedict.

"Just one more comment?" asks Sherlock.

"And what is that?"

"My dad is a huge fan of your mother, Wanda, and the biggest reason is because he thinks she looks like my mother…till this day he thinks she is 'HOT'."

"Yeah, I get that a lot from her fans," Benedict says clearly a bit embarrassed. I never know how to answer them or what to say. Perhaps it would be interesting to get them together some day."

"That would definitely be interesting…but I won't hold my breath. I can see you are a very busy man. By the way, don't you ever take a break?"

"Sure….but I can't sit still for long," Says Benedict.

John adds, "Just one more request."

Benedict asks John, "How can I help you, Dr. Watson?"

"Can I take a photograph of you and Sherlock?"

"John, the man is busy…." Sherlock quickly interjects.

"I don't mind if you don't!" Benedict reassures Sherlock.

Not knowing what to say to get himself out of this, Sherlock poses with Benedict for John to take a photograph of them. Then John Poses with the 2 of them and takes a selfie of the 3 of them together.

After all that was done John thanked Benedict and he and Sherlock left the Acting agency and went back to Baker Street.

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