Chapter 10
The murder
After exchanging quick looks with Sherlock, Sophie cleared her throat.
"Can I come with to the scene of crime?" Sophie asked, looking at Lestrade. Sherlock paused, hesitating.
"Very well, I take that as a yes," Sophie said simply as she returned to her room to get changed.
After a few minutes, Sophie emerged from her room wearing the most bizarre costume Sherlock has ever seen; it looked like a dress, but the only difference is that the dress was separated vertically into three parts from the hem of the dress to the middle of the dress at knee-level. . The 'dress' was three inches above ankle level. Conscious of the attention she was getting, Sophie looked at Sherlock in the eyes
"It is my own invention. Half dress half suit, isn't that great? I use to wear these when I have to go to a scene of crime or a mission. The blouse is specially made by me with a thin layer of flexible metal sheet beneath the cloth to protect myself from gunshots, yet allowing enough freedom to move," Sophie explained. The blue costume did indeed make her look smart, but reminded Sherlock deeply of the Washington police-officers.
"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Sophie asked brightly as she extracted from behind her back: a checked coat, completed with an Inverness cape and a deerstalker cap. Both Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes stared.
"I see why you both are of the same type," Lestrade said after awhile. Sophie looked puzzled, and a look of understanding dawned upon immediately when Sherlock too extracted from an armchair a set of attire almost identical to Sophie's.
"Oh! Err, nice cap!" Sophie said doubtfully. He copied my design! She thought angrily.
"Let's get going, shall we?" Lestrade asked. Still glaring at each other, Sophie and Sherlock both stormed out of the apartment, with Watson following.
By the time they got to crime scene, a large crowd was gathering in front of the ill-omened street. Sophie was reminded forcefully of her old home, but nevertheless, her mind was fully on the case now. They had to push through the crowd in order to reach the body in the middle. Grasping Sophie's hand tightly, Sherlock Holmes led her through the thick crowd and into the middle.
"Mr. Holmes! Good thing you are here, and who is this enchanting young…err…lady?" asked a tall and extremely well-built inspector.
"Ah, a pleasure to meet you, Inspector Gregson, this is my sister, Sophia Holmes, pray call her Sophie," Sherlock Holmes smiled as he shook hands with the inspector.
"Ah, you got her from the orphanage did you not?" Gregson asked, looking interested. Sophie finally raised her head and shot him a look so threatening and fierce that Gregson immediately recoiled.
"She is my sibling, I managed to locate her and bring her to stay with me just yesterday. Don't regard me as a down-hearted fellow, Gregson; I would not adopt a sister just for the sake of getting over Mycroft," Sherlock Holmes said quietly, nevertheless, his voice hinted coldness.
Gregson had to admit that the girl looked like Holmes himself, and with her sharp features, piercing grey eyes, and by her composure, she was an exact copy of Holmes.
"Don't trip over stools in the future, Inspector, china are breakable, especially your wife's favorite Ming dynasty vase!" Sophie said coldly after a while.
Gregson, for the first time looked surprised.
"How did you know all these?" he asked.
"The fronts of your shoes are enough to proof that you have knocked your feet against something and by the look of the unbalance in the scratches made on both shoes, I deduced that you must have knocked against something at knee-level, lost your balance, and fell forward. There are scratches against your gloves which tells me that you must have being helping to clear up the mess which you made. That is obvious that you broke something. The marks on your gloves are only made by china by their instinctive sharp edges, and they left small dust-like particles on your glove which could only by done by a Ming dynasty antique made by a material specially for making vases," Sophie said smartly.
The spectators standing close by listened to her deduction gasped in surprise and a murmur of approve broke out from among them. Gregson was not at all surprise to see a glimmer of pride in Sherlock Holmes' eyes.
"And how on earth do you know that I am married?" Gregson asked suspiciously.
Sophie rolled her eyes.
"A clear budge in the left hand ring finger is enough to show that, is it not, Inspector Lestrade?" Sophie asked.
"Oh, sure, shall we proceed?" Gregson asked. Sherlock Holmes nodded and the three of them approached the body.