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Chapter 10

Lestrade and Sally stood, mouths agape, saying nothing. Sherlock cleared his throat, switching his gaze between the two detectives. Molly watched Sherlock's face, waiting for a sarcastic comment to come out of his mouth, but it never came. Instead, Lestrade mumbled loud enough for the small group to hear, "You bastard."

Sherlock cried out as Lestrade's fist came in contact with his jaw. He fell back onto the ground and reached a hand up to his lip, now swollen, and pulled it back, grimacing at the sight and taste of blood. Lestrade's friend and Sally tried to restrain the angry Detective Inspector. Molly rushed to help Sherlock off the ground, instructing him to pinch his lip tightly.

The entire crowd of people had quieted down and now focused their attention on the man on the ground and the detective that put him there.

Both Lestrade and Sherlock were breathing hard. Sally was talking to Lestrade, trying to calm him down. Eventually, the fire went out of Lestrade's eyes. He turned away from Sherlock and pushed away Sally and the other man. He couldn't keep eye contact with anyone.

After a few moments, Lestrade turned back with a hurt look on his face.

"You absolute bastard. How could do this to me, to the unit? How could you do this to John? We all thought you were dead, but all this time you were cheating. You cheated, Sherlock. You lied, you cheated, you hurt people who didn't deserve it. Molly, when did you find out he was alive?"

Molly shifted from one foot to the other, but Sherlock spoke before she did, "She was behind the whole thing. She faked my records, she gave me a place to stay, and she made sure no one found out until I was ready."

"Oh, for God's sake!" Lestrade's anger was incredibly apparent as he took a couple of steps away from the others and gritted his teeth, thinking. "Well, I think I have no reason to be angry." He turned back again. "You are alive, and you're here to help us, right?"

Sherlock's face twisted into a grimace. "Yes, but I need your help as well. That's why you're here."

Lestrade took a deep breath. "Now that I've gotten that out of my system…Sherlock, this is Sgt. Roman. Sgt. Roman, Sherlock Holmes."

Sgt. Roman grinned widely as he reached out his hand to shake Sherlock's. He spoke with an American accent, "Man, I thought you were cool when you were alive, but you freakin' escaped death! That's gotta be major points, right? It's genius!"

Sherlock simply smiled.

"The body is over there, when you're ready," Lestrade pointed for Sherlock after Sgt. Roman had let go of Sherlock's hand.

Lestrade, Sherlock, Molly, and Sgt. Roman made their way over to a small area marked off with CAUTION tape. There were some visitors to the forest already gathered around the edge of the crime scene. Molly found herself feeling sick when she saw the body lying on the ground underneath a tree.

"Alexandra Haywood, 16 years old. She was evidently out with her friends and strayed away. A man grabbed her, stuffed her in the back of a van, and drove off toward the woods. Sad, isn't it? Funny thing though, she's currently lying on the exact halfway point of the forest." Sgt. Roman did the briefing and stood over to the side as Sherlock and Molly joined Lestrade on the ground to get a closer look.

The poor girl was sitting upright underneath the tree, obviously staged, with identical cuts on her arms and legs. Her neck was slit as well, clearly the fatal strike, and her blood showed a path from the gruesome cut down into her shirt. The front of her shirt was also soaked in blood. Sherlock noticed bruises on her wrists, from being tied up. He tried to clear his mind to correctly consider the case, but ever since he had stopped working for the police, his mind had grown tired and cluttered. He stood.

"Well, she was brought here by the man with the van, and she was tortured somewhere else, probably in the van, before being tied to this tree and killed. There are so many cuts on her arms, it's a wonder she lasted this long, but I highly suspect she was raped very near the cuts being made, given that there is no blood on the legs of her shorts or the arms of her shirt, so her clothes were off at one point. She was obviously moved before her throat was slit because if you look closely at her arms, there is evidence of the blood having dripped, however, there is no blood under her arms and legs, as there would be if they were done here. There are blood traces on the ground under her abdomen, where the blood from the neck wound would have dripped ergo, her throat was slit here. The halfway thing is setting me off, though. I don't know what the significance of that is -"

He heard Molly gasp and turned to her. Her eyes were wide with realization and she whispered, "How far can a young girl run into a forest?"

Sherlock straightened. That's it. The riddle. This girl was somehow related to the riddle?

"We will need a proper autopsy before the final confirmation can be made and the killer can be tracked. I need to think. Lestrade, do you think you can take Molly and I back to London with you? Our cab is gone." Lestrade gave a nod.

Thirty minutes later, after Lestrade had finished giving instruction to the forensic techs and the other officers, he headed back to the police car, where Sgt. Roman, Sherlock, and Molly stood waiting. Sherlock was thankful for Lestrade's appearance, because Sgt. Roman had begun to show unequivocal interest in Molly and they had been talking/flirting for the past half-hour. They entered the car and set off.

While the three had been waiting for Lestrade by the police car, Sherlock had studied Sgt. Roman. The man was tall, just shorter than Sherlock. He was blond with high enough cheekbones. He was quite handsome and very fit. Sherlock guessed he must have been in the military at some point, he had that 'attention!' sort of look about him. Sherlock liked him so far. He was smart and helpful. He'd have to keep an eye on him, though.

The drive lasted just a bit longer than the drive to the forest, but Molly and Sherlock's cab driver had driven quite fast. Once in London, Lestrade drove straight to Molly's flat after a short explanation of where Sherlock was staying and why he was staying there. Molly and Sherlock left the car, thanking Lestrade and Sgt. Roman, and went into the flat.

"Molly, we need to let Moriarty know we solved the riddle. How did you let him know last time?"

Molly thought, "I posted the answer to the riddle on your website and I went on the News to share the answer to the murder. I think the website is still a good idea, he might be watching."

Sherlock rushed to the coffee table, but found no laptop there. He turned around to Molly, puzzled. "Where's my laptop?"

"Oh, sorry! It's still in my bedroom. I left it there during my research for the murder." She retrieved it. Sherlock typed a quick message into the box on his website and sat down on the sofa. Molly took the spot next to him.

They waited.

When the response text came, Molly had fallen asleep against Sherlock's shoulder. Sherlock carefully shifted so he could reach his phone in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the text.

Good, good! Now, solve the case, and while you're at it, find a nice place to stay. Just in case. All my love, JM

Moriarty had been right. The games were only beginning.

I apologize if the ending seems chopped off. This chapter was going to be longer, but it eventually got too long and I had to shorten it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate the encouragement! :) The comments on what I write certainly do let me know what you think about what you're reading! Let me know what you think of Sgt. Roman!

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