Chapter 75


After hearing Sam's story Elizabeth felt horrible, all she wanted to do was swaddle him in blankets and feed him hot chocolate. But she realised that this was the one thing she knew she shouldn't do that. The last thing she wanted after her torture was to being treated like a victim, so instead she treated him as normal. The only thing that changed was that whenever she saw Leonardo in the hallway she would stand a little closer to Sam. She also started to notice how he tensed up whenever someone shoved him or whenever someone was yelling. So she'd squeezing his arm a bit whenever she noticed him tense up.

He rarely said he appreciated it but he put his head onto her shoulder with a little sigh. The rest of the group quickly picked up the vibe and they started to realise that Leonardo was bad. When he was spotted in school all of them got in formation to protect him, they didn't think he would try anything when they were around. Surprisingly one day Sam actually told them that the bullying had gone down a notch, apparently Ulf scared Leonardo and the fact that Sam was friends with Sherlock Holmes 'daughter' didn't sit comfortable either.

Still life didn't become truly really normal for him after that. Not because his 'brother' had backed down a little didn't mean he had stopped completely. He was a lot slyer now which meant that all of the attacks were unexpected and undetectable. Well not undetectable but it made them easier to ignore by her family. One day Elizabeth was shocked to recognize the long red scars on his cheek. The wound ran from her right eyebrow down to his upper lip.

"What happened?" "Leon got me." "Leon? You mean to tell me that Leonardo scratched you like that?" horror coated her voice at the thought. "No no no." he reassured me. "Our cat is named Leon, but it was Leonardo's fault." "I didn't even know you have a cat." "Yeah, he is the only good thing to come from my dad remarriage. The young cat is so playful and sweet." "So what did happen?" He rubbed his cheek a tiny bit.

"Leonardo drove him wild with catnip and a laser pointer. At a certain point when the cat had gone crazy he pointed the laser at my face. I had been lying on the couch with my book when the cat leaped onto my face and attacked it. Almost took out my eye." She blinked unassured what to say when your friends tell you their brother set a cat on them. "I… I didn't see that coming." "Neither did I." the light way he said it made a smile crack on her face. She looped her arm around his shoulder as they walked towards the cafeteria.

There were several different incidents after that. A mysterious cut appeared on Sam's thumb, caused by a knife that had slipped during cutting vegetables. If you were to believe Leonardo. You shouldn't believe Leonardo. Another time his deep black hair turned a bright orange, an innocent crime, a prank. That was if you ignored the red irritations on his neck caused by an allergic reaction to the chemicals in the bottle.

Other such things kept on happening throughout the weeks and Sam never came to school completely unharmed. However he seemed pleased. "You don't understand." He would tell them. "This I can handle, these small little annoyances. At least I am not getting shoved into lockers again." Elizabeth wouldn't call almost losing your thumb and eye a little annoyance but Sam wouldn't be convinced.

Life continued. School was boring. Homework was frustrating. Sherlock and John kept her out of all the cases, rarely speaking about them. Though I had long since forgiven them for the harsh words but our relationship was a little tampered because of the secrets. This turned out to be rather stupid and ironic. But I am getting ahead of myself.

One day while everyone was getting ready for lunch Sam dropped down onto their chairs grabbing everyone's attention. "You are never going to believe what happened." sighing a little Kya turned towards Elizabeth with a roll of the eyes. "Oh tell us your mighty tales Samuel." It had been known to happen that Sam would get crazy enthusiastic about something that no one gave a shit about.

"Okay, bear with me. It is going to sound crazy." "Just spit it out Sam." "Yesterday night while I was lying in bed I saw something outside of my window." "I hardly think you could see anything last night with that storm." The rest nodded in agreement with Paige. Last night had been horrible, the pitch black had been filled with rain and howling wind. It had been a charged night, literally with thunder and lightning streaking the moonless sky.

"No! It is real! Last night during the storm I looked out of my window to see the storm when I noticed something else. Just when the lighting struck a unicorn reared onto its hind legs." A moment of silence was quickly followed by laughter. "Omg Sam you almost got me believing something had actually happened!" more laughter. "No! I am not joking! It is real!" "Oh please. You can't actually think we are going to believe you!?" Alex demanded, his face a little red of laughing. "I mean this is just ridicules. Even for you!"

"I have proof." Sam cried out as a small and frustrated child. "Show us then." he fished his phone out of his back pocket and unlocked it. "I was filming the lighting when it appeared. Here look." He passed the phone over to them and played a clip. It start out as a generic shaky video of the view out of Sam's bedroom. At first the gravelly images was just different shades of black, then they heard a loud crackling followed by a streak of light. This repeated three more times and they were started to get a little bored when they heard video Sam swear. The camera moved jerkily downwards and they saw something white move in his garden.

It took the camera a second to focus but when it did the lighting struck and what they saw was unmistakably a beautiful white Arabian full blood. The only thing that set it apart from its normal cousins was the chrome horn that stuck out of its forehead. It didn't look exactly like the horn you'd expect, no it was thinner and sharper than the big white horn.

Sam sat opposite of them with a smug smile on his face. When the lighting struck again the creature had disappeared. "This can't be real." Ulf started. "You must have photo shopped it or something…" But all six of them knew how useless he was with a computer. They watched the video 4 more times, freezing the frame where the animal was most visible. It looked real. It couldn't be real.

They were all staring at him. "I went downstairs afterwards. There was white fur everywhere, soft as cotton." They leaned in closer to see what Sam was holding in his hand. Strands of pure white fur where tied together into a bunch by a coarse rope. "No way." She whispered before letting her fingers run down the hair. It was as soft as the fur of a bunny. "No way." She repeated. "You've got to be pulling our leg. I mean this is impossible right." Eliana whispered. But it was clear from her soft and slightly yearning voice that she was hoping that it was real. She had always wanted to believe in something more. Not like god but as in something magical.

The thought that mermaids, dragons, unicorns, centaurs, elves and all the rest was completely made up. Surely there had to be some truth to those stories. Elizabeth herself did believe that there was some truth to them, but they weren't the explanation that Eliana wanted to hear. Dragons were what people imagined the dinosaur must have looked like when they found the skeletons. Mermaids where what drunken sailors saw in manatees. Elves where fireflies that people mistook for tiny humans. She believed the world was magical in its own way. In the way that made lighting come from the clouds, created lakes in the deepest oceans and gave animals the ability to change colour. If that wasn't magic she didn't know what was.

But now here she was looking at the image of a unicorn. "It can't be real." Ulf repeated. "It is. And I am going to find it." Sam sounded smug as he spoke but his leg was bouncing in excitement. Tonight. I am going to see if it comes back." "You'll need my help." Eliana said. "Why?" "Well because all the story say that unicorns only come to pure maidens." Sam let out a loud and ridicules laugh but fell silent when he noticed her pointed stare. "Oh. You aren't joking." "No I am not. You know nothing of the mythical. I know everything of it."

"Wow. Okay fine. You can come." "Well the more pure maids the better right so we are coming with." Paige and Kya nodded in agreement. "Well we aren't getting left behind are we Ulf?" Alex slapped the others boy knee before exclaiming. "Sleep over!" A massive smile stretched across Sam's face. "My parents aren't in town. So it won't be a problem." She felt terrible because she knew what her next question would ruin the mood. But Elizabeth still asked the question. "What about Leonardo."

The smile that had just been plastered on Sam's face fell. "Don't worry about it kido." Ulf grabbed his shoulder. "I hardly think he'll try something with us there." His smile returned but it was a little watery. It wasn't like they truly believed that there had been a unicorn in his backyard, no that would have been ridicules. But still there was just a tiny little bit of wonder in their heart from their childhood that clung to the idea of it being real.

They decided to meet up at Sam's house at 6 o clock. They had to go grab their stuff and tell their parents of the plans. Of course Sherlock and John didn't object, they had met Sam before and knew that he wouldn't try anything stupid. They were however quit curious to figure out why all of them decided so suddenly to stay at the kid's house. Still a bit bitter about the secrets she told them that there wasn't a reason. Sherlock saw plainly through her lie and she noticed the little crease in his forehead. It wasn't exactly worry or disappointment more like frustration.

He knew why she was keeping it a secret for them and he didn't like the way it had begun. John wasn't stupid either and noticed their silent exchange with a sigh. "Just don't do anything stupid. And if that Leonardo tries anything I swear to god I'll break his arm in three different places." Chuckling a little at the overprotectiveness of her guardians she packed an overnight bus. Before she left Mrs Hudson pressed a box of homemade cookies into her hands. "Have fun."

Liz had never been to Sam's home before and it was a long way out of the city centre, at least an hour and a half by bus. The further they went the bigger the houses became and the further apart they stood. Massive gardens and fences made out of bushes separated the different homes, they were far enough from the road that the figures in the windows weren't recognisable.

A strange tugging sensation filled her gut, it looked so familiar to her almost like her home back in Belgium. It hurt her a little to see the families in the distance, the clear blue sky with the smell of homemade cooking coming from their chimneys. A sudden wave of home sickness hit her hard and she found herself struggling to keep bitter tears from rolling out of her eyes.

Guilt filled her heart as she realised how long it had been since she had actually really thought about her family. The first month it had been all she could think about, it felt like the stabbing pain would never go away. It had never really gone away, the stabbing pain didn't leave it just went deep inside of her heart. It was a constant present in her life that she had learned to live with. But now that the pleasant memories returned the unpleasant once came with them and the pain resurfaced. It wasn't just her parents, it was her brother and sister too. It was even worse with them, she had known that one day her parents would leave her but not her siblings. They had been younger than her and shouldn't have died yet.

The sorrow was just about to overtake her when the bus stopped. Pushing down the pain she hurried of the bus and started the hike towards the house.


Chapter 76


The house was an adorable little thing really. Its walls were painted a light almost white grey with white windowsills. The front garden was potted with pink, red and purple orchid along with a tall apple tree. The entire thing was fenced up by a low white painted fence, it was all rather idyllic. A plum of black smoke came from the chimney on the grey roof.

The fence was unlocked and she pushed into the garden towards the door and pressed the bell. Laughter and yelling came from inside and her pain was pushed back down into the deeper parts of her heart. The door was thrown open and Sam stood there with a massive grin on his face and for an unknown reason there was a streak of chocolate on his chin.

Apparently there was still some sadness visible on her face because he pulled her into a quick reassuring hug. When he pulled away Elizabeth whispered a thank you to him, he just smiled, grabbed her hand and led her into the kitchen. "Look who is here!" all the rest was already here and working busily in the kitchen. At the sight of her they all went to hug her and to cover her in flower. "What are you guys doing?" she laughed. "Baking of course!" Paige rolled her eyes. "But what are you making?" "Cupcakes!"

Elizabeth swiped a finger of the unbaked goodness. "What for." "Well if unicorns are going to eat something I am sure that they will also eat cupcakes!" laughter cascaded through the kitchen at Eliana's comment. Though the theory was about as ridiculous as it possibly could be Elizabeth set to work. As they decorated them they discussed what they would do. How would they find this mythical animal?

None of them even suggested to attempt to catch it. They just wanted to find it and see it for themselves. It was funny really how quickly they were pulled into the fantasia of it all. Every time she considered what they were really doing a ridicules smile would find its way onto her face. It was so stupid and yet here they were, putting on their warm clothes and gathering flashlights. Sam said that the animal had run of towards the forest half a mile away from his home.

They were just about to leave when a soft thud drew her attention. Turning towards the stair case she was surprised to see a figure lurking in the shadows. She blinked a couple of times until she recognized the person, instinctively she moved closer to Sam. Leonardo stood there looking at them with a peculiar look in his eyes.

Suddenly she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to stay in the house with him. The kid was a devil and they all knew it. Kya's warm hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging at her. "Come on! We are going hunting." When the other girl didn't budge immediately she followed her gaze and frowned at Leonardo. Her fingers tightened slightly on her arm. "Come, they are going to leave without us." The enthusiasm had died down a little at the sight of the other kid but Liz allowed herself to be lead towards the back door.

The rest was already outside with their flashlights in their hands. "Hurry!" their energy was contagious and made it bubble up in her chest. "Show us the way Sam!" With bright eyes he led them to the small path in his yard where he had spotted the animal. "Here." He told them. "This is where I saw her." "Oh it is a her now?" Paige remarked. "Aren't all unicorns females?" "Not that I have heard of." Sam shrugged his shoulders at Eliana's words, she had been designated the expert so her words were law. "Okay then. This is where I saw it."

There were no hoof prints to be found but if there had been any the rain would have washed them all away. Sam continued to lead the way towards a small gate similar to the one out in front but less well kept. "It jumped over her. It is where I found the fur." They gathered close to study the fence. "Were these here before?" Alex asked pointing towards scratches at the top of the gate. "No…" Sam hesitated a little. "No I am sure of it! I painted it only recently and those are defenitly new."

A wave of excitement coursed through them as the realisation that something had been in the garden hit them. Even if it hadn't been a unicorn something had been in Sam's garden yesterday. "Shall we?" they nodded and the gate creaked a little when Sam pushed open the gate. "Towards the unknown!"

The reality was that there was very little unknown in the calm suburbs but here, now, in the dead of night with a full moon shining through the thick clouds everything seemed possible. There was a small path between two rows of gardens that lead right towards a forest not far away. They set onto the path bundled up close to keep warm. Elizabeth noticed Eliana's hand slip into Alex'. Even though she had known they were a couple of months now and had seen them kiss on several occasion, the small gestured warmed her heart.

"They are adorable aren't they?" Paige nudged her slightly before linking her arm in hers. "I want something like that one day." "Ah you'll find someone like that. I am sure of it." she responded to Paige sigh. "A girl like you? It won't take long before you catch someone's eye." Her laugh was sweet and clear, it startled Ulf, Kya and Sam who had been deep in whispered conversation. "Shush." Liz hissed to her friend. "Why? Are you embarrassed of me?" her pout was mocking her. "Of you never!"

The rest of the walk they walked in silence observing the scenery around them. Both of them lived in the centre of London so this was a rare sight. Peeking through hedges they looked into the windows of family in front of the TV, kids running through the house, people talking in front of a fire place. Turning their gaze upwards they studied the stars that normally became invisible because of the street lights.

While their eyes were fixed on the sky Eliana had been studying the rose bushes around them and the grass cover path beneath them. Suddenly she let out a little cry drawing every ones attention. "What is it?" a bit of worry had crept into Alex's voice at his girlfriend's yell. The blonde crouched onto the ground, her hand hovered over a rock with a dark stain. It was half covered by the roots of an old berk tree so it had been mostly shielded from the rain. The stain was dried up blood.

"It is hurt." she whispered horrified. "We don't know if it was the unicorn." Kya tried to reassure her but her own voice sounded a little uncertain. "It isn't even that much blood, it was probably a scrap." Ulf added with a bit more certainty. "You don't know that!" Eliana retorted. "The rest might have been washed away!"

Alex pulled her of the ground but she was already shaking a little. "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Elizabeth blurted out. "What was that?" Sam asked. "It is something Sherlock says when we try to figure out a case for him, or when we are gossiping about stuff. It basically means you should jump to conclusions but he enjoys sound clever." Eliana stared a little at her and Elizabeth found herself continuing. "Worrying means you might suffer twice, what good does that do? For all we know it is perfectly fine." She nodded a little and straightened her spine. "Okay. Yeah I am good." she sniffed. "Well at least we know we are going the right way." Alex smiled softly at her and nodded in confirmation.

"I though unicorn blood was silver?" Kya asked curiously. "Nah that is just what J.K. Rowling thought would look cool." Eliana answered. "Most of the lore actually says it is actually red like ours." As Eliana continued on the fact that JK often twisted facts slightly to make things seem more mystical they reached the edge of the forest.

It wasn't a wild and overgrown forest that adventurers tracked through in legends but the kind of forest that dog walkers let their dogs run free along with the kids of the neighbourhood. Still in the dark the forest looked a little surreal, the cries of owls and a fox filled the silent night adding to the ominous atmosphere. But they pushed on forward, there was a little discussion whether or not they should stick to the path or if they should just go rough.

They couldn't really get lost in the forest but they didn't really know where they should go looking. So they just headed straight and kept quiet, their flashlights scanning the darkness in the hope of finding any kind of clue. "Do we actually have a plan for finding it?" Paige asked, slight frustration in his tone.

"It will come to us." Eliana's voice was so convincing that they almost believed her. "Yeah. But how?" "I don't know Paige. All the lore says is that young maidens would sit on the forest floor and the unicorns would come to them." Paige pondered this for a second. "So maybe these boys are going to be a problem." Ulf made an offended sound and brought his hand to his chest is shock. "No she is right. That might be it! Maybe we should split up." "Oh no that is the perfect start for any horror movie. We should defenitly not split up." "Are you scared Sam? Of the big bad fluffy unicorn?"

They chuckled a little. "No but maybe the girls should team up and spread out through the forest and the boys could look for the animal by themselves." Elizabeth offered. "Paige and I take one side of the forest, Kya and Eliana could take the other." Sam sighed dramatically. "If I get impaled by a horn I swear to god I'll shove that horn up you ungrateful arse."

They checked their battery life before splitting up. "What do we do once we find a place to settle down?" "Sing? Dance in a circle? Make flower crowns?" "Yeah right." She jostled the other girl lightly. "I think we should probably sit down and wait, I mean that is what Eliana told us to do." "I guess so." they continued to walk in silence a little while longer till they reached a small clearing.

The moon had found its way through the clouds and the little open space gleamed in the silver light. "Here?" Elizabeth nodded in agreement. Both of them took a seat on the moist grass back against back and waited. After ten minutes of silence a faint glow emitted from Paige's side making Elizabeth tense up. Carefully she turned around not wanting to startle the animal in case it had appeared next to Paige. "Oh my fucking god are you kidding me?" Elizabeth shoved her friend. "Put your phone away Paige. I am sure that you can manage a little while without your phone."

"Oh come on Liz." "If we are going to do this then we should do it right." "Do you think my phone is going to scare it away?" "Maybe. I don't know alright. We are hunting a god damn unicorn Paige! I don't know how that works." With a light chuckle Paige got up. "Hey? What are you doing?" "I am not comfortable." Liz watched her friend stretch a little before sitting back down onto the ground.

"If we are going to be here all night I might as well get a little comfortable." She had grabbed a blanket from her pack before splaying it out on the ground. She laid down onto the ground and placed her head into Elizabeth's lap.

"Oh yeah great. Leave me without a backrest why don't you." Elizabeth grunted in frustration before dropping down onto her back. Both girls were looking up at the moon in silence when they heard something moving in the forest. Well really Liz had heard it first and had gone completely tense which Paige had noticed because her head was resting on her now tense stomach muscles. "What?" Before Paige continue on talking Elizabeth had wrapped her hand around his mouth.

Then Paige heard it too. Leaves crackling, branches snapping and the winning of a horse. Slowly they moved up in a sitting position and looked around for any sign of the animal but the moonlight didn't penetrate the dense forest around them. Paige reached for her flashlight but Elizabeth grabbed her wrist to stop her. A part of her thought that anything 'new' would scare it away, anything strange or sudden could startle it.

Her grip on the others wrist didn't soften as both of them waited for the animal to come. Elizabeth closed her eyes and listened, she could hear it on the soft forest floor. The familiar clip clop of hooves hitting the ground. It was softer than she was used to, less loud and slightly less familiar than what she used to hear in the stables. When she opened her eyes again, scanning the darkness again she saw something. The sharp intake of a breath next to her proved that Paige had seen it too.

A dash of pure white in the dark night. They moved towards it slowly when a sudden scream startled all three of them. The unicorn took of swiftly as Paige let out a soft gasp. "Alex."


Chapter 77 - John and Sherlock pov


The strain on their relationship with Elizabeth had been a growing the last couple of days. He was fully aware that this was mostly his fault but he was convinced that if they sat this out the stress would lessen. It was all a matter of time. So when a new case arrived he didn't even mention it too her. She knew. He knew she knew. She knew he knew she knew. But they both stayed quiet.

John didn't agree with his strategy and as a responds to Sherlock's silence had smacked the man over his head. "You are being stupid Sherlock. You know she'd love to hear about this case! I bet she could even help you with it if you'd just let her." "I thought you said we should keep her away from all cases." "Yes. But I didn't mean you should exclude her from your entire life." "My cases are my life John. You of all people should know that."

So John dropped the conversation still annoyed though. He didn't like that Liz was so closed. When he had met Sam he was eager to learn more about the young man but she didn't seem eager to share anything with him. One day after hanging out with Sam she had been slightly destressed but when he had asked about it she had told him to mind his own business. Sherlock had told him it was something about Sam but it wasn't the same.

This meant when an elderly man arrived at their doorstep next Thursday no one informed Elizabeth. This pissed John of a little because 'Come on Sherlock! Elizabeth knows a lot about this kind of stuff just let her help us!" But Sherlock had stayed stubbornly quiet so they didn't tell her. The fact that she had decided to stay with her friend that night made it a bit easier to keep it a secret.

So when Elizabeth disappeared towards her sleepover, they prepared for their nightly outing. "Bring your weapon John. It might get a bit heated." The doctor shrugged, swinging a little bag over his shoulder as he pocketed his gun. "I bet it will be fine. This can't be an actual challenge for you. I mean you've solved far harder cases than this." I'm not so sure about that John, for all you know there could be something more to this."

Mrs Hudson was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips. "Be careful out there tonight. It is rather dark to go walking around with a weapon, you might hurt someone." Sherlock rolled his eyes in slight frustration like a spoiled brat. "We've handled guns before. We won't shoot anyone. Or at least not on accident." John gave the detective a little shove in the ribs but smiled reassuring at the land lady. "Don't worry Mrs Hudson. I'll make sure he behaves."

"Here I gave some of these to Elizabeth as well." John accepted the boxes of cookies that she pressed into his hands before dragging Sherlock into a cab. "Are we going to the morgue first?" "Well of course, they already moved the body." There was a bit of disapproval in his voice. "What did you expect Sherlock? They couldn't just let the body rot in the forest now could they?" "They should have called me earlier."

John knew better than to continue on arguing with the man so he just sat back with a sigh. The detective could be so entitled something, yes he was more intelligent than most people. But if he didn't tone down a little someone was going to lose it and beat him to shreds because of his attitude. The car stopped in front of the familiar façade of the hospital and Sherlock waltzed out of the vehicle, leaving John to pay for the ride.

Sherlock shoved open the door and stalked down the stairs towards the icy morgue. Whenever he got into these kinds of moods he would speed up, to be honest John had to jog a little to keep up with his long strides. He hated feeling inferior to the taller man. When John caught up to Sherlock he was already talking with Molly. The young woman had a slight red blush on her cheeks as Sherlock spoke with her, his entire body language suggested a 'Je m'en fou' attitude, he really didn't understand why she liked him that much.

Surely she understood that he was only using her to get his goal. "Hi Molly." The doctor looked up and shook herself free from her imagination. "Hiya John. How can I help you guys today?" "We need to see the body of a." he reached for his notebook for the name but apparently Sherlock had no problem remembering the name of the stranger. "John Straker. He died yesterday." "Oh yes, that poor fellow, he is right down here."

The way she talked about the dead bodies in the slots unnerved him a tiny bit, it sounded more as if she spoke about shoes. "There we go." with a metallic clang the hospital bed was pulled out of the slot and a sheet cover figure appeared. "If you need some help, I performed the autopsy so I know everything about his body." "I think I'll be able to do this on my own. A coffee would be nice though."

With a little wave of his hand he dismissed the woman. "Thanks Molly. We will be fine." He smiled kindly at her before turning back towards the dead figure. Sherlock threw back the sheet and started to work. Meanwhile John started to look into the notes that Molly had scribbled down during the autopsy. "He was killed by a blunt hit to the back of his head." Sherlock ignored the doctors mumbling as he continued searching the body carefully.

"The crime scene pictures show a knife though, it seems to be bloody. They are still running tests on the blood but there seems to be a pretty deep cut in the man's hip." Sherlock hummed in agreement as he too had just found the knife wound. "Apparently they found a tie and jacket there as well. Though seeing as the man was wearing a jacket at the time I don't think it is his." Sherlock stayed quiet for a couple of minutes before looking up with a smile. "I think I have solved it." "What already?!" "Yes. I just need to have a look at his clothes first." He gestured at the naked form on the slab. There were a couple of small lockers that had number collating with the cold chambers the bodies were stored in. The one containing Straker's belongings had been left unlocked for them so John pulled out the plastic bags. "Here you go." the other man didn't take the clothes instead he just started upstairs gesturing for John to follow him.

He led them towards the lab where he finally took over the plastic bag. When he positioned himself behind a microscope the doctor let out a little sigh. "I'll get us a coffee seeing as it doesn't seem as if Molly is going to come back." "Black, two." "Yeah I know don't worry." He waved the detective man away and headed towards the coffee machine. A part of him wanted to text Liz to make sure everything was alright but he didn't have the heart for it. He didn't really think he deserved to check on her at that moment.

So he just grabbed himself a coffee with a lot of milk without any sugar and a mug for Sherlock with no milk and two cubs of sugar. For a second he grimaced at the cups, the memory of drug prickling at his mind for a second. After that whole affair a tiny bit of trust had been lost between them, he didn't think Sherlock noticed but he never allowed him to cook or to get him something to drink.

When he got back Sherlock was still hunched over though his eyes weren't focused on the small eyepiece, he was just staring at nothing this probably meant that he was in his mind palace running over the details. So he just placed the cup next to him and took a seat for himself. It turned out that he didn't have to wait for long. After a couple of minutes Sherlock shook his head slightly and grabbed the cup next to him. "Come on." "Aren't you going to tell me what you figured out?"

A tiny smile crept on his face that meant he felt pretty proud of his quick deductions. "It isn't all that hard really. Pretty obviously if you ask me." John made a slightly annoyed sound in the back of his throat. "Well as the doctors said before he had been killed by a blow to his head. This wasn't during a struggle between two men though, no our dear friend John Straker was killed by a kick of a horse."

"Oh so he was the one who took him?" "Yes." "So what about the knife wound?" "He probably hit himself during the struggle. It must have slipped. However I can't explain the jacket until I know whose they are." "So all that is left is to find Blaze." "Exactly." The entire drive back Sherlock was on his phones for some mysterious reason he didn't feel like sharing. So John just watched the scenery change out of the window from city to suburban to almost full forest. Finally they drove up on a dusty driveway towards the large and modern looking stable.


A/N: I hope you liked this chapter of my story! Thanks for reading!