Aftershocks: Part 2

The room was dead quiet for a moment, and then the inevitable questions started:

"Dead…, how?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That can't be…"

"Are you sure that's from Watson?"

Lestrade cleared his throat and held his hand up for silence. "It says here that there was some sort of an accident and that Mr. Holmes was killed. There's nothing more. We'll just have to hear the rest when the doctor comes back."

The inspectors and constables moved slowly away, shaking their heads and muttering in disbelief at the horrible news.

Bradstreet moved nearer to Lestrade, putting a large hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "What did you mean about hearing from a ghost?" he asked softly.

Lestrade met his eyes with a strange mixture of fear and sorrow. "You know what great friends those two were" he answered grimly. "I don't know if Dr. Watson can survive this."