Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Sherlock.

FRIDAY

Bella woke up, and immediately closed her eyes again, dreading the day ahead. She groaned and got ready for school, going as slowly as she could, putting off going to school. She knew she had to go eventually. It wasn't school she was dreading, though; it was what was to come afterwards.

She managed to get through the school day, paying the least attention necessary to the lessons and not offering any answers. It was a repeat of the months she had spent in despair. Grace kept giving her hugs and encouragement throughout the day, which made her feel slightly better; but when the end of the day came, she was feeling sick to her stomach.

Grace, to her surprise, took the same bus as her. "You going downtown too?"

Grace laughed at her. "Yes, silly, of course I am! I was her friend too, remember? I've got to testify as well, or whatever they call it. What d'you think we'll have to do? What will they ask us? Do you think…" Grace kept prattling on like this while Bella stared out the window. She tried to concentrate on what she had to say, what they had decided in Baker Street, but Grace's voice kept distracting her. Eventually she had to ask her as politely as she could to shut up, please, and then they rode in silence.

After an age they arrived at the buildings, the dark depressing building with the high arches that seemed to frown at them as they got off the bus and went inside. Grace huddled closer to Bella, seeming to forget how hostile she had been before. Together, they walked through the forbidding arches and high marble ceilings inside, until they reached a small room. On the door there were the words 'Rebeca Lucas' on a white A4 sheet of paper. They exchanged a glance, then went inside.

They were greeted by a young woman with a kindly face who smiled at them and directed them to some seats around the outside of the room. It was like a doctor's waiting room, but somehow darker, more depressing. There are a few people also sitting down – Bella recognises Becky's parents; some other people from school, including the teacher whose office Becky fell outside; and a boy who looks familiar. Very familiar. As Bella stares at him, he raises his head and winks at her. His dark curly hair is unmistakeable. She is looking at Watson.

He comes over and sits next to them. "Hello, girls," he says cheerily. Grace shrinks away slightly at the sight of this strange boy talking to them, but Bella just smiles and greets him also. "I'm Mike, and who are you?"

"Well, I'm Bella, and this is Grace. We were Becky's friends." Grace is pulling on her sleeve, trying to get her to stop talking to him, but Bella keeps talking. "And you are..?"

"I'm…" he realised he couldn't very well say boyfriend, "a friend of Becky's. A good friend, knew her for a long time."

"She never mentioned you," Bella said, smirking at 'Mike'.

Mike shoots Bella a glare, but keeps smiling. "Yeah, well I expect she had more important things to talk about at school with her friends." He looks away for a second, then back at the girls. "So, what do you think they're going to do?"

Grace answers this time, to the others' surprise. "Ask us questions? That's what's supposed to happen, anyway," she sneers slightly, staring him down. After a minute he gets the hint and moves away again, winking at Bella first. "Who was that creep?" Grace demands immediately.

Before Bella can answer, the smiling woman steps into the room and calls, "Bella Long? Is there a Bella Long here?" Bella looks at Grace, then stands up, nodding. "If you'd like to come this way, please." The woman directs her down the corridor and into a larger room, with lots of people inside. She steps onto a small stand, and a microphone is adjusted to her height. She then turns to face the frowning people, all of whom are scrutinising her with their gazes.

A man speaks. "Your name?"

Bella looks at him as if he is crazy, but she says, "Bella Long."

"Relationship to the deceased?"

"I was her friend. Her best friend."

The man coughs. "Miss Long, I understand you were the last to speak with the deceased?"

Bella is suddenly irritated. "She had a name, you know!"

A pause, then the man consults his notes. "The last to speak with Miss Lucas?"

"Yes. Yes, I was."

"Tell me about that."

Bella takes a deep breath, then starts telling him everything that happened that day. How Becky had gathered everybody together, then called her from the top of the tower. How they had had a conversation, both quoting Sherlock. How Becky had then jumped, twisting and flailing from the top of the tower. How Bella had raced upstairs, how she had cried over her friend's body, how the ambulance had come and people gently prised her away from Becky. How she had gotten one last glimpse of Becky's bloody face before the blanket was pulled up over her head, and she was taken away in the ambulance forever.

When she was finished she looked around the room, at all the frowning faces. They seemed to be frowning less now, some faces almost neutral. One man, over the other side of the room, was staring intently at Bella, staring at her face. It made her uncomfortable.

The man cleared his throat again, and asked about the funeral. So Bella told him that also, about how she had not been able to speak properly, how Grace had helped her, how she had felt so awful she couldn't remember it very well. The only thing she didn't tell him was about the strange person hidden by the coffin, dressed as the Grim Reaper. Something told her she should not mention that.

"Now, Miss Long, I understand you were…unhappy…for a long time after the death?" Bella looked into his face, and nodded. "And yet you made a miraculous recovery from this a few weeks ago?" he pressed. She nodded again, growing suspicious. "Can you tell me why this came about?"

"I…I don't really know, I guess I just realised that Becky Lucas was never coming back, and it was time to accept this and move on." He voice cracked slightly. The man nodded and motioned to the smiling woman, who came and ushered Bella out of the room again. They passed Grace on the way out, and she sat in the waiting room until Grace came out. She and 'Mike' tried not to make eye contact.

When Grace came out, finally, the pair of them left the building together and took the bus back to school. On the way, they chatted, talking about the inquest and what had just happened.

"Did you see that guy's face? It was like 90% eyebrow!"

"And everybody kept frowning, and nobody was smiling…"

"And the eyebrow guy, he kept asking me questions as if he was trying to trap me…"

They continued like this until they reached Bella's stop. She bid farewell to Grace and got off the bus, and started to walk home. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Now the inquest was over, she could get on with the investigation.

o0o0o

Adler sat at a large, dark imposing desk. There was a tentative knock at the door, and the man, she called him Jim, stepped into the room.

She turned her gaze upon him, bored. He hesitantly placed a large envelope on her desk. She looked inside. There were photos and a DVD. She nodded and turned away. The man gave a hesitant cough, and she rolled her eyes and threw a smaller envelope at him. He could feel the weight of the cash inside. He turned and left the room hurriedly, closing the door behind him.

Adler sifted through the photographs. They consisted mostly of one girl, with short brown hair. She was sitting next to a girl with long hair; talking to a boy with dark curly hair; speaking into a microphone, eyes closed; sitting alone, looking worried; and getting off a bus, waving at someone inside the bus. She looked at the DVD. The words, 'Inquest Testimony' were written crudely on the disk, and she knew that the video on it would be of a girl talking of her friend's last moments. She placed the things back in the envelope, satisfied.

"Gotcha, Miss Lucas," the woman known as Ms Barker said.

A/N: Thanks to Kimbalilly, Guest, and Alice Foxworth for their reviews so far. I would be very grateful for more reviews from my lovely readers!