Chapter 14

Sophie darted into the cemetery, dodging low-hanging branches here and there; still, she kept on glancing at the piece of note that was in her hand.

Dear Mr. Holmes,

We are sorry to inform you that your messenger Billy was murdered near Allamanda Street. He was found with the box in his hands and a knife in his back.

Inspector Morris

And at the back of the note: R.P.S.I.P 9.00 10.30 5.78 0.68 W

Sophie knew that the string of letters and numbers meant something, a code, and she solved half of it. The first five letters, R.P.S.I.P, actually meant P.S. R.I.P.

The rest of the code was in a grave yard, at column nine.

Sophie scrambled through the different rows of tombstones, and finally, she arrived at a line of tombstones that says: Column 9.00 to 10.00.

She stopped, paused, and looked around. The graveyard seemed empty except for her. Never in her life had she believed in undead or vampires, but the creepy graveyard gave her chills. I'll just get the rest of the code and get out of here, she thought shakily. She bent down at the first tombstone and studied its rough surface very carefully.

Here lays Dr. Augusto W. Vero

Loving father and husband

Right beside the last letter "d", there was another string of numbers: 10.30 87.5 0.68 1.11X

The numbers were roughly carved in, and obviously against the permission of the family of the dead. Sophie wiped out a notebook and a pen and jotted the completed codes. Why the numbers are reversed and why are there a new number and a cross? She thought, puzzled. No time for that now, she would think about it later back at Baker Street.

She was about to get up and go when a gloved hand flew out of nowhere and covered her mouth, muffling her scream. Another hand twisted her hands behind her back, forcing her to drop both notes. Sophie tried to turn around, but the attacker was too strong. Fine, if you want to play, then we play, thought Sophie smugly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sherlock Holmes and Watson heard a distinctive struggle in front of them. Cocking his revolver, Sherlock proceeded forward, with Watson following close behind.

Suddenly, a yell of pain echoed through the misty graveyard, causing the hair on Sherlock Holmes' arms to stand.

"Good God who is that?" Watson whispered.

"No idea, but we must proceed," Sherlock said quietly. They sprinted along the way in the darkness, occasionally tripping over tree-roots and fallen tombstones.

"Watson! Look!" Sherlock hissed as they came into a clearing. Two figures were lying on the ground, a dark liquid spreading out on the cold, clammy and decaying soil of the cemetery.

Holmes dashed to the smaller figure and he gave a loud exclamation of horror.

"Watson! Come here! Come here at once! It's Sophie!" he yelled as Watson bent over the other figure on the ground.

Watson sped over to Sherlock side.

"Great Scott! We need to get her to the hospital!" he exclaimed. Sophie's face was drawn and pale, a small trickle of blood flowing down from her forehead. Protruding from her right shoulder was a long knife, fresh blood flowing out with every pulse. Sherlock wiped out his scarf and pressed it firmly on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"We need to get her back now! Not the hospital, Watson, at least not today!" Sherlock said hurriedly as he picked up Sophie.

"Once we got back call in the Scotland Yard, Watson, we need to know the identification of this man."