Chapter 25- A Backstreet
A/n: I just want to say thank you to Mvignal, Midnight Lupus and the guest who reviewed me the other day, it made my day!
And I also want to say that i'm really, really sorry about the delay! The WiFi in my house wasn't working and so I couldn't post this chapter until today! I feel so terrible, i'm so sorry!
Anyway, here is the next chapter (finally)! I hope you enjoy it and that you all know I'm writing this for you guys!
Have fun! Xxx
GL
Pressed against the back wall of a grimy back street, I held my men back. They all looked extremely apprehensive, some of them nervously supporting guns. A shiver of movement rippled through them. None of us knew what to expect.
I glanced at Donovan, who was clutching her walkie talkie as if it were a life line, ready to call in back up if things got pretty ugly. She threw me her apprehensive look. She didn't really know what she was doing here, because, of course, I couldn't tell her everything, but she was my second in command so she was the best one to be with.
It was deathly silent. Almost too silent, as the shadows crept up around us and the sun went ever lower. I had lost track a while ago of the time.
Stay here, I motioned to her.
She nodded, seemingly chewing on her lip.
I decided in a split second to take a risk and, holding my breath, I stuck my head around the edge of the wall, where we were lined up.
The backstreet opened up from a narrow passage into a large open space, which had been transformed into what looked like a homeless persons' den. Boxed in by blackened walls, it was a dead end, from the looks of it. Ragged, filthy blankets lay bundled by the left wall, the debris of a scavenged meal or two littered the ground. A small fire had been set up in the middle, still flickering weakly. It was deserted. But had not been for long.
We'd just missed her.
"damn," I grumbled quietly, still hesitant to break the silence.
I had been so sure that we were going to find her tonight. Our elusive lady. The victim's girlfriend. Sherlock had thought she was important, so I had to take his word for it.
We'd been searching all day and most of the night too, and when Wensley had got some decisive leads, I had immediately decided to lead a group of my most trusted men to help find her.
She had been very difficult to track. And the man. The man who's finger prints were over the knife, more so.
But obviously, our lead had been a little too late. It looked to me like they'd been here, but left in a hurry.
But what was she doing away from Oxford? When we had searched for her location, all our information pointed to Oxford. And yet our new leads pointed to very local areas of London, finally leading us here.
But then another pressing question was, what was she doing sleeping rough?
In any case, we weren't going to find the answers here. The place was completely deserted. She had obviously scarpered.
I sighed and turned to Donovan.
"nothing," I said, warily, " it's empty, looks like she cleared out a while ago,"
"uhh," she pulled a face; turned to the men, "alright, let's get outta here," she waved them down the street, crocodile fashion, and threw one last glance at me. She looked relieved- though none of us had known what to expect.
"you coming?" she asked vaguely.
I shrugged. She turned away, and I was on my own.
I just wished that I could find her soon. The whole thing with my sister and the case was putting me on edge. And it was all bloody Sherlock's idea. Apparently Emily Jones was very important to the case.
Not for the first time, I wished that I had Sherlock with me. He would find all the information we needed and probably find Emily Jones all in one night.
But I didn't. and I couldn't, and he would never agree to it anyway.
God how I hated him sometimes, the awkward b******.
I sighed again and took one last glance.
The fire was almost dead now, burning embers on charred wood. It was still desolate, and I wasn't in any hurry, so I decided to snoop around a bit. Look for clues.
It was dark now, the sky was a dark, inky blue and even larger shadows had collected in the alley, clinging like cobwebs to the walls and floor.
I took out my torch and flicked it on, scanning the scene and accentuating the shadows more. The beam fell on the dirty bundle in the corner and I made my way over, wondering if we could find her DNA on some of them, kicking at the litter that scattered across the Tarmac.
Well, at least I had thought it was a bundle of blankets.
As i moved the top blanket, a dark, ragged burgundy one, with my toe, it scuffed against something solid, making a muffled thumping sound.
I froze, confused, and nudged it again.
Another thump as my foot connected with the solid thing.
Blankets shouldn't make that sound.
Cautiously, I leant down further to have a closer look, gingerly lifting the blankets from the area where the thump had sounded.
Something pale and definitely not clothing was illuminated by my shaky torch light; I stumbled back in alarm as I suddenly realised what it was.
It was a body.
The body of a man that had been covered by blankets.
"shit,"
I gripped the torch between my teeth; with fumbling fingers, I tugged aside the rest of the blankets, revealing the rest of the body, curled up in a foetus-like position, clothes torn and baggy on the shrunken form. I didn't have to look any further to know that the poor sod was clearly dead.
I pulled out my walkie-talkie and raised it to my lips.
"Donovan?" I called into it. There was a slight crackle down the line before she responded.
"yes sir?"
"get down here immediately, I've found something. Bring some of our guys,"
"right away sir,"
Almost immediately, the sound of crashing footsteps echoed down the alley, bouncing off the wet stone walls like light off a mirror. Donovan's flushed face came into view, followed by a couple of our men, anxiously clutching guns.
Her eyes found the body I now knelt beside and her faced paled slightly.
"oh God,"
She hurried over, eyes scanning the body, the translucent skin, faint blue lips and wide, glassy eyes.
"murder?" she questioned.
I nodded gravely, indicating to the neck, "strangulation by the looks of it I think,"
"how long has it been here?" she wondered, as our guys began to gently move the body.
I shrugged, "dunno, I need a medic to find the details, perhaps we could get it to Barts?"
Donovan pursed her lips dubiously.
"I suppose, shall I arrange to get it down there?"
"please,"
I followed Donovan back down the alley to the police cars, feeling slightly better. The true reason I wanted to get it back to Barts quickly was really because I wanted Sherlock to take a look. He was the one helping me most on the case after all. Plus Dr Watson was quite good at analysing bodies. Plus Molly could help us.
I suppose I could try and persuade them to meet me at Barts.
I pulled out my phone and composed a message to Sherlock.
Try to get down to Barts quickly. Found a body. Woman may be connected to it. Need your help,
GL
There, sounded interesting enough, plus he would feel smug now that I had admitted that I needed him. Maybe that would sway him.
"we've got him in," Donovan told me.
"sure, sure," i muttered, not really listening. I took a couple of pictures of the alley and even went back to take pictures of the den. Sherlock would need evidence.
"who do you think did it?" Donovan mused quietly, more to herself than to me.
"I'm taking a bet at our woman," I replied with a sigh, anyway, "I'm just worried at how many more bodies are we going to find before we catch up with her?"
A/n: what is happening? I honestly didn't have this in mind when I wrote it but ah well, I can definitely work with it xD what do you guys think?
I hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up soon, I promise! Any reviews would be really welcome! Xxx