Title: The Nose Knows
A/N: Response to Prompt #95 Smell.
"You killed Lord Blackwell, Lady Greybeam," declared Holmes.
"What a fancy theory, Mister Holmes," the lady declared. "But your word is not enough for Scotland Yard to arrest me. And as I recall, your precious mongrel did not lead you to me, but to my brother-in-law's trusted manservant."
"Phillip Andrews no sooner killed his master than your sister," Holmes replied, confident in his plan.
"Where's your proof? Where's your explanation for the mongrel's actions?" the lady demanded.
"Toby tracked Phillip Andrews because his scent was fresher and stronger than the killer's, as he was the one who found the Lord's body. But after Mister Andrews shared with me a detail which led me to realize that Lord Blackwell's killer was a woman, I brought Toby back to try again, once I was sure that the killer had returned to remove the evidence to her identity that she had left behind," Holmes explained.
"But Toby still did not lead you to me."
"Oh, but he did, if not all the way to you, he most certainly got me onto your scent," Holmes insisted. "I must say, using your sister's perfume the night of the murder was brilliant, if unsuccessful."
"Unsuccessful?" the lady echo'd.
"Doctor Watson recognized the perfume, despite his head cold," Holmes explained. "And then your sister remarked that you were allergic to her perfume."
"So what if I am allergic to her perfume?" Lady Greybeam demanded. "That doesn't make me a killer."
"It does place you at the scene of the crime, however," Holmes immediately pointed out.