Once Sebastian had shown the vandalism and perhaps hidden message that was left, he led them back in his office and was showing them the security footage of the office from the previous night.

"Sixty seconds apart," he said and flicked back and forth between the still photograph taken at 23:34:01 which showed the paint on the wall and on the portrait, and a minute earlier – 23:33:01 when the wall and portrait were still clean. "So, someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around, then left within a minute"

"How many ways into that office?" Sherlock asked.

"Well, that's where this gets really interesting"


He led them out again and this time took them to the reception area, only to show them a screen on a computer which had a layout of the trading floor and its surrounding offices. Each indicated door had a light against it showing its security status.

"Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet" he explained.

"That door didn't open last night"

"There's a hole in our security. Find it and we'll pay you – five figures" he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and took out a cheque. "This is an advance. Tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way"

"I don't need an incentive, Sebastian" Sherlock said and walked away.

John and Lex exchanged looks before she faintly motions for the army doctor to make a move. Then, she followed after the sociopath to make sure that nothing would happen. After all, he might not show it, but she could see he was annoyed by the situation and how he had been offended by this Sebastian.

He might have tried to play it tough and not caring but she could see right through him. However, the problem was that she couldn't approach the subject or say anything since he would just dismiss it and pretend that nothing was going on.

So, she stayed quiet and just looked at him as he was in Sir William's office and was taking pictures of the graffiti. Then, she stayed quiet and watched him work. He moved from place to place, almost dancing as he tried to take in everything, test each scenario and possibility, make sure to leave nothing uncovered.

She leaned on the railing and watched, a smile on her face while her eyes showed nothing but admiration. She loved to see him work, getting glimpses of how his superior mind worked in ways so different from other people; how he took advantage to it and brought the idea of deduction to a whole new level.

He finished and closed his eyes for a moment, letting his mind process all the information. He erased senators, plans and ideas; connected dots and images and faces and names. Once done, he opened his eyes and looked at his audience.

He could feel her eyes all the time he was thinking and doing his thing but never bothered, instead, he found it slightly strange and yet welcoming. He locked eyes with her, seeing the admiration in those brown hues of hers. She was the only one along with John and his landlady to look at him like that like he wasn't someone crazy or strange or a freak.

His mind played the scene in the office and how she had defended him even though she didn't have to. She had done t same with Sergeant Donovan and Sherlock couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

He suspected and deducted that it was her nature, but he had managed to get glimpses of a much colder and harsher side which made him doubt. He had the hypothesis that she saw hi friend, something strange and yet he didn't bother to question or correct it.

He noticed her smile and he walked towards her, catching a glimpse of John heading their way. The corner of his lips lifted so slightly and for that single second before putting his normal face.

She kept her smile and didn't question, as if she knew that he would eventually fill them in or she would just roll with him like last time. It was rare to see someone doing that, people always wanting some schedule and plan and know what is going on; like John. Even though he tried his hardest to follow his league and didn't complain much about it.

She though just followed, never questioning; showing full trust. He wondered why, he tried to find out, but he failed. There was something she was good at, hiding some information; putting a mask he couldn't take off but that only made him more determined to solve her.

John joined them and Sherlock led them back towards the escalators. He had what he needed from the Bank, now there were other things to unfold and see.

"Two trips around the world this month. You didn't ask his secretary; you said that just to irritate him" John pointed out, earning a smile from the man who stayed silent.

"How did you know?" Lex asked, always fascinated to listen to his way of thinking.

"Did you see his watch?"

She lifted an eyebrow and John looked confused. "His watch?"

"The time was right, but the date was wrong. Said two days ago. Crossed the dateline twice but he didn't alter it"

"Within a month? How'd you get that part?"

"New Breitling."

John stayed confused but Lex smiled in pride. "That's right. It's the February model"

He gave a nod and John looked at her. "How did you know that?"

"Was all over the internet with pre-ordering and stuff" she shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay. So d'you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer?" turns to Sherlock.

"Got everything I need to know already, thanks"

"Hmm?"

"That graffiti was a message for someone at the bank working on the trading floors. We find the intended recipient and ..."

He deliberately trailed off, allowing John to finish the sentence.

"... they'll lead us to the person who sent it"

"Obvious"

"Well, there's three hundred people up there. Who was it meant for?" Lex asked.

"Pillars"

"What?" John exclaimed.

"Pillars and the screens. Very few places you can see that graffiti from. That narrows the field considerably. And of course, the message was left at eleven thirty-four last night. That tells us a lot"

She gave a nod, realizing what small dance and hide-and-seek game were all meant for before. "Once again, fascinating"

He smiled faintly. "Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. That message was intended for someone who came in at midnight" he held up the name card to show them. "Not many Van Coons in the phonebook"


They grabbed a Taxi and let Sherlock do his thing, as per usual. Didn't take them long to arrive at some blocks of flats close to the centre of London. Lex looked around carefully, John was normal and Sherlock eager to solve this job.

He pressed the door buzzer marked 'Van Coon'. Releasing it, he looked into the security camera above the buzzers, waits a couple of seconds, then pressed the buzzer again. There's no response"

"So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back?" John asked.

The man didn't reply instantly, instead, he looked at the number of buzzers on the wall and stepped back to look up the front of the building, presumably calculating the layout of the flats inside. He came back to the wall and looks at the duo triumphantly. "Just moved in"

"Honey, you will have to explain that," Lex said, lifting an eyebrow.

Sometimes she could catch up with his thinking but sometimes he could literally find the needle in the haystack.

"The floor above. New label" then pressed another buzzer which had a handwritten label saying, 'Wintle'.

"Could have just replaced it" John suggested.

"No-one ever does that"

"Hello?" a female voice came from the intercom.

Sherlock turned to the camera and smiled. "Hi! Um, I live in the flat just below you. I-I don't think we've met" He grinned prettily into the camera.

"No, well, uh, I've just moved in"

He turned to throw a brief 'told you so' glance at John, then turned back to the camera all while Lex tries to hold her smile and act 'normal'.

"Actually, I've just locked my keys in my flat" he grimaced and bit his lip plaintively.

"D'you want me to buzz you in?"

"Yeah. And can I use your balcony?"

"What?


Not long afterwards, Sherlock had flirted his way into Ms Wintle's flat and was standing on her balcony. He looked over the side to the ground several floors below. Luckily for him, he was on the top floor where the flats had balconies which only run halfway across the front of the flat, whereas the floor below had full-width balconies.

He climbed over the side of Ms Wintle's balcony and dropped down onto the one outside Van Coon's flat. Taking another look over the edge, he turned and reached for the handle of the door and found that it was unlocked. He went inside and walked across the very elegantly decorated living room.

This was clearly the apartment of a wealthy person, with white leather furniture, shiny black tables and minimal clutter. He looked at everything as he went through the room and glanced at a pile of books on a table. He walked through the kitchen, looking at the work surface before opening the fridge to reveal that it's full of nothing other than bottles of champagne. The front door to the flat buzzed.

"Sherlock" John's voice was heard from the other side of the door while Sherlock moved into the hall. "Sherlock, are you okay?" Suddenly Lex landed on the balcony of the apartment the very same way but unlike Sherlock, she made no sound. She then walked inside, taking a good look at the expensive and lavishing living room before hearing John's voice. "Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in"

She chuckled and walked towards the door, unlocking and then opening it. John stood there, shocked and then turned behind him where she had been standing maybe two minutes ago. He then looked at her and blinked.

"I knew he wouldn't open us, so I followed his lead" she replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world and let him in.

"Right," he exclaimed and walked in, deciding not to question how she was able to do that or her idea of thinking. Sherlock managed to do it and she was still a pretty well-wrapped mystery to the army doctor despite the time they had spent knowing each other due to sharing the same building. "Sherlock?"

Lex heard the sound of something falling against the door and walked towards the hall, heading for the bedroom door where the sound originated. John followed and they spotted him standing at the door frame.

Coming closer, they took in the scene that was in front of them. A man in a suit and overcoat was lying on his back on the bed, dead. There was a pistol on the floor, and the man had a small bullet hole in his right temple.

"I will call the detective," the woman in the group said with a sigh and grabbed her phone from one of the pockets of her cargo pants.