TAXI.
Sherlock sits in the back lost in thought. Vaness was staring at the opposite window, just sitting beside him quietly. Partway into the journey, the TV screen on the back of the driver's seat switches on and an advertisement starts to play. London Taxi Shopping is advertising jewellery.
"This is a stunning evening wear set from us here at London Taxi Shopping." The voiceover said.
"Can you turn this off, please?" Sherlock said to the driver.
The driver doesn't respond and the advert continues.
"As you can see, the set comprises of a beautiful ..." the voiceover continued.
Vaness squeezed Sherlock's hand warningly.
"Can you turn this off ..." Sherlock said loudly but he was interrupted.
The image on the screen begins to fritz as if another channel is breaking through. There are momentary glimpses of someone who can only be Jim Moriarty grinning at the screen. Sherlock squeezed Vaness' hand. Eventually the advert disappears and Jim is seen smiling cheerfully. Behind him is a pale blue wall with painted white fluffy clouds floating across it. Jim's voice takes on a sing-song quality as if he is talking to children.
"Hullo. Are you ready for the story? This is the story of Sir Boast-a-lot." Jim said.
Sherlock stares at the screen, his face intense. Vaness stares at the screen as well, her senses aware of her surroundings.
SCOTLAND YARD.
Sally is showing Greg one of the photographs.
"The footprint. It's all he has. A footprint." Donovan said.
"Yeah, well, you know what he's like – CSI Baker Street." Lestrade replied.
"Well, our boys couldn't have done it." She replied.
"Well, that's why we need him. He's better." Lestrade defended.
"That's one explanation." She said.
"And what's the other?" Lestrade asked her, daring her to say what he already know she's thinking.
TAXI.
Jim's image continues to smile from the TV screen.
"Sir Boast-a-lot was the bravest and cleverest knight at the Round Table, but soon the other knights began to grow tired of his stories about how brave he was and how many dragons he'd slain ..." Jim narrated.
Behind him, the pale blue sky gets darker and the white clouds become grey and threatening.
"And soon they began to wonder ..." he continued.
Behind him, rain begins to pour from the clouds.
" ... 'Are Sir Boast-a-lot's stories even true?'" he continued.
SCOTLAND YARD
"Only he could have found that evidence." Donovan said.
TAXI
Jim sadly shakes his head.
"Oh, no." Jim said.
SCOTLAND YARD.
"And then the girl screams her head off when she sees him – a man she has never seen before ... unless she had seen him before." Donovan said.
"Wh-what's your point?" Lestrade asked.
"You know what my point is. You just don't wanna think about it." Donovan replied.
TAXI
"So one of the knights went to King Arthur and said ..." in a dramatic whisper "... 'I don't believe Sir Boast-a-lot's stories. He's just a big old liar who makes things up to make himself look good.'"
At Scotland Yard, Anderson has now come in and he and Sally stand opposite Greg's desk as he sits talking with them.
"You're not seriously suggesting he's involved, are you?" Lestrade asked them.
"I think we have to entertain the possibility." Anderson replied.
Greg stares at him, bewildered.
"And then even the King began to wonder ..." Jim said dramatically.
He frowns, raising a finger to his mouth and gazing off to the side with a thoughtful look on his face.
At Scotland Yard, Greg sinks his face into his hand as he is forced to consider what his officers are telling him.
On the taxi TV screen, Jim frowns thoughtfully while cartoon lightning bolts shoot out of the clouds behind him.
"But that wasn't the end of Sir Boast-a-lot's problem. No." Jim said shaking his head repeatedly.
He looks down for a moment, then raises his eyes to the camera again.
"That wasn't the final problem." He said.
Sherlock bares his teeth at the screen as the camera pulls back to show Jim sitting with a storybook held in his hands. He looks up at the camera and finishes in an even more sing-song voice.
"The End."
Behind him, a red velvet curtain drops down as if covering a theatre stage. The shot changes to an extreme close-up of Jim grinning hugely and showing his teeth, then the screen fritzes a few times and eventually returns to the jewellery advert.
"Stop the cab! Stop the cab!" Sherlock ordered.
The taxi begins to pull up to the kerb.
"What was that?" Sherlock exclaimed.
He jumps out of the right-hand door, pulling Vaness with him, and runs forward to the driver's door.
"What was that?" Sherlock asked.
The cabbie, wearing a cloth cap very reminiscent of the one worn by the cabbie in "A Study in Pink," turns his head towards Sherlock and reveals that he is Jim Moriarty, who adopts a London accent as he speaks.
"No charge." Jim said.
He immediately accelerates away as Sherlock tries to grab hold of the door and pull the cab back. Forced to let go, he and Vaness chases after the taxi but it soon speeds away. They stop in the middle of the road, glaring after it and Sherlock was unaware that another car is speeding along behind them. Vaness waited until the last second. As it sounds its horn in warning, a man hurries off the pavement, grabs them and pulls them out of danger.
"Look out!" The man yelled.
Not yet fully realising what the man is doing, Sherlock strikes out at him but then stops as the car roars past and he realises what has happened. He immediately looked over to Vaness and saw that she was safe.
He stands with the man at arm's length, breathing heavily while the man looks warily at him.
"Thank you." Sherlock said catching his breath.
He holds out his hand for the man to shake. Sulejmani somewhat reluctantly takes it and three bullets are fired into him in quick succession from somewhere behind Sherlock. Sulejmani slumps to the ground and Sherlock spins around, trying to find the source of the gunfire. Just then another black cab comes around the corner and pulls up a short distance away. John jumps out and hurries towards them.
"Sherlock! Vaness!" John yelled.
Some time later Sherlock stands twitching his fingers fretfully while an ambulance crew wheels Sulejmani's body away. Vaness held him at her side, caressing his arm softly.
"That ... it's him. It's him. Sulejmani or something. Mycroft showed us his file. He's a big Albanian gangster lives two doors down from us." John said.
"He died because I shook his hand." Sherlock said.
"What d'you mean? Vaness why didn't you..." John was going to ask but she interrupted.
"He's an assassin." She said quietly
"He saved my life but he couldn't touch me. Why?" Sherlock asked himself.
He storms off with Vaness. John follows.
221B.
Sherlock and Vaness walks rapidly into the living room, Sherlock pulls off his scarf and then his coat as he goes across to the laptop on the dining table. Vaness stood with her back to the bookshelf.
"Four assassins living right on our doorstep. They didn't come here to kill me; they have to keep me alive." Sherlock said.
He sits down at the table while John goes over to the window near him and looks out.
"I've got something that all of them want, but if one of them approaches me ..." Sherlock said.
"... the others kill them before they can get it." John continued.
Sherlock grunts in agreement and types rapidly on the laptop, navigating away from the website for St Aldate's School and calling up a list of local Wi-Fi networks. There are five of them and he checks their signal strength and the names of the networks, each of which is in a foreign language.
"All of the attention is focussed on me. There's a surveillance web closing in on us right now." Sherlock said.
"So what have you got that's so important?" John asked he debated on asking Vaness but Sherlock has just told them that they are being watched.
Sherlock gazes into the distance and thinks for a moment, then runs his finger along the table beside the computer before lifting it and looking at his fingertip.
"We need to ask about the dusting." Sherlock said.
Shortly afterwards, Mrs Hudson has been dragged upstairs in her nightdress and dressing gown. Sherlock is hurrying around the room checking for dust on all the furniture.
"Precise details: in the last week, what's been cleaned?" Sherlock asked.
"Well, Tuesday I did your lino ..." Mrs. Hudson said.
"No, in here, this room. This is where we'll find it – any break in the dust line. You can put back anything but dust." Sherlock said.
He lifts his hand from the latest piece of furniture that he has been running his finger along, and twirls his finger dramatically in the air.
"Dust is eloquent." He continued.
Mrs Hudson looks over her shoulder at John.
"What's he on about?" Mrs. Hudson asked quietly.
John shakes his head and mumbles. By now Sherlock is climbing on the furniture to look more closely at the top shelves of the bookcase to the left of the fireplace.
"Cameras. We're being watched." Sherlock said.
"What? Cameras?..." She cringes. "...Here? I'm in my nightie!"
The doorbell has just rung and she hurries out of the room, John following her. Sherlock has climbed down, he turned to Vaness who was still standing infront of the bookshelf in the other side of the fireplace. His eyes widened then he cringes in shame of not realsing it immediately before climbing onto small tables on the other side of the fireplace to look at the bookshelves there, just as Vaness stood aside to let him. Checking the books on the top shelf, he apparently realises that the one on the far right has more movement around it than it ought and he pushes it deeper into the shelf, revealing a camera stuck to the side of the bookshelf. As he reaches up to remove it, Greg comes into the room followed by John.
"No, Inspector." Sherlock said without turning around, still concentrating on removing the camera.
"What?" Lestrade asked.
"The answer's no." Sherlock said stepping down with the camera in his fingers.
"But you haven't heard the question!" Lestrade exclaimed.
"You want to take me to the station. Just saving you the trouble of asking." Sherlock said.
He walks closer. Greg pulls in a breath.
"Sherlock ..." Lestrade was interrupted.
"The scream?" Sherlock asked.
"Yeah." Lestrade answered.
"Who was it? Donovan? I bet it was Donovan." Sherlock said
"Of course it was." Vaness said snidely.
"Am I somehow responsible for the kidnapping? Ah, Moriarty is smart. He planted that doubt in her head; that little nagging sensation. You're going to have to be strong to resist. You can't kill an idea, can you? Not once it's made a home ..." he reaches forward and briefly places his index fingertip on Greg's forehead between his eyes "... there."
"Will you come?" Lestrade asked.
"One photograph – that's his next move. Moriarty's game: first the scream, then a photograph of me being taken in for questioning. He wants to destroy me inch by inch." Sherlock said turning away, sitting down at the laptop and beginning to type.
Picking up the camera again, he looks at it for a moment, then raises his eyes to Greg's.
"It is a game, Lestrade, and not one I'm willing to play." Sherlock continued.
"Give my regards to Sergeant Donovan." Sherlock said.
Vaness smiled darkly then turned to Lestrade, "Tell her she'll regret it."
Sighing and exchanging a brief look with John, Greg turns and heads off down the stairs. John watches him go, then turns back towards Sherlock who has now linked the camera into the computer so that he can pull up the live footage on the computer screen.
Downstairs, Greg walks along the hallway and glowers at Sally who is waiting at the front door. He walks past her and out into the street. She turns and watches him unhappily, then follows.
Upstairs, John has gone over to the right-hand window and looks out at the car parked outside as Greg and Sally go over to it and get in, Greg glancing up towards the window momentarily. As the car starts, Sherlock briefly looks at John.
"They'll be deciding." Sherlock said.
"Deciding?" John asked.
"Whether to come back with a warrant and arrest me." Sherlock said.
"You think?" John asked.
"Standard procedure." Sherlock said.
"They'll come back." Vaness said, looking at the window.
"Should have gone with him. People'll think ..." John said.
"I don't care what people think." Sherlock replied.
"You'd care if they thought you were stupid, or wrong." John said.
"No, that would just make them stupid or wrong." Sherlock replied.
Angrily, John turns towards him, he looks at Vaness briefly before turning back to Sherlock.
"Sherlock, I don't want the world believing you're ..." John said.
He breaks off as Sherlock lifts his head to look at him. They lock eyes for a long moment.
"That I am what?" Sherlock asked.
"A fraud." John answered.
Sherlock rolls his eyes and sits back in the seat, Vaness placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're worried they're right." Sherlock said.
"What?" John asked.
"You're worried they're right about me." Sherlock repeated.
"No." John replied.
"That's why you're so upset. You can't even entertain the possibility that they might be right. You're afraid that you've been taken in as well." Sherlock said.
"No I'm not." John said turning away and look out of the window again.
Sherlock leans forward.
"Moriarty is playing with your mind too..." Furious, he slams his hand onto the table. "...Can't you see what's going on?"
John looks at him for a few seconds, then looks out of the window again.
"No, I know you're for real." John replied.
"A hundred percent?" Sherlock asked.
"Well, nobody could fake being such an annoying dick all the time." John said quietly, turning back towards him.
Sherlock locks eyes with him again, then his mouth twitches with the trace of a smile. John looks away once more.
"Sherlock..." Vaness said softly and Sherlock and John turned to face her.
She stared at Sherlock's eyes.
"Don't you ever doubt us. John and I will always believe you." She said with a comforting smile.
"And, I will always be at your side, for as long as I can." She said.
Sherlock had an understanding look, and they smiled sadly at each other.
SCOTLAND YARD.
Greg is sitting in front of the desk of the Chief Superintendant while Sally and Anderson stand nearby. The Chief walks around his desk to sit down behind it.
"Sherlock Holmes?" The chief superintendant asked.
"Yes, sir." Lestrade answered.
"That bloke that's been in the press." The chief said.
"Mmm-hmm." Lestrade replied.
"I thought he was some sort of private eye." The chief said.
"He is." Lestrade said.
"We've been consulting with him – that's what you're ... you're telling me?" The chief asked.
Greg nods.
"Not used him on any proper cases, though, have we?" The chief asked.
"Well, one or two." Lestrade answered.
Anderson, his arms folded and looking down at his feet, snorts quietly.
"Or twenty or thirty." Anderson said quietly.
"What?" The chief asked.
"Look, I'm not the only senior officer who did this. Gregson ..." Lestrade was saying but the chief interrupted him.
"Shut up! An amateur detective given access to all sorts of classified information, and now he's a suspect in a case!" The chief said loudly.
"With all due respect, sir ..." Lestrade tried but he was interrupted again.
"You're a bloody idiot, Lestrade! Now go and fetch him in right now!" The chief said angrily.
Greg hesitates.
"Do it." The chief said sternly.
Greg stands up and the three of them leave the room. The Chief Superintendant takes off his glasses and buries his head in his hand. Outside the others are on their way across the main office.
"Are you proud of yourselves?" Lestrade asked.
"Well, what if it's not just this case? What if he's done this to us every single time?" Anderson said.
Sally grabs her coat from the coat stand as she goes past. Greg stops for his own coat, then takes out his phone and starts dialling. Hanging back from the other two, he raises the phone to his ear.
Shortly afterwards, John – standing in the centre of the living room at 221B – lowers his own phone from his ear and switches it off. He turns to Sherlock and Vaness who are now sitting in their armchair.
"So, still got some friends on the Force. It's Lestrade. Says they're all coming over here right now, queuing up to slap on the handcuffs: every single officer you ever made feel like a tit, which is a lot of people." John told Sherlock.
Sherlock appears to be taking no notice of him, and now Mrs Hudson knocks on the closed living room door with her customary "Ooh-ooh!" and then comes in, still in her nightwear. She apparently feels the tension in the room.
"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?" Mrs. Hudson asked.
Sherlock rolls his eyes and looks away. She turns her attention to John.
"Some chap delivered a parcel. I forgot. Marked 'Perishable' – I had to sign for it." She said.
John takes the Jiffy bag from her and immediately realises that there's a wax seal over the flap. Sherlock looks across and also sees the seal.
"Funny name. German, like the fairytales." Mrs. Hudson continued.
Sherlock rises to his feet and walks forward, his gaze intense and locked on the Jiffy bag as John opens it and pulls out the contents. Vaness stood beside Sherlock. Outside, the sirens of several different vehicles are approaching. In John's hand is a large gingerbread man but it's an unusual colour. He tilts it so that Sherlock and Vaness can see it better.
"Burnt to a crisp." Sherlock said.
The vehicles pull up outside and the sirens stop, and doors start to slam as people get out of the cars.
"What does it mean?" John asked referring to the burnt gingerbread man.
The doorbell rings and at the same time someone pounds on the front door knocker.
"Police!" A man said.
"I'll go." Mrs. Hudson said.
She turns and hurries down the stairs as someone continues to knock on the door. Voices can be heard as she opens the door.
"Sherlock ..." they heard Donovan said.
"Evening, Mrs Hudson." Lestrade said downstairs.
"We need to talk to you!" Donivan called upstairs.
John puts the gingerbread man back into the envelope and puts it on the table before heading out of the flat. Downstairs, Mrs Hudson sounds angry.
"Don't barge in like that!" She said.
Feet can be heard trotting up the stairs. Vaness turned to Sherlock and kissed his cheek. "At your side." She whispered. Calmly Sherlock turns around and picks up his scarf and loops it around his neck. John is apparently blocking the stairs partway up.
"Have you got a warrant? Have you?" They heard John said.
"Leave it, John." Lestrade told him.
"Really! Manners!" Mrs. Hudson said.
Sherlock puts on his coat and Vaness fixes the collar up.
Shortly afterwards Greg stands in front of him while one of two armed officers attaches handcuffs to his left wrist. Vaness stood infront the bookshelf again. Staring at Sherlock.
"Sherlock Holmes, I'm arresting you on suspicion of abduction and kidnapping." Leatrade said.
John gestures towards Sherlock while looking at Greg as the officer pulls Sherlock's left hand behind his back in order to cuff his other wrist.
"He's not resisting." John said.
"It's all right, John." Sherlock said.
"He's not resisting. No, it's not all right. This is ridiculous." John said.
"Get him downstairs now." Lestrade said to the officer who just handcuffed Sherlock.
The officer spins Sherlock around and marches him out of the door. Mrs Hudson stands nearby almost in tears. Vaness couldn't look at her so she looked down on the floor, clenching her jaw.
"You know you don't have to do ..." John was saying.
"Don't try to interfere, or I shall arrest you too." Lestrade said interrupting John and getting into his face and pointing at him sternly.
He turns and leaves the room. John turns to Sally who is standing near the door.
"You done?" John asked.
"Oh, I said it." Donovan said looking smug and oh-so-very punchable as she walks into the room.
Vaness acted lost and defeated so she would come closer to her. Her fist was itching to meet her.
"Mmm-hmm?" John asked.
"First time we met." Donovan said.
"Don't bother." John said.
"'Solving crimes won't be enough. One day he'll cross the line.' Now, ask yourself: what sort of man would kidnap those kids just so he can impress us all by finding them?" Donovan said.
Mrs Hudson gasps. Donovan was standing with her back faced to Vaness. Just then the Chief Superintendant walks in.
"Donovan." The chief said.
"Sir." Donovan replied.
"Got our man?" The chief asked.
"Er, yes, sir." She answered.
"Looked a bit of a weirdo, if you ask me." The chief said.
John turns towards him.
"Often are, these vigilante types." The chief continued.
He has been looking around the living room but now he turns and sees John staring at him.
"What are you looking at?" The chief asked.
Sally was looking at Vaness smugly. And just as John did, Vaness moved her fist so fast to Donovan's face.
Her fist broke Sally's nose, but she did not regret it, she warned her before. 'Don't mess with my man.' she said to herself.
After punching the two, John and Vaness shared a grin.
A minute or two later, the Chief Superintendant walks out onto the street holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose. Donovan was also bleeding, sitting down on the sidewalk.
"Are you all right, sir?" A police officer asked the chief.
Nearby, Sherlock has been leaned against the side of a police car, facing it. Now John is slammed up against the car next to him and to his left and Vaness to his right. Sherlock looks across to John then to Vaness with an amused expression on his face.
"Joining me?" Sherlock asked.
"Yeah. Apparently it's against the law to chin the Chief Superintendant." John replied.
"Told you I'll be at your side." Vaness said to him.
Behind them, a couple of armed officers unlock the cuff on Sherlock's right hand and transfer it to John's right wrist, and another cuff was attached to Sherlock's right hand and to Vaness' left hand, chaining the three of them. Sherlock looks over his shoulder, watching what the officers are doing and where they're standing.
"Hmm. Bit awkward, this." Sherlock said.
"Huh. No-one to bail us." John said.
"I was thinking more about our imminent and daring escape." Sherlock said.
He looks down at the radio lying on the dashboard of the car they're leaning against. The radio squeals as the dispatcher speaks.
"All units to two-seven." Was said hy a radio dispatcher.
John looks round at Sherlock's previous statement.
"What?" John asked and he turned to Vaness.
"All units to two ..." the radio dispatcher said.
With Sherlock's both hands chained, he turned to Vaness. Rapidly Vaness reaches through the open window of the car with her free hand and presses down on the Talk button. Instantly the officer behind them doubles over in pain and grabs at his earpiece when a high-pitched squeal of feedback rips through it.
Vaness reaches behind her and pulls the officer's pistol free. She then gave it to Sherlock quickly and instantly raising it. Because it's in Sherlock's left hand, John's shackled right hand is yanked upwards as well and he gasps in surprise at the rapid turn of events. Sherlock calls out as he aims the pistol towards the nearest officers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, will you all please get on your knees?" Sherlock said.
Nearby, Greg's whole body language says, 'Oh, FFS ...' When nobody reacts very quickly, Sherlock raises the gun skywards and fires it twice.
"NOW would be good!" Sherlock said loudly.
He lowers it and points it at the police again.
"Do as he says!" Lestrade ordered.
He gestures everybody downwards and all the police start to kneel. The three start to back away.
"Just-just so you're aware, the gun is her idea. I'm just a ... you know ..." John was saying.
Sherlock transfers the pistol to his right hand, and Vaness raised her left with it, and promptly aims it at John's head.
"... our hostage." Sherlock said.
John gasps.
"Hostage! Yes, that works – that works. Sorry Vaness, I should've solely blamed Sherlock." John said quietly to the two.
Vaness chuckled, "I prefer it this way." She said.
They continue backing away from the kneeling police. Behind them and probably unnoticed in all the excitement, a piece of artistic graffiti has been sprayed on the wall of the house on the street corner. In red paint, huge letters spelling out "iou" are at least three feet high and are surrounded by an elaborate dark set of angel's wings. They begin to back carefully around the corner.
"So what now?" John asked.
"Doing what Moriarty wants – I'm becoming a fugitive. Run." Sherlock said.
Vaness and Sherlock turns and begins to race off down the road, dragging John with them.
Back at the police cars, Greg buries his head in his hands. The Chief Superintendant gets to his feet and turns to him.
"Get after him, Lestrade!" The chief said sternly.
Greg glares furiously at Sally as she begins to head in the direction the boys have gone. Greg is a lot slower in getting moving.
Around the corner as the three run along side by side, Sherlock loops the loose chain between both handcuffs around his wrist.
"Take my hand." Sherlock said to John as Vaness was already doing so.
"Now people will definitely talk." John said grabbing his hand as they race onwards. Vaness laughed.
Sirens are approaching at the junction ahead of them. Sherlock and Vaness swerves to their left and drops the pistol in the process. It clatters to the ground.
"The gun!" John said.
"Leave it!" Sherlock replied.
They shove John down a side alley as the police car races straight across the junction. They run down the alleyway and reach high railings blocking their way. Sherlock, with his customary flair, leaps up onto the top of a dustbin and vaults straight over the top of the railings, Vaness being athletic enough and closer to the dustbin did the same. John, being an adorable short-arse and also not as close to the dustbin, is left behind; his right hand is dragged upwards and his face almost smashes against the railings as Sherlock drops to the other side.
"Sherlock, wait!" John said.
He reaches through the railings with his free hand and grabs Sherlock's coat, dragging him closer and glaring into his face.
"I'm not used to being dragged around, not like Vaness. We're going to need to coordinate." He said sternly.
"He's right." Vaness said. "You don't exactly drag him around every single day like you do to me. I'm used to it, he's not."
John nodded in agreement. Sherlock quickly scans all around them.
"Go to your right." Sherlock told John.
"Huh?" John asked.
"Go to your right." Sherlock repeated.
He looks upwards and goes up onto his tiptoes to get the chain of the cuffs over the top of one of the spikes at the top of the railings.
Not long afterwards, they're all on the same side of the railings and running down the alley again. Reaching a T-junction Sherlock turns to the right, then immediately brakes and ducks back again as a sirening police car races past the end of the alley. The three of them lean side by side against the wall catching their breath for a moment.
"Everybody wants to believe it – that's what makes it so clever. A lie that's preferable to the truth. All my brilliant deductions were just a sham. No-one feels inadequate – Sherlock Holmes is just an ordinary man." Sherlock said bitterly.
"It's stupid." Vaness said.
"What about Mycroft? He could help us." John said.
He grunts as Sherlock and Vaness drags him across to the other side of the alley and peers down the left arm of the T-junction.
"A big family reconciliation? Now's not really the moment." Sherlock said.
The couple spins around, dragging John in a circle behind them and looking back the way they came. John spots something at the end of the right arm of the T-junction.
"Sher... Sherlock." John said.
He elbows him with his cuffed arm to turn him in that direction. A face is peering around the corner at the end of the alley.
"We're being followed. I knew we couldn't outrun the police." John said.
"That's not the police. It's one of my new neighbours from Baker Street. Let's see if he can give us some answers." Sherlock said.
Sherlock and Vaness breaks in the opposite direction from where the man is watching them. Running to the next corner, they flatten themselves against the wall as they reach it and Sherlock looks around the corner. There's no sign of any police in the street but a double decker bus – the number 74 to Baker Street Station – is approaching. Sherlock presses himself back against the wall again.
"Where are we going?" John asked.
"We're going to jump in front of that bus." Sherlock replied.
"What?!" John exclaimed.
But the couple was already on the move and drags John out into the street. The assassin races after them. Halfway across the road, Sherlock and Vaness screeches to a halt directly in front of the approaching bus. John's impetus carries him past them before he's able to stop and turn and now they're both facing the bus and not moving.
The assassin charges into the road, throws himself at them and shoves them out of the way and all four of them tumble to the ground as the bus drives past, its horn blaring. Before the assassin can recover, Sherlock sits up and drags the man's own gun from his jeans, then cocks and points it at him.
"Tell me what you want from me." Sherlock ordered.
The man stares at him wide-eyed but doesn't speak. Sherlock moves the gun's muzzle closer to him.
"Tell me." He said sternly.
"He left it at your flat." The assassin replied.
"Who?" Sherlock asked.
"Moriarty." The assassin answered.
"What?" Sherlock asked.
All four of them start to get to their feet, Sherlock still holding the gun on the other man with his right hand and therefore, Vaness' left.
"The computer keycode." The assassin replied.
"Of course. He's selling it – the programme he used to break into the Tower. He planted it when he came around." Sherlock said.
Three gunshots ring out and the assassin reels and drops to the ground. Sherlock stares up in the direction the bullets came from, then swings around and he, Vaness and John race off. As police sirens approach again, they duck into an open doorway and yet another police car drives past the end of the road. They take a moment to catch their breath.
"It's a game-changer. It's a key – it can break into any system and it's sitting in our flat right now. That's why he left that message telling everyone where to come. "Get Sherlock." We need to get back into the flat and search." Sherlock said.
"CID'll be camped out. Why plant it on you?" John asked.
"It's another subtle way of smearing my name. Now I'm best pals with all those criminals." Sherlock said.
"Vaness, why didn't you say anything?" John turned to her.
Vaness refused to look at him and merely pointed at a pile of newspapers nearby and she picks up the top copy.
"Have you seen this?" Vaness asked Sherlock.
It's a copy of "The Sun" – the same edition that Mycroft had at the Diogenes Club that morning, telling of the upcoming exposé by Kitty Riley. John shows it to Sherlock.
"A kiss and tell. Some bloke called Rich Brook." John said immediately recognizing it.
Sherlock slowly turns his head – clearly the name means something to him. John is still looking at the paper and doesn't see his expression.
"Who is he?" John asked.
Kitty Riley parks her car outside her home, gets out and locks the car before walking to the front door. Opening it, she walks along the hall to the door of her flat, then pauses and looks at the door nervously when she realises that it is slightly ajar. Hesitantly she pushes the door open and reaches for the light switch on the wall.
The lights come on and she is greeted with the sight of Vaness, Sherlock and John sitting on her sofa, each of them drumming the fingers of their handcuffed hand on their respective knees.
"Too late to go on the record?" Sherlock asked.
Not long afterwards, Kitty is sitting in an armchair while the boys stand in the middle of the room. Sherlock is using a hairpin to pick the lock on his handcuff he shared with John while Vaness picks the one they shared, quite awkwardly as Sherlock was using his right hand.
"Congratulations. The truth about Sherlock Holmes." Sherlock told Kitty.
He frees his hand and gives the hairpin to John, then he let Vaness unlock them both quickly before starting to pace back and forth in front of Kitty.
"The scoop that everybody wanted and you got it. Bravo!" He continued.
"I gave you your opportunity. I wanted to be on your side, remember? You turned me down, so ..." Kitty said.
"And then, behold, someone turns up and spills all the beans. How utterly convenient. Who is Brook?" Sherlock asked.
Kitty shakes her head, refusing to tell him any more.
"Oh, come on, Kitty. No-one trusts the voice at the end of a telephone." Sherlock said.
John finally frees his own hand from the cuffs.
"There are all those furtive little meetings in cafés; those sessions in the hotel room where he gabbled into your dictaphone. How do you know that you can trust him? A man turns up with the Holy Grail in his pockets. What were his credentials?" he asked sternly.
Outside in the hallway there have been the sounds of someone coming in through the main front door. Now Kitty looks towards the door of the flat and rises to her feet with a concerned look on her face when someone pushes her door open.
Sherlock turns to follow her gaze as Jim Moriarty, unshaven and with his hair messy and wearing casual clothes including a cardigan, walks in with a shopping bag.
"Darling, they didn't have any ground coffee so I just got normal ..." Jim was saying.
He raises his eyes and stares in terror at the sight of Sherlock, whose own eyes widen. Jim drops the shopping bag and backs away until he bumps into the wall behind him, holding up his hands protectively in front of him.
"You said that they wouldn't find me here. You said that I'd be safe here." Jim said his voice trembling.
"You are safe, Richard. I'm a witness. He wouldn't harm you in front of witnesses." Kitty said.
John, his face full of shock, points at Jim.
"So that's your source? Moriarty is Richard Brook?!" John exclaimed.
Vaness stayed to the side, behind Sherlock. John's teeth are bared and he glares at Jim, breathing heavily in pure fury.
"Of course he's Richard Brook. There is no Moriarty. There never has been." Kitty said.
"What are you talking about?" John asked.
"Look him up. Rich Brook – an actor Sherlock Holmes hired to be Moriarty." Kitty told John.
Sherlock stares at Jim, who is still holding up his hands and looking at everyone nervously. Jim's voice is shaking as he turns to John.
"Doctor Watson, I know you're a good man." Jim said.
He backs into the corner of the room, appearing terrified under John's ferocious glare.
"Don't ... don't h... Don't hurt me." He acted scared.
John screams at him, pointing towards him furiously.
"No, you are Moriarty!" He turns his head briefly and yells at Kitty. "He's Moriarty!" He turns back to Jim. "We've met, remember? You were gonna blow us up!"
Jim puts his hands briefly over his face, then holds them up in front of himself again, sounding as if he is almost crying in fear
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He gestures towards Sherlock. "He paid me. I needed the work. I'm an actor. I was out of work. I'm sorry, okay?" He then gestured to Vaness, "She knows. Ask her please."
Breathing heavily, John turns to Sherlock.
"Sherlock, you'd better ... explain ... because I am not getting this. Vaness, speak now." John turned to Vaness.
"Oh I'll ... I'll be doing the explaining – in print." She hands John a folder. "It's all here – conclusive proof."
John looks at an early typed sheet of her upcoming article, then turns to the proof copy showing the layout of how it will appear in the newspaper, with spaces left for photographs. The headline reads, "Sherlock's a fake!" with the strapline, "He invented all the crimes".
"You invented James Moriarty, your nemesis." Kitty said looking at Sherlock.
"Invented him?" John asked.
"Mmm-hmm. Invented all the crimes, actually – and to cap it all, you made up a master villain. And this girl over here found out." Kitty walk towards Vaness, Sherlock put his arm protectively over her.
"Really?" Vaness asked, curious on her part.
"Yes. You found out and you used it, blackmailing him into dating you." Kitty told her.
Vaness chuckled.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" John exclaimed.
Kitty turns and points towards Jim.
"Ask him. He's right here! Just ask him. Tell him, Richard." Kitty said.
"Look, for God's sake, this man was on trial!" John said furiously.
"Yes ..." Kitty points at Sherlock "... and you paid him; paid him to take the rap. Promised you'd rig the jury."
Sherlock stares at her silently.
"Not exactly a West End role, but I'll bet the money was good." Kitty said.
She walks over to Jim and puts her arm around his shoulders while he stands with his hands still held out in front of himself.
"But not so good he didn't want to sell his story." She continued.
Jim looks plaintively at John, putting his hands together pleadingly.
"I am sorry. I am. I am sorry." Jim said.
"So-so this is the story that you're gonna publish. The big conclusion of it all: Moriarty's an actor?!" John asked angrily.
He shakes his head in disbelief.
"He knows I am. I have proof. I have proof. Show him, Kitty! Show him something!" Jim said.
"Yeah, show me something." John said.
Kitty walks across the room. John turns to watch her as she reaches into a bag for more information. Behind them, Jim has put his hands over his face but now he pulls his hands away from his eyes a little and looks towards Sherlock and Vaness, whose own gaze has barely left him since he arrived. For a brief moment, James Moriarty reveals his true self and he smiles triumphantly at his enemy. Sherlock half-smiles back at him but there's no humour in his eyes, Vaness just glared darkly. Kitty takes out a folder, walks over to John and gives it to him.
"I'm on TV. I'm on kids' TV. I'm The Storyteller." Jim said slipping back into his Richard persona and sounding plaintive and panicked.
John looks at copies of Richard Brook's contact details apparently taken from an agency website, then a newspaper article showing a picture of Richard in glasses wearing medical scrubs and with a stethoscope around his neck. The article is headlined, "Award Winning Actor Joins The Cast of Top Medical Drama".
"I'm ... I'm The Storyteller. It's on DVD." Jim continued.
He looks across to Sherlock and Vaness again, this time keeping his Richard face on. John continues looking through the folder at other publicity stills of Rich together with his CV. Jim gestures towards John, looking at Sherlock pleadingly.
"Just tell him. It's all coming out now. It's all over." He said then turned to Vaness.
"Please tell him, I know you love him but he doesn't. You know the truth so tell John please." Jim told Vaness pleadingly.
He turned back to Sherlock his voice becomes more frantic.
"Just tell them. Just tell them. Tell him!" He said.
Baring his teeth, Sherlock starts to walk towards him.
"It's all over now ... NO!" He yelled.
He backs away from Sherlock and up a short flight of stairs towards the bedroom on the upper level of the flat. His eyes are wide and terrified.
"Don't you touch me! Don't you lay a finger on me!" Jim said.
"Stop it. Stop it NOW!" Sherlock said furiously.
Jim turns and bolts up the stairs.
"Don't hurt me!" Jim said loudly.
Sherlock, Vaness and John chase after him.
"Don't let him get away!" John yelled.
"Leave him alone!" Kitty told them.
Jim runs into the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom. With Kitty still at the bottom of the stairs and therefore unsighted, and John halfway up the stairs with his vision blocked by Sherlock and Vaness ahead of him, Jim turns and grins manically at the couple for a brief second before slamming the door shut.
Sherlock runs to the door and struggles momentarily to open it, then shoves it open but Jim has already disappeared through the open window opposite. There's a crash outside as if Jim has landed on top of a dustbin. Sherlock looks out of the window, then turns to stop John and Vaness.
"No, no, no. He'll have back-up." Sherlock said.
He heads towards the stairs, dragging Vaness with him. Kitty backs down to get out of their way but doesn't move quickly, slowing them down.
"D'you know what, Sherlock Holmes? I look at you now and I can read you." Kitty said.
They stop at the bottom of the stairs as she gets into Sherlock's face.
"And you ... repel ... me." Kitty said.
Vaness lost control and just like with Donovan, her fist connected to Kitty's face, she was sure she broke her nose.
"Vaness!" John exclaimed.
Sherlock grabs her and heads out of the door. John, still holding the folder of the articles about Rich, shoves Kitty aside and follows them.
They go out onto the street and John and Vaness stops while Sherlock begins to pace rapidly back and forth in the middle of the road.
"You shouldn't have..." John was telling Vaness but she interrupted.
"I know. Stupid move." She said.
They both turned to look at Sherlock.
"Can he do that? Completely change his identity; make you the criminal?" John asked.
"He's got my whole life story. That's what you do when you sell a big lie; you wrap it up in the truth to make it more palatable." Sherlock said.
"Your word against his." John said.
"He's been sowing doubt into people's minds for the last twenty-four hours. There's only one thing he needs to do to complete his game, and that's to ..."
He stops dead. Vaness looked down. John, who has been rifling through the folder, looks up at his friend, who is turned away from him.
"Sherlock?" John asked.
"Something I need to do." He said.
"What? Can we help?" John asked.
"No – on my own." He said.
Vaness stopped him before he could go.
"I'm coming with you." She said.
"On my own." Sherlock said sternly.
"At your side." She said softly.
Sherlock sighed. Vaness turned back to John.
"You're going to Mycroft." She said, "I'm coming with him. Contact me if you need us." She said.
John nodded.
Sherlock briskly walks away, dragging Vaness with him reluctantly. John watches them, sighing, then looks down at the papers again.
BART'S.
Molly comes out of a small side room in a lab, switches off the lights and walks across the darkened lab, sighing tiredly. As she reaches the door to the corridor, Sherlock and Vaness are standing in the darkness behind her with Sherlock's face turned away from her. She doesn't see them and reaches for the door handle.
"You're wrong, you know." Sherlock said.
She gasps and jumps, spinning around towards him. Vaness smiled at her apologetically at her boyfriend's dramatics.
"You do count. You've always counted and We've always trusted you." Sherlock said.
He turns his head towards her.
"But you were right. We're not okay." Sherlock said.
"Tell me what's wrong." Molly said.
"Molly, I think I'm going to die." Sherlock said slowly walking towards her, Vaness stayed behind.
"What do you need?" Molly asked.
"If I wasn't everything that you think I am – everything that I think I am – would you still want to help me?" Sherlock asked still slowly approaching her.
She gazes up at him as he stops close to her.
"What do you need?" Molly asked.
He steps even closer, his expression intense.
"You." Sherlock said, "We need your help." He said.
Here's an update.
I enjoyed making Vaness punch those two just as she enjoyed punching them.
SuperwomanFan00 I emailed you ... I hope I sent it on the write email address ...