Skateboarding

On the way back from grocery shopping John Watson walked through the park while reading a text from Sherlock only to shake his head in defeat and turning on the spot to walk right back to the super market. How in the world did Sherlock know that he forgot the milk? John stopped for a moment and looked down on himself: normal shoes, normal trousers, normal jumper. With a frown and a shake of his head he walked on when suddenly his phone rang.

„Sherlock, I am already on my way to buy the milk!" he said a little bit angry about himself.

„I know. You were just now trying to figure out how I knew. Without any luck it would seem" came Sherlock´s answer and John took a quick look around.

„...and no, I am not in the park." John rolled his eyes.

„Hey!" Now John smiled. When wanted to counter back he suddenly heard glass breaking and an alarm going off. John looked around. The noise came from a little shop just over the street.

„What was that, John?" Sherlock asked through the phone, not completely able to cover up the worry in his voice.

„See, you don´t know everything Mr. Deduction" John said a bit more quietly than before and slowly moved closer to the shop. It was a tiny jewelry shop and the glass door was broken into pieces. A loud alarm was beeping without pause.

„John?" he heard Sherlock´s voice from the phone in his hand.
„Looks like a break in, Sherlock. There is glass everywhere. Huh..?" John ducked only seconds after seeing a shadow move inside. Fortunately it seemed as if he wasn´t discovered.

„What is it? What happened? John!" Sherlock started to sound panicky.

„There is someone inside. I´m gonna see if I canDONC…."

„John? John! JOHN!" Sherlock screamed already getting his coat and running down the steps. There only came rustling from John´s side and suddenly the connection broke completely. The consulting detective rushed past a very startled Mrs. Hudson and made his way down to the street. With a sudden realisation he turned on his heels and ran right back inside. Only seconds later he returned, Mrs. Hudsons car keys in hand. He sprang into the shiny car, happy to sit in a real car seat this time. The not-so-much-housekeeper watched him drive off with screeching tires and shook her head in bewilderment. She has to find a new hiding place for the damn keys.

Before Sherlock could turn the corner to the park he already heard the sirens of several police cars. „This can´t be happening" he murmured to himself and pushed the gas pedal even further down. His vision blurred as tears started filling in his eyes but he quickly wiped them away. A couple of police cars stood in front of a little jewelry shop and blocked most of Sherlock´s vision. He put the car to a halt and after a few troubled breaths stepped out on the street.

He felt like he was walking in slow motion when he pushed himself forward to the scene. The sound of the sirens, the glass crunching under his shoes and laughing children made him feel sick. Wait...laughing children...what is going on?! Sherlock furrowed his brows and hastened around the first police car just to see… a kid joking with the cops and another sitting in the car to turn on the siren, clearly enjoying it. Bloody amateurs! Sherlock turned to the little shop and took in the damage. Most of the glass lay on the inside and there were clear markings of a small body that fell inside the glass and little foot prints leading around it. Sherlock crouched down and noticed a small trail of blood in the glass. Just as he tried to follow the trail an old man, supposedly the owner of the shop, collected the splinters with a big swing of his broom.

„What?! How dare you! You just destroyed evidence of the utmost importance!" Sherlock practically screamed.

„What are you talking about man? Evidence for what? It was an accident!" the old man asked startled by the handsome angry man in front of him.

„An accident! The door was clearly smashed in by a blunt object and…" Sherlock glanced at the door and the few remaining glass pieces on the floor. Suddenly realisation hit him and he rambled on.

„…somebody small – like a child – fell through it immediately after and cut his right knee (as the markings clearly showed) when falling into the glass pieces. Two other children came, one from each side, to lift him over the glass."

„Ahm.." the shopowner interrupted but Sherlock held up a hand to shut him up.

„In this arrangement they could not get him through the door since it is too narrow. They had to stay inside and wait for help which was quickly coming as the alarm is one of the kind that instantly calls the police when going off" Sherlock said with one hand pointing to the security system over the entrace.

„That leaves only two questions. First: Why did the boy only cut his knee? And second: Where is John Watson?"

„Ahm.." the shopowner tried another attempt but a glance from Sherlock stopped him from going any further.

„The child fell forward on his hands and knees but only cut his right knee which means that it was wearing protectors on its hands and knees. The one on his right knee shifted in the fall. This combined with the blunt object crashing through the door gives me reason to believe that the kids were skateboarding and one accidentally crashed through the door." Sherlock looked at the shopowner prepared to shut him up again but this time the old man just stood there and looked at him in surrender. Sherlock smiled.

„Only one question left. John Watson. He heard the glass shattering, came closer to the shop and saw someone move inside" while saying this Sherlock traced his friends steps and duck down at the exact same spot where John had done the same only minutes before. At this point the connection broke up. Sherlock looked around, then up and down…there: a drain cover. He looked through the splits and rolled up his sleeve, flat on his stomach he pushed his whole arm through and retrieved a soaking wet cell phone.

„John lost his phone and decided to take a look inside the shop. He did not leave any marks in the glass since he knows how to move in a crime scene. He found the children and cleaned the boy´s cut knee. The police must have been there soon after and questioned him. But where is he now? The two other kids are still here but the boy is missing as well. Judging by the small amount of blood the wound must have been minor so they did not take him to the hospital, so where are they now? Am I missing something? Yes, but what?!" Sherlock looked at all the little details the shop and the pathway in front of it could give him.

„What did I miss?" he mumbled as he was suddenly interrupted again.

„The milk" said a familiar voice from behind him.

„You forgot about the milk" said a smiling John Watson with two shopping bags in his left and shaking a milk carton with his right hand. A few meters behind him a boy with a cut knee skated over the street with a big grin in his face.

„Let me guess: You came here a few minutes ago and deduced everything that happened yourself even though you could have gotten your answer in a few seconds just by asking one of the many people standing around" John saw the shopowner, who was standing behind Sherlock, violantly nodding his head and laughed.

„Well, since you came all this way you can at least help me with the groceries" and with that John pushed one of his shopping bags in Sherlock´s arms.

„Fine" Sherlock groaned and turned to the boy.

„We´ll be on our way then. Good luck with the new tricks" he said winking.

Only seconds after he started walking John stopped abruptly.

„You know, don´t you?" he asked looking Sherlock directly into the eyes.

„Course! The police arrived at the scene in a couple of minutes and the accident was easily explained. The super market is only a few hundred meters away from here and you only needed to buy milk. Which means that you and the boy spend quite some time on the way there and back. Combining this with the fact that your clothes are wrinkled at your wrists and your left knee...when did you learn skating? School?"

„Yeah, I was at the skate park every day and got really good over the time. I stopped when I went to collage but I still got some moves" John said with a smile and started walking again. He watched Sherlock getting a car key out of his pocket and pushing the button opening it from a distance. He suddenly stopped in his tracks again.

„Is that Mrs. Hudson´s car? Where did you get the keys?" John asked in astonishment. Then turning to his friend with shining eyes:

„Can I drive?" Sherlock smiled and walked on.

Hey there! I know it has been a looong time since I last updated but I am in the middle of my studies at university^^ Hopefully I can write more this semester.

Hope you guys enjoyed it. As always: Reviews and new ideas are very much aprreciated!

Take care!