Day 21 - From cjnwriter: "Moriarty and Moran's Christmas."
A/N: 221B, and a continuation of the previous prompt (This is entirely in a different direction than I planned this collection to go, but that's what's fun about prompts.)
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As the sun rose, it offered a small respite from the bitter cold, though the wind still whipped fiercely off the ocean, and cut through the boulders at the edge of the cliff. But as welcome as the sun might be for additional warmth, it fully illuminated the horror of the scene before us: twenty small houses in a seaside town, all former inhabitants brutally murdered.
Holmes' face was grim as we finished assisting Lestrade in cataloguing all the evidence. A myriad of methods had been used, from knives to bullets to poison. None of the townspeople had been spared, though I hoped they hadn't suffered too greatly. With my experience in the war, it was all to easy to paint a vivid picture in my mind.
"What do you make of this, Watson?" Holmes asked when we had stepped away from the others to discuss the case.
I frowned. "There seems to be no motive for this crime aside from mass death," I said, carefully watching my companion's expression.
Holmes nodded. "I suspect that is exactly the motive," he said. "Did you notice anything about the knife and bullet wounds?"
"They were made by someone with great skill, and experience," I said. "Perhaps Colonel Moran."
"I fear Moriarty may be behind this massacre," Holmes said, holding up a discarded bullet.