It wasn't long before they arrived at Molly's house. The walk was quite silent. Everyone seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts or didn't know what to say. With slightly shaky fingers, Molly opened the door and then indicated to Sherlock to come in.
She led him down the short corridor to her living room. Her kitchen was in the front part of the house.
"Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. I'll prepare the tea," she then said, pointing to her couch with her hand.
Sherlock nodded thankfully at her and immediately stripped off his coat and took off his jacket.
'Oh, man, if only this top button would come off now' she languished in her thoughts and had to be careful not to stare at him too long.
"Um Molly?" asked Sherlock. He seemed slightly confused.
Molly looked up in horror and looked at him questioningly.
"The tea?"
"Oh, yes, right. Sorry" she said and went to her kitchen as quickly as possible. Her cheeks burned like fire.
'Oh man, was that embarrassing,' she thought, rolling her eyes and grabbing her glowing cheeks in shame. She took another deep breath and then set about preparing the tea. Gradually she relaxed again. And after a few minutes she had a normal body temperature again.
Shortly afterwards, with the tea on a tray in her hands, she entered the living room again. Sherlock was still sitting on the couch and typing on his phone again. With cautious steps she approached him and put the tray down. She had to be careful not to tremble too much from nervousness. After all, she had already allowed herself far too much embarrassment towards him today.
"So, Sherlock. What did Ida actually want from you now?" she then asked, sat down in the seat next to him and reached for a cup. Something cursed her for not having another chair or armchair. But just something.
Sherlock turned to her now, so he could look at her.
"Did you know Mrs Kelly?" he then asked with a question in return.
"Well, yes. I mean, I didn't know her for very long but she was a friend. She was the local librarian here and she just knew everything about everyone. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's because I could see you were at the funeral, crying. You only do that if you are close to someone," he concluded.
'Wow. Sherlock had actually deduced something about feelings.'
Molly was stunned but still wondered what the reason for his visit here was.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," she said, with a slight grin.
" But you haven't answered my question yet" she kept asking him.
Sherlock now had to grin too. How he had missed that smile. How he had missed her. Maybe he should tell her that he wasn't here just because of the case, or that he had only accepted it because he knew that a very special person would live here? He decided against it. Instead, he started to tell her how it happened.
Review John and Sherlock were just sitting in their armchairs in their flat, picking out new cases for Sherlock. Well, John was sitting. Sherlock was trudging through the living room and annoyed John that he was bored and needed a case. He couldn't shoot at his wall because John had hidden the gun. After all, a small child was now living under her roof. In recent months they have also started to solve crimes together again. After the cases became more and more frequent and John slowly dropped the blanket on his head, he decided to take Rosie to a childminder. At least this way he could go back to his work as a doctor and accompany Sherlock on his days off to solve crimes. And now he was sitting in his old armchair, looking for a suitable case for his friend. But nothing seemed appropriate. Sherlock was able to solve most of the enquiries, as he often did, while reading aloud. Then at some point he got a message and stopped when he read the first line. "Stop!" stopped Sherlock, John. John looked up in horror. "Hmm? Oh no, I don't think so. But it sounds highly interesting. I'll have a look at it." Sherlock wasn't sure if Molly would be in danger, but he didn't want to worry his best friend either. "Hang on. You want to go to Dunmore? Do you think that's a good idea?" "Why not? There's a client who needs my help and there's a murderer on the loose. It seems to be the most interesting case we've had in weeks," he said. "Yes but it is YOU who will visit them. We both know very well that you are not exactly the sensitive type of person. And anyway, how are you going to face her when she asks you about this evening and the kiss?" Yes, John knew about her kiss. Immediately after Sherlock had entered his flat again that evening, he asked him why he hadn't said goodbye to her. The other guests said goodbye because they did not want to be witnesses to their "marital row". John talked him into the conscience until it burst out of Sherlock. John was stunned and thought it was the worst thing he could do. Sherlock had then retreated and thought about what his friend had said. Of course he was right. After all, Molly was leaving London the next day and she wanted to forget him, but at that moment, and when she told him she loved him, he couldn't help it. He just wanted to. "We'll see and now, John, I have to do some things for my departure," he said forcefully, hoping that he would leave it at that.
John had decided to move back to Baker Street shortly after Molly moved. Sherlock had even rented the basement flat to set up his laboratory.
Mrs Hudson had also offered her help, but as Rosie became more mobile and alert, John didn't want her to do the same.
"Dunmore East?" he whispered softly. "How does this look so familiar?" he asked himself, putting his fingertips to his chin.
"Molly lives in Dunmore. Do you think she's in danger?" he asked slightly worried.
"And Molly will certainly be glad of a visit from her old home''
Of course, Sherlock didn't tell her about the last parts of the conversation, only about the request from her friend.
"Yes of course. Ida had mentioned something like that once. But I haven't seen her since," Molly noted.
"Wait, you knew that Mrs Kelly thought it was murder?" he now asked, astonished but slightly horrified.
'If Molly knew about it, then perhaps she would be in danger after all? No, I won't let that happen,' he said to himself.
He wanted to do everything to make sure nothing would happen to her.
Sherlock then asked what else Molly would know. So she told him, all the stories she knew about the inhabitants or had heard from Ida. Sherlock listened attentively all the time, hoping to find a clue to the killer somewhere in her stories.
"And what are you going to do now?" Molly then asked after she had finished her story.
"First of all, I would like to talk to the residents here. I'll start with the Fitzgeralds. Yes, and then I need to talk to the police as well. I just hope they're open to my suspicions.
Molly nodded.
"Okay, if this really is a murder and Mr. Murphy and Ida were killed, then I want to help. Tell me Sherlock, what can I do?"
Sherlock was amazed, yet he was not surprised. So he knew his Molly. Yes, Sherlock had never stopped loving her since Molly left. On the contrary, it only got stronger because of the distance. That's why he tried to distract himself with as many cases as possible. He also tried to get back to his old self but he just didn't want to succeed anymore. This was probably due in part to his regular visits to his sister in Sherrinford. She was the one who had opened the door to his emotional side and she also made sure that it remained open.
He promised to get in touch with her if he knew what she could do. Then he thanked her for the tea and said goodbye to her a little later.
Even though Molly actually wanted to forget him, she was looking forward to solving a crime together with him again. Finally her new friends were killed and she couldn't and wouldn't let that go. She was eager to see what Sherlock would find out and how he would ask for her help. But secretly she felt a little fear rising up inside her and hoped that this time together would not trigger something in her again.
With these thoughts she finally went to bed and then fell asleep at some point...