(4) Lestrade & Kate
His mother gave the next one.
"Kate?"
"She was a companion of mine," Irene said. "She lived in with me."
"When you say 'companion', you mean ..."
"That's right," Irene said. "Here is your own envelope as well." She handed over another one with 'plane tickets' written on it. "You've never had a passport before & your driver's license had only some of your names. We have updated everything in time for your birthday."
"You will notice your full name on your passport," Sherlock said. "John Hamish 'Nero Wolfe' Adler Scott—Holmes." He also picked up the next labelled envelope. "Inspector Lestrade. He was the main cop I worked with. I helped him a lot. You can read the case work on those blogs I mentioned."
"Would he still be on the force?"
"Maybe," Sherlock shrugged. "He might be retired by now."
Nero had read through several old blogs while on the plane to England. Now he was in the home of his last surviving uncle, Sherrinford, hoping he would calm down soon so he could ask about this cop. He had found the Holmes family, though one was in fact, dead. Now it was time to find the others.
Sherrinford was sitting with his fingers steepled & staring at nothing. Nero knew from experience not to approach the door of a Mind Palace. Although, Nero wasn't sure if Sherrinford was doing it because he was trying to understand his brother, or doing it to avoid Enola who was shooting daggers with her eyes at him every chance she got.
"How's your hand?" Nero asked her.
"I've just redone the bandage again," said Enola. "How long are you staying in England?"
"Two weeks," said Nero.
"Are you staying at a hotel?"
"Four Seasons Hotel," answered Nero. "Ten Trinity Square."
"Alright, the limo can take you there," said Enola. "Sherry needs some time. Give me your room number & I'll come find you sometime tomorrow."
They got into the limo together & headed back for London. "Dad said he used to live in London."
"Yeah, 221B Baker Street," said Enola. "Him & John. Bothering cops for years." She laughed.
"Dad got rather strange when he mentioned John Watson."
"Good!" Enola nearly snapped. "He had better! After what he put that poor man through. Oh I could wring William's neck!"
"Ok um ... did something happen between them?"
"No & THAT is the main problem," said Enola. "It should have, though. Oh well. I really don't know what to do. Who are all the people your Dad wants found?"
"Well, I'm thinking of trying Lestrade next," said Nero. "Dad said he was the main cop he had worked with."
"Oh Greg's still in London," said Enola. "But he is retired, now. We can meet him tomorrow." The limo pulled into the drive for the hotel & stopped at the door.
Nero got out. "Alright, see you tomorrow afternoon, then?"
"That should give me enough time to drive some sense into Sherry."
"Good luck," Nero said as he closed the door. He signed into his room. "Wow!" He barely breathed as he entered it. The room was almost as large as the house back home. He had a good view over the city. Nero logged in to the computer & brought up a map for Baker Street.
Nero spent most of the day seeing some of London's finer sights. He worked his way towards Baker Street until he found the apartment building. Below it was a restaurant so he stepped inside to sit down a bit. He grabbed a sandwich with tea & sat by the window. Did his father ever sit here? When he was done, he got up & took a picture of the table he was at, then went to pay. He turned to go out & smashed into a woman coming in.
"Oh my God!" Nero bent down to help her pick up her spilled purse. "I am so sorry! Did not see you at all." He stood up & handed over her things ... & lost all sense at last. "Uh. Um. Hi."
"Hi," she said. "Don't worry about it." She took her pen from his hand. "Thanks."
"Um I'm ..." The hell was his name now? "Uh Nero."
"I'm Rosie," She offered a hand which he had to tell himself he needed to grab & shake.
"Um, sorry about that."
"It's ok," said Rosie. "You're not from around here, are you? You have an accent."
"I do?" Nero dumbly replied.
"Yeah," Rosie laughed.
"I'm from out of town," Nero said.
"That might explain it," said Rosie.
"Maybe," Nero was wondering why he was grinning from ear to ear. "I uh, I gotta get by."
"Oh right," Rosie moved sideways.
"See you later," Nero finally left. He fell on his bed & spent the night staring at the ceiling.
The next day, Nero was mostly back to normal in time for Enola's limo. While in the car, Enola sent a text to someone. "We're meeting Greg for lunch. I haven't told him why yet. I want to see his face & pick up any pieces."
"Was he affected by Dad's disappearance the first time, too?"
"Oh yeah," said Enola. "He was one of the three targets, in fact."
"Three targets?"
"If your Dad didn't kill himself; Greg, John & Mrs. Hudson would have been shot by snipers."
"What?" Nero stared. "How did Dad get mixed up in something like that?"
"A mastermind criminal your father & your Uncle Mycroft had to take down," said Enola. "It nearly didn't work but we got through it. Oh, driver? Could you stop here a moment please?" The limo pulled off to the side & Enola got out with Nero. "See that?" She pointed at Bartholomew's Hospital. "That's the roof he jumped from."
"How did he survive that?" Nero gasped.
"A lot of planning," Enola pulled him along. She explained to him what happened. "We had to have a large air mattress out for him to land on but we had to block that view from snipers & John who almost got too close. Mycroft eventually took care of the sniper watching Sherlock & John & then we brought the air mattress out & Sherlock jumped for it. We also had to get rid of Sherlock & that mattress within five seconds & throw a dead body right there & let everyone see it. Your Dad was fine but it was still quite gruesome."
Nero had both hands on his face. "All these years, I thought I knew him better."
"Hey, try growing up with him & two other brothers," Enola laughed. They went back to the limo. "Your Dad had to hide for two years," Enola went on as the limo moved once more. "We had to get rid of the snipers before he could come back or Greg, John & Mrs. Hudson would still die. The Holmes family knew of course but, for their own safety, we didn't tell them. So it was a bit of a shock when he walked back into London like he owned the place."
"I bet," said Nero. The car pulled into a stop once more, coming to rest in front of the doors to the restaurant they were supposed to meet Lestrade in.
"Holmes," Enola said at the receiving desk. "Four seats." As they were ushered to the table, Nero saw two people already there.
"Enola, hi," the man Nero assumed was Greg Lestrade began. "So what's the big ... OH HELL!" His eyes landed on Nero. He stared for almost a minute.
"This is Nero," Enola said. "Sherlock's son."
Lestrade slapped the table with his hand. "That bastard! AGAIN!"
Nero gingerly sat down. "I'm still getting used to these reactions. Apparently, Dad's disappeared before?"
"Don't even get me started," said Lestrade. "What's he gotten into now?"
"Oh nothing," Nero fished around in his bag for the correct label. "Just another sticky mess." He smiled to himself as he thought of honey, for he was the only one who would understand that joke at this time. "This is for you." He gave Lestrade his letter.
"Sherlock with a kid," Lestrade shook his head as he took the envelope. "Unbelievable. Who's the lucky lass that tamed him?"
Nero blinked hard at that, trying to get rid of certain images all of a sudden. Tame him indeed! "Irene Adler."
"Irene?" The woman sitting next to Lestrade suddenly spoke. "She's alive?"
"Yeah, she's fine."
"This is my wife, Kate," Lestrade began & Nero's eyes went slightly wide. "She & Irene used to ... well I don't know if you know."
"My mother is a Dominatrix & that's sort of how she met Dad," Nero said. "Ohh believe me. I know. You're Kate, then? Mom has something for you."
"She does?" Kate gasped. Nero looked through his remaining envelopes & handed hers over.
"Right, so you know everything," Lestrade was very interested in his letter all of a sudden.
The menus were passed out & Nero & Enola started looking through them while Lestrade & Kate read the letters. Lestrade eventually put his aside, stood up & bent over, hands on knees.
"You ok, Greg?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute."
Enola waited the minute. "So, it looks like you were right all along."
"Yep," Lestrade gasped in a cracked voice.
"What do you mean?" Nero asked.
"I was still a cop then," Lestrade said as he sat down. "That serial rapist killer was my case. Sherlock & John left England to go after him, but Sherlock never returned. Then I heard about a building blown up but the male body inside was already dead. No smoke inhalation. Some bullets were found & traced to Sherlock's gun. That case was brought back into England since Sherlock lived here & given to me. I didn't want to admit it. I had to close the case & label him a murderer. There was too much evidence. Sherrinford suggested maybe someone had stolen Sherlock's gun. It took a while, but I managed to convince the jury it was a loose case & we have no proof if the gun was used by Sherlock or a thief. Now I know it was Sherlock all along."
"I don't blame him," Kate put aside her letter. "Irene was my Mistress & we promised each other that if we ever ended up with someone like that, they would suffer. I would have done the same thing!"
"I know," Lestrade sighed. "I know. I'm so glad I'm not a cop anymore. I won't mention this. They'll reopen the case if I do. This is a bloody confession! Not only for that murder, but ... but ... he beheaded a whole gang, as well? I can't ever mention any of this!"
Once the four of them were served, Nero was opened up to the world of crime solving at last as Lestrade offered many details of what Sherlock & John used to do twenty years ago. Both he & Kate as well as Enola bombarded Nero with questions of what was going on now.
They ended up staying there for almost three hours. Nero & Enola finally left with the limo while Lestrade took Kate home in their car. Once inside, Lestrade dropped both letters on the coffee table, then took out his mobile. The pair shared a look.
"What will you even say to him?" Kate finally asked.
"I have one thing in mind," Lestrade dialed the number. Once it was answered, the first thing he said was, "OOOO you bastard!"
"Hello, Greg."
"Is Irene around?" Lestrade asked.
"I'm here."
"Hello, Mistress," Kate said.
Unlike with Sherrinford, that conversation went a lot better. After letting the women talk a bit, Lestrade took the mobile back. "Sherlock, these letters. They're basically a confession."
"I know," Sherlock said. "That's why I will never return to England. I have a new life here."
"I'm-I'm so sorry," Lestrade finally cried. "I'm not a cop any more so ... so I can agree with what you did." Both had a laugh at that. "Look, this is ... not the end, Sherlock. Nothing's stopping us from going over to see you, someday."
"That would be acceptable," Sherlock replied.
Lestrade smiled at the word acceptable. Some things never changed. "I'll work something out later. But you & I both know ... he needs all the help he can get if Nero finds him."
"I know."