Piano
Sherlock and John met Lestrade at the victims house. It was a big white country residence of a quite popular actress.
"The woman is in the living room on the sofa. Follow me" Lestrade said without greeting them. They followed him to wide yellow room with loads and loads of cat pictures on the walls. A big TV screen was standing in one corner of the room and in front of that stood a large couch – the cover made completely out of fur. A blonde woman was lying on it, naked and wet, and a big pool of blood was flooding over the parquet. Sherlock glanced at the woman´s body and then started to scan the surrounding while John knelt next to the couch, careful not to make contact with the blood on the floor, and examined the body.
"She can´t be dead for very long. I would say between 12 and 14 hours ago. She died of exsanguination" John said and looked up to Lestrade who had furrowed his brow in confusion.
"She lost too much blood, Lestrade" Sherlock shouted from the other end of the room. John looked at Sherlock and he looked back at him.
"Sometimes it is helpful to listen to what John says" he then stated and turned around to went on with his examination.
"Yeah, ok. But tell me why did somebody kill her in the shower and dragged her here? And do you know where the hell the blood is coming from?" Lestrade looked a little bit embarrassed by Sherlock´s statement but was truly curious about the lack of a wound.
"Considering the amount of blood, there must be a deep wound that hit a main artery." John bend deeper over the corps and slid his hands over the body where the arteries are lying – from her shoulders to her hands, back to her shoulder, then over her chest to the legs, down to the feet.
"To answer your other question..." Sherlock said coming back to them after finishing his examination "...she was not killed in the shower."
"But she is naked and soaked" Lestrade criticised but Sherlock goes on with his deduction ignoring him.
"She was killed right here on the couch, elsewhere the blood would have been in the sewage. She was fully clothed when she was killed and was probably watching TV. The Television was switched off directly at the device but she never used the power off button, instead she used the remote which is under the cocktail table. There is no fingerprint on the power off button so the killer used gloves." Sherlock wanted to go on put was interrupted by Lestrade.
"WHY THE HELL IS SHE NAKED AND SOAKED IN WATER THEN?" he screamed and John stopped his examination to look at Lestrade in shock.
"Sorry...I..." Lestrade muttered but Sherlock went on
"The killer was clever. He knew that there must be evidence on the body and the cloth which would identify him as the murderer so he took her cloth of and washed her body with a cloth from the kitchen. I just took a quick look at the kitchen through the door but there are cloths at every hook except on one. He took the cloth and her clothes with him and left." When Sherlock was finished Lestrade´s eyes widened and he finally understood what had happened. But one thing was still odd.
"And what about the..." he was going to ask for the wound but the answer came before he could finish the question.
"Found it!" John said triumphantly. He had both his hands behind the woman´s neck and held her head slightly into the air. He nodded to both men to come closer and take a look.
"Here, right between her vertebra and her head is a small but deep wound. It must have been from a long and sharp object, probably a knife or a paper knife. It cut through the outer and internal carotid artery." he explained.
"How could we have missed that" Now Lestrade was really embarrassed and was expecting Sherlock to say something to rub salt into the wound. But instead Sherlock kept silent and looked up at the ceiling.
"What is it?" John - who had noticed Sherlock´s unusual silence too - asked and looked up at theflowered ceiling.
"The killer was clever but he forgot one simple thing. This is a big house full of expensive goods and owned by a famous woman. Of course she would have surveillance in her own house" Sherlock said and lowered his look.
"There is no surveillance in this house" the detective stated and Sherlock laughed.
"And why is there a lens in the third flower of the second row?" Lestrade looked up and indeed there was something reflecting in the middle of said flower.
"There must be a computer somewhere in this house where all the data is saved. We have to find it" Sherlock said looking around. John stood up from where he was kneeling and went to the corridor. The other men followed.
"Ok, Lestrade you look around down here, Sherlock you go up to the first floor while I go down to the basement." John started going down the steps and Sherlock and Lestrade looked at each other confused by John´s command that sounded somehow military. Then they both hiked their shoulders and went their way.
When John reached the basement it wasdark. It took a while until he finally found the light switch. The corridor was flooded with light and John was blinded for a second. In front of him was a wide hallway with two doors to each side. He opened the first door on the left and found himself in some kind of equipment room. Behind the next door was a big tank - it was the heating. He left the room again with dry eyes from the bad air condition in there. He approached the first door on the right side and frowned. It was full of old stuff that looked like it was in the family´s possession over many generations. There was an old wooden rockinghorse, a floor clock which hasn´t ticked for a very long time, old cupboards with dishes. In the middle of the room was something big hidden under a dust sheet that must have been white a long time ago. John approached the big something and with one swing lifted the sheet from it. He had to close his eyes because of the dust his action whirled in the air and when he opened them again there was a beautiful old piano with a small stool in front of him. Johns eyes widened. He slowly circled the instrument sliding one hand over the wooden lid. The he stopped and thought for a moment. A desire ran through his whole body that directed him to the front of the piano. He sat down on the stool and stretched his fingers.
When Sherlock arrived on the first floor he found himself in a hallway – very similar to the hallway John approached at the same moment – and went through the first door on his right side targeting the room above the living room. He found what he was looking for. As he was expecting, the camera from the ceiling was not one of the newest and therefore had to be connected to another device via wires. In one corner of the room he was now standing in a big black wire came from the ground and went up to the ceiling where it entered the room on the left. Sherlock went to that room and found that the wire came out of the wall and ended up in a cupboard. The cupboard was locked with a padlock. Sherlock grinned. He fished a leather case out of his coat and then picked the lock with one of his picklocks. Behind the doors of the cupboard were more wires and a computer. It took Sherlock seconds to find the right password – catloverforever – and after a few more moments he had the recording of the murder. The killer had been dumb enough to enter the house without covering his face. It will be easy for the police to find out who this man is and arrest him. Sherlock opened some live streams from other cameras and found out that Lestrade was in the kitchen looking under the sink – great idea Lestrade – and that John just entered the first door on the right side of the basement hallway. He closed the cupboard and walked down the stairs.
"I found it. First floor, second door on the right side. The killer didn´t wear a mask so it will be easy for you to find him" Sherlock said after entering the kitchen. Lestrade – who was still looking under the sink – hit his head against the drainpipe to the sudden sound. He moaned and his head appeared.
"Great, I will call the tech guys to get all the material" he mumbled and fished out his phone while holding one hand to his head. Sherlock left the room again without another word and the detective rolled his eyes.
Sherlock arrived at the basement hallway seconds later and was going to run straight to the first door on the right side where he last saw John on the tape when he heard silent music. It was the sound of a piano which was beautifully played and it got louder and louder the closer he got to the door. Sherlock knew the composition. It was River flows in you and was played so beautifully that Sherlock caught himself standing at the closed door listening excitedly to the sounds. He had never heard this piece played so fluently and so harmonically before. He quietly opened the door and entered the room without making a noise to not interrupt the playing. His eyes widened when he saw the man sitting in front of the old piano, moving his whole body in the rhythm.
John has closed his eyes at some point in his play and does not note anything around him. The old musical peace is his favourite and his whole body is taken in by it. He finished the masterpiece with elegance and opened his eyes again. He jumped when he suddenly heard a deep voice behind him.
"That was amazing" John turned around and saw Sherlock leaning against the door frame. He immediately jumped up from the stool to put some distance between him and the instrument – it is a reflex because there is no way that Sherlock hadn´t noticed that he was playing.
"Ehm...I..I just.." John stammered. He closed his eyes looked away from Sherlock and then turns his gaze back to him. He could have sworn that Sherlock just blinked his eyes several times to get rid of tears that had started t fill them.
"When did you learn that?" Sherlock asked looking directly at John.
"Ehm...my mom played the piano when I was a kid. It was standing in the living room and I used to play with it when I was young. She taught me some pieces when I got older" John answered shyly.
"Why have I not known about it?" Sherlock asked – mostly to himself.
"Well I think it never came up. I thought you maybe deduced it at some point but I never know what you know and what you don´t" John said with a friendly smile.
"SHERLOCK...JOHN...ARE YOU DOWN THERE" Lestrade´s voice echoed through the hallway. John and Sherlock looked at each other.
"Did you find the device?" John asked and Sherlock nodded.
"IF YOU DON`T WANT TO BE TRAPPED HERE THEN YOU SHOULD COME UP. WE ARE LEAVING NOW" John turned around and covered the piano with the sheet, somehow sad that he would not get to play it again. He left the house together with Sherlock.
"We should play something together someday" Sherlock simply stated when they walked through the entrance door. John just smiled.