Back at 221, Sherlock, John, and Danielle stared at the wall above the fireplace. Sherlock had added new pictures to go with the new evidence. Danielle's eyes darted to the various pictures, trying to make note of any pattern.

"So, the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher for Van Coon; Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in. Hours later, he dies." Sherlock reported.

"The killer finds Lukis at the library; he writes the cipher on the shelf where he knows it'll be seen; Lukis goes home." John reported.

"Where he's killed by the same man." Danielle finished. "Or woman. But it's the same person either way. Which I guess means we just don't know why they're being killed."

"Why did they die, Sherlock?" John sighed.

Sherlock ran his finger along one of the cipher's. "Only the cipher can tell us." He tapped the picture for a moment. If only it was one of the talking paintings in Hogwarts, then they're be a chance to figure it out.

Danielle glanced at Sherlock, then the picture he was staring at for a disquieting time. "...and what's it telling you?"

Sherlock answered with a small smug smile.

==NKMHLY==

Now they were walking in Trafalgar Square. Normally, Danielle couldn't make the hour's walk to the fountain for Erika, especially not with Regent's Park that much closer. Still it was a nice place, though with the multitude of tourists around it looked a lot less enticing.

"The world's run on codes and ciphers, John. From the million-pound security system at the bank, to the PIN machine you took exception to-" Danielle giggled at the reminder of that. Oh, what a lovely story that had been to hear. "-cryptography inhabits our every waking moment."

"Yes, okay, but-" John tried to speak.

"...but it's all computer-generated: electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods. This is different. It's an ancient device. Modern code-breaking methods won't unravel it." Sherlock rattled off.

"Where are we headed?" John asked, getting to the point.

"I need to ask some advice."

Danielle reeled back, shocked. She had to rush in order to get back the pace.

Lucky John was just as thrown for a loop. "What?! Sorry?!"

Sherlock gave them both a stern look. In honesty it only made Danielle giggle. "You heard me perfectly. I'm not saying it again."

"You need advice?" Danielle repeated, smiling wide at his admission.

"On painting, yes. I need to talk to an expert." Sherlock explained. He guided his two friends towards the National Gallery.

==NKMHLY==

More specifically to the back alley behind the National Gallery.

A young man stood there, spray painting the wall. Sherlock walked up the man. So of course John and Danielle had to follow.

"Part of a new exhibition." The man boasted.

"Interesting." Sherlock replied dryly. Clearly caring about it as he cared for small talk or people being so obvious about their lies.

"I call it Urban Bloodlust Frenzy." The young man stated.

Danielle observed the painting. She knew little about art- wasn't her strong suit. But Felix and Lilly Kelly knew loads, so she had picked up a handful of taste. "I like...actually that's a good job on the nose."

The man seemed to appreciate the praise. He got back to his art. "I've got two minutes before a Community Support Officer comes round that corner." The man turned to Sherlock. "Can we do this while I'm workin'?"

Sherlock showed the man a picture from his phone, of the vandalised painting. The man turned towards it, tossing a paint can. John caught it.

"Know the author?" Sherlock asked.

The man shook his head. "Recognise the paint. It's like Michigan; hardcore propellant. I'd say zinc." He told Sherlock.

"What about the symbols. D'you recognise them?" Sherlock prompted.

"Not even sure it's a proper language." The man replied.

"Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them." Sherlock scolded.

"What, and this is all you've got to go on? It's hardly much, now, is it?" The man- Raz- snarked.

"Oi." Danielle snapped. "Two people are dead. The least you could do is help."

Raz bristled at her tone. Danielle knew she could be scary when she needed. She had multiple unread voicemails from her mum to prove it.

"I'll ask around." Raz told Sherlock.

"Somebody must know something about it." Sherlock added.

"Oi!"

Everyone turned towards the voice. It was a copper.

"Scatter!" Danielle yelped. Sherlock and her began running, Raz too.

It took Danielle a block to realize they'd left John behind.

==NKMHLY==

"I feel so bad."

"It's fine."

"Can't believe we just left him-"

"He's a soldier. He's faced worse."

"Yeah but we still left him."

"Would you rather have stayed?"

"No. I'd rather he'd run with us." Danielle huffed, shifting in John's seat. She groaned. "Oh he was holding the paint can."

"Your phone."

Danielle looked up at Sherlock. "No, he wasn't holding my phone-"

"You haven't had it with you for an age." Sherlock pointed out. "Curious. Did you lose it? No- you're too attached to it. You left it behind on purpose. Why?"

Why the hell did Sherlock suddenly notice this shit now?

"I did something stupid- and I can't take it back." Danielle admitted. "Re-remember what John said about my brother?"

"Yes. He works at the bank. My guess he works in trading with-"

"Yeah, yeah, you've probably already figured out everything about him even though you haven't met him, exactly." Danielle sighed. She slumped in the seat.

"John said you humiliated him in front of his coworkers."

"He deserved it." Danielle defended her actions. "It's only- well I-"

Sherlock chuckled. "-spilled the secrets and are now avoiding your family?"

"...yes."

"Danielle." Sherlock remarked, in a tone that implied scolding.

Daniellle huffed, covering her face with her hands. "Oh god I turned into you!"

Sherlock chuckled at that. It brought out some chuckles from Danielle.

Usually, you know, seeing them laugh was a good thing.

Usually, John wasn't storming in after nearly being arrested. So not a good thing presently.

Or so Danielle would find out, when the door slammed shut.

Sherlock went to looking at the new pictures he'd added. A delighted smile still on his face. "You've been a while."

John stormed in. Danielle was reminded of how rude it'd been to abandon him- especially with the paint can in his hand. The man seemed to be fighting an urge to punch Sherlock silly. His fists curled and uncurled as he fought the instinct.

"Yeah, well, you know how it is. Custody sergeants don't really like to be hurried, do they?" John huffed, fuming under the surface. "Just formalities. Fingerprints, charge sheet, and I've gotta be in Magistrates Court on Tuesday."

Danielle's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Sherlock replied, not paying attention.

"Me, Sherlock, in court on Tuesday." John snapped. "They're givin' me an ASBO!"

"Good. Fine." Sherlock replied, still not paying one bit of attention.

"You wanna tell your little pal he's welcome to go and own up any time." John remarked, voice tight with rage.

"Oh god John!" Danielle rushed up to him, pulling the small man in for a hug. John went into the hug- very confused. "I'm so sorry! I should've checked for you! It was all happening so fast- it was wrong to leave you behind! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sor-"

"Hey, hey Danielle it's alright." John assured. He pulled away from the hug, awkwardly patting Danielle on the shoulder. "I'm not mad at you."

"But I said we should run, and I didn't even check for you-"

"I'm more mad at Sherlock and his friend than at you." John admitted. "So relax."

"But-"

"Danielle. It's fine." John brushed off. He really didn't want to upset Danielle. Or make Danielle think she owed him something. It really was all a bad mixup. He wasn't sure why she was being so off put by this whole thing. Well unless- "Is everything alright?"

'My entire family is staging a revolt to disown me.' Danielle thought. "No. Nothing's alright. Are you going to be in trouble? Is- is the ASBO going to make getting a job with her hard?"

John had no answer. He knew that- even as he was opening his mouth to answer- that he had nothing to say.

"This symbol. I still can't place it." Sherlock grumbled, taking away John's chance to speak.

John took that as a relief. He started taking off his jacket, only to be intercepted by Sherlock.

"No, I need you to go to the police station-" Sherlock countered.

"Oi, oi, oi!" John warned as Sherlock pushed him towards the door. Danielle as well.

"-ask about the journalist." Sherlock instructed them.

"Oh, Jesus!" John huffed.

"Why me too?" Danielle asked.

"You'll keep John on task." Sherlock replied. "No more tagging for him." He joked. Grabbing his own coat, Sherlock continued with the instructions. "His personal effects will have been impounded. Get hold of his diary, or something that will tell us his movements."

The three had made it to the street now.

"Gonna go and see Van Coon's P.A. If we retrace their steps, somewhere they'll coincide." Sherlock explained, before turning tail and dramatically away.

Danielle let out an anxious sigh. John called a taxi, bringing Danielle towards it.

"Scotland Yard." John requested.

"Right." The driver replied.

They drove off.

Neither of them seeing the woman that had been taking photos of them.

==NKMHLY==

John and Danielle stood at Inspector Dimmock's desk. The inspector was going through the box of Lukis' possessions.

"Your friend-" Dimmock began.

"Listen, whatever you say, I'm behind you one hundred percent."

"John." Danielle scolded softly. "He's not that bad- okay he is that bad but come on."

"-he's an arrogant sod." Dimmock finished his statement.

John blinked. Danielle too. "Well, that was mild! People say a lot worse than that."

"Yeah. Some of them just today." Danielle gave John a look. She'd known that he was in the army, but she hadn't thought John could curse like a sailor! She'd given that driver so many apologies as they left. Honestly, it was a mess.

John wasn't even bothered by the look. He didn't feel one lick of shame.

Dimmock handed a diary to them. John took it. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? The journalist's diary?"

John took the diary, flipping through the pages.

Danielle looked over his shoulder, reading along.

==NKMHLY==

There was one event listed on the calendar in the diary, close to Lukis' death. It had an address with it. After a quick check on Google, it was for an address in Chinatown.

Danielle glanced around the busy streets. She had already had to stop herself from going off to buying something five times. John had stopped her another three. It was obviously a bunch of tourist traps, obviously, but it was all just so cute!

"Are you sure-" Danielle began.

"Yeah it should be close-"

"No I meant that I couldn't get the-"

John sighed. "No, Danielle, you shouldn't buy that."

"But what if I need it?"

"You don't."

"Okay I don't...but what if I do-"

Danielle was cut off by someone walking into John.

When they settled, Danielle realized who bumped into John was Sherlock.

"Well." Danielle mumbled.

"Right." John mumbled too.

Sherlock spoke rapidly, probably caught in the middle of a rant before he bumped into them. "Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died– whatever was hidden inside that case. I've managed to piece together a picture using scraps of information-"

"Um-" Danielle tried.

"Sherlock-" John tried too.

"-credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China, then he came here." Sherlock continued.

"We have-" Danielle tried again.

"Somewhere in this street; somewhere near. I don't know where, but-" Sherlock rambled.

Danielle raised her arm. John did also.

"That shop over there." John revealed.

Sherlock followed their directions, seeing the shop. He turned back to them with a confused frown. "How can you tell?"

"Lukis' diary." John explained. He showed the entry to Sherlock. "He was here too. He wrote down the address."

"Come on, John." Danielle checked the street for cars before crossing. John followed.

"Oh." Sherlock spoke under his breath before following them both.

On the other side of the street was a nice little shop. Danielle was fighting the urge to buy anything- literally anything.

"You want lucky cat?" The shopkeeper offered John.

The man glanced at the cat the shopkeeper was holding. "No, thanks. No."

Sherlock overhead it all, grinning.

Danielle was staring intently at a lucky cat.

"Ten pound. Ten pound!"

"No."

"I think your wife, she will like!" asked John, nodding her head towards Danielle.

John followed the gaze to Danielle. His eyes widened. John turned back to the shopkeeper, shaking his head. "No, thank you."

Danielle walked over to another table. There were cute little cups there. Granted, she knew if she brought it home Nightwing would knock it down. But still it was cute.

John picked up one of the cups. He gawked at the scribbling underneath. "Sherlock. Danielle."

Danielle glanced, seeing the symbols drawn there. It was the same symbol from the cipher! Sherlock came up behind them both. He held back a sigh at seeing the symbols.

"The label there." John nodded.

"Yes, I see it." Sherlock stated.

"It's the same." Danielle whispered.

John put the cup back.

The three of them walked outside. It took Sherlock a moment to put his thoughts together. After a long moment, he began his intellectual rant.

"It's an ancient number system! Hangzhou." Sherlock explained. He brought John and Danielle to a nearby street vendor, selling cabbages. "These days, only street traders use it. Those were numbers written on the wall at the bank and at the library." He pointed at the various signs posted about the vegetables. "Numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect."

"It's a fifteen! What we thought was the artist's tag- it's a number fifteen."

Danielle made a noise of glee. She grabbed one of the small cards, holding them up. "The one at the bank!"

"The blindfold." Sherlock agreed. He grinned at the card.

"It's a one!" Danielle cheered. "A Chinese one. 15, 1."

"We've found it!" John grinned in delight.

Sherlock and Danielle smiled. Sherlock walked off to get a taxi, Danielle followed behind. Neither of them saw what John did- a Chinese woman taking pictures of them. The same one that had been taking pictures of them on Baker Street.

==NKMHLY==

Danielle had spotted a small restaurant across the street from the store. She brought the men inside. She bought herself something to drink, along with something to eat for herself and John. Sherlock had insisted he wouldn't eat while on a case.

When her take away cup of hot chocolate was ready, she walked over to the table to join them. Sherlock was writing down the ciphers with their corresponding number. John was sitting in a chair, gazing out the window in deep thought.

"So." Danielle took a chair from a nearby table, sitting in between the two men. "What do we know so far?"

"Two men travel back from China. Both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium." John stated, thoughtful. "What did they see?"

"It's not what they saw; it's what they both brought back in those suitcases." Sherlock corrected.

"And you don't mean duty free." He thanked the waitress as she brought the plates Danielle had ordered.

Danielle sipped her hot chocolate, humming in thought. She thanked the waitress as she walked away. "You think they brought back something they weren't supposed to? Trafficking, yeah? That's what it called?"

Sherlock nodded. "Think about what Sebastian told us; about Van Coon– about how he stayed afloat in the market."

"Lost five million-" John began, starting to dig into his meal.

"-made it back in a week." Danielle finished. She got to her own food as well. "Though I tuned out a lot of what he said." John grinned at her comment.

"That's how he made such easy money." Sherlock stated.

"He was a smuggler. Mmm." John realized.

"A guy like him– it would have been perfect." Sherlock gave them both hard stares, clearly having thought this out. "Businessman-" John and Danielle nodded, following along but also hungry. "-making frequent trips to Asia. And Lukis was the same, a journalist writing about China."

Danielle nodded. "Right." She said between the bites.

"Both of them smuggled stuff out, and the Lucky Cat was their drop-off." Sherlock

"But why did they die? I mean, it doesn't make sense." John pointed out. "If they both turn up at the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they'd finished the job?"

"If I had two smugglers who were doing good jobs, good enough not to get caught, then why kill them?" Danielle agreed. "I mean, I bet it's hard to find people willing to be smugglers and even harder to find people who are good at it."

Sherlock sat back in his chair, his expression going off again in deep thought. Danielle thought it made him look mysterious, more dramatic of him. His 'aha' smile came to him. Now Danielle knew it was a dramatic smile. "What if one of them was light-fingered?"

"How d'you mean?" John asked.

"What's light-fingered?" Danielle asked.

"Stole something; something from the hoard." Sherlock answered.

Danielle hummed in understanding.

"And the killer doesn't know which of them took it, so he threatens them both. Right." John realized.

Sherlock made no move to agree. He glanced out the window again, running his mind over the case to figure out more clues. He was coming up with nothing until he spotted something outside.

"Danielle. Remind me...when was the last time that it rained?" Sherlock prompted.

"Monday." Danielle answered immediately. She remembered having to go to extra lengths getting Erika her walk, lest the dog unknowingly trash the flat. "Why?" Danielle asked, scooping more food in her mouth.

She saw Sherlock looking outside. She let out a quick sigh, realizing she wouldn't get to finish her meal like she thought. Danielle waved over their waitress. Good thing she'd paid when she ordered.

==NKMHLY==

Sherlock had rushed outside, going across the street to someone's home. John joined him. Danielle came last, carrying a takeaway bag with the remains of their lunch.

"You're right, Danielle. Monday." Sherlock stated. He pressed down on a doorbell.

Danielle spotted the name Soo Lin Yao written there, with little hearts decorating it. She thought that was cute.

When nobody answered, Sherlock walked off to the nearby alleyway. John and Danielle went after him.

"No-one's been in that flat for at least three days." Sherlock pointed out to them.

"Could've gone on holiday." John suggested.

"Or just not picked up the paper." Danielle added in.

Sherlock didn't even scoff at their suggestions. "D'you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?"

He went over to the fire escape. There was a ladder set up, though it was pulled up. Sherlock took a running start, leaping up. He was able to drag the ladder down for use. He made quick to climb it.

"Sherlock!" John called.

Danielle watched the ladder rise back up. She turned to give John a look. "Well I'm not going to grab it."

John huffed. "You're tall enough."

"Yeah- but I'd have to run. Or leave the food with you." Danielle listed. "Then I'd have to actually catch it. Not worth the risk. Come on, he can just let us in." She walked back towards the busy street.

John scoffed at that. "You think he'd let us in? Really?"

"Benefit of the doubt." Danielle countered. She reached the door, buzzing the bell.

John joined her side. Danielle was still holding down on the buzzer. "D'you think maybe you could let us in this time?" John called in.

No answer.

Danielle let off the button. She slouched on the wall beside the door. "Well...guess we wait."

John turned to the door. He gave a small shake of his head. He leaned down the door, pushing open the mail slot. "Can you not keep doing this, please?" He called out.

Danielle snickered. "John. Stop that. We'll get looks."

John didn't answer. He pressed his face closer to the mail slot. After a pause he pulled back. "What?" He shouted into the slot.

Danielle perked. "What? Did he say something?"

"Yeah- but I can't hear it." John told her. He went back to the mail slot. "What are you saying?"

Danielle paused before speaking. She had given John a chance to hear, realizing that her own questions might block out the response. "...anything?"

John let the mail slot drop down. He sighed as he straightened himself up. "I'm wasting my breath."

"Maybe he's got a good reason?" Danielle suggested, knowing fully well she was lying. John pressed the doorbell again. "Alright- ringing the bell won't make-"

"Well standing around here isn't going to do anything either." John snapped harshly.

Danielle held up her hands, surrendering herself from John's coming tirade. She hadn't seen him angry often- but then again, the man had yelled at a chip-and-pin machine. Clearly some rage was there.

"Any time you want to include me." John called out from the door. When no reply came, John shook his head in clear annoyance. "'No, I'm Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone because no-one else can compete with my MASSIVE INTELLECT!'" He ranted the last bit in the mail slot.

Danielle was snickering as his ranting. "Oh I'm an awful person for laughing." Not that it stopped her from laughing, covering her mouth with her hand.

"It's not funny!" John barked.

"No. No it's not." Danielle laughed, unable to stop herself. She tried clearing her throat to stop the laughter, but then John decided to ring the doorbell again. For some reason in her mind this was the funniest thing ever. It set her off on laughing all over again.

John didn't find it funny.

Nope.

Not one bit.

He wasn't looking at Danielle, refusing to acknowledge her.

No way was he hiding a smile.

Nah.

Impossible.

There was a long wait before Sherlock opened the door. When he did, he was shaking on his steps. Danielle was concerned at how pale he had gotten.

"The, uh, milk's gone off and the washing's starting to smell. Somebody left here in a hurry three days ago." Sherlock rambled off, his voice in a raspy croak.

"I didn't get a single word of that." Danielle stated, gawking at the man who was wobbling in place.

"Somebody?" John asked Sherlock.

"You're a better man than me." Danielle went up to Sherlock's side. "Are you alright?" She reached up to touch his shoulder.

Sherlock flinched back. "Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her." He stated. He bent over.

Danielle stared at him, still incredibly concerned.

"But how, exactly?" John asked.

Sherlock came back up, holding a piece of paper. A folded over envelope. "Maybe we could start with this." He croaked. He started off down the street.

"Jesus- what happened to your voice?" Danielle asked, rushing to stay by his side. "What happened up there?"

"I'm fine." Sherlock brushed off, coughing.

Danielle snorted at that. "Right. Pull the other one."

Sherlock shook his head. He waved off her concern. "It's fine." He croaked out again.

Danielle remained unconvinced. She wouldn't needle him just yet. His voice sounded like a chain smoker that had just quit smoking four packs a day. She would find out though...she had a bad feeling she wouldn't like it.

==NKMHLY==

AN: A long wait, but not the longest wait. I'm not a completely awful person apparently! And be on the lookout for a special surprise!

Thanks to Moony.R. , shadowkitten11, ItsJustMe-94, bentleya, for favoriting

Thanks to Vixter9339, Moony.R. , shadowkitten11, wag11137, FreeHugs0009, ItsJustMe-94, bentleya, for following