Were hands supposed to shake like this?
Her hands were shaking. She had pushed them into her pockets, they were still shaking.
Danielle didn't know if that was normal. Should she be concerned? John's hands weren't shaking. Neither were Sherlock's. Maybe it was odd.
She didn't like that.
The shaking hands.
Danielle also didn't like that she kept seeing Soo Lin. Everywhere she looked, everytime, Soo Lin's body flashed in front of her eyes.
Sherlock and John had brought her to New Scotland Yard. Sherlock had done it mainly to get them to focus on the case. Or maybe they had gone because someone had reported the gunshots. Danielle had no idea. It had gotten blurry after John had found her.
One moment, she was looking at Soo Lin.
The next, she had a styrofoam cup of tea in her hands. She was staring down at it, seeing the reflection lights in the surface. She had been sitting in a chair near Inspector Dimmock's office.
Then she was back with Soo Lin.
Back to the tea.
Soo Lin, with a black lotus origami beside her.
She could see her hair outline in the tea.
Soo Lin was so still...Danielle had never seen anyone so still before.
Her tea was still. Unmoving. Plain black tea. Who gave her this tea? It had gone cold.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She answered it without thinking- assuming in the back of her mind that maybe John was calling to say it was time to go.
"Yes?" She spoke into the phone, still staring down at the tea.
"Danielle! About time!"
It was not John.
Danielle glanced up. Sure enough, Sherlock and John were ranting at Inspector Dimmock. How were they so composed? She knew John had shot people before- shot someone to save Sherlock- he hadn't freaked out then. Being involved in a gun fight was probably standard for him. Sherlock was a bit more wild card. Wasn't that just him to a T?
This voice was familiar.
"Hey Felix." Danielle greeted. To her ears, her voice sounded so flat. She forced it to sound brighter, more upbeat. "How's the day been?"
"I'll tell you how my day's been!"
That voice did not sound upbeat. Or bright. It sounded mad.
Danielle didn't like it when Felix sounded mad.
Soo Lin had sounded so defeated...speaking to her brother...giving into her fate...
"You made Paul bloody mad! He said you butted in to his life, made it worse! And he blamed me for it! Starting yelling at me because of what you did!"
Danielle had told her. Told her what John had said. They had to hide. They had to- they couldn't-
"I had to." She replied, monotone.
"No you didn't!" Felix snapped. Danielle winced. "I asked you not to do it! Why did you?! Everything was fine! I was fine!"
Soo Lin walked to her death, greeting it like an old friend.
Danielle was not fine.
She sniffled, feeling overwhelming grief come over her. She sunk out of her chair. The cup of tea fell out of her hands, splashing down on the ground and her clothes. She couldn't see them. She could only see Soo Lin. See her brother standing over her- afraid she'd be next.
Oh god she was going to be next-
She was going to die-
He was going after her next-
Oh god-
Oh god-
Oh god-
"Danielle? Are you still there?" Felix asked, cutting off his own rant.
Danielle gasped, holding back a sob.
"Danielle?" Felix asked, sounding concerned now.
She sniffled, wiping at her cheeks. They were a lot wetter than they had been. How long had she been crying like that? "Sorry." She replied, getting to her feet. "Oh I made a mess. How stupid of me...oh it's on my shirt."
"Danielle...are you crying?"
"Course I'm crying. I watched a woman get shot by her brother twenty minutes ago." Danielle immediately answered. "He was a ninja. Where did they put the napkins?"
"You saw what?!"
"Found them! Bye Felix." Danielle hung up the phone, walking over to the napkins. She grabbed a handful. She went to sop up the spilled tea.
She grumbled to herself for a moment about spilling the tea. She hadn't meant to do it. It had been a simple accident- nothing to fuss over. Yet she was still on her knees. Crying silently in a puddle of tea.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Danielle jumped back. Her back smacked into the chair. She was startled at seeing who it was.
John.
Danielle sniffled again. "Sorry, John. I- I didn't-"
"It's alright." John gave Danielle a comforting grip on the arm. She wiped at her cheeks again. "What happened?"
"I spilled the tea." Danielle explained. "Oh it's going to stain."
John watched Danielle wipe up the tea. He wasn't sure how to handle this situation. He had helped fellow soldiers during the war handle things, he hadn't known how to handle this now. "Are you sure your alright?" John asked.
"Of course she's not alright." Sherlock dismissed. "She just witnessed a murder of someone she knew." He walked up to the two of them. He knelt down to toss away the sopping wet tissues. He plucked a dry one from the nearby box. He handed one to Danielle. She accepted it. "Here, Danielle."
"Thank you." Danielle used it to wipe her cheeks. "I made a mess-"
"It's alright. John will clean it." Sherlock dismissed. "Come on, stand up." He helped Danielle to her feet. "We have bodies to observe."
As they walked towards the lift down, John muttered to himself about having to clean. He couldn't really complain. He had little idea how to handle the situation right now, but he knew Danielle needed less to stress about right now. Besides- it wasn't like Sherlock was going to clean this up.
==NKMHLY==
Sherlock had let Danielle stop by her flat to change. She had to feed her pets before their next stop.
They went to St Bart's next. Danielle walked slower than he did, so she ended up sitting outside the cafeteria while he popped up. Danielle was surprised when he walked towards the food- she hadn't expected him to get her food. She already felt horrid enough about this whole thing. What she wanted right now was to curl up in a ball then forget any of this ever happened.
She didn't have good luck, in her experience.
Not long after Sherlock had left her in the chair, he came back with Molly in tow.
"Hi Molly." Danielle greeted, tiredly. "Love the hair."
Molly smiled awkwardly at the compliment. She turned to Sherlock, then the smile stretched out to something even more awkward. "Danielle. Hadn't expected to see you...are you feeling well?"
"She's tired. Come, we have bodies to see." Sherlock excused. He put his hand on Molly's back, walking her away.
Danielle hopped out the chair. She rushed after them.
Sherlock brought them down to the morgue. Inspector Dimmock was there to meet them.
Danielle stood nearby, watching Molly roll the bodies out.
She tensed at the sight. She had to keep her mind clear, refusing to think about anything earlier. She just had to focus on the present- the here and now. Or maybe Erika and Nightwing. Yes. Yes she could focus on them. Erika had been so needy this morning for cuddles...it had broken Danielle's heart to have to leave.
Oh yes that was a perfect distraction.
Molly went up to unzip the bodies.
"We're just interested in the feet." Sherlock corrected her.
"The feet?" Molly repeated, confused.
Sherlock was already walking towards the feet with Dimmock. "Yes. D'you mind if we have a look at them?" He smiled at Molly.
She never had a chance. She walked over to the feet, unzipping it for them to see. Danielle grimaced at the sight of the foot itself. Less so at the tiny black lotus tattoo on his heel.
"Now Van Coon." Sherlock instructed.
The three of them walked over to the next body. Molly unzipped the bag again, revealing a second pair of men's feet. More importantly, a second black lotus tattoo on the heel.
Dimmock sighed.
"Oh!" Sherlock cheered.
"So-"
"So either these two men just happened to visit the same Chinese tattoo parlour or I'm telling the truth." Sherlock told him.
Dimmock sighed in defeat. "What do you want?"
"I want every book from Lukis' apartment and Van Coon's." Sherlock ordered.
"Their books?" Dimmock repeated.
Sherlock only gave his completely fake wide smile before walking towards the door. Danielle moved to follow him when Inspector Dimmock came to her side.
"Hello, Miss Nolan. They said you were also in the museum?" Dimmock asked.
Danielle froze in confusion. Was she supposed to follow Sherlock, or answer these questions? How was she supposed to answer it anyway? Was there a wrong answer, or was the truth alright? "Uh...yes. I went with them."
Dimmock brought out a notepad. He scribbled something on it, not that Danielle could see it. "Did you happen to see the third victim?"
Danielle felt her heart stop.
Where was Soo Lin? She was right here. Holding my hand. Why did she let go? John told us to hide-oh god he's in the room.
Muttered Chinese. Danielle had no hope of understanding it- just the pleading words.
Were hands supposed to shake like this?
"I saw her, yes." Danielle swallowed painfully. Her eyes were watering again. "Sorry...it's been a long day...could I please go?"
Dimmock looked at Danielle. "Uh...sur-"
"Danielle! Hurry up!" Sherlock snapped, marching back into the morgue. He reached for Danielle's shaking hand. She let him take it. "We need to get back to the flat."
"Yes. Yes we do." Danielle went along with him. She left Inspector Dimmock behind.
==NKMHLY==
Back at the flats, they met up with John again. He hadn't wanted to be caught up in whatever they were doing. Sherlock hung up his coat on the door. Danielle went to the desk, sitting herself down. John was sitting in his usual chair.
"Not just a criminal organisation; it's a cult. Her brother was corrupted by one of its leaders." Sherlock stated.
John glanced at Danielle. "Soo...She said the name."
"Yes, Shan; General Shan." Sherlock recalled.
"We're still no closer to finding them." John noted.
"Wrong. We've got almost all we need to know. She gave us most of the missing pieces." Sherlock corrected.
"The book." Danielle recalled. "And...and the tattoo?"
Sherlock turned from Danielle back to John. The doctor was staring blankly at him. "Why did he need to visit his sister? Why did he need her expertise?"
"Expertise?" Danielle questioned.
"She worked at the museum." John answered.
"Exactly." Sherlock confirmed.
"She worked in antiques- oh! Smugglers." Danielle realized.
"Mmm, of course. I see." John did too.
"Valuable antiquities, John, Danielle." Sherlock corrected them. "Ancient Chinese relics purchased on the black market. China's home to a thousand treasures hidden after Mao's revolution."
"And the Black Lotus is selling them." John finished.
"Probably for a lot of money- well every antique is a lot of money." Danielle added. "Especially if they're killing for it."
Sherlock tilted his head.
==NKMHLY==
Sherlock was over Danielle's shoulder, typing on the laptop. Danielle hadn't wanted to move so Sherlock had to deal. Danielle could be stubborn when comfort was involved. He was searching auction sites online.
"Check for the dates-" Sherlock noted. John pulled out the planner for Lukis. "Here, John."
John nodded, turning the pages in the planner.
"Arrived from China four days ago." Sherlock stated. "Anonymous. Vendor doesn't give his name. Two undiscovered treasures from the East."
"From Lukis and Van Coon." Danielle reasoned.
Sherlock searched for other terms. He found more items. "...antiquities sold at auction." Sherlock pointed at the screen- pressing his arm on Danielle's shoulder. "Look, here's another one."
"Ow." Danielle mumbled.
John nodded.
"Arrived from China a month ago. Chinese ceramic statue, sold four hundred thousand." Sherlock reported.
John looked at the planner. Then up at the screen. "Ah, look. A month before that- a Chinese painting, half a million."
"None of them have names." Danielle reported. "It's all anonymous."
"They're stealing them back in China and one by one they're feeding them into Britain." Sherlock deduced.
"Huh." John mumbled. He looked down at the calendar for Van Coon. "And every single auction coincides with Lukis or Van Coon travelling to China."
"So what if one of them got greedy when they were in China? What if one of them stole something?" Sherlock wondered.
"That's why Zhi Zhu's come." John reasoned.
There was a knock on the door. Everyone turned to it. Mrs Hudson stood there. "Ooh-ooh! Sorry. Are we collecting for charity, Sherlock?" She asked.
Sherlock was confused. "What?"
"A young man's outside with crates of books." Mrs Hudson explained.
"The books!" Danielle cheered.
==NKMHLY==
Two officers brought up all the crates of books. There were...a lot. Danielle was certain she'd seen less books in the library. A complete overestimation, as there were only ten crates, but that was still a lot of books.
"So, the numbers are references." Sherlock stated.
"To books." John stated, staring at the crates still being brought up.
"First number is-what- the page?" Danielle guessed.
"Yes." Sherlock answered. "The second number is likely to indicate the word on that page."
"Right, so...fifteen and on, that means-" John tried.
"Turn to page fifteen and it's the first word you read." Sherlock reasoned.
"Okay. So what's the message?" John asked.
"Depends on the book." Sherlock answered. He opened a crate, grabbing the first book. "That's the cunning of the book code. Has to be one that they both owned."
"Okay, right. Well, this shouldn't take too long, should it?" John snarked. He opened one.
Danielle glanced at the crates. She opened another. She pulled out the top most books, piling them beside it. She pulled out her phone to take a picture of them. Pointedly ignoring the missed calls and texts- mostly from Felix now. She reasoned she would cross off the books on the picture if the other person didn't have them. She went to the next crate, taking more pictures as she took out more books. Multiple books to a picture- of course- doing one picture at a time would be silly.
She had done this for barely a minute when Inspector Dimmock walked in. "We found these, at the museum." He held up an evidence bag to Sherlock. Danielle could see pictures inside- ones of the cipher.
Oh. She'd forgotten about those.
"Is this your writing?" Dimmock questioned.
Sherlock said nothing.
John- would was now sitting at the desk- took the bag. "Uh, we hoped Soo Lin could decipher it for us. Ta."
The Inspector accepted that explanation. He looked towards Danielle. She pretended not to see him, going back to the books. Dimmock looked over at John, for any kind of explanation. John just gave a stern shake of his head. No need to bring that up in front of her again.
Sherlock watched from his peripheral. He had averted one crisis at the morgue- it would hinder the investigation to have Danielle fall into another panic- they'd already lost some time when she made that mess at the Yard. If Dimmock unintentionally started another panic then- then- well Sherlock wasn't sure what would have to be done but it would involve throwing the inspector out of the flat.
"Anything else I can do? To assist you, I mean?" Dimmock offered, still snarky over the entire procedure.
"Some silence right now would be marvellous." Sherlock replied, pulling out more books.
Dimmock stared at him. Still, not saying a word. He could be taught. The Inspector left soon after.
If either resident of 221b noticed the relaxed shift Danielle's posture, they said nothing.
They spend hours then after searching the many books. A few have the same books but none of the messages sound correct.
It was close to 2 AM when Danielle fell asleep on the couch. Her phone buzzed with one last call from Felix before the screen went black.
==NKMHLY==
AN: You know, it's not often I do things to be mean to Danielle. It had to happen sometime. It's how a character knows I love them...by emotionally scarring them. I do this with love, Danielle.
Thanks to A Soul's Wish, Unni17, BleachedKurosaki, heyitscj1, and mountainlying, for favoriting
Thanks to SpeckledOne, Peacekeeper904, CallMeSama, WhiteTigerMisty, Kaida Fury, Unni17, BleachedKurosaki, laylacqua, Spooky Misty, and mountainlying, for following