Love, Lies and Murder

Chapter Four: An Ending? Or a Begining?

"You handle a knife expertly. You had the ability to get a hold of Effie's things. You knew where she was going that night. You killed her and Alex and have Effie stored somewhere."

"And WHY would I possibly do that Holmes?"

"Perhaps you wanted Anna for yourself, or to give you all a case, the mind of a sociopath works in many ways not all able to be understood by a sane man."

Randell snorted. "I wanted Anna...that is quite laughable concidering I have never touched a woman."

"Then perhaps it was Alex you wanted."

Randell turned away from Holmes stair and Thomas sighed.

"That is it. You killed off the competition and when Alex refused you, you killed him as well. And Effie...well you had nothing personal again Effie but someone had to take the fall."

"Yes, I wanted Alex, but I would not have killed for it." Randell said, looking back up at him. "I long ago accepted he didn't want me."

"I'm afraid I have to say I don't believe you."

Randell sighed. "Fine, believe what you want sir, but I did not kill Alex or Anna."

Thomas went back to work on the code.

Mary frowned and went back to thinking, as did Holmes. They both looked over at Thomas.

Thomas glanced up at them. "What? I'm working on it."

"You're not working fast enough."

Thomas sighed and lowered his head again. A few minutes later he jumped up, waving the paper around. "Got it!"

Randell jumped up, snatching the paper.

Mary and Holmes rushed over.

Randell held it out to Holmes. The address wasn't far from there; a small rent building a few blocks over.

"Come on." He walked out, motioning for Mary and Watson to follow.

Watson did so, raising an eyebrow as Randell hung back. Thomas shrugged and grabbed his coat, chasing after the group.

The room they arrived in was a small, well kept room that two people obviously shared. Dinner was resting on the table, one plate half eaten, and the other not touched. A woman's corset lay drying over the fireplace grate; the stockings that went with it folded on a box. The clothes Effie had worn out were strewed on the floor by the bed, intermixed with a man's dressing gown. The bed was rumbled, freshly used for very...vigorous...activities. Thomas stared at it, then glanced up at Holmes and Mary as Watson's eyebrows raised as he took in the scene.

"EFFIE!" Holmes called. "EFFIE!"

Thomas rubbed his ear, glaring at him.

"She's not here." Randell said from the doorway.

"And where is she?" Holmes asked.

"How should I know." Randell snapped at him. "It's just obvious she's not here. The old biddy next door saw her leaving in a carrige with a man."

"How long ago?"

"Before we arrived, after she did." Randell said. "She's not a font of information."

Thomas shifted around the clothes and other items with his foot, wrinkling his nose. "She came and left willingly...no blood, no struggle."

"Odd...very odd."

"I told you." Randell said. "She's played us all for a fool." With that, he spun on his heel and stormed from the room.

Mary frowned, could Randell have been right?

Thomas sighed, sitting on the bed. "I trusted her." He whispered.

"We all did." Watson said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"No." Mary frowned. "No this isn't right."

"Oh when will you face it? She did it! There's no other conclusion!"

"No she didn't!"

"Then who did? Tell me oh great one, who did it?"

Holmes sighed, perhaps they were right.

Thomas sighed, massaging his head. "I still..." He sighed. "She was supposed to be one of the good ones."

"Yes, well...so is the way of women."

Thomas stood and looked around. "I need...I need to get out of here." He whispered and all but ran from the room.

Watson sighed, sitting down on the bed. He then frowned, looking around. "Something is out of place here."

"Oh?" Holmes looked at him

"I don't know what it is...but something's off about this whole thing."

Randell frowned as he came back in, thinking. "Blood."

"Blood?" Mary frowned.

"There was blood on the confession, but no blood here."

Holmes pulled the confession out of his pocket. "Hmmm... interesting."

Watson stood and looked around before glancing at Randell who nodded. "This is staged, everything's laid just so to make it look like something it's not."

"Which means we have no clue where they truly are."

"No." Randell said, sighing.

"Great...juuuust great!" Holmes threw up his hands exasperated.

Randell sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Holmes paced, thinking.

Randell and Watson watched him.

He paced more.

Hours later they were back at the Baker Street house, still watching Holmes pace. Well, some of them were back there, upon leaving the staged scene they couldn't' find Thomas.

Mary frowned. "Thomas is gone?"

"So?"

"So...that's odd."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Mary frowned.

"He's still upset." Randell said.

Mary frowned. "Wait...wasn't Thomas the one to bring in both letters."

"Yeah."

"And knew the code."

"Yeah. Are you saying..."

"Worth a guess."

"But...this is Thomas...King of the idiots. He couldn't' have orchestrated this." Randell said, laughing.

"Exactly. The perfect crime. The king of idiots...no one would suspect him."

"He...has a house in the West End, he inherited it from his mother..."

"I'll ring for a cab." Watson said.

Mary nodded.

Holmes smiled at her. "Well done."

"It runs in the family."

Just then, Thomas entered eyes red from crying, nose running.

They all looked at him.

"What?"

"What happened?"

"Nothing..." Thomas said, looking confused. "Just upset."

"Where did you go?"

"For a walk."

"In the rain?" Randell asked.

Thomas shrugged.

"You're not wet."

"I had a coat."

"Where is it?"

"Why are you asking me all this?"

"Because...we're concerned."

"I'm fine."

"We're not concerned about you." Mary told him. "Where's Effie?"

"How should I know?"

Mary shrugged, "Just a hunch."

"You and your bloody hunches." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Basically. So where is she?"

He shrugged, going to the mantel. He ran his finger oh so lightly over a candlestick. "Somewhere...safe, I'm sure."

That was it. Mary had it. She forgot where she was and made a move only a 21st century Londoner could have done. She threw him into the wall. "Listen...I have no time for your crap. So tell me where she is or I will get VERY violent...and in case you didn't know and violent woman is not a pretty sight."

Holmes watched, looking rather amused.

Thomas laughed in her face and kissed her hard.

"Where. Is. She?"

"Dead." He hissed, smirking before shoving her away, straitening his vest.

"You're lying."

"Maybe, but by the time you get there it will be true."

"Tell me where she is."

"Guess."

"Your house?"

"Maybe. Don't' see why you care anyway, she was just a dirty little whore."

"That dirty little whore means a whole lot to me...and my family...so if you please...where is she?"

"Not telling." Thomas said, smirking at her. "Not until you tell me why I did all this."

"Clean the streets of filth. Anna and Effie were whores and Alex a pickpocket."

Thomas laughed a deep rich sound that was so different from his usual one. "Oh dear child, you have a lot to learn. Not even close...well, Anna maybe."

"So you killed Anna cause she was a whore...why Alex and Effie...unrequited love, revenge..."

Thomas circled around her, brushing her hair back. "I killed Anna because she was a bitch, using Alexi for his money, she never loved him, and he was so madly in love with her it was sickening." Thomas leaned close and inhaled Mary's sent. "Alex found out what I had done, what I wanted, and he came to warn you. He had to be silenced, just my luck that he came as I did, I left dear Holmes a present with him, but it was blown away before he could get it." Thomas nuzzled her neck, licking a path to her ear. "And little Effie...well she's not dead...yet, but she was in my way, our way. A whore with morals, who ever would have thought it. She protected you, kept you away from me." Thomas switched to her other ear. "And now look, she's all alone with no one left to save her and I have what I want."

"Me?" Mary stared at him. "You killed Alex and are going to kill Effie because of me? Why? Are you nuts?"

"Love is the greatest madness of them all." He whispered in her ear.

"You don't love me...you don't even know me."

"I know enough. You're beautiful, smart, funny, wonderful in every way I could ever imagine."

Randell rolled his eyes and glanced up at Holmes.

Holmes watched.

"Thank you...that's the best compliment I've ever received from a psychopath."

"But I'm not a psychopath, just a man in love."

"Then let Effie go."

"No! She stood in my way, kept you from me! She deserves to pay for that!"

"No... she did nothing...just let her go. No one can stop you now...let her go...please...for me."

"You'll be with me, be my wife if I do so?"

Mary nodded.

Thomas kissed her softly. "She's at Alex's." He whispered.

"Thank you." Mary moved towards the door and was out of it.

Holmes looked at Randell...now was their time to move in and get Thomas.

Randell lept at the poor boy.

Holmes moved towards him as well, the two of them taking Thomas into custody.

Mary raced to Alex's and ran in. "Effie! EFFIE!"

"NO! She promised me! She promised me!" He yelled, struggling against them. Randell grabbed the candlestick off the mantel and hit him hard with it, rendering him unconscious.

Effie screamed from upstairs.

Holmes frowned; it was a rather sad sight.

Mary ran up and in the direction of the scream.

Randell stared down at Thomas, confused as to what had changed his best friend so much.

Effie screamed again around her gag, trying to guide Mary.

"I'm sorry." Holmes said softly.

Mary found her and ran into the room, untying her. "Hello."

"I should have known...should have realized."

"Bout damn time." Effie said, huffing. She hugged the girl tightly before shaking her limbs, getting her blood going. "We need to get out of here...he's insane."

"It's hard to tell sometimes."

"I know. We have seen him. He told me where you were...made me promise to marry him...but told me all the same." She looked at Effie. "No doubt Holmes and Randell have dealt with him by now."

Randell sighed.

"No doubt..." Effie ran a hand over her face. "I knew...I saw him losing it but I never dreamed he would fall this far." Effie sat down, all hurry gone from her now that she knew he was taken care of. "He was a sweet boy once Mary...the Thomas you met...he used to be like that, a little dense but well meaning all the same." She sighed heavily.

"I figured. He still seemed nice...just...misguided."

Effie looked up at her. "He wasn't misguided child...he was betrayed."

"Betrayed?"

Effie nodded. "His mother died a year ago. She was...not a whore, at least, not a common one. The French call women like her courtesans, noble mistresses. When she died, she left him everything in her house, including her journals. Hundreds of detained accounts ever every moment of her life. Every man she slept with...every child she birthed, including him and his brother."

"Brother?"

"Randell."

"And he didn't know."

"Neither of them knew...Randell still doesn't. She gave up Randell to a nursemaid and kept the youngest, Thomas. She lied to him for twenty years and when he found out...he started coming unhinged, family was...is important to him. And he lost faith in everything when he found out about what she did. And then he met you."

"That I don't understand...why me..."

Effie gave her a small smile. "You were what he wanted...you represented the family he wanted to have, a wife, children...everything he lost faith in. He loved you, as much as one could for only knowing someone four months, and he thought he couldn't' have you, you would never look at him like that. Therefore, his unhinged mind twisted facts, made it seem as if we were out to keep him from you. He loved you so much, and it made him worse instead of better."

Mary felt tears well up in her eyes. It wasn't fair. She didn't mean to hurt him. She didn't mean to be the reason everyone got hurt. She never wanted to hurt anyone. It finally got to her. The stress of time traveling, homesickness, and now...now this. She broke down crying.

"Oh child," Effie said and pulled her close. "There's no need for tears." She whispered.

"It's all my fault."

"No it is not.'

"Yes it is. I did not mean to make him worse. I did not mean to hurt anyone. I didn't mean for people to die." She buried her head in Effie's chest.

"I know you didn't." Effie said, stroking her hair. "And it's not your fault...Anna would have died anyway...and probably Alex and myself as well. It was just a matter of time...a different trigger, a different set of reason, but it would have happened anyway...and now we're safe, I'm alive, because of you...and he can get help."

Mary sniffled and nodded, wiping away tears. "We should get back...the others are waiting."

Effie nodded and stood, holding out a hand to her.

Epilogue-

Effie sighed as she signed her name to her statement, setting the pen down on the paper. Thomas had been taken away to Asylum to await testing, Randell was talking with Watson about the diaries and the truth about his past. Mary was resting and now, Effie was alone, for the first time in a while.

Holmes walked in and placed a hand on Effie's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

Effie looked up at him, slightly surprised at his actions. She then bit her lip, standing. "Holmes...I..." She closed her eyes then suddenly kissed him.

He kissed her back before hugging her tightly.

"I love you." She whispered, holding him tightly. "I wanted to tell you before but..."

"I know. And I love you too."

Effie smiled at him.

******

HG Wells looked down at the young girl and smiled before shaking her shoulder, trying to awaken her.

Mary frowned and looked up. "Time to go then?" She asked, standing.

"Time to go." He said, straitening.

She stood up and nodded. "I'm ready."

He nodded and led her to the machine, strapping her in. A pull of the lever and they were back in the park. He smiled and handed her a journal. "You're grandmother's diaries, to tell the rest of the story." He said.

She smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

He nodded, gave her a final smile and walked away, soon disappearing into the crowd. Just then, a giant dog jumped on her, panting.

She looked down. "Hello there."

"Anna down!" A voice yelled as a man came jogging towards them.

Mary smiled at the dog, petting her, looking up as her owner approached. "No harm done."

"I'm sorry, she tends to forget who her master is." He said, grabbing the dog's leash. The man smiled at her, holding out a hand. "Thomas." He said, giving her a grin.

She stared for a second, unable to believe it before smiling and taking his hand. "Mary."

"Pretty name for someone so beautiful...care to finish my walk with me, we can get mochas at the stand."

"Sure." She nodded. "If it's all right with Anna of course."

Anna yipped and took off running. Thomas smiled and held out his arm in an old fashioned gesture. "I think she doesn't mind."

Mary slipped her arm in his and walked off with him.

The End.