I'm back and first of all would like to thank one of my reviewers!!!
Black Rose25: Thank you!!! I am highly complimented!!! Oh and btw I believe you can find The Beekeepers Apprentice in most Libraries or bookstores, if it helps the author is Laurie R. King, and once you finish Beekeeper (which is I believe one of the best books I have read!!! I love it!!!) She has written five other books in the series so if you like Beekeeper you'll love those!! Ha, I am also part of the group of lowlife known as freshmen!!! Oh and I do agree that, considering you don't own a car yet (Hey I cant even DRIVE yet!!!) a cross country trek from her couch to California would be just a LITTLE out of your way so I am UPDATING!!!
Disclaimer: I have never, or ever claimed to own anything; the majority of this pastiche belongs to the ACD estate.
Now on with Chapter 9 of.
No Mere Victorian Woman
The horse hooves slowed and finally ceased as we neared the apartment. Holmes opened the cab rather forcibly and in very frustrated state exited the cab. Watson followed but immediately turned around to help me down. I merely smiled and allowed him to help me. The entire ride back my mind had been racing, no criminal could erase any sign of evidence could they?
I subconsciously followed Holmes and Watson up the steps and into the apartment, sat down and in the midst of my lengthy and baffled train of thought heard Watson ask Mrs. Hudson for a dinner. In front of me, Holmes paced back and forth by the fire. It had been already four o'clock when I had first set out to meet Holmes, now it was nearly eight and long since had the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. I expected to head home shortly but questions still plagued my mind, Could the Yard really be that careless? Was all the blame to lie on their shoulders or was there any evidence to begin with? The entire case hindered on this question, was the Yard simply incautious or were we dealing with a criminal mastermind? I wished with all my heart that the answer was the former, when I entered into 221b earlier, was it only this afternoon? it seemed as if days had passed, I had come in want of a puzzle not a full time career. I was aware however that Holmes would most likely want me to leave, and let him return to his familiar life but I never was the type of person to leave anything uncompleted and I was not about to start now.
"I'm sorry, this must sound terribly rude, but I do not believe I have learned your name yet," questioned a slightly embarrassed Watson behind me. It was then that it occurred to me that we had never really been properly introduced and I chuckled, having never needed to be introduced to him the thought of him not knowing my identity had never occurred to me.
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Rachel Raines-" Watson followed with the predictable and inevitable question.
"You mean the actress?"
"Do you know of another Raines that lives in this area?" I stated sarcastically
"Well then Miss. Raines, would you care to join us for dinner?" inquired Watson. I had a feeling that Holmes had taken no part in this decision but I accepted anyway.
"Thank you that sounds wonderful" I replied to the low rumble of my stomach in agreement. So I followed Watson to the kitchen to find a lovely dinner already placed on the table. To my shock however, Holmes showed no sign of surprise that I was joining them, perhaps I considered, he was still in denial of my existence. I sat down pleasantly and we started to eat. Holmes spoke pleasantly, even to me throughout the meal but I could tell that the strains of the case still bore heavily on him; he ate practically nothing but rather moved the food around his plate in the illusion of eating.
It was somewhere in the midst of conversation that I realized something we had overlooked while at the apartment of Mr. Farthing, or rather what used to be the apartment of Mr. Farthing, he would not have much use for it in his present state. Everyone had already finished their meal, or in Holmes's case appeared to have and Holmes and Watson were amicably speaking about one case or another when I spoke,
"Holmes!"
"I am not usually one to stand being interrupted Miss. Raines." He replied coolly.
"Well I believe you will have to stand it this time Holmes because I believe I have just solved, or at least solved one part of this case."
"Impossible," Replied Holmes "I have gone over the evidence in my mind hundreds of times and I have found nothing."
"Well, that proves it then, if the great Holmes can find nothing than this case has no solution," I replied raising a very Holmesian eyebrow, "for one who claims to live by logic and deduction I must admit I am greatly disappointed."
"Well," coughed a slightly disturbed Watson, "shall we take our coffee into the sitting room then, at least hear what she has to say Holmes, it couldn't hurt could it?"
With a sigh Holmes replied "No, I suppose it couldn't, shall we go then?" and we walked back up to the sitting room, tray of tea in hand. Once everyone was situated, Watson sitting peacefully on the couch and Holmes, at the sight of him I nearly burst out laughing for he could not be any more reminiscent to the caricature of Watson's tales, seated in the basket chair, eyes closed, hands steepled patiently awaiting my account.
"Holmes, you admit to two things, either the yard has been unusually careless, or the criminal has been exceedingly cautious, or perhaps a combination of the two, am I correct?" Holmes merely nodded.
"Now then," I continued " for one I believe that it is physically impossible to commit a crime without leaving a fragment of evidence as I suppose you also think," I stated with a nod toward Holmes, but before I could finish my next line Holmes had realized what I was saying and cut me off.
"You have a point, what if there was no third party in this case, there must be someone from within the Yard itself."
"Exactly!" I replied, "There wouldn't be anything to find other than constable evidence because the constable committed the crime."
"Are you trying to tell me," asked Watson, "That someone who works within Scotland Yard, most likely a constable himself committed a murder?"
"Yes Watson, everything fits!" I said excitedly
"Miss. Raines does have a point," stated Holmes "all the evidence we found were from constables, or at least someone with connections in Scotland Yard, that means we must investigate Scotland Yard!"
"Good, now that that is settled the only question left is, how." I sighed
"Yes," whispered Holmes through gritted teeth
"Well, I don't quite see what the problem is, I mean I'm sure that if we talk to Lestrade he'll-" but before Watson could finish Holmes cut him off.
"No Watson that is the problem, for all we know Lestrade could be part of this whole thing,"
"Come now Holmes you don't seriously believe,"
"Of course not Watson, but lets not doubt, that is after all what made us blind to the obvious in the first place." At this Holmes stood up and started to stir the glowing embers of the fire. "No," said Holmes, what we need is a way to sneak into the Yard without them knowing. Whoever is behind this in the Yard will not want us in there."
"Oh, that's a brilliant idea," I said my voice full of sarcasm "Holmes you have been in the Yard enough, do you want to place everything on the hope that the criminal, whoever he is will not notice us? Especially because he has probably seen you in person before, and on top of that everyone in the Yard has had training to identify disguises, this isn't the street Holmes."
"Well than, do you have a better idea?" He replied sternly.
I thought for a moment and then responded, "in fact, I believe I do. What if we had a way to convince the person, whoever he is that we were somewhere else, in fact allow anyone that wanted to, to see is there."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Holmes inquired "Raines it is not as if we have doubles of ourselves running around London."
"Maybe not for you, I stated, but you see I lied earlier, there is another Raines in London, my twin sister."
The next two hours were blurred through my memory, Holmes argued about not being able to actually investigate the Yards paperwork, I argued how the plan was fool proof and that this was the best way, he argued some more about, what if I missed anything and how everything would be much better if he was part of the action, instead of just the diversion, but I being the type of person I am stood my ground and eventually, because my argument made the most sense and because the plan actually was fool proof, won.
So it was late that night that I exited the doors of the legendary 221b Baker Street, on that moonless night, where the only sound was a soft breeze. The night was so pleasant, and my apartment was so nearby that I decide a midnight stroll was in order. I walked a couple of blocks until I noticed the distinct sounds of footsteps behind me.
"Holmes," I chuckled "even you, cant sneak up on me."
But when I turned around it wasn't Holmes I saw, or his voice I heard. On this dark night all I could make out was a tall dark figure, but although I was not able to see the person I was able to clearly hear the gun shot, before all went black.
Black Rose25: Thank you!!! I am highly complimented!!! Oh and btw I believe you can find The Beekeepers Apprentice in most Libraries or bookstores, if it helps the author is Laurie R. King, and once you finish Beekeeper (which is I believe one of the best books I have read!!! I love it!!!) She has written five other books in the series so if you like Beekeeper you'll love those!! Ha, I am also part of the group of lowlife known as freshmen!!! Oh and I do agree that, considering you don't own a car yet (Hey I cant even DRIVE yet!!!) a cross country trek from her couch to California would be just a LITTLE out of your way so I am UPDATING!!!
Disclaimer: I have never, or ever claimed to own anything; the majority of this pastiche belongs to the ACD estate.
Now on with Chapter 9 of.
No Mere Victorian Woman
The horse hooves slowed and finally ceased as we neared the apartment. Holmes opened the cab rather forcibly and in very frustrated state exited the cab. Watson followed but immediately turned around to help me down. I merely smiled and allowed him to help me. The entire ride back my mind had been racing, no criminal could erase any sign of evidence could they?
I subconsciously followed Holmes and Watson up the steps and into the apartment, sat down and in the midst of my lengthy and baffled train of thought heard Watson ask Mrs. Hudson for a dinner. In front of me, Holmes paced back and forth by the fire. It had been already four o'clock when I had first set out to meet Holmes, now it was nearly eight and long since had the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. I expected to head home shortly but questions still plagued my mind, Could the Yard really be that careless? Was all the blame to lie on their shoulders or was there any evidence to begin with? The entire case hindered on this question, was the Yard simply incautious or were we dealing with a criminal mastermind? I wished with all my heart that the answer was the former, when I entered into 221b earlier, was it only this afternoon? it seemed as if days had passed, I had come in want of a puzzle not a full time career. I was aware however that Holmes would most likely want me to leave, and let him return to his familiar life but I never was the type of person to leave anything uncompleted and I was not about to start now.
"I'm sorry, this must sound terribly rude, but I do not believe I have learned your name yet," questioned a slightly embarrassed Watson behind me. It was then that it occurred to me that we had never really been properly introduced and I chuckled, having never needed to be introduced to him the thought of him not knowing my identity had never occurred to me.
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Rachel Raines-" Watson followed with the predictable and inevitable question.
"You mean the actress?"
"Do you know of another Raines that lives in this area?" I stated sarcastically
"Well then Miss. Raines, would you care to join us for dinner?" inquired Watson. I had a feeling that Holmes had taken no part in this decision but I accepted anyway.
"Thank you that sounds wonderful" I replied to the low rumble of my stomach in agreement. So I followed Watson to the kitchen to find a lovely dinner already placed on the table. To my shock however, Holmes showed no sign of surprise that I was joining them, perhaps I considered, he was still in denial of my existence. I sat down pleasantly and we started to eat. Holmes spoke pleasantly, even to me throughout the meal but I could tell that the strains of the case still bore heavily on him; he ate practically nothing but rather moved the food around his plate in the illusion of eating.
It was somewhere in the midst of conversation that I realized something we had overlooked while at the apartment of Mr. Farthing, or rather what used to be the apartment of Mr. Farthing, he would not have much use for it in his present state. Everyone had already finished their meal, or in Holmes's case appeared to have and Holmes and Watson were amicably speaking about one case or another when I spoke,
"Holmes!"
"I am not usually one to stand being interrupted Miss. Raines." He replied coolly.
"Well I believe you will have to stand it this time Holmes because I believe I have just solved, or at least solved one part of this case."
"Impossible," Replied Holmes "I have gone over the evidence in my mind hundreds of times and I have found nothing."
"Well, that proves it then, if the great Holmes can find nothing than this case has no solution," I replied raising a very Holmesian eyebrow, "for one who claims to live by logic and deduction I must admit I am greatly disappointed."
"Well," coughed a slightly disturbed Watson, "shall we take our coffee into the sitting room then, at least hear what she has to say Holmes, it couldn't hurt could it?"
With a sigh Holmes replied "No, I suppose it couldn't, shall we go then?" and we walked back up to the sitting room, tray of tea in hand. Once everyone was situated, Watson sitting peacefully on the couch and Holmes, at the sight of him I nearly burst out laughing for he could not be any more reminiscent to the caricature of Watson's tales, seated in the basket chair, eyes closed, hands steepled patiently awaiting my account.
"Holmes, you admit to two things, either the yard has been unusually careless, or the criminal has been exceedingly cautious, or perhaps a combination of the two, am I correct?" Holmes merely nodded.
"Now then," I continued " for one I believe that it is physically impossible to commit a crime without leaving a fragment of evidence as I suppose you also think," I stated with a nod toward Holmes, but before I could finish my next line Holmes had realized what I was saying and cut me off.
"You have a point, what if there was no third party in this case, there must be someone from within the Yard itself."
"Exactly!" I replied, "There wouldn't be anything to find other than constable evidence because the constable committed the crime."
"Are you trying to tell me," asked Watson, "That someone who works within Scotland Yard, most likely a constable himself committed a murder?"
"Yes Watson, everything fits!" I said excitedly
"Miss. Raines does have a point," stated Holmes "all the evidence we found were from constables, or at least someone with connections in Scotland Yard, that means we must investigate Scotland Yard!"
"Good, now that that is settled the only question left is, how." I sighed
"Yes," whispered Holmes through gritted teeth
"Well, I don't quite see what the problem is, I mean I'm sure that if we talk to Lestrade he'll-" but before Watson could finish Holmes cut him off.
"No Watson that is the problem, for all we know Lestrade could be part of this whole thing,"
"Come now Holmes you don't seriously believe,"
"Of course not Watson, but lets not doubt, that is after all what made us blind to the obvious in the first place." At this Holmes stood up and started to stir the glowing embers of the fire. "No," said Holmes, what we need is a way to sneak into the Yard without them knowing. Whoever is behind this in the Yard will not want us in there."
"Oh, that's a brilliant idea," I said my voice full of sarcasm "Holmes you have been in the Yard enough, do you want to place everything on the hope that the criminal, whoever he is will not notice us? Especially because he has probably seen you in person before, and on top of that everyone in the Yard has had training to identify disguises, this isn't the street Holmes."
"Well than, do you have a better idea?" He replied sternly.
I thought for a moment and then responded, "in fact, I believe I do. What if we had a way to convince the person, whoever he is that we were somewhere else, in fact allow anyone that wanted to, to see is there."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Holmes inquired "Raines it is not as if we have doubles of ourselves running around London."
"Maybe not for you, I stated, but you see I lied earlier, there is another Raines in London, my twin sister."
The next two hours were blurred through my memory, Holmes argued about not being able to actually investigate the Yards paperwork, I argued how the plan was fool proof and that this was the best way, he argued some more about, what if I missed anything and how everything would be much better if he was part of the action, instead of just the diversion, but I being the type of person I am stood my ground and eventually, because my argument made the most sense and because the plan actually was fool proof, won.
So it was late that night that I exited the doors of the legendary 221b Baker Street, on that moonless night, where the only sound was a soft breeze. The night was so pleasant, and my apartment was so nearby that I decide a midnight stroll was in order. I walked a couple of blocks until I noticed the distinct sounds of footsteps behind me.
"Holmes," I chuckled "even you, cant sneak up on me."
But when I turned around it wasn't Holmes I saw, or his voice I heard. On this dark night all I could make out was a tall dark figure, but although I was not able to see the person I was able to clearly hear the gun shot, before all went black.