21

In the time it took the helicopter to arrive and land in Sherrinford, several possible locations in which Molly could be held were overseen. As reported by Lestrade, although the warehouse the Stapletons owned at the Docks had been rented to a frozen food company for a couple of years now, the NSY men had still searched the place and ascertained Molly was not there.

At the same time, his colleagues in Sussex, had checked both Janine's cottage and the flat where Winston had lived. Both uninhabited. Sally was after something and if it proved useful she would call him herself.

For his part Mycroft let him know the car used for the second part of Janine/Winston's plan had been traced to a side street near the heliport. Security cameras showed three people from behind, including one in a wheelchair, entering the flight area. His older brother was already scrambling to get the flight plan of every single aircraft that had taken off that morning.

As soon as he got off the helicopter, Sherlock paused for a moment to glance up at the prison. Perched as it was, on the island's mountain, it seemed to loom ominously over his and John's heads. Following his best friend and the armed guards who escorted them Sherlock couldn't hold a sigh of concern. At that point it was obvious that wherever they had taken Molly, it wasn't anywhere near London.

An hour had already passed. Only two were missing when Winston and Janine's ultimatum expired. Time was running out and inside him the anguish of not arriving on time increased. Molly's life was completely in his sister's hands. Again.

As he and John went through security procedures, Sherlock told himself that given Eurus' emotional and psychic state there was no point in preparing a speech for her. He would have to speak off the cuff, ride the wave as some said, and pray that his little sister was willing to help him find Molly before…before…He shuddered and forcefully pushed that thought out of his mind.

The new governor, a tall, blonde bobbed hair woman named Amanda Blossoms, waited for him and John in front of the doors of the lift that led to the lower floor where Eurus' room/cell was located, "This way, Mr Holmes…Dr Watson" she told them in a polite tone after shaking hands with both of them, "I lead the way".

"We usually do not allow visits when the patient is having a therapy session with their doctor, like your sister at the moment, Mr Holmes" the manager pointed out as she preceded the two men along a grey-walled and artificially lit corridor.

"But from what I could understand, seeing Eurus right away is of vital importance to you" she added turning her head that little bit to look Sherlock in the face, "That's right" he confirmed, his nervousness evident only to John, to whom did not escape the way Sherlock put his hands behind his back and started fidgeting with his fingers.

"That is why Dr Abbington has agreed to let you meet your sister in his study" she said with a gentle smile after stopping in front of a white door. She raised her hand and with delicate firmness she gave three quick nudges with her knuckle, and after a moment of standstill she gave four more quick nudges. John, as a good ex-soldier, immediately recognized those touches as the letters S and H in the Morse alphabet.

The bespectacled psychiatrist peeked out after a couple of minutes. He greeted the two of them with a nod then he addressed directly to Sherlock "Eurus seems eager to see you. I'll leave you alone with her, but we'll keep an eye on you from the room next door". John and Sherlock exchanged a quick glance, "It'll be okay" the curly-haired man reassured him lowering the door handle without delay.

He silently closed the door behind him. His sister was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a lower table, wearing the usual white trousers but not the usual plain white blouse. Instead she wore a dark green short-sleeved t-shirt with a sunflower printed in its middle. "Why that frivolous concession?" he wondered as he took off his coat and jacket and then placed them on the coat hanger to the right of the door.

His gut feeling told him this garment was somehow familiar to him, he was sure he had already seen it somewhere else. Well, it could have been one of those sent by Mummy, who had repeatedly asked governor Blossoms to allow Eurus to wear normal clothes sometime. He shook those useless ruminations from his mind reminding himself to stay focused. He could not afford any missteps.

Although she had jerked her head up and looked at him, Sherlock was sure his sister hadn't really realized who was the person with her in the room, so much so that she lowered her head again and turned her attention back to the what she was making. Several blank drawing sheets lay neatly stacked on top of each other on the table top, while wax crayons of different shades were scattered around the sheet she was drawing on.

Taking slow steps towards her, Sherlock rolled up the sleeves of his shirt "I need your help, Eurus" he said simply because he thought that the more direct he would be the faster she would reveal to him where Molly was. His sister knew the place, Sherlock was sure of it. During that brief and disastrous Christmas conversation between her and Moriarty, Eurus had made all the thoughts and secrets of the consulting criminal her own.

Eurus lifted her head again, this time however narrowing slightly her eyes on him. She was deducing him and he allowed her to do it. Her eyes gleamed mischievously as she slid a sheet of paper out of the pile and placed it on the shorter side of the table. "Eurus…" he opened his mouth to speak again but his younger sister interrupted him by the firm tapping of her index finger on the blank sheet, "Sit and draw" her voice, unlike two days before, was firm and confident.

Sherlock took this as a positive sign of Eurus' willingness to start talking again after four months of long silence and the order she gave him reminded him a lot of that "Look and play" she had given him a few months back.

He kept his eyes on her as he too sat cross-legged at the table. Then he glanced quickly at what she was drawing, hesitantly wondering what she expected him to draw. She gave him a knowing smile "Draw you", "Me?" Sherlock looked at her a bit unsure – yes, that little verbal exchange definitely seemed to repeat itself -, "You" his sister reiterated as she resumed tracing her sketch.

For a long moment Sherlock stood motionless observing how a beautiful sunflower came to life under his sister's quick and skilful hand. Inspired by a sudden thought, he took two wax crayons and, although not with Eurus' skill, he began to draw. Once finished Sherlock turned it over so that she could see it, "How very telling!" Eurus whispered softly as she gently brushed with her fingertips the two drawn chairs, the dark one of Sherlock and Molly's yellow one, side by side.

"You had sex" hers was a statement not a question like the previous time. Sherlock felt his cheeks went pink and swallowed as he avoided his sister perceptive look, "I need you to tell me where Janine is hiding Molly" he asked her diverting the conversation, but instead of answering she got up and said with devilish smile "Jim wasn't wrong in saying I would like her".

Sherlock blinked as he too stood up, worried she wanted their conversation to take a completely different turn. It was equally important, however, not to irritate her to avoid closing in a curl again, so he thought it was good to indulge her, at least for a while.

"Well, I guess this can be explained by the fact that being her twin brother, Moriarty…" he broke off noticing the look of amused disbelief on Eurus' face, and when she burst into a shrill laugh, Sherlock couldn't help but frown. "I mean Molly, you silly!" she clarified hugging herself in the middle, "You like Molly. Really?" he managed to keep his voice's tone casual trying to figure out what game she was playing, "Well, I'm glad to know, since just four months ago you wanted to blow her up".

Eurus pouted. Sherlock rolled his eyes being careful not to be seen, but…was she really pouting at him? She pressed her back against one of the walls, "Don't tell me you're still mad at me for that foolish coffin game?" she pointed a finger at him as a reproach, "You should thank me. If I hadn't made you believe I was going to kill Molly, you wouldn't have opened your heart. You wouldn't even have admitted to yourself what was obvious to me the first time I saw you look at her!".

Se banged her head lightly against the wall, her voice clearly irritated, "I had to do it, big brother. If I hadn't been able to get the emotional and empathic you out of yourself, I would be dead…remember Mycroft said to crash the plane with the little girl on board at sea?" suddenly her gaze was saddened, "We would all be dead that day, Sherlock. Your Molly saved us all".

While she was speaking he had walked cautiously towards her and was now as close to her as he hadn't been since Musgrove, in her child's room "Then help me save Molly now" Sherlock whispered in an excited voice, holding out his hand. Eurus looked him in the face, then his hand, then his face again and in that moment her gaze shifted. She seemed lost in some kind of trance, "I never had a best friend" she said coldly.

The old Eurus had regained the upper hand, apparently "I had no-one" she stated more bitterly. Sherlock gingerly put his hands on his sister's shoulders and then ran them up and down her arms in an attempt to calm her down and get her to think clearly again, "Eurus, you know that's not the case. You have me, Mummy and Dad…and Mycroft of course".

"What if I want a best friend too?" she asked looking at her brother straight in the eye, "Do you think Molly can be my best friend?" her tone softened as she hook her t-shirt's edges between her index fingers and thumbs, "Do you like it? This is a gift from her".

Images of Molly in Camden Town hastily slipping a green t-shirt into a bag played behind his eyes…here, where he had already seen the garment worn by Eurus! "She also wrote me a letter" she confided to him, "What did she write you?" Sherlock asked running a hand gently over her black hair.

His sister sighed leaning on him, her head on his chest "She said I behaved a little bit no good but she forgave me. She said she loves you but she will never, ever stop you from coming to see me" at this point she took a deep breath, "And that if I want, when I feel ready, I can consider her a friend…a sister too".

Sherlock hugged her warmly as he placed his lips on her forehead for a brotherly kiss of affection, "That's Molly. She doesn't hate and doesn't hold a grudge" he whispered in a low, trembling voice in her ear, "She's already your friend, Eurus". He pulled away for her, cradling her head between his hands "Help me find her. Tell me where she is before it's too late".

Eurus nodded, "She is in Spur Cross…I wrote it on one of the sketches". Sherlock hugged her again, tighter this time and silently scolding himself for not giving enough importance to her scribbled writing, such a precious clue. Sherlock was still holding his sister in his arms when they heard Morse code taps on the door announcing John's presence behind it. When Sherlock opened it, John put the phone in his hands "It's Sally. She found something".

The cop told him that in Janine's flat in London they had found, although it was well hidden, the deed of ownership of a cottage in Ireland, near Cork. He confirmed to the sergeant that this was definitely where Molly was being kept and that he would go right away.

Sherlock called Mycroft instead of texting him, there was not a minute left to waste. With John and Dr Abbington waiting outside the door, Sherlock hastily put on his jacket and coat, then turned to Eurus and strode over to her "Thank you" he said softly. Impetuously he bent down to kiss her on the cheek "I love you, little sister. See you soon, I promise".

And Sherlock left the room with his coat billowing behind him.