The sermon passed relatively quickly. Molly also had difficulty concentrating on it. Her thoughts kept flying to Sherlock and his appearance here in Dunmore.
Afterwards everyone left the church and went on to the community hall. In a few minutes Molly would attend her first meeting of the congregation. She was excited and anxious to see what would await her.
Just in time for lunch, the current mayor, Sean Byrne, opened the meeting. Mr Byrne was an elderly gentleman of stately stature. He had a quiet manner and always had an open ear for his citizens, according to her neighbour Mrs. O'Reilly.
In the first half of the meeting some points were discussed about forthcoming events. But then at some point things started to get strange. Mr Byrne suddenly called in the police. Officer Thomas, as he was introduced, was still a very young officer. Perhaps just in her late twenties, Molly recognised his face. She had seen him sometimes at Ida's in the library.
The mayor let him speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reason to believe that the previous accidents may have been murders. Therefore, we will question all citizens one by one."
A murmur went through the crowd. Suddenly the room became quite loud and wild discussions were exchanged.
At some point a person stood up. It was Bridget Fitzgerald, who now had the floor.
"It is quite clear who the culprit is here. It was Ms. Hooper. After all, these murders began after she showed up here." she accused Molly and took a nasty look in her direction.
Molly couldn't believe it. Was she really here now accused of killing old Mrs. Daly, her neighbour Mr. Murphy and her friend Ida. Silently, she sat in her chair and found no words.
"Oh, don't be silly Bridget! Molly has only been with us a few months and when Mrs. Daly died, she hadn't even been here yet."
Molly was grateful that Mrs O'Reilly was now trying to defend her.
"But what do we know about her? Maybe she has a secret that affects us all here," Bridget continued.
She was about to say something when Mr Byrne interrupted.
"Now be quiet! We don't know who did it and we should hold back with our accusations. Officer Thomas is now going to question each one of them and I will not have these accusations made before then!"
The officer looked at Molly with a compassionate look before continuing and calling the first citizen for questioning.
Molly sat in her chair and could not say anything.
In the row in front of her, Mrs Nolan whispered to her neighbour
"Now, if you ask me, I think that Ms. Hooper is guilty It's really weird," it whispered softly.
"Oh, come on. Stop it. Molly is such a nice person. She couldn't hurt a fly."
Molly sank further and further back into her chair. She was glad that at least her neighbour Mrs. O'Reilly stood by her and she kept trying to defend her from the others.
"Don't listen to what Bridget or the others here say" suddenly a voice sounded next to her.
It was Kilian, the grandson of Mr. Murphy, who was now standing in the seat next to her.
At last Molly found her language again.
"But apparently everyone here thinks I am the murderer" she lamented.
"I don't think you did it. What motive would you have? And anyway, if I did, I'd rather trust Claire Fitzgerald."
"What do you think?" she asked.
Kilian was quiet for a moment and looked around. Again and again people were called and led out of the room. Then he slowly leaned closer to Molly and spoke softly.
"I don't know if you've heard it yet. But apparently I was told I had an affair with Ida afterwards. But the truth is, we loved each other."
"But you are with Bridget, aren't you?" Molly asked, slightly irritated.
"I ended it shortly after I met Ida. Claire wasn't really thrilled about it and has been trying to get me back together with Bridget ever since.
So Claire Fitzgerald really had a motive? I should tell Sherlock,' Molly then thought. But before she could reply, the young officer entered the room again and asked her to follow him. Molly did as he was told and followed him into the next room.
As it turned out, this was the event hall of the municipality.
The discussion went quite quickly. The officer actually only wanted to know from her where she had been at the time. Molly told her that she was at work at Waterford Hospital at both times. Afterwards he wanted to know what her motivation for moving to Dunmore East was.
She briefly considered what to tell him, but then decided to tell him the whole truth. For some reason, she trusted him.
A short time later she was released and hurried through the citizen hall to the exit. She just wanted to get out of here and go home as quickly as possible. On her way through the hall, Molly noticed that the citizens were following her with their eyes. Some looked at her with concern and compassion, while others looked at her with suspicious and disapproving looks.
Molly ran home as fast as she could. Meanwhile, the sun had crossed her horizon and Dunmore was slowly enveloped in darkness.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the previous meeting.
How can they all think I had anything to do with it?
Shakily, she fumbled her keys out of her pocket and put them in the lock.
She just wanted to take a quick shower and then crawl into her bed.
But she didn't get around to it when she noticed who was now sitting on her couch.
"I hope it's OK that I let myself in," Sherlock then said. Then he saw the look on her face. She seemed distraught and sad at the same time.
"Is everything okay, Molly?" he then asked.
But Molly did not answer. She was still thinking about the day and slowly she began to notice that tears were coming. But she didn't want him to see her like that. There had been enough embarrassment in the last few days.
"I'll make some tea" she said and ran into her kitchen.
Sherlock noticed that something was wrong and then got up carefully and followed her quietly.
Molly was standing at her sink, about to put the water in for tea, when tears finally got the better of her. And suddenly everything that had accumulated over the past days and weeks broke out of her. Her legs slowly grew heavier and she dropped to the floor with her face covered in tears.
Sherlock stood at the door to her kitchen and saw Molly kneeling on the floor crying. He'd never seen Molly like that before and for some reason it broke his heart. He moved slowly towards her, then kneeled down beside her and without thinking about it, he took her in his arms and gently stroked her back.
"What happened?" he then asked and stroked gently over her head.
Molly leaned back a little and wiped the tears from her face.
"Everyone thinks I had something to do with the murders! Sherlock, you should have seen the look on her face," she sobbed and then leaned back against him.
Molly, his Molly, the lovable, self-sacrificing Molly who couldn't hurt a soul, was supposed to be a murderer? Impossible! He didn't really know what to say about it now.
Instead, he cradled her further in his arms until she gradually calmed down again.
At some point Molly slowly separated from him and looked him in the face, still with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you" she sniffed and wiped her face briefly when she noticed that some tears were still coming loose and were now slowly running down her cheek.
Sherlock, however, smiled at her with a warmth that Molly had only seen on him once before. They spent the day together solving crimes, and when Sherlock wished her a happy life, he had a smile just like that.
Molly had weak knees both then and now and lost herself in his eyes.
Then at some point Sherlock raised his hand and guided it to Molly's cheek. Gently, he stroked away the individual tears with his thumb. Molly's breath faltered when she realised he was going to rest his hand there a little longer.
"Tell me, what exactly happened today?" he then asked, still with his hand on her cheek.
But Molly couldn't think straight. Sherlock was suddenly so sensitive and worried. She thought for a moment whether she should put her hand on his, but then decided against it. After all, she didn't want to ruin the moment.
Then she told him about today's meeting and the accusations that some citizens were making against her.
Sherlock listened to her attentively the whole time. Now and then he continued to gently stroke her cheek with his thumb. He noticed that Molly was visibly enjoying it and cuddling up against it slightly. A pleasant and warm feeling spread through him.
Then at some point she finished her stories and asked:
"But Sherlock, what are you doing here? Have you found out something new?"
Sherlock pulled his hand away again and then told her about his day.
"Just one thing. The local police are completely blind and incompetent. But I think this Kilian's right. Something's wrong with these Fitzgeralds. I think we should start with these first," he explained.
Molly nodded briefly. Then suddenly, partly because of the situation, a question came to her mind that had been burning on her tongue ever since they met again. Actually she wanted to let it go, but her mouth was faster again.
"Sherlock?" she asked carefully.
As he looked at her, she went on.
"Why...why did you kiss me back then?" she stuttered slightly.
Sherlock suddenly stiffened and looked around questioningly.
'Oh, man, so now was the time. It had to happen sooner or later,' he thought to himself, trying to find the right words. But at some point he realised that he was not going to succeed.
"Molly... I... I honestly don't know" he now stammered himself.
Molly looked at him with a slightly irritating look and slowly pulled her head back.
Like him, he did not know. You have to know why you kiss someone,' she asked herself.
But we're talking about Sherlock Holmes, who doesn't have much to do with feelings and calls them a chemical defect that's on the losing side,' she said to herself.
Nevertheless, she wanted to know. Just as she was about to start talking, he continued.
"Somehow I just wanted it at that moment. I apologise if I made a mistake"
Wait, did he say "wanted"? And did he apologize now, too?'
Molly no longer understood the world. She still looked at him surprised.
"It wasn't a mistake. The kiss was beautiful," she whispered so softly that she could hardly hear it herself. When she finally understood what she had said, she stood up quickly and somehow tried to change the subject.
"So, you think the Fitzgeralds have something to do with the murders?" she then asked, smoothing her dress.
Sherlock glanced at her slightly sceptical, but then went into it. He was glad that the subject was settled for now.
Molly continued to make the tea while Sherlock told her about his suspicions. Finally, sometime later, he said goodbye to her.
Molly was in the middle of putting the dishes together when suddenly there was a knock at her door.
So she carefully moved to the door and then slowly opened it.
Her breath stopped and her blood froze in her veins when she saw who was standing there in front of her...