Molly spent the whole day thinking about this morning and Sherlock's reaction.
She wondered what was wrong with him and why he had reacted so angrily to her suggestion. At least she thought he would be more relieved that he didn't have to accompany her to the party as her boyfriend. Sherlock would not care about this spectacle anyway. Okay, actually she had only said it because she wanted to protect herself and her heart.
But then it suddenly occurred to her that this suggestion actually came from him and he seemed a bit disappointed when she turned it down.
'What was wrong with him? He seems changed. All the time when he was here. Not one humiliation or criticism towards me. On the contrary, he was kind, caring and almost worried about me,' she said.
And then she wondered what had really happened to him and his sister. Maybe she would just ask him again before he left. After all, it didn't matter what he would or wouldn't say. He would go back to London and Molly would stay here in Ireland.
She was just about to leave for home in the late afternoon when it occurred to her that Sherlock still wanted the file on Mrs. Daly. So with quick steps she followed the long dark corridor to the archives of the building. It was a rather large and spacious room and there were metal cupboards everywhere, filled with files at the edges. She quickly looked for the cupboard with the initials D and leafed through the files.
And indeed, Mrs Daly was autopsied at Waterford.
Molly took a quick look at the file and skimmed through the autopsy report. As it turned out, Mrs Daly was diabetic, and not only that, they also found a tiny little puncture mark on her big toe. Strange.
Molly was just about to read on when she suddenly heard a noise from further away in the room.
She looked around, but couldn't make out anyone. She quickly stowed the file in her pocket, closed the cupboard and left the room again. On her way out, she kept looking for the cause of the noise but couldn't find it.
Just as Molly closed the door to the archive again and turned around, she suddenly bumped into a person and dropped her bag. She looked up and recognised one of her students.
"Oh I'm sorry, Ms. Hooper" he then said and then helped her pick up her things.
"Mr. O'Kennedy. What are you doing here?" Molly then asked in surprise and put her things back in her bag as quickly as possible.
"I was looking for you. I have another question about the autopsy today. But I see that you were just on your way home. I will simply ask you again on Wednesday. And please excuse me once again. I wish you a happy holiday," he said then and disappeared immediately.
"Likewise" Molly now spoke softly to herself as Mr O'Kennedy had already disappeared.
She stood there, slightly astonished, looking into the now empty dark corridor. Strange.
Then she remembered that she wanted to go home after all and had to get ready for the party.
Quickly she walked along the same path as her student had taken before and left the building.
It was not long before Molly arrived at her home. She put her bag and file on her kitchen table and walked on to her bedroom. She picked out something appropriate for tonight. As Molly had a rather unusual style of dress, she didn't have many fancy things to wear for tonight's occasion. And she knew that the Fitzgeralds would appreciate a more upmarket style of dress. There were only two dresses to choose from. One was a long flowing evening dress in navy blue with light lace applications and glitter elements and the other was the black dress she had worn at the Christmas party in Baker Street. When Molly thought back to that evening, she had those painful memories of Sherlock's humiliation, so she finally decided to wear the other dress.
'Would Sherlock turn up tonight despite her refusal?' she thought.
After she had prepared her clothes, she disappeared into her bathroom to shower and get ready. She decided to tie her hair back in a braid and tied it into a knot. She kept her make-up rather plain. Molly had never been the type of person who would put on make-up in a conspicuous way. She only accentuated her lips a little more.
After she had put on her dress and the matching shoes, she stowed her most important things in her bag. She was about to check the time on her phone when she noticed a message.
Curious, she opened it and then stared incredibly at her phone.
It was that unknown sender again and this time it became more concrete.
Molly wondered what this was all about and especially who was behind these messages. But she didn't get far when suddenly there was a knock on her door.
She now looked at her door with a frightened look. Then she stood up carefully and slowly went there to open it, first a little crack.
"Ah Sherlock, it's you" she said with relief.
"Hello Molly. I know you didn't want me to come with you but I think it's definitely safer under the circumstances," he said and when he saw her chalky pale face, he continued.
"Is everything okay?"
Molly wondered for a moment whether she should tell him about the message. She decided to wait a little longer and tell him later during the party. After all, she wanted to solve the case together with him and find the murderer.
"What? Yes, I was just surprised to see you" she replied to him and opened the door for him to enter. Secretly, she was now glad that he had decided against her request and was now accompanying her.
Sherlock did what she signalled and entered. Again and again he heard John's voice echoing in his head.
'You will apologise to Molly and treat her as she deserves!'
"So, Molly, listen. About this morning..." he started talking. But Molly was quicker and interrupted him instantly.
"Sherlock, it's all right. I let my emotions take over. You're right. We have to catch a murderer. From now on, I'm going to concentrate on this and I'm not going to burden you with this emotional stuff any more" replied Molly. She was surprised at herself to hear her say such a thing and had difficulty stopping the sarcasm in it.
Sherlock looked at her in surprise. He had not expected that.
"Ah, OK"
Then he looked at her closely.
"You look very pretty, by the way, Molly," he said almost shyly and stroked through his curls with a slight embarrassment.
Molly looked down at him and smiled.
"Thank you very much. I will gladly return this. But tell me, do you always have a dinner jacket with you?" she then asked slightly confused with a grin on her lips.
Sherlock then explained to her that he had bought it in town today after visiting Officer Thomas.
"I think we have an ally in the police. This Officer Thomas was very interested to hear my hypotheses. He will be at the party tonight, by the way. Just in case"
Molly nodded understandingly and then turned to the file.
"I got the file you wanted, by the way. And it might interest you to know that Mrs Daly was diabetic and a tiny little puncture was found in her toe. A weird place if you ask me..." she said and then handed it to him.
Sherlock took it from her and quickly skimmed through the most important details.
"Just as I thought." he then realised. There was a smile on his face. Almost euphoric.
"So shall we?" he then asked, holding his arm out to her in a very gentlemanly manner.
Molly looked at him confused, but then took her bag and his arm and followed him outside.