The next chapter, this time from Greg's POV! I hope you like it, please let me know.

I don't own the characters or places!

"What exactly am I looking at?" Greg asked with a frown, scanning the scene in front of him closely.

"The crime scene, sir." Brandon threw in, sounding nervous. Ever since he messed up the crime scene some time ago and Greg had scolded him for that, he was restless around the DI.

"I know that!" Greg muttered. "But what's going on here?"

"You should rather say what was going on here." Someone else threw in and Greg felt relieved when Anderson appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. At least someone he trusted to do a good job was here. He wondered where Sergeant Donovan was. From what he'd heard, she should also be somewhere in the house.

"Would you please enlighten me?" Greg couldn't hide his annoyance any longer. "I was called half an hour ago to come here because something happened, but no one thought that it was necessary to tell me what's going on!" At this, he glared at Brandon, who'd informed him about all this. The police officer looked away quickly.

"The old lady who lives here was found dead this morning." Sergeant Donovan appeared next to Anderson. "They called the police and now we're here. Though it seems to be a dead end. No traces of a fight. The old lady also doesn't show any signs of violence."

"Her death seems to be natural." Anderson added with a nod. "Most probably a heart attack."

"The only strange thing about all this is that the house wasn't locked when her nephew arrived here to look after her." Brandon threw in quietly.

"Couldn't it be possible that the old lady forgot to lock the door?" Greg raised his eyebrows.

"He insists that she would have never done that." Brandon shook his head. "Apparently, she was always very careful."

Sergeant Donovan held up a piece of paper. "He also said that it's nearly as if she was scared of something. She never left the house when it was dark, always went shopping together with a friend and she had a dog which always made loud noises when someone got too close to the house."

"Where's the dog now?"

"Gone." She shrugged. "Most probably, he ran away when the door was open."

He looked around. "Any personal things in here?"

"We're still looking for them." Brandon explained. "The others are upstairs now, there's something which looks like an office."

"Then go for it!" Greg demanded and the police officer hurried towards the stairs quickly. "We also need to find the dog!" He called after him, not wanting to search for the animal in the middle of London by himself. Even if he feared that his team would never find the dog.

"Did you already question the nephew?" He asked and Sergeant Donovan nodded. She held up the piece of paper.

"This is the protocol. However, I've asked him to come to NSY this afternoon anyway. I thought you also might want to talk to him."

"Very good." Greg agreed with a nod. "Did he say anything useful?"

"Next to the fact that she seemed to be scared and that the dog is gone?" She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Maybe it's really just a heart attack and the dog ran away." Anderson threw in thoughtfully.

"Possible." Greg agreed. "But we should make sure that it was a heart attack. Better safe than sorry." Somehow, he didn't believe that this was a normal death. Because one thing bothered him about the whole situation. The nephew said she seemed scared. His instincts told Greg that there was more behind it, he just didn't know what.

He considered telling Sherlock and John about this, but then he hesitated. Or you could have just called me, Greg. I gave you my number for a reason. It hadn't been too long ago that those words had been said to him. Should he really bother Mycroft Holmes with this, though? After all, he wasn't even sure that something happened here. Maybe his feeling was completely wrong.

Greg sighed and took a sip of his coffee. He wouldn't inform Mycroft about this yet, he decided. He would look into the case by himself first. And who knew, maybe he could even solve it?

Days passed and Greg and his team didn't get any further with the dead lady. The dog seemed to be gone and no one could find it. In the end, they gave up the search. Brandon kept calling animal shelters, but everyone thought that it was useless. Most probably, the dog was already hit by a car or something like that. Or someone had found and adopted it without informing anyone. Because according to the nephew, he didn't even wear a collar.

They found several documents in the office, but mostly, it were just bills. Very old ones, to be exact. It was true that the lady had rarely left her house.

The only interesting thing they found was her diary. A diary which was written in an incredible bad handwriting, so that only a few people were able to read it. Including Sergeant Donovan, who wasn't very happy about her new task. She kept complaining, but by now, Greg had enough practice to ignore that. They needed more information and this could be the only way to get it.

Mycroft often asked him about his work, but he only shrugged and told him that nothing of importance was going on. Then, the Holmes always frowned, but he didn't say anything. Greg felt guilty for lying, but he also didn't want to bother Mycroft. Luckily, the oldest Holmes stopped asking after a few attempts and their conversations focused on other things instead.

They also never mentioned Moriarty and Greg wondered if Mycroft and his team were making progress there. It didn't seem like that. From John, he'd also heard that nothing happened yet. James said the same. The waiting was making them all nervous, Sherlock most of all. From what John said, he was obsessed with Moriarty by now and couldn't wait for the next part of 'the game', as he called it. To be honest, this didn't surprise Greg. He'd already expected Sherlock to be obsessed with this criminal.

He also understood why John was so worried, though. This wasn't just a game. From what they'd heard, Moriarty was dangerous. They had to be careful if Sherlock wasn't going to see this soon. Otherwise, the detective might tend to do stupid things. Which wasn't so unusual, if Greg was honest to himself. However, this time it could escalate easily since this wasn't just some small, unknown criminal they dealt with. This man had everything planned.

When he thought of the fact that next to his best friend and Sherlock, others were involved as well, he shivered. Mycroft. He was also going to deal with Moriarty. Just like Q and James, though Greg wasn't really worried for the secret agent. He could take care of himself and his boyfriend very well.

A few days after they found the dead lady, they still weren't any further with the case. Donovan was still reading the diary, but it seemed to be really boring. In the end, she handed it back to Greg, saying that she had enough of this task. He took it with a sigh and left his office, ignoring the curious glances of the others. After all, everyone should know where he was going now.

On his way to 221 B, he got a call from Mycroft.

"Hello Greg, how are you?" It still surprised him that Mycroft Holmes asked him that question, but slowly, Greg got used to it.

"Hey Mycroft. I'm fine. Working on a case. You know that stuff."

"Your case isn't going well." It wasn't a question. "I assume you're on your way to see Sherlock and Dr. Watson?" There was something in his voice Greg couldn't quite place and he wondered what it was. Sometimes, he still had problems to understand Mycroft. He was like one big riddle to him. A very fascinating one that he would love to solve.

"Yes, I hope they can help. We've been working on it for days now and don't have a single clue."

"You could have also asked me." Mycroft threw in. "I've offered to help you several times, Greg."

"I don't want to bother you with our unimportant cases." He said before he could stop himself. "I wanted to see if we can solve it on our own first."

"And now you're asking my brother for help." Did he just imagine it or did Mycroft sound unhappy?

"Because that's his job, remember?" Greg tried to lessen the tension. "While you're far too important to listen to my problems."

"Listen to my words closely now, DI Lestrade." Suddenly, Mycroft sounded deadly serious. "Your problems aren't bothering me. I want to help you, if you might believe it or not. Otherwise, I would have never made such an offer. And I'm also not more important than you." He hesitated for a few moments. "I would love to discuss this with you personally, just like your case, but unfortunately, I'm on my way to the airport now. There's an important meeting in France tomorrow and the Prime Minister asked me to accompany him. I should be gone for three days."

Mycroft's words were ringing in his ears. He still had problems believing that Mycroft Holmes really wanted to spend time with him. Apparently, his silence told the other man as much.

"I'm sorry if my words have caught you by surprise, Greg. That's also why I would have rather discussed this with you in person." It was obvious how unhappy he was about that.

"It's fine." Greg threw in quickly. "I know that you have to work very much. I'll just ask Sherlock about this case, but when the next one comes, I'll tell you about it. I promise."

Mycroft chuckled. "That's good. I hope my brother can help you, this case seems to be bothering you very much."

"It's a riddle we can't solve. That always bothers me."

"There's more to it." Mycroft said thoughtfully. "Just be careful. I fear that I have to end this conversation now, we've arrived at the airport. I'll let you know as soon as I'm back."

"We're always careful." Greg muttered.

"That doesn't include my brother."

"Alright, you've got a point there. I'll see what I can do about that. Have a good journey, Mycroft."

When the call ended, Greg had almost arrived at Baker Street. He kept thinking about the things Mycroft had said and smiled. His heart was beating faster when he realized that Mycroft Holmes really seemed to like him back.

When he knocked on the door of 221 B, John opened after half a minute. His best friend looked a little annoyed. "Bad day?" Greg asked.

"You have no idea." John muttered with a sigh.

Greg followed him into the flat silently, only to see Sherlock sitting in his armchair with a dark expression on his face. However, it changed to curious when he noticed Greg. "Lestrade!" Sherlock exclaimed loudly. "Finally, you're here! I've been expecting you days ago. What took you so long?" He raised his eyebrows. "Did you really think that you could solve this case all by yourself?"

Next to him, John crossed his arms. "You knew that they've got a case and didn't offer to help? You've been insufferable for days! Maybe this could have made you feel better."

Sherlock snorted. "It's not a very exciting case, isn't it, Lestrade? Otherwise, you would have been here much earlier. And you didn't even ask Mycroft about it."

Greg knew Sherlock well enough to not argue about this. Instead, he reached for the file and the diary in his bag and handed them to John. He didn't want to give Sherlock the satisfaction of knowing about it first. From the small smile on John's lips, Greg knew that he understood this as well. Sherlock just raised his eyebrows silently.

In short words, Greg described the case to them. The old lady in her house, found dead by her nephew. No traces of violence. The dog that vanished. And the fact that she seemed to be scared of something. When he mentioned the last point, Sherlock looked up with interest in his eyes.

"You read the whole diary?" John asked after a while of skipping through the pages.

Greg shook his head. "Not the entire one. Sergeant Donovan gave up this morning."

"I see." John muttered thoughtfully and frowned at the page in front of him.

"You found something?" Sherlock stoop up from his armchair and went to John, touching his shoulders and running his hands down his arms absent-mindedly. Greg was sure that they both didn't even notice this intimate gesture. Now they were both frowning at the diary.

"Will Molly have a look at the body?" Sherlock asked and glanced at him.

"Yes, the results should be there tomorrow." He confirmed. "She also couldn't find something that indicates that it's not a natural death."

"But you don't think so." Sherlock stated. "Otherwise, you would have dropped this case days ago. An old lady has a heart attack in her house, the dog ran away because she left the door open and her nephew found her. As easy as that."

Greg sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this. I can't quite explain it, but I think it's important that we look into this."

"You mean because she was scared?" Now John was also focusing on them.

"Mostly." He nodded, but then he raised his eyebrows. "How do you know that she was indeed scared? By now, it was just a presumption."

John held up the diary. "It's all in here. Your team just didn't read far enough."

In an instant, the three of them were looking into the diary together.

"I really can't read that." Greg muttered. "That handwriting is horrible."

"It's alright." Both John and Sherlock threw in at the same time and Greg fought the urge to roll his eyes. They didn't even notice how alike they acted sometimes.

"She's describing that someone has been following her." John explained. "Though it doesn't say why."

"Or who it was." Sherlock took the diary from John and began to look through the pages. "But it seems like her fear was getting stronger with time. Here she mentions that she got the dog for safety reasons."

"I wonder what happened to her." John muttered. "She's been working for a newspaper?"

Greg nodded. "But she's retired nearly twenty years ago. So if it's somehow connected to that, it will be difficult to find proofs."

"If she's been murdered at all." John agreed with a thoughtful look on his face. "Do you think that it's connected to Moriarty?"

As soon as the name left John's lips, Sherlock froze and the diary fell from his hands. Only John's fast instincts prevented it from falling to the ground. "Why would you think that?" Sherlock demanded to know.

John shrugged. "Just a thought. Most probably, we're just seeing ghosts everywhere."

"Possible." Greg agreed. "But I had the same thought."

"I think it's just the tension because we're waiting for him to make the next move." John nodded. "So forget it, Sherlock." He placed a hand on Sherlock's arm. "Let's focus on right now, alright?"

After staring at them for a few more moments, Sherlock nodded and looked into the diary once more. He skipped through the pages lazily and sat down again.

Greg used this opportunity to take John aside. "How bad is it exactly?" He whispered.

"He's obsessed with that man." John muttered darkly. "He doesn't care what I say, he's eager to meet him one day."

"I don't think that he'll understand how dangerous he is just by our words." Greg admitted.

John nodded. "Sadly, I think so too. We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"He'll be fine." He tried to calm his best friend down. "We won't let anything happen to him."

John smiled, though the worry in his eyes remained. "Thank you."

"Did James return from Africa yet?" Greg didn't have the time to text him in the past days.

"Four days ago. But he's busy with another mission." John explained. "Just like Q. Seems like they're working on it together this time."

"Will he come to our meeting on Friday?"

"He wasn't sure yet. Maybe we should just text him at the end of the week. I'm sure he'll know more then."

Greg nodded and excused himself when his phone rang.

"DI Lestrade." He accepted the call.

"Sir, something has happened. Your presence is required in Kensington." It was Sergeant Donovan.

"What happened?" He asked and noticed that John and Sherlock were looking at him now.

"Another body was found. It's the same as with the old lady. No signs of violence. The door to his apartment was locked. They found him since he didn't come to work in days and his colleagues got worried."

He sighed. "I'm on my way."

"We could use some support in this." She noted. "Are you still with them?"

He only had to raise his eyebrows at the others to make them nod eagerly. "I'll bring Sherlock and John." He told her. "Just make sure that no one touches anything."

He ended the call and began to walk towards the stairs, not surprised that John and Sherlock followed him immediately. "Seems like it happened again." Greg told them. "Either that or this is a really big coincidence."

"Only one way to find out, Lestrade." Sherlock said with a smile. "I really hope for you that your new police officer didn't mess up the crime scene."

Instead of asking how Sherlock knew about this, he just sighed deeply.