...
We soon arrived at a large, modern building with glass walls.
'Yes, when you said we were going to the bank . . .' John started to say as he looked around the building which was clearly not our usual bank.
'Sherlock Holmes' He said as we arrived at the front desk or one of them anyways. We were soon directed to a large boss's office and I read the sign on the door.
'This is a case' I stated
'Sherlock Holmes and Tage West' a man walked in wearing a bright blue suit and clean-cut hair style.
'Sebastian' Sherlock said shaking his hand while I settled on a nod
'Hi-ya Buddies, how long's it been – eight years since I last clapped eyes on you two?' Sebastian asked
'This is my friend, John Watson' Sherlock introduced
'Friend? I thought Tage was your only friend' Sebastian asked
'Colleague' John corrected, in fact they were friends but it is so much simpler if they just said colleague
'Do you need anything, coffee, tea, water?' Sebastian asked as we all took seats around his desk
'No, we're all sorted here thanks' He said to one of his employees
'So you're doing well, you've been abroad a lot, flying around the world twice in a month' Sherlock commented as I smirked
'Right, you're doing that thing, we were at uni together, and this guy here had a trick he used to do' Sebastian explained to John
'It's not a trick' Sherlock muttered
'He could look at you and tell you your whole life story' Sebastian continued as if Sherlock hadn't said anything
'Yes, I've seen him do it' John agreed
'Put the wind up everybody, we hated it. We'd come down to breakfast in the formal hall and this freak would know you'd been shagging the previous night' Sebastian explained. I clenched my fist at the word 'freak'
'I simply observed' Sherlock explained uncaring
'Go on, enlighten me, two trips around the world in a month, you're quite right, how could you tell? Are you going to tell me there's a stain on my tie from some special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan? Is it the mud on my shoes?' Sebastian said sarcastically
'I was just chatting with your secretary outside. She told me.' Sherlock stated and I had to cough to cover my laugh.
'Why are we here?' I asked softly
'I'm glad you could make it over, we've had a break-in. Sir-William's office – the bank's former chairman, the room's been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broke in late last night' Sebastian explained as we walked through the building
'What did they steal?' John asked
'Nothing, just left a little message' He said as he let us into the room. I looked up at the wall and saw 2 yellow symbols no doubt Chinese of some sort.
'Camera's' I stated and Sebastian nodded as we walked over to another room with the computer screens
'60 seconds apart' Sebastian explained as he played the surveillance footage.
'So someone came up here, in the middle of the night, splashed a bit of paint around and left within a minute' Sebastian said
'How many ways into that office?' Sherlock asked
'Well, that's where this gets really interesting' Sebastian stated as we walked back out of the office and to the front desk again.
'Every door that opens in this bank, it gets locked right here, every walk-in cupboard, every toilet' Sebastian explained
'That door didn't open last night?' Sherlock asked
'There's a hole in our security, find it and we will pay you 5 figures, this is an advance, tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way' Sebastian said to Sherlock pulling out a check. I walked off not caring about the check; I knew John would take it for Sherlock. I walked back into the office and looked at the message again.
Sherlock walked in soon after me and started taking photos of the message. As he was doing that I looked around the room and finally I walked out onto the rim of the building. I looked from side to side curiously and then down. We were very high up.
'Tage, do come inside, can't have you falling off' Sherlock called out and I smiled but walked back inside, Sherlock was already in the other room weaving and duck in between desks. I simply shook my head at him and lent up against the wall near John and Sebastian.
'He really does look like an idiot sometimes' I muttered to myself
'Two trips around the world in a month' John commented to me and I raised my eyes brows to him in confusion
'He didn't ask his secretary, he just said that to irritate him, how did he know?' John asked me
'Did you see his watch?' I replied
'His watch' John asked
'The time is right but the date was wrong, said two days ago, crossed the date line twice and didn't alter it' I explained
'Within a month? How did he get that?' John asked
'New Breitling, only came out this February' Sherlock answered as we started to walk out of the building
'Ok, do you think we should sniff around here a bit longer?" John asked
'Got everything I need to know, thanks' Sherlock replied
'That graffiti was a message, someone at the bank, working on the trade floors, we find the intended recipient and . . . 'I explained pausing for John to catch up with our train of thought
'They'll lead us to the person who sent it?" John asked
'Obvious' Sherlock stated
'Well, there are 300 people up there, who was it meant for?' John asked
'Pillars' Sherlock said
'What?' John asked looking at Sherlock then realised he wasn't going to answer so I replied
'Pillars and the screens, there are very few places you could see that graffiti from, that narrows the field down considerably' I explained and John nodded
'And of course the message was left at 11.45 last night that tells us alot' Sherlock continued
'Does it?' John asked
'Traders come to work at all hours; some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night, that message was intended for somebody who came in at midnight. Not many Van Coons in the phone book' Sherlock said as he showed John the desk name he stole before calling down a taxi.
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