...
'Flew back from Dalian Friday' one of the ladies from Van Coon's work explained
'Looks like he had back-to-back meetings with the sales team' she continued as I stood next to Sherlock and watched the computer screen
'Can you print me up a copy?' Sherlock asked his hands behind his back
'Sure' she said kindly
'What about the day he died, can you tell me where he was?' Sherlock asked
'Sorry, I've got a gap' She stated
'I have all his receipts' she added after seeing Sherlock's face
'What kind of boss was he Amanda?' I asked as she got all his receipts for Sherlock to look through
'Appreciative' I asked
'Um, no, not a word I'd use, the only thing Eddie appreciated had a big price tag' She said nervously
'Like that hand cream, he bought that for you, didn't he?' I asked softly but she didn't answer she just looked at me surprised
'Look at this one' Sherlock said giving it to Amanda
'Got a taxi from him on the day he died, $18.50' He stated
'That would get him to the office' Amanda stated uncertainly
'Not rush hour, check the time, mid-morning, 18 would get him as far as . . . 'Sherlock started to say but was cut off
'The west end, I remember him saying' she started proud that she could help. I stepped forward leaning over Sherlock's shoulder to read the receipts as well. Sherlock paused slightly as I first leaned over, his eyes darting to me and then went back to work.
'Underground, printed at one in Piccadilly' I stated picking up a receipt
'So he got a tube back to the office, why would he get a taxi into town and then a tube back' Amanda asked confused
'Because he was delivering something heavy' I explained
'You wouldn't lug a package up the escalator' Sherlock continued
'Delivering?' Amanda asked confused
'To somewhere near Piccadilly station, dropped the package, delivered it and then . . . 'Sherlock said more to himself then Amanda and I
'Stopped to get some food' I continued as I picked up a receipt to a Pizza place and took off with Sherlock close behind me. We caught a taxi to the Pizza place.
'So you bought your lunch from here en route to the station but where were you heading from?' Sherlock asked himself as we walked around the street
'Where did the taxi drop you?' He continued and soon we ran into John who had the Journalist's diary
'Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died, whatever was hidden inside that case, I've manage to piece together a picture using scraps of information – credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China, then he came here' Sherlock said to John in a rushed voice
'Sherlock' John said but Sherlock didn't stop his fast pass talking
'Somewhere in this street, somewhere near. I don't know where' Sherlock said frustrated
'That shop, over there' John stated confidently
'How could you tell?' Sherlock asked surprised
'Lukis's diary, he was here too, he wrote down the address' John explained before walking off
'Oh' Sherlock said frowning; I smiled and laughed silently to myself
I followed the boys into the shop
'Hello' Sherlock said
'You want lucky cat?' A lady behind the counter asked
'No, thanks, no' John said
'$10 $10' She continued
'I think your wife, she will like' the lady was persistent I'll give her that much
'Maybe' John said
I walked around the shop, looking at various items and I picked one up and looked at it, underneath it was Chinese writing, the same as the cipher
'Sherlock' I said gaining his attention as I walked over to him
'The label there' I stated
'Yes, I see it' Sherlock said softly
'It's exactly the same as the cipher' I said softly
We stood there in silent for a moment before I hit myself in the head
'Of course' I said loudly earning a shocked looked from Sherlock and John
'Come on' I stated as we walked out of the shop
'It's an ancient number system – Hang Zhou, these days only street traders use it. Those numbers written on the wall at the bank and at the library, numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect' I explained as we walked down the street
'It's a 15, what we thought was the artist's tag, it's a 15' I explained remembering the numbers in my head
'You know the Hang Zhou numbering system off by heart?' John asked impressed and I just smiled at him
'And the blindfold, the horizontal line, what number was that?' Sherlock asked
'The Chinese number 1' I stated
'We found it' John said smiling
We soon found a little coffee shop in which we sat down and I grabbed a pen and paper from the lady behind the counter and wrote down the symbols and the letters
'Two men travel back from China, both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium, what did they see?' John asked
'It's not what they saw; it's what they both brought back in those suitcases' Sherlock explained
'You don't mean duty free' John said
'Think about what Sebastian told us, about Van Coon, about how he stayed afloat in the market' Sherlock told John
'Lost 5 million' John stated
'Made it back in a week, that's how he made such easy money' I muttered
'He was a smuggler' John finally caught on
'Cover would have been perfect, businessman making frequent trips to Asia, Lukis was the same, a journalist writing about China, both of them smuggled stuff about' Sherlock spoke out loud too himself
'The Lucky Cat was their drop-off' I said
'But why did they die?' John asked confused
'It doesn't make sense, if they both turn up at the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they finished the job?' John asked
'What if one of them was light-fingered?' Sherlock said with a smirk
'What do you mean?' John asked as he ate his meal
'Stole something, something from the hoard' I explained
'The killer doesn't know which of them took it so he threatens them both' John said catching on
'Remind me, when was the last time it rained?' Sherlock asked confused as he stood up and walked out the shop and across the road with John on his heels. I sighed and finished off my drink before walking over to them
'It's been here since Monday' Sherlock muttered as he stood up and pressed the door bell, the name on it was Soo Lin Yao. While Sherlock tried to ring the door bell again I walked around the side of the building and out the back
'No one's been in that flat for at least three days' I heard Sherlock say as they followed me around the back
'Could have gone on holiday' John stated
'Do you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?' I asked as I ran and grabbed the back ladder. I pulled myself up and started to climb to the back window.
'Sherlock' I heard John call out I assume that he had followed me. I was right when he walked past me and climbed through the window. I heard him almost drop a vase but caught it at the last moment
'Somebody else has been here' Sherlock muttered as I climbed in after him
'Somebody else broke into the flat and knocked over the vase, just like I did' Sherlock said again as he started to look around the flat. I walked forward around as well. I went to the fridge and got out the milk to smell. I almost threw up after smelling the milk so I quickly put it back gagging
'We aren't the first' Sherlock said to me
'Somebody's been in here before us' I commented as well
'Size 8 feet, small but athletic' Sherlock comment while looking at the ground, I walked in front of Sherlock and looked around. Something wasn't right here.
'Sherlock' I whispered
'Small, strong hands, our acrobat, why didn't he close the window when he left' Sherlock continued to mutter to himself
'Because he didn't leave' I whispered pointing to the feet hidden behind the curtain, Sherlock of course didn't hear me once again and I walked closer to the hidden person only for him to surprise me and wrap a rope around my throat chocking me. I struggled against him while hearing Sherlock yell in surprise as he tried to pull the man off me. I could feel myself fading quickly when suddenly the pressure was gone and so was the man. I turned around to see Sherlock kneeling next to me with a bat in his hand. I was coughing so he pulled me close to him and rubbed my back
'I'm sorry Tage' He whispered
'Don't be, not your fault' I managed to croak out.
'Come on let's get out of here' Sherlock whispered to me as he helped me up. I walked out of the compartment with Sherlock to find John reading a note he had found in the door. It was from one of Soo Ling Yao's work mate who was worried about her and on it was where he worked.