Anderson had changed dramatically in the few days he had been in prison. Somehow he seemed smaller. He was certainly less sure of himself, and this showed in his bearing and the way he almost looked pleased when he saw Sherlock. Of course, he immediately tried to hide this, so as soon as he spoke, it was like he had never changed at all.
'Here to taunt me, are you Sherlock? Here to show off how brave and clever you are? Here to tell me that you have proved my guilt?'
'Yes. Yes. No. How typical of you Anderson, to get the most important things wrong' replied Sherlock cheerily. 'I have found the real murderer, arrested him, and now I am personally releasing you from you prison.' Anderson looked suspiciously at Sherlock. He clearly expected a trick, or a catch that left him in Sherlock's debt for a long time.
'Rubbish.'
Luckily, Lestrade stepped in. 'It's true Anderson. He has managed to acquit you, so now you better be grateful or I will be tempted to keep you in that cell for a few more days.' Anderson glared at Lestrade.
'Thank you so much Sherlock. I just don't know where I would be without you' said Anderson insincerely and patronisingly. Sherlock acknowledged this with an equally insolent inclination of his head.
'Before you leave, I just have one question for you Anderson. Why did you say you found the body by smelling the decomposition of it? It is blindingly obvious that was not the case. It really only made you look more guilty' asked Sherlock.
'If you're so smart, you should be able to figure that out' replied Anderson.
'I did. What really happened is that you spilt your morning coffee over the passenger seat in your car. You headed to the janitor's closet to grab some items to clean it up. Turns out, you found the body instead. I just don't know why you lied about it.' Anderson narrowed his eyes.
'Correct. I said I smelt the body, because I…'
'Tell the truth, Anderson' warned Lestrade suddenly, interrupting his explanation. This caused Anderson to pause, as he rethought what he was about to say.
'I said I smelt the body because I didn't want people to know I had spilt my coffee, and also because I wanted to impress them with my detective skills. You know, using all your senses and stuff.' Sherlock nodded. This was similar to what he had been thinking, he just wanted Anderson to admit it.
'I have a question for you now, Sherlock' continued Anderson, 'how did you know that my central heating was broken? Everything else that you deducted at my interview, you explained. But not this.'
'It was a matter of simplicity itself Anderson. I observed your clothing. You had dressed carefully, because you were trying to impress someone. However, you had dressed very warmly, but it wasn't a mistake because of the care you had taken. Therefore, I deduced that your central heating was broken, causing you to think it was colder than it actually was. If your central heating had broken a couple of days ago, you would have learnt that it wasn't necessary to dress so warmly, because the temperature was higher at work. See? Simple.'
Anderson was staring at Sherlock in shock. He was amazed by his abilities, but didn't want to admit it to himself. Sherlock noticed this, and laughed. 'Enjoy freedom Anderson. Just remember that you're in my debt.'
Sherlock swept out of the room. John gave Anderson an amused nod and followed him. There were no parting words that he needed to say. Sherlock had put Anderson in his place quite nicely. Even Lestrade seemed to appreciate it, as he stared after Sherlock approvingly.
'See you both soon, John' he said, 'we need to catch this Jim Moriarty.'
'It would be our pleasure,' he replied, before following Sherlock back to the flat for a celebratory dinner.