Chapter Two
"So the body is through here. No identity on the girl so far and no reports of a missing person. However she was found with faux flowers threaded through her hair which I suppose helps us identify her a little." Detective Inspector Lestrade explained as he lead Sherlock and John to where Molly had laid out the body. "Though there isn't much else, she was in a white dress; at least it was white, by the time the water had got to it, it was more of a murky grey. And there's this mark round her ankle…" Sherlock instantly bought out his magnifying glass and began examining the girl's right ankle.
"Irrelevant Detective Inspector. Childhood scar I presume. Best to check with the parents. She is awfully pale, side effect of drowning, John?"
"Yes. I would say so, although, she'd have had to be fairly pale to begin with to end up like that." John agreed.
"So a suicide then?" Lestrade asked.
"Aha, no." Sherlock replied, "Look at how these flowers are tied into her hair. They have been forced in. Look, it's hard to tell because of the water but they have practically been knotted into her hair and this one still has a price tag on, she wouldn't have left it on. She was probably going out partying." Sherlock said, pointed to a faded and dirty pink flower tied into the girl's long and straggly blonde hair.
"Brilliant," John breathed, earning a proud smile from Sherlock, "Can you work out what shop the flowers are from?"
"No, the label is all waterlogged and the ink has run. But at least we know it wasn't suicide." With that Sherlock turned on his heels and strode out the door, his long coat billowing slightly and John walking quickly to catch up with him.
"So where are we investigating first?" John asked as they got into the fresh air.
"We are not."
"What?"
"You heard me John. You know how I abhor repeating myself. There's nothing we can do until we find her parents or the killer kills again."
"You think the killer will kill again?"
"It is likely- I know is sounds pessimistic but it was after all, a very elaborate murder for it to be a onetime thing. The flowers in her hair were an unnecessary detail."
"And you didn't tell Lestrade?"
"He will come to his own conclusion at some point." Sherlock replied offhandedly, "Besides, I am sure you had some kind of plan for today, it is your day off. What would you like to do?"
John thought for a moment. He didn't really want to go to Ikea, but they needed a new toaster and he was unlikely to have the chance tomorrow...
"Ikea." He said firmly, "Let's go to Ikea and replace the toaster, you broke." Sherlock groaned dramatically.
"I don't want to."
"Tough." John hailed a cab anyway and pulled Sherlock in with him.
Three hours later and they were still traipsing round the irksome furniture shop. The first hour was wasted because they couldn't find the kitchen section, the second wasted as they tried to queue to order the toaster they'd found (and agreed on) only to find that it wouldn't be in stock for another three months and the third hour was spent trying to find the kitchen section again and bickering over which toaster they would get (John wanted a normal sized silver one, Sherlock wanted the oversized expensive one "but John, I could get a whole human hand in there!" "It is a toaster Sherlock not a hand fryer). In the end, John won. Finally they found themselves in the checkout queue.
"It's a shame they don't do self-service hey John?" Sherlock teased, he was completely bored by this point.
"Not funny Sherlock."
"I think the queue at Tesco is more fun."
"You only say that because last time we were there those two women got into an argument."
"I know it was brilliant. And I can't believe the blonde one had no clue the brunette was having an affair with her husband."
"Which is of course why you decided to point it out my love." John's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Love you too John," Sherlock replied, pretending to be oblivious to John's sarcasm and leaning down to kiss his cheek.
"Next!" The checkout lady called and before they knew it Sherlock and John were (finally) making their way home, despite Sherlock making rude comments about the checkout lady's marriage.