This chapter ...
I had the scene perfectly played out in my head, but I just couldn't properly write it down.
I must have rewritten it like a hundred times D:

With this chapter we have gathered the most important evidence concerning the murder.
Any ideas? ;D

Anyway I wanted to thank you again for you nice reviews, they make me really happy :D
I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

"Come on, John, we need to get there before they mess up the whole evidence."

They were in front of the building where the victim had lived.
It was in a nice neighbourhood and everything around looked well-kept and peaceful.

Sherlock stormed into the building and hurried up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and John had trouble to keep up with him.
Abruptly, they stopped in front of a door on the third floor.

"This is the one. Try to be as silent as possible, we don't know what we'll find in there and we don't want the neighbours to disturb us."

John had no idea how Sherlock knew that, to him the door looked exactly the same as the others had, but the detective seemed sure of his observations and was already picking the lock.
Within seconds, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Carefully, they entered the flat.
John looked around, searching for evidence of a break-in or a struggle, but couldn't find anything out of order. It looked like a perfectly normal apartment, though expensive and neat and not very homey.
The only thing that showed that somebody lived here were a few photos on the wall.

Slowly they made their way through the flat, listening for the lightest noise, searching for the tiniest hint.
The silence made John's nerves flutter and he was anxious about what they would find when they went further.

They tiptoed from room to room, always prepared for any eventuality, but everything seemed in place. Tidy and untouched.
With every new room John felt his pulse quicken, expecting something to happen as soon as they opened the door.

Finally they stood in front of the last room on the floor.
They exchanged a quick glance and Sherlock opened the door.

This room was a mess.
The furniture had been thrown over and the closet's contents were scattered all over the floor.
Ripped clothes were strewn all over the huge bed in the middle of the room and the pillows were slit open.
It looked like somebody had been frantically searching for something and had, under pressure of time and likely anger, destroyed the whole room.

John's gaze fell on the wall directly over the bed.
There was a word written on the wall in a strange kind of red colour and John realized after a second, that it must be written in blood.
RACHE

John stared at the word.
Rache ... This was like 'A Study in Pink', but ... that didn't fit.
They were dealing with the Black Lotus, weren't they?

He looked at Sherlock who was now examining the writing.
If Sherlock knew what had happened here? What was going on?
John really hoped he did, because he didn't have any kind of idea anymore.

He turned around to examine the rest of the room.
There wasn't much to see (except from the obvious disorder) and John was sure that Sherlock had already seen everything he needed, but it couldn't hurt to look around a bit.
After all, it was better than just standing in the doorway and watch Sherlock.
That would just lead his mind to thinking about the kiss and – damn, he was already thinking about it again.

This was definitely neither the right place nor time.
He shook his head slightly to clear it and tried to focus on something else.

His gaze fell on a bottle, standing upright in the corner of the room, seemingly untouched.
It looked like it didn't belong here.

John drew nearer and took the bottle into his hand.
It was a rather small one and there was a piece of paper inside.

"Have you found something, John?"

John jerked and almost dropped the bottle. He hadn't realized Sherlock approaching and now the detective stood right behind him.
He could feel Sherlock's breath on his neck and felt goose bumps appearing on his skin.
Stop it, John.

"Maybe. This bottle stood right there in the corner and it looked out of place. There's something inside, could be a message."
He passed Sherlock the bottle, who held it close to his eyes, examined and then at once opened it.

He pulled the paper out, unfolded and read it.
His eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. His eyes were unfocussed.

John, now nervous and curious, took the paper out of Sherlock's fingers. He didn't even seem to notice.

Dear Mr. Holmes,
Have you solved my puzzle already?
I really hope you like it.
By now you should have everything you need. You won't take long now, will you?
I'm so looking forward to see you!
xoxo
PS: I would be very disappointed if I had to give you another hint.

John had finished reading, but continued staring at the message.
This had to be the craziest murderer ever, wanting to be found that much.
Wanting to be found ...
What had Sherlock said that first day? That the brilliant ones wanted to be found? That they wanted the applause?
Well, this had to be one hell of a genius.

A genius ...
He looked up at Sherlock.
This man was the cleverest man he knew and there were only two persons he knew that could match him.
First, Sherlock's own brother and second, the consulting criminal: Moriarty.

John felt a shiver running down his spine.

This case ... It couldn't be Moriarty again, could it?

At this moment they heard steps coming up to them.
Sherlock had obviously also heard them, because he turned around to John and laid his finger against his lips.
John nodded and Sherlock quickly pocketed the bottle and the message.
Then he left the room.

John wasn't sure if he should follow or not and decided to just peek around the corner.

At first the only thing he could see was Sherlock walking along the floor in his usual arrogant stride, then suddenly stopping.
John was alarmed to see men entering the flat and ran towards Sherlock.

When he reached him, he was ready to violently make their way through the men in order to escape – only to realize it was Greg and his team.
John had already forgotten that Sherlock had texted the DI earlier.

Greg wasn't in his best mood to find Sherlock and John inside the flat.
"Sherlock, I told you to wait! You cannot just break into a flat, it's illegal!"

"You would have destroyed all the evidence!" Sherlock retorted.

"That's still no reason to break the law, Sherlock!"

"... The door was open." Sherlock looked away.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Alright then." Lestrade still seemed unconvinced, but left it at that and started to give instructions to his team.

John met Sherlock's gaze.
Sherlock gave him a short smile which told John 'No, the door was not really unlocked and you know that, but I trust you not to mention it.'.
John rolled his eyes, but smiled and together they left the crime scene.