Chapter 13

July 2007

Sebastian and Jim walk through Trafalgar square, Sebastian walking a couple of paces behind his employer. In just over three years since taking on Sebastian as a platinum-class sniper Jim has risen to become the most influential criminal in Europe. As Jim rose in the European criminal ranks, Sebastian has risen from just being just a lowly sniper to being the right-hand man of England's top criminal mind. Jim indicates a solitary man sitting next to the one of the lion statues at the base of Nelson's Column. Sebastian glances over and commits every detail of the man's face to his memory. Jim makes his way to a nearby café he takes a seat at a table basking in the sunshine. Sebastian walks past him into the interior of the café. Minutes later, he emerges carrying two steaming cups. He sets one down in front of Jim and takes a seat opposite him employer and, dare he say it, friend. 'Who is he?'

'Alexander Joseph Parker.' Jim reaches into his pocket and takes out his pocket book. He removes a photograph and slides it across the table to Sebastian. 'He has failed to pay the last instalment of his fee for me to remove certain members of his family.'

'The Pargeter case?' Jim smirks nodding. 'Have the police got anywhere with that case yet?' Jim's smirk grows

'Nope.' Sebastian's eyes sparkle.

'How much?'

'He owes me five. You'll get seven before and five upon completion.' Sebastian nods.

'That payment being paid by him?' Jim nods.

'Then shot him.' Sebastian drains his drink and rises.

Sherlock stumbles along the shoreline of the Thames. As he looks around at the river and road above him, he neglects to notice that further along his route has been blocked off by the police. As he totters nearer he half recognises the inspector in charge of the scene. He lurches closer and peers closely at the scene. The inspector turns and spots Sherlock lurching towards the taped off scene. He ducks under the tape and catches Sherlock as he over balances and teeters into the tape. 'Watch it mate. You can't come down here.' Sherlock mumbles something unintelligible. 'What was that mate?'

'I'm not your mate.' The inspector maneuverers Sherlock into a sitting position near the tape. Sherlock narrows his eyes at the scene. 'That's a murder.' He drawls

'What?'

'The chair, it's the wrong side.'

'Go on, how can you tell?' Inspector asks in spite of himself.

'He was hanged in the exact centre of the arch. His left leg is slightly shorter than his right. Meaning the chair would have tipped our side rather than the opposite.' The inspector looks back at the scene with a critical eye. He stands and ducks back under the tape and looks closer at the body. He heads back to Sherlock.

'Alright who did it?' He asks Sherlock half-joking.

'Did he have a picture in his pocket?'

'Is there a picture is his pocket?' The inspector shouts over at the other officers.

'Yes. She's a cutie.' The inspector looks down at Sherlock.

'Her new boyfriend.' Sherlock squints. 'No, her previous one. Jealous lover.' The inspector darts towards the tape and issues a couple of orders to find out about the dead man's girlfriend. Sherlock looks up at the inspector. 'Can I have my arch back now?' The inspector looks down closely at Sherlock's face.

'Sherlock?' Lestrade asks dubiously.

'Lestrade?' Sherlock groans groggily. Lestrade squats down in front of him.

'Sherlock listen to me, I know you love solving puzzles of any sort. You've just helped solve a case. But if you still want to help me you have to stay off the drugs. You have to stay clean.'

'Why?' Sherlock whines 'I need it to quiet the noise.'

'What noise?'

'The noise in my brain.' Lestrade sighs.

Irene walks into her sitting room and collapses onto her sofa. In the armchair sits Bex gloriously enjoying her retirement. 'What's up chuck?' Irene rubs her face with both of her hands.

'Oh nothing.' Bex chuckles.

'Chuck, I've known you fifteen years. I know when's something is wrong.'

'Nostalgia. It's nearly twenty years since Jimmy and I were separated from our big and little brothers. I'm just wondering whether I'll ever see them again.'

'Do you miss them?'

'To be honest I barely remember them.'

'What do you remember?'

'Playing in my room with all three of my brothers after creeping to the top of the stairs with Jimmy when I heard Mummy and Daddy shouting in the kitchen. Mykey took us back to our room and brought Sherlock in. We played for a time until Mummy came and got us for Breakfast.' Irene reminisces. 'Before that, I remember being at the hospital with Jimmy and Mycroft waiting for Daddy to arrive. We didn't know that Sherlock had already been born. When Daddy arrived he lifted each of us up so we could see baby Sherlock.' Irene's face drops.

'What?' Bex asks.

'I also remember the day Daddy took Jimmy and me away. The pain and grief. The sadness when we thought that we would never see Mummy again.' Tears roll down Irene's cheeks. Bex moves from the armchair to the sofa to cuddle the young woman.

'Tell me.'

July 1986

Irene and Jim haul their cases down the stairs to the front haul. Mycroft runs in from the kitchen and takes the luggage from them. He carries it out to their father's car. The twins watch him. Mycroft sets the cases at Siger's feet and walks back into the house. He takes a hand of each of the twins in his own and takes them into the kitchen where Violet was standing at a counter and the baby Sherlock in his highchair. Their mother had made their favourite foods. Once all four of the children had finished their breakfasts Siger enters the kitchen and demands that they should be going. Siger storms back out when Violet snaps at him. She kneels in front of Jim and Irene and gives them both an early birthday present. To Irene, Violet gives a handmade embroidered bag and purse to remind her that Violet will always lover her. Jim is given a similar gift but his is a pocket book cover and wallet. The twins embrace their mother tearfully. Violet stands up and takes Sherlock out of his highchair. She gives him to Jim and he cuddles his little brother. Irene takes Sherlock off Jim and cuddles him as well. Violet retrieves him and Mycroft draws his brother and sister into a huge embrace. The three siblings hug before Irene and Jim reluctantly walk out to the car. Siger straps them in and climbs into the driving seat. 'Stop snivelling.' He snaps back at them as he drives off.

Mycroft leaves from his desk after a hard day of paperwork, meetings and planning operations. He stretches his back and retrieves his umbrella, briefcase and coat. He slips his coat on as he walks and clocks out for the night. He walks out of the front doors of his office building and spots a vaguely familiar figure loitering near the door. He looks at the figure out of the corner of his eye as he notices that the man is making his way towards him. The connections click in his mind. A newly promoted Detective Inspector Lestrade. He mentally slaps himself for being so slow. 'Detective Inspector, to what do I owe the pleasure?'

'Your brother turned up at a crime scene completely off his head.' Lestrade pauses for a moment. 'Well I say turned up. He sort of stumbled over it. It turns out that he'd been bedding down in the arch where an apparent suicide had hanged himself-' Lestrade starts babbling.

'Mr Lestrade, shall we continue this in my car.' Mycroft interrupts smoothly s his car pulls nearby. Lestrade nods and the two of them climb in.

'Thank you.'

'What has my little brother been up to?' Mycroft restarts their conversation once the car has pulled away.

'He stumbled along the footpath that runs below the embankment and almost fell over onto the tape cordoning the area off. I caught him and sat him down, then he rattled off a number of reason why the body wasn't suicide but murder then told me who did it.' Lestrade looks out of the window.

'And?'

'Well it saved from having egg on my face. I told him if he wanted to help out on crime scenes he would have to get clean and stay clean.'

'What did he say to that?'

'That he needed the drugs to stop the noise in his head.' Lestrade sighs. 'I pointed out that Mr Drake had told me that as a youngster he had loved any sort of puzzles.' Lestrade makes eye contact with Mycroft. 'When he looked around the scene I saw a gleam in his eye. And it wasn't from the drugs. He couldn't resist making the connections.' Mycroft lifts his eyebrows.

'Why are you telling me things I already know?'

'So you already know he volunteered to be locked up in the holding cells of Scotland Yard to detox for three weeks?' Mycroft openly stares at Lestrade who watches London speed past smirking.