December 27: "Watson visits Holmes in retirement." (from Aleine Skyfire)

A/N: I would appear to have fallen behind. Sorry, guys! We'll see if I can catch up…

Special thanks to I'm Nova for a bit of the inspiration in this one. :)

Watson

It had had not been a terribly long time since I had visited Holmes, but it was beginning to appear that for Holmes, it was too long. I had been busy with my own medical practice, and had done a good deal of covering for a couple other doctors I knew. Naturally, I dearly loved chances to visit Holmes, but it had not been practical to do so.

In our telephone calls, Holmes had begun to drop heavy hints that he wanted to pay another visit. "I do believe the country air would do you good, old fellow," he had said one day, and "You ought to come and see my bees one of these days. They are doing very well lately." When one evening, he went so far as to say, "I have missed seeing you, you know," then I knew that I had no choice but to do as he wished and visit him.

So it was that I arranged for my practice to be taken care of for a couple of days and headed for Sussex.

A light snow was falling when I left London, and there was snow on the ground surrounding Holmes's cottage when I arrived. Apparently, I had come in time to experience some unusually cold weather, and was glad when I reached the warmth of Holmes's cottage.

"You seem to have brought some bad weather with you, Watson," said Holmes, as we sat by the fire with some warming drinks. "Apparently you are the stormy petrel of snow, as well as of crime."

I have a small laugh. "The weather is not too terribly bad," I said, nodding towards the window. "Look, the snow has already stopped."

"But a fog is rolling in," Holmes replied. "This weather makes me somewhat uneasy."

"I think it unlikely that there will be enough to snow us in," I said.

"No, no," Holmes waved his hand and frowned, brows knotted. "Not that, but rather the crimes that might be committed in this sort of weather."

I rose and walked to the window, and stared out at swiftly darkening sky. The white snow seemed to melt into the foggy sky, leaving no horizon line visible. A slim crescent moon appeared blurred through the fog, casting only a dim light upon the glimmering, snow-covered hills below. It was a beautiful, yet chilling sight to behold.

I noticed Holmes had also risen, and was staring out at the sky with me.

"Well, if a criminal does decide to strike," said I, "and provides a mystery too difficult for the police to unravel, all of those around know where to find you."

"I suppose," said Holmes dubiously.

I have always held that Holmes is a little too paranoid about isolated country houses, even if he does have a valid point that crime is easier to hide when neighbors are miles apart.

But I was glad I had not voiced this opinion, when in the morning, a breathless police detective arrived on the doorstep to tell Holmes that a triple murder had occurred in the night.