A/N: I know, I know. That escalated quickly. Victoria's entire existence is summed up in three chapters. But don't worry, there's still a long way to go and more twists to come.

Sorry it took me two weeks to update. This chapter took a while to write for some reason, but it's over 2,000 words long which is pretty good for me.

Enjoy!

-Bree

Chapter 4- Sherlock

I sat back on my heels. I was sure the police would come eventually, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. I was all by myself except for two corpses in an empty house in the middle of nowhere, holding one of the murder weapons in my hand. If that didn't look suspicious, nothing did.

I knew that it wasn't often that someone's kidnapper was killed before the person they'd kidnapped had even had a chance to be found. It was an odd situation. On one hand, I was glad to no longer be under Victoria's jurisdiction, but, on the other, I had no real way out of here. Her guards had left just as we got out of the car, and I didn't know when they'd come back, if ever. They might have been in on Sebastian's plan, too.

I sighed, standing up. I might as well just get out of here, try to find some other remote town within a radius of a few miles, and work my way back to London. There was nothing more keeping me here, least of all Victoria… but I couldn't leave. Sebastian's sudden appearance, why he had wanted to kill Victoria, her death, and the two people described in her last words, 'Celia' and 'him,' was all just too intriguing. My personal involvement aside, I probably would have accepted it if I'd heard about it from a client.

I debated with myself for approximately three seconds, then decided that, yes, I would leave, but not without getting some information first. I reached down and dug through Victoria's pockets, pulling out her mobile. With any luck, this Celia had a phone number, and this phone number would be in Victoria's contacts.

I was right. In fact, it was on her speed dial. I inhaled and pressed the call button.

It hadn't even rung twice before Celia picked up. "Hello, Victoria?"

Her voice sounded a lot like Victoria's, but slightly lower in pitch. The last piece of my thinking clicked into place and my deduction of her relation to Victoria was complete. "Celia, isn't it? You're Victoria's sister?"

Her tone hardened. "Who is this?"

I cut to the chase. "Victoria's dead." I heard a little gasp at the other end, but I went on without a pause. "She's been murdered. It's a rather long story." I smiled, finding a way out. "It's not something to be discussed over the phone, and I'm a bit stuck right now. I think it would be convenient for both of us if you came and picked me up-"

Celia cut me off. "You didn't answer my question. Who the h*ll are you?"

"I'm Sherlock Holmes." If she recognized my name as her sister had, she didn't say anything. "And I promise it would be in your best interests to come and find me."

"How do I know you're not just some predator?"

"You don't. But if it's any comfort, I don't even have the slightest idea where I am, and I didn't come here out of my own free will. I didn't kill Victoria, either, in case you were wondering."

"From what I can tell from your voice, you're not lying, but I can't be sure without seeing you in person, so I'll come, but you should know I'm not stupid enough to go alone." She stopped. "Wait, did you say you don't even know where you are?"

"Yes, I did, but if you had any knowledge of what your sister did for a living, you probably do." It was a risky bet, but it was worth it if it worked.

It did. She hesitated for only a second before replying, "Any details or are you just going to make me search all of her meeting places until I happen to come across you?"

I was glad she seemed to be playing along. "Have you heard of the name Briggs? In a big abandoned country house?"

There was the sound of papers rustling. "I think I know where you're talking about."

"Good. Drive here and I'll meet you out front. Bring all the back-up you want."

"Oh, I will." And then she hung up.

I dropped Victoria's phone and went through the rest of her pockets to see if I could find anything of significance. There was nothing other than a bit of change, a scrap of cloth that smelled faintly of cologne, and a slip of paper, which I glanced at and then slid into my own coat pocket for future reference.

I waited outside for Celia. It didn't take more than an hour for an expensive silver car to come up the road, and I knew it had to be her.

She stepped out of the car unaccompanied, to my surprise, and was apparently alone. Celia was as skinny as her late sister, but still rather strong- muscles stood out beneath her pale skin. She was about three or four years older than Victoria, and a full head taller, with far lighter hair. The complete opposite of the recently deceased Briggs, Celia was unmarried and planned to stay that way, had a very good-paying job, and she had an air of self-assurance and coldness to her.

Celia's eyes met mine. "You're Sherlock Holmes?"

I nodded, eager to leave, and opened my mouth to speak. "Victoria-"

She interrupted me. "You said she's dead. She's in the house, isn't she?"

"Yes…"

"Well, can I see her body or not?" she demanded.

"Go on ahead." I moved out of the way of the door. I could understand the fact that she was excited to see a dead body, but this was her sister, and I was pretty sure most people didn't like seeing their relatives dead in front of them.

I didn't have much time to try to figure it out, though, because she returned in under a minute, her face white and her former aloof attitude sobered.

"She's really… she's really dead, isn't she?" Sadness had seeped into her tone. "I thought you had been lying."

I really wasn't in the mood for this conversation, and anyway I'd be the first to admit that I'm somewhat lacking in the sympathy department, as John has repetitively informed me. "Well, now that you know I wasn't, let's get out of here."

She shot a despairing glance toward the door she had just come out of, and, behind it, her sister. "Don't you think we should call the police?"

"At first I thought they might have heard the gunshots, but it's been over an hour. They should have been here by now." I hesitated. "If you really want to contact them, use Victoria's phone. It's less suspicious. Then we'll leave."

"Alright. I'll be right back." Celia disappeared into the house for a bit, and when she exited, all traces of her grief had vanished from her face. Her expression was professional again. "Come along, then." She strode back to her car, her high heels sinking slightly into the ground with each step.

I followed her into the car. No one else was in it. She really had come by herself. "I thought you said you were bringing others."

"I did." Celia answered, and started the engine. Several men- at least eight –came out from various hiding places surrounding the building we'd just been standing next to.

"Oh." I replied faintly, irritated at myself for not noticing the others there. Sure, they hadn't been in immediate view, and my attention had been focused on Celia, but I should have been more observant.

She smiled at me, shifting gears and backing her car up. "Don't feel bad; they're good at what they do."

"So am I." I switched the gear back to park, stopping the car suddenly. "It's not very nice to covertly drive a stranger to a secluded place just so you can more easily kill them. I should know. It's happened to me before."

Celia sighed and reached for the gear stick again, flipping it to 'drive' without another word. The engine revved loudly.

Houses quickly started to appear on the sides of the street. Celia drove fast. "Where are you taking me now?" I asked.

"Somewhere more public: a café."

"Glad you changed your plans."

"It's not just for your benefit. You can't kill me in cold blood with a lot of witnesses either."

I laughed. "You really think that I would kill you?"

"I don't have any idea who you are, besides that you have a funny name and you didn't kill Victoria but you know who did. Am I right?"

"Not at all. My name isn't funny. I just had creative parents."

She shot me an irritated look. "I meant about knowing who killed Victoria."

"Yes, I watched her die, and, yes, I know who murdered her. It was a man called Sebastian Moran."

Celia drew in a breath quickly and then cursed.

"You already know who that is?" I was honestly surprised, and also glad that I didn't have to go into an extensive, drawn-out explanation.

"Long story. But you go first. You seem to know a lot about me, figuring out where I was going to take you and all that, but, like I said, I don't know you. Why were you with Victoria, anyway?"

So I would have to give an explanation anyway. This one wasn't much easier. "Victoria… kidnapped me, and-"

Sudden comprehension flashed across her face. "So you were the second one, then?"

"What?"

"She told me how she kidnapped that other guy a while back in preparation for 'someone else.' That must be you."

I remembered what Victoria had told me-had it only been yesterday?-during our first conversation. "Yes. She said I was supposed to be her bodyguard, but there was more to it that she wasn't telling me."

"That sounds like her. She only ever confided things in me when I brought them up." Celia was doing surprisingly well. She had just seen Victoria's dead body after she'd been murdered in cold blood, and Celia could causally reference her sister without getting choked up. Most people weren't that strong (although of course I am), but then again, Celia wasn't at all a weak person. She seemed like she had a pretty influential position, probably in the government. Maybe Mycroft knew her.

Celia and I were both lost in our thoughts for a minute, and then she spoke up again. "Did your room have one small window, a large desk, and faced east?"

"Yes, it did. How did you…?"

"It's the one in the best condition. She blindfolded you so you wouldn't see the rest of the house. She likes-sorry, liked to pretend that she was filthy rich, so I figured she'd have put you in the only room that wasn't showing signs of decay. It's actually a very old home that she lived in, and pretty run-down. Victoria was barely holding onto it as it was. She was broke."

"Victoria was poor?"

"Not originally. Our parents are rich, and they used to give her cash when she needed it. They stopped when they found out about what she actually did for a living." Celia paused, sighing. "I'll spare you the details. Anyway, she started losing money faster than she could make it, but admittedly she hid it well. She was used to being wealthy, so acting like she still was must have been second nature."

"What about her guards?"

"I paid for them. They were from my own business."

"You might want to think about improving your background checks. I think they were in on the plan, seeing as they drove away almost immediately and didn't come back. By the way, what is your business?" I wanted to figure out if my earlier guess had been right.

Celia smiled wryly. "It doesn't matter. It's a government job. Anyway, so you think this was premeditated?"

"It had to be. Briggs said he lied when he had asked for help, and who knows when he had contacted her about today's meeting? The real question is how far back it was when Sebastian came up with this plan to kill her."

But it turned out that my question would have to wait for an answer, because just then Celia looked in the rearview mirror and swore.

"We're being followed."