Once I'd Apparated back into 221C, my text alert went off several times. I pulled out my phone and saw four texts from Sherlock.

Where are you? -SH

You're not in the flat, your pub, or at work. -SH

Tottenham Court Road, around the corner from the crime scene. -SH

Might be dangerous. -SH

I sighed as I wrote back. Of course Sherlock would be sniffing around the Leaky Cauldron.

Where are you? I swear, i f you've gotten yourself killed, I'll kill you.

That would be difficult to accomplish considering I'd already be dead. -SH

He sent me a text with the address a moment later. Shit. He was right next to the Leaky Cauldron.

Close. I'll be there in 3 minutes.

Twisting on the spot, I Apparated to the Apparation point behind the Leaky Cauldron. I'd been out of the wizarding world for so long that no one in the pub recognized me as I walked through even though I went to school with several of them.

I glanced out the front door of the pub and saw Sherlock pacing in front. I waited until he was walking the other direction to step outside. With any luck, he wouldn't try to go inside.

"There you are!" he exclaimed as he caught sight of me. "Where were you?" I opened my mouth to respond, but he cut me off. 'Nevermind. Do you see what's wrong here?"

Besides the fact that one of the most famous pubs ever is right in front of your nose, I thought.

"I just see a broken down old shop," I responded.

"As ever, John, you see but do not observe. See here?" he asked as he walked up to the corner of the building. "This old shop is six inches closer to the street than either the bookshop or the record store. Why is that? If you look both direction, the rest of the stores fall on a straight line."

"I dunno. I guess so." Figures that Muggle Repelling Charms wouldn't work properly on him. "What does that have to do with the case?"

"The flowers," he said.

"What flowers?"

"The flowers, the pollen," he said, exasperated. At the florist. Those are Gloriosa, or flame lilies, which you don't see just anywhere. Combined her proximity to this location with the pollen on her clothing and her nasal cavity, and we can assume that she was her some time near her death. As this is the only inconsistent building on the block, it's a good place to start."

"Okay, what do we do? Go inside?" Please don't go inside.

"I was unable to pick the lock. It's ridiculously well-guarded for an abandoned shop," he said with a sniff. "Follow me." He grabbed my wrist and almost immediately dropped it again.

"Are you ill?" he asked as he placed the back of his hand against my forehead.

"Um, no. Why?"

"You are excessively warm, especially for having been outside for as long as you have at this time of day."

Damn. I forgot to cancel the Warming Charm after I left Hogsmeade.

"I'm fine. I just ducked inside a shop down the street to warm up before I came down here."

Sherlock stared at me disbelievingly, closely inspecting me. "Come on," he said, leading the way into an alley. Apparently, he seemed to drop it as I was showing no other sign of illness. As he started climbing a fire escape, I covertly cancelled the charm, hoping the heat would dissipate quickly.

"Sherlock," I hissed from the bottom of the ladder. "What exactly are we doing?"

"We're getting a look at the top and back of this building. Maybe we can find something since we cannot enter through the front."

I started up the fire escape. Supposedly Muggles weren't able to see into Diagon Alley from above. That would really be a problem with airplanes. Instead they just saw more rooftop. But what would happen if a Muggle stepped off the edge of the building thinking that there was more roof to walk on? I never had to deal with it as an Auror. That was Magic Law Enforcement Patrol or Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. Maybe it would be a good idea to stop him.

I'd just made it to the top of the fire escape when I saw Sherlock with a leg flung over the railing that dropped down into Diagon Alley.

"Sherlock, wait!" I said as I tried to scramble over to him.

"What's the matter now? Are you finally going to admit you're ill? You'll have to wait a little while longer before we go back."

And with that , he flung his other leg over the railing and plummeted into open space.