The Less Traveled Path
Claire Watson was tired; she had been talking with Mycroft Holmes for the past two hours non-stop about the kidnapping of Mr. William Gardner. They had established that Tim Ellis had two identities and mapped out his most likely course to hide the victim. The main problem was that his fiancée Miss Steward hadn't contacted Baker Street about the demands or anything of the sort.
The man sitting in front of her was now snoring loudly, his balloon-like chest rising every time he took a breath. She snorted before rising and heading towards her violin; she set it right next to ear and struck a very loud chord.
"What the devil is going on? Miss Watson, how dare you wake me!" he said, glaring at her.
Claire rolled her eyes.
"If I have to stay awake, then so do you, Mr. Holmes." She would have said more but Mrs. Hudson rushed in with a cable from Miss Steward.
"About time that woman got a hold of us," Mycroft grumbled, standing up stiffly to read the cable. "The kidnapper contacted me, told me in order to settle matters between him and William's father I should send him twenty thousand pounds."
The pair of them leaped in excitement.
"I knew it!" They said at the same time, making each other turn away and be embarrassed by their excitement.
"So, what do you think the next course of action is, Miss Watson?" the older man asked humbly, afraid someone might hear him.
The young lady shrugged, "As soon as possible we need to send a copy of this to Sherlock. Then we need to contact Miss Steward and see if there is a time limit to the ransom and where it needs to be and so on. That way we can find a way to bring counterfeit bills to the exchange; Ellis won't know their fake until he tries to spend them."
She began to pace around the room, thinking. Mycroft nodded in agreement.
"Should we throw any bones to the police so they can catch Ellis before he spends the cash?"
Claire sighed, ringing for coffee, her watch now said 1:00 pm and to her it felt like 1:00 am.
"If we ask any police to help us, I would rather it not be Lestrade; he still thinks I'm trying to make him feel guilty by siding with his rival."
She shook her head silently as she sat down. Mrs. Hudson poured the coffee and with a small bow of the head she was gone. Claire took a sip of coffee, still trying to think the problem out logically.
"I think Inspector Bradstreet would enjoy this case, and Sherlock tends to get along with him better than that ferret Lestrade."
This made Claire laugh, which made Mycroft blush since he had never seen her laugh before - he thought it was too scandalous to join in. Claire wrote two cables urgently and told Mrs. Hudson to dispatch them immediately.
The thin woman was moving too quickly for Mycroft, and he soon fell back asleep while Claire was pacing about the room. She rolled her eyes and was about to go over to the couch to wake him again, but she looked at how Mycroft almost looked human while sleeping. His head was lowered to his inflating chest and the rest of his body seemed at ease.
Slowly, the lady sat beside him and allowed her eyes to close, and soon her head landed with a soft nudge on Mycroft's shoulder. The older man was too sleepy to notice and the pair remained in their meditative poses until he woke after about an hour. Mycroft at first did not notice anything until he turned to his right to see Miss Watson's brown hair on his shoulder.
To try and move as quickly as possible, he leaned further to the left to allow her head to slowly fall from his shoulder onto a pillow beside him. The older man was bewildered by the sleeping form of Claire and was not sure what to do with her.
There came a loud knock on the door which propelled Claire's head up from the pillow to see who was there. Inspector Bradstreet entered to see a tall lady with messy hair and an older gentleman looking as if he were going to die of pure embarrassment.
"Nice to see you so soon, Inspector, please come in," she said, suppressing a yawn.
Mycroft looked at the Inspector, almost glad to have another male in the room. The mustached man sat down comfortably, looking around for Holmes and the other Watson.
"If you're looking for my employer, he's in Kent with Dr. Watson doing some investigative work," Claire said, trying to make her hair more presentable.
The policeman nodded, trying to hide his surprise. "So, why have you brought me here, Miss Watson?" he asked her but glancing at Mycroft instead.
"It has to do with a kidnapping of a Foreign Service employee; Mr. Holmes will fill you in on the details," she said, resting her arm on the arm of the sofa.
Watson was jarred awake by the sudden stopping of the train, and he and Holmes walked stiffly to their awaiting carriage and headed towards their hotel. The thin detective had said nothing since Watson's near admittance of his cousin's hopelessness of continuing a friendship with Mycroft Holmes. His mind was occupied with what had seen how Claire acted around Holmes's brother, and she seemed to him to act the same around Mycroft as with everyone else. Holmes seemed to get his companion's feelings and spoke as the carriage rattled through a patch of woods.
"You may have noticed Watson, but your cousin tends to be more conservative or careful around my brother because she knows her vibrant independence will only hinder him and the fact she
has only a few more secrets from him doesn't give much hope to their friendship lasting the year."
Watson gave a surprised eyebrow raise at his friend. "How could you tell, I've seen the same as you but I can't see anything different with her."
He crossed his arms, hoping Holmes wouldn't be too cold to the fact his brother was branching out.
"When she is around Mycroft, you can tell by the way she tries to keep her face pleasant means that she is trying to stop him from reading her expressions accurately. Also, the fact that Miss Watson refuses to believe that her friendship has no foundation gives me the impression that she is trying to make it last as long as possible."
The doctor made a mental note to ask his cousin about these observances later, and nodded quietly as the inn came into view.
The Twin Willows was a fine establishment, adorned with two massive willows, and the Inn was the perfect distance from the Pemberley estate. The innkeeper rushed out to the pair of them.
"A telegram for you, Mr. Holmes, it arrived just before you did."
The detective snatched the telegram away and read it quickly.
"Have received word from Miss Steward. Ellis wants money to settle debts between him and Basil Gardner. Demands twenty thousand pounds. Have wired Miss Steward for more details. Inspector Bradstreet has offered services and waits word."
Holmes laughed shortly. "Good, so far the pieces are coming together nicely; Watson, let us make haste and head to Pemberley as fast as possible!" he exclaimed before dashing up the main staircase to change out of his travelling clothes.
Watson shook his head as he followed his friend up the stairs, wondering what would be coming next.