The Vengeful Jewel

Tuesday, January 19, 1891
9:53 a.m.

Watson blinked to find that he was still staring at the necklace clasped firmly in Mrs. Jones' hands as she continued to watch the fight between Sherlock Holmes and her husband.

Watson followed her gaze to the wrestling men, now locked together by gripping the others' shoulders. Holmes gained the advantage by slowing pushing his opponent back towards the wall.

"Don't hurt him," Watson called to the experienced boxer. "He's not trained for a beating like you are."

"Don't you think I know that," Holmes snapped back curtly with a slight exertion. "For the lady's sake too. Can't have her taking home a beaten husband."

Mr. Jones seemed to only grow more furious at the fact that Holmes was addressing someone else and talking about his wife while at the same time pinning him up against the wall. And with anger, came strength.

Mr. Jones pulled Holmes towards him. Taken off balance, the detective stumbled forward as Jones pulled free of his grasp. Before Holmes could recover, Jones grabbed the back of the detective's head and closed the distance between Holmes' forehead and the wall. A thunderous sound echoed through the room as Holmes' head cracked against the wall.

Dazed, Holmes stumbled back, holding a hand to his bruising head. Without missing a beat, Mr. Jones extended his foot into Holmes' chest and the detective flew back into his table of experiments.

Glass vials and bottles cascaded down as he fell to the ground, the glass shattering around him. Flasks of liquid tipped and spilled onto the carpet, narrowly missing the detective's exposed arms. Lucky thing too as Watson noticed a thin tendril of smoke rise from the carpet accompanied by the smell of burning fabric.

Holmes hesitated for a moment as he watched the sizzling carpet. Mr. Jones sauntered closer, clearly enjoying his sudden victory over his seemingly advantaged adversary. Watson too took a step closer, ready to assist his friend if things did happen to prove dangerous for the detective.

"I've been working on that for nearly a week," Holmes suddenly said soberly, making Jones stop with surprise. "And now Nanny will have Watson restrict my experiments again."

Holmes looked up with a glower at Mr. Jones, causing the larger man to take a step back.

"I say my good man, mind if we take this into Watson's room? There are less objects to cause injury in there," Holmes offered hopefully with a politeness that made Jones shake with anger.

Holmes leaned against the table languidly; patiently waiting for an answer. But the reply didn't come from Jones' mouth.

"Stay out of my room, Holmes," Watson said firmly.

Holmes tilted his head in the doctor's direction. "But if we fight here, I may lose more chemicals. And what if he breaks my violin? You'll be moving out soon anyway, what with marrying your woman and all. Technically the room is already mine."

"Since I still live here, this is still our home which makes that my room which means you are not allowed to go rushing in there to fight. Understood?" Watson said sharply, proving that the only choice Holmes had was to agree.

"Then what do I do with him?" Holmes asked. "You may not be affected, but this fight has become rather dull and obtuse."

"Hey!"

Holmes ignored the exclamation for attention from Jones and kept his eyes on Watson.

"Take him outside," Watson said with a wave of his hand.

"HEY!" Jones roared as he marched over to Holmes. He grabbed the detective by the lapels and lifted Holmes off the floor and into the air.

"And I dare say that I heard you the first time," Holmes declared simply, gripping the man's wrists to help support his weight. "I just didn't care."

With that said, Holmes snapped out his hands and slapped them against the sides of Jones' head, his open palms slamming against Jones' ears.

Jones cried out in pain and dropped Holmes to claw at his ringing ears.

"Outside it is," Holmes muttered aloud.

Eyes burning with a flaming rage, Jones lunged at Holmes. The detective danced away lightly, taunting the man until Jones made another lunge. Holmes repeated the taunting action, slowly leading Jones towards the stairs that led to the first floor.

_._._._._._._

To ensure there is no confusion whatsoever, I shall put all comments down here at the end of the chapter.

So, thank you for those who reviewed my fanfic thus far and another thanks for all those who have read – and are reading – it. I'm glad I've captured some attention and thinking minds.

I hope I've captured the diction and dialogue of Holmes and Watson correctly. The novels have them speaking in such elaborate phrases. That's what I aim for.

Well then, keep reading and reviews are always appreciated and anticipated.
Hobey-Ho