John dragged himself up the steps of 221B on a blustery fall Tuesday night. He'd just come off 12 hours at the hospital, during which time he'd seen a teenager who'd been stabbed, two victims of child abuse, one man in cardiac arrest, and too many people who were looking for a narcotic fix and should have known better than to ask John Hamish Watson to provide it. For once, his messy handwriting had been an advantage: he'd caused at least one drug seeker to think he'd prescribed them Paramol (paracetamol with codeine) when he'd actually prescribed paracetamol.
After showering and changing into his pyjamas, John rummaged through the refrigerator for something edible. Settling on some old curry takeaway and a beer – only one, and nothing stronger – he plopped himself on the couch. After inhaling his food, he picked up one of Mycroft's files from the coffee table. This one concerned Kitty Reilly, the journalist who'd been instrumental in Sherlock's downfall.
Before Kitty started at her current job, she'd been working for a smaller paper in Sussex and abruptly left. At first blush, this was nothing unusual; of course an ambitious young woman like her would snap up the opportunity to move to London. But Mycroft's people had uncovered something rather interesting: Kitty last appeared in the masthead of the Sussex paper on October 2, 2011. She was not listed as staff for the London paper – either in print or online - until January 30, 2012. The gap of four months was not represented on Kitty's resume, which Mycroft had kindly provided.
John got out his laptop and found the Sussex paper's website, then began reading the entire archives. There were oblique references to "events of which no more need be said" but little else for John to go on. This paper probably wouldn't care to draw attention to misconduct by one of its employees, but another paper would pounce on it, John realized. At that moment, a large yawn escaped his lips. Glancing at the corner of his computer screen, he saw that it was 1 AM and he'd been awake for nearly 20 hours. John closed the laptop and went to his bedroom. As he did every night, he stroked Sherlock's coat and murmured, "I'll solve the puzzle. I promise."
Wednesday was John's day off and he spent it buried in the archives of the newspapers from three large towns closest to Kitty Reilly's former employer: Eastbourne, Crawley, and Portsmouth. After interminable hours of reading about garden parties and society balls and local rugby leagues, John finally found something in the Portsmouth paper.
BRIGHTON JOURNALIST ACCUSED OF PLAGIARISM
Kitty Reilly, a 29-year-old reporter at the Brighton Daily News, has been accused of
plagiarizing a story about Parliament's recent debate over farm subsidiaries.
John's mouth dropped open in surprise and he nearly cackled with glee. Here was his chance! Or was it? What if Kitty's current employer had hired her despite the plagiarism charge? Kitty was a decent actress and (he grudgingly admitted) good-looking; maybe she turned on the charm and convince her superiors that those days were behind her and she deserved a second chance. Proving that Kitty plagiarized in the past was not enough. He must catch her repeating the mistake.
In order to determine whether Kitty was plagiarizing, he needed to know what her original work was like. He spent the rest of the afternoon reading her work from the Brighton paper, including the plagiarized article. Then he read every article she'd published at the London paper (even the one about Sherlock, which made him nauseated).
Four articles she'd published after Sherlock's death jumped out at him. Something was not quite right about them; much of the words sounded like Kitty's writing but there was more than a little of someone else's writing too. John set to work Googling the phrases that seemed Not-Kitty. Before too long, he found that those phrases really hadn't come from Kitty; she had copied large sections of the articles from small papers in Portland, Maine; Pensacola, Florida; Sudbury, Ontario; and Gweedore, Ireland.
Found something you should see. Come to Baker St when convenient. – JW
In a meeting until 7 PM. Will come immediately after. – MH
When Mycroft arrived, John explained what he'd found and how. "This could not only end her career, it might get people to reconsider what she said about Sherlock! I can't wait to see the look on her face when I show her this!"
"I'm afraid you cannot be the one to bring this to light, John." Mycroft frowned.
John gaped. "What do you mean? I found it!"
"Yes, and excellent work. But if you accuse the woman who discredited Sherlock of plagiarism, people will think you are merely avenging your beloved..."
"For God's sake, we were not a couple!" John interjected, throwing up his hands.
Mycroft rolled his eyes. "My brother could never have been part of a couple. But the fact remains that you are too close to this case to break the news. However, I'm certain I can find someone who is not emotionally invested in the case to bring this to the attention of Ms. Reilly's superiors."
John was taken aback by the grin on the elder Holmes' face. It reminded him of a shark ready to devour its prey. One more reason to stay on his good side, as if I needed another. John handed the evidence over to Mycroft, who then excused himself. It might have been John's imagination, but Mycroft seemed to twirl his umbrella a little more exuberantly than usual.
Thursday was a workday for John. He awoke before the paper delivery and didn't turn the television or the radio on to avoid disturbing Mrs. Hudson. It wasn't until his lunch break that he saw the news.
As he walked into the break room, one of the nurses called, "Oi! Dr. Watson! Come see this!"
"See what?" John made his way through the crowd to the break room telly, juggling a slice of pizza and a soda.
The nurse crowed, "That reporter who said your boyfriend was a fake got sacked for plagiarizing!"
John snorted, "He wasn't my boyf – what? Sacked?"
"Yeah. Copying off foreign papers – can you imagine?"
"Karma's a bitch," he said with a shrug, then found an empty seat and began devouring his lunch.
A/N: Yes, TWO chapters today since you've all been good! :) I'm very chuffed by all the nice reviews and follows!