A/N: I've always loved stories of treasure hunts and texting when it comes to Sherlock. Figured if I like them so much, I should write them.
He soon found the box of tea bags beneath the experimental apparatus in the cupboard. It took him quite some time to get the box. This, he realised, was John's way (other way - the first was yelling) of telling him how hard it was to make tea in the apartment. Point made.
He eagerly rifled through the tea bags for John's next note. There was none. He had even opened all the teabags (more like tore them in a combination of disbelief and precision)
He stared towards his armchair, horror clearly written upon his face. He realised what happened. There was only one teabag which was left uninspected. It was sitting in his cup, having provided Mycroft his deduction and Sherlock his tea. He opened the teabag; take care as to not tear any note present inside. In the middle, wrapped in thin sheet of plastic, was John's next note. Sherlock heaved a small sigh of relief he did not know he was holding.
How did John know he would need plastic? Safety precaution?
A snider voice told him "You woke up in the morning, disoriented. You found the flat empty, and this only increased your confusion. You unconsciously fell into a routine which would soothe your disorientation – namely, following order in the chaos. The first thing was to make tea. You picked the teabag which was easily accessible – one that was already on the top of the box and not tightly packed between other tea bags. My God, he knows you"
That's what scared Sherlock.
Dispelling other thoughts, he quickly opened the second note.
Your next task is to solve a crime
That will unfold in this rhyme
A woman found dead, a man found mad
The whole affair made the family sad
Some said it was the heart broken lad
Whose heart the girl once had
Others said it was the Devil's work
Lot of gossip, abandoned spoons and forks
Bodies unmarked! They yell
How else could they have died, do pray tell
It must have been the Devil, they said the next day
When dead, the girl's lover lay
Case unsolved: Two people dead
Evidence is under your bed
One found mad and two people dead. Obviously, some form of toxin was introduced to the body. It was easy to kill, but not that easy to drive someone mad. He raced to his room, thinking of the various possibilities. More importantly, the motive?
The evidence contained the list of names of all people and a more informative narrative on each of them. The dead girl's (Lisa's) and the dead boy's (Mark's) clothes, the autopsy report (idiots!) and possible suspects were what contained of the evidence.
Evidently, Lisa and Tom (her brother who went mad) had been playing cards with Mark (the lover). Mark and Tom were apparently good friends. Lisa and Mark once dated but they had a mutual breakup when they found out they wanted different things. Lisa soon started dating a guy called Adam online. No one knew who Adam was, except that he lived in Africa and soon intended to meet his online girlfriend. When he was contacted and told she was dead and how the brother went mad, he expressed some curiosity and little remorse and soon cut off all contact with Lisa's family.
The autopsy report wasn't of much use either. There were no puncture marks on the body, no trace of poison in the blood. Both of them died the same way. The mad brother was of no help.
This was all I had. I was sure about the method of murder but wasn't sure of the suspect. I raced to the lab with the clothes. I needed Molly to test for toxins.
"Hi, Sherlock" Molly beamed, more than usual, though Sherlock had no idea why.
"I need you to run a toxin test on the clothes" Sherlock said, slightly out of breath. Two hours were already up and Sherlock had no idea as to how many puzzles John had for him. Not that he was complaining.
"Um. Sure. Which ones?"
Sherlock handed her a list of ten toxins which were likely to cause these effects. On his trip to the lab, he made a trip to his mind palace which was a sufficient store of toxins dating from the late 1600's. Molly went through the list and began opening the bags containing the clothes.
"It'll take me two hours to run all the tests. These are some unusual toxins you have in there. It should make the process easier."
Sherlock merely nodded, going into a trance-like state, picturing himself in the murder scene. The first scene: three people, cosily playing cards, having fun. The windows are closed (it was winter- John had been surprisingly good with the details. It was a thirty page book). So, there must have been a fireplace or an electric heater keeping them warm. They may have a hot beverage – cocoa? Mark leaves, claiming he had to go back to his flat. They all say goodbye and Mark leaves. The door is closed and the windows are secured. No sign of footprints near the windows.
The second scene. An old flat. A person is sleeping on the bed. The doors are locked, the windows are secured except for one. No footprints under the window. He had a visitor who spoke with an accent (according to the night guard) the previous night but he left soon. Mark died in the early hours of dawn.
Piece by piece Sherlock placed it all together. Soon, it became clear as to who the criminal was.
A/N: I am ending this chapter since I thought people might want to think about it. Do review! By the way, this crime is not mine. It's ACD's.