A/N: Oh my god another chapter. Did you think I was dead?? There will be more soon… I hope. ~LF

Chapter Seven: Case closed

Holmes didn't return that night, or the next morning for that matter, and I was beginning to worry. Surely he wouldn't finish the case without me.

As I was making excuses for why Holmes would not finish the case alone the doorbell rang.

Opening it I found a bobby who closely who resembled a rodent and introduced himself as Inspector Lestrade. He inquired if Holmes was here and when I answered to the negative, he asked for me to give him a note. I agreed and he handed me an envelope, bowed, and took his leave

I placed the note on the table in the parlor and then sat down to a book that I had been reading the night before. After a bit I realized I was spending more time staring at the table than at my book. Getting up and leaving the room seemed like the best way to change my focus from the note but I kept thinking of that damn letter. I wanted to know what its contents were more that anything.

Making my way back to the parlor I stared at it trying, to decide what to do. Surely Holmes wouldn't mind if I peeked at what the officer had written; especially since it had to do something with the case that I was also working on. Hadn't he said that I may have just found the missing clue? Although I did not agree with his conclusion, which was still in my mind most definitely wrong, it was still a clue of sorts and perhaps this letter contained more. Besides I couldn't help but hope the letter proved Holmes' theory wrong.

Making up my mind I went to the kitchen made myself some tea. I carried it to the parlor and, after making sure that the coast was clear, I snatched up the envelope. Pouring out the steaming liquid, I held the envelope over the cup, letting the warm moisture work its magic on the glue holding it closed. I knew this would work and leave little if any trace of tampering as I had watched Holmes do it many times.

Finally the envelope open and I was able to pull out the piece of paper.

"Mikael, that wouldn't happen to be my letter you are opening would it?"

Holmes had entered quietly and caught me in the act. "Um, well." I stammered. He walked over and snatched both paper and envelope out of my hands.

"I would appreciate it if you left things addressed to me alone."

"I… I…um…" stammering I realized I had nothing to say. I waited him to read the note before I spoke again. "So did you find Danston?"

"I have not yet retrieved the boy but thanks to your information about Devon Street, I now have the exact address that he is at. There is little time left to loose so he must be retrieved tonight. I have gleaned some information on his captors and they just may make good on the threat you over heard."

My stomach lurched at the thought of that poor boy in the hands of such people.

Holmes moved towards the door adding, "There is nothing to be done for it in the daylight we will join with the police later and make or move under the cover of darkness. For nowI am in need of supper as I have not taken a meal all day."

The clock revealed it to be near supper time and I discovered that I could do with a meal myself, so I followed Holmes example went to tidy up for supper.

We arrived at the table before the elder Holmes brother.

After seating himself he addressed the detective, "Was it a productive day?"

"Very satisfactory."

"So it will be tonight then." More a fact then a question, though how he knew was beyond me.

"Tonight."

"You have provided for sufficient backup I take it."

"The local constabulary will be there as well as Mikael though not so much for back up as to watch the boy."

This I couldn't fight, as I knew I wouldn't be much help in a fight or with a gun. Besides at least I was going.

Mycroft, however, still didn't seem to be so sure of my involvement in the case. He raised his eyebrows at Holmes who merely stared straight back. Whatever was said in the silence between the brothers must have been enough for all he did was shrug and apply himself to his food.

Once dinner was finished I dressed, grabbed my cap and met Homes down stairs. As we made our way out onto the street he told me to keep my cap pulled down. "Why?" I asked.

"Well Inspector Lestrade was not too please when I informed him you would be coming and the more like boy you look the better. I also suggest you don't talk much."

"So what, he won't give us back up if he's conscience of a girl being there?" Holmes didn't answer but he gave me a look that said I was very close to the truth. Spending much of my youth as a street boy still made it difficult for me to accept my position as a fragile lady in society. One of these days men will have to realize that women are capable of nearly everything a man is.

We met Inspector Lestrade a block from our destination of Devon street. He and the men accompanying him were all dressed in simple clothes similar to that which I was wearing. The Inspector glanced my direction and Holmes introduced me. "Inspector this is my assistant Mikael I mentioned earlier." We exchanged quick nods and he turned away, ignoring me. If it wasn't for the gravity of the situation I would have laughed at the officer's oblivion to my gender.

Once we got closer, Lestrade sent his men ahead telling them to find a hiding place on the other side of the house. We gave them a moment to get into position before the three of us found hiding places of our own.

Looking in through the windows we saw several men playing poker around a table littered with empty bottles, but no sign of the boy. There was a tree a short ways from the house. At a nod from Holmes I was up the tree looking into a small room that still had the light on.

Maneuvering around on my branch I saw him. Danston was sitting on a chair, blind folded with his hands tied together. There was know way that I could get to the window from where I was at, so I shimmed down and told Holmes what I had seen.

"He's in there, but the tree is too far away to get to him from out here." I whispered.

"You are sure there was no one in the room with him?"

"Positive."

Holmes pulled out his revolver and tried to hand it to me. "Do you know how to use this?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Then I want you to stay back out of the way at first then run upstairs to retrieve him."

The men crept their way around to the door, in an instant Holmes and Lestrade jumped forward and kicked in the door. I heard similar noises coming from the back door as the other police officers made an entrance of there own. They burst forward, guns drawn, I heard shots fired from both sides before I ran through the door and headed for the stairs. One of the kidnappers that had managed to slip out during the confusion in the other room saw where I was headed and lunged, grabbing my foot causing me to land hard on the stairs. I quickly rolled onto my back and put my heel to his nose as hard as I could, he released my foot and lapsed into unconsciousness. I jumped to my feet and made my way up to find Danston, a stray bullet whizzing pat my ear on my way up.

I found the room he was located in furthest from the stairs still sitting on his bed, but now he was turning his head from side to side trying to find out what was going on. I shut and locked the door behind me as I entered.

Walking over to him I reached out to remove the blind fold from his eyes but he pulled away. I don't know which of us was trembling worse.

"It's Okay Danston my name is Mikael, your mother sent me, I'm going to take you home but you have to let me remove this." He held still so that I could take it off of him. He blinked in the light trying to focus on me.

"Hey buddy, we're going to wait here for a moment." I attempted to remove his other bonds but the knot was tight and I was still shaking. I really wished that I had a knife or something to cut off the ropes around his wrist.

It was only a moment later when a knock sounded on the door, Holmes' voice following it. "Mikael, are you in there?"

"Yes Holmes we are." I answered opening it for him. He was looking a little battered, he had a cut on his forehead that suggested that a bullet had come to close for comfort.

He nodded in Danston's direction, "Is he alright?"

"Yes but we could use something to cut off the ropes." He pulled out a pocket knife and severed the ropes, then removed his coat to wrap around the boys shoulders. He turned to walk downstairs, I grabbed up Danston and followed.

At the base of the stairs the kidnappers where sitting on the floor handcuffed, looking shocked and angry that they had been caught. The man who had grabbed my leg was splattered in blood and still unconscious. I tried to rush Danston past these men, there was no reason for him to see them anymore, but one face among the captured made me stop in my tracks.

It was Raymond Banks.

I began shaking in rage, "You... I... how could you?! He's your brother! And you do this?! Aaughh!" Holmes walked over and took my arm, pulling me away from Raymond. He had to drag me all the way into the next room. Every fiber of my being wanted to rip that man's head off; I was picturing lots of pain. Danston followed closely behind us wanting to get as far away from those men as possible.

Holmes pushed me back into a chair. "Get control of yourself Mikael!" he yelled.

"But his own brother!" I drew my breath in sharply, "I let that man kiss me earlier."

Holmes placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. They were like cold steel, hard and unwavering. "Mikael, calm down! Focus on the task at hand."

I really couldn't think of what the task was, we had already found the boy. Seeing Danston standing behind him I remembered. The boy, I was suppose to watch him.

"Right… Danston, sorry Holmes." He shook his head and left the room.

Danston and I occupied ourselves with various games while the criminals were loaded into a jail cart and taken away; we had taken the deck of cards they had been using. He won most of the games as my mind was occupied with both hateful thoughts and confusion. Hatful thoughts towards Holmes for being right, for Raymond for deceiving me, and even more for myself for following fancy rather than reason.

It didn't take long for the police to load the men off to jail. Danston, Holmes, Lestrade, and I followed in a carriage behind them back to the station.

When we walked into the front doors of the station, the Banks' were pacing, waiting for their son. As the youngest son ran and jumped into his mothers arms, Holmes approached them with the sad news of the eldest.

When they heard of their son's sins their reaction was heartbreaking but not surprising. Mr. Banks had flames in his eyes and I heard him requested that 'the law be used to its fullest extent'. Mrs. Banks cried and held the youngest tighter and insisted that it was some mistake.

Lestrade seeing the family's state walked over and asked if they might interview the boy so as to find out what had really happened. The family agreed and Danston pointed at me saying he wanted me to be the one asking the questions. All eyes turned towards me and I nodded my assent.

We took Danston into Lestrade's office since Raymond had already been situated in the interrogation room to await his questioning.

I hesitated at the door. "Holmes I don't know how to this."

"You simply ask questions Mikael, you do that enough at home to know how the process works."

"But these questions are different. This is not why two chemicals can't go together this is about terrible and frightening things that were done to this child."

Inspector Lestrade, who was standing behind Holmes, looked at me funny and grabbed Holmes' arm pulling him aside. Realizing this was the first time Lestrade had heard me talk I leaned against the wall to listen to the argument about to take place. I had never been good at changing my voice and the young boy emitting my feminine voice was always a shock to the unknowing men around me.

"Mikael is a girl!" came Lestrade's angry voice first quickly followed for Holmes' sarcastic one.

"A fact that I am aware of Inspector"

"There is no place in police work for women. This is one thing that I thought we agreed upon."

Holmes glared at the Inspector, a look that would make me cringe. "As there has never been a situation in which this subject has been present before I do not see how we could have ever agreed on such a thing. Mikael had proven she is worthy to be a part of this case."

Lestrade snorted at this, obviously not seeing any point where my involvement had been necessary for the case. Holmes saw the same thing and took the inspector down from his perch. "In fact if it where not for the girl young Mr. Banks would more than likely not be here; it was the information that she gathered on her own and reported to me that made a happy ending on this case possible. Besides the boy specifically asked for her to do the interview, I don't believe you want to loose the first hand information that could be the only way of you getting a conviction of all these criminals."

This last bit of information made Lestrade stop and think. Grudgingly, Lestrade consented and both men turned their attention to me. I stood up straight, the fun was over and now it was time to get back to the daunting task at hand. After a quick coaching of what to say the two men aimed me at the door. I walked in first with Holmes right behind me. He wasn't to say anything just stand against the wall to keep track of what was said.

Okay Mikael -I said to myself- no reason to be nervous it's just your first interview in a high profile case. Oh this is not good. Taking a deep breath I tried to calm myself. I had instructions all I had to do was ask the questions. Just remember give him time and work backwards no reason to upset him by starting with his brother.

I sat down across from Danston and smiled what I hoped was a reassuring smile. He gave a little smile back and I started.

"Danston I just need to ask you a few questions. It's very important that you answer them and you can take as much time as you need to do it. Now are you ready?"

He nodded and I began the questions.

"How many men did you see in the house you were at?"

"Three."

"Had you ever seen any of the men before you went there?"

"No."

Now for the harder questions.

"Why did they tie you up?"

He let out a sigh as he answered, "I tried to run away I didn't like them at all. I almost made it to the front door but one of them saw me. He got really mad and took me back upstairs. He said that I had to stay so he tied my hand together so I couldn't open the door."

"Did you ever hear any of them talking?"

"Yes, a couple times."

"And what kinds of things did they talk about?"

"They talked a lot about money and how they were going to get some from my father. They said there boss wanted it."

"Did they ever say the name of their boss"

"No."

I looked up at Holmes and he nodded at me. Now for the part I really didn't want to hear.

"How did those men get you?"

"My brother took me to them?"

"What do you mean did he take you to the house?"

"No we met them. I was headed home from my friends house and brother found me. We went for a walk in the park to the part with all the trees. He said that he had a problem and only I could help him. Then the men showed up and he said I had to go with them."

"Did your brother say anything to the men?"

"he asked them for a letter so he could get something done fast. He said he would come for me soon that I would be there long, but he never came and I got scared so I tried to go find him but they wouldn't let me."

At this point he started to cry the questioning was done and we had got what was needed. It was everything I had not to start crying also. But I knew that acting like a girl was the last thing I needed to di in front of the inspector. We sent Mrs. Banks in to comfort her youngest son and turned to the task of talking with the elder son. Raymond had voluntarily placed his brother in the hands of some bad men. As far as I was concerned he was the real criminal in all this.

Holmes and Inspector Lestrade headed straight for the room where Raymond was being held. Holmes stopped before entering and turned to me.

"Mikael, I think it would be best if you stayed out here." Then he walked in and closed the door behind him.

I sat out in the hall wondering what was going on. I hoped that Holmes was beating everything out of him.

After a rather short period of time the two men came walking out.

I jumped to my feet, "Well? What happened?"

The inspector walked right past me not answering. I was really starting to not like him.

Holmes, however, did answer me, "We are sending him to America."

"What?!"

"In exchange for information. He will disclose who the crime boss behind this whole operation to who he owes the money after I have personally placed him on the boat."

"So we are just letting him go?" I asked rather in indignantly.

"In a way yes. Although, he is, in essence, being exiled from his family and country. Some would consider that punishment enough for his crimes. Besides it will allow us to track and arrest a much bigger threat to society."

"So when do we," the look I got from Holmes here made me pause, "um, you leave to do this."

"Almost this instant. Lestrade has left to make the arrangements and then we will be off. I will ask that you stay here in case there are any questions that we need to answer for the good police when I return."

I was getting coffee when Holmes and the Inspector marched to the front door with Raymond. I left my cup at the table and hurried to catch up. I may not be able to go with but I was planning on watching them leave.

I was right behind them when they stepped outside so I stopped at the door way figuring this was as far as I needed to go.

Then all hell broke loose on the sidewalk. I gun shot went off from somewhere and I ducked to the ground. I saw Raymond fall, a bullet had made its mark in his head. Officers hid behind the carriage but Holmes had been at the end of the line. He moved to run for cover but then a second shot went off and he was on the ground.

"Holmes!" I heard myself scream. I went to run out to him but another officer who had been in the doorway with me grabbed me and kept me on the ground. I watched in horror as Holmes lay on the ground not moving. I couldn't see where he had been shot. Oh god Holmes, I thought, please don't be dead.