COD (Cause of Death): Unknown

Note: I'm so happy that so many of you enjoyed this interesting development in Molly's situation. Now you will see a bit more of Sherlock and his thoughts on the matter. I hope you don't mind the switch in POVs again. Enjoy.

s i x.

One of the things that I couldn't stand was the fanfare of the public eye when it came to reaction certain situations. More than often reporters tried to creep onto certain huge cases that we were on. I did my best to ignore them when I could. However, they were particularly irritating.

Once again upon meeting with the seemingly date that one Ms. Molly Hooper that night when she was murdered. John had made it apparent not so discreetly that he felt that the case had a bit of a personal aspect to it. We knew her, he had stated.

I, the only consulting detective Sherlock Holmes couldn't begin to fathom the truth of this. It wasn't true. As far as what I had uncovered privately through my visit with Nana Hooper and my exploration of the specifics that I knew about the pathologist. John was horribly incorrect.

Then there was that one problem with my mind palace. The glitch, if you will that I was hoping would just not return. It was not right. People didn't just appear ...death people didn't just appear in a place that was a part of someone's mind out of the blue. Then again all the circumstances felt off to me. She...it...whatever that thing was had implied that I could actually want Molly or a projection of her as a confident and mysterious plague of a woman in my head.

I had to disagree. There was no logical reason as to why that should ever be possible. Let's stick to the problem at hand or the lack there of a problem in this Evan of Mellow Lane's Cafe.

He was an average looking fellow who as I first glanced him noticed his slack in posture change drastically upon our arrival. He had a lighter shade of brown hair, closer to John's blond color but more closer to brown. It was shaggy and styled in a way that it wouldn't interfere with his job of fixing drinks. He had a minimal amount of tan that made me believe he had something against the sun but went out when absolutely necessary. His eyes seemed more alert and as the first initial inspection of him from the outside I thought were brown but in the light it was made clearly that they were a muddy green.

He was of average build and that hadn't been the reason why Molly agreed to go out with him obviously. It was either humor or charm that caught her attention. Charm seemed more than likely the culprit.

John opened his mouth to ask the most tedious thing he's ever asked a person, "Can I have a word with you?" when Evan spoke first.

"I was told you were coming." The towel in his hands was the only thing that gave me any indication of his emotional capability at the current moment. He nervously kept wringing it, never too long but just enough that it was apparent.

"By whom?" I spoke quickly. It could have been many people but my mind had bets on it being someone who pertained to the case of Doctor Hooper. "He was a nicely dressed man, he came alone which was a little odd because there are usually couples or groups of friends coming in at that time."

"What time was it exactly?" The fact that it was man did narrow it down slightly, but not too much. Many of the people who had their sights on my head were male. "12:45 in the afternoon. Do you think he could have been the one that did it?" Evan hesistated as he asked that question. It was almost as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask it at all. He was scared that it could possibly put him in danger since he could have met the man.

"It's possible but rather unlikely. Most killers have middlemen. Have you seen anyone strange appear since he met you?"

"Not that I've noticed."

"Don't concern yourself with it anymore then. What did you discuss with the man?" This was important, if there was anything crucial in this meeting this would be it. "There wasn't much really. He asked if I was who I am then told me that you, Sherlock Holmes would most likely be making a visit soon to talk. I was going to ask how he was sure of that but he just left. I guess, he was right."

I just nodded as I sighed. There wasn't much to speculate from this visit. If anything it had just made it seem like we took a step back. I turned away from Evan and John who had started to talk to him and peered around the small cafe. There wasn't anything to fancy about the place. It looked like any other cafe around London but it had a bit more color. Each table had a small candle in glass apart from one. I rushed towards it.

It was in the back corner and it not only had the candle but a napkin dispenser. Most people would have just brushed it off as nothing but the clues were in the smallest of details. The napkin dispenser was empty but I picked it up anyway and turned it causing something to fall out onto the table. It was a ribbon. Red. Almost identical to one I had seen before.

I tugged on it when I noticed that a portion of it was still inside the dispenser. It could have been caught on something. When it came unloose there was something attached to it. A small index card, yellow and it had a hole on the top where the ribbon was tied.

There were markings on the ribbon but I disregarded them for a moment to look at the card. Scribbled on one side were my initials SH and then on the otherside as I flipped it over was a message.

Clue #1

Having a little trouble are we, Holmes?

Not to worry, I will help...a little.

He said that was allowed at least. It won't be easy though. There are more difficult times ahead than a silly dead pathologist.

Here's your first clue:

It all started somewhere. The fascination, the need to hunt and abuse. (Use the familiar object attached to decode it.)

Hopefully it doesn't take much time for you to figure this one out. I'll be seeing you.

Molly

I peered over Sherlock's shoulder and read the "clue." It didn't seem like much of a clue. How could one of my ribbons help decode a clue? I paused briefly to look at Sherlock to see that he couldn't figure it out either. Maybe that was it though. What if whomever was behind this wanted to keep Sherlock out of the loop for as long as possible. I know it wasn't too clever but at least it was a start.

My ribbon really didn't have any significance to Sherlock. I mean I had wrapped a gift with it before but that was during Christmas. Surely, he had forgotten about that. I had forgotten about it to an extent. That had been a horrible time. I tried not to think of it. The only thing that mattered about that night was the apology that I was sure wasn't entirely genuinely and the peck on the cheek. The ribbon was insignificant...unless that's what it was about.

This was all so confusing.

Sherlock was quick about moving from that area with the clue in hand and heading out the door of the cafe. I quickly swooshed through too. There were a slew of reporters and cameras outside asking questions and many flashes went off but no answers were given. I didn't know if he ever gave any answers back.

Not only was I left to ponder about that but why reporters were there at all. This case wasn't anything too grand just little old me, a pathologist who had been slightly connected to Sherlock Holmes. There was no reason for them to be around, I felt. They were though and once again even though no one could actually see me it made me incredibly uncomfortable.

Soon we were back at Baker Street and Sherlock had once again ventured back to his room for a moment before coming back with a package that was still wrapped. It took me a mere second to realize that it was the present I had given him. He had never opened it.

Of course he hadn't. I sighed, telling myself that it wasn't a big deal. At least he hadn't tossed it. That would have been as much incentive for me to toying with his head a bit more in that mind palace of his. I would hold back for now. I was curious of what it would do.

He sat down at a small table for a moment and as I peered over his shoulder he began inspecting the two ribbons on the two items. One a present and the other a clue. They were exactly the same in every way except for the markings on the clue.

It must have become a bit more clear to him that he should probably open the package I had given him. He was quick but clean during the unwrapping of it. All the paper was pretty much intact a part from the top of it where he unclasped a small area where it was taped down. The ribbon had been carefully taken away. Then he pulled it out.

Considering how I hadn't exactly liked remembering that night my mind was a little fuzzy on what exactly I had gotten him. It came back quickly as he read the front of the book. It wasn't just a book, it was a stowaway book with another gift inside. I knew he probably wouldn't have thought twice about it but since he enjoyed a good puzzle I chose to give him a two for one.

He turned it this way and that way inspecting it before there was a little noise where it sounded like something had been shaken unloose inside. From there he slowly opened it and found the second gift. It was wrapped in a silk scarf which he quickly tossed to the side and found another note I left along with a much larger magnifying glass which I had gotten engraved. He picked it up and looked at it. Flipping the handle around as the words were curved around the handle. It read:

The closer you look the more details you uncover.

SH

The SH was engraved around the tip of the handle. Sherlock just blinked before putting it down and going for the note. It was a small green half piece of stationery that I used for special occasions. There was just one line on it.

What's inside is where the heart of the person lies.

I had written many different things down before choosing that one seeing as I felt it would help him one day. I wasn't particularly sure how it would help now. It just sounded wise when I came up with it so I went with it.

He just sat there for a moment before getting up with both notes in hand and walked over to a wall that had been vacant the last time I saw it and added them to different sections. I noticed it was like his mind palace but much easier to connect the dots. The strings did help a bit, I most admit.

There wasn't much there but a base was starting I could see. It was up to him now as to whether it would take a couple days or a few weeks to uncover. With that thought in mind I had decided to take a break from Sherlock Holmes and all his crazy thoughts about my murder case and relax.

That was before John Watson and DI Lestrade cams rushing up the stars.

"Molly's gone, Sherlock." John started.

"I thought that had become quite obvious from the body we found. She's dead, John." Sherlock turned to see their faces. I saw panic but what else did he detect.

"No. I know that." John sighed before letting Lestrade tell him.

"Sherlock, Molly Hooper's body is missing from the morgue."

A/N: oh dear...this is a messy situation now is it? i won't say much else, let's let this chapter speak for itself. I posted a new sherlolly one-shot called Genuine, check it out if you like. A Study In Chemistry will be updated later tonight hopefully. Be sure to let me know what you think, please!

Much love,

Day