"Macey! Time to get up for-" Joan's words died in her throat as she entered Macey's room and found it completely vacant. "Macey?" Joan ventured through the hallway and made her way to the parlor. The sight she was met with was one to stop her in her tracks.
Macey and Sherlock were deep in conversation, their voices going a mile-a-minute. They were hunched over a map, markers in hand, red dots and blue dots covering certain locations on the large fold-out map.
"If he would've ditched the bag here –as an example-, he would've only had approximately five minutes and twenty-two seconds to do so. That means all you need to know is where he was at the moment of realization that he had to ditch the pink bag and then you'll have an estimate as to where he ventured between thoughts and actions. Like, if he realized he had the bag there," Macey pointed at the red dot again, "then ditched it here," She pointed to another just for an example, "that narrows down where he went in between." Macey drew a small circle around an intersection. "Security cameras caught him here-"
Sherlock butt in. "Security cameras?"
"Yes, I hacked into the server and reviewed the footage. He crossed the cameras view at 1500 hours –or, 3pm."
"Yes, I am quite familiar with military time." Sherlock huffed.
"Okay…Well, anyway, the suspect crossed the cameras frame here with the bag. By the way he walks -quickly with frantic searching- we can deduce that he has realized that he is holding the one piece of evidence that ties him to the crime. From here, he goes somewhere…probably to hide the bag. He doesn't take a cab, he walks…so that means…" She waited for Sherlock to finish the deduction.
"He couldn't have gotten far."
"Precisely. Search within a five mile radius of this intersection and you'll find your bag."
"Who says he didn't destroy it?" Joan spoke, alerting them to her presence. She crossed the floor to get a better look at the map with the dots and circles.
"This man is not what you call a 'criminal mastermind'. The thought would have never occurred to him in such a situation." Macey stated, not looking up from the map.
"How do you know?" Joan crossed her arms, knowing the only way Macey could know such a thing was by a personal experience.
Macey smirked. "I don't think I should answer that, Joan." Macey looked up to Sherlock and sighed. "Sherlock, why aren't you calling Gregson? I just cracked the case for you…this is something worth telling him."
Sherlock smirked. "The only reason you solved the case is because I helped."
"You asked me, Sherlock. You need me." Macey smiled smugly.
Sherlock opened his mouth to retort, but knew it wasn't worth the fight. Besides, she was right. "Fine." He pulled out his phone and texted Gregson, a little whirring noise a sign that it was sent. Sherlock stood and threw Joan her coat. "Come along, Joan. We should be there to help. God knows the NYPD can't do anything right."
"But, Sherlock…Macey needs a ride to school…" Joan looked at the young girl.
Macey shrugged. "It's New York. I'll just take a cab."
"You're sure?" Joan pulled on her coat.
"Of course. It's not like I'm going to be kidnapped or anything…" Macey smiled. "Besides, I can take 'em."
Joan laughed and nodded. "Alright…" She pulled out a couple twenties from her pants pocket. "Take this to pay the driver."
Macey pocketed the money and stood. "Thanks, Joan. Have fun."
Joan nodded and followed Sherlock out the door, out into the heart of the city.
Macey yawned. She really wished she would've slept last night. But, whatever. Solving a case and showing off her skills was worth way more than eight hours of brain-numbing sleep.
…
"Xavier High School, please." Macey spoke to the driver from the back of the cab.
The driver nodded and pulled away from the curb.
Macey settled back into the seat and closed her eyes. She drew in a gulp of air and breathed out. School was going to be hard to get through on no sleep. She felt herself start to fade away into a peaceful sleep as the cab rolled on…
Suddenly, Macey was thrown to the right as the cab swerved to the left. Macey's head hit the glass and she cried out in pain.
The cabbie's foot lowered the pedal to the floor and the cab picked up speed.
"What the Hell? Slow down!" Macey braced herself against the handles on the door and hung on for dear life.
"Sorry, love. Can't do that." A strong male voice spoke in an English accent. "Looks like you're gonna be late for school." He sniggered.
Macey scowled. "That's what you think." She swung the door open and brought her arms inward. She hugged herself and thrust herself out onto the pavement, making sure to get far away from the cab and other on-coming cars. She rolled and slid across the pavement, skin scraping the cold, hard ground as she was thrown away from the cab. Macey fought the tears of pain and immediately stood up to run as she skidded to a stop. A couple people tried to confront her with concern to her injuries, but Macey pushed past them and sprinted for an alley-way. She hid in the shadows as the kidnapper cabbie circled back around to look for her. She ducked her head and closed her eyes as he drove by, his eyes sweeping the long alley-way. As she heard the motor fade away, she opened her eyes. She drew in a sharp intake of breath as she observed the bloody mess that was her legs and arms. Blood was trickling down her legs and arms, streaks of scarlet red. It could've been worse, though. She was just lucky that no cab in New York could get up to more than thirty-five miles an hour due to traffic and pedestrians.
Macey winced as she tried to move. She bit her lip to prevent a scream from coming out and braced herself for an explosion of pain. She stood up, her wounds gushing more blood as she did so. The pressure on her lip from her teeth increased and Macey hoped she wouldn't break skin. She definitely couldn't lose more blood.
Macey peeked out at the sidewalk and street, deciding it was best to find her way to school. Every school had a nurse, right?
She removed her coat and did her best to wipe the blood away so she wouldn't look too bad. She discarded the coat in the garbage, hoping that nobody would find it, bloody mess and all.
She got her bearings and began to make the painful trek to school.
How on Earth was she to explain this to the teachers?
…
"My God!" An office secretary yelped as a bloodied Macey entered the school an hour late.
Macey sighed. How bad did she really look? She could only imagine.
The lady was frozen in place for a few more moments as she scanned Macey's injuries, it not occurring to her that Macey was bleeding profusely and needed medical attention.
Macey moaned as a sharp pain shot up her leg. "Which way is the nurse?"
The lady unfroze and quickly dialed a number on the desk phone. "Nurse! Emergency!"
Within a few minutes, a crowd had formed around Macey, still bleeding and tiny drops of her blood painting the linoleum.
The nurse pushed her way through and her herself was immediately struck with shock, freezing in front of her.
Macey rolled her eyes. She yelped as another sharp pain shot through her body.
The nurse shook her shock and flew into action. She called behind her for a wheel chair and sat Macey down, instantly wheeling her off for the clinic.
Irene watched from afar as Macey was wheeled away, the tiny pools of blood on the floor the only sign the girl had even been there. She scowled and pulled out her phone. She put the phone to her ear and waited for the person to pick up. "What the Hell happened, Frank?" She demanded.
"I'm so sorry…She –she…I didn't think she'd-"
"I don't care what you didn't think she'd do, Frank. You failed me."
"Moriarty…please…Please don't-"
"Frank."
"No! Please! I have a family!"
"Frank." She growled.
The man was silent.
"Employment terminated."
Irene didn't even jump as a shot rang out on the other side of the call. How dare he fail his mission. Macey was never supposed to get hurt. She was supposed to be taken to Irene's hideout, not injured.
Just goes to show you, if you want something done…you have to do it yourself.
…
Irene entered the clinic and looked around for the young girl. Her eyes settled on a familiar pair of consulting detectives and she ducked behind a curtain for fear of being seen.
Sherlock was showing sentiment once more. He was definitely getting soft, something that could easily be used against him…
Irene shook her head to wipe the thought from her mind. She had other things to worry about first. She tuned her ears toward the conversation.
"What happened?" Sherlock asked, concern apparent in his tone.
"Nothing…I'm fine." Macey replied, no emotion in her voice.
Sherlock gaped. "Fine? Macey, look at you! You're badly injured and you've lost a lot of blood!"
Macey shot him a glare. "I'm. Fine." She replied more forcefully. "It's nothing I can't handle."
"But Macey, why won't you tell us what happened? Something happened or you wouldn't be here, badly injured, and in shock."
"I'm not in shock. I'm quite fine." Macey replied, her tone impatient.
"Macey-" Joan began.
"No! I'm fine! Didn't you hear me? I'm fine!" She screamed. "I won't be telling you what happened because you don't need to know! You'll just make a bigger deal out of it than need be. Please, do me a favor and get out of my life!" Macey got up, wincing and groaning in pain, and pushed past them, limping toward the door.
Sherlock and Joan shared a concerned expression before getting up and following her.
Irene stood as they exited the room, a smile plastered on her face. An outburst…just what she needed.
Things just got a little more interesting…
A LOT HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER! HAHA. I HOPE I DIDN'T LOSE YOU! WELL, THIS STORY IS ALMOST DONE…BUT I'M BETTING YOU CAN'T TELL HOW ITS GOING TO END. THAT'S JUST WHAT I WANT! SO, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY LITTLE ACTION-PACKED CHAPTER AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REVIEW.
EH, WHAT THE HECK. PLEASE FAV/FOLLOW/AND REVIEW!