Speechless chapter 5

Sherlock's p.o.v

"The envelope, you know the evidence with the letter and the other bits, I need it now!" I demanded, not wanting to take no for an answer.

I was back at Scotland Yard as I couldn't wait a moment longer to take a closer look at the letter and see what further clues the feather and the hair could bring me.

Lestrade looked at me realizing what I was talking about and said "Oh, the letter, the evidence that you're not really allowed to take home with you. But somehow you do, come on Sherlock you know that you're not allowed to. Give me a break, I mean what if you lost it or it got ripped, what then?"

I then walked over to him in complete confusion while I gave him another one of my stern looks and said "Come on Lestrade you know I can't do this without the evidence being where I can see it. That's how my mind works and you can't do this without me. You rely on me too much, now if you don't mind Lestrade you're wasting vulnerable time what could be used looking at the letter."

Lestrade then looked annoyed as he said "How? Why do we give into you?"

"Because you know I'm right." I then replied with a small smile on my face while Lestrade flicked through the files to try and find the one with the case I was investigating neatly placed inside it.

Picking out the orange file Lestrade handed it to me while he said "Well, you can go now can't you? Or was there something else?"

I then took the file before I then walked over to the door and said "No, that'll be all." With a slight pleased grin on my face, then left and headed for the outside of Scotland Yard so that I could get on figuring out two things; who Mary was and why was this mystery stalker killing all these people? This person being a stalker was all we knew, that and the fact that I worked out when the next murder was going to be, well unless of course we manage to stop them in time.

When I got outside it was raining, which I was actually quite annoyed about, as I wanted to walk home so that I could do some thinking: it was only about a 15 minute walk anyway.

So when I got home from getting the cab that I didn't have much choice in getting, as I didn't want to get the case wet from the rain that was still coming down quite dramatically. I found John sat down in his armchair with his newspaper that he looked very enticed into, so enticed into that he didn't even notice me walk in. So to attract his attention I put the laptop down on the table, a little louder than usual so that he would hear me.

And from the very second I did he looked up, away from his newspaper in surprise and said "H, how long have you been standing there for?"

To which I responded while I tore my thick blue scarf away from my warm neck. "Does it matter?"

He then resumed his attention back to his paper whist saying "Well yeah actually, I suppose it does and… you've got a case? I'm guessing this is to do with the research then?"

In confusion of his prediction I then responded "No, they're two entirely different situations. The case is about a stalker who has killed three men in their thirties and the research was on M." At that moment I stopped in utter astonishment as Mary walked in from the kitchen with two cups held firmly in her hands.

John however, looked up at me yet again turning his attention away from his newspaper as he gave me one of his most common stares that said what are you doing? Responded "Sorry, what was that? I think you said it too quick or something: I didn't hear." Before he then looked up at Mary who was passing him his cup, with tea in it undoubtedly: he was almost addicted to tea.

While she did I thought up something to say quickly "Nothing, I decided not to."

He then looked at me in disbelief as he squinted his eyes forming creases in between that exposed he was thinking and a slender opening in between his lips showing that he was getting ready to say something.

While I waited for his thoughts to leave his mouth, I enquired "Problem?" Whilst I then began to take my long black coat off and hung it alongside my scarf outside the living room.

Before responding he steadily took a sip of his tea before placing it on the table beside him and said "No, it's just. Well if you have research to do you don't normally decide not to do it: you like to keep yourself busy: you get bored easily."

"Yes, well I'm bored now and I do have work to do. So if you don't mind, I do need you to be quiet now." I said as I removed my gloves, walked over to do table, laid them down and sat in the chair to get on with observing the letter for any clues.

John looked back down at his newspaper and began to read while Mary sat on the arm of the chair leaning over Johns shoulder to take a look at what the papers said herself.

So I then grabbed my opportunity to concentrate on what I was doing with both hands and begun by first taking a look at the envelope. It was a common chestnut brown envelope, one that would probably be bought at a small shop or a petrol station, it was cheap, had fancy writing on it and had a very familiar aroma. It smelt of something I had quite recently smelt but had never smelt before. It had a smell of something strong and misty, a very girly fragrance. Which evidently meant it was a woman, not a scent I would like though. But I don't know where I had smelt it and who I had smelt it on. Why was it so familiar? I kept asking myself over and over repeatedly in my head, until I decided to take the contents out and look at them. Firstly starting with the letter: I had to know why this person was killing all these people. After a few moments I had read and thought of numerous reasons of what this letter could mean, but only one completely made sense. My theory, was that whatever she cries over they will cry over, whatever she fears they will fear. All because of whatever they have done to make her feel that way. Already this shows a very powerful, cunning woman. And so to add to that as revenge whatever she asks for they have to give or else they will be killed. So in all, now I have a woman in her thirties, most probably due to the ages of the men that she has killed who is cold and broken hearted from men who have taken her for a fool too many times, has blonde hair, fancy handwriting and smells of something strong and misty. Sharply names, faces and details starting appearing in my mind palace. Each one I swiftly swiped past with my hand, leading me to do the figure with the details that would match the ones I had found through the letter. When suddenly, just as I found one that matched the description. My mind palace became a blare, without caution it reformed from its peaceful white to a uncertain, blared black.

In confusion to why this had happened as nothing like this had ever happened before. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Mary stood just behind me with her hands positioned together, almost making it look as though her hands were locked. And a smile printed across her face, creating lines in her cheeks.

"What?" I blurted out, snapping at her as I hadn't managed to catch the name of the person in my mind palace.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just wondering what this letter meant. You said it was evidence to something didn't you?" She enquired as she held out her right hand over my shoulder, pointing at the letter.

"I'm working here can't you see? I told you not… to disturb me!" At that moment I came to a pause as I could smell something familiar coming from Marys wrist, it was the smell on the envelope.

She then pulled her hand away, backed off and said "Oh, err, sorry. I forgot, you see Johns asleep and I didn't know what to do, I'll go."

In disbelief to what she said I stood up, spun around and couldn't trust what I saw. It was John, asleep in his chair, still clinging on to his paper, he was fast asleep in the middle of the day. This he had never done before, I was actually concerned about him. So bothered I was about to go over to him and see if he was ok, but I was stopped by Mary.

I had only taken one step forward and as I did she moved towards me, stretched her arms out and gripped onto the table behind me. Leaving me with nowhere to move: there was only little space it was, then she moved in closer till our bodies touched and I could feel her warm breath against my throat. Taking her hand from the table, she reached it across to my face and gently stroked my cheek.

This I didn't like, so I removed her hand from my face and said "I don't do bribes so whatever you want, do spit it out. I haven't got time for being seduced."

She then continued to look at me in the eyes with a gap between her red lips before she said "I don't want to bribe you… and I don't John: all I want all I've ever desired… is you."

At this point I really didn't know what to say, I was speechless, and I just couldn't believe what she had just told me. "Why are you saying this?" I said as I put my left hand behind my neck, struggling to believe what was happening right before my eyes.

As she moved her hand back to the table where it was before and pushed herself up closer to me so that I would back up more so against the table. When I did, she leaned over me and said "Because I hunger for your love so much, I can no longer push away the temptation, to have you right here and now on this table that eats away at my mind every single day and night," that was before she leaned in even further to kiss me.

So in shock I pulled out my hands, grasped her arms and shoved her away. Then getting up off the table I put my hands over my head and walked across the room saying "What? Why? I mean what are you doing?" After a few moments it came to my attention that I was getting no reaction. So I turned around to ask her again and the only person I saw was John in his chair, still asleep.

She had clearly left as soon as I turned my back. So in concern for John, I went over to him, took the paper out of his hand, through it on the floor and felt his temperature. It was quite high, so then I felt his pulse rate. That was higher than usual as well, I would say that he had been given sleeping tablets by Mary in his tea. He knew not to take sleeping pills as this is what happened.

He's ended up in hospital because of it and I didn't want that happening again so I went into the kitchen and got a glass of water with paracetamol and when I came back in, I almost dropped the glass on the floor: I had just seen John picking up the cup of tea about to drink it. "No, John, leave it, now!" I shouted across the room, in fact I shouted so loud that he dropped it on the floor and it smashed.

Not knowing what to do he looked up at me with his eyes so wide open I thought they were going to fall out. And his mouth open for a moment while he tried to get words to leave his mouth. "I just needed a drink, I'm feeling a bit hot and panicky."

"Here drink this." I said sharply.

He then took the glass off me and drank it while I looked deep into his eyes trying to find a way to tell him about Mary, but I couldn't: there was no way possible that I could tell him about what had just happened.