((The moment has arrived! I think you all know which one. Unless you haven't expected it, in which case SURPRISE! Anyway, have fun.
Please R&R and thanks for all the feedback so far. And little pointers about Amy's actual age. It's all so confusing)).
At the flat, they both discussed what they had found in the storeroom.
"So, Eric Marshall stole the money from those banks."
"No. It wasn't him. He found out who had, though, and he proceeded to acquire the money off that person. That is why he was killed. Weren't you listening earlier?" It was obvious to him. It all made perfect sense.
"To silence him and stop him taking the money to the police... That's why he had the note. He was going to hand the note into the police and let them find the money?"
Sherlock vaguely smiled. "Yes. That is one possibility. The other is that he intended to use the money for his own purposes. You are starting to get the hang of it."
"Wow, is that an actual compliment?" she giggled.
"If you like." It wasn't long before he was back in his thought mode, though. "Somehow, the killer knew what he was planning."
"And the killer is..?"
"I don't know yet. One thing is for certain, he is not a member of the Triggs. I know that much. He has to be someone with some connection to them."
"Or an impersonator," she suggested casually. "An admirer. I mean, don't big criminal gangs have followers, people who worship them, that kind of thing?"
"It was exactly like the crimes the Triggs carried out, minus a few obvious mistakes. Unfortunately, those mistakes haven't given too much away apart from the fact that this was his first murder. No, he still made sure to not leave evidence that would easily incriminate him. No fingerprints, no-one saw his face, nothing..."
"What are you going to do?"
The doorbell rang, once, twice, three times, causing Amy to snap away from the conversation for a moment to look in the direction of the open door. Mrs Hudson was out, so it seemed as if she would have to be the one to answer it.
"I am going to see if I can arrange a few interviews with the Triggs, find out if they will give us any leads..." Sherlock continued just as Amy rose from the sofa and went to answer the door.
It was nearly nine 'o' clock. Who could this be at this hour? "Yeah, yeah, alright! I am coming!" she yelled to whoever was on the other side of the door. They were really impatient, the doorbell ringing like there was no tomorrow. A client? That would please Sherlock even more.
It wasn't.
"Amelia Pond, get your coat!"
He pushed past her almost as soon as the door was open. Giving her no chance to speak he was already off up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. It was clear that he was in a hurry and he also came across a little angry with the way he had spoken to her.
"Doctor!" Hastily -and surprised at his sudden arrival, though she had to admit she was very much relieved and pleased to see him- she followed him up the stairs into the flat. "What are you doing? You can't just barge in l-"
"I am sorry, Amy, but this is important. Oh, what a nice place..." In the flat he spun around flamboyantly, scanning around, giving her a very brief smile. "A bit too green. Not messy enough. Have you got time for tea? No, wait, I haven't got time. Things to do." He forced his wrist up in front of her eyes, tapping his watch. "Busy, busy, busy."
"I've been waiting for you. What took you so long this time?"
"Well, it's hardly my fault, Pond. I haven't been able to track you down. So this is where you are living now, huh? In this city in this flat with -"
"It's you." Amy suddenly became aware of Sherlock once more, who had spoken towards the Doctor with sudden realization, accompanied by a quizzical expression.
A beaming grin spread on the Doctor's face. "It's you!" he exclaimed turning to face the detective.
The companion frowned. "What - you two have met?"
"Yes," replied Sherlock. He didn't take his eyes off the Time Lord. He searched him curiously. "At university. He was at one of the lectures..." He sounded amazed.
"And what a lecture it was!" the Doctor added excitedly.
"Extraordinary. You haven't aged a day..."
"You have."
As the Doctor wandered around aimlessly, Sherlock stared in disbelief. The man he had met at university all those years ago still looked very much the same. Remarkable. How was that possible?
"Amy Pond and Sherlock Holmes!" the Time Lord carried on regardless of the detective's expression and Amy's impatience to talk to him. "Now that was something I did not expect to happen. Has it been fun, Amy? All of those exciting, marvelous cases, been on any yet? You know, I once went to a parallel world - accidentally, of course - where Sherlock Holmes didn't exist. He was just a character in a book. A character in many successful books. Wonderful books, too, if I remember correctly. Quite short for my liking, but then the best books always are. Set in the Victorian era. I wasn't sure that would work but actually it did - No! Wait. I've lost track again."
"Doctor," sighed Amy, folding her arms. "We need to -"
"Talk. Yes, we do." He gave her a serious expression. "Get your things, Amy."
"What? Why?" She fueled forward when he made for the hallway.
"I'm taking you back to Leadworth."
"I don't live there anymore."
Travelling down the stairs quickly, he shook his head. "I know. I know what happened between you and Rory and I don't like it. You need to talk to him." Out the front door he went, Amy behind, out into the wet and humid street.
"I already ha-"
"You need to sort this out, Amelia." He stopped immediately and forced his eyes on her.
"It has already been sorted."
He looked at her incredulous, trying to get his words out and failing, instead his hands flailing about a tad. "But - since when did you guys..?"
"It's a long story," she sighed. "And I really don't want to talk about it." Yet she gave in to his 'I-need-to-know' stare. "I wasn't making him happy. What is the point in being with someone if you can't make them happy? I can't give him what he wants so I let him go."
"It's not like you to just give up -"
"It's done now, Doctor. It's done and once it's done it can't be undone just like that. At least, that's how I see it. And I didn't give up. I tried. I really did."
"You didn't try hard enough."
"I felt so guilty. I'm sure you know what that's like. I couldn't do that to Rory. And I know for definite that I would not be able to live with that guilt, even though it's not my fault. It was the right decision."
In silence, he thought things over, then nodded. "Yeah... If that's what you want."
"It's not what I want. I want things to be how they used to be, but we both know that that is not going to happen. So I have to keep moving forwards."
"That's what Rory said."
"You've spoken to him?"
"I went to Leadworth to get you. When I asked why you weren't there... well, you know..." His disheartened approach made her swell with even more guilt. Rory was his friend, too, and she knew how the Doctor hated it when things changed like this.
"He'll be alright. I know he will." She tried hard to smile but it would not come. The bad feelings came flooding back to her and she found herself hugging her best friend like her life depended on it. "I'm glad you came back," she whispered. They didn't pull apart for some time. It had felt like years since she had last seen him. God knows when it would be the next time. She wasn't going to let him escape her grip just yet.
When they did pull apart she finally smiled, although she felt exhausted after reliving her split with Rory over again. And then she remembered what River had told her that day, that there was still a lecture from her to come, and Amy knew that it wouldn't be the last time she would feel like this.
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" the Doctor asked her after inspecting the street and inadvertently straightening his bow tie, while trying to seem a little less upset.
"Shapeshifter."
At that word, his soon straightening his back, eyes widening also. "You've seen it?"
"Yeah. Quite a few times actually. It's been causing mayhem around London. Sherlock and I have been investigating the deaths of people with no relation to each other who came back to life."
"Where is it now?"
"Erm, U.N.I.T."
"U.N.I.T!" He didn't come across as entirely pleased at that. "That's all I need. Right, I'd better go and get him."
Before he could walk off she grabbed his hand. "What do you have that he wants? He was pretty keen to get it back."
"A diamond. A very expensive and very dangerous diamond."
"Oh, yeah." She recalled the shapeshifter mentioning a diamond when he had been slamming against the cell wall as Harvey Alexander. "I'll come with you."
The Doctor wasn't going to protest. Her company was always welcome.