Eighteen hours before
"Is there any reason Mrs Hudson looks so pleased with herself? Because usually when she brings our shopping, she returns quite grumpy, which of course has nothing to do with you." John has closed the kitchen door he used to enter the flat and than proceeded to the kitchen to check its gratifyingly full state.
"That would be the ring ," answered Sherlock lazily, not bothering to move from his position on the sofa.
"Excuse me? What ring?"
"The engagement ring on the coffee table."
Johns bewildered face appeared in the doorway to the living room. There was, indeed, an engagement ring perched in its open case on the coffee table.
"What would you need the ring for?"
"To propose, obviously."
"To whom, dare I ask?" John was now turning the case in his hands. It was a really nice ring.
"Well, Mrs Hudson is seemingly under the impression I am going to propose to you. Ridiculous, really." Sherlock leapt from the sofa and pocketed the case before John could say or do anything else. "Ellie is really a charming girl." He was now turned away from John, so the doctor couldn´t see the crooked smile on the dective's lips.
"You are going to propose? To a girl?"
Sherlock couldn't help but laugh in his deep amused tones. "For a case."
"You are really proposing to someone because of a case?"
"Not good?" Sherlock sounded unsure now.
"Not good? This is whole loads more than 'not good', Sherlock. This is incredibly insensitive at least."
"What if there were no other way?" said Sherlock and tried to walk to his room. John' s hand on his forearm stopped him.
"Is this for the Milverton case?"
In the next fifteen minutes, John was confronted with Sherlock's findings so far. Whereas the army doctor was sent as a ruse to attract the attention of any Milverton's men aware of Sherlock's involvement - it was a reasonable supposition, Milverton worked with Mycroft and was probably aware of the existence of the younger Holmes and his bloodrelation to the man who was 'the British Government' - Sherlock managed to talk and flirt with a girl employed to take Milverton' s dogs for a walk.
Apparently, Ellie was a student of the LSE, who was trying to help her bank balance by working several jobs, including this one. She was planning to have an interview for a much better paid and certainly more pleasant job, but Milverton didn't allow her to have the evening off. "The pompous arse told me that if I couldn't do my work, I should stop completely. Like it's too much to ask to have one afternoon off after a year taking care of those fucking beasts."
So Sherlock, who introduced himself as a mature student of the same university, offered help. She would take the dogs out, he would take them from her as soon as she was out of Milverton's or his employee's sight, and walk them so she would be free to go wherever she wanted. Sherlock would give her the dogs an hour and a half later, and she would in turn deliver them to Milverton in time. Easy, really.
"I don't see how this helps to our problem?" asked John.
"I won' t, of course, walk the dogs. I will return with them to Milverton's house half an hour after recieving them, claiming that I found them wandering the streets and thought I would ask in the neighbourhood for owner."
"Sherlock!"
"What?! Milverton is terribly attached to his Great Danes. I will get into the house to get a reward and once I am in, I will switch off the alarm."
"To get in again?"
"Obviously. How else am I going to get the video for Mycroft?"
"And the ring?"
"It was a backup incentive, if Ellie wasn't agreeable with the plan. I thought a bit of romance might tip the scales to my advantage. But it wasn't necessary."
John was rubbing the back of his nose now. "So in one big stroke, you will destroy one student's source of income, while breaking her heart in one go, then you plan to cross the law and burgle Milverton's house. Am I correct?"
"Well, it's unlikely Milverton would report this theft to the police. It would be rather 'the thief calls: Catch the thief!' dilemma, don't you think?"
"And Ellie? She's nothing?"
"She will get the job. I made sure of it. And, after all, I did not have to propose, so it was really nothing serious between the two of us," he gave John a cheeky grin. "I think I will enjoy this. I have never commited any serious crime, after all. Let's see how good I would be."
"I'm coming with you."
"I thought you would."
"Yeah, because you have me on a liege," said John sarcastically.
"No, because you're an adrenaline addict," was Sherlock's cheeky answer. Both started grinning at the same time.