It's been long, I apologise. Life got in the way and writer's block happened but this story is still continuing. I don't know a lot about casing out a crime scene so it should be exiting for all of us. On to the chapter :)

Emilia bit her lip, anxiously thinking of a message to type. She finally settled on one after much consideration.

To: SH

So, how are things getting along?

From: SH

She is with him, again?

To: SH

I try to put him off but it never works. I don't really think she wants to be in his presence either.

From SH:

Things are still at a halt over here. When it is over, I will see them.

To: SH

I may not approve wholly of you but you are the father of her children and I am glad you take them into consideration.

From: SH

Of course.

Is she free to talk?

To: SH

She doesn't want to talk. Do whatever you have to do and then get here. I have to go, a corpse has been admitted.

From: SH

Interesting. Cause of death?

Emilia raised a sceptical eyebrow, 'really, Holmes?'.

To: SH

I'll surprise you later, my strange acquaintance...

She put her phone back into her bag in her locker and locked the door before heading to join Liz with the new corpse.

She tried to ignore the fact that Tom was here again today and that he and Molly were currently laughing hysterically at something he probably said in the staff room, deciding that some battles were not to be picked. Just yet...

...

"So forensics found nothing here?" Sherlock asked the lieutenant of the Miami police force.

"Nope. Your guy and his kids left no trace whatsoever." The middle-aged man replied. Sherlock soon found his name to be Herrera.

Rhys scanned the living room, where they were standing, taking his time to observe every nook and cranny. "Is it alright if I have a go?"

"And you are?" Herrera asked disinterestedly.

"Rhys Hodgson, Mr Holmes' personal forensics analyst. So, may I?"

Herrera scoffed, making Sherlock tilt his head. He was yet to observe Rhys' prowess.

"If you think you can find something that my team missed then knock yourself out. I'll wait outside if you need me."

Sherlock nodded his farewell as he watched the lieutenant leave before turning to face Watson as Rhys got to work.

"Watson, what do you observe?"

"Isn't that your job? I'm on holiday, Sherlock." John replied, slipping his sunglasses on and heading out to the deck. "This place is decked out!"

Sherlock almost rolled his eyes. "Easy on the puns, John..." he mumbled, watching as Rhys began powdering the floor. "What have you found, Hodgson?"

"Carpet's recently been removed. If you can find that then we may get somewhere. Also, our guy or someone else did leave traces. These footprints coming from the deck to the archway connecting to the dining area are evident. If we can block any light, I can turn my UV light on and get more traces."

Sherlock got to work, locking a baffled John outside on the deck before drawing the blinds down, closing the entrance door and blocking the archway with his Belstaff.

"The coat may not work but can you make do?"

Rhys observed the nearly dark room. "I'll see what I can do." He said, putting goggles on. "This will take a while."

"You better hurry, we only have you for a day and a half now."

...

Liz frowned. "If I'm not that interesting to listen to, you can leave you know?"

Emilia jumped, eyes wide as she turned to face Liz. "Oh, sorry. Had a long night." She lied.

"Oh? What's wrong?"

The blonde sighed. "Can I trust you?"

"You always can." Liz smiled.

"I don't like who Molly's spending her time with."

Liz raised her eyebrows. "Tom? What's wrong with him?"

"He's her ex-fiance. Also, she's pregnant and practically engaged to another man." Emilia sighed, shaking her head. "I think there's more to Tom than he's letting on..."

"She knows what she's doing," Liz assured her colleague. "I don't think this 'Tom' guy will even stick around, especially when it's so evidently close to her due date. I mean, who wants to father another man's children?"

Emilia agreed, a small smile playing on her lips. "Thank you. I just want to be a good friend to her and her almost husband."

"You're a great friend. I think we should hush now."

"Why?" Emilia frowned.

Liz looked down. "I don't think Mr Hamilton would appreciate us catching him eavesdropping."

Emilia almost rolled on the floor in laughter once she realised that their conversation had taken place on top of a dead corpse.

"You're a strange one, Liz."

Once they were finished examining and performing their pathologist's report, Emilia cleaned up and returned to the staff room to see Molly alone, frowning down at her phone.

"Hey, you." Emilia grinned, noticing the lack of Tom's presence.

Molly hissed as she placed a hand on her stomach before looking up with a bright smile.

"You and Liz took ages!" Molly noted, placing her phone away. "I'm getting these horrible false contractions and I wondered if you could drive me home since my car's getting serviced and my driver's bailed."

"Driver, hmm? Being the sister-in-law of the government has its perks, doesn't it?" Emilia smirked, grabbing her things from her locker. "I'll drop you off, no problem."

Molly winced. "You'll come back here, won't you? Sorry, if its inconvenient..."

Emilia shook her blonde curls. "No, no. Liz has got me covered for the rest of the day. Now I can plan your baby shower."

"Is that a thing?" Molly wearily asked as her friend grinned at her. "Well, okay then."

Emilia giggled, leading the way out of the building, stopping to scan their IDs with approving looks from the security guard as Molly once forgot to do so due to a doctor's check up and had alarmed the whole building due to a false fire alarm.

"Have you spoken to baby daddy lately?" Emilia asked once they had driven away from the building.

Molly shook her head. "I'm still figuring things out. Why? Have you spoken to him?"

"No. I barely know the guy but out of the blue, I get a text asking how you are..." The blonde pathologist lied easily.

The brunette pathologist blushed. "Sorry, he's a bit... forward sometimes. I swear, I didn't give him your number."

"I figured, don't worry. Well, you better talk to him or at least get him off my back." Emilia teased. "Wouldn't want the whole of Britain knowing their beloved detective is a two-timing cheat."

Molly scoffed. "Sherlock? A two-timing cheat? Barely has time for one relationship or knows how to keep one."

"Says you, Miss Pregnant." Emilia retorted lightly. "I'm up for a coffee, how about you?"

"I could eat a muffin. Oh, I really want to try Chipotle. Never had it and it's not in England so I don't know the hype."

"Me neither. We can both try it together."

...

Rhys stood up. "Traces of blood lining the area where the carpet was."

"Where can a carpet be? Woods? Garage?"

Rhys shrugged. "Highly doubt it would be in the woods since Miami is mainly beaches but a large dense area with lots of sand surrounding it? Could be a perfect place to act as a transport for a body and a burial sheet."

"Judging by the marks, could this carpet roll a woman?"

Hodgson gulped, wearily looking outside to see John's shadow pacing outside. "A child, maybe. If it was a woman then the carpet would have only been used as a primary scene of murder."

"But a woman could easily pass the weight of an overgrown child?" Sherlock mused.

"From the files I've read, the woman was 5'4. The carpet would have reached her neck at least." Rhys replied, heading over to his kit. "I'll take a sample of the blood and send it to Liz. Emilia's off for the day."

Sherlock's interest peaked. "Why?"

"Molly had twinges so Emilia dropped her off home. When are you coming to visit exactly?"

"When I've solved this case. This is for Molly."

Rhys rolled his eyes. "I know but do you have to ignore her?"

Sherlock turned away, letting John back inside. "You'll see that it is Molly who is doing the ignoring, Hodgson." He muttered darkly before collecting his jacket and walking out the archway. "I'll be in the garage."

John frowned. "What's up with him?"

"Molly."

He clicked his tongue. "Ah. So, what did you find that you locked me out for?"

Rhys chuckled, telling John of their findings.

...

Sherlock looked through the boxes, finding one littered with old and recent photos. He found one of what must have been a young and innocent Molly, smiling adoringly up at her brother, Harry which was short for Harold, he found out.

Another box was filled with diary entries, immediately going to more recent posts, Sherlock noticed signs of hysteria and paranoia laced with scraggly writing always signed 'Harold - I always hated that name'.

"A man with a distaste for his name, goes by 'Harry'. Just like Watson's sister. What's so wrong about longer versions of Harry? Then again, I hate William." He mumbled.

An entry caught him off guard. It mentioned not paying a certain debt to a British-American loan shark who threatened his family. This said loan shark was his wife's boss and there was threats to his wife if he told her anything. But the reason to take the children was still off.

Herrera entered. "Your guy told me he found something. I guess I should turn this case over to you."

"That would do." Sherlock replied. "I'm taking these..." He added, distractedly.

"Whatever."

As the lieutenant left, Sherlock hoisted three boxes on top of each other and opened the garage door, taking his time to place each box in the car which was driven by George - his new orders from Mycoft to not talk to Sherlock. Coming to the last box, the first one he found with the photo of Harry and Molly, Sherlock saw a recent photo of the same living room in the house.

It had an embroidered carpet, a rare one at that, and a curtain over the archway. No wonder there were curtain rings...

"Sherlock!"

Sherlock raised his head ever so slightly. "What, Watson?"

"What have you found?" John asked.

Sherlock turned to face John. "This carpet is a rare carpet. There was also a curtain from the archway. We're missing a curtain and a carpet."

"So...?"

"We're going furniture shopping."