Chapter Seven; Dinner and a Show!
Sherlock slipped into the cab, shortly followed after by Maria. He told the cabby where to go and soon they were off towards the morgue. It was a short trip and soon Sherlock was ushering Maria out first to wait for him on the sidewalk. One long leg after another soon followed her out onto the sidewalk before they stepped inside and were greeted by Shelly, who did not seem to be pleased at all to see Maria with Sherlock again.
"The autopsy is complete."
"Leave the papers, Maria can read them to me." Sherlock said, dismissing her. She didn't look to happy about it but she left. Maria sighed, mentally noting to herself to remind Sherlock of his manners later when they had a moment. Still she walked over and picked up the file and opened it.
"Nothing interestingly new, small knife, jugular vein, I even got his age right," She said, more to herself than Sherlock as she sat down on the edge of the desk. "From what I can tell, there was no reason for this man to die, the killer must have just taken an interest in them or something…but there is this, the guy apparently dyed his hair recently, though how that applies to anything I don't know."
Sherlock was silent after she stopped talking, wheeling things over in his mind.
"Does it say what hair colour he had previously?" He finally asked.
"No, but I can tell you it was probably red. Not all of my people like their red hair like I do," She said with a giggle, flicking a lock of hair back off her face. Sherlock gave a small smile before his mind returned to the case. He stood over the table, staring down at a map Shelly had on it.
"We should go to the art gallery again, see if we can trace the man's steps and the murderer's. There are only four exits from the gallery including the bay where their art is delivered to."
"You take one I'll take the other?" Maria offered and Sherlock nodded.
They arrived at the gallery ten minutes later and spread out; Maria was to trace the guard's steps, Sherlock taking the murderer. The gallery was closed off from the public for today so they had the whole place to themselves, which would make it easier to think at least. Maria started along, putting her mind set into the same as the guard as she walked along the corridors, noting where there were turns, doors and dead ends. Finally she came upon the hallway of the scene; it was a dead end corridor.
She walked all the way to the end and turned only to find Holmes standing right behind her.
"For the love of…!" She cried, clutching at her heart. "Don't do that Sherlock…"
"But do you realise what this means?" Sherlock sounded elated.
"You came through a secret door I hope?"
"No, the floor makes no noise when you walk in socks," He said showing her his socked feet. "He could have easily..."
"Left his shoes at any of the doors and walked in without alerting to anyone that he was there!" Maria cried, catching on. "We should check the doors!" She cried hurrying off, Homes struggling to put his shoes and dashing after her. He couldn't help but notice how her leg didn't seem to be bothering her and she was running normally. Maria reached the closest door first and she burst out onto a side alley with a few bins around. One end led into a main street, the other lead down past the delivery entrance, off into more backstreets. Sherlock appeared beside her. Maria didn't even need to speak, she knew they were thinking the same thing, this was the way he'd come. But for now, there was nothing more for them to do and the sun was slowly starting to set.
"I believe it's time for dinner," Sherlock said, throwing an arm around Maria as they walked out the front door. Maria looked up at him and he answered her question with a grin.
Sherlock made sure to tell the cabby discretely where they were going, as so Maria couldn't overhear, which only made her more curious. Sherlock sat back in his seat with a triumphant look at her at his ability to keep their next location a secret from her. He grinned at her and she had to smile slightly herself. She knew he never smiled like this around anyone else.
"Where are we going?" Maria pestered, moving over to sit right beside him in the cab, rather than on the other side like she normally did. Sherlock just smiled at her.
"Do you remember, back in high school, how I used to walk you home after school?" He asked. Maria nodded. Sherlock of course remembered, one night in particular, perfectly.
It had been about three weeks before they finished school and Maria was soon leaving to go to college. It was raining and he was holding the umbrella despite the fact both of them were already slightly damp, her hair hanging annoyingly around her face, the smell of her perfume was everywhere. They were chatting like normal, and she was telling him about places she'd want to visit, places like France, and the Indigo restaurant on One Aldwych.
He was brought back to reality by Maria tugging on his arm.
"You're so mean Sherly," She said, reverting to the nickname his mother had given to him. Sherlock had hated it in high school and Maria had always used it when she wanted to annoy him. He visibly flinched and looked sideways at her with a half glare and somewhat of a smile. Only she was ever allowed to call him Sherly, anyone else would have been reprimanded immediately.
"Sheeeerrrrrlllllly…." She whined again poking him in the cheek.
"You're still not any more patient I see," He replied, absently tucking a lock of her hair back behind her ear. A light tinge spread across her cheeks and she promptly hid her face into his sleeve. He chuckled softly and tried to move his arm away but she had it firmly. He leaned over to whisper into her ear.
"I'll tell you a secret; we're going someplace you told me you wanted to go..." He said before leaning back in his seat, leaving his arm in her grasp as she thought over the possibilities. She smiled slightly and let go of his arm.
"You…!" She said before trying her attempt at hugging him in the confined space of the cab by throwing her arms around his neck. He paused for a moment before his arm snaked to pull her closer against him. She smiled and buried her face into his neck. Sherlock rested his head on top of hers, taking in her smell, he was curious as to what perfume she was wearing, he couldn't pick it which was strange. His eyes traced a lock of her hair, down to her eyes, which at the moment were closed. She looked safe and comfortable in his arms and he hoped that was the case.
"I missed you a lot, you know what right?" He mumbled into her hair and she let out a soft laugh.
"I know Sherlock, I missed you too."
The cab then pulled up in front of the restaurant and Sherlock, stepped out, pulling Maria with him, not willing to let go of her just yet.
