The shock of the night's turn only wore down a little. The entire house was on lockdown after Sherlock texted Lestrade. His and Molly's charade was up as he had to be Sherlock Holmes now.
"She was poisoned; her soup was laced with arsenic," he deducted.
"Who was in charge of cooking the food?" Lestrade asked.
"I was but I swear I didn't do this," Eileen Murray cried. "I just lost my son and now my daughter-in-law."
"Sherlock," Molly whispered. He turned to her and saw the look in her eyes she had when she knew something. With her voice lowered she told him, "I found stacks of money beneath a loose floorboard in Ethan's old room." Sherlock smiled at her proudly before going into another one of his longwinded speeches.
"Perhaps your son is not dead, Mrs. Murray," he suggested. "I assume that Sarah was to receive Ethan's life insurance money but it was intercepted somehow." Eileen nodded, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "So this gives me reason to believe that your son faked his death to gain his own life insurance money and offed his wife for hers. There was no body the day you found out he was dead; just a jar of his supposed ashes and a note from the murderer. I would like to see this note if you still have it."
"Mr. Holmes, I know you are well versed in your profession, but I have plenty of reason to doubt that Ethan did this," Mr. Murray spoke up.
"Love is blind, Mr. Murray; you only see what you want if you do not observe," Sherlock countered. Eileen came back with the note and handed it to him. It was typed to disguise any attempt at handwriting.
Tin reh moo ehw Ier esu dot els kpe ,pee nar aet uor ofe hto lfb ror aod erc ka.
"It's gibberish," Lestrade complained.
"It's written in tri code," Molly informed him.
"That's my girl," Sherlock beamed. "Yes, Miss Hooper is correct. When worked out, it says 'In the room where I used to sleep, keep an ear out for the floorboard creak.'" The party guests were awestruck by the unraveling mystery. "This means that Ethan did not do this alone; this note was meant for one of his parents who knew of his plans. Molly? Have an educated guess?"
"Mr. Murray," she answered.
"Indeed!" Sherlock exclaimed. "Ethan had promised him a cut of the money if he helped. Your role? To poison Sarah's soup, as you and Mrs. Murray were the ones who set the table."
"I applaud you, Mr. Holmes," Mr. Murray remarked. Lestrade cuffed him immediately. Mrs. Murray was too horrified to speak, but her anger shown plainly on her face.
"So, where's Ethan?" Molly asked.
"Possibly ready to make a getaway," Sherlock replied, rushing up the stairs with Molly right behind him. They made it to the landing and she pointed out where Ethan's room was. There he was on the floor quickly stuffing a bag with the money. Sherlock withdrew handcuffs out of his jacket pocket and locked Ethan's wrists in.
They made it back downstairs where Lestrade and the other officers took care of the rest. Mrs. Murray was a mess of emotions, not knowing what to think. Molly offered some soothing words to the woman and walked her into the kitchen to fix her a cup of tea. Ethan and Mr. Murray were taken away shortly after as well as Sarah's corpse. The guests left once the madness died down and Molly left with Sherlock once Mrs. Murray was calmer.
In their pajamas, Sherlock and Molly stood side by side in front of the bathroom mirror getting ready for bed, playfully shoving one another in the small space. He noticed the glint of the rings that still decorated her finger. Molly was taken aback when his lips suddenly crashed into hers, the different mint flavors from their toothpaste intermingling. Sherlock lifted her in his arms as her legs wrapped around his waist to keep her balance. He carried her into the sitting room, their foreheads pressed together.
"You are brilliant, Molly Hooper," Sherlock smiled.
"Am I now?" she giggled.
"Yes," he murmured as he kissed her cheek. "And kind and selfless and beautiful." He punctuated each complimentary fact with a kiss. Setting her feet down to the floor, he took her left hand in his and kneeled down before her on both knees, kissing her fingertips.
"Sherlock, what are you—"
"Marry me."
Their words overlapped each other. She stood with her mouth slightly agape.
"Molly, I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. For some reason, you chose me and I cannot begin to tell you how often your love has saved me. You are my best friend and favourite lab partner and quite honestly the love of my life," he continued. Molly lowered herself on her knees in front of him and took his face in her hands, gently stroking his cheekbones.
"And you're all of those things to me too, Sherlock," she told him. "If this is what you really want, then of course I'll marry you. I love you and I want the rest of my life to be spent with you too."
"Of course it's what I want, Molly. For you to be my wife, to eventually be the mother of my children if that's something you'd like; I want it all with you. I've never been more sure," he replied sincerely.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Really?" he asked, seemingly surprised by her response despite her prior remark.
"Yes, really," she laughed, crying happily. Sherlock laughed happily with her. "You might want to save the wedding ring for later though." Molly slipped it off of her finger, leaving only the engagement ring and handed it back over to him.
"Are you sure we can't just get married now?" he joked.
"Sherlock Holmes, you bugger, I love you," Molly said with a playful push to his shoulder.
"Does that mean yes?" Sherlock asked.
"No," she replied and quickly got up to run to the bedroom. Sherlock followed right after and reached her before she got to the door. He wrapped his arms around her and blew raspberries into her neck. Her endless giggling was heard downstairs by Mrs. Hudson who just smiled at their antics.
Author's Note: Ah, finally engaged lol! And yes, tri-code is real. I left a link on ao3 for it :)