EXAMS ARE OVER. Except my MSWord expires in two days. Also, this is the last of what I've written ahead, so yeah.

Enjoy, and I like and appreciate reviews!

:D

The game is on.

Sherlock eventually got bored of thinking. He didn't, however, decide to go to Scotland Yard. No. Instead, he spent a lot of time looking out of the window and being suspicious. Instead of bothering to ask what he was doing and why, Adele was reading and eating cola bottles. Much more interesting. A couple of times, she glanced up, but nothing was really happening. John had texted about twelve times, most of them asking when they would be at Scotland Yard. All of which Adele hadn't replied to. If John was that desperate, he would either call Sherlock or get Lestrade to do it. Chances were that Adele could get a lecture on answering her phone when they finally did turn up.

Sherlock finally declared it a good time to turn up at Scotland Yard. Bearing in mind that it had now been two and a half hours, it would probably be better if they just didn't go at all. Adele was still wondering about the letter. Or more like she have now begun to wonder about it properly, having simply pushed it out of her mind beforehand.

When they eventually got to Scotland Yard, Adele noted a mysterious absence of Donovan. Hm. So this was worrying. Hammet had said that he would get either Donovan or Anderson first. Adele had secretly been hoping that it would be Anderson. Was that mean? Probably. But Anderson's stupidity was actually more insulting than Donovan's feeble attempts at insults. Anderson was hanging around, spying. Adele occasionally threw him a death glare, but decided not to waste any IQ points on Anderson.

Lestrade was in his office, talking to John. There was a letter on the table in between them, which was more interesting than the football, which was apparently the topic of conversation. Adele promptly walked in, grabbed the letter from the middle of the table, and attempted to rip it open.

'Hang on, we haven't had that-! Lestrade began to protest. Git.

'There wouldn't be explosives, idiot.' Adele shook her head.

'How do you-?'

'If you had a lovely elaborate scheme planned out, would you have me killed before the whole thing started? No. Exactly. You'd have me killed later. Or knowing you, not at all. But that's not really the point.' Lestrade at this point decided not to respond. Probably a good idea.

Sherlock was lingering in the background, not speaking. Out of the corner of her eye, Adele saw him grin quickly at John, before scowling again. So that seemed to be the set expression for the time being. Not that a scowling Sherlock was at all annoying.

Adele could also see Anderson trying to look in through the window. So they had an audience. Joy. Although Anderson didn't really count, considering that he was too thick to understand anyway.

Once she finally managed to open the letter, which had been sellotaped shut, Adele was conscious of pretty much everyone watching her.

'Talk amongst yourselves, this won't take a minute.' Adele said, while trying to take the paper out of the envelope without ripping it. Lestrade looked as though he was about to yell. Adele finally managed to get the letter out.

'Stop stalling.'

Adele glared at Sherlock. 'You open it then.' Sherlock shook his head. 'Thought so.' She unfolded the letter.

'What does it-?' John's voice pierced the silence.

Let me read it first. Adele glanced down at the letter and began to read;

One snowy night, Sherlock Holmes was in his house sitting by a fire. All of a sudden a snowball came crashing through his window, breaking it.

Holmes got up and looked out the window just in time to see three neighborhood kids who were brothers run around a corner. Their names were John Crimson, Mark Crimson and Paul Crimson. The next day Holmes got a note on his door that read "? Crimson. He broke your window." Which of the three Crimson brothers should Sherlock Holmes question about the incident?

And as an extra incentive, your friend Donovan is creating a ruckus, yelling and such. So hurry up. I can't wait to get rid of her. I'm feeling generous, so you can have twenty four hours. And I'll know when you're done.

'Give.' Sherlock snatched the letter from her hand, scanning it. He threw it back, his face full of disgust. Adele caught it, her mind working at twice its usual speed.

'Donovan… Lestrade, when was the last time you spoke to Donovan? And be precise.'

Lestrade took his time in answering. 'Day before yesterday. Why?'

'Because she's been kidnapped by Hammet and now I have to answer a riddle which for some strange reason includes Sherlock's name. Tell me when you last saw Donovan, Lestrade, and tell me now.'

Lestrade stared at her for several seconds. He really was an idiot. Adele was seriously considering punching him. Thankfully, he fished his phone from his pocket, and showed her a text.

'She's not here. Said she wasn't… Oh.' Lestrade's look of complete confusion became one of shock.

'Are we all on the same page?' Adele addressed the room, which currently consisted of herself, Sherlock, John who wasn't saying anything, and Lestrade. John and Lestrade nodded but Sherlock did nothing. Helpful.

'John. Give me an opinion.'

John jumped. 'What?'

'Do you think I should solve the riddle, or try to find him?'

'I think-' Sherlock began to speak.

'I asked John, shut up. John?'

John took his time. As per usual. 'Solve it?'

'You only said that because he was about to say it.'

'Well you could just ask-'

'I'm not asking Lestrade, he's too busy freaking out because Donovan is probably locked up somewhere. If he's so desperate to get an opinion in, he can speak now.'

Lestrade shook his head.

'No? Good. And can you tell Anderson to go away? He's spying on us.' Everyone looked at the door, where Anderson was standing awkwardly. Smooth.

'Anderson, go away.' Lestrade commanded. Who knew that Lestrade could actually exercise some control over his staff? Anderson scurried off. He was like a bloody human cockroach. It would probably benefit everyone a lot more of Hammet had taken him instead of Donovan. Donovan was annoying, yes, but Anderson possessed that amazing ability to lower anyone's IQ within two minutes of speech. If it were Anderson, Adele would probably have left solving the riddle at the back of her mind.

'Well I'm going to Bart's.' Sherlock muttered. Of course.

'Why?'

'I want to look at the envelope.'

'Take it.' Adele threw it in his direction. This was turning into a game of pass the parcel. 'I'm assuming that John wants to go too?'

'Erm-'John muttered. John probably just wanted to talk to Sherlock without any interruptions, but realistically, that was never going to happen.

'Good. You two go ahead, I'll meet you there.'

'Why am I staying here? Why can't you-?'

'And why are you not-?'

'I need to talk to Lestrade. Go ahead, and I'll catch you up.'

'But-'

'Go.' Sherlock scowled and left, probably trying to be over dramatic. And failing. John hurried after him, although not before he had a chance to give her what was probably the most questioning look of all time. As the door closed, Adele could have sworn that she heard the sound of someone standing on someone else's foot. Most likely Anderson.

Adele grinned at Lestrade, who just frowned. 'She'll be fine. I doubt he'd kill her anyway. He's an idiot.'

'I don't care, I-'

'Lestrade, do you honestly think that he'll use her as anything other than a threat?'

'Yes.'

'Well he won't. He might pretend to hurt her, but most likely he'll have her locked up. And he might try to provoke her. But I doubt he'll do anything worse.'

'I don't.'

'Moriarty didn't. He could have just had John or I killed, but he didn't. And Hammet is much less clever.'

'And if you can't solve the riddle, what happens?'

'You work for the police, I think you can get a few people looking for her.'

'Then why don't we do that now?'

'I think… I think he's trying to mess with our heads a bit. If we go after him now, we can arrest him and everything, but I know that I'm not the only person wanting to know what his point is. And he knows that Sherlock wants him questioned.'

Lestrade paused for a moment. 'How do you know that?'

'I'm guessing.' Lestrade frowned. 'I don't enjoy it, you know. This isn't like last time, when he found it almost fun. I hate it. These are people I know. I don't like Donovan, but if he does do anything, I'm not going to be happy.'

'So now he might do something.'

'I'm guessing. I don't know.'

'But-'

'By all means spend the next twenty four hours sitting here going mad. I'll try to solve this.'

Adele tried (and most probably failed) to give Lestrade an encouraging smile.