A/N: Updated. I added a new ending to this chapter. It didn't fit well with the next chapter, so I decided to move it here. Sorry for any confusion. :) And sorry if you're a fan of Donovan... I don't like her. That may have appeared in my writing some. Heh.

Chapter 5

Sherlock observed the ground closely as he walked towards the blue sedan. Of course the idiotic Scotland yarders had already walked over countless amounts of evidence. He did however manage to find one line of foot prints in particular that looked different. He leaned down, pulling out his magnifying glass and examined the print.

Roughly 28cm, Mens, Size 11.5. Around 165cm tall. Of average build.

Sherlock straightened his back and walked to where Lestrade was standing next to the car.
"So, I finally have the opportunity to meet your kid, and it's at a bloody crime scene." Lestrade said cryptically nodding to the child who sat on the edge of the ambulance, a nurse looking at her hand.

"I had no other place for her to go." Sherlock said simply, looking into the car. The petite woman who was Andrea O'Hare's secretary lay in the driver's seat with her eyes wide open, the same marks of a smooth strangulation across her neck. Sherlock leaned in close examining the woman's neck. He found a small silk thread stuck on a rough patch of skin.

Murder Weapon: Silk Light Blue Tie.

He sniffed her mouth and examined her fingernails.

No sign of arsenic.

Sherlock noted that the car did not contain enough gas to make it to Sussex, and that there was no luggage or carry bag of any kind.

Spur of the moment trip, not planned.

He turned around quickly, his long wool coat spinning around him. "We are looking for a man who has money. Roughly 165cm tall, average build and a size 11.5 in shoes. He is a business man of some kind, and prefers a silk tie; this particular one was a light shade of blue." He told Lestrade, an air of boredom evident in his baritone voice.

"Daddy!" A voice called out, causing Sherlock to turn and see his daughter darting through officers and under another yellow line, running his way. Alex ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "They are trying to make me wear a brace. I don't like braces. I won't wear it." She pouted not letting go of him. Sherlock stood awkwardly in the girls embrace for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

Lestrade and all of the other officers stared at the two. "Hell, Sherlock. This is a crime scene. You can't let a child run all over it!" Lestrade said, breaking the silence.

Sherlock held Alex out at arm's length and looked her over. It was then that Alex first noticed the dead body in the car. She ducked around behind Sherlock and looked into the car with interest. "She was strangled." She whispered her voice holding equal amounts of interest and fright. "Why was she strangled?" She asked her father, looking up at him, curiosity evident in her small features.

"That is the question." He said, pulling her away from the car. "Why was she strangled and not poisoned? You won't find any traces of arsenic I'm sure." Sherlock said talking over Alex's head and to the inspector detective once again. "You also won't find any fingerprints. This killer is clever. He wouldn't have left fingerprints behind. So why did he need to kill this person as well? What made her so important? A simple secretary, running for her life. She knew that something was wrong. She knew something... too much perhaps?" Sherlock spun around, staring at the car once again, completely oblivious of his daughter whom he still held on the shoulders. "Oh, that must be it. How obvious." He said. He pushed Alex over to Donovan. "Here you go Alex, this is Donovan. Stay with her for a moment please." He said and then turned back to the car.

"Her datebook? Her phone?" He asked Lestrade as he ran his eyes over the contents of the car once again.

"Phone was found in her pocket, no datebook. Not unusual though, most people only use their phones these days." Lestrade told him.

"No. Not this lady. She enjoyed writing. Look at the ink marks on her hand. They are all over. Quite common in a right handed person who writes with a ballpoint ink pen often. She wouldn't have kept the only records on her phone. She would have a journal or a datebook of some kind." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, steepling his fingers. "She knew somehow that her boss was being poisoned, and that scared her. Scared her enough to run away. Now the questions remain, who was it, and how did she find out?"

Alex stood with the lady whom her father had briefly introduced as Donovan and took in her cross features. It was evident that she did not like her father. Alex glared up at her.

"Are you the police?" She asked the scowling woman.

"I'm a detective sergeant." Donovan corrected.

"My mum didn't like police." The young girl told her and shrugged. "Apparently my dad does though."

Donovan scoffed. "Your dad doesn't like anyone. He's a bloody psychopath. The only person he likes is himself."

Alex glared at him. "That's not true. And if all police are like you then it's no wonder mummy hated them." Donovan laughed at that, making Alex all the more angry. She stomped on Donovan's foot producing a howl from the elder woman and ran off again, towards her father.

She had almost made it to the police line before Donovan caught Alex by her right hand. Alex let out a small whimper due to the pain which shot through her throbbing hand. "Come on brat." Donovan said. "I know just where I can put you to keep you contained." Donovan pulled her to a police car and shoved her in the backseat. "Now just stay put until your freak of a father is done."

Alex glared through the window at the mean lady and tried to open the door, only to find that there was no door handle. She banged on the window with her good hand and yelled "Let me out!" Donovan only laughed and walked away. Alex slumped down in the seat. "Fine then. Just leave me." She huffed and looked around her surroundings.

There was a glass partition keeping her from the front seat and the doors and seats were all padded. The windows obviously did not roll down and Alex began feeling claustrophobic. She laid on her back on the seat and kicked at the window as hard as she could, hoping that maybe she could get out. When that didn't work she tried kicking at the glass partition with no luck. She huffed and threw herself back onto the seat, pouting. There was no way out and she knew it.

Sherlock finished talking with Lestrade about what needed to be done next and went in search for his daughter. He knew that Donovan was probably the worst person to leave her with, but he needed her out of the way long enough for him to think. He walked towards where Donovan stood and stopped when he did not see his daughter with her. "Donovan! Where is Alex?" He asked starting to feel a bit panicked.

"Oh I stuck the brat in a car. I think she broke my little toe." She said with a glare. "Definitely your daughter, freak."

Sherlock turned away from the woman and searched through the cars, looking for his daughter. He was worried when he had checked almost all of the cars save for one and he stomped over to the last becoming frustrated with the whole situation. His frustration quickly subsided though when he spotted Alex in the last car, drawing on the windows with a marker. She had written the word "HELP" backwards all across the windows of the back seat. Sherlock chuckled as he pulled the door open.

"I hate Donovan. Her name should be Dragon." Alex said growling.

This made Sherlock laugh even harder. "Dragon. I like it." He said with a smile. "Come on, let's go get that brace and I'll introduce you to my friend Lestrade."

Alex sighed. "He'd better be nicer than Dragon though." She said gladly taking her fathers hand as they headed back towards the Ambulance.

Lestrade watched with amusement as the Great Sherlock Holmes argued with a small child over wearing a brace. He could tell that the consulting detective was becoming frustrated, but the girl held her ground. There was no denying that the young girl was his daughter. Not only did she have his eyes and hair, but she also had his attitude. Lestrade tried to hold back a chuckle but failed. He walked over to where the pair stood arguing, just hearing the end of the argument.

"You will wear this." Sherlock told her, exasperation evident in his voice.

"No. I won't." Alex replied.

"I'm your father dammit, and you are going to wear this brace. If you refuse to, then I'll just take you to the surgery where John works and have him put you in a cast."

Alex glared at her father. "You wouldn't."

Sherlock glared back at his young charge. "Watch me." He told her.

Alex searched his eyes, hoping to find a reason to not believe him, but all that she saw was determination. She sighed and held out her wrist. Sherlock gently wrapped the brace around her small wrist and then turned to where Lestrade stood chuckling.

"Well I'm glad that someone gained pleasure from that." He told Lestrade sarcastically. "Alex, this is Gavin Lestrade, Lestrade, this is my daughter Alex."

"It's Greg." Lestrade said and put out hand towards the young girl. She took it and shook it.

"You're a police man too." She said, looking him up and down. After deciding that she liked what she saw she nodded her head. "You're nicer than the Dragon though. I know that already."

Lestrade looked at Sherlock questioningly. "The Dragon?" He asked.

Sherlock's mouth twitched up at the edges. "Donovan." He said with a glint of laughter in his eyes.

"Ah, yes. She can be quite hard to get along with at times." Lestrade told the girl, leaning down to her level.

"She locked me in a car." Alex pouted. "But I stole her marker." She added with a smile, holding up the black permanent marker which she had used to draw all over the windows.

"Mm, yes." Sherlock said giving Alex a look that said to keep quiet. "Well, we best get going Alex, we apparently have a lunch date." Sherlock quickly grabbed the young girl's hand and started walking towards the street where a sleek black sedan was waiting.

As they climbed into the car Donovan's voice could be heard yelling in the distance "That brat! Boss! She drew all over the windows of our car!" Sherlock chuckled as the cab drove off.