Chapter Four: Conversations
The rest of the day went by slowly and our efforts were fruitless. According to Rachel's teachers, she was a wonderful student who very rarely had problems with her assignments and got along with everyone she was teamed up with on projects. We did, however, learn that she and Ana had been butting heads with some sorority members and had ruffled a few feathers in that house. Sherlock apparently found this important as he headed out of Rachel's math instructor's office quickly, Zoey and I in tow.
"What did you learn?" Ana asked as Sherlock walked past her in the hallway.
I was a bit surprised at Analise's personality. She had been so forward and outgoing when it came to Zoey's potential love life and everything else, however, around the campus she was quiet and almost appeared numb. I assumed it had to do with the Rachel incident and being at school only reminded her of what she had witnessed.
"That you and Rachel were causing problems with a sorority." Zoey said as she gave her sister a look that appeared to be a cross between the adult scolding and proud sisterly approval. "Apparently you two openly called them out on how they were treating underclassmen in front of the Dean."
Sherlock looked back at them just in time to see Zoey high five Ana despite her rather cold tone of voice. "While female social interactions can be intriguing at times and much can be observed, they had nothing to do with Rachel's death."
"What do you mean they had nothing to do with it?" Ana, who I guessed had been pleased that there might have been a lead and a possible connection to her enemies. "They stated that we were going to get it. They even sent Rachel a threatening e-mail…"
"Seems like probable cause to consider them as suspects to me." Zoey agreed, earning a disappointed and frustrated look from Sherlock.
"Threatening, yes. Deadly, I highly doubt it. The types of girls you are dealing with are more out for social devastation rather than blood."
Zoey paused and thought about it before she looked at Ana. "He does have a point. They wouldn't dirty their hands with something like that. If it did come back to them, their whole image would be ruined. However, if they do something to ruin her reputation; its no skin off their back."
"Because they do that sort of stuff anyway." Ana finished, causing Sherlock to nod.
"You girls are all about drama." I sighed, rubbing my neck and earning a grin from Zoey.
"You have no idea what kind of drama women are capable of. Trust me."
"Zoey doesn't like drama, though." Ana teased, nudging her sister. "Its why she's avoided men whenever possible. Although a few weeks ago you seemed rather cozy with Sherlock over there." I saw him glance over at the two girls as Zoey became flustered.
"We were not 'cozy', we were working on a case…"
"Uh huh… And he was in your bedroom… why?" The younger girl asked, obviously suggesting something. I was slightly curious as to the origins of that little fact myself so I thought it best if I just stood back and let the girls have at it.
"Because Benedict was sleeping in there with him." The elder replied quickly. "I told you, didn't I? We were paired on a case where we were given charge of a little boy. He refused to speak and was the only witness to a triple murder. Sherlock was the only one who could decipher the evidence while I was the only logical choice to keep watch over the boy and try to get him to talk."
"Oh, I see." Ana nodded and looked at Sherlock. "Did the case turn out alright?"
"Well, after a fight between me and Sherlock-"
"Sherlock and I." Sherlock muttered. "Americans and their grammar."
"Fine. After a fight between Sherlock and I," Zoey huffed, "He shouted for us to stop. After that, he was more open. He still didn't talk much but he was a very bright and sweet child."
"Clever, that one." Sherlock agreed.
"He was very well behaved." I chimed in. "I got to take of him once or twice. He was very obedient and well behaved. I was surprised he recovered to his situation so quickly."
Zoey shot me a look at was almost sadness as she remembered the past weeks. I was surprised when she pulled folded papers from her sweatshirt pocket, looking down at them in her hands. "He was the strongest person I have ever met, Ana. The things he went through before we found him; the things he saw…"
"What happened?" Ana leaned against the wall nearby and looked at the papers then up at Zoey. "Did the case end alright?"
Zoey's thumbs rubbed the creased papers as she opened them and looked down at the top page. I couldn't see what was on it that she was staring at, but her eyes began to glisten with forming tears. "Yeah… It ended okay. His father… Or the man who he was raised to think was his father, came to take him from us. He was the one who had killed his mother, real father, and the wife of his father in front of him. He had a gun.."
"A gun? What the hell was he going to do taking him from you with a gun?" Ana shouted, making the people nearby glance over before going about their way.
"He wanted to kill him. He tried to kill him before but the mom had gotten in the way."
"Oh, god…" Ana breathed.
"So Sherlock hid Ben while I tried to hold him off." She smiled bitterly and held up her still bandaged arm. "It didn't go so well."
"You got shot again?" Ana stared. "Hell, Zo. I just thought it was an injury you got while working. I didn't think you'd pull another hero move and almost get yourself killed!"
"Hey! At least it wasn't as bad this time!" She fired back. "The man's aim sucked."
"So you got shot. Again. What happened then?"
"His real family came and took him home." Zoey said simply, looking down at the letter again. I wondered if it was the same one that Sherlock had been sent. "From what I know, he's doing fine."
She caught me looking and handed the letter to me. As Ana quizzed Zoey on the case more, I was able to look at the pages.
It was a nice little update on how Benedict was responding to his new life. He was already learning to read, mentioning wanting to read on his own the stories Zoey had written and had been reading to him. It told how Steven was teaching him to play catch and how they both got along perfectly. He had cried a few times, missing his mother but continuously asked when they could visit "Aunt Zoey". Along with the letter was several crayon drawings like Sherlock had received. These ones were different, however.
Sherlock's pictures had been, what we had guessed, to be Sherlock being a detective with Ben behind him; either being protected or helping. There had been another where Sherlock had been dancing with Zoey; at least that's what I could make out in it.
In Zoey's pictures, she and Ben were holding hands; beside them was an oddly colored dog. Somehow I suspected it had some sort of meaning to them. In the next picture was Ben being hugged by Zoey, her wrist scribbled with red crayon. No doubt he had drawn it to make show that she had been shot. Surprisingly, there was a lot of blood in the picture. Most kids avoid putting so much. Sherlock was there as well, holding a flower. All of the petals had been colored black except for one which had been left white.
"You never answered my question!" Ana's voice snapped me out of my analyzing and made me look up at the trio. Zoey seemed to be starting to become rather flustered as she tried to stop her sister. "Back in Zo's flat."
Sherlock had a rather impish grin on his face as he leaned over Zoey and took hold of her arm, pulling it away from her sister. "Oh yes. I never got to finish. Zoey, dear, be careful with that hand or you'll damage it further." Zoey turned and glared at Sherlock, unable to break free but her cheeks still flushed with his tone of voice. It was a deep purr and very close to her ear. "Why I prefer Zoey as opposed to your shorter 'Zo' is due to the fact that the number of syllables rolls off the tongue much nicer when in the act of-"
Zoey's other hand shot up to try and cover his mouth but missed, being caught by Sherlock's free hand as he merely grinned. Ana had a large grin plastered to her own face, taking in all the supposed "scandalous" details of her sister's "love live". I could tell he was toying with the two girls.
"When in the act of conversation." He finished. Ana's face fell a little with disappointment and Zoey just glared at him. He smirked and released her. "What did you think I was going to say? After all, nothing of romantic nature happened between us while we held the ruse of being married. Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Ana, but nothing of premarital nature occurred during our time alone together."
"Well that's a bummer." Ana huffed before turning her attention down the hallway slightly. "Oh! Professor Roylott."
An older man looked up at us and waved, smiling at the young McCarron. "Ah, Analise, how are you doing today?"
"Just showing my sister and her friends around. They wanted to see if they could figure out what happened… you know…"
"To Rachel. Yes… She was a bright girl, that one. She was going places, that's for sure." He looked at Zoey and held out his hand. I noticed it was his left hand; probably because he noticed Zoey's right. She took it and he turned to Sherlock and I. "I haven't seen you two around before. I am Professor Roylott. I teach Zoology and Native history around the world."
"Australian natives to be precise." Sherlock corrected as he took the instructor's hand. Still the left one. It seemed a bit strange that he hadn't switched to the more normal hand for greeting. When the man merely nodded in amazement, Sherlock continued. "You know much about animals and insects, as is your field of study, but the most interesting specimens are found in Australia. You also have visited there recently, having a tan that is uncommon for this time of year; especially this area. Now as for the most obvious clue: you have an aboriginal tattoo on your left wrist; here." He flipped the man's hand over and pointed to the fading ink. "No doubt you have been there several times in your life."
"You've very observant, sir. I was actually born there. My family moved here when I was still a child but I always kept it close to my heart. I've taken my son with me in the past, although he won't be coming with me on future visits." I heard his voice drop a bit and his body tense as he spoke, catching him looking the two girls beside us over. "You don't miss much do you, mister…?"
"Holmes." I noticed now that the whole time he had been speaking before, Sherlock had taken an American accent. Probably to blend in more. Americans did seem to have a fascination with foreigners. "And this is Mr. Watson."
"Hello." I said, holding up a hand as a polite gesture. I would have to practice my American later.
"Well, it was nice meeting you two. Miss McCarron, I'll see you in class and.. I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name." He turned to Zoey.
"I'm Zoey McCarron, Ana's older sister."
"Elder." Sherlock mumbled, earning an elbow from Zoey.
"Well, it was nice meeting you as well, young lady. I had best be off. I'm behind on grading papers as it is." He turned and walked away, Sherlock never taking his eyes off of him as he rounded the corner.
"Well, he seemed pleasant." I said as he neared the door.
Ana nodded and looked over her shoulder. "Usually he's grumpy. I guess that's only when he's in class." She shrugged and looked at Zoey. "He's a good teacher but he's always in a bad mood. Probably because his son died not too long ago."
"Really?" Sherlock's interest piqued as he opened the door for all of us to pass through. Before Ana could reply, our attention was diverted to flashing lights and students rushing towards them and the building they were close to.
"What happened?" Zoey asked as we ourselves headed toward the ambulance. A medic was rushing to get the building door as a gurney was rolled out, a student strapped to it. Lily was following and turned to scan the crowd. She suddenly pushed her way through students and practically fell into Sherlock.
"Lily?" Ana asked as she watched them roll the gurney through the students, pushing them aside to get back to the ambulance. "what's wrong? Who is it?"
She was out of breath and her words took away Zoey's beside me. "It's Danni!"