A/N: Well there was a great response to the last chapter! Thank you for the kind reviews as always! This one comes courtesy of Book Girl Fan!

Stupid Law 24

John was not happy. Simple really…he had spent the night in jail after his last law breaking incident! To make it worse they had been sent directly to Australia to hunt down a jewel thief who was targeting rich members of parliament. The flight had taken 24 hours and as usual John could not sleep.

When they reached Australia they took the train to Sydney where the met with the local police who much to Sherlock's annoyance were not capable of the positions they held. It was clear from the moment they entered that they had gotten nowhere in their investigation so John escaped just before Sherlock got...well…Sherlocky.

He collapsed onto a bench outside the station in order to catch his breath. It had been a long day and he wanted to get to their hotel and sleep but he had a feeling that it wouldn't happen for a while. A young officer came over and introduced himself. It appeared Sherlock had thrown him out of the office for stapling the notes wrong.

"So how exactly do you put up with that idiot?" he asked. John shrugged not really sure of the answer to that question. The officer was friendly enough and after ten minutes they were discussing the recent spate of law breaking and how Sherlock had embarrassed him in Alabama.

"I have a law that might just work and I would just love to arrest him and get a bit of payback!" the officer said to John after his revelation. John nodded and by the time Sherlock emerged from the station the plan had been organised.

The boys headed back to the hotel where John finally caught up on his sleep. That evening Sherlock received a text from the station and they headed back for the update. When they got there the young officer winked at John letting him know that Sherlock was the only clueless person in the room. This is going to be fun! John thought to himself.

"Here's the deal…we have laid a trap for the thief but we need to volunteers to go undercover to catch him in the act. They will need to be inside the house to apprehend the thief when the time is right. So who is going to help me out here?" asked the chief. No one looked to enthusiastic but John knew that it wouldn't matter because Sherlock had a look of imperiousness in his eyes. He strolled to the front and began his speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen after the horrific display which you gave me this morning I would not trust a single one of you to take part in this operation. Therefore myself and my associate Dr Watson will complete the apprehension." Sounding like he did the chief didn't argue. The young officer offered to assist them for the evening and led them away to get ready.

Two hours later Sherlock and John found themselves dressed from head to toe in black with their faces covered in shoe polish to give them an advantage in the darkness of the rather fancy looking state of the art house. They had decided on taking turns keeping a patrol around the perimeter of the house and John had completed his with nothing to report. It was Sherlock's turn now but he was not expecting to find anything out of the ordinary for the thief was skilled and well informed. As soon as Sherlock had left the house through the front door John sent a text to the young officer letting him know the situation.

Sherlock had made it as far as the front gate of the estate which was quite a distance from the house, when he heard a noise on the other side. Convinced it was the thief he made his way stealthily to the road and headed in the direction of the noise. After following the track for fifteen minutes he had found nothing and decided to head back along the main road as it was easier to follow. As he approached the gates once more, a light blinded him and sirens blared all around him.

"Excuse me Sir but what exactly do you think you are doing?" asked one of the officers as he got out of his vehicle.

"I am Sherlock Holmes I'm working on behalf of the Australian police to catch the jewel thief…my associate is waiting for me inside." Sherlock said bluntly annoyed at losing his chance to catch the thief who would have now noticed the commotion.

"Yes I heard about you from my colleagues" replied the officer not moving a single inch.

"Excuse me I must alert my friend that the thief has escaped and we will be leaving" said Sherlock but the officer only shook his head.

"Sherlock Holmes I am placing you under arrest for roaming the streets dressed wearing black clothes, felt shoes and black shoe polish on your face as these items are the tools of a cat burglar" said the officer a hint of amusement in his voice and a laugh following after. Sherlock was really annoyed at this and began shouting several profanities at him with no result.

John emerged from the house with a grin as he heard his friend shouting at a rather stoic officer. Sherlock was driven to the station where the remainder of the staff were in stitches of laughter at the sight of the detective in handcuffs. John joined them for a coffee before he headed back to the hotel for the night. John had paid dearly for his stunt in Alabama and now Sherlock was going to see nothing but the inside of an Australian jail cell for the next day as John took in the magnificent sights without the detective bugging him. John had conveniently forgotten to inform Sherlock that the police had caught the thief the next morning… Oh yes this was turning out to be a great holiday after all.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this instalment of stupid laws! Thank you for your continued support…it makes me happy to make you all happy!