Sherlock: The Daughter of Red CHAPTER 4

At St. Bart’s morgue, Sherlock watched as Molly slid out the body of Annie Bridges from where it was being kept.  “Cause of death was asphyxiation.  The carving of the lotus on her torso was made post mortem.” Molly began as she presented her findings.  “I also noticed she had a small blow to the back of her head.  It was non-fatal, so the killer most likely took her by surprise.  Under her nails, I found some small traces of skin flakes, so she must’ve known she was going to die so she knew she had to leave some sort of clue about who killed her.” she added.

“The question is; how did she get to the scene of the murder?” Sherlock asked himself.  He checked his phone for any texts from Lestrade or John and quickly slipped it back into his pocket upon noticing there were none.

Molly sighed.  “Sherlock, can I ask you something?” she asked, sounding a bit afraid to ask him at all.

Sherlock looked over to her.  “You’re going to ask about the real reason for my escorting you back to your house the other night.” he replied, having already deduced what she was going to say.  Molly nodded meekly.  “You were going through an emotional turmoil.  As your friend, I thought it best to assist you in your time of need.” he replied.

“I see...” she nodded, looking a little disappointed at his answer.

Sherlock raised his eyebrow.  “You look disappointed.  Was my answer not to your liking?” he asked.

“No, it’s fine.” Molly replied with a smile.  “I should head back to work.  I’ve got a lot of paperwork to do.” she added, leaving Sherlock to his thoughts.

Sherlock watched her go, when his phone buzzed as John called him.  “What have you found?” he asked when he answered his phone.

“Lestrade has found out the address of where Annie Bridges lived with her fiancé.  He’s also found her next of kin to notify them of her death.  Her parents lived locally, and she was the youngest of 3 children.” John answered.

“Good.  Speak to Annie Bridges’ fiancé and see what you can find out about her.  Call me when you’ve done that.” Sherlock replied.  As soon as John had hung up, he started to make his way back to Baker Street.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later, John was speaking to Annie’s fiancé, James Stone.  “I can’t believe this has happened.  Annie was the love of my life; we were childhood friends.” James sighed sadly as he gazed at a picture of her he was holding in his hands.  “I thought we’d get the fairytale ending we’d both dreamed about.” he croaked, tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” John apologised.  “Did Annie say if there were anyone who wanted her dead, or if she had any enemies?” he asked.

“No, she mentioned none of that.  She was the kind of girl who saw the good in everybody, popular in school...” James replied, wiping his eyes as he put the picture back.  The room had many sympathy cards and flowers, which proved James was being truthful about Annie’s popularity.

“What about anyone at work?  Did she get along with them?” John asked, writing down some notes on a notepad.

James looked to be in thought.  “Hmm, now that I think about it, she didn’t get along with another reporter, Jess Fields.  She does the entertainment news.” he remembered.  “But it was more of a petty argument.  Jess wouldn’t risk her career to kill Annie, she’s too proud.” he added.

John wrote down the details.  “Alright, thanks for your help.  Again, I’m so sorry for your loss.” he nodded.  He shook his hand and headed outside.

“Please do whatever you can to find the killer, Mr Watson.  Annie’s memory depends on it.” James pleaded.

“We’ll do whatever we can, Mr. Stone.” John replied.  As soon as James had closed the door, he took out his phone to call Sherlock.  “It’s me, James said that she didn’t have many enemies as she was popular, but she had a sort of rival called Jess Fields.” he began.

“Dull.  There’s something missing.” Sherlock replied.  He looked out of the window and saw a black car slowly driving away from across the street.  “And I think I might know what that link could be.” he added, grabbing his coat and scarf.

“Sherlock, what is it?” John asked.

“Get to Baker Street.  I’ll explain when you get here; could be vital to the case.” Sherlock answered, ending the call.  He made his way downstairs and saw the car drive away.  He closed his eyes and quickly scanned his mind palace for a possible route, scanning over any shortcuts and traffic lights he could encounter and started to run after the car.  Eventually, after running through many streets and roads, he caught up with the car.  “Get out of the car!” he yelled as he banged on the passenger’s side door.

“W-What’s going on?!  Are you with the police?!” the passenger exclaimed.  It was a female university student, obviously from abroad and had come to study in England.  Sherlock deduced that from the sound of her accent, she had come from Asia, most likely China.

“My sincerest apologies, Miss.  Please forgive my intrusion.  Enjoy your stay in England!” Sherlock apologised, speaking in Mandarin Chinese.  The student walked away, muttering to herself in her native language that her family would hear of this event.  Sherlock started to walk back to Baker Street.  That car was on the other side of Baker Street for a reason, but what for? he thought to himself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he got back to Baker Street, John was already waiting for him.  “Where the bloody hell have you been?!  Mrs. Hudson said you’d suddenly run off without an explanation where you were going!” he exclaimed in an angry tone.

“There was someone watching me.” Sherlock answered in a calm tone.

John’s face turned from anger to alarm.  “Someone was watching you?  Who was it?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling it wasn’t pure coincidence it was there.” Sherlock replied, looking out of the window.

“Do you think it’s the Black Lotus?” John asked, lowering his voice a little as he went to make some tea.

“It’s a possibility.  This could be their way of saying hello.” Sherlock nodded.  A large grin then appeared on his face.

“Don’t do that look.” John grimaced.

“What look?” Sherlock asked with puzzlement.

“That Cheshire cat look, it’s creepy and it’s not funny.  It makes you look like you’re going to kill someone.” John replied, with a somewhat nervous expression.

Sherlock chuckled and looked out of the window.  He then narrowed his gaze as something had caught his attention.  “Well, well, what do we have here?” he muttered under his breath.

“What is it?” John asked.

“Come over here and tell me what you see.” Sherlock replied.  John came over to have a look.  “Do you see it?” he asked.

“See what?” John asked as he tried to look for what the detective had spotted.
“Stand where I am and now look.” Sherlock instructed him, moving aside.

John sighed and did what Sherlock told him to.  Sure enough, he spotted what Sherlock had seen moments earlier; a lotus sprayed on a wall in black paint.  “It’s a lotus.” he blinked in surprise.

“The same lotus that was found carved on Annie Bridges’ body.  Which means...?” Sherlock began.

John started to realise what Sherlock was trying to say.  “The Black Lotus Tong has been here.” he answered, finishing Sherlock’s sentence.

Sherlock took out his phone to contact Mycroft.  “They’re here in London, getting ready to set whatever plan they have in motion.  It’s getting rather exciting now, isn’t it?” he grinned.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, Molly was working the late shift.  It was past 10pm and the only sign of light in the morgue was the desk light.  Part of her wished to have someone other than Toby to welcome her home, but she knew that it seemed a bit boring compared to helping Sherlock with his cases.  And even if he wouldn’t show any romantic interest in her right now, the fact that she was of importance to him was all she needed.

All seemed quiet when there was a loud noise which sounded like something hitting against the door.  The noise caused Molly to almost jump out of her skin in fright.  “Hello?  Is someone there?” she called.  Slowly, she grabbed a torch out from her desk drawers and quietly walked out of the morgue to investigate.  There was an eerie silence in the corridors, enough to send a chill up Molly’s spine.  Another loud noise made her jump.  “Is that security?  Hello?” she called, hoping for an answer.  A cold breeze was blowing in the air.  Molly turned her torch and noticed the chill was coming from the ladies’ toilets.  Torch in hand, she started to slowly walk inside.  “I-If this is someone’s idea of a prank, it’s not funny!” she exclaimed, trying her hardest to sound brave.  She reached her hand out to find the light switch and the small clicking of the switch lit up the room with light.  Molly turned her head towards the mirrors and her eyes widened in shock, causing her to drop her torch in the progress.  “Oh my God...” she croaked, her voice reduced to a whisper.

The sight that greeted her was a large lotus sprayed in black paint on the mirrors, there for all to see...