Chapter 1: Chapter 1
John Watson was not one for being late in life; he had never been known as an early riser and his habits were firmly fixed on this basis. He did however find himself having breakfast at 8am rather than 7am when he heard that there would be no need for him to accompany his friend Sherlock Holmes to Baker Street today. It was quite common practice for them both to go out together every day but they rarely needed to see each other before 9 or 10 am. This morning though, it seemed that something was different. The reason for their absence from work could only mean one thing – they were going somewhere else!
He finished off what remained of his toast and sipped some tea slowly while looking over his notes again. His mind drifted back to last night’s case where he and his partner had found themselves investigating the death of a young woman who had gone missing during her first year at university. She had come home unexpectedly drunk after attending a party and then passed out. She was still in that state when they arrived and the only sign of her having been there was a half empty bottle of vodka on the kitchen counter. The housekeeper said she hadn’t seen or heard from the girl since.
They searched the house but couldn’t find any clues as to what happened to her. It seemed like an open and shut case until the next day when Sherlock received a call from a friend of hers. He told him about the girl’s sudden disappearance and how it looked like she might have been murdered. Sherlock immediately decided to investigate further and went straight to the scene.
The body was lying face down in a pool of blood on the floor of the bedroom. There was no obvious signs of struggle. Sherlock took one look at the corpse and knew right away that this wasn’t a suicide. The room was a mess and it appeared as if someone had broken into the house. The local police were no help although they did note that the girls mobile phone was missing.
Afterwards, Sherlock made sure that he didn’t speak to anyone about the incident. He wanted to keep his own investigation secret because he was convinced that whoever killed the girl had also taken her phone. He needed to get it back before it was too late. He called John and asked him to meet him at Baker Street later that morning.
Sherlock told John he wanted to stay the night in the girls house to get into her mindset. John was surprised by his request and thought that maybe Sherlock had lost his mind. But he agreed to go along with it anyway. When they got to the address, they saw that the door was already open and they walked inside. The place was a complete wreck. There was still blood everywhere. They entered the living room and noticed that the sofa had been overturned. Sherlock noted it was not like that on his last check. Someone else had been here!
Had the killer returned?There was a blood stain on the kitchen floor that made John feel nauseous. Thankfully the police had removed the body already!
They found a lot of blood in the bathroom. Sherlock went there first and then turned around to see John standing behind him. “What are you doing?” he asked. “I need to take a shower. I’m covered in blood.”
“No you don’t. You can clean up when we leave.”
“I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
John shrugged. “Fine. Ill shower here and stay.”
“Good idea.”
John undressed to wash himself. He used the bathroom shower but nothing happened. He tried again and this time the water started flowing. It felt good to have hot water running over his body. He stayed under the stream for several minutes until he heard footsteps outside the bathroom door.