The Mikaelson of Baker Street

Chapter 9: A Study in Pink: pt 6

***Recap***

(He puts his hands onto the arms of the armchair and lifts his feet up and under him so that he is perching on the seat with his backside braced against the backrest, then clasps his hands under his chin.)

John: Okay ...

(He limps across the room and drops heavily into the armchair on the other side of the fireplace.)

John: How did you get this?

Nikki: By looking.

John: Where?

Sherlock: The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention - particularly a man, which is statistically more likely - so obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realize his mistake. I checked every back street wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens ...

(Cut-away shot of Nikki and Sherlock standing on the edge of a rooftop looking down into the streets below as they search for a glimpse of places where the case might have been hidden.)

Sherlock: ... and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed.

(Cut-away shot of Sherlock back on the ground and rooting through a large skip in an alley before unearthing the case buried under some black plastic, then checking the luggage label attached to the handle.)

***Now***

Sherlock: Took us less than an hour to find the right skip.

John: Pink. You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?

Nikki: Well, it had to be pink, obviously.

John (to himself): Why didn't I think of that?

Sherlock: Because you're an idiot.

(John looks across at him, startled. Sherlock makes a placatory gesture with one hand.)

Sherlock: No, no, no, don't look like that. Practically everyone is.

(He refolds his hands and then extends his index fingers to point at the case. Nikki, looking over Sherlock's shoulder noticed what was missing right away since she didn't see it when they examined the body earlier.)

Sherlock: Now, look. Do you see what's missing?

John: From the case? How could I?

Sherlock: Her phone. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there was no phone in the case. We know she had one - that's her number there; you just texted it.

John: Maybe she left it at home.

(Nikki looks over at John with a raised eyebrow in disbelief at his stupidity. Sherlock puts his hands onto the arms of the chair and raises himself up so that he can lower his feet to the floor, then sits down properly on the chair.)

Nikki: She has a string of lovers and she's careful about it. She never leaves her phone at home.

(Sherlock puts the slip of paper back into the luggage label on the case and looks at John expectantly.)