The Mikaelson of Baker Street

Chapter 17: The Blind Banker: pt 1

(A month and a half have passed since John meet Sherlock and Nikki, and he was now Sherlock's flatmate. In the National Antiquities Museum, an ancient Chinese clay tea set has been arranged on a tray. Oriental flute music is playing gently. A young Chinese woman, Soo Lin Yao, takes a large pinch of tea leaves from a bowl and sprinkles them into a clay teapot before pouring water on top of them. A group of children and a few adults are watching her demonstration.)

Soo Lin: The great artisans say the more the teapot is used, the more beautiful it becomes.

(She has deliberately overfilled the pot so that when she picks up the lid and gently presses it down into place, water spills out over the sides of the pot. Now she picks up a small jug and pours more liquid over the top of the pot.)

Soo Lin: The pot is seasoned by repeatedly pouring tea over the surface. The deposit left on the clay creates this beautiful patina over time.

(She holds up the wet teapot to show her audience how the pot is shining.)

Soo Lin: For some pots, the clay has been burnished by tea made over four hundred years ago.

(Sometime later, the visitors have left and Soo Lin is gently drying and dusting off the tea set with a brush.)

Tannoy Announcement: This museum will be closing in ten minutes.

(A young English male employee, Andy Galbraith, walks over. He stands behind her and watches as she carefully packs the tea set into a box.)

Andy (in a joking tone): Four hundred years old, and they're lettin' you use it to make yourself a brew!

Soo Lin (not turning around): Some things aren't supposed to sit behind glass. They're made to be touched; to be handled.

(She turns and looks at him. Andy looks back at her all doe-eyed. She turns back to the box and frowns.)

Soo Lin: These pots need attention. (she holds up a dry-looking pot with no shine on it.) The clay is cracking.