The Mikaelson of Baker Street

Chapter 22: The Blind Banker: pt 6

***Recap***

(Sherlock looks out of the window towards the shop, then raises his eyes to the windows above it. Looking down to the ground floor level again, his gaze sharpens.)

Sherlock: Remind me ...

(He focuses on a Yellow Pages phone directory sealed in a plastic wrapper that has been left outside the door to the flat beside the Lucky Cat.)

Sherlock: ... when was the last time that it rained?

(Without waiting for a reply, he stands up and leaves the restaurant. John, who has probably managed only two mouthfuls of his meal, sits back in exasperation but then dutifully gets up and follows.)

***Now***

(Over the road, Sherlock bends down to the Yellow Pages. The plastic wrapper still has drops of water on it, and the top of it has broken open a little. Sherlock runs his fingers over the top of the wet exposed pages of the directory.)

Sherlock: It's been here since Monday.

(He straightens up and presses Soo Lin's doorbell. He only waits a couple of seconds, then looks to his right and heads off in that direction. There's an alleyway beside the flat and the trio walk down the alley.)

Sherlock: No one's been in that flat for at least three days.

John: Could've gone on holiday.

Nikki (looking at the Army doctor): D'you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?

(Sherlock has reached the rear of the building and looks up to see a cantilevered metal fire escape above his head. Taking a short run at it, he jumps up and grabs the end, pulling it down towards him until it touches the ground, then runs up the steps towards the open window of the flat. As he reaches the top, the ladder swings back to the horizontal position behind him. Nikki gave the latter a few seconds to stop swinging before she also took a running jump, grabbed the latter, and followed Sherlock into the flat.)

John: Nikki! Sherlock!

(Realising that he's far too much of a short-arse to be able to pull the ladder down again, he turns and runs back along the alley to the front of the building. Sherlock climbs in through the window into the kitchen, then cries out in muffled alarm as he almost knocks a vase of flowers off the table beside the window. Catching it before it hits the floor, he looks down and sees a wet patch on the rug in the precise place where the vase would have hit if it had reached the floor. Straightening up, he calls out of the open window, unaware that John is no longer there.)

Sherlock: Someone else has been here.

(Putting the vase back onto the table, he looks around, talking too quietly for John to hear even if he was still nearby. Once Sherlock was free from blocking the window Nikki followed him into the flat, completely avoiding the vase.)

Sherlock: Somebody else broke into the flat and knocked over the vase just like I did.

(He looks round the kitchen, then bends down to the washing machine and opens it. Taking out an item of Soo Lin's unmentionables, he sniffs it and grimaces. Downstairs, John rings the doorbell. Sherlock puts the item back into the washing machine and pushes the door closed, then reaches for a tea towel hanging up nearby.)

John (from outside): D'you think maybe you could let me in this time?

(Sherlock feels the tea towel, apparently finds that it's dry, and moves onwards. Downstairs, John bends down to the letterbox, pushes it open, and calls through the gap.)