deal or no deal | Sherlock Holmes

9

𝐸𝓋𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

𝚃𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎_ 𝙴𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎:
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎_𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 _𝚎𝚎. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕. 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚑_𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 _𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝.

𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙾𝙾𝙴𝙳𝚃𝚆𝙷S

What are you trying to tell me Sam?

A knock at my door pulls me out of my trance. I didn't get back from my office last night until... well I don't even know when. Last thing I want right now is a guest. But I pull myself together and answer the door.

I immediately regret it too. Because Sherlock stands waiting at the door. His eyes widen when they fall on me. "Good morning."

I shut the door in his face. I glance in my mirror. Yikes! I scare myself. My hair looks like it hasn't been brushed in ages. I quickly rake my fingers through it and tighten my robe before opening the door back up.

"Morning." I sigh leaning casually on the doorframe.

He studies my attire. "You look..."

"Absolutely knackered?" I finish.

He holds an amused smirk before stepping into my flat. "Oh wow." He takes in the sight of my flat. "You are tidy." I try to keep everything spic and span.

"Yes I am. So you can imagine how much your family stresses me out." I tease. Even though they really do. "This is how my mother raised me. She trained me up to be the perfect housewife. Problem is you need a husband to be that." I shrug plopping onto the couch. "As you can see I lack the materials needed."

He studies my books on my fireplace. They're more so for decoration at this point. I've read them all. "And why is that exactly?"

I'm taken aback by his question. "No one has been deemed worthy." I shrug. "I don't really get out much either. In fact you're the first man I've seen more than once by choice in..." I think for a moment. "Well ever." He gives me an unreadable look. I've probably said too much. "Then again this is for business so maybe it doesn't even count."

"You count this as business?" He asks. I glance down at my hands. He plops himself down beside me on the couch. "What made you want to do this job?"

"Well..." I pull my knees to my chest, making sure I don't show my undergarments. "Sam and I sold newspapers when we were young. I was always intrigued by the stories that made the front page. Unless of course it had to do with politics, they bore me. My great grandfather was a detective as well. He gave me my first magnifying glass." I shake my head. "But before I moved here I'd grown up in a crummy old town where crime was an everyday thing and no one was served justice. It angered me, it's like a fire was set in my soul and I just wanted to help people." I smile to myself. "Before I moved here I managed to solve 62 cases in that small town. Sure, most of them were petty crimes but it still made me feel like I was doing something to help." I look to him and he gives a dazed smile.

I then remembered the letter I received this morning. "Oh before I forget!" I jump up and grab the letter and hand it to Sherlock. "I received this earlier this morning." He reads over it a few times. He looks back at me. "What were the previous missing letters?" He stands and grabs a pen and paper.

"G, O, O, O, O, T, and W I believe." He writes it down along with the new letters. He analyzes them over and over. I come close to his ear. "What are you doing?" I whisper loudly. He ignores me before writing out a sentence.

𝙶𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜.

"This ring a bell in any way?" He holds the paper up to my face.

I rack my brain but nothing comes so I slowly shake my head in response. "I haven't the slightest clue." I glance back at my letter. "A return address would've been nice."

"Well clearly you know somehow. It says here you're a smart girl." He hands me the letter. "It's the woods. Did you vacation there as a child?"

I shake my head. "Oh never I hate the outdoors." I grimace.

"Read it again. Rack that pretty little brain of yours." He urges me. "I'm not you, Ev. You've got to figure this one out yourself."

I nod and look back to the letter to see what I might've missed.

𝚃𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎_ 𝙴𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎:
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎_𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 _𝚎𝚎. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕. 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚑_𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 _𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝.

I see it now. I don't know how I didn't before.

"That's it." I point to the second sentence. "Sam is a newsboy. A grammatical error like that would drive him mad." He left off an apostrophe.

"So the woods isn't a place it's a person?" Sherlock asks. I nod. "Who?"

"That one might take me more time." I sigh, rubbing my temples. "Why don't we pick up on this later? I have somewhere I need to be."

"Where?" Sherlock questions.

"Don't be nosy." I scold. "I'll be back soon."

He gently flicks my nose. "Stay safe." He heads for the front door. "Oh and Evangeline."

"Yes, Sherlock?" I ask.

"You may want to take a comb through that thing growing on top of your head." I gasp and he shuts my door.

***

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" A young newsboy catches my attention. I hurry across the street, almost getting run over by a horse in the process. I give him a quarter making his face light up.

"What have you got today, boy?" I hold my hand out.

He slaps a paper in my hand. "Marquess is still missing. They're giving a reward to whoever finds him."

"You think he's still alive?" I ask.

"After jumping off that train? Definitely not!" The young boy tips his hat to me before chanting again. "Extra! Extra!"

The gears in my head are turning. The Lord goes missing at his train station, two boys jump off of train, I see Enola dressed as a boy enter Miss Greggory's dress shop. Then there's what Edith said. "She's had company, a useless boy."

I've got to find out what is going on. And I know exactly where I need to go to find out.