A Study in Reason

Epilogue

"Where could it be?" Sherlock wondered, searching around the now empty hotel room. He needed to know, he needed to see the truth. All this time, she had been lying to him and he'd had no idea? Why hadn't he seen it? Was it emotion? He'd never noticed any particular feeling arise from him in response to Clara Lane. No, that mustn't be the reason. She was clever, he could see that. Not as good as he was but she had been promising. He stepped back into the middle of the room and scanned every inch with his eyes. She must have documents somewhere. A laptop or a notepad. Even with a "nearly eidetic memory" she'd have to write it all down somewhere. She was a journalist so she would most likely write in shorthand which means pen and paper but where? He swivelled slowly on his heel, scanning the room again and he saw something. One if the drawers on her nightstand was slightly more open than the others. He walked towards it, leaping the corner of the queen sized bed in his haste. He was still in shock - the shot that had killed her ringing in his ears but he had to know now. He pulled the drawer open and pulled out the contents. There wasn't much, just two folders. The file she had brought to Baker Street concerning the case she had brought to him and John was on top. He flicked through it but there was nothing in there he hadn't already seen. Underneath that was manila folder with 'Private property of Clara Lane' written on it. He made to open it, but John's voice caused him to pause.

"Why, Sherlock?" He asked quietly. "Please, have a little respect. She's dead for christ's sake. You don't... You shouldn't..."

"Don't you see I don't have a choice?" Sherlock demanded. "I need to know what she wanted. I need to know why she came to us." He opened the folder. Inside was a black spiral bound notebook. Inside, was marked "Case Diary: Sherlock Holmes". He took it out of the folder and opened it. Underneath the notebook, sat a clear file full of nearly twenty year old newspaper cuttings.

Sherlock put the cuttings to the side and flicked to the first entry of the Case Diary and began to read aloud: "After the meeting in which Sherlock Holmes agreed to take my case, I walked out into the crisp London air. It was colder than I was used to for this time of year..."

"I don't understand. Everything in here we already know. What is it she wanted?" Sherlock mumbled. An hour later, he was still as desperate for answers as before. He turned to the newspaper cuttings to which he hadn't given much thought to before and read the first headline. John had left some time ago, which meant he didn't see Sherlock's face go resolutely blank when the words reached his brain. All the newspapers were American and the first one read,

"MI6 Agent Found Dead.

One of MI6's most decorated agents still serving was found dead under suspicious circumstances in an abandoned Manhattan flat two days ago. 27 year old Ashmore Holmes (pictured right) was shot 'execution style' on Monday evening. Although no official was willing to comment on his death, sources say that it was not the usual danger that comes with working the field.

"None of the usual precautions were taken when going into the field and he was supposed to be on the other side of New York when he was killed."

Continued page 4..."

So that was the answer. She was investigating Ash.