The Charlotte Holmes Case (Sherlock Holmes fanfic)

Chapter 16: The Oxford Kidnapping

Johnny Watson is back YAY!!! So bad news, I'm gonna leave you with a cliff hanger. Sorry. But trust me, it's gonna get interesting.

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Chapter 16: The Oxford Kidnapping

Within the last hour of Charlotte explaining everything from Sherlock's notes, her notes, recent connections and more, they all agreed that they were back in the game and ready to roll again. "Wait, I have just one question to ask though, how did you know it was Alexander Flinch?" Hamish asked.

"Twenty years ago, a young man was fed up with the way things were going on around his work at the bookshop he worked at. Little money, too much work time, not enough breaks, his boss was treating him and his workers terribly. He had other friends who told him of their boss troubles as well so he decided to do a strike, a campaign against how terrible their work was. It had gone horribly wrong at one point when the coppers were contacted and all hell broke loose. His followers ratted him out and he was the one to take all of responsibilities.

"Alexander Flinch was sentenced five years in prison for disrupting the peace but ecaped a week after his sentence. His followers came back to him slowly and surley, he wanted some things to change around here, not just in the bookshop he worked at, but apparently the city. In order to do that, he had to get recources on how to take over a society to rule them over with politics and hence Edmund Gregory, the first victim.

"I noticed he works in patterns. Every three years, he takes two people and every two years, he takes three people. The last victim he took was two years ago and this will be his first of the third year kidnap. I also noticed what he doesn't have is a medical resource, a doctor perhaps and I have an idea of who he will snatch." She took a paper aout of her pocket gave it to Lestrade.

"Does the name sound familiar? It should, actually," she stated. Hamish shivered a bit. She looked at him and noticed that he wanted to break down and cry in a corner. "Watson, is everything alright?" she asked. "Is it my father?" he asked quietly. She shook her head. "It is, isn't it and don't lie to me!" he shivered. "It is not Dr. Watson! I can assure you all signs lead to him but it's not. Please calm down, I promise you it's not him," she soothed. He shivered again and recollected himself.

"His name is Dr. Francis Cane, a medical professer at Oxford University, good one in fact, I knew him," Lestrade said, sounding a bit sad. She nodded but didn't pay attention. "How soon can we investigate?" she asked. "Tonight," he simply said and they left to prepare for the journey.

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They arrived at the University around late evening, when all activity died down and the professors were leaving the building. "I hope you're right  about this,Charlotte," John said as they hid away from the medical building, waiting for something to happen. "I always am," she replied quietly. Hamish rolled his eyes and they continued waiting.

Fifteen, thirty, forty-five, an hour passed and no sign of Dr. Cane anywhere. "Something's not right. Watson, with me now!" she said and Hamish rose quickly. "Holmes, what on Earth do you think you are doing?" Lestrade asked. "Cane should have been out forty-five minutes ago, closing time was that long ago and regardless of the fact that maybe he might be grading papers, I highly doubt that," she said and took his pistol from his coat. "I'm also going to need this, thank you!" she said and they sneakily went towards the front of the building.

She then started to pick the door lock and it quickly opened. Once they were inside, Hamish was about to ask how she learned how to do that and she simply said "Found a book in the attic about lock picking, of course I would want to know how to do it, and for a good reason to." They turned around several coridors until they saw a room with the door ajar and light coming through it.

"We wait until there is movment," she said and he nodded. They waited for quite a while too until they heard noise coming from the other side of the hall. Her heart started to beat a bit quickly, she grew a bit nervous. This was it, the moment she'd been waiting for. 

Two men dressed in black with pistols slowly walked towards the room with light in it and opened the door. She heard the guns cock and an anxious voice. Muffled sounds followed and now was the chance to move. They got up and headed towards the room. "Stop there, now!" she yelled grabbing their attention. The men in black tried to shoot at her but she shot one of them who was trying to suffocate the professor and a bullet grazed through her arm. She screamed a bit in pain and Hamish tackled the other man to the floor but was soon taken off by another man in black.

Charlotte got up again to help the professor but he was taken out by a few other men and she was taken by one as well. She tried to kick him away, but failed miserably, screaming for help and wishing she had backup. "Let me go! Take your hands off me! Lestrade!" she tried to scream for more help but couldn't. She saw Hamish thrashing to get away from the ground but slowly stopped when the men hit him on the head with the back of the pistol, knocking him out.

Dr. Cane was dragged away unconsious and the last thing she remembered before she blacked out was John runing to save her and several gunshots.

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Charlotte woke up in a dark room tied to a chair, men in black looking at her silently and coldly. She tried to get up but her wounded bloody arm made her wince as she tried to move. "Oh, so sorry about the wound, but I think it's obvious not to move, you might hurt yourself," she heard a man's voice say, practically hearing him smirk.

He emerged from the shadows and examined her, he was in his early forties, needed a shave and resembled the man who she was trying to find for some time now. "Miss Charlotte Holmes, and Mr. Hamish Watson, the pleasure is all mine," said the man. "Watson?" She started looking around the dark room frantically in search for her friend. She found him tied to a chair as well next to her, still unconsious.

"Watson? Hamish, can you hear me?" she asked worryingly. "Oh, he'll be fine. In fact, he might be waking up any time now," the man said. "Alexander Flinch, what the hell do you want with us?" she barked. "Well, I needed the good doctor from Oxford and you two just happened to be in the room. My men told me they found you and they brought you in. I actually don't need Hamish anytime now or soon, but you can keep him if you like. It might get a bit lonely down here..." he trailed off.

"Lestrade will find us, so theres no point-" "Yes, and that is exactly what many men said about Sherlock Holmes and look what happened to him.  Lestrade lost one consulting detective and now he lost another," he teased. "Where is he? Holmes, what have you done with him?" she asked cautiously.

He smiled at her and chuckled a bit. "You are too adorable!"  "What have you done with the other victims. are they alive?" "Of course they're alive, I need them!" "Where are they located?" he smiled at her and said, "TBPC"

She immediatley recognised the acronym, but not the 'C' part. "Why did you take these men in the first place?" "Oh come on! You're the detective here, I think you already figured that bit out already!" "But I want to hear it from you, just to see if I was correct," she said.

"I think the question you're meaning to ask is 'why your father?' is that what you mean?" he mocked. She huffed at him. "Oh, it is, isn't it? Marvelous, you are so easy to read, like an open book!" he chuckled, then he knelt down to face her.

"Yes, I admit, I kidnapped your father, who wouldn't want a magnificent mind like his? But that wasn't the mind I wanted, no. I made a deal with him those many moons ago, and believe me, it was a great one! I never wanted to kidnap Sherlock Holmes, I wanted to kidnap you."

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I know, a cliff hanger, believe me I hate those too :/ I told you it would get a bit interesting hehehe.

-iam22345