Tea With A Sociopath

Behind Enemy Lines

- c h a p t e r   s i x t e e n -

Sprawled out in front of the usual duo of the detective and the doctor plus Emma was a large stone building. There didn't appear to be any lights from within. The entire place looked devoid of people, like it had just been forgotten about.

"Why are we here?" Emma complained. "I thought we were going to where my father used to work."

"You said your father was a bookbinder," John stated. "Right?"

"Well, yes," Emma said, giving a shrug. She wasn't quite sure where this was going. 

"Did you ever, you know, see him binding books?"

"Do you think I cared?" Emma laughed, wondering why this was even a legitimate question. "No, I never saw him doing it."

"Well," John began, "this is the address for his business. It looks to be abandoned. It looks like it's been abandoned for many years, not just a matter of weeks."

"It's abandoned to the public, not abandoned completely," Sherlock began. "There are people still within the walls."

"What, really?" Emma responded. "No, that's impossible. The lights are all off. It looks like a mess. No."

"Then explain why there's fresh muddy footprints leading up to the front door," Sherlock said. "They're getting sloppy. Obviously they don't think anyone is coming here. That's good. We'll able to catch them by surprise."

"Them?" John questioned. "You think there are multiple people involved in this?"

"I know," Sherlock answered. He pointed down to the footprints from before, where it became clear that there were several different shoes that had been making tracks across the ground. They had left a trail straight to their hideout. 

"Well then," John said. "Let's go in."

Sherlock and John began making their way forwards, but Emma stayed behind. Her feet were firmly planted into the ground like a tree trunk. Her eyes had widened considerably, making it obvious that she wasn't going to be moving any time soon. 

"Emma, what's wrong?" John asked, beginning to walk back towards her. 

"We're just going to walk into this abandoned building that apparently has people inside? Aren't we supposed to be finding the people who killed my father? Isn't that dangerous?"

"That's why we're bringing guns along," John replied. "Here, take this." 

He produced a handgun from the inner pockets of his jacket and handed it to Emma. She stared at it perplexed, trying to figure out what had just happened. Everything was moving so quickly and no one else seemed to be bothered about it.

"Don't you need one?" she asked.

"That one is a backup," he replied. "You always need to have a backup plan just in case."

"Teach me how to use it," she demanded, turning the gun around in her hands. 

"Of course," John replied. "I wouldn't let you have it if I wasn't going to teach you." 

"Oh, I see," Emma laughed. She had been seriously concerned that she had just been handed the gun so it would look like she had a way to defend herself, but it would be nothing more than a bluff. It might work for a few seconds, but then she knew she would end up finding herself in mortal danger. If she were to tell the truth, she didn't think she could deal with such a thing.

"John, what are you doing?" Sherlock yelled. He had already made it to the front doors of the building. As he had just assumed that the two of them would be following right behind him, he hadn't bothered to turn around and check. Of course, this ended up not being the case at all.