Hooked (teenlock)

Chapter Nine

Moriarty grinned. "That barista deserves more credit than you gave him, Sherlock. You know, not everyone is as dumb as you think. He told me that one of the employees here had been missing an awful lot of work. In fact, she missed her shift on the day Molly died."

John raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Does that mean that she's the-"

"Not quite, John," I interrupted. "If you were a killer, would you really plan to murder someone on a day and at a time when you were supposed to be working? It's illogical."

"It may be illogical, but it's all we have right now," Moriarty said.

I groaned. "Alright, what's her name?"

Jim smiled, far too proud of himself. "Loraine Redwater. She lives in a flat just down the street."

 "Right, well, you go check that out, and John and I will-"

Moriarty giggled. "As if, Sherlock! You and John will have to have your alone time when we're not working!" He paused to grin knowingly. "Nice try, though, you sly dog."

I rolled my eyes, incapable to respond in any other way for fear that I would die of embarrassment. Of course I wanted time alone with John! Who wouldn't? This infuriating bastard was only getting in the way. Trios never worked well for me.

John, there to save me from mortification, spoke up. "Fine, then. Lead the way to the flat, Jim."

Moriarty followed John's instructions, and it wasn't long before we were seated across from Loraine in her comfortable living room. Fidgeting. Nervous. Possibly because she's guilty, possibly because three teenage boys have entered her house and begun to question her about murder. 

Jim was asking most of the questions, which was fine by me. He was the one that was so interested in her, anyways. She was definitely innocent, as it was obvious that she wasn't an idiot. The books on her shelves were all complex (for regular people, anyways- they were the equivalent of children's board books for me) and had been read many times despite being fairly new. When that fact was added to the detail that she lived alone, it was apparent that she was smart enough to cover a murder far more thoroughly than this.

"Innocent," I said clearly as I stood up.

I had interrupted Moriarty in the middle of one of his petty questions, and he glared at me. "How do you know?"

I smiled at him as one would smile at an unknowing four year old. "I don't know, I notice."

Jim sighed impatiently. "Sherlock, you have absolutely no leads. At this point, you're even more useless than usual. She is the only possibility we have; you can't just walk out!"

I smiled. "Watch me. Actually, watch us. John?"

John practically jumped to his feet. "Yep, no leads here. Thanks for your time and, um, bye!"

We left the flat in a bit of a hurry, leaving Moriarty glaring. I knew, of course, that he would continue to question her even after we left. He was stubborn in that way, which was convenient, for it allowed me to finally have some time with John to get some work done.

As we walked down the street, John gently pulled my hand into his. "So, we really have no leads now. Okay. Right."

I grinned and gave his hand a light squeeze. "Wrong." When John simply stared at me, puzzled, I continued, "I've only just remembered. Back at the crime scene, one of the investigators... Lilly Withers, her name was, asked for our help. I think it's about time we paid her a visit."

"Sherlock, you do realize that it's been weeks, right? They may not even need our help anymore- they've probably given up!"

"If they've given up, then they've done so far too easily. There's still a case here, and if they cannot recognize that... Then, yes. They definitely need our help."