A Rose By Any Other Name | Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 4

She had gone nearly all day without any food aside from the small amount of oatmeal she could stomach after her discovery that morning. Sitting in the meeting room with all of the evidence, Aryn was combing through every small detail that she could find about the victims.

They had all led relatively normal lives. Nothing screamed out to her as being out of the ordinary. She was waiting for Donovan to bring her a list of recent purchases each of the victims had to see if there was anywhere they had visited that they had in common. They were pretty much splicing hairs at that point, but it was the best trail they had to go on.

The papers she had brought with her for notes were empty, to her dismay. Seeing all of the blank papers in front of her, Aryn decided to start writing out formulas and symbolic logic sentences like she used to do when she was stuck on a problem in college. Truth tables started to come out of the end of her pencil as she leaned her face on her non-writing hand, her elbow being the support she had against the table. She looked as if she was a bored school girl doodling in class.

Sherlock walked in, looking over some papers, and didn't expect anyone to have been in the room. He stopped for a brief moment, Aryn not even looking up from her notes, then continued to walk towards the boards to look over each of the victims' profiles. He tacked up the morgue results from the last victim, leaned back on the table, and sighed.

He was worried that if they waited too long, there would be another death. The press had started to get antsy and were bugging him about the case every time he left 221B Baker Street. They were going on about the serial killer that was on the loose, asking him if the people of London were safe on the streets. They had even gotten around to harassing Mrs. Hudson about it, and he definitely wasn't a fan of that. The pressure of this unsolved puzzle was starting to build.

He turned to look over his shoulder to see what Aryn was doing. Furrowing his brow, he walked around and placed one hand next to where she was leaning her head, hovering over her shoulders to watch her write down what she could remember. "You still do this?"

She jumped slightly, not realizing where he had gone and how close to her he was. Regaining her composure, she said, "To pass the time. If I don't practice, I'll forget it all and then what good would it have done me to study all those hours in school?"

Shrugging, he pulled the paper away from her to look at what she had written so far.

"Hey!" she exclaimed standing up and meeting him toe-to-toe.

He held the paper above her head so that he wouldn't be disturbed by her grabbing for it. It reminded him of when he'd harass her in college about her work. He'd do this when he wanted a break from his cases. Causing trouble to Aryn had been his main source of entertainment prior to being able to bother John about his life.

"I'm surprised you remember all of this," turning his back to her and leaning his hip against the table. "I can't think of a time that you ever used these while we solved crimes together."

"Give it back," she argued, attempting to swipe the paper away from his hands.

"And someone's gotten a bit feisty while becoming a DI. Is that something they teach you while you're learning the job? I've noticed Lestrade has some sass every now and again that could rival even Donovan."

"And someone's become an even bigger git since I last saw him. Give it here," she argued, trying to grab the paper again. She eventually got it back after Sherlock brought it within her reach. She crumpled it up and tossed it into the bin that sat in the corner next to the door. "Do you have any new leads?"

He shook his head as he shifted his weight to sit on the table. "I have some people looking into some information for me but until it comes back, I suppose we'll just have to go with your idea of their financial records."