A Rose By Any Other Name | Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 10

"'Kalyn'," Sherlock said out loud, handing the box to Lestrade. "I've heard that name before."

"Good, something we can run with," Lestrade said, taking the box from Sherlock. "Donovan!" he called, standing up and walking towards the door of his office.

She met him and looked around the room in slight surprise. She too did not expect to see John and Sherlock back so soon. With the developments that had happened the day prior, though, it wasn't too surprising.

"Run a database search of everyone in England with this name. No variations in the spelling. I need this exactly as is."

She nodded as she wrote down the name and went to her computer, entering the information and waiting for the results.

"Once we get that list, you can look through to see if any of those names stick out to you."

Sherlock had been too busy thinking about the name familiar to hear Lestrade's instructions. The familiarity was what frightened him. It was as if he had known this name for quite some time, filing it away in his mind for later use.

Pacing back and forth in Lestrade's office, Sherlock kept closing his eyes and thinking, trying to get to his mind palace. His mind jumped from idea to idea. First he went through his family's names, to which he came up empty. He then tried to think of people he had associated with that he held close, but none of them had 'Kalyn' as a first or last name.

"Still can't get a hold of Aryn," John announced. "I've tried her phone at least ten times now."

"She's probably exhausted. Best you leave her be for now. We can fill her in later," Lestrade decided, sitting back in his chair. He watched Sherlock's face twist as he tried to remember. The way Sherlock's mind worked was an enigma to the DI, Lestrade glad that he didn't have to deal with that kind of process when working on cases.

He thought back to what had happened with Aryn earlier. Never in his life had he seen her as drunk or as disheveled as she had been. She looked as if she had been crying, which was an odd sight for Lestrade to behold. He had always known her to be a strong young woman. She never had to succumb to alcohol use to ease her mind, nor did he think he had so much going on at home to be worried about. He had no idea her family was in the state it was in, and if he had known about her depression, he would have stepped in to save her from her self-harm sooner.

As a father figure, he felt he was failing.

Donovan walked in a few moments later with a list, a name already highlighted. "You're not gonna believe it."

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Aryn woke up in a chair. Her head hurt more than before, but this time the pain wasn't internal. She could feel the blood dripping down the side of her face, suggesting the wound she had sustained wasn't only reopened, but it was also larger.

Looking at her surroundings, she couldn't see anything aside from a small window that sat across the room. From what little light she had, she could tell that this room was underground, the window set high enough so that she could see above the surface. The sky outside was a bright blue and clouds were rolling across it at a steady pace. The wind must have been especially strong that day.

The room was dark, Aryn and the chair she was tied to the only things she could see in the room. She couldn't even tell where the door was. Was this it for her? Was she going to die in this chair—in this room where no one she cared about would be able to find her in time?

A cold laugh startled her. It came from a darkened corner of the room. Aryn's head immediately turned to look at the figure, trying to hide the fear in her eyes.