Dancing with the Devil (part one)

Chapter 7: The Doctor and The Detective

Astrid easily managed to pick the lock for the window of the flat and climb through into a corridor, she once gain picked the lock for the stairs to the basement, once she was in, she did exactly what Jim said.

One week later she went back to the flat, as a fake friend. She knocked on the door but their was no reply. She knocked again and a small old lady opened the door hurriedly.

"Hello." She said, "My name is Alexa Holton, I was looking for someone I can talk to about buying a flat here."

"Ah, that would be me dear, please come in."

The woman let Astrid in and they sat down at a little table in a kitchen. 

"I already have two boys living here in 221B and there is a  third spare room. Or you can have 221C."

"Whatever is easiest." Astrid smiled.

"If you would like to, the boys are down there now on a case, you can take a look."

"A case?"

"Yes, one of them is a detective, the other one is a doctor so they go on all sorts of adventures together." She smiled, "I'll introduce them to you."

The old woman lead Astrid down into the basement. When she got there she saw that it was exactly as Astrid had left it, except there were three men in there. A short man with blonde hair was stood with his back to the door, Astrid expected this to be Dr. Watson. Next to him there was a tall grey haired man who Astrid didn't know and in the centre stood the star man; the main performer. 

All cheekbones and no soul. 

Not to mention no dress sense. Sherlock Holmes was tall. He had a large black coat on and a scarf. It took Astrid a few seconds to realise that the room was silent and that there was a pink phone in Sherlock's hand with what Astrid assumed was the reason for Jim's five bomb vests.

"I'm not crying, I'm typing," came the stuttering voice over the phone, "and this stupid bitch is reading it out."

Jim had told Astrid all of this, but being part of it, hearing the voice over the phone, it was incredible. Despite the woman not being Jim, she knew it was him.

"The curtain rises." Sherlock spoke dramatically making Astrid roll her eyes in her mind.

"What?" The pocket-sized doctor butted in.

"I've been expecting this for some time"

"12 hours to solve my puzzle, Sherlock" the woman whimpered, "Or I'm going to be so naughty."

The phone call ended and Sherlock turned around to face the other two men, not noticing Astrid. As he turned Astrid was able to get a good look at the detective. He had curly, slightly long, brown hair. He had high cheekbones, and delicate green eyes. He spoke to his friends about the previous event and as the room went silent, Astrid realised that all eyes were looking at her and the landlady.

"Mrs Hudson?" The brown-haired man spoke up, his voice sounded like a dagger, "Who is that?"

"Sorry to interrupt," Astrid said before Mrs Hudson could interrupt," My name is Alexa, Alexa Holton. Nice to meet you."

Astrid put her hand out for the detective to shake, he ignored it and rudely barged passed her and the old landlady. Instead, the small doctor took it instead and smiled politely at her.

"John Watson, nice to meet you." He greeted kindly.

"Likewise," Astrid smiled back, "have I come at a bad moment?"

"It's no problem, we were just finishing up." The tall grey haired man came in and shook Astrid's hand, "Detective Inspector Lestrade. Just leaving."

"Bye Greg." John waved off the inspector and looked back at Astrid, "please, come on up."

John escorted her up the stairs to a messy room with a sofa and a few chairs. There was a kitchen in the corner, though it didn't look much like a kitchen, as on the table there were pieces of scientific looking equipment scattered about everywhere. Sherlock Holmes was sat at the head of the table and was staring at the pair of shoes like he was trying to clean them with his eyes.

"I apologise for the timing, but I wanted to speak to someone about staying here, I can pay rent and deal with my own food and drink, I'm quite flexible with my schedules." Astrid spoke as she sat down in the seat that the doctor offered her.

"There is another room yes, 221c is a bit of a mess." John said and sat down as Mrs Hudson sat next to him, "Do you have a certain time you would like to move in."

"Not really, I just moved here from Manchester, I'm staying in an inn at the moment, of course that's only temporary."

"Of course," John leant forward and lowered his voice, "Just, before we make any deals, I should warn you, my roommate over there, well, he's a little bit inhospitable. he does this thing where he can read you and tell every single detail about you literally by looking at you. It gets on my nerves a lot. I just hope you have patience."

"Don't worry, I think I'll manage." Astrid smiled and looked over at the detective and look back at John, "Is this Friday alright for you? I can bring my things and settle then, I don't have a lot that needs moving."

"Of course. I assume you have spoken to Mrs Hudson about payments and other things." He said and Astrid nodded. "I'll show you the room."

The room was small, there was a single bed in the corner with a plain duvet spread over it, the walls had the same wallpaper as the front room. Astrid stepped into the room and smiled.

"It's perfect."