In a small room full of cages, Doctor Stapleton is examining a fluffy white rabbit on a metal table. She looks up when Sherlock comes through the door, followed by Elisabeth.
"Oh. Back again? What's on your mind this time?" Asks Stapleton.
"Murder, Doctor Stapleton. Refined, cold-blooded murder." Replies Sherlock.
He reaches back and turns off the light switch by the door. The limited lighting coming from the window at the end of the room is just enough to show that the rabbit is glowing a bright green. Sherlock turns the lights back on.
"Will you tell little Kirsty what happened to Bluebell or shall I?" Says Sherlock.
He smiles unpleasantly at her. She sighs.
"Okay. What do you want?" Asks Stapleton
"Can I borrow your microscope?"
LATER.
********
In a larger lab, Sherlock has taken off his coat and is sitting at a bench and gazing into a microscope. By now he has texted John, and he is sitting with them in the lab. Sherlock, unhappy with what he's seeing, turns away from the 'scope and crushes something which looks crystalline into smaller pieces with a little hammer. Time passes and he varies between sitting with his back to the microscope, his hands folded in the prayer position in front of him while he thinks, or gazing into the 'scope, or scribbling chemical formulae onto the desk with different coloured marker pens. Nearby, Elisabeth sits on a stool with her head propped on her hand, gazing blankly into space. Doctor Stapleton is standing near her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Asks Stapleton.
Elisabeth looks up at her, blinking.
"You look very peaky."
"No, I'm all right." Says Elisabeth.
"It was the GFP gene from a jellyfish, in case you're interested." Says Stapleton.
"Mm, right, yes. Aquaria Victoria. Isn't that what its called?." Asks Elisabeth
She looks up at her.
"But, Why?"
"Why not? We don't ask questions like that here. It isn't done." Answers Stapleton.
A short distance from them, Sherlock looks increasingly irritated as he picks up another slide and puts it under the microscope.
"There was a mix-up, anyway. My daughter ended up with one of the lab specimens, so poor Bluebell had to go."
"Your compassion's overwhelming." Says Elisabeth.
"I know. I hate myself sometimes."
"So, come on then. You can trust me – I'm a doctor. What else have you got hidden away up here?" Asks John.
Exasperated, Sherlock takes out the slide again. Stapleton sighs.
"Listen: if you can imagine it, someone is probably doing it somewhere. Of course they are." Says Stapleton, turning to John.
Sherlock is staring intently at his latest slide, then his eyes slide across to a nearby read-out on a screen.
"And cloning?"
"Yes, of course. Dolly the Sheep, remember?"
"Human cloning?"
"Why not?"
"What about animals? Not sheep ... big animals."
"Size isn't a problem, not at all. The only limits are ethics and the law, and both those things can be ... very flexible. But not here – not at Baskerville."
YOU ARE READING
Hounds Experiments & Relationships (A BBC Sherlock Fan-fiction)
Fanfiction(It is preferred to read The Art Of Deduction before reading this story as it is a prequel of sorts.) The Backstory to how Sherlock Holmes And Elisabeth Carroll got together. Enjoy :)
