Welcome to Baker Street

75. Treasure hunt

After Mycroft leaves, the three of them fall silent for a few minutes, then Giulia breaks the immobility of the room.

"I won't apologise for hiding the truth this whole time. It was a conscious decision. In the past, I put in danger the people I cared about, and I couldn't let it occur again with you. However, it wasn't an entirely selfless choice. I don't want to suffer anymore. I'm tired of causing trouble to others, to make them pay for my actions. I've started my personal war to get justice for my family, but I couldn't expect you to jump on board with it. It's—"

"What, dangerous?" Sherlock completes her sentence in a taunting tone, hinting at his situation: lying on a hospital bed with a bullet wound in his chest.

John opens and closes his fists for a second, taking deep breaths before being able to look her in the eyes. A corner of his lips bends in a crooked smile and he stands up, walking closer to her.

"Listen, we can't fathom what you've been through, but we've had our fair share of troubles, too. Whatever lies ahead, we are going to dive in headfirst, because that's who we are. That's how we handle things." He shrugs. "Honestly, I don't even care that you kept things from us. I only feared that you had been faking everything all along, for whatever reason. That you had been fooling us, that... that nothing was ever real," he stutters, struggling with the words. He is fighting an internal battle with his trust issues.

Giulia steps forward and tentatively reaches out to squeeze one of his hands to reassure him. To her relief, he doesn't recoil at her touch; he doesn't see her as a threat.

"I told you: I never lied to you. I kept secrets about my past, but the person you got to know over the last months is 100% authentic. That's who I am: flaws and everything." She lowers her head. "However, I don't expect you to trust me straight away. Unconditional trust is a rare commodity, and I understand it better than anyone else."

Sherlock notices the slight crack in her voice. She is constantly battling against feelings, meaning that someone in her yet-unspoken past must have broken her heart.

He fixes his gaze on her eyes. "John might have inherited some trust issues from the war, and I might seem an emotionless machine, but it doesn't make us strangers now. Blind trust or recklessness, we are by your side, Giulia. Now, and until the end," he says. His deep voice doesn't betray the slightest hesitation.

Her lips curve in a grateful smile. He averts his gaze right when someone knocks on the door: the worn-out face of the D.I. Lestrade peeks in.

"Hello, everyone. I'm glad you're not dead, Sherlock. The paperwork for murder out of my division's jurisdiction would be hell." He jibes at him, but Sherlock reads the weary expression on his face.

"I'd take a wild guess and say that you aren't here to check on my health status, Lestrade. To what do I owe this visit?"

"I have a few questions before I can close the case, but I can come back later if you want to rest." He takes half a step towards the door, but Holmes beckons him to keep talking.

"Over the phone, Giulia gave us a full statement about everything," he recounts. "She explained your deductions about the links between the Admiral family and the Thertons, the robbery and the two homicides. She also described the shooting you were involved in. Fred and Martha Admiral have been arrested, and we have collected hard evidence against them—including a gun just like the one we found at the crime scene, which is being tested by ballistics as we speak to confirm that it is the actual murder weapon in the Elisa Therton's homicide. It will be searched for Martha's fingerprints as well. She is in custody at this hospital, suffering from Atropa Belladonna poisoning, just as you deduced. We could also retrieve the grass shears that you found in Martha's handbag, and we are testing the traces of blood to verify if it can give us one additional proof that Mrs Admiral is the killer."