A New Mystery at 221 Baker Street

Chapter 1: Welcome to Baker Street

Note:

Hello everyone, this story begins midway through "The Blind Banker." I suggest you watch "A Study in Pink" and "The Blind Banker" up to after visit Soo Lin's flat. The story will revolve follow Sherlock and John as well as the OC throughout their cases. However, I will be skipping some scenes.

Transcript provided by Ariane Devere/ Callie Sullivan

Thank you

***

Alice took a deep breath and took her first steps out of the underground station and into the city. A break, that's what she needed. A break from her life in DC, a chance to find herself again, and a change of scenery- somewhere that wouldn't remind her of her past.

Alice stood outside 221 Baker Street, taking in her surroundings. London was more smoker-friendly than what she was used to in DC, but the streets were cleaner. Maybe it was jetlag or the lack of sleep, but something felt off and her senses were running wild. The opening of the front door quickly pulled Alice away from her inner thoughts.

"You must be Alice!" Mrs. Hudson smiled as she hugged the young woman. "Your grandmother has told me all about you. The photos she sends don't do you justice. Come in, come in!" Alice quickly grabbed her luggage and followed the little old lady into the building.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hudson. I appreciate you letting me stay with you while I'm in the country." Alice said as Mrs. Hudson led her downstairs to the basement flat.

"Oh don't worry dear. The basement is hardly ever taken due to the damp. I am just happy to have someone occupy it for a while. I'll let you have some time to settle in but feel free to join me upstairs for some biscuits and tea,"

"That would be wonderful, Ms. Hudson, thank you."

221c Baker Street had its own little charm. The flat consisted of a small kitchen and dining area, a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and an empty spare room in the back. It was more than enough for Alice, who was expecting to sleep on a couch or air mattress. Once Mrs. Hudson left, Alice began to unpack her things. After an hour, her clothes hung in the small closet while others were placed in a chest of drawers. Her toiletries rested in the small cabinet in the bathroom and her suitcase lied underneath the bed. Satisfied with her work, she headed upstairs to join Mrs. Hudson for tea.

"How is your grandmother?" Mrs. Hudson asked as she poured Alice a cup of earl grey tea. "I haven't seen her since I was last in America for my husband's trial,"

"Thank you," Alice said, taking the cup. "She's doing good actually. She's keeping herself busy; doing crosswords, visiting friends, nothing out of the ordinary,"

"You should have seen her when we were young girls," Mrs. Hudson giggled, "Oh, how the boys fought over her, she would turn them all down of course. Hazel was quite the heartbreaker,"

"That does sound like her," Alice smiled, "She mentioned that you have tenants upstairs, what are their-"

"Mrs.Hudson" a deep baritone voice called from the second floor of the building. Alice could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. A tall man with dark brown hair and a shorter sandy-haired man entered Mrs. Hudson's tiny kitchen.

"Mrs. Hudson? Oh, who's this?" the shorter man asked looking at Alice.

"This is Alice, she's the granddaughter of an old friend." Mrs. Hudson replied. "She'll be staying here for a few months,"

"It's nice to meet you both." Alice smiled getting up from the table.

"John Watson," John introduced himself, holding out his hand. Alice smiled and shook it. "And that is Sherlock Holmes. We live in the flat upstairs. So if you need anything or just fancy a conversation, feel free to come up." John motioned to Sherlock who was on his phone.

"Nope," Sherlock spoke, continuing to stare at his phone. He quickly glanced at Alice and took note, placing his phone in his coat pocket. "American, mid-to-late-twenties, college graduate, hasn't slept in twelve hours, took the underground here from Heathrow airport, quite boring really..."

"Sherlock, give it a rest will you?" John interrupted Sherlock before turning back to Alice. "I'm sorry about him."

"No worries," Alice replied before turning to Sherlock. "I have no issues with an arrogant man in his early thirties who believes himself to be a genius despite his obvious shortcomings. You obviously are eager to be leaving the building with John here. So I won't hold you up any longer. After all, I amrather boring," Alice smirked as she saw Sherlock's shocked face. She then turned towards John with a relaxed look on her face. "Thank you, John, for the invitation. I hope to get to know you better as you seem much more tolerable." She placed her cup and saucer in the sink and thanked Mrs. Hudson once again for her hospitality before heading back down to her new flat.

John watched as she left, his face full of shock and confusion. He was used to the Holmes brothers' intelligence but to see deductions done by someone else was shocking.

"Sherlock..." Mrs.Hudson began to chastise. Sherlock merely rolled his eyes and left Mr. Hudson's flat.

"That was unnecessary. She just got here, you didn't have to go on and insult her like that." John leaned against the wall by the front door like a father disciplining a toddler.

"I wasn't too harsh on her and did you not notice how she did the same to me?" Sherlock retorted as he adjusted the scarf around his neck.

"Yes because you were asking for it."

"No, she deduced me, albeit not as well as she could have. She's hiding something, but we can deal with that later. Now," Sherlock pulled out three photographs of the cipher from his coat and showed it to John. "We can't crack this code without Soo Lin Yao."

Alice sat in on the couch in her flat with her computer in front of her. She quickly pulled up Google and typed Sherlock and John's names into the search bar. The first two results were of their separate blogs. Intrigued, she clicked on Sherlock's blog first.