Happy Valentine's Day! Why not celebrate with some happy Sherlolly feels? Also, a congratulations and best wishes to Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter for their wedding today!
Just a small town girl,
Working in a lonely morgue.
She took the midnight tube
Going to St. Bart’s...
Just a city boy,
Solving double murders with joy.
He took the midnight tube
Going to St. Bart’s...
*****
Molly Hopper suppressed a yawn as she waited for the tube to arrive. As the newest pathologist at Bart’s, she was picked on to get the worst night shifts and to respond to late night calls, like this.
Two murders taking place at the exact same time, in two different parts of the city. Coincidence? Molly’s supervisors didn’t think so, so here she was, sleep deprived and having already worked twice her normal hours during the past two days.
The tube arrived, and Molly got on, surprised to find it rather full. The only seat available was next to a handsome man wearing a black coat and blue scarf.
Molly approached him and asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
He didn’t respond. His attention was focused on a pile of papers spread out before him.
Molly cleared her throat and tentatively tapped his shoulder. “Excuse me, but is it okay if I sit here?”
The man looked up at her with the most piercing eyes Molly had ever seen. “What? Oh, yes, fine. Whatever.”
Molly took her seat as the tube began to move. The man returned to his work, and Molly glanced over to see what he was doing.
The papers were covered with names, dates, equations, and lines connecting them all, but Molly couldn’t make any sense of it.
Conversation was never her strong point, but she decided to try anyway. “If you don’t mind, what are you working on?”
The man didn’t look up, but said, “Double murder case. Same time. Different locations. I’m trying to find the connection.”
Molly nodded. She knew the case he was talking about. “And who are you? A detective from Scotland Yard?”
The man looked at her with an air of disgust. “No. The name’s Sherlock Holmes. I’m the world’s only consulting detective. And who are you?”
“M-Molly,” she stammered. “Molly Hooper.”
“Well then, Ms. Hooper, tell me. Why are you headed to work so late?”
Molly sat stunned for a moment. “How did you -”
“I observe. You’re wearing a lab coat, so some form of scientist, I assume. Probably a pathologist. You’re sleep deprived, so obviously the new girl at work. And you’ve got your badge on backward, by the way.”
Molly hastily fixed her badge, then said, “And where are you going?”
“Bart’s. I want to take a look at the cadavers they just brought in, but the idiots at the front desk won’t let me inside. Gah, if only their puny little minds could comprehend the importance of this.”
Molly hesitated a moment. She knew she could get into trouble for letting an unauthorized man into the lab, but he seemed to know what he was talking about. Besides, Molly didn’t want to part ways with him so soon.
“I...I could get you in,” she said quietly.
Sherlock looked at her with interest. “You could?”
Molly nodded. “If you want to take a look, I can let you. That’s where I’m headed right now, for the same reason as you.”
A smile passed over Sherlock’s face. “And you don’t mind giving a total stranger clearance to come in?”
Molly shook her head.
“Hmm...I think I might just take you up on that offer,” Sherlock said. “By the way, you don’t mind me using a few...different methods on the cadavers, do you?”
Molly felt confused. “I suppose not. But what -”
“Never mind, what,” he said crisply. “Just get me in. I’ll handle the rest.”
*****
Molly sat horrified as she watched Sherlock use his “methods” on the two cadavers.
He’d cut open their skin for blood samples, then started beating them both with a riding crop that had appeared out of nowhere. He’d ordered Molly to run several different tests on the blood, and she had, but he quickly returned to beating the cadavers repeatedly.
“Bruising formations,” he explained. “They can make all the difference in the world.
And yet, even with all his strange and somewhat grotesque ways of going about things, he was very thorough, and Molly couldn’t help but feel somewhat attracted to him.
A few hours later, Sherlock looked up from his microscope with a cry of delight. “Poison!” he cried. “Timed to work it’s deathly magic at exactly 10:00. That’s how the murders were done at the same time. I still don’t know why or who, but that can all be dealt with later. The important thing is, I’ve figured this out!”
Molly looked up from the dish she was working with. “That’s brilliant!” she said.
“Yes, and it’s all thanks to me.”
Molly looked down, embarrassed that she had hoped for some words of praise.
“Oh, and thanks for letting me in.”
Molly forced a smile. “Yeah, sure. Any time.”
Sherlock looked at her closely. “Really? Any time?”
Molly felt her breath catch. Letting in a stranger once was bad enough, but letting him in whenever he wanted? That was dangerous.
But, he was...rather attractive. Molly hoped to see him again, and if this was the only way to do it, then...
“Yes. Just...call me if you need anything?”
Sherlock jumped up and hugged her quickly, something which Molly thoroughly enjoyed.
“Ah, yes! Cadavers at my fingertips!” he shouted. “Molly Hooper, you’re a life saver!”
*****
As they walked out of Bart’s, Molly bid Sherlock goodnight and headed off for the tube.
Sherlock Holmes is an intriguing man, she thought to herself. But he is pretty brilliant. Molly sighed contentedly as she walked the deserted streets. Yes, Sherlock’s methods were a bit odd, but she was sure he’d get bored of them soon enough.
Besides, how many cadavers could he beat, anyway?
This is great!!! Loved this glimpse of Sherlock and Molly's first meeting.
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