storyline one.

[docwithablog]

chronology -

00. word association w/ Sherlock

1. gen texting w/ Sherlock

2. the case of the missing first violinist w/ Sherlock

3. the case of the missing first violinist w/ Sherlock

4. the case of the missing first violinist w/ Sherlock

5. the case of the missing first violinist w/ Sherlock

6. texting w/ Sherlock

7. texting w/ Sherlock

8. texting w/ Sherlock

9. texts from last night w/ Sherlock

10. the case of the dying detective w/ Sherlock

11. the case of the dying detective w/ Sherlock

12. the case of the dying detective w/ Sherlock

13. the case of the great game w/ Sherlock

14. the case of the great game w/ Sherlock

15. texting w/ Sherlock

16. otherwordly w/ Sherlock

17. the case of the navel treatment w/ Sherlock

18. the case of the navel treatment w/ Sherlock

19. the case of the navel treatment w/ Sherlock

20. the case of the navel treatment w/ Sherlock

21. texting - part one | texting - part two w/ Sherlock

22. the case of the navel treatment w/ Sherlock

23. texting w/ Sherlock

24. the case of a scandal in belgravia w/ Sherlock

25. texting w/ Sherlock

26. the case of a scandal in belgravia w/ Sherlock

27. the case of a scandal in belgravia w/ Sherlock

28. the case of a scandal in belgravia w/ Sherlock

29. truth or dare w/ Sherlock

00. texts from last night w/ Sherlock

30. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

31. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

32. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

33. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

34. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

35. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

36. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

37. texting w/ Sherlock

38. the case of the devil's foot w/ Sherlock

39. the case of the devil's root w/ Sherlock

00. word association w/ Sherlock

00. texting w/ Sherlock

00. penny for your thoughts w/ Sherlock

40. midnight texting w/ Sherlock

41. interlude w/ Sherlock

42. interlude w/ Sherlock

43. interlude w/ Sherlock

44. texting w/ Sherlock

45. the case of the sign of three w/ Sherlock

46. the case of the sign of three w/ Sherlock

47. the case of the sign of three w/ Sherlock

48. texting w/ Sherlock

49. texting w/ Sherlock

50. texting w/ Sherlock

51. anniversary w/ Sherlock

52. texting w/ Sherlock

53. interlude w/ Sherlock

Comments

19.

[acuriousincident]

[ The small cafeteria is mostly empty, save for him and John and the kitchen personnel. Now and again, a dancer pops by for a cup of coffee (typically a re-fill) - lunch break isn't for another two hours. Doesn't stop John, of course, from chomping down a plateful of pasta salad. Sherlock watches him, one eyebrow raised in quiet amusement. ]

So, the facts of the case are these: [ He holds up his hand. ] Alice Boulton dies on stage from apparent heart attack, the tox screen coming back negative. No pre-existing heart condition, she's lived an above averagely healthy life and was in the midst of a blooming career. The timeline so far goes back eight months, to the untimely and frankly mysterious demise of Amber Verity's orange tabby, attributed to the cat's age or simple negligence despite her pleas to have the incident properly investigated. Two months later, a ballerina suffers a case of acute diarrhea during a show. No signs of food poisoning - [ He gestures in the direction of the kitchen. ] - kitchen in the clear.

[ He steeples his fingers beneath his chin. ]

We know Alice Boulton was popular. Aside from Amber Verity, she didn't have any obvious enemies and even then, it's doubtful that Amber would go as far as to murder her just to get ahead. It's dramatic, certainly - [ Giving John a disapproving look here, just because drama's for losers. ] - but unlikely. Now, what about the sick ballerina? [ He lowers his voice a fraction, speaking just as much to John as to himself: ] What might've happened there?

[docwithablog]

[ It's a good pasta salad.

You can't go more than a few hours between meals with Sherlock, because you never bloody know when he's going to take you on a five hour hike through London or get the both of you stuck in a sex dungeon, locked from the outside. Yeah, you simply can't be sure -- better to eat when you've got the chance and hope it'll last you until next time it presents itself. Listening intently while Sherlock runs through the case, likely poisoning, apparent heart attack, dead cat, random case of acute diarrhea, he stuffs his mouth with another forkful of pasta drenched in pesto and chews, looking over at Sherlock, watching him right back. This is what he lives for, honestly. Not the pasta salad, this, them. He raises an eyebrow at Sherlock's question, in his head running through the long list of ailments that could cause acute diarrhea on stage. ]

Nervousness can upset the bowels, but -- [ A frown. He gestures a bit with the fork, a sweeping movement to the side, like Sherlock deleting stuff out of his head, except John isn't quite that disciplined and mostly does it to hold his own focus squarely on the case, the evidence, the tiny details that he knows he's missing two thirds of, compared to the idiot sitting opposite of him. ] -- why should she be nervous? She'd danced her part a dozen times before, there was nothing new or difficult about it. No reason for nerves. [ Popping another mouthful of pasta into his mouth, he thinks it over, chews slowly. ] Unless she's suddenly developed a severe allergy to tulle or, I don't know, type 1 diabetes, there's got to be a factor we don't know about yet.

[acuriousincident]

[ He listens as John takes him through the medical considerations, all of which make perfect sense and fit his main hypothesis quite neatly. He nods, then steals a pasta screw (fusilli, whatever) from John's plate. Pops it in his mouth and chews - chewchewchew - before replying: ]

Let's assume for a moment that we have a poisoner on the loose. [ He smiles, feeling rather gleeful at the prospect. ] Unless it's a slow-working toxin, the person in question would have to be someone with access to the backstage areas in order to poison someone during a performance. It's happened twice, presumably, lending strength to that argument. Interesting timing, isn't it? [ He steals another screw. ] Poisoning people in front of a live audience, knowing full well that you're the only one who'll appreciate exactly what's happening. As for Verity's cat, well. Someone who knows the ins and outs of the social hierarchy wouldn't expect anyone to care about its death, considering how much they seem to dislike her. Evidence so far points to an insider, though in the ballet world - [ Third screw, nimble fingers, gone. ] - that could be quite a number of people.

[docwithablog]

[ Sherlock steals one of his pasta screws, John's fork halting mid-motion while he follows the thing all the way to Sherlock's mouth. Chew, chew, chew and it's gone, substituted by a long monologue, very in character for him, really. To make claim to John's plate rather than getting his own, because he's a poor eater who manages to have a food intake like an anorexic ballerina at the best of times. John would know, he's treated a few. And while he runs them through the evidence of poisoning, just hypothetically -- they don't know yet and Sherlock hates when John assumes, doesn't he, John watches the movement of his jaw, his lips, tightening, relaxing, fingers popping in another screw, tightening, relaxing... He licks his lips and puts the fork down altogether, forcing himself not to. Not to visualize it. Not to imagine... it. Come on, he's really not -- Damn it.

A purse of his lips. Focus on the case, please, focus -- yes. Okay. ]

Both the backstage crew and the costume department would have some insight to the social workings of the troupe, though with obvious blind spots. Could be someone from the management. [ Pause. He's mostly done thinking about Sherlock naked, breathing out his name while he kisses... his way... up. Yeah, good. Very good. ] Could be another dancer. While I worked at the Royal Ballet, a ballerina pushed one of the others down the stairs. They get obsessive about these things.

[ Very briefly he thinks about Louise. A memory that is in every single way inferior to the memory of Sherlock kissing him and coming all over his hand, not that he's comparing. There's crazy and then there's whatever it is they're doing now. Probably needs its own label, to be fair. ]

[acuriousincident]

[ ... John certainly isn't looking at the pasta screws, is he? Sherlock's jaw tightens just as his skin heats up again; Christ, stay focused! Don't think about John's lips or his fingers or the way it feels when he -- stop. Stop. He pushes his chair back, its legs scraping loudly against the floor and gets to his feet, keeping his hands stuck in his pockets as he paces backwards, then forwards, then backwards. The facts. Of. The Case. ]

Yes, that's exactly what I should do, were I a ballerina in need of a chance and slightly too stupid to achieve it any other way. [ He flaps a hand in John's general direction. ] Cause injuries, make it look like an accident - but murder? Premeditated, even? [ He shakes his head. Looks at John's mouth briefly before tearing his gaze away. Focus. ] We need more data, John. They haven't cancelled the show this afternoon, I say we join them backstage for the run-through and keep our eyes open.

[ A beat. Then, he checks the time on his phone - several hours left, good, that's enough. ]

Seeing as you've worked in this milieu before - if not a fellow dancer, who would've been the last person to talk to her before she went on stage?

[docwithablog]

[ At least Sherlock isn't just saying it out loud this time, if nothing else that affords John a minimum of dignity.

There might even be a moment, right before the man checks his phone, attention obviously called back to the matters of the case, where Sherlock gives his face a look, making John raise an eyebrow at him. A small one, he can't exactly afford much of an attitude right now with how he keeps thinking about shagging like a hormone-ridden teenager. Christ, he's forty years old! Get a grip, man. John pushes the plate off to the side.

Not to be left behind, which is the very likely risk you run when you're around Sherlock Holmes, especially when he's deduced that you're thinking about him naked and he'll have none of it, John gets to his feet as well, leaving the rest of his pasta salad behind, unfinished. Okay, one can hope they won't go on a wild goose chase for the next couple of hours.

Seeing as you've worked in this milieu before, says Sherlock.

Well, maybe not a wild goose chase, then, if that's the person Sherlock's looking for. They should, if all works out, be right here at the theatre. John licks his bottom lip once, pushing the remnants of his thoughts from before aside and glancing towards the exit, thinking out loud: ]

It's a small company, but they'll probably have at least one dresser. Depending on the costume-situation of the performance, they could have talked to Alice minutes prior to her death.

[acuriousincident]

[ John pushes the plate aside and gets to his feet. The mood changes, instantly. Sherlock looks him over briefly - ready, yes, totally at work as he should be, it's fine, they're both fine - before nodding once, curtly. ]

All right.

[ He gets out his phone and texts Russell (need to talk to your dresser -sh) before heading towards the entrance. As far as murder cases go, this is interesting in the sense that it could progress to a double murder within long if his theory is right. It's boring, though, for all its similarities to a previous case, quite notorious. Scandalous, really, that the Met hasn't even made the attempt to draw any parallels here. Copy cats, he thinks, feeling a twinge of disgust. So unimaginative. At least it isn't Jack the Ripper this time around. Sherlock flat-out refuses to deal with those, it's like listening to a song consisting of the same three chords again and again and again.

Yes, quite an easy case to solve which is probably fortunate in its own right, considering the utter distraction of John thinking about sex in his general vicinity. He strides onwards, leaving the other man to follow in his wake. ]