221B: The Tragedy at Leinster Gardens

[marysutherland]

BBC Sherlock

Rating 12 (major character death)

Spoilers for His Last Vow

It's obvious to DI Dimmock what's happened.

"If I die here, my body will be found in a building with your face projected on the front of it. Even Scotland Yard could get somewhere with that." - Sherlock Holmes, His Last Vow

"It's clear what happened," DI Dimmock announces cockily, surveying the crime scene. "Mr Holmes shot Dr Watson dead and then collapsed in shock. Died soon after from internal haemorrhaging."

The DC beside him says doubtfully, "Why would-"

"-Because he'd been shot himself two weeks earlier by an unknown assailant," Dimmock goes on relentlessly. "His attacker supposedly broke into CAM Global News looking for Magnussen, but for some reason decided to kill Mr Holmes instead. DI Lestrade thought Holmes might have recognised the shooter, be planning to track him down himself. Looks like he got his revenge eventually, doesn't it?"

"You think Dr Watson shot Sherlock Holmes?"

"Obvious suspect: used to firearms and got a nasty temper. Claimed he was in Magnussen's office below the penthouse, mysteriously unaware of his friend being in danger upstairs."

"Why didn't Magnussen...?" The DC finally spots that criticising Dimmock's theories isn't a good career move. "But Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were devoted friends. Why would one of them attack the other?"

"You saw the projection rigged up outside, didn't you? The femme fatale on her wedding day. I hate these love triangles. Some poor sod'll have to break it to Mrs Watson that she's the real reason for this happening."

***

Sherlock wakes, shuddering, in his hospital bed: his morphine-induced nightmares aren't normally quite this bad.

Comments

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely!

[marysutherland.livejournal.com]

I must confess, I do take a special pleasure in writing fics where either Sherlock or Mycroft realises that he has made a complete hash of a plan.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful! I was almost disappointed when it turned out it was all Sherlock's fevered imagination about how wrong Scotland Yard could be!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Actually, thinking about it, given Sherlock's previous encounter with Mary it may have occurred to him that he and John had better both be wearing something likely to stop a bullet just in case. I presume he had a couple of hours to send Bill off to fetch something, in between shifting furniture and planting perfume bottles at 221b.

[marysutherland.livejournal.com]

The problem is that even if both Sherlock and John have bulletproof vests on (and I bet you can't get one on beneath The Coat), that's still no protection from a head shot by Mary (time to develop twin armoured-plated deerstalkers, perhaps?) Thinking it through for another fic, I realise that the best protection Sherlock has is actually Bill Wiggins himself. Mary knows that he is bright and working for Sherlock and can put her on the spot at the time of Sherlock's death, so unless she can track Bill down and kill him as well, then she's still going to be suspected at least. (There is obviously tasteless crack fic to be written in which Mary has to progressively slaughter all of Sherlock's acquaintances as they in turn work out what she's up to, while oblivious!John is worrying about how he can keep his wife safe from a mass-murderer during her surprisingly frequent ante-natal classes.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Bill is an awfully useful person. I do hope we get to keep him.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Somehow I imagine the nightmares may even get worse.