Sheridan Holmes: A Study in Red PART 5

It was very hard. They searched every bus stop in the city and she was no where to be seen. The only people they did find were hobos and an old man. They were at the last bus stop when Lestrade finally told Eli, "I don't think we're going to find her Eli."

"We can't stop looking." Eli was standing at the edge of a group of policemen that were looking at this bus stop.

"Eli..."

Eli knew where that was going, she'd heard a fireman tell her that when her parents died and when her cousin died. It meant they were giving up.

"You don't know Sheri like I do, the next morning she'll be at the police station with that murderer. For now the best thing we can do is not get in her way." Eli sighed, he was right. From what she dug up off the internet, Lestrade had been at Sheri's side for some of her biggest cases and he was the only one who protested when she had been taken into custody for the nun accident.

"It just feels like she'll be in trouble. You know, like she rushed in there too fast."

"She does this all the time, if she were in trouble there'd be a sign of some sort."

"I guess you're right."

"Do yourself a favor and get some rest, Eli. We'll find her in the morning." Lestrade left with the rest of the police, and gradually the bus stop cleared of people until only Eli and a homeless person were left. Eli wanted to stay, but she knew in her head that Lestrade was right.

She began to leave when the homeless person walked up to her. She was a young woman with oily blonde hair and ratty old sweater rapped around her.

"Holmes?" she asked. Eli turned in surprise, "I did what you asked, the contraption's all set up for you. Still don't know what you'll do with-"

"I'm sorry have we met before." the homeless lady turned her mouth in confusion.

"Miss Holmes, you asked us to set up the wood at that old warehouse. The boys are already down at the McDonald's stuffing their mouths, but you asked me to wait here for you." Eli thought for a second.

"Are you sure it was me?"

"You were wearing heels, but yes, it was you. You said you'd be asking a lot of questions."

"But I didn't..." then a thought struck her, "Which old warehouse?"

***

Sheri was sitting across a table from the bus driver, Wally Spinners. Her hands patiently folded on her lap and her brown wig sitting on the dusty table. She waited for the bus driver to get on with his plan.

He was a slightly pudgy white guy with a thinning head of black hair. He was still wearing his uniform, a blue short-sleeved shirt and gray pair of shorts. His hat was still covering his bald spot. In his hand was a semi-automatic pistol pointed directly at her. Sheri could easily have taken it from him, but she was curious as to where this was going.

"...I never would take bus fare in pennies. Takes to long to count, plus they fill the machine up to fast."

"Fascinating." she said sarcastically, "Now can we get to the part when you kill me before I die of boredom."

"They said you were an odd bird, Holmes. I just didn't expect you to be so eager."

"They?"

"That's right, didn't expect there to be more did you?"

"More Bus drivers bent on lowering the population? No I find that hard to believe. So you have an employer or a guild. I'd already deduced that much." Wally smiled.

"Sheridan Holmes, the great detective. I can see it now." Sheridan didn't react. "You know, most people say you just have this big trick you do, but it's not is it? All that stuff you figure out, it's just your brain working it all out. I'd love to know how it works."

Sheri sat unmoving.

"Come on, we're both smart enough to see it all. The way people try to cover stuff up, but it's never enough is it? The evidence is as clear as day. So, come on, tell me about the trick."

"Sounds like you understand how it works. Tell me, what is your trick. How'd you get them to take the poison." his smile quivered for a second. He pulled a bottle out of his pocket with his free hand, followed by a second bottle. He put them on the table with a smile.

"Two bottles-" he began

"One with poison, the other without." he nodded.

"You pick which one to swallow I take the other."

"I don't gamble."

"No? Then I guess you're free to go."

"You're holding a gun." he set the gun down next to her hand.

"Like that would keep you here. If you didn't want to be here you'd leave." Sheri leaned back in her chair. "You want information from me, but that won't happen, so I guess you can pick your bottle or leave."

"This wasn't just you. It couldn't be."

"I think it's this one." he pointed to a bottle to her left.

"There's no motive. No reason. No anger." Wally shook a bottle next to his ear. "This has been a much bigger set-up. Someone doesn't want me back on the scene. Who are you working for?"

"If you live long enough I'll tell you." he set the bottles down and moved them closer to her.

"If I choose right then you die before you can tell me. If I die then the information is worthless. No I like my odds better not taking a pill."

"You're just chicken." he tapped the table.

"And you're dying." his smile quivered again, "What is it? Brain tumor?"

"They say I have only a year left. He said he'd pay me to get your attention."

"So you decided to start a serial murder to lure me out, for money you can't use. No, what's the real story. Ah.... Black mail." he closed his eyes.

"He said he'd have her killed if I didn't do it. He came up with the whole plan."

"Who?"

"My daughter, she's in the hospital. Only alive because he's paying her bills." Sheri rolled her eyes.

"Not her, him. Who is paying you?" Wally smiled again, pushing the medicine bottles closer. Sheri looked at the window of the door for a second. "3 hours, 6 minutes, and 12 seconds." she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, just making a mental note of how long it would take for you to die after taking the pill. Of course the pain would be to much for you to speak."

"How do you know I'll take the poison. You could take it."

"There's a 68% chance that I'm correct."

"I like those odds."

"I'll bet my life at 98% accuracy. Did you know that there is a 98% chance that someone in my shape surviving a building fire if I get out within the first thirty minutes." Suddenly the fire alarm sounded.

***

Eli knew what the plan was now. She found Sheri in an old manager's office with the killer. Sheri wanted her to do what she did best. She even left her the wood and gas to do it. A good fire would give her the right distraction, but from what? He wasn't even holding a gun to her head.

***

The building was so dry that it caught fire almost instantly. The office was on the first floor so the heat and smoke filled the air within a few minutes. Wally began to try the window as an exit.

"Did you know why this building was condemned? A few years ago the fire marshal discovered that the owner was so paranoid he made the windows impossible to open from either side. If the main room were to catch fire, he'd be trapped in here. Funny how those kind of ideas end up costing a lot more than they protect. Am I right?"

"Then how are you going to get out?" He said frantically. She opened her bag and pulled out a bandana and a water bottle. Pouring the water over the fabric she rapped it around her mouth.

"I'm not, I'm waiting for the fire department. And you're going to tell me who you're working for."

"You're crazy. We have to get out of here." He pulled the door open and tried to leave, but the fire forced him back.

"That's the driest wall I've ever seen. Guess putting gasoline on them was not a good idea." he pushed the door closed and tried the window again. "Now how about you tell me who I'm looking for?

"We're both going to die!"

"That's just the science, mathematics, and logic talking."

"You are CRAZY!" his eyes stung with smoke and his throat suddenly felt scratchy.

"I'm so glad you see that. Now who are you working for?"

"Help me with the window!" she shrugged.

"Why? Are you scared? I bet Susie was scared." Wally banged on the windows with his fists as hard as he could, but they wouldn't budge. "Here's the deal, tell me who you're working for and I'll help you get out."

***

Sirens sounded all around Eli, she had called 911 before she set the fire, so they got there in time. Since then she'd been shoved to the side as the emergency people did their job. It was nerve racking to be waiting again, but eventually a nice paramedic let her see Sheri.

Sheri was sitting on the edge of an ambulance with her feet dangling out because she refused to lie on a stretcher while they took care of her burns. She was wearing the same exact T-shirt and jeans as Eli, but hers were darkened by soot.

"How embarrassing," Eli called to her, "We're wearing the same thing."

"Yes, it would seem so." Sheri smiled.

"What happened?" Eli asked, desperate to fill in the missing details.

"Well, apparently when he took me in to kill me, he dropped a cigarette and the whole place went up. Lucky for me you were near by to call the fire department." Eli rolled her eyes.

"How on earth did you find the right bus?" Eli smiled.

"No idea." Sheri said sarcastically. She pulled out a tube of lipstick and began applying the bright red shade to her lips. "Guess I just stumbled upon it at the right time."

"You found it before didn't you? You were testing me!"

"I would never!" Sheri said sarcastically.

"Sheridan!" someone yelled to the girls.

Sheri rubbed her head. "Oh, god no." a tall woman in a red suit with a black skirt walked up. Her blonde hair pinned up for business. "Who called you?"

"I'm your emergency contact. Every time you do something like this, they're going to call me."

"I thought I hacked that." Sheri frowned angrily.

"Then I put it back in." the woman smiled slyly, causing Sheri to glare up in anger.

"Sorry. Who are you?" Eli asked. She held out her hand for Eli to shake.

"Myka Holmes, mayor of Buffalo-"

"This is my sister." Sheri suddenly looked like she wanted to be anywhere else, "She's the ruler of America."

"But America doesn't have a ruler." Myka and Sheri looked at each other.

"Sure." Myka said, "You must be Dr. Watson. The Pyro."

"Whatever." Eli fixed her ponytail nervously.

"No need to show off, My."

"No need to run set buildings on fire. Shirley." Sheri sneered, "Don't worry, we'll avoid the court case this time."

"Family feud?" Eli guessed.

"Wonderful deduction." Sheri said sarcastically, "But I prefer to call it: my sister being a pain in my butt for all eternity."

"You were always so emotional. You got that from dad."

"Your dad." Myka had a vague look of discomfort.

"Yes, my dad." Myka looked her sister up and down, "I thought we talked about this." Sheri sighed and looked around the ambulance in apparent boredom.

"I don't have to listen to you." Sheri picked through her pocket contents.

"I worry about you. These habits are just foolish." Sheri pulled a piece of wire out of her pocket and began to fiddle with it. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"You don't want your reelection hurt!" Myka sighed.

"Grow up."

Eli wanted to just walk away, but she understood that Sheri needed someone here for moral support, even if it was from someone normal.

"I'm going to talk to Lestrade." Sheri said vaguely angry as she jumped off the ambulance and walking away with a limp just visible in her stride.

"You need to watch her." Myka told her. Eli looked up at the politician. She looked just a little bit concerned behind her political poker face. "She seems like she's fine, but she is so unstable."

"What habit were you talking about."

"My sister has a lot of ticks that she believes assist her thinking. Anorexia, sleep-deprivation, smoking, and a number of drugs that I don't care to mention. If she looks like she's having a relapse please do call me." she handed Eli a card blindly, as she walked away.

"Is she gone?" Sheri said quietly from behind Eli. Eli jumped from fright. "Good."

"Do you have to do that?" Eli asked, clutching her heart.

"Got to get your heart pumping one way or another." Sheri swiped Myka's card from Eli's hand and tore it up. "My sister worries too much. I'm as healthy as can be. She's never approved of my career, mother and her always wanted me to be a politician or an heiress. It was Mr. Holmes who really raised me." Sheri looked as down as Eli'd ever seen her, which still meant she only looked barely on the verge of a tear.

"Why do you call him Mr. Holmes?" Eli just couldn't help asking.

"Myka's my half sister, on my mother's side. Bless his heart, he loved me like his own." Eli could tell that Sheri was counting in her head to calm herself down. "But let's not dwell on My's. You have questions." She suddenly looked eagerly blissful.

"Yes, what was with the homeless person."

"Homeless network." She said, tapping her iPhone screen, "They're my eyes and ears around the city. Every now and then I need someone who won't look suspicious to do a job."

"And you gave them money to set up the fire for me." she nodded.

"Homeless people are a lot smarter than people give them credit for."

"So you dressed up me to make sure they knew to contact me."

"I don't know how you wear this stuff." she sneered at the purple shirt she was wearing, "But I suppose it was worth it. I got what I needed." Sheri began to walk away from the ambulance, a big grin on her face.

"And that is?"

"Moriarty."

"What?"

"Who, Dr. Watson," Sheri said over her shoulder, "Who."

***

Walking home from the warehouse, Eli was thinking about something, which was as Sheri says "A strangely inefficient in comparison."

"Sheri?" Eli asked as they hit their street.

"No." she said quite blandly.

"You didn't even hear my question."

"I don't need to." She walked up the stairs to the building, "What ever Myka told you it's not true." she walks into the hardwood floor of the apartment building.

"So you don't do drugs." Sheri opened her apartment and walked inside. Eli could hear the sound of locks clicking from inside 6A. Eli sighed and went to 4A, fishing around in her pocket she found a card. She pulled it out and realized that the ninja gene must run on their mom's side.