a lovely date for a murder, don't you agree

[deductivedetective]

Neither of them called it a date. Sherlock may not have been the most socially up-to-speed person, but he knew what this was; what John was asking. He humored him and agreed, not pressing the matter. It wasn't unusual for them to to be together anyway, even before this. In fact, catching them without the other was even more odd.

It wasn't too fancy, anyway. The Chinese place down the street was good, and authentic (according to Sherlock's verification), and reasonably priced for two men sharing money. The atmosphere wasn't romantic, at least. Sherlock imagined the pressure on John would be lessened if just for that reason, even if he didn't understand the big deal.

"Eating in today for once, eh, Sherlock?" the host asked with a polite smile as they entered. "Two, then?"

"Yes, thank you," Sherlock said, looking at John. "Any plans after this, by the way?"

Comments

[deductivedoctor]

"Very reassuring," John said.

Police surrounded the building within minutes. They roped off the area with tape, uniformly lining up all the staff and guests for questioning. Lestrade showed his face not long after. He checked in with a few of hia men before recognizing Sherlock and John in the center of thee room. Extending a courteous nod to a few police he had been chatting with, he excused himself, making his way over.

"So you think it's the supplier? Any leads beyond that?" Lestrade pressed. "We've got a
few bodies you could look at. Same story with each of them, though. Seems to be quite a cocktail this guy's mixed up. We've identified at least three different poisons already."

[deductivedetective]

Sherlock gave a curt nod to Lestrade in greeting.

"No, had it been the supplier half of London would be dropping dead. It's gotta be somewhere along the line. That's why I suspect the deliverymen, and what lead me here.

"And yes, I'd like to see the other victims if possible. And get me samples of all the poisons."

[deductivedoctor]

"Best you hurry down. And no tampering with the bodies," Lestrade said, scribbling a few notes down on a clipboard. "That's evidence."

"I guess we'll be off then," John sighed out. So much for dinner. He wasn't exactly disappointed that a case had decided to rear its head. Far from it, in fact. The means that Sherlock had introduced him to this particular case, however, was questionable. And he was still hungry.

[deductivedetective]

The corners of Sherlock's mouth lifted in the telltale excitement of a case to crack.

"No time to waste. We should also check on this delivery center," he said, handing John and Lestrade two business cards. 'The Southbay Delivery Boys.'

[deductivedoctor]

Despite having four bodies lined up in front of him at the morgue, and the fact that seeing a murder would destroy the appetite of most men, John seemed to have no problem eating the burger he'd picked up along the way. And although all their victims had fallen to various meat-related poisonings, John felt considerably safe because he reasoned that fast food wasn't really made of real meat at all. He watched Sherlock inspect the bodies, answering questions when he was needed and confirming symptoms when asked about the poisons.

Molly, who observed them from the lab table, had offered them some information and some paperwork-- as well as a polite "You're not allowed to have food in here, you know," Which John had just nodded along with and ignored.

[deductivedetective]

Johnson had certiainly picked up some bad habits from Molly, and while Sherlock didn't seem to mind, he did advise him not to drop crumbs on their victims. He pulled out his retractable magnifying glass, beginning to scrutinize the bodies. There were subtle differences between the different poisons - and Sherlock was able to make a match based on that.

"Victim two had the same poison as our man just moments ago," he announced.

[deductivedoctor]

"And the others?" John asked with a mouth full of burger. "Why would the poisons only match on two of the bodies?"

[deductivedetective]

"Perhaps it's a pattern," he said. "Two- no, three different killers? Same motive..?"

[deductivedoctor]

"A bit odd, isn't it?" John remarked. "If they're collaborating it'd be easier to use the same thing."

[deductivedetective]

"A fair point. I'll need to study the poisons closer," he said. Sherlock took off his coat, ready for a night in to study. He clapped his hands together in excitement.

[deductivedoctor]

John crumpled the wrapper of his late lunch, stowing it away in nearby bin. He took off his coat following Sherlock's example, assuming it meamt they were going to be stationed there for awhile-- or at least until Sherlock got what he wanted out of the bodies.

"So how long should this take, exactly?" John asked. "Are we taking samples, then? Lestrade said not to tamper, you know."

[deductivedetective]

"All night, maybe," he answered vaguely. He was still circling one of the bodies, searching it up and down. "There should already be samples put aside. Besides, Lestrade knows better by now."

[deductivedoctor]

"All night," John repeated to himself, his tongue clicking in his mouth as if he didn't quite understand the texture of the words. He swallowed a breath of air, stepping up closer to the bodies.

"OK, yeah," John mumbled out, leaning down the give the bodies a second inspection. "Not like we had anything else planned for tonight."

[deductivedetective]

"Let's go ahead and go to the lab," he said, pulling the sheet back over the second victim. "I'll ask Molly for samples. And coffee."

[deductivedoctor]

John must have fallen asleep at some point during the night. The shuffling of Sherlock sorting lab equipment and the smell of cleaning fluid has roused him. The last thing he remembered when he came to was scribbling a list of contents down on a piece of paper, the same piece of paper, in fact, that was stuck to face. He peeled the list from his cheek, placing it back on the table and looking at it bleary eyed. He then looked at his watch. 5:30 AM.

John looked over at Sherlock, who seemed to be putting things away. Was he done? John didn't bother asking. nor did he bother asking if Sherlock had slept at all.

spoilers: the killer is calibri

[deductivedetective]

"Good morning," Sherlock said, with every sign that he was just as conscious now as he was eight hours ago. He was indeed putting away equipment and slides, having scrubbed them all back to their original state. At the very least, he was very sanitary about everything - or just knew how to leave no trace that he was ever there.

"Our killer is quite clever, actually. He's been perfecting this poison. Each of them seem to be stages, and it has finally become stable." Try as he might (not), he couldn't hide the excitement in his voice at his discoveries through the night. "A very deadly, neat concoction."

oh noooooo

[deductivedoctor]

"Oh," John said, grasping at the cold cup of coffee that had been neglected since the odd hour of the morning thay John drifted off.

"Oh,"John repeated with an inflection that meant he was awake. "So these people... They're test subjects. Jesus... Are we going, then? To the delivery truck lot?"

[deductivedetective]

"I'm sure Lestrade is already there investigating," he said. "Unfortunately, he won't find anything. We would've caught him by now had he just been a delivery man. But I think he's using it as a disguise."

[deductivedoctor]

"So what now?" John asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "We just wait for a new lead...?"

[deductivedetective]

"He's definitely following a pattern," Sherlock answered, throwing on his coat, looping his scarf over it. "I just need to see the delivery center's schedule." He looked at his watch. Lestrade was probably done hours ago. He jammed in a couple texts, only to get one in return that read:

sherlock for heaven's sake go to sleep -GL

He frowned at both the screen and lack of information given in return. (And the lack of grammar. The detective inspector was probably half-asleep himself.)

[deductivedoctor]

John picked himself up from the table, grabbing his coat and draping it around his shoulders. He threw his half-finished, Styrofoam encased coffee in the bin. He saw Sherlock's soured expression when he glanced up. "Dead end?" John said, but he knew the answer. "We should head back to the flat. No delivery truck is going to be making rounds at 5AM, anyhow."

[deductivedetective]

"The point is to catch him before he makes rounds," Sherlock said, clearly displeased with the halt in their progress. He sighed, tucking his phone away. "Closed Sundays, anyhow," he added begrudgingly.

[deductivedoctor]

"How about you get some sleep first," John suggested. "We'll see what we can do once the rest of the world is awake."

[deductivedetective]

Sherlock only gave a hum in response, flipping the lights once they were out the door.

On the cab ride back to the flat, Sherlock had still stayed awake. John nodded off now and then, sometimes landing his cheek into his shoulder before jolting up again. As they arrived, the sun was beginning to rise, basking Baker street in a gray, morning light. A fog had started to accumulate as well. Sherlock urged John along, seeming to still be perfectly conscious throughout their trip up the stairs to their flat.

"Are you going to sleep more?" He didn't really have to ask, but Sherlock was probably going to invite himself along unless John requested otherwise.

[deductivedoctor]

“Well I only got around two hours at the lab,” John admitted.

Once in the flat, he climbed yet another zigzag of stairs up into his room. He wasn’t surprised to hear Sherlock trailing behind him. About a week had passed since Sherlock had made John’s room his own. Sherlock still used his own room, of course, but only on a few occasions, and rarely for sleeping. Unless John locked the door, there was no privacy to be had. Actually, if John locked the door, there was no privacy to be had either. It was a bit irritating, but of course, irritation was inescapable with Sherlock Holmes as a flatmate. John couldn't be bothered to lay down some boundaries. They wouldn't be listened to, anyway.