Human Error - Sherlock Fanfiction

Chapter ten - dead man

After our talk with Sebastian, we discovered that the main issue was that there was a hole in Shad Sanderson Bank security. No door opened last night whilst the artist came and gratified on the walls, and the culprit came and left within sixty seconds. It was interesting to say the least, and to top it off Sebastian was willing to pay us five figures or more.

Not long after our informative chat with Sebastian, all three of us hop out of a taxi and stood outside a block of flats. John paid the driver before we approached the expensive looking apartments. We-- well, Sherlock discovered that the graffiti on the wall was a message for someone at the bank working on the trading floors. By finding the intended recipient, it will hopefully lead us to the person who sent it.

Sherlock also started to waltz around the trading floors like a lunatic, which was something to do with the pillars and the screens. There were very few places you could see the graffiti from, which narrowed the field considerably -- which also led Sherlock to a certain man. Sherlock pressed the door buzzer marked 'Van Coon' but there's no response.

"So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back?"

I looked at the number of buzzers on the wall and stepped back slightly. Sherlock did the same, except he looked up the front of the building. "Just moved in. The floor above. New label." He says, pointing to another buzzer which has a handwritten label saying 'Wintle' written on.

"Could have just replaced it." John says.

"No-one ever does that." Sherlock replied before pressing the buzzer. Soon enough a woman's voice comes over the intercom.

"Hello?" Ms Wintle said. Sherlock turned to the camera and smiles, and that alone brought a smile to my face. It was just amusing to see Sherlock putting on a 'I'm just a normal, harmless human being' look and voice.

"Hi! Um, I live in the flat just below you. I-I don't think we've met." He started, grinning prettily into the camera. I had to turn away for a short moment to hide the broad smile on my face. Despite how adorable he was being it was quite interesting and odd to witness Sherlock act like this.

"No, well, uh, I've just moved in." She responded through the intercom. 

Sherlock turned to throw a brief 'told you so' glance at John, then turned back to the camera. "Actually, I've just locked my keys in my flat."  He grinned, biting his lip plaintively.

"D'you want me to buzz you in?"

"Yeah. And can I use your balcony?"

"What?" She asked, surprised. A little taken aback by his question. Nevertheless she lets us in and Sherlock managed to flirt his way into Ms Wintles flat, me tagging along whilst John waited outside Van Coon's apartment door, despite his complaints about us forgetting about him while me and Sherlock continued to investigate the place anyway. Me and Sherlock now stood on Ms Wintles balcony, looking over the side of the ground several floors below.

"We're going to have to climb down into his balcony," Sherlock informed, glancing at me, "Is that okay?"

"I knew we'd be doing something like that anyway. Come on, let's go." I vocalised before I could stop to over-analyse it. I didn't waist any time before climbing over the side of the balcony and carefully dropping down onto the one outside Van Coon's flat, ignoring Sherlock's shocked stare. I don't know why he seemed so surprised; he must have forgotten I'm not one to hold back. Because of this me and Sherlock got into all sorts of trouble when we were kids for being adventurous, especially when it came to breaking the rules. We loved excitement. 

Soon enough Sherlock joined me onto the balcony I was on, and he reached out for the handle on the door, finding that it was unlocked. He opened it for me and allowed me to go in first, to which a thanked him by giving him a smile. I glanced around the elegantly decorated living room. Clearly the dude that had been living here was wealthy, with the white, leather furniture, shiny black tables and minimal clutter.

"Nice place." I commented, eyes falling upon a stack of books on a table, but it was nothing that I thought I'd enjoy reading. Sherlock walks into the kitchen, and I follow after. He opened the fridge and reveals that it's full of bottles of champagne, and I was about to comment on it until the front door to the flat buzzes.

"Sherlock! Ella!" John called out from the other side of the door. 

"He's persistent all right."

At this Sherlock chuckled lightly at my comment before he moved into the hall, opening the door to the small bathroom and looking inside. I go up to another, larger door and try to open it but discover that it's locked.

"Damn." I muttered, attempting to pull it open again but with no luck. "Sherlock." I called him over, thinking he could help.

"Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in!" John's voice still emphasised through the flat as he knocked on the front door, trying to get out attention. Sherlock just continued to ignore him, and so did I for a short time whilst we tried to search the flat.

Sherlock turned to his side and shoulder-charges into the door, making it burst open instantly. He walks in, me following after. And we both find a man in a suit and overcoat lying on his back on the bed... dead.

I freeze for a moment as I stare down at the corpse. There is a pistol on the floor, and the man has a small bullet hole in his right temple. "...Suicide?" I finally speak up, my voice quiet.

"No." Sherlock answered, walking out of the room. I paused for a moment, until I realise what he just said.

"No?" I narrow my eyes, confused to why he didn't rule it out as a suicide. I follow after him like a lost puppy, in need of more answers.