Human Error - Sherlock Fanfiction

Chapter eighteen - trapped outside

After finally discovering that what we thought was the artists tag was actually numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect, we decide to head towards a cafe which is near by. Me and Sherlock start to write some of the Hangzhou numbers and their English equivalents onto a paper napkin, whilst John sits opposite us on the table and waits for his meal to arrive. 

"Two men travel back from China. Both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium. What did they see?" I began quietly, not tearing my eyes away from the paper napkin. 

"It's not what they saw; it's what they both brought back in those suitcases." Sherlock corrected.

"And you don't mean duty free." John then spoke up, before a waitress came and brought a plate of food over not more than a couple of seconds later, placing it on the table in front of John. "Thank you."

"Think about what Sebastian told us; about Van Coon – about how he stayed afloat in the market."

"Lost five million..."

"Made it back in a week." Sherlock finished, "That's how he made such easy money."

"So he was a smuggler?" I voice as John takes a mouthful of food. "A business man like Van Coon - it would have been perfect."

"Making frequent trips to Asia. And Lukis was the same, a journalist writing about China."

"Both of them smuggled stuff out, and the Lucky Cat was their drop-off."

"It doesn't make sense." I sighed, "Why did they die? If they both delivered what they needed to, why would someone threaten and kill them after they've finished the job? Unless they made a few enemies. Seems a bit unlikely though."

John mumbled something in agreement before eating some more of his food. Sherlock leaned back in his chair thoughtfully for a few seconds, then his lips tugged up into a small smile. "What if one of them was light-fingered?"

"How d'you mean?" John spoke up once swallowing the food he was chewing. 

"Stole something; something from the hoard."

"And the killer doesn't know which of them took it, so he threatens them both." I pin together, looking at Sherlock with a smile plastered on my face too. "Now we're getting somewhere."

He glanced out of the window and eyes something outside, causing me to do the same although I was unsure about who or what we was staring at.

"Remind me, when was the last time that it rained?" He asked, but didn't bother waiting for a reply. Instead he stood up and exited the restaurant, causing me and John to exchange looks of confusion. John seems irritated that he has to leave his food without eating it all, and sits back in exasperation but dutifully getting up. 

"Damn." He muttered, before we both followed after him. We made our way across the road, where Sherlock is crouched down and is examining a book of some sort. After getting closer I realise that it's the Yellow Pages. The plastic wrapper still had drops of water on it and the top has broken open a little. Sherlock runs his fingers over the top of the wet exposed pages of the directory. "It's been here since Monday." He tells us, straightening up and pressing the doorbell to the flat. 

"They're probably not in." I say, before Sherlock steps back and looks around, noticing an alleyway. Once again Sherlock walks off, me and John following after.

"No-one's been in that flat for at least three days."

"Could've gone on holiday." John suggests.

"D'you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?" He retorts, reaching the rear end of the building and looking up at the cantilevered metal fire escape that was above us. I open my mouth to say something, but Sherlock takes me by surprise by taking a short run at it and jumping up, grabbing the end and pulling it towards him until it touched the ground.