The Doctor's Daughter | Wholock {1}

Chapter 14: Flowers

The drive to the university was uncomfortably long. Kimmy had finally stopped crying, though her eyes were now itchy and puffy. She gazed out of the window as the cab came to a stop in front of an old-looking building. She stepped out of the cab while Sherlock told the driver t wait for them, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. "So this is the university?" she said, looking up at the buildings.

"Yep," Sherlock answered, leading the way towards one of the buildings. "What do you recall from John's books?"

"A terminally ill cab driver was tricking people into killing themselves," she said without hesitation. The Study in Pink was one of her favorite cases. "He had two bottles filled with pills—one bottle held pills that were harmless, the other pills would kill whoever took them—and would let his victims choose which pills they wanted to take and he would take a pill from the opposite bottle. He tried to kill you the same way, but Dad shot him."

"John told you that?" Sherlock asked, sounding shocked, as he held the door to the building open for her.

Kimmy couldn't stop herself from laughing. "No, he didn't. I always guessed that was what happened, but he always denied it. You just proved he was lying."

She could practically hear Sherlock roll his eyes. "You remember a lot," he commented as they started walking up a flight of stairs.

"It's one of my favorite cases," she replied with a shrug. "That and the Golden Pince-Nez."

"The what?" Sherlock asked, sounding confused.

"You haven't gotten that case yet, have you?" Kimmy asked, feeling embarrassed.

"No," he answered, shaking his head. He held open another door for her and added, "Third room on the right."

"So this is where you first learned about Moriarty?" Kimmy said as she looked around the room.

"Yes," Sherlock answered. "Look over there." Kimmy followed his line of sight and saw a bouquet of white roses sitting on a table.

"Flowers?" she asked, confused, as she followed him to the table. "Why would Moriarty leave flowers here?"

"I have no idea," Sherlock said, looking at the flowers. Now that they were closer, Kimmy could see strands of ivy woven into the bouquet. A piece of blue fabric held the flowers together. "Is that a bowtie?"

"It's the Doctor's," Kimmy explained, instantly recognizing it.

"The Doctor wears bowties?" Sherlock sounded a little amused.

"So?" Kimmy asked. "Bowties are cool." As she spoke, she noticed a small envelope stuck in the middle of the bouquet. "What's that?"

Sherlock carefully pulled the envelope out of the flowers and held it where she could see it. Written across the front in delicate calligraphy were the words the Consulting Detective and the Doctor's Daughter. The envelope wasn't sealed, so Kimmy could see there was a note inside. Sherlock examined the envelope for a moment, then handed it to her and said, "Can you read that note out loud while I look around?"

Kimmy nodded, pulling the note out of the envelope. "Hello Mr. Holmes and Miss Watson," she read. "I trust you didn't have any problems finding the starting place. I wouldn't get too comfortable with easy puzzles if I were you. Your next one is a little trickier. Do you like the flowers I left you, Kimberly? If you want to see your mother or your precious Doctor again, then go to the place where I got them. Just to make sure you play fairly in our little game, I have a few rules for you to follow. First, you only have forty-eight hours from the time I called you. The second rule is that you and Sherlock must work together—if he is in 221B, you must be there; if he goes to Bart's, you must accompany him. If either of you break these rules, I will kill the Doctor and Mary. What do you think—Sherlock, do I need to read all of this?" she asked.

"Every word," Sherlock confirmed without looking up from the flowers, which he was now examining with a small magnifying glass.

Kimmy nodded and looked back at the note, forcing her voice not to shake. "What do you think will happen when I do, Kimberly? Will you keep living your life from here on, or will you disappear? I'm actually curious to find out. Hope to see you within the next two days."

"Is that all of it?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes," Kimmy confirmed, putting the note back into the envelope. "What do we do now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for lack of updates. Between school and trying to outline two other stories, I've been slacking with this one. Again, I'm sorry.

I just realized I never clarified when this takes place from the Doctor's standpoint. It's supposed to be sometime after Amy and Rory are taken by the Weeping Angels, but before the Doctor meets Clara.