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Lestrade moved through the scene with a sick feeling in his stomach. There was blood everywhere and if he had to guess he assumed that was the stale smell of piss.
The room was a slaughtering ground, and it was going to take the crime scene guys days to catalog everything. Lestrade had tried getting more of them assigned to the case, but he knew they were stretched thin as it was.
More so, considering this is the sixth scene like this in the last three weeks.
All of them were office buildings where the entirety of the staff was executed over the course of an hour.
The perp had several accomplices who helped corral the employees. Then they were all lined up kneeling on the floor. Each person had their arms bound, so they couldn’t fight back, and their ankles were zip-tied together so they couldn’t run.
Most were shot in the head. A quick death. Some were shot in the chest. Which according to the coroner, took considerably longer. Then there were those shot multiple times in multiple places. Some in spots he would rather not think about. Those poor bastards.
It seems those victims lived long enough for whatever sick games was being played with them.
Lestrade found himself grateful for Donavan when she informed him that he was needed outside. Anything to get out of that space.
He followed her down to the building’s lobby where Sherlock and John were waiting for him with grim expressions.
“Is it him again?” John questioned with apprehension in his voice.
Greg just nodded not really knowing what to say at this point.
“Anything different?” Sherlock asked. He was strangely on edge, but then again. They all were with this going on.
“Not so far. Everyone dead, similar format to how the others were found. All three scenes are clearly the work of the same people.” He informed really needing a cigarette right now. If he thought Sherlock wouldn’t try to take it from him he would have stepped out to have one. The last thing they needed right now was Sherlock on nicotine.
The consulting detective and his blogger were giving off concerned looks. Johns was directed towards the detective inspector while Sherlock’s were looking towards the floor above. “Sherlock, do you have any thoughts as to why he might be going this? Anything at all?”
Greg watched in anticipation as Sherlock made his thinking face. When it shifted to one of anger Lestrade felt fear. “Nothing. It…this doesn’t make any sense. None of these companies have anything in common, nor do they have a lot of value. I see nothing for him to gain by killing these people.”
“Do we think it is him trying to get your attention again? Another game?” John suggested.
“No.” Sherlock informed quickly. “That wouldn’t make sense. If it was for my attention he has it. If it was a game he would be telling me about some elaborate setup. Doing this doesn’t fit into his usual preview.”
Greg sighed. “Are we even positive this is him?”
Sherlock nodded tightly. “You saw the footage. He has been seen entering and leaving the building of each attack with a crew of no less than six. It has to be him. Moriarty.”
They all take a deep breath at the name.
“We need to start working on where they might strike next. There are approximately over a million businesses in London. He could be setting his sights on any one of them. I have already narrowed it down to just over 300,000 based on size and location. That’s still too many to keep eyes on.” Sherlock informed before letting out a noise of frustration.
John sighed at his partner's clear anger.
Greg didn’t listen as the two snapped at each other. More like Sherlock snapping at John and John trying to calm him down. How those two managed not to kill each other on a daily basis was one of life’s greatest mysteries for the detective inspector.
“Just…work on it yeah? Whatever he is doing now has led to the death of over sixty people so far. We need to stop him, and we need to stop him now.” He reaffirmed before turning to go back up to the scene.
“Please god let us stop him now.”
%%%
Four days later
Bethany was sitting at her desk unsure of what to do with herself. All of her duties had been done at the start of the week, but her boss hated when she looked like she wasn’t doing anything. The young woman had asked for more work, but her boss had not appreciated that.
In fact, she wasn’t very appreciated at this company.
She worked for a startup as an accountant. Numbers had always come naturally to her, so when her family had needed help with the bills she agreed to seek employment. Her mother had helped her get this gig even without a degree.
That was part of the reason her co-workers didn’t like her. They felt she was underqualified to be doing such work. She disagreed. Just because she hadn’t taken classes for this specifically, did not mean she couldn’t handle this job. The fact that she tore through work as if it were made for a primary school worker should have shown that well enough.
From where she was sitting Beth could see her superior looking over at her for the fifth time in as many minutes. When their eyes connected the older woman slowly pushed back her chair getting ready to make her way over to have another talk.
These talks usually consisted of her criticizing the younger woman’s clothing choices and then making comments about how she needs to try to fit in here more.
A small part of her hoped she would just get fired.
If they fired her she might be able to go to Uni. now that her family's money issues have sorted themselves. Her step-dad was nice enough and loved her ma, so she couldn’t really ask for anything else.
As Julie, her boss was approaching her desk the smug look on her face was quickly replaced with one of horror.
Beth was confused about the change until she heard the sound of gunshots behind her.
Quickly she turned to see seven men standing at the entrance of the office. Six of the seven had on ski masks and black gear. The other, obviously the leader, was the only one with his face uncovered.
He was shorter than the others, but he still looked to be around average height. His eyes were covered with dark sunglasses that made him look menacing. The suit he was wearing was crisp. One that would have fit into an office environment if it weren’t for the gun in his hand.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Sorry to interrupt your day, but…well I’m not really, so why lie. If you would all be so kind as to stay where you are until one of these gents comes to collect you it would be appreciated. Or don’t and we’ll see what happens.” He motioned with his gun making it clear to her what would happen if they ran.
Seemed some of her co-workers didn’t understand that. They tried to run only to be shot before making it far.
Beth was frozen in her seat. Fear was gripping her tightly, but she was trying to keep herself calm.
She of course had heard about what was going on in the news, but she had never thought they would come into her office. If she had to guess that had been everyone’s thoughts.
Eventually, a masked man made it to Julie and tied her arms before guiding her over to kneel where everyone else was before securing her feet.
Beth watched trying not to cry as the man returned to her. He ordered her to stand and then secured her wrists all the same. As he guided her towards the others she could see the fear and panic taking over them. Most were crying. A few even sobbing.
After several more minutes, everyone was lined up, including those who had been shot.
“Well, now that we're all set we can begin.” The leader said coming to stand in front of them all.
Beth couldn’t force herself to look at him. She never liked looking people in the eye. It was something that irritated her step-dad. Still, she could see enough while looking at the ground by the man’s shoes.
He was walking back and forth in front of them at a leisurely pace.
“Now, we’re all going to play a little game. I have a riddle for you all. You each get one answer, if someone answers it correctly, they get another question. If they can answer four additional questions, that’s five total with the riddle, then me and my friends will walk out of this building and leave everyone else to their pathetic lives.”
He paused for the dramatics of letting them think they had a chance of living. “If they get one of the later questions wrong, they die, and the next person gets a new riddle. Sound fair?”
It was a rhetorical question and they all knew it. Around her Beth's head, some people's cries die down while others ramped up.
“Alright first riddle, we shall start with an easy one. What disappears as soon as you say its name?” He asked giving them a moment to collect their thoughts.
Beth watched him as he approached a man named Christopher. He was the head of marketing. “Let’s start with you.”
Christopher shook as the man held a gun to his head. “I don’t…please…I.”
There was a loud bang and no more sounds from Christopher. Beth shut her eyes tightly. She didn’t need to see that. Blood made her squeamish on a good day and this was not a good day.
“Shame. Didn’t even make a guess. I suggest you lot try a little more.” He commented before moving towards the other end of the line. He pointed his gun at someone else Beth guessed still not wanting to look.
“F…fear.” A woman’s voice squeaked.
The madman considered this for a moment before another shot rang out and along with the horrified sounds of her co-workers was the sound of a body hitting the floor.
“You’re a fucking psychopath!” One of the men yelled. From the anger in his voice, Beth guessed it was Markus an older very angry gentleman.
She opened her eyes to confirm and found that she was right. The man moved closer to him raising his gun to his head. “Well, you would be mostly correct.”
Beth gasped as this guy shot Markus. Instead of shooting him in the head like she expected he shot him in the knee causing him to scream in agony. It seemed he was being punished for speaking out, but not yet killed.
“Alright, who's next?” The guy asked moving again. This time landing on Paul the owner of the company.
“Silence.” He muttered out sounding sure of himself.
Beth glanced up towards the madman trying to see his response. A strange smile formed on his face. “Good. Finally, someone who gets it. Now then…second question. What is the capital of India?”
Paul took a deep breath. “New Delhi.”
“Very good!” The man yelled starting to get more animated.
“Third…oh this is getting exciting. What is 651 divided by 7?” He asked getting into a crouch, so he was right in front of Paul.
Someone off to her right gowned. Paul was not very good at math. That was a known fact amongst all of them.
“And…I’m feeling generous, so I’ll tell you it’s a round number.” He said almost as if it was a joke amongst friends and he didn’t have a gun in his hand.
Paul smashed his eyes shut trying to quickly do the math in his head. The answer was instantaneous to Beth, but she knew it wouldn’t be good for her to say anything. Saying something now could get them both killed.
“80…87.” Paul said trying and failing to sound sure of himself.
Beth felt her breathing pause as the man raised his gun again shooting Paul in the head. Then, he jumped up back to a standing position. He did a weird neck stretch before speaking again. “What a shame. Oh well.”
He laughed before spinning back towards the remaining ones. “Next riddle. This one is my favorite, so…try harder. Alright, a woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain?”
Beth could understand why he liked the question. Seemed violence was a big thing for him.
Before anyone could answer someone off to her right managed to stand and tried to fight the gunman behind them. They fell to the ground quickly with a bullet wound in their chest. He wasn’t dead yet.
They could all hear him struggling to breathe, but Beth didn’t think he could live long with a wound like that.
“Boring.” The main man said before spinning away from the dying man. “Anyways, back to our game. You, what’s the explanation?”
He was pointing to Julie who was sobbing uncontrollably. “I…I don’t…please just give me another minute…please. I…”
“Another minute? Sure.” He laughed before shooting her in the shoulder. “Don’t worry my dear it’s not life-threatening. Just the price of another minute.”
Julie was sobbing louder now.
“Who’s next? Ah, you go.” He said pointing to a person on the other side of Beth.
“Her husband’s corpse? She ate dinner with his dead body.” Chelsea stated.
Another shot and another body hitting the floor.
“Come on. It’s like your all not even trying.” He half yelled before straightening out his suit. “Someone give me a good answer before I get angry.”
He turned pointing his guy at another guy, Randy. “I um…resuscitation. She…did those things but brought him back to life or fixed him up. He’s a masochist, so he was…into it?”
This caused the madman to chuckle. “Oh, that’s fun. But, still wrong.” He said before firing again.
Bethany’s heart just about stopped when his fancy Italian shoes stopped in front of her. She felt the surprisingly still cool metal of the gun against her temple.
She took another deep breath focusing all her attention on his shoes before speaking. “She’s…his wife is a photographer. Took his picture and developed it.”
Beth waited for the shot to come and for the world to disappear, but it didn’t. Not yet anyway. “Finally, someone cleaver. Let’s see just how clever my dear. Question two how many subway stations are there in London?”
Taking a moment Beth collected her thoughts before answering. The gun made her feel rushed, but she guessed he wouldn’t mind if she took a few extra seconds. If he did mind he would probably just shoot her and be done with it.
“270.” She said before remembering something she had read last winter about the homeless population. “Well, 270 that are still in use. There are approximately 40 stations both above and below ground that are not in use for travel, but still physically there.”
She didn’t raise her head from his shoes, but she could feel a little of the tension lift when he crouched down to be in front of her. She still didn’t look up, but the gun did leave her head.
“You remember his math problem from before, or need me to repeat it for you luv?” He questioned almost playfully.
“I remember it. 93 is the answer.” She muttered not liking how close he was to her but knowing she couldn’t really move away.
The madman gave a soft chuckle. “That’s not really fair, is it? You’ve had all this time to think about it. It might seem unfair, but I’m going to ask you a different one and seeing as I make the rules…”
He trailed off at the end bringing the gun back up to her head. “What is 756 divided by 28? To be fair it’s another round number.”
“27.” Bethany answered without hesitation. This was numbers, she knew numbers.
The gun went away. “Oh, finally we have someone fun. Let see. Question four. Should be a good one I think. Oh, I know, any idea what type of gun this is luv?”
Beth shuddered. “A revolver.”
The man gave a tsk. “Come on dear. You can do better than that. Take a look.”
He brought the gun down, so it was in her line of sight without making her look up. She studied the weapon and forced herself to remember everything her father had ever told her about guns. In her early childhood, he subscribed to a few gun magazines from America, and she had looked at each issue at least once while waiting in his car.
“It’s a…Smith and Wesson. Specifically, a safety hammerless.” She said feeling surprisingly confident in the answer.
The gun was removed from her sight and Beth felt less confident. “Mm…looks like someone came prepared for the test finally. Never had anyone get number four right. One more. Better make it a good one then.”
Beth couldn’t believe it. One more question and she might actually get to leave with her life today. She wanted to finally cry, but she knew she couldn’t yet. She needed to keep her mind clear for whatever crazy question this crazy man was going to ask.
“Question five. What should it be? Something important. Yes…” He muttered seeming to be thinking of a question.
From somewhere behind her one of the men spoke in a sullen tone. “Boss.”
She wasn’t looking, but if she had to guess the two men were staring at one another for several moments.
“Fine you big bore. I’ll get on with it. Here.” He said thrusting his phone in front of her face. “Can you tell me who this man is?”
Beth studied the photo. There was something familiar about the man. He was dressed in a long black coat with the collar pulled up. He had dark curly hair. The most notable feature about him was his high cheekbones.
She started racking her mind thinking of who he could possibly be. She didn’t think he was a movie or television star, she watched enough to think she would have remembered him. Not a politician either.
Looking at the picture again she noticed he was walking out of a crime scene. Just past the yellow police tape. A police officer maybe, but that didn’t work. He wasn’t in a uniform at the scene. Perhaps a detective.
Detective.
That word was catching in her mind. Her mother, before meeting her step-dad had been on and on about some cute consulting detective. Beth had found that silly. What even was a consulting detective?
She had looked into it. No photos back then, but there were a few articles. They had led her to a blog.
“Sh…Shell…no…Shlock…right Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes.” She finally said praying that she was remembering right. There wasn’t much else she could do at this point.
Allowing her eyes to close again she waited for the bullet to come.
When after a few moments it didn’t she wasn’t sure what to think. Finally, something happened, but not what she was expecting. She felt a hand on her chin. It wasn’t doing anything more than touching her right now.
After a few more breaths the madman spoke. “Finally. Do you have any idea how long it took to find someone in this town worth a lick luv?”
Beth didn’t know what to do with that statement. Or with the hand on her chin. In fact, her entire brain was short-circuiting with the fact that she wasn’t being shot right now.
“Oh here, let me.” The man said pulling a knife out from seemingly nowhere. Beth tensed, but the grip on her chin tightened minutely keeping her from actually moving. “Relax pet.”
He leaned down reaching behind her to cut the zip ties off of her feet.
Even though they weighed nothing she felt like they had been the only thing keeping her upright. As if he could anticipate her almost falling over the man reached out pulling her to her feet.
She stood a few inches shorter than him. “Now, let’s get a look at you.”
Beth felt his eyes racking over her form. Appraising his apparent winner of whatever this game was supposed to be. She didn’t care. She just wanted whatever this was to be over.
“Boss don’t have time for all this.” The same man from before called. This earned him a growl from the shorter man.
“We have time for whatever I say we have time for.” He snapped sounding so loud right next to her.
She jumped in fear of the noise, but that only caused his hand to tighten on her chin even more. It still wasn’t painful, but she didn’t like it. The man sighed at her. “He is right though luv. We don’t have much time. First things first. My name is Jim Moriarty. Hi.”
There was a pause after he said that. During that time, she allowed the name to wash over her. She had never heard it before. For some reason she expected his name to jump out to her as if he were a comic book villain, but it didn’t.
“You know traditionally now you would tell me your name.”
Beth was so confused by all of this that she actually scolded herself for being rude for forgetting to introduce herself to a madman. “Bethany Simons.”
Finally, the hand on her chin did something. It jerked slightly so that she was forced to actually look him in the eyes. She didn’t know when in this process he had taken his sunglasses off, but at some point, he must have because his brown eyes were gazing at her.
“There we are.” He said offering what was probably meant to be a kind smile. It wasn’t. Something about it was dark and demanding. “Yes, you will do just fine.”
Beth was going to ask what that meant, but she didn’t have time to as she felt a pinch in her neck and the world spinning around her. She didn’t fall out of consciousness right away. Instead, she was floating in and out as things happened around her.
She only half understood what was happening when Jim’s arms wrapped around her. Her hands were still bound. At one point all she could think about was the feeling of Jim’s suit as it pressed into her face.
That was the first thing that gave her the idea she was being carried. However long it took for that information to get to her brain was too long, because as she finally started trying to fight her way out of his grip she wasn’t strong enough.
Right before she passed out fully he spoke to her. “Come now luv. Don’t be like that. You’re going to love your new home.”
Her mind was trying to focus on the word home, but all she could think about before the world went black was the sound of gunshots she thought she could hear.
%%%
“Lestrade!” Sherlock yelled blasting into the fresh crime scene.
Greg turned having already expected a response like this. “I tried to keep him out sir, but…” Donavan said getting waved off by her boss.
“He took someone?” Sherlock questioned spinning around the room taking in the carnage that it was. “Only one?”
“Yes. Bethany Simons. 20-year-old accountant here with the company. Been with them since she turned 18. She is on the video footage being carried out by Moriarty himself. This time, he left the full security footage for us. It's cued up for us in the lobby.” He explained motioning for the two men to follow him.
Together they went downstairs where the tape was waiting for them. They watched it in the entirety once and then Sherlock watched it once again getting really close to the screen. When he finished the second bout his body sagged.
“Good news is this should be the last killing of this kind. He’s found what he was looking for.” The consulting detective informed glancing between the two men.
John looked worriedly towards his roommate. “What was he looking for in that girl Sherlock? Someone who can answer pointless questions? What good is that going to do him and why bother taking her in the first place?”
“He was testing her critical thinking skills. All of their critical thinking skills in a wide array of areas.” Sherlock explained.
Greg was confused. “Sure, but what does he need her for and why take her like that? He is a man of means. Surely, he could have searched for someone with the skills he needed and offered them a job like a normal person.”
“But he isn’t normal.” Sherlock challenged. “And it wasn’t just her critical thinking skills. It was everything.”
When he realized the other two weren’t following Sherlock fell back into the chair more. “He went after the ones reacting poorly first. Switching between those who were angry and those who were crying to get them out of the way and force the others to be serious about their answers. To know their life is on the line because of it.
She wasn’t crying and she wasn’t making eye contact. As you noticed her head was bowed almost the entire time. She wasn’t challenging him. At least not in that manner. No, her challenge came from the fact that she could answer his questions.
Onto the questions, the first was a riddle. Something anyone has a chance of guessing, but that needs to be marginally cleaver to get correct. Then there was the question about subway stations, a bit of London trivia.” Greg interrupted him.
“Apparently, she is very good at trivia. She has been on a pup trivia team since she was sixteen. They are league champ every year.” He explained earning raised eyebrows. “Her mother is a talker. Didn’t seem too upset with her daughter being missing but wanted to gloat about her accomplishments.”
John nodded in understanding while Sherlock still looked confused. That wasn’t new for any of them, so the genius continued explaining.
“Right, so the question was London trivia, but she went above and beyond to answer it. He liked that about her. The fact that she was trying to please him with more information than he asked for. Then there was the math question. She answered it right away. Not only did she answer it once. She answered twice without getting angry that he asked her two questions.
He was changing the rules of the game to see how she would respond. When she didn’t challenge him, she was showing him that she would comply when he does one of his crazy changes. That she could bend to what he needs.
The gun question was simply to see that she understood them. I think by his face he would have been fine with the revolver answer, but his grin after she said more indicates that he wants her to know more. He likes that she knows about, at least on some level guns.
Finally, the question about me. It was simply to gauge how much she knew about him. He couldn’t ask his own name. That’s too hard to find, but me. I’m public. Someone who could be found.
She knew me, so she knows enough by his standards. Enough to be suitable.”
“Suitable for what Sherlock? What is he going to do to that poor girl?” John demanded.
Sherlock made an unreadable face.
“Jesus, Sherlock we need to know.” Greg snapped. This was all too much.
The genius glanced towards the Dr. before turning back to the detective inspector. Greg felt something heavy set over him with Sherlock's gaze. “He wants a John.”
John made a noise at that, but Sherlock kept his eyes carefully on Greg. He was avoiding looking at John altogether which was speaking volumes in itself. Sherlock was always looking towards his roommate. Whether it was to make sure he was alright or to see that he was impressing the other man with his deduction skills.
“Is he going to hurt her?” Lestrade asked carefully.
Again, Sherlock refused to look at John. “It depends entirely on what he makes of John’s and my relationship. I know there are rumors, not all of them pleasant. It is going to depend on what he believes.”
John made a choking sound.
“Shit,” Greg said unsure of what else would do or say. “She’s so young. Still just a kid really.”
Sherlock took a moment to collect himself before standing. “We must prepare. The killings as they are will stop, but…I fear he has something much worse in the making.”
“Something like what Sherlock?” John questioned.
Sherlock finally looked towards him. “Grand gestures to get her on his side.”
“Well, that could be a good thing right. From everything we have seen she is a normal and good person. So, maybe she could tamper down his…urge to kill.” John suggested.
“No. That is the highly unlikely scenario. Logic stands that he would break her spirit before she could wear him down.” Sherlock said looking almost sad.
The Dr. shook his head hearing that. “No. No, we have to help her. Sherlock, we have to save her.”
Lestrade nodded in agreement. He could only watch as Sherlock leaned towards John. The genius paused for a moment before putting his hand on the shorter man’s shoulder in what he guessed was supposed to be a comforting manner. “We will do everything for her we can. I promise.”
%%%
Beth awoke to her face pressed against a soft pillow. Her head was feeling think and clouded. She had half convinced herself she had just awoken with a cold. That was until she realized she wasn’t in her apartment that smelled a little of pot from the last tenants.
Instead, everything smelt of lavender.
Forcing herself up she found a room that was clearly not her bedroom. It was a little bit bigger than her room, but there was a loo attached rather than out in the hallway. Plus, all of her dirty clothes weren’t strung about all over the floor.
Her current outfit was the same as the one she had been wearing the day before. The only thing missing was her shoes. Someone had taken them off when they put her to bed, but they hadn’t left them in the room with her.
It took her a moment to get her bearings when she stood. One of the first fully functioning thoughts that came to her head was that there was a large wall of windows off to her right. Moving towards them with all the coordination of a newborn deer her head thudded against the cool glass.
She wished she hadn’t allowed that to happen when she saw how high up it was. Beth had never been a big fan of heights. Her apartment was on the fourth floor and that was plenty high for her. This room was at least thirty stories up. The mere sight of the ground so far away was enough to make her feel sick.
Forcing herself away from the sight she quickly staggered towards the room's door. It was surprising to find it unlocked.
Slowly, she made her way out of the room and down the hallway. It took her longer than she was expecting as she was unsteady on her feet, but she made it out to a living room in a reasonable amount of time.
There was no one there, but she could hear voices coming from the kitchen. Just as she was thinking about trying to sneak past, Jim and another blond man entered the room pausing their conversation when they saw her.
Jim’s face instantly split into a grin while the other man’s remained neutral. “Ah, your awake and earlier than expected. Though…you shouldn’t be moving around too much yet. Those drugs cannot possibly be out of your system yet luv.”
He moved towards her placing hands on her shoulders. “Come, dear, let’s sit you down.” Jim placed her on the black leather couch gently before throwing himself down next to her. The man was casually lounging while keeping a little distance from her. His knee was touching hers, but she wasn’t brave enough to move it away from him.
Not after she had seen him kill plenty of her co-workers.
The blond man moved onto a black leather chair across the room from them. “Right, you two don’t know each other yet. Beth, this is Sebastian my snipper. Seb, this is my new flatmate Bethany.”
“Flatmate?” She questioned softly. In her opinion, she had done a good job of keeping her voice lightly questioning.
It seemed to work because Jim didn’t get mad. He just sent her a soft smile. “Of course, luv. How do you like your room by the way? I went with black furniture, but if you proffer another color we can get whatever you want.”
Beth took a quick breath. “Black is fine.”
She didn’t want to upset him by not responding or responding too slow. Just because she didn’t see a gun right now didn’t mean he didn’t have one. Not to mention he introduced the other man as his snipper.
“Good. We didn’t manage to get to your old apartment before the police, but not to fear. As I said, we can order anything you need. I already have some clothes on the way. Just the basics. Is this your usual…style?” He asked motioning towards her outfit.
“Um…yes.” She muttered feeling subconscious about her clothing choices. More so than when her mother would comment about it.
Jim studied the outfit for a moment longer. “Nerdy. That will be fun. Although we need to get you some better brands. I’ll schedule for my tailor to drop by tomorrow.”
Beth was going to protest until he got a hard look on his face. Instantly her mouth closed, and the look fell away. It was like he knew what she was thinking. That thought creeped her out, but at the same time, it would be easier to not piss him off if he were warning her what not to say with his facial expressions.
She didn’t think pissing him off would bring her anything but harm.
Causally Jim reached out resting a hand on her knee. Beth almost jerked away at the contact but forced herself to remain still. This seemed to please him as he started to use his thumb to gently rub the top of her black jeans. She knew it was supposed to be soothing, but she hated the feeling.
She did not want this man touching her.
Too afraid to say anything Beth moved her eyes to the floor in front of her and started playing with a loose thread on the bottom of her sweater vest.
Jim seemed to approve of this action as well since the circle on her knee got larger. After another moment he started talking with Sebastian again as if she weren’t there. They picked their conversation up from right where they had left off.
They were talking about shipments that they were handling. Beth tried to ignore what they were saying. The less she knew about him the better as far as she was concerned.
Beth wasn’t sure how long they sat there. Her head was still fuzzy from the drugs, and it was making it hard for her to keep her eyes open. At some point, Jim must have noticed her state because she slowly awoke as he was repositioning her on the couch.
“Shh. Don’t get up. I knew you should have still been asleep. You just rest here, and I’ll wake you for dinner. That’s it. Back to sleep luv.” He said as he placed a pillow under her head.
After a moment, a blanket was placed over her. She couldn’t tell if it truly was a weighted one, or if her body was so out of it that a normal blanket felt that heavy.
She awoke once again several hours later to someone gently shaking her.
Rolling over she found Jim standing over her with a kind smile. “There we are. Come on, dear. Let’s get you some dinner and then off to bed. You should be feeling more yourself tomorrow.”
He helped her stand and then guided her over to the kitchen where a table already had takeaway waiting. Beth wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to be acting, so when Jim led her to a chair she sat without hesitation.
“I hope you don’t mind. I just ordered from a place I saw often on your credit card statements.” He explained motioning towards the food on the table. It was in fact from a place she ordered from when she hadn’t had time to do the shopping.
“It's…lovely thank you.” She said trying to please the madman.
Jim nodded grabbing some food out of the containers for himself. He found at her when she realized she hadn’t moved. “Well go on.”
She hesitated for only a second more before grabbing some food for herself. This seemed to please him enough for him to go back to eating his own food. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jim tried to start some light conversation. “So, how is it?”
“Um… it's good. Thank you.” He was still looking at her expectedly, so she kept her eyes focused on the table. “I’m surprised it kept this well.”
She could feel his eyes boring into her from the other side of the table. “What do you mean by that?”
There was something cold in his voice. Cold enough to cause her to tense. The two of them sat in silence for a moment until he slammed his hand into the table causing her to flinch. “Explain!”
Words instantly started pouring out of her mouth. “Um…it’s just that we're on the opposite side of town from this restaurant and its…it’s not a chain or anything…so…I’m just surprised that it…um kept.”
“And how do you know where we are?”
“I…um…looked out the…the window. The one in…the room I woke up in.” She choked the words out unsure of what he would do about this development.
Jim remanded quiet for a while before letting out a laugh. It was a loud laugh that startled her more than the silence. “Oh…that is good. Clever girl. Was it landmarks that gave it away? I wondered if this flat was too high up.”
“Yes.” She whispered earning another laugh.
“Brilliant.” He whispered more to himself than to her. After a few more moments he started eating again, so she followed suit. The food really was good, so at least that was something Beth had going for her. “So, is that something you have always been good at? Locations?”
Beth considered the question for a moment. “In London I suppose. I’ve seen most of it before, so I remember everything that really stands out.”
“What about places other than London?”
She frowned. “Um…I haven’t really been anywhere else. A few smaller towns when I was younger, so I suppose I know them.”
Jim smiled at her even though he knew she wasn’t looking at him. “Does that mean you don’t know about anywhere else?”
“I’ve seen them. Other places I mean. On like maps and such.” She explained before taking another bite of food.
“As in like you look at a map and then remember everything about it? Like all of the street names and such?” He questioned sounding very interested.
Beth just nodded.
“Is that like a photographic memory?”
“I um…I don’t really know. I’ve just always been good at remembering stuff.” She explained hoping that would be enough of an answer for the crazy man sitting across from her.
“Well, that is something we are going to have to look into. Photographic memory. That would be fun.” He continued thinking about that for a few minutes before deciding he wanted the conversation to continue. “So, what is it exactly that you do at that boring office? Or should I say what did you do?”
Beth ignored the ‘did’ part of his question. That wasn’t something she needed to be thinking about right now. “I’m an accountant. I do all the numbers and bookkeeping.”
“Ah, math. Are numbers your specialty then?” He teased. At least she thought it sounded like teasing. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. She knew it might be easier if she looked at him, but she really didn’t want to. The thought of looking at his face terrified her.
“Yes. I am considered rather advanced when it comes to math. It made my work rather boring.”
He huffed. “Isn’t that the worst? Boring work. I hate when work gets boring. That’s why I always try to keep it as exciting as possible.”
She considered his words for a minute before deciding to be just a little brave. “And um…what kind of work do you do exactly?”
Jim paused in his eating to study the young woman across from him. Beth shrunk in on herself under his gaze. “I’m so glad you’re interested in my work. I was wishing you would be. Can you guess what it is I do?”
Beth bit her lip at his question. “Are you a consulting detective? Like the one you showed me a picture of.”
“Heavens no! Not like him at all I’m afraid.” As he spoke he stood moving towards her end of the table. Slowly he sat in the chair next to her. She knew he was going to touch her before he did it, but that didn’t stop her from flinching as his hand cupped her chin.
It reminded her a lot about what had happened yesterday. How people, her co-workers were literally being killed by this man all around her.
“Eyes here pet.” He ordered causing her gaze to snap towards him on pure instinct. “I’m a consulting criminal. When someone needs to plan out an illegal job they reach out to me, and I see that it is pulled off as flawlessly as possible. Do you follow?”
“Yes…Jim.” She responded earning herself a smirk.
“Good, because I am going to need your help.” He whispered as if what he was saying was a secret meant just for the two of them.
Bethany was now confused. “My…help?”
“Oh yes, dear. See as I try so very hard to do my job there are people who work just as hard to stop me. Primarily Sherlock Holmes. He is clever enough on his own, but in the past few years, he has added to his team. A partner of sorts. Dr. John Watson.
Since he started working with Sherlock the two have become quite the unstoppable pair. This means they have been a pain in my side. That’s why I needed to find a partner of my own. Someone who could keep up and help me regain my chokehold on this country.”
Beth didn’t know how to respond to any of this. What was worse was the way Jim was looking at her. He had a crazed look in his eye mixed with excitement. A truly terrifying combination when they were talking about committing crimes.
Jim wasn’t anyone’s fool. He could see the fear on her face clear as day. That had been something he was prepared for. She just needed time to adjust.
“Don’t fret too much. We’re not throwing you in headfirst. No, we are going to start with training. We need to understand how you think to best utilize your talents.” He could see that she was overwhelmed and decided it was better to discuss this more the following days. “Let’s worry about the rest tomorrow. As I said earlier you still need your rest after today’s events. Come let’s get you to bed.”
Jim quickly pulled her up from her seat and guided her back to the room she had woken up in earlier informing her that it was her bedroom. “I’m just at the end of the hall if you need anything.”
Beth didn’t think there was anything she could need desperately enough that she would go to Jim for it.
“Sleep well, dear. I’ll see you in the morning.” Jim said before leaving her alone altogether.
Searching for a moment in the wardrobe she found a pair of pajamas in her size that she decided to put on. Her mind half thought about trying to sneak out in the middle of the night, but the fear of being caught was enough to force the idea away.
Jim was too smart for that. This was going to have to be the long game. She needed to wait for the proper moment to flee. Too early and she just might lose her life.
%%%
Jim’s tailor ended up being an older gentleman who didn’t speak a word of English. She thought she heard phrases in both German and French pass between the two men, but she couldn’t be sure. Now she was kicking herself for taking Russian in school.
The man took several measurements of her all while talking with Jim about what should be ordered. The madman kept trying to joke with her about her style, but she was too scared to say much of anything.
“Don’t worry dear. We’re going to have you looking your best in no time at all.” Jim promised as he showed the tailor to the door.
Once he was gone Jim returned deciding it was time for her to get properly dressed so he could give her a rundown of the apartment. He shoved her towards her room with some of the new clothing in her arms.
She changed quickly feeling strangely comfortable in the clothing picked for her by the madman. It was a very similar outfit to what she had been wearing the day before, only her sweater vest was black instead of grey. Jim had also given her a thin red tie, but she had no idea how to knot it, so she left it handing around her shoulders as she went back out.
Jim was standing in the living room waiting for her.
“Could you…um? I’ve never…had a tie before.” Beth managed.
“Oh dear, you are adorable.” He commented before approaching her. Quickly he knotted the tie around her neck before stepping back to admire his work. “Do you think you can manage now that you have seen it done?”
Beth didn’t feel completely confident, but she nodded her head anyways.
“Good. I think the tie adds a little something to your outfit. Brings another level if you know what I mean.”
She in fact did not know what he meant. Glancing in the mirror she thought she still looked like herself, just with a skinny tie on top of her clothes. Not that she was going to say that to him. She still was of the belief that the best way to stay alive was by going along with his games.
He continued running her eyes over the girl's form taking it all in. Beth felt like she was on display just for him with the way he was drinking her in. The blush of embarrassment overtook her quickly. Jim took note of her reaction but didn’t comment on it.
Instead, he reached out and wrapped the bottom of the tie around his hand before giving the fabric a gentle tug. Beth couldn’t help but follow his movement as he guided her towards the living room as if leading a dog on a leash.
“Now darling, the two of us should probably go over some ground rules,” Jim said clapping his hands together and causing her to jump a little. He placed his hand on the small of her back guiding her over towards the couch letting the tie fall back against her chest for now.
“Ground rules?” She questioned that newfound feeling of dread taking over once again. In the back of her mind, she wondered if it would ever go away again. Worse than that she wondered what kind of person she would be when it finally did go away.