Finding a home

As the term went by, Jane and Rosie grew closer and closer. Six weeks into the term, Rosie invited Jane to her flat. Jane was overjoyed.

"You're inviting me to 221B Baker Street?" Jane asked excitedly.

"Yes, would you like to come?" Rosie replied.

"Yes please!" Jane yelled.

It felt surreal for Jane to be stepping into a place that was so well-described by John in his blogs. Jane felt like she had been there before, yet it was a completely new place for her. Rosie led Jane up the stairs.

"Did you bring your school friend over?" asked John, sitting in his chair.

"Yes dad." Rosie said.

"Hi Dr Watson and Mr Holmes." Jane greeted shyly.

"Sherlock, please." Sherlock corrected from his desk.

"Welcome, take a seat. You can call me John." directed John, pointing to the sofa.

Suddenly, Sherlock's phone rang. He picked it up.

"Family murder? Where?" Sherlock asked.

"Ok I'm coming right away." Sherlock replied.

"What's going on?" Rosie asked.

"Lestrade just called. He said a Chinese family living near Chinatown has been murdered." Sherlock answered.

"The children and all?" John asked.

"Yep." Sherlock replied.

Jane froze on her spot on the sofa. A Chinese family? Near Chinatown? Was it a family in her triad? Or in the other two operating in London? Her heart raced with fear. Jane tried acting relaxed so the others wouldn't notice her concern.

"John and I have to go now. Rosie, Jane, do you want to come?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes please! Come on Jane, it's not scary, it'll be fun!" Rosie invited.

Jane didn't want to go just in case she exposed herself, but it would be suspicious of her to refuse because she had shown herself to be a big fan of Sherlock, and refusing to go on a case with him would certainly be unusual.

"Yeah sure!" Jane replied, putting as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster.

"Great, let's go!" urged Rosie.

"You brought Rosie to the crime scene again, and this time you've brought another child. It's strictly against the law you know, Sherlock." scolded Lestrade when they arrived.

"I know, Grant. Just show me the crime scene." Sherlock replied impatiently.

"It's Greg." Lestrade corrected irritably.

As Sherlock ventured into the house, he seemed to take a million notes in his head simultaneously as he looked and observed.

"There's something strange about this family. According to our database, the couple don't have children, but we did a facial recognition scan and they didn't belong to any other family." informed Greg.

Sherlock raised his eyebrows in surprise and nodded.

The house looked very ordinary, and Jane couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in Sherlock's head. Finally, they arrived at the bodies. The bodies of the parents were in the master bedroom while the two children were in their respective rooms. They seemed to have all died by a precise shot to the head. Jane pretended to be shocked and horrified by the bodies, but she really wasn't. She had seen her adoptive parents instantly shoot people who disagreed with them on the spot too many times. Sherlock was busy surveying the bodies. He seemed to analyse every inch of the bodies with his pocket magnifier. Jane admired his precision. He also took a careful look at the rooms, and at how the killers broke in.

"Did these people own the house or were they living in it temporarily?" Sherlock asked.

"They owned the house and have been living in it for almost ten years." Lestrade answered.

"Alright, Lestrade. I'll let you know when I solved the case." said Sherlock.

He hailed a cab and got in, followed by John, Rosie and Jane.

"Got any theories?" John asked as the cab started moving.

"One. And a very good one at that." Sherlock replied.