WOLF | Sherlock X Reader |

|02|- Y/n Lestrade

His phone buzzed inside his coat pocket, but it was persistent, so it must be a call then. He pulls it from his pocket, and without looking at the ID, he answers. "Not now, Lestrade. I'm busy."

"Trust me, this is better: We've got another one,"

"Kate Francis, according to her ID." Greg sighs, leaning against the open door of the woman's flat. "Was supposed to start teaching up at Cambridge next week," Sherlock moved around her body, keeling down, first checking her wrists. If she was connected to the first murder, if she was killed by the same person, the pattern should be the same. Slit wrists, no rope marks there, though. Hesitant marks however, are there.

So unlike Tyler, she was forced to, that or she was giving the choice to, but who would choose to kill themselves when pressured between two choices? If you were given the choice to live or die, why give in?

What do you have to protect so much to actually take your own life?

Sherlock carefully moved her head to one side, surveying the purple bruise on her cheek.

Someone should've heard her, any woman, when being attacked would call out for help. And judging by the state of her flat, it got quite physical.

"What subject was she to teach?"

"Is that important?" Greg asks, watching him quizzically.

"Yes, actually."

"Uh, the Sciences, I think."

Interesting. Tyler studied the sciences too. What is the connection?

Someone must've seen the person leave. Kate was found by her flatmate, she had to use her key to get in. Meaning that the door was locked.

Sherlock stands now, "Where's her flatmate?" he asks, looking around the room, he knew what he was looking for. He looks around Kate's body carefully, there's one thing he'd find, to let him know that this murder and Tyler's is connected.

"She's downstairs, talking to Sally. I don't think having her talk to you is a good idea, the girl can barely stop crying for Christ's sake."

Sherlock rolls his eyes at this, it was then, he saw it. Kate's pale fingers were wrapped around a piece of paper. Stooping down again, Sherlock takes the paper from her hand, it was speckled with dried blood, a finger print too. It could've been Kate's, it could've not been.

The detective's eyes scan the paper, in red pen ink, the letter F was written, along with something else.

She's next.

It was scrawled on, suggesting that it was a male who wrote it. But who's the she he's mentioned? Who's next?

Sherlock looks around again, getting up and re-tracing his steps to the door where Lestrade stood. He looks down at the Welcome mat, it's been moved. Which he found strange, he had deduced what he could've from Kate, and she, was a perfectionist. Any sign of misplacement, she would fix it, there's no way she would've left the mat like this.

Using his shoe he shuffles away the mat, moving it away completely. When he found nothing, Sherlock became slightly frustrated.

Where is it?

He turns around, looking around the messy room. He checks the table, the ledge over the door. And it wasn't there.

"What on earth are you looking for?" Greg questions.

"The key, the spare key to her flat." Sherlock answers.

There's always a spare key, she was going to be busy, very busy. Working late can cause forgetful tendencies, one can easily lose a house key. So there's always a spare.

If the door was locked, someone who knew her well, would know where to look for the key. The door didn't have a peephole, so if someone knocked, she'd have no choice but to open the door to them. That's how he got in.
But why take the spare key?

"Oh, Gavin. I really need for you to speak to that flatmate of hers, I think she'd find that her spare key is missing."

"Uh, Sherlock," Sherlock ignored his flatmate, he had come back a little over an hour ago, and he hadn't moved from his spot on the leather couch since. "John, Check the list of students who took the science course the same year as Tyler Olson."

Sherlock says, still not moving from the couch, but he heard the soft taps of John's fingers against the keyboard.
"Check to see if Kate Francis and Y/n Lestrade are listed," Sherlock says, closing his eyes.

"Why are you so hung up about Greg's niece, Sherlock?" The detective opens his blue-green eyes, finally looking at John for the first time in a half an hour.

"I am not hung up, she's a suspect."

John raises his eyebrows, "Does Greg know that you're suspecting his niece for murder? Oh–was she the one you went out to monitor?" John turns back to his laptop, narrowing his eyes, "She could have you arrested for stalking, you know."

Sherlock rolls his eyes, opting to stare at the ceiling than John. "Uh, Sherlock. Both are on the list; Francis and Lestrade."

They all took the same courses, they all knew each other in some way.

There must be a connection.