Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

Paper Chase	By : varenoea Category: Titles in the Public Domain > Sherlock Holmes > Slash > Slash Views: 3926 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: This is a work fiction, based on the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Chapter List
- 1-Paper Chase
- 2-Ch 2
- 3-ch 3
- 4-Ch 4
- 5-Ch 5
- 1
- 2
- 3
At quarter to eight, I was back in our flat.

“Did you have an interesting day with your secret belle?”

I smiled. “Very interesting. I think I like her already.”

“Really?” Holmes, who sat folded up in his chair, turned around to me. “Even thought you don’t know anything about her?”

“Maybe a little bit of your wisdom has rubbed off on me”, I said. “I don’t know much about her, but I’m not completely clueless. It’s a pity she likes me best – you would love her.”

“I will never find out if you won’t let me read her letters, will I?”

“You are going to get them when I’m finished with them.”

“Too generous.”

I took my place on the sofa and looked at the letter again. One side was scrabbled with numbers, but on the back, a few lines had been written.

Beloved!

I could not be more delighted to see that you are not averse to my affections. The fact that you even managed to pick up this letter shows that you’re being greatly underrated. But I do not mind. Let the rest of the world admire Sebastian; I’d rather stick with Antonio.

“The key is in there somewhere”, I mumbled.

“What?” asked Holmes.

“Oh, nothing. She has given me some numbers, and I have to figure out what they mean.”

“Numbers?” Holmes craned his neck around the back rest of the chair. “Let me see. This is too hard for you. Can I give it a try?”

“Stay away from my love letters!” I cried out. “They’re mine, and I solve them. You have enough cases as it is. Let me have fun with mine!”

He turned away. Even the back of his chair looked hurt.

The solution had to be in the names she had dropped in the letter.

“Antonio and Sebastian”, mumbled I. “Antonio and Sebastian…”

“Twelfth Night”, said Holmes without turning around.

“Twelfth Night?” I asked incredulously. “When did you become interested in Shakespeare?”

“I’m not. We saw it two months ago, don’t you remember?”

“Oh. Yes.” Now I felt somewhat embarrassed. “Thank you, but I would nevertheless be very grateful if you kept your hints to yourself from now on.”

“Suit yourself.”

Now I remembered. Antonio, the faithful captain who stayed with Sebastian, even though he brought himself into danger by doing so; and Sebastian, one of the important main characters.

This could only be a comparison: the lady saw Holmes as Sebastian and me as Antonio. Why would she use this comparison, of all things?

“But you do know what happens with love letters from beautiful ladies in Twelfth Night, don’t you, Watson?”

“Be quiet.”

“They turn out to have been a joke, made by someone ugly.”

“I’ll remember this next time you want peace and quiet”, I hissed.

I looked at the numbers again. The key to the solution had something to do with Twelfth Night, I knew now.

2.4 – 24-28 was one of them. I chewed my lip, and then went to my room to fetch the printed version of the play that was lying on the lowest bookshelf I had, dusty and neglected. Then I went to act 2, scene 4, lines 24 to 28.

What kind of woman is’t? – Of your complexion. – She is not worth thee then. What years, I’faith? - About your years, my lord.

My ears began to glow. This seemed to make sense. She was giving me hints to her person now. Well, a little younger would have been nice – but her interesting mind made up for this.

Now 3.1. – 148-149.

I love thee so that, maugre all my pride, nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.

Yes, I could tell as much.

3.4 – 277 made me blush again.

Marry, I’ll ride your horse as well as I ride you.

I became more and more sure that I wanted to meet this remarkable lady, even though (I have to admit, I became a little high-spirited) her riddles seemed a little bit too easy for me now.

3.4 – 209 told me: A fiend like thee might bear my soul to hell.

The last number, 3.3 – 49, was the most enigmatic one: To th’ Elephant!

But this was the only hint I was going to get.

I sat down and thought, and silently swore. If Holmes had been given the paper, he would have solved it in no time, and not only told me who the lady way, but also her weight, hair colour, and the brand of her corset.

I tried to think of a pub called “The Elephant”, just like in the play; but the only thing that kept coming to my mind were the elephants in the zoo.

If the lady had not given me a time, this meant that whatever she had for me was deposited, and could wait. It would be best to give the elephants a try, first thing in the morning; and if the elephants would not get me anywhere, I could try to find a place with a similar name.

The next morning, while I was having breakfast, Holmes stumbled in. His eyes were bleary, and he staggered against the door frame.

“Morning, Holmes.”

“Can’t you at least pretend to be a little tired as well? You didn’t sleep all night, after all! Threw yourself around for hours, with your bed springs creaking, and getting up and rumbling about in the living-room... and now you’re sitting here and looking fresh as a daisy!”

“I couldn’t sleep because my mysterious lady kept me up all night. Why didn’t you sleep?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I think there was a love-sick rhinoceros going on a rampage in the flat, or that’s what it sounded like. And I thought about your woman, as well.”

“And what was the result?”

“I know a lot more about her than you want to let me know. But I’m not telling you. I’m not allowed.”

“Thank you.”

“So what are you doing today?”

“I’m visiting the zoo before I go to work.” I smiled. “Maybe I find the rhino that made all the noise last night.”

Holmes glared at me with his mouth open and shook his head. “Love should be prohibited by law, you know.”

I was one of the earliest visitors. The zoo was still almost empty. While I made my way to the elephant house, I repeated everything I knew about the mystery lady.

She must have been at the theatre when we had seen “Twelfth Night”, and watched us. Otherwise, how could she have known that I knew the names of the characters? Now that I thought about it – I had spent the entire intermission trying to explain the effects of some embarrassing venereal diseases to Holmes, and of course I had been somewhat limited in the vocabulary I could use, even though we were talking very quietly. So the lady had seen a lot of the self-conscious smile which she seemed to like about me.

She was my age and, apparently, had a similar skin colour to mine. (At least I hoped that this was what she meant by complexion – in the worst case she would have a moustache as well.) But there were pale people at every corner, this was England, after all.

I desperately tried to think of any women I knew who might fit the description. I had had a few patients recently who were the right age, but I did not remember seeing them at the theatre.

Slightly discouraged, I turned around a corner and went to the elephants.
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Adult-FanFiction.Org is not in any way associated with or related to FanFiction.Net

Adult-FanFiction.org (AFF, the site), its owners, agents, and any other entities related to Adult-FanFiction.org or the AFF forum take no responsibility for the works posted to the Adult-FanFiction.org by its members.

While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.

All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.

Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!

Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo

Paper Chase