Fic: The quickness of the 'and: G
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holmes_minorTitle: The quickness of the 'and
Length: 500
Characters: Lomax the sublibrarian, Watson, Mrs. Hudson
Rating: G
Notes: Whump!Lomax, ends on a cliffhanger
Summary: Watson is tasked with removing a curious trunk from a chaotic crime scene.
I broke the lock.
“Now let’s see what we have here, what Inspector Lestrade was so insistent that I remove from the crime scene.”
I had just paid a driver handsomely for helping me to deposit a large, heavy, ornate trunk on the rug.
Holmes and Lestrade had remained behind in the pandemonium. I didn’t envy them in the least. I considered myself in a far better position, free of that chaos and safely home.
The raid of the luxury brothel had been followed by an explosion and a raging fire. A murderer may or may not have been on the premises when all hell broke loose, but many members of high society most definitely were.
I had initially balked at Lestrade’s orders, despite his uncharacteristic pleading tone, but it had proved much simpler than anticipated to remove the trunk without being observed, mostly because everyone else had been about their own business, saving their skin, putting out fires as well as sorting through the crowd for possible, and certain, criminals.
I opened the box and frowned, disappointed.
Nothing.
Then, however, I heard Holmes’s chastisement in my mind,
‘As ever you see, but do not observe, Watson.’
I leaned in closer for a better look. The depth of the box was an illusion.
“Oh,” I said to myself, surveying the exterior, “this is a curious box, indeed.”
It was then I heard the moan. It was coming from the box.
It was the work of a few moments to remove the false bottom.
I don’t know what I expected to find, but it certainly wasn’t a battered sublibrarian of St. James Square.
“Lomax!” I cried in abject surprise.
He stirred and turned his head. “Doctor.”
I checked him for broken bones and, finding none, rang for Mrs. Hudson.
My good landlady, whose feathers could not be ruffled under any circumstance, assisted me in removing Lomax from the trunk. We gingerly placed him on the sofa, and she went off for linen and brandy.
“Don’t speak too much,” I said. “You’ll only have to repeat yourself. But tell me this: who put you in the trunk?”
“Inspector Lestrade,” whispered Lomax.
“Before or after he beat you to a pulp?”
Lomax shook his head and winced. “I’d already been beaten, but I would’ve been arrested, too, if he hadn’t hidden me.”
“You were at the brothel?”
Lomax nodded.
“Oh, Lomax,” I sighed.
“But not for the reasons you think, Doctor. Not that it would’ve mattered. I was there. My reputation would have been ruined by the scandal, and I would’ve lost my livelihood if Lestrade hadn’t thought very quickly, indeed. What library is going to employ someone who has been netted in a police raid, especially one of that sort?”
“But this receptacle?”
“The Magnifique isn’t your common house of ill repute, Doctor. They have entertainment, too. Tonight, there was a conjuror.”
“Who’s probably cursing the loss of his prop!” I added. “Oh, good, I hear Holmes and Lestrade on the stairs.”
Length: 500
Characters: Lomax the sublibrarian, Watson, Mrs. Hudson
Rating: G
Notes: Whump!Lomax, ends on a cliffhanger
Summary: Watson is tasked with removing a curious trunk from a chaotic crime scene.
I broke the lock.
“Now let’s see what we have here, what Inspector Lestrade was so insistent that I remove from the crime scene.”
I had just paid a driver handsomely for helping me to deposit a large, heavy, ornate trunk on the rug.
Holmes and Lestrade had remained behind in the pandemonium. I didn’t envy them in the least. I considered myself in a far better position, free of that chaos and safely home.
The raid of the luxury brothel had been followed by an explosion and a raging fire. A murderer may or may not have been on the premises when all hell broke loose, but many members of high society most definitely were.
I had initially balked at Lestrade’s orders, despite his uncharacteristic pleading tone, but it had proved much simpler than anticipated to remove the trunk without being observed, mostly because everyone else had been about their own business, saving their skin, putting out fires as well as sorting through the crowd for possible, and certain, criminals.
I opened the box and frowned, disappointed.
Nothing.
Then, however, I heard Holmes’s chastisement in my mind,
‘As ever you see, but do not observe, Watson.’
I leaned in closer for a better look. The depth of the box was an illusion.
“Oh,” I said to myself, surveying the exterior, “this is a curious box, indeed.”
It was then I heard the moan. It was coming from the box.
It was the work of a few moments to remove the false bottom.
I don’t know what I expected to find, but it certainly wasn’t a battered sublibrarian of St. James Square.
“Lomax!” I cried in abject surprise.
He stirred and turned his head. “Doctor.”
I checked him for broken bones and, finding none, rang for Mrs. Hudson.
My good landlady, whose feathers could not be ruffled under any circumstance, assisted me in removing Lomax from the trunk. We gingerly placed him on the sofa, and she went off for linen and brandy.
“Don’t speak too much,” I said. “You’ll only have to repeat yourself. But tell me this: who put you in the trunk?”
“Inspector Lestrade,” whispered Lomax.
“Before or after he beat you to a pulp?”
Lomax shook his head and winced. “I’d already been beaten, but I would’ve been arrested, too, if he hadn’t hidden me.”
“You were at the brothel?”
Lomax nodded.
“Oh, Lomax,” I sighed.
“But not for the reasons you think, Doctor. Not that it would’ve mattered. I was there. My reputation would have been ruined by the scandal, and I would’ve lost my livelihood if Lestrade hadn’t thought very quickly, indeed. What library is going to employ someone who has been netted in a police raid, especially one of that sort?”
“But this receptacle?”
“The Magnifique isn’t your common house of ill repute, Doctor. They have entertainment, too. Tonight, there was a conjuror.”
“Who’s probably cursing the loss of his prop!” I added. “Oh, good, I hear Holmes and Lestrade on the stairs.”
no subject
Date: 2020-01-23 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-23 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-24 12:21 am (UTC)And a rather touching one. There's not just the "quickness of the 'and," there's the quickness of Lestrade's heart and brain, as he desperately sorts out a way to protect Lomax's reputation and get him to safety. It's kind of heartbreaking how Watson immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion and thinks Lestrade was Lomax's attacker.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-24 01:02 am (UTC)Yeah, maybe that wasn't the best line of Watson's. I suppose he thought that the person who put Lomax in the box must've beaten him up, too. And perhaps during the raid there was a good deal of roughing up by the police (Lestrade included? I dunno). Anyway, stay tuned!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-26 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-01-26 02:27 pm (UTC)