Fic: Séance: G
Oct. 27th, 2016 02:52 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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holmes_minorTitle: Séance
Rating: Gen
Length: 406
Content Notes & Warnings: suspense, an OC, Mrs. Cecil Forrester from "The Sign of Four," fraudulent mediums, extensive canon timeline divergence.
Summary: Holmes and Watson help Mrs. Cecil Forrester recover her necklace.
Author's Note: For October prompt: Spirit
Vida stifled a yawn as the soft voice knitted and purled through the telephone.
“…I am so very grateful, Madame Vida. This evening I will, at long last, sleep peacefully in my bed.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Forrester. The spirits were very kind to you, but our long journey is not entirely at an end.”
“No? But the ghosts have vanished, the disturbances have ceased, and my pearl necklace had been recovered.”
“One final cleansing is required. I shall visit you in your home tomorrow with the necessary instruments and materials. I will conduct the ceremony myself.”
“Oh.”
“We do not want a recurrence of the late unpleasantness, do we? To provoke the ire of the dear departed Mister Cecil?”
“Oh, no, but, uh, I suppose an offering will be required.”
“The usual,” Vida replied casually, studying the rings on her fingers.
“Might my nephews attend this session as well?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary—“
Vida startled as the gentle, hesitant voice was replaced by a harsh, battlefield one.
“Madame, I warn you that you have held your last séance in this city! Sherlock Holmes has made Mrs. Forrester aware of every trick that you and your troupe of crooked accomplices have played on her. You will not get one penny more, and you’ll find the pearl necklace in your hand just as valuable as the one your ‘ghost’ returned. Also, an Inspector from Scotland Yard will be dropping by your establishment this afternoon to ask you a few questions.”
Vida’s upper lip curled in a snarl.
“You don’t frighten me, Doctor Watson! And you did not fool me, either! I recognised all three of you at once! You and the ‘great detective,’” she sneered, “from your pictures in The Strand. And Inspector Gregson is already known to me. Send him ‘round. He might scare some, but he doesn’t scare me!”
“Gregson?” There was a mirthless laugh. “Is that a charlatan’s joke?”
Vida shouted. “You still think me a fool! Send Gregson ‘round! Half-melted face, claw-stump of a hand, he doesn’t scare me!”
“Inspector Gregson died in a fire six months ago, Madame Vida. No, Inspector Lestrade will be knocking on your door very shortly.”
“What? But I saw, today, I saw…”
Vida’s mouth fell open in a silent scream as she felt spindly talons spread across the nape of her neck.
A cold wisp of breath brushed her temple, and from behind her, a hollow voice rumbled,
“I’ve a few questions for you, Madame…”
Rating: Gen
Length: 406
Content Notes & Warnings: suspense, an OC, Mrs. Cecil Forrester from "The Sign of Four," fraudulent mediums, extensive canon timeline divergence.
Summary: Holmes and Watson help Mrs. Cecil Forrester recover her necklace.
Author's Note: For October prompt: Spirit
Vida stifled a yawn as the soft voice knitted and purled through the telephone.
“…I am so very grateful, Madame Vida. This evening I will, at long last, sleep peacefully in my bed.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Forrester. The spirits were very kind to you, but our long journey is not entirely at an end.”
“No? But the ghosts have vanished, the disturbances have ceased, and my pearl necklace had been recovered.”
“One final cleansing is required. I shall visit you in your home tomorrow with the necessary instruments and materials. I will conduct the ceremony myself.”
“Oh.”
“We do not want a recurrence of the late unpleasantness, do we? To provoke the ire of the dear departed Mister Cecil?”
“Oh, no, but, uh, I suppose an offering will be required.”
“The usual,” Vida replied casually, studying the rings on her fingers.
“Might my nephews attend this session as well?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary—“
Vida startled as the gentle, hesitant voice was replaced by a harsh, battlefield one.
“Madame, I warn you that you have held your last séance in this city! Sherlock Holmes has made Mrs. Forrester aware of every trick that you and your troupe of crooked accomplices have played on her. You will not get one penny more, and you’ll find the pearl necklace in your hand just as valuable as the one your ‘ghost’ returned. Also, an Inspector from Scotland Yard will be dropping by your establishment this afternoon to ask you a few questions.”
Vida’s upper lip curled in a snarl.
“You don’t frighten me, Doctor Watson! And you did not fool me, either! I recognised all three of you at once! You and the ‘great detective,’” she sneered, “from your pictures in The Strand. And Inspector Gregson is already known to me. Send him ‘round. He might scare some, but he doesn’t scare me!”
“Gregson?” There was a mirthless laugh. “Is that a charlatan’s joke?”
Vida shouted. “You still think me a fool! Send Gregson ‘round! Half-melted face, claw-stump of a hand, he doesn’t scare me!”
“Inspector Gregson died in a fire six months ago, Madame Vida. No, Inspector Lestrade will be knocking on your door very shortly.”
“What? But I saw, today, I saw…”
Vida’s mouth fell open in a silent scream as she felt spindly talons spread across the nape of her neck.
A cold wisp of breath brushed her temple, and from behind her, a hollow voice rumbled,
“I’ve a few questions for you, Madame…”
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Date: 2016-10-27 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-27 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-27 07:52 pm (UTC)Very glad this ghost did apply.
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Date: 2016-10-27 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-27 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-27 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-02 01:36 pm (UTC)http://archiveofourown.org/works/6604225/chapters/19363537
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Date: 2016-10-27 09:54 pm (UTC)And what an unusual description: ...the soft voice knitted and purled through the telephone.
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Date: 2016-10-27 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-27 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-28 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-28 07:35 pm (UTC)Well done:-)
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Date: 2016-10-28 07:39 pm (UTC)