holmes_minor | Fic: Mrs Hudson Sees Red: G

Title: Mrs Hudson Sees Red
Form/Word Count: 360
Characters/Pairing: Mrs Hudson, Inspector Lestrade
Rating: G
Warning/Content: Mrs Hudson does not like anyone to take advantage of her

It wasn’t very often that Mrs Hudson saw red, not bright fiery red anyway. Her tenants, or more particularly, one of them, did on occasion annoy her, and she saw a pale red, like the first lighting of the sky on a lovely day (even if such days were not lovely). But when a caller thought to take advantage of her and treated her as a mere woman who couldn’t understand, the flames began to leap.

She had had some plumbing work done, and when the joint starting dripping again within a week, she sent for the plumber and told him she expected the work to be done without additional charge. The man proceeded to tell her that unfortunately the pipework would need replacing, as the last plumber had used substandard materials, but that he could do it for a very reasonable rate. Mrs Hudson looked at him critically, because she had heard he had told the same tale to a couple of other landladies.

She was debating what best to do when he said, “Of course, dear lady, I wouldn’t expect you to understand such matters.” This was too much, and she picked up her rolling pin and told him to leave at once. She hurried him down the stairs just as the front door opened and Holmes and Inspector Lestrade entered. The plumber took one look at Lestrade and departed at a run.

“Lionel Braisher, up to his old tricks again,” Lestrade said. “Has he taken much money from you, Mrs Hudson?”

“Only for last week’s repair, which is dripping again,” she replied.

“I doubt we’ll get that back for you. But we’ll pick him up and charge him. Do you want me to take a look at it?”

She showed the inspector, who nodded. “An old trick that. It looks like it’s fixed but then it works loose again, so it seems like extra work will be needed. Which of course it isn’t. I can fix that for you. I presume you’ll be happy to give me a statement.”

“Of course, inspector. And now you’ve sorted my pipe, I’ll put the kettle on and make some coffee.”