(11) Brian Lukis
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It was the following morning, and Sherlock had printed out all the photographs of the yellow graffiti near Sir William's portrait and across it and had stuck them all around a mirror above the fireplace. Both twins were currently sitting in dining chairs, their backs facing the dining table with nothing but pure concentration as they stared at the pictures, taking in the symbols flashing in their mind eyes, Cora sipping on what must be her third or fourth cup of peppermint tea and Sherlock, as usual, had his fingers steepled under his chin.
That's how John had found them when he came walking in from the flats, landing and dropping his jacket on his armchair. Cora seemed to have noticed his presence and turned her head to offer him a welcoming smile before getting up to take her teacup and saucer into the kitchen.
But her brother, on the other hand, hadn't noticed in the slightest, now speaking still gazing at the photos, "I said, 'Could you pass me a pen?'"
"What? When?" the older man darts his head about the living room, wondering who on Earth the man could be talking to.
"He asked you about an hour ago," Cora tells John from the kitchen, raising her cup and saucer in the sink, hearing him sigh.
"Didn't notice I'd gone out, then," John grabbed a pen from a table beside his armchair as the female Holmes watched him throw the pen at her brother without much glancing in his direction as she reentered the living room. Sherlock grabbed it quickly with his left hand, eyes still glued to the photos.
"I did, but someone was not that interested to notice," Cora comes to stand beside the older blonde who was now looking at the photos, "For the job at that doctor's surgery, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was," John nodded, a little pleased that Cora had taken some interest in his life.
"How was it?" Sherlock asked, just now taking an interest, making Cora roll her eyes in disbelief.
"Great. She's great."
"Who?" the female Holmes asked curiously, looking at the older man sideways. But why would something so trivial as another woman interested in John bother her?
"The job," John replied, looking to Cora beside him, who was frowning a little.
"She?" Sherlock glanced in the older man's direction suspiciously for a brief moment.
"...It."
"Here, look at this," Cora cleared her throat and tried not to let the thought of this other woman John had met for his job interview distract her, which it shouldn't. Still, it did as he followed her over to a laptop on the table by the windows, peering over Cora's shoulder, which didn't help much as she opened the 'Online News' website with a news report titled 'Ghostly killer leaves a mystery for police'.
"The 'intruder who can walk through walls,'" John read an expert aloud from the article.
"Happened last night," Sherlock explained, "Journalist shot dead in his flat; doors locked, windows bolted from the inside – the same as Van Coon."
"God. You think..." John moved away from Cora to look at each of his flatmates.
"Which means he's killed another one," the female Holmes added.
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All three take a cab to Scotland Yard, where one Inspector Dimmock is currently sitting at his desk, arms folded rather exasperated as Sherlock Holmes stands the other side of said desk typing into a laptop, "Brian Lukis, freelance journalist. Murdered in his flat..." before turning it to face the other man, "...doors locked from the inside."
"You've gotta admit, it's similar," John tells Dimmock, who scowls at the computer, "Both men killed by someone who can..." Cora noticed the older blonde hesitate briefly, uncertain about the words coming out of his mouth: "... walk through solid walls."
"Inspector, do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another City suicide?" the female Holmes inquires to Dimmock, who squirms under hers, and Sherlocks gazes.
"You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?" Sherlock now asked, looking up and letting out a pointed sigh.
"Mmm," Dimmock hummed in response with a nod.
"And the shot that killed him was fired from his gun?" Cora went on to ask.
Dimmock reluctantly replied, shaking his head, "No."
"No. So this investigation might move quicker if you were to take my word as gospel," Sherlock spoke rather intensely but quietly as he leant over Dimmock's desk as the man gazed back at him in utter silence, "I've just handed you a murder enquiry," Sherlock spoke a bit louder, gesturing towards the pictures on the laptop, "Five minutes in his flat."
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Sherlock and Cora duck under the police tape, entering Lukis' Flat at the bottom of the stairs, followed by John and Inspector Dimmock as they go upstairs. Both the twins have a look, trying to deduce what they can about the man who used to live here.
An empty, opened suitcase was lying on the floor in the living room. Next to it was a black origami flower just like the one in Van Coon's mouth. Books were everywhere, from desks to bookshelves scattered about the ground, along with many opened newspapers. That's when the female Holmes notices something as she walks over towards the kitchen and peers through a window at the low rooftops of overplaces nearby, gently pulling back the net curtain to have a better look, a subtle knowing smirk appearing on her lips, her brother now coming to peek over her shoulder with an equal smirk.
"Four floors up. That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain across the door and bolt it shut; think they're impregnable," Cora spoke what was on her mind as she and Sherlock went back into the centre of the room, "They don't reckon for one second that there's another way in."
Both Holmes turn towards the stairs and spot the skylight above the landing.
"I don't understand," Dimmock frowned at them both, following them out to the landing.
"You're dealing with a killer who can climb," The taller Holmes hopped onto a stool to look at the skylight high up on the slanted roof.
"What are you doing?" Dimmock is still as perplexed as ever about what is going on.
"He clings to the walls like an insect," Sherlock unhooks that skylights latch and pushes the window upwards, "That's how he got in."
"What?!"
"Climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped in through this skylight."
"You're not serious! Like Spiderman?" Dimmock offered sarcastically.
"He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building and jumped the balcony to kill Van Coon," Sherlock explained.
"Oh, ho-hold on!" Dimmock laughed with disbelief.
"I think that is how he also got into the bank. And, of course, that's how he got into the bank. He ran along the window ledge and onto the terrace," Sherlock now steps back down onto the landing.
"So we need to find out what connects these two men," Cora added as she and her brother scanned the room again. A pile of books scattered near the staircase catches her attention. Sherlock also sees it, jumping a few stairs to get the open book from Cora, looking over his shoulder to see it was from West Kensington Library, stamped and dated the day he died, passing his sister the book as he charges the stairs, calling out.
"Come along, John and Cora; we're heading to the library."
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Now at the library, the trio looked through the many shelves to find the location of Lukis' book until Sherlock and Cora finally came across the aisle in question.
"The date stamped on the book is the same day that he died," Cora, who was now holding the book, checked it's reference number stuck along the bottom of its spine.
She knew libraries like the back of her hand, having spent most of her time in them during her youth and working at one part-time when at university. Sherlock trailed behind his sister as they arrived at the precise place. He pulled out too many at once in a not-so-gentle manner, the other carefully running her fingertip across the spines in search of the number.
Taking some books from a shelf nearby on the opposite side, John gets rather lucky with some yellow graffiti staring back at him, "Uh, Cora, Sherlock, I think you might want to see this."
Both twins turn to see what John has found in the gap left by the books. They stop over to him, Cora briefly brushing past the older man, taking out a few books and passing them for Sherlock to hold as it revealed two yellow spray-painted symbols similar to that had been sprayed across Sir William Shad's painting in the man's office.
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Cora, Sherlock and John stood before the photos surrounding the mirror above their fireplace in 221B with new images added from the library.
"So, the killer goes to the bank and leaves a threatening cypher for Van Coon; Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, and locks himself in. Hours later, he dies," Sherlock implied with a guess.
"The killer finds Lukis at the library; he writes the cypher on the shelf where he knows it'll be seen; Lukis goes home," the older blonde spoke his thoughts on the matter.
"Later that night, he dies as well," Cora adds, walking up to the photo with Sir William's face on, gliding her finger across the yellow line painted across his face as John asked softly.
"Why did they die?"
"Only the cypher can tell us that," the female Holmes answered, tapping her red fingernail against the picture before sharing a look with her bother, their faces sharpened, knowing they both had an idea in mind that might just work.
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