Murder lives in London

Excitement was the last thing he expected from anyone else. He knew this person was different, but… But- that reaction was more fruitful than he expected. And strange. Why did he seem so genuinely interested? “Of course it’s real, why wouldn’t it be?” He immediately spoke, almost confused that he had asked such a question. “I’m not entirely sure how close we’d be able to get but there’s always a way. Especially if we get lucky. Which -” He checked his watch. “..We might.”

“You might get into trouble if we’re caught though. If that isn’t an issue, I suggest we make our way there now.”

“Very few people have access to real dead bodies, fewer still offer strangers the chance to see them. I have my reasons to be skeptical. But you seem genuinely certain about this... So I’ll give it a chance.” Despite the cool nature of his words, excitement was obvious in Jim’s posture, in the way his shoulders hunched a bit and his hands clenched at his sides.

    “Must every word out of your mouth be an insult?                                 And here I thought offering you a favor might get you to shut up for ten seconds. Well my ‘maths’ is a case.                                                 A big one.                     Someone trying to steal your title, I suppose. Some sort of crime syndicate and every time we think we have them pinned they just-” 

                            She sighed and rubbed at her temples. 

“Sherlock’s ignoring my calls and I just thought-. I know it won’t be cheap but-”

                                             Another sigh. 

                                            “I’m desperate.”

   “I speak truths and statements.          If you see them as insults, that’s a personal issue.”

Dark eyes rolled in their sockets, boredom already seeping into the criminal’s face. How dare she treat this like news, as if he didn’t already have his tendrils in, poison seeping into the so-called ‘rival’s’ roots.

   “Oh believe me darling,           I think you’re going to like this.”

“…” Observant. And self conscious. Could it be called self conscious though? As much as it was self awareness. He didn’t have a question. At least, not yet. But this person was so intriguing to him. He couldn’t put his finger on why.

After a few moments, he smiled a little. He was almost sure that it was safe to say this without an conventional negative first impression. And he wanted to figure this person out. He was uniquely hard to read. “Do you want to come and see a dead body with me?”

Dark eyes focused on the boy in front of him, head tilted to the side in a near-serpentine way. Most people turned away when Jim confronted them, or scoffed and walked away. But whoever this was, he wasn’t budging.

Intriguing.

Eyebrow raised, Jim felt an odd obligation to return the smile with a little smirk, a bit more spark in his eyes than usual. At the stranger’s words, Jim’s lips curled up into something more of a grin, almost eerily excited.

Christmas Starters