A/N: As always, a huge thank you to my patient and superb beta: Jarri Scythe. Huge apologies for such a long delay. RL has been, let us say, not conducive to my writing as of late.

Chapter 7

John followed Sherlock out of the aquarium and over to the street. Sherlock was scowling at the piece of paper with Benny's name and address given to him by the aquarium director. He finally shoved it in his pocket with a sigh and hailed a cab.

As John clambered in behind him, he was surprised to hear Sherlock tell the cabbie to take them home to Baker Street. John shot him a questioning look, but Sherlock was already busy texting something. Once he was done, Sherlock shoved the phone in his pocket and stared resolutely out the window. John knew from experience that he was in no mood to talk and asking questions would be useless.

Upon arrival, there was a familiar black car parked in front of 221, and Sherlock heaved an exasperated sigh. It seemed Mycroft had had enough of Sherlock's avoidance.

Sure enough, Mycroft emerged from the car and was on them before they got through the front door.

"Sherlock, you've been avoiding my calls."

"That's because I've had nothing to tell. For God's sake, if you're going to scold me at least wait until I'm inside and comfortable."

"By all means, Sherlock, let's all of us wait – the grieving family, the Indonesian government, her frightened friends – let's all wait for you to be comfortable."

By this time they were inside the flat, and Sherlock had taken off his coat and scarf. Tossing them aside, he immediately disappeared into his bedroom, leaving Mycroft and John in the sitting room.

"Erm, have a seat, Mycroft," John said, feeling awkward. He always hated it when he felt caught between the two of them.

"Thank you, John. It's nice to see you, though I wish it were under pleasanter circumstances."

"Yes, thanks. Er, would you like some tea?"

"Tea would be lovely, thank you."

Once John had gone into the kitchen, he heard Mycroft speaking loudly, meant to carry into Sherlock's bedroom.

"The Detective Inspector has arrested one John Hayes in connection to the crime. Is it your opinion that he is indeed the guilty party?"

Sherlock emerged from his bedroom, now wearing his dressing gown and pajama pants and clutching his violin.

"No," Sherlock replied, "I don't think he is the killer. I have located another suspect for investigation. I texted the details to Lestrade, and if he's worth half the faith you've put in him to be the official face of the case, he should be following up on it right now."

Mycroft frowned, "I thought I asked you to head the investigation, Lestrade is there to represent the law, but he knows that I entrusted solving the case to you."

Sherlock waved his bow irritably, "I know, but I'm handing it over to Lestrade. This case is – no longer interesting."

"You agreed to take it as a favor to me. Interest, or lack thereof, was not a factor. My priorities are accuracy and speed, and I thought I could count on you for those."

John emerged from the kitchen with three mugs of tea. After handing out the other two to the brothers, he settled in his armchair to watch the verbal sparring.

After a pause, Sherlock sighed and said, "You may consider the bargain we made as cancelled. I've procured a second suspect. If he isn't the guilty one, I'll consider looking into it again. Until then… I no longer want to think about it."

Sherlock began tuning the violin.

Mycroft sipped his tea, staring at Sherlock, and looking perturbed.

Once Sherlock began actually playing, Mycroft set the mug aside and rose to his feet.

"Alright, Sherlock. I'll pursue this with the Detective Inspector. Will you give me the information you have on this second suspect you've uncovered?"

Sherlock set down the violin and dug the piece of paper from his pocket.

"His name and address. He works nights on the cleaning crew for the aquarium. The director describes him as physically fitting the profile of the killer. He was hired through a program to assist the developmentally disadvantaged obtain employment. The director was very insistent that he's a very gentle man who has a great love for animals and enjoys his work at the aquarium immensely."

"Oh!" Mycroft said with soft surprise, "Well… thank you for the information. I will look into it immediately. Thank you for the tea, John."

With that, he was gone, although John thought he heard him mumble something that sounded like "legwork" as he went out the door.

Once the door downstairs had opened and shut, John turned to Sherlock, who was staring pensively at the ceiling.

"Sherlock, are you alright? I've never known you to lose interest when given a new lead and new information, even when you didn't find it particularly challenging."

Sherlock frowned, and seemed to be at a loss for what to say.

"I don't know if I can explain it to you, John. I just – don't like this case. I don't foresee a satisfactory feeling in solving it."

"It was the murder of a young woman with a bright future, Sherlock. How could it be anything but tragic?"

Sherlock grimaced and plucked the strings on his violin.

"I've been… compromised, John. I don't want either of the suspects to be guilty."

John was startled. Sherlock had never confessed to having any opinion on parties involved in previous cases. The characters were nothing but puzzles to be unraveled and solved.

After a pause, John said, "I can understand why you might not like to think of Benny as a murderer, but why not John Hayes?"

Sherlock looked at him for a long moment, then closed his eyes as if in pain, "I don't know."

He then began playing a low, mournful tune on the violin, leaving John alone with his questions and speculations.

TBC….

A/N: I realize this is a really short chapter, especially given how long you've waited for it! However, it seemed like a good stopping point for the story. The next chapter should be the last. Thanks for reading! And, reactions are always treasured!