Epilogue

I opened the front door to my flat to retrieve my daily paper. My husband set my English breakfast on my normal spot at the table.

"What's in the papers love?" he asked after taking a sip from his black coffee.

"I don't know yet, I-" I stopped in midsentence. Across the front page of the Sun newspaper read: SHERLOCK'S A FAKE: THE SHOCKING TRUTH "He invented all the crimes" (Close Friend Richard Brook Tells All) - Exclusive From Kitty Riley

I dropped the newspaper on the table and sat in my chair in utter disbelief. My thoughts went back to the helpless boy in the library…

"This Riley girl certainly has quite the story. And whoever this Richard Brooks is can probably retire with all of this information…sweetheart, are you ok?"

I shook it off. "Yes…I-I'm fine."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it, I need fresh air anyhow…read the article and tell me what it says. I'd like to hear what I says."

I opened the door to find a tall man, who appeared to be homeless, in tattered clothes, old shoes, and a hot covering his wild dark hair.

"Delivery for a Nessa O'Callaghan." his deep voice told me.

Something about his face…those eyes…looked vaguely familiar. "This is she, thank you." I said taking the unaddressed envelope from him.

On a thin piece of paper in long, spidery letters, what I read nearly knocked the wind out of me.

That day came.

The hole has been filled.

Thanks for believing in me.

-SH

It hit me, all at once, but when I looked up to confirm, my old friend, was gone, without a sound. Rain began to fall as I went back inside. "Who was at the door?"

I read the note one last time and smiled softly.

"Someone…extrodinary."