PROLOGUE — MEETING SHERLOCK HOLMES

"You need help, Mr Holmes." — valentina wilson

SCOTLAND YARD,
2005





VALENTINA WILSON WAS NOT HAVING A GOOD DAY. First of all, a pipe burst in her small yet comfortable flat that she lived in with just her daughter, flooding both the bathroom and the kitchen but luckily did not reach neither of the bedrooms. Secondly, Maggie (her daughter aka the light of her life) was being particularly difficult that morning and refused to put on her hearing aids despite them being her favourite colour — pink — as well as decorated with the finest star stickers £1 could buy. And later, in front of the pre-school building, after Valentina finally managed to get her daughter to wear the hearing aids, the young girl was very reluctant to let go of her Mother who was almost late to work as a result. It was safe to say that Valentina Wilson's life was a tad chaotic.

But she wouldn't change it for the world.

Upon arriving at Scotland Yard, Valentina headed straight for her lab, making sure to greet any fellow officers that came her way. It felt a tad odd not have the warmth of a cup of coffee gracing her palm, for that morning, in her rush to get to work on time, she had not a moment to spare to pick up her usual beverage. So the work coffee was going to have to do.

Valentina's lab was a reflection of herself. There was clearly an attempt to keep order in the room, but there seemed to mess wherever you looked. At least she knew where everything was. Anderson would often scold the young woman for leaving her place of work in such a state, but he was one to say something considering his office wasn't much better. That hypocrite. 

A murder had been committed the night prior and unfortunately for everyone, it was Anderson's scene. But Valentina had received a call to say she was going to put in charge of some of the testing which she was to start that morning. Detecting chemicals, DNA and everything bar the kitchen sink seemed to be Valentina's job and she loved it. Science had always come easy to the girl, even from a young age, so when she was old enough she decided to use her talent to help people. Well, that was her intention anyhow. 

She strolled into her slightly messy lab with a relieved sigh: she was on time. Placing her bag down at her station, Valentina pulled open her desk drawer for her work mug. Her colleagues had a habit of gifting the woman science pun mugs for her birthday ever since she expressed that she liked them. Now she had too many to count. At least they made good pencil holders. 

This particular mug had 'Chemists have all the solutions' printed on it along with a cartoon beaker with a cute face. It was stupid, but Valentina found it funny. 

And just as she was about to make her trip to the communal coffee dispenser, Anderson entered her lab. "Ah, Wilson. I see you're here."

"Stating the obvious again, Anderson." Mumbled Val under her breath.

"I have personal effects from the murder scene for you to test." Announced her superior as he then proceeded to dump a rather large container onto her work surface. Valentina wasn't one who disliked her work, but that was a lot of items for her to go through. "I think it was a robbery gone bad. Just poor Derek Brown was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Sighed Anderson with a shake of his head.

A frown crossed the young woman's lips. "We don't know that for certain." She had read a brief of note about what happened before she left her drenched flat. Sure, the wallet was missing, but that didn't necessarily mean a robbery. 

"It's our job to find that out."

Stating the obvious, again. Valentina always tried her best to be kind to others, but sometimes Anderson really make her consider going against that. The thing about the man was that despite his irritating remarks and occasional stupid suggestion, he was actually an incredible forensic scientist. If it wasn't for how decent he was at his job, Val was sure she would have lost it by now.

Forcing a smile on her face, Valentina then said. "And I will. As soon as I go and get myself a cup of coffee. I didn't have time this morning—"

"I don't need your life story." Anderson quickly cut her off.

Valentina faltered. There was no way in Hell she was going to tell anyone her life story, let alone Anderson. That was a tale no one would want to hear.

Then the head of forensics simply walked out of the room and left Valentina with an empty mug in her hand and a large box on her desk. She had a lot of work to do — a murder to help solve. Her findings could very important in identifying and proving who killed Derek Brown. Valentina had no idea what Anderson was currently up to, but she was going to do her job the best that she could and hopefully catch a killer when she was done.

So the young woman began by fetching herself a steaming mug of black coffee (and two sugars) before she started on the box. 

Taking a small sip from the almost scalding beverage, Valentina allowed the piping liquid to fall down her throat and warm her insides. Then she placed it down on her work surface, next to the box. Sitting right on top of the piles of evidence bags was a slim manila folder and Valentina could guess what was inside: crime scene photos. 

Dead bodies and blood were two things that Valentina had grown used to over the past few years at Scotland Yard, so the picture of the late Derek Brown didn't affect her much. She stared at the scene before pictured before her and then spread out the images in one long line. It was her intention that when she went through all the evidence bags, she would play a game of spot-the-item as she searched for evidence for the case. Seeing where the item was  in the scene helped her paint a picture of what really happened, Anderson thought her method was weird. But Val didn't really care about his opinion. 

Slipping on her latex gloves with a snap, Valentina then began to work on the box in front of her. She pulled out her swabs from her drawer and instantly started to take samples from the evidence before her. After taking her samples she would run them for DNA matches in their system to try and figure out who it was that took the life of Derek Brown. And Valentina was rather good at her job so she was sure she could find something that would help Lestrade with his case. 

After completing her analysis of the jacket Derek Brown had been wearing, she turned to his watch. The timepiece was dented, bloodied and shattered. It was Anderson's belief — and a very assumptive one at that — that Derek Brown was simply killed in a robbery gone bad. But as Valentina stared at the accessory in her hand, she was beginning to think that wasn't the case.

She was swabbing the watch for DNA when she noted its value. This watch was clearly worth a lot of money so if this was a robbery, why would the culprit leave it? Sure, it was plausible that it was forgotten in the panic of Derek Brown's death. But it was an expensive watch.

And another thing Valentina happened to note was the small indentation around his fingers that she could see from the picture. Then, she realised: Derek Brown had used his valuable watch to defend himself against his attacker. Like a set of steel knuckles. And from what she could tell, muggers normally gave up when they figured out it was gonna be too much of a fight. It always meant a bigger chance of getting caught. Sure, the watch was worth a lot, but to kill for it and then leave it behind, it didn't make sense.

So she came to the only conclusion she could...

...Derek Brown had been murdered.

Valentina put away her gloves to take a long sip of her coffee. With this new revelation, it was certainly going to be a long day. But coffee and the joy of proving a smug Anderson wrong would fuel her through it. 

Yet, just as Valentina was about to get to work and fully prove her theory, Sally Donovan popped her head into her workspace. 

"Wilson." Called out Donovan. "Lestrade needs you. He says to bring a drug kit with you. He's in interrogation."

What was Lestrade needing with a drug kit? Valentina had no clue but she decided to put her questions aside and do as requested of her. So, she left her Derek Brown case to the side and retrieved her kit from the cupboard  and headed out. Interrogation wasn't far from her area so it didn't take Valentina very long to arrive at Lestrade's side.

He was stood outside the door to interrogation with a worried and exasperated look on his face. It was only morning and it already looked like he had had a long day. Valentina glanced to her boss with concern. And when he saw her arrival, the man lit up. 

"Val." He sighed heavily. "This is a weird one." 

Perplexed by his words, the forensic scientist said nothing and just followed him into the adjacent room where they could see interrogation through the two-way mirror. There was a man sat on the chair. He had dishevelled dark curls, sharp cheekbones and piercing green-blue eyes. But she could see why Lestrade had called her. He was twitching, clearly from drugs no matter how hard he seemed to try and hide it, and he was itching at his arm. There seemed to be a thin layer of sweat upon his skin and he looked so incredibly pale and thin. She knew the signs all too well. She knew from experience. 

"Drug possession?" She theorised.

Lestrade stepped towards the mirror as he glanced at the man curiously. "That's the weird part. He came to us. He claimed he knows what happened to Derek Brown and exactly who did it." Now that was most certainly a weird one. People addicted to drugs rarely came forward to the police out of fear of the charges that could be levied against them. But not only had this man come forward, but he seemed to have solved the crime.

"Derek Brown was murdered." Valentina informed Lestrade. He whipped around to face her, surprised by his words. "Anderson was wrong. The evidence and logic suggest Derek Brown's death was no accident."

The Detective huffed. "If it's murder then we definitely have to talk to this guy, he's the only lead we have." 

"I'll go in there and talk to him."

"I'll be here if you need me."

Valentina nodded her head to acknowledge his words and the clutched her test kit harder before she headed towards interrogation. Once she reached for the door, the man looked up expectantly and then she entered the room. Their eyes met and they both seemed to be observing the other, noting the features and characteristics they could read from them.

"Hello." Greeted the single mother with a warm smile. "I'm Valentina Wilson. I work in forensics here at Scotland Yard." She said as she approached the table and sat down opposite the man. "May I ask your name?"

He watched her curiously. She had no idea of all the thoughts flying through his mind as he glanced at her; of all the deductions he was making. "Sherlock." His hoarse throat managed. "Sherlock Holmes." 

"Interesting name." She commented softly. Then she turned back to the mirror, to Lestrade, and requested. "Can we have some water in here please?" Returning her gaze to Sherlock, Valentina continued. "I'm here to talk to you about Derek Brown. But before that, I've been requested to drug test you. May I?" He gestured for her to continue.

So, Valentina stood up from her seat as Lestrade entered the room with a glass of water. He placed it down on the table and Valentina opened up her case as she knelt down beside Sherlock. "Thank you, Lestrade." Nodded Valentina. Sherlock said nothing. Valentina rolled up the man's sleeve to see the multiple needle marks as clear as day. She sighed sadly at the sight. Although her poison had predominantly been pills, she had used the needle a few times. "You need help, Mr Holmes." Valentina wiped down the spot with an antiseptic wipe before pushing her needle into his skin. And he made no reaction to it nor her comment.

Once the needle was out and the blood was collected, Valentina pulled out a swab to place inside the man's mouth. Then she placed her samples safely inside the case which she returned to the tabletop. 

"One of your parents was a paramedic." He suddenly said. Valentina spun around so quickly she could have gotten whiplash to stare at the man in utter shock. Even Lestrade was gaping at Sherlock. 

"How—How did you know that?"

His eyes glanced her form once more before he explained. "The way you took my blood, it was experienced. You're too young to have gone through medical school or extensive medical training so you started young. That would mean at least one parent was in the medical services. Sure, other professions need first aid, but balance of probability. You've continued to keep up your medical skills which would most likely mean you're carrying the torch of a fallen mentor. Paramedics is more likely, their occupation carries more risk. Therefore, a parent was a paramedic." 

Both Valentina and Lestrade stared at Sherlock, dumbfounded and flabbergasted by his deduction. It was incredible. He had figured out about her Mother just from a few things. Drugs or no, he had incredible mind.

"You also have a young daughter." Sherlock continued, shocking Valentina even more. But then he said with a fraction of a smile. "Pink glitter in your hair." 

"That was amazing!" Gasped Lestrade as Valentina vanished off to the mirror to look at her hair. And he was right, there were specks of pink glitter amongst her strands of dark hair. She brushed it out. 

Turning away from the mirror, Valentina returned to the seat opposite Sherlock. She was observing curiously, as he was her. There was just something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on and that fascinated him. 

Valentina smiled kindly at Sherlock. "That was very impressive. You're incredibly intelligent. And I'm assuming that's how you know who murdered Derek Brown?" She proposed with a small smirk.

Sherlock lit up slightly. "You said 'murdered'? I thought Scotland Yard believed it was a robbery gone bad?" He queried.

"They did. Until I figured out he was murdered."

Now Sherlock was the one to be impressed. She was smarter than the usual lot, he realised, and that just intrigued him more. 

"Derek Brown had stakes in a small company that was about to explode. There was only one other investor and when he figured out how much the company was going to be worth, he killed Derek Brown so he wouldn't have to share the money." Revealed the fascinating man in front of them. "I'm sure if you were to go the other investor's residence, you would find the evidence you need."

Once again, both Valentina and Lestrade were amazed by his answer. 

"If only we had someone like you on our past cases, they would have been solved much easier." Pondered Lestrade who pulled out his phone to inform his colleagues of the lead his man had given them. 

Then a thought crossed Valentina's mind. "Perhaps we can."

"What are you talking about, Val?"

A wide grin appeared across her lips. If her plan worked, it was going to be incredible. And it was gonna change the future of Scotland Yard — for the better, she mostly believed. "We could bring Sherlock in as a consultant." The forensic scientist proposed. 

Lestrade thought about it for a moment as he too saw the brilliance in her idea. "If this lead pans out and he gets clean, then it's possible." He declared. And once he said that, Valentina's smile brightened. As someone with a previous struggle with drugs, she knew that quitting required proper motivation. For her, it was her unborn child at the time. And she believed, that for Sherlock, this opportunity could be it.

He came to Scotland Yard to use his natural gifts to help, despite any repercussions that may be inflicted due to the drugs in his system. He wanted to help, in his own way. So, Valentina was sure this prospect would aid him in fighting his addiction and getting back on his feet.

"So, what do you think, Sherlock? Fancy helping out the Yard every now and again?"

"That does sound appealing."

And so the journey of Sherlock Holmes was set onto the right track by Valentina Wilson. She had no idea how that one proposal, how that one man, would forever change her life. But she was about to find out.

FINALLY!!!! THE PROLOGUE IS OUT!!!!

I kept getting stuck on this until I binge wrote like half of it at once. Also, if my medical and police stuff isn't completely correct, please don't go against me. I wrote most of this on different days over many months, mostly in the late hours of the night so I didn't feel like checking. 

Val is the reason Sherlock is working with Scotland Yard. Basically, after his lead worked, they agreed not to press charges against his drugs as long as he went to rehab. He absolutely hated it, but he did it. Val was right: that job gave him the motivation he needed to quit. And the time between this and Sherlock season one, she has tried her best to keep him clean. 

Also, love how she hates Anderson before Sherlock does. She also knows hiring Sherlock will piss him off which is another reason she wants Sherlock to help out.

That gif at the top is probably not in the right place but oh well. I made it and he looks young so I put it here. 

Anyway, thank you for reading!!!

Sincerely Rosie aka Winter326