Edit: a big thank you to Flew_From_Death for designing the new cover! She's also made the suggestion to merge the s1 books together to make them easier to navigate so I'll try to implement that soon! In the meantime, be sure to check out her books.

I'm playing upstairs when I hear daddy's crying. Getting to my feet, I stumble across to the stairs and hold on tight to the bannister as I start slowly climbing down. Jumping down the last step, I run into the living room to find him knelt down, his head buried in mummy's soft black hair as he cradles her head on his lap. That's a funny place for her to sleep. Her eyes are open and looking at me, but she doesn't smile when she sees me. A small hole in her chest stains her blouse and creates a little red puddle around her on the carpet. She's going to be very mad when she wakes up and finds she's ruined the carpet.

I blink curiously at the scene, not understanding why everything is so different. I walk over and try shaking her awake, but she doesn't respond so I start to cry as well. Why isn't mummy waking up?

I lurch upright in a cold sweat. Clinging to the sides of the bed, I attempt to stop my panting by breathing slowly and telling myself quietly that it was just a nightmare - nothing more than a reoccurring nightmare of something which happened a long time ago.

I drop back onto my pillow, brushing the short black curls away from my eyes. My breathing evens out, but the image of mum's body stops me from relaxing. As much as it hurts, I would never do anything to try and stop the nightmares. It's the only time I get to see her.

My eyes begin to sting, and I bury my head in my pillow to muffle my sobs from dad. No doubt he's up already, worrying about me waking up again.

I thought detaching myself from the world would help as it did for dad, but it hasn't. I can manage for most of the time, but when I'm alone and it's dark, emotion tears down my walls and logic fails. Caring is not an advantage, but it's not voluntary either.

I am Sophia Elizabeth Holmes, daughter of the only Consulting Detective, Sherlock Holmes, and the late Irene Adler. But we don't talk about her any more. People used to say I take after my mother for looks, but I have the high cheekbones, cold grey eyes and black curls of my father as well as a rational, calculating mind.

Realising I won't get any more sleep tonight, I sit back up and switch on the lamp beside me. The shadows dancing around my room fade away, ready to return tonight. It's still fairly dark outside, but by the position of the sun and the light intensity, I would say its 5:32 am. A quick glance at my alarm confirms my theory. My head is buzzing with a thousand different thoughts flying through, refusing to stay still. I'm bored, and we all know where that leads.

***

"You're up early," dad says as I emerge from the bedroom a while later. As usual, he's poised in front of his laptop, typing fast, but he stops suddenly and turns to face me. "Your nightmares are back, aren't they?" I nod, and he gives a sympathetic smile. "They'll get better, I promise. It just takes time." He turns back to the laptop and starts tapping away again.

As I walk over to him, I spot this morning's newspaper tossed in the bin.

"Nothing interesting?" I ask, referring to the paper, but he doesn't reply.

An empty bowl has been set out for my cereal, but I'm not hungry. I need something stronger, something to keep me awake. As I make my coffee, I let my mind sift through all the facts I've collected this week to see if anything fits with our current case.

"Sophie, I need your opinion on this."

I walk over and stand behind him, nursing the coffee in my hands as I sip gently at it, the burning liquid reacting immediately to wake my synapses. I peer over his shoulder and at the computer screen, before analysing. A newspaper heading reads out: 'SIR JEFFREY PATTERSON DEAD. SUICIDE OR MURDER?' Underneath, a picture of the businessman accompanies the text.

"It's hard to say by looking at the picture. Fairly old image judging by the picture quality which could mean that there were obvious signs in the later photos which would point to it being a suicide. The absence of these images suggests that the police are under the impression that it was murder." I pause to take a breath of air and to evaluate the portrait further. "Successful man - even mildly famous in the world of business - but why would his suicide, or as the papers suggest, his murder be front-page unless something is going on behind the scenes?" Dad nods in agreement. "Has this got you interested?" I ask, a smile creeping up on my face. He looks like a boy on Christmas morning.

"Let's go take a look, shall we?"

---
AN 5/9/21: I can't describe how happy it makes me seeing people still reading this almost 10 years after I first published it (not including recent edits)!

I'm currently in the process of planning out a prequel and I need your help! To make this prequel as accurate as I can, I want to call back to every little detail I left about Sophie's past throughout this series. However doing this myself would take me forever (and I hate re-reading my own work!)

It would really mean a lot if, as you're reading through the series, you could drop a comment where I mention something about Sophie's past, or anything else you think might be relevant. In this chapter, for example, you could refer to the flashback scene or even the fact that people have remarked on her likeness to Irene Adler. It definitely doesn't have to be particularly substantial - even an asterisk '*' beside a particular extract would be more than enough!

Really appreciate any help, and happy reading! 😁