Deducing Tragedy Part One: See No Evil

The next morning John rose to the pans clanging and the smell of bacon in the air. His first instinct was to fear for Hanna's safety but he swallowed down the urge to run into the kitchen and being applying any first aid he deemed necessary, and calmly got out of bed. She was a normal person… she could cook breakfast…normally…

"Good morning" she smiled cheerily as she flipped over a piece of bacon.

"G-good morning" he said, looking her over for any injuries she may have.

"How did you sleep?" She asked as she continued cooking. "I hope you like your bacon crispy because that’s all I know how to make"

"I slept fine," he said finding her perfectly healthy. "And I do, thank you"

"Tea will be done in two minutes and the bacon shortly after that" she said opening the cupboards and grabbing two mugs.

"Do you need any help?" He asked walking into the living room, glancing around for the paper.

"Yes actually, could you go out and get the mail?"

"But Mrs. Hudson-"

"Is our landlady, not our housekeeper" she insisted. "And while she does enjoy taking care of us she's getting on in age and we should help her out. Now go get the mail." He didn’t question her; he knew by her tone that this was something she wasn’t going to argue about. Just like last night when she said she was done talking. He didn’t know what had happened but some switch had been flipped and she would say no more. He didn’t even bother going to ask her if she was hungry and wanted supper; he would’ve been told no and sent away.

He got up from his chair and retied his robe before walking out into the hall. Mrs. Hudson was just coming in with the mail in her hand when he got down the stairs. "Oh hello dear" she smiled when she noticed him. "I was just bringing the mail up for the two of you"

"Yes, I see that," he smiled taking the envelopes from her. "Hanna is making breakfast if you want to join us, the tea should be done by now-"

"Mrs. Hudson?" Hanna called from the entry way. "Do you mind making the eggs? They're a little too unpredictable for me to cook"

"Oh course dear," the old woman beamed as they made their way up the stairs. "Eggs are my specialty. Ask John, I made him and Sherlock the best eggs they ever tasted- didn’t I John?"

"Yes, you did," he smiled as he sat back in his chair and combed over the mail. "Hey Hanna, you have a letter here from..... D.C. It looks hand written, a boyfriend perhaps?" He looked up to see her unfocused eyes locked in his direction. Her mouth was open slightly as if she was about to speak but no words came out.

“OH a love letter!” Mrs. Hudson exclaimed as she began heating up a pan, not noticing Hanna’s reaction. “I got love letters back in my day, but then again that’s all we sent, none of this texting or email nonsense. We had real love letters. I remember this one-“

"Hanna?" He asked, cutting Mrs. Hudson off as he stood up. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she whispered. "I’m fine." Liar, he thought taking hesitant steps towards her.

"Dear, do you need to sit?" Mrs. Hudson asked. "I can take over..."

"Yes..." Hanna nodded weakly. "Thank you, I’ll sit down. John, can I have my letter?" she held out her hand and he slid the envelope into her fingers. She slowly made her way over to her chair and sat down. She didn’t open it, only held it in her hands as she sat there.

“What wrong?” Mrs. Hudson asked as they retreated into the kitchen. “The poor dear looked like she saw a ghost.”

“I'm not sure,” he said. “Whoever this D.C. fellow is… he appears to be bad news for Hanna”

“What do we do?”

He sighed, running his hands over his face. “’I’ll ask Molly about it today at work- speaking of which I'm running late. Pack me a breakfast?”

“Of course, you go get ready,” Mrs. Hudson nodded. “I’ll stay with Hanna.”

“No, don’t,” Hanna’s voice made them both jump. “I know you have tea with friends today Mrs. Hudson. I wouldn’t want to keep you from them.”

“But that letter-“

“Is from an old boyfriend,” Hanna said with a small smile. “Things ended… poorly between us. I never expected him to contact me again. I was quite shocked that’s all. I'm fine.”

John looked at her, in her light pink tank top and pajama bottoms, with her hair pulled into a pony tail. She looked like a teenager, like a little girl who needed to be protected from a boy who only wants to break her heart.