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There are many ways to be sweet, Gregory thought. Some give away flowers and teddy bears. Others send postcards and text messages saying "I miss you. Some hug you, and look you in the eye when they ask you how you are, stopping to hear the answer, they care. There are people who never call, never hug, but you know that you could call at three in the morning and they would come running, or they would stay on the phone to talk, or to keep quiet with you on the other side of the line. Whatever you need.
The Holmes family doesn't send flowers or teddy bears, much less hug each other or confide in each other. "- I have a phone, you know. You could have called me.
- When you're avoiding Mr. Holmes' attention, you learn to be discreet. Sit down.
- I don't want to sit down.
- You don't seem very scared...
- You don't seem very intimidating...
- Tell me, what is your relationship with Mr. Holmes?
- None at all. I met him yesterday...
- You met him yesterday and they solve cases together... Should we expect a happy announcement for the weekend?
- Who are you?
- An interested party...
- In what?
- Interested in him, of course. I care about him. Constantly.
- A friend?
- You know Holmes, how many friends do you think he can have? I am the closest thing to a friend he can have...An enemy. In his mind, of course. Do you plan to continue your association with him?
- I may be wrong, but I don't think that's any of your business...
- Yes,he could make a mistake...- He remained silent while watching the man with the umbrella, impeccably dressed in a three-piece suit and with a pocket watch to get a notebook out of his
jacket. - "He finds it hard to trust people", he says here, - of all people, has he decided to trust Mr. Holmes?
- Where did you get that? Who says I trust him?
- If you decide to continue your association with him, you would be willing to reward him generously, in exchange for certain information... Nothing too personal, nothing that makes him feel uncomfortable...
- I'm not interested.
- We haven't talked about any quantity...
- Whatever it is, the answer is no.
- Interesting... I imagine people have already warned him to stay away from him, but I see that's not going to happen.... It's time to choose sides, Mr. Lestrade...- said the man as he walked away."
Gregory Lestrade could not help but smile at the memory of that first encounter with a member of the Holmes family, while John Watson told him how he had met Mycroft, still indignant.
The eldest of the Holmes had presented himself one day at the Yard, the investigation of a drug-related murder being carried out by the DI crossed the path of what he would later know was "The British Government", and that at that time he was looking for his junkie brother and extremely intelligent Sherlock, who had of course had to go and stick his nose in that affair. Not even 24 hours later, a black car with tinted windows had "picked it up" and taken it to an abandoned warehouse.
Three months later, a more or less detoxified Sherlock was collaborating on the Lestrade cases. Six months later, he and Mycroft had started a relationship which, it seems, the detective adviser, so perceptive, was unable to see. It had been more than five years...
- I really understand that Sherlock doesn't relate to anyone, to that lunatic nearby to scare them away... What's so funny?
Greg laughed a little funny laughter, leaving his beer on the table.
- Have I ever told you how I met Rudy Vernet? …
Yeah, everyone's sweet in their own way. For the Holmes family, kidnapping and finding out what kind of person you are, whether or not you pose a danger to those they love, before allowing yourself to get too close to them is their way of being sweet. A somewhat strange and creepy way, but more effective than a teddy bear, anyway.
But it's better not to ask what happened to those who were kidnapped and accepted Rudy's or Mycroft's money. There are things it's better not to know...