Chapter 6: The Mystery Of Molly

Sherlock was baffled which was a very rare thing indeed,

"I don't understand. She was so upset" he murmured,

"It's a natural reaction, Sherlock. She assumed everything you said was a lie" John said simply but the detective shook his head,

"No, it was more than that. She said my opinion once meant the most to her but... I can't recall her asking for my opinion in any of the times we conversed" he explained and John shrugged,

"The mind of a female. The one thing a man dare not try and understand" he said earning a light smack on the shoulder off Mary,

"Come on, Sherlock. There must be something" Mary pointed out and Sherlock gave an expression of thought before thinking back.

"What made you enter this particular profession, Miss Hooper?" he had asked and watched as Molly shrugged gently,

"Well, I've always loved helping people and I love a puzzle so I guess I saw this role as a way to provide people with closure" she explained,

"Did your parents support you in your decision?" he asked curiously and she nodded,

"Oh yes, my dad put in extra hours at the counting house to put me through university" she said with a smile,

"Counting house?" he pressed,

"Yeah, he worked in a bank but he liked to call it a counting house because of all the numbers" she explained with a giggled.

Sherlock went to his laptop after coming back to reality,

"Counting house" he murmured earning a confused expression from John,

"What's up mate?" he asked,

"Molly refers to a bank as a counting house just as her father did" the detective explained,

"So?" John pressed, looking at Mary confused, and Sherlock showed them a photo on Molly's blog of her and her beloved dog,

"Her dog, Toby" Sherlock explained,

"Yeah, you're gonna have to be more specific, Sherlock" Mary said causing the detective to sigh in frustration,

"Counting being an important word as it is a beloved memory of her father and Toby being important as he is currently her closest companion. What is the link between those two words?" Sherlock asked and Mary held a look of realisation,

"Toby Counting" she answered with a smile and Sherlock nodded,

"Molly didn't ask for my opinion directly but she did recommend the first book to me... She wanted to know what I thought about her work and after discovering that I and William were one and the same. She thought every word I had said was a lie. Including my positive opinion towards her work" he murmured,

"So Molly Hooper is Toby Counting?" John pressed being still slightly confused but Sherlock was already grabbing his coat and was out the door.

Molly was typing up a report with a rather sad expression when a rectangular box was placed beside her but she didn't look up but she did stop typing,

"I bought the series" a voice said causing her to close her eyes before she went back to writing,

"You didn't need to do that" she murmured and Sherlock sat in the chair beside her,

"I wanted too" he responded,

"I truly did enjoy your work, Miss Hooper" he assured and Molly looked at him reluctantly,

"I don't know what your talking about" she tried and Sherlock gave a half smile,

"It seems whilst I hid behind the name of William you remain hidden behind the name of Toby Counting but on a much larger scale" he said gently and Molly sighed,

"What do you want, Sherlock?" she asked in a grumble and Sherlock gave a smirk,

"I want to know the ending. There's one last book to come I believe according to Mr Counting's fan page" he said and Molly looked at him firmly,

"You're not funny, Sherlock" she said warningly but Sherlock simply chuckled,

"You are an amazing woman, Molly Hooper" he said causing her to look confused,

"You hide behind an false name not just because you fear that your work is not good enough but because you do not want people to treat you positively just because you are a best selling writer. You also donate a lot of your profits to charity under the name of Toby Counting allowing a man with no face to take the credit whilst you remain anonymous" he said and Molly looked stunned,

"How... How could you possibly know all that?" she asked and Sherlock gave a half smile,

"I didn't but thank you for confirming" he said causing Molly to smile as she smacked his shoulder and watched him chuckle,

"You really were telling the truth?" she asked gently and he nodded,

"Every word I told you was true. I just used my unknown first name to do so" he said guiltily and Molly nodded gently,

"I understand" she said gently before opening a drawer and retrieved a pile of paper secured by a plastic binder and she held it out to him and he looked curious,

"What's this?" he asked and she smiled softly,

"The last book" she explained,

"I finished it last night. I haven't sent it to the publisher yet. Would you proof read it for me?" she asked gently and Sherlock smiled, accepting the binder,

"I would be honoured" he said before standing and Molly smiled gently,

"Sherlock?" she called gently earning his gaze and she smiled awkwardly,

"Would you like to go out for dinner this weekend?" she asked gently and Sherlock gave a smirk,

"On one condition" he said causing Molly to look shocked but amused,

"Condition?" she said with a laugh and Sherlock nodded,

"Yes, I shall happily go out with you if you announce that you are Toby Counting" he said and Molly bit her lip,

"Counter proposal... I'll admit that I am Toby Counting only after the final book has been published and... You join me as my guest to the premiere of the first film?" she asked gently and Sherlock looked stunned,

"There's going to be a film?!" he demanded and she nodded,

"It's been under wraps for ages" she admitted and Sherlock came back, leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek,

"I look forward to dinner this weekend, Miss Hooper" he murmured causing her to blush as he left.

I hope you all enjoyed 'Mystery Date' This story is dedicated to SammyKatz. A wonderful person and an amazing reviewer whom I thank so much for her support regarding my work and I wish her every happiness in life.

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996