Challenge: Horoscope
Title: Five Times When Stanley's Horoscope Meant Trouble (and once when he didn't read it)
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Rating: PG
Length: 1,940
Summary: Inspector Stanley Hopkins of the Metropolitan Police's Marine Policing Unit daily horoscope has clues to what will happen that day.  Not that he pays any attention.

By nature Inspector Stanley Hopkins of the Metropolitan Police’s Marine Policing Unit was not inclined to believe in his horoscope.  However, years of his mother and grandmother asking him to read out what it said whenever he looked at a newspaper had conditioned him to automatically glance at the relevant page as he travelled into work.

An unexpected discovery will prove of consequence

Stanley was in his office, checking the weekly rotas and catching up on the weekend reports when his phone rang.  One of the units had been called to investigate a suspicious object that had been spotted underneath a pier, to find that it was a bag containing a severed arm.  The arm hadn’t been in the water for too long and the fingerprints revealed that it had belonged to a small time drugs dealer, who on further investigation had been missing for the past week.

Stanley hadn’t expected this discovery to be of any interest to Sherlock, so was surprised when he arrived part way through the afternoon, demanding to be shown the exact location where the arm had been found.  Normally, Stanley would have objected to the interruption, since he was in the middle of scheduling training requirements for his unit, which he needed to submit before he went home that evening.  However, the opportunity to sit close to Sherlock in the RIB was not one he was going to pass up.

Sherlock spent some time inspecting the supports of the pier and asking Stanley questions about high tide times and river flow patterns, before finally declaring himself satisfied and insisting he be called immediately if anything further was found.  During the journey back Sherlock held Stanley’s hand and grabbed a quick kiss while the coxswain was concentrating on the river ahead, leaving Stanley blushing and hoping his colour had faded before they docked.

***

There will be surprising news of a past acquaintance

Stanley hadn’t even made it to work when his phone rang.  Passengers from one of the Thames clippers had reported seeing what looked like a person falling overboard from a cruiser that was motoring in the opposite direction.  The crew from the clipper had tried hailing the cruiser as soon as they had been informed of the accident, but without success.  The MPS were on their way and Stanley had been called to oversee interviewing the witnesses and to co-ordinate the search for the possible body.

When Stanley arrived at the river side he wasn’t surprised to find Sherlock already there and arguing with one of the police officers.  As soon as Stanley walked over Sherlock turned to him to tell him where the body would be.  Stanley started to object, saying that it was impossible for the body to have been carried that distance in the time frame.   Sherlock was insistent and Stanley relented, saying that he’d request a second boat, which was on its way to help with the search, to check to see if there was anything there as they came past.  A few minutes later a phone call came in to say that they had indeed found a body, less than thirty metres from where Sherlock had said it would be.

As they journeyed down river Sherlock explained that the body had been pushed overboard earlier that morning and what the witnesses had reported seeing had been a deliberate re-enactment for their benefit.

“So if there’s ever a question about that particular cruiser being involved it will be discounted, because we’ve already checked up on it and there was no body,” Stanley said.

“Precisely,” Sherlock replied.

Stanley wasn’t particularly surprised to find that when the body was pulled out of the water it was missing an arm.  Sherlock merely nodded and said that it confirmed his previous suspicions and that he was going back to the Yard to see if Lestrade had made any progress at his end.

Stanley had started to talk to the pathologist about their preliminary inspection of the body when one of the constables came over to him and said that Sherlock had asked if Stanley would look at something behind one of the old sheds that were set back from the water.  Stanley did as requested, wondering what Sherlock could possibly have seen, only to find himself pulled into a fierce hug.  He hugged Sherlock back and then returned to the pathologist smiling rather more than was appropriate for the situation.

***

Even though you act with the best of intentions it will not be appreciated

When Stanley walked into his office the first words he was greeted with were, “Where have you been?  I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Good afternoon, Sherlock, nice to see you, too.  I had the morning off,” Stanley replied.

“But I’ve got questions that need answering,” Sherlock said and then added, “You never take time off.”

“I do sometimes,” Stanley answered, unconsciously rubbing his right wrist.

Sherlock looked critically at him.  “You’ve hurt yourself; your wrist is bandaged.  Is that why you were off?”

“No,” Stanley sighed.  “I had to take Tilly to the vets.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes.  It was just her annual injections.”

“Oh, right.  She didn’t want to go in the carrier and so resisted furiously – hence the scratched wrist.”  Sherlock scrutinised Stanley’s face.  “And instead of being cross with her you’re feeling guilty and so stopped to buy her favourite brand of tuna, and ...” Sherlock watched as Stanley moved his bag onto his other shoulder, “a new toy!”

“Okay, I admit it.  What was it you wanted to know?”

Sherlock smirked, confident that Stanley would now answer all his questions so that he’d leave without telling Stanley how much he spoilt his cat.

***

You will receive a gift from an unexpected source

Stanley had spent the morning in the pouring rain.  His unit had been called in when a couple of mudlarks had found an unexploded mine that had been partially exposed at low tide.  The area had been evacuated and the Royal Navy had arrived and carried out a controlled explosion.  No-one had been injured, so, apart from being wet, Stanley was happy with the outcome.

When he reached his office he learnt that there had been several phone calls, some of which demanded his response as soon as he returned to the office.  Several of his emails, likewise, were marked urgent.  It transpired that his corpse from earlier in the week had been a bit player in what appeared to be some significant activity by one of the major drugs dealers.   Recently received intelligence was that a major consignment of cocaine was expected to be shipped out of London in the next few days.  Stanley’s input was required.

Stanley was trying ineffectively to dry himself with paper towels when he heard an argument outside.

“I’m sorry; you can’t see him at the moment, sir.  He’s only just got in and is very busy.”

“He’ll see me,” said a voice that he recognised as Sherlock’s.

Stanley opened his office door.  “It’s okay, Johnson, he can come in.”

Once Sherlock was in his office, Stanley said, “He’s right, I am very busy.”

“I know.  But I also know you’ve been out in the rain all morning, so I’ve brought you this.”

Sherlock handed over a carrier bag, which Stanley opened to find a towel and a change of clothing.

Sherlock nodded, “I’m not stopping anyway.  And don’t even think of hugging me – you’re soaking.”

Stanley contented himself with giving Sherlock a kiss, before going to change.

***

Something you are planning for will happen sooner than you thought

Stanley was at the liaison meeting at New Scotland Yard.  In the midst of the discussions someone knocked loudly on the conference room door.  Sergeant Donovan came in.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said, “But we’ve just heard that the Flosshilde is preparing to leave St Katherine’s Dock.”

The officers in the room all stood up.

The DCI started giving the orders.  “Lestrade, get your men down to the dock at once, they may be able to prevent her departure.  Bradstreet, get hold of the lockkeeper and tell him not to open the lock until we get there.  Hopkins, get out onto the river and take one of the dogs with you, in case you have to board her.”

Stanley was on his way to the river when the call came through to say that the Flosshilde had already passed through the lock.  The police boat was waiting for him when he reached the river and he saw the police dog handler and dog were already on board.  They set off down river as fast as possible and were soon within hailing distance of the Flosshilde.  He took the loudspeaker and ordered the cruiser to halt and prepare to be boarded.

The vessel did as commanded.  As they pulled up alongside, one of the men on the cruiser asked what the problem was.  Stanley informed him that they believed the boat was being used to traffic drugs.

“You’re welcome to come and search, but you won’t find anything,” the man said.

Stanley went on board and then the dog was handed over.  Stanley noted that the confident expressions the crew had had until that point seemed to be slipping.  The dog handler joined them and took the dog below deck.  It wasn’t long before the dog’s bark indicated that he had found something and the handler called up to confirm their success.

Stanley began to read the crew their rights, when one member panicked and threw a punch at him.  Two others similarly tried to resist arrest, but their resistance didn’t last long, as a second police boat had arrived to assist.

Stanley handed over the recovery of the Flosshilde and its now handcuffed crew to the sergeant from the second boat, whilst he returned to his own boat, wiping the blood from his nose on his shirt sleeve.

He phoned the DCI to tell him the result and confirm the arrangements he had made for boat and prisoners.

“Any injuries?” the DCI asked.

“Just me.  One of the crew tried to resist arrest and hit me.  I’ve got a bit of a nose bleed.”

“In which case go straight home.  There are plenty of other officers who can complete the reports and you can add anything else on Monday.”

“But sir ...”

“Go home, Hopkins!”

Stanley saw Sherlock waiting for him when the boat docked.

“Lestrade phoned me.  Are you okay?”  Sherlock asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Excellent.  We can pick up fish and chips and eat them at your place.”

***

Saturday morning and Stanley stretched out in his bed before rolling over and hugging Sherlock.

“At some point you’ll have to tell me what the significance was of the corpse’s location,” he murmured.

“It was quite obvious really.  The details are all in Lestrade’s report.  How’s the nose?”

“Still a bit tender, but it’s okay.”

Sherlock leaned over and kissed it.

“I suppose I’d better get up,” Stanley muttered, making no attempt to do so.

“Whatever for?”

“Make a cup of tea and feed Tilly.”

“That cat had so much fish last night she really shouldn’t need anything this morning.”  Sherlock laughed as Stanley started to complain.  “But it’s okay, I’ve fed her.  And there’s tea here for you, now you’ve finally woken.”

“So I don’t need to move at all?”

“Not one bit.”

“Excellent.”

Stanley stretched again and lay with his head on Sherlock’s chest.

Since he wasn’t going to work, he didn’t even think about what his horoscope might say.

Today is a day to enjoy the company of loved ones