The Maid of the Holmes Family

Eleanor is a considerate maid with a hundred ways to make people like her.

She kindly steps in to help a secretary who's being given a hard time, assists a lady facing a difficult situation, and helps a friend with nowhere to go find a good job.

In the eyes of others, Eleanor is reserved, steady, and reliable. She is the person they trust most.

But

After leaving Sherlock's service to work for Mycroft, Eleanor met the most difficult person in the world to deal with.

Her new employer doesn't like her coming near him at all.

Likewise, she can't stand Mycroft.

In Mycroft's eyes, Eleanor is someone he should be on guard against most of all. She sneaks sips of the household's red wine, damages his reputation in public, and causes him trouble at work. On top of that, Eleanor has countless other crimes to her name.

In short, her very existence is a disaster for him.

Eleanor is shrewd, troublesome, and cunning. He'll find a chance to fire her.

And then...

Sherlock thinks that if the two of them keep living together, something is bound to go wrong. He's wondering when he should ask Eleanor to come back to him.

A few months later.

Mycroft: We're getting engaged next month.

Sherlock: ??

Mycroft: Your dear brother has found his place in the world. Aren't you happy for him?

Sherlock: ...

[Highlights]

1. Apologies for the OOC characterization.

2. Set in the nineteenth century.

Upcoming novel: The Detective of the Twentieth Century

In 192x, Doris is struggling to get by in London. Fortunately, a classmate's butler recommends a little "business" she could try: becoming a private detective.

She also discovers that nobody in the world remembers The xxxx Casebook, and that a new 221B has appeared on the real Baker Street.

This is completely different from what Doris remembers!

Doris suddenly realizes that she and Holmes both graduated from Oxford, yet the two of them have never appeared together... and she has never denied that she is not Holmes... By the time Doris thinks of this, her hands are shaking... The more she thinks about it, the more terrifying it gets...

She understands now. The twentieth-century Sherlock Holmes is Doris Hollis herself!

And so Doris, using Holmes's name, completes her cases perfectly and becomes a huge hit in detective circles, making her even more enthusiastic about playing the part.

Once she has a little money, she rents a place on Baker Street. But she's missing a doctor, so she puts an ad in the paper looking for an assistant.

And a Mr. Watson really does show up for an interview?!!

Sherlock Holmes should be at home waiting for his new lodger to arrive, not in London forty years in the future.

He sees a different world: people communicate by telephone, light their homes with electric lamps, and travel by car. More importantly, there's that Miss Holmes.

She has a short bob that reaches her ears, wears a loose dress that falls just below her knees, and doesn't wear a corset or a bustle. She's eloquent and full of unpredictable ideas.

Sherlock applies to be her assistant under the name "Watson," and things go smoothly at first.

"Watson": Miss Doris Hollis, why do you call yourself Holmes?

Doris: It's the stage name I chose so my enemies can settle their scores with me. After all, whatever Holmes does has nothing to do with me, Doris Hollis.

Sherlock Holmes silently adds The Art of Being a Scapegoat to his reading list.

[Highlights]

1. Apologies for the OOC characterization.

2. There are two versions of which school Holmes attended. This story goes with Oxford.

Theme: Moving toward a brighter future