Greg's been working far too hard, and I feel we've barely seen him. Not, of course, that I blame him. Not with the job he has to do, but still...anyway, he says they'll come to see us, soon, which will be wonderful. And John - well, I know it's not easy for him, not at all, but he really is just a solidly good person. Good with the boys, good with Greg - good FOR Greg, and he's been so, so kind to us, when Greg's been working.
And the boys. They're so lovely. All the children are upstairs at the moment, having been convinced to let the adults have a little peace after lunch. Sherlock seemed to want to show them something, which is nice. Sometimes he can be a bit quiet - but he is so much younger than the rest of them, I quite understand.
So, in light of all the emotions going around here in the past few days, I thought I'd leave you with a last picture of Greg. Taken at a family wedding (I'm afraid, rather rudely, I don't remember whose!) But it does explain Greg looking rather smarter than he generally did during that time in his life.
And it is nice to see him smiling!
Happy Easter, everyone.
Nicky
xx
41 comments:
Are they still quiet? What did Sherlock want to show them?
As a former science obsessed kid and a current primary school teacher - you might want to check if they are too quiet for too long!!
K
xoxo
Suspiciously so. I'm working, and clearly not about to venture into Sherlock's room without a bio-hazard suit. John's eaten too much yorkshire pudding, beef and ice cream to move, apparently. Mark says he doesn't care what they're doing as long as they stay quiet, and Nicky is giving us all a disapproving look, but my money is on her breaking first, and going to investigate.
I don't caaaaaare.
I'm sure I will when I find out what they're up to, but not right now. I'll deal with the consequences later.
And by "deal with" I probably mean "clean up."
My only hope rests on Mycroft being with them. He is...generally...slightly more sensible.
But he might have just retired to his own room, for the good of his health...
Okay, I might go up and check.
He's going... Nicky's looking smug. I think she knew he couldn't take it.
Stink bombs. Need I say more?
Don't mind me, I'll just be over here, solving murders and avoiding the flat being evacuated for public health reasons.
Glad you had a good visit Nicky - and you're right, it is nice to see him smiling :-)
Oh god, it's REALLY BAD.
It's Sherlock. What did you expect? Only the very best from that boy.
I've smelt worse. Not much, admittedly. But I've encountered some really well rotted remains in my time.
Anyway, let's look up the page...ah, yes, there it is, famous last words "I don't caaaaaare.
I'm sure I will when I find out what they're up to, but not right now. I'll deal with the consequences later.
have fun, Danger!
I kind of fear for Nicky now if Sherlock was not just showing them to the others, but showing the others how to make them.
Good luck to everyone.
Knowing Sherlock, it was a masterclass.
And I think Danger might be regretting having such a large lunch, if the gentle wafts of stench we're getting down here are anything to go by. Still, at least the weather's good enough to open all the windows.
And all the kids are keeping well away from the files I'm working on.
Goodbye, Nicky! It was nice having you as a guest blogger! :) And well... I hope you manage to remove the smell from your belongings soon. At least it wasn't a skunk. :)
Luckily, Lupe, all our belongings are in Greg's flat - which is where we'll be sleeping tonight. It's John, Greg, Sherlock and Mycroft who have to stay here. (I'm not quite sure how, but Greg is managing to ignore it all and do paperwork. I'm sitting by the window, head out in the fresh air!)
I'm almost in awe at how bad it smells. I mean, he's only five, and he can already do things like this! I just hope that one day he chooses to, I don't know, cure Malaria or something, rather than invent chemical weapons.
Right. Fan in the window pointing out, door of his room closed. That's all I can do for the moment. The rest of the flat is starting to smell...I won't say better, but marginally less horrible. I have no idea what to do about his room.
Sherlock's lucky I'm not my father. He probably would've made me sleep in there if I'd done this.
Would it actually do him any harm to sleep in there?
I'd probably have got my ears boxed, at the very least.
Lestrade -- Greg -- does look good in that photo, Nicky. Thanks for sharing and blogging. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit.
I sense none of the adults is all that happy about Sherlock sharing the stink with you. I don't know about the kids. I'd be inclined to make Sherlock sleep in there if it's not too toxic tonight. Something like "you've let your stinkbomb loose, now you have to sleep with it."
I'd be inclined to make him sleep in there too unless it would make him sick. On the other hand I'm not sure that would drive home the lesson of don't set off stink bombs as much as the lesson of don't set them off in your own space.
Harmful - probably not, having looked over what he used. However...
1) Would it do any good?
2) Would he sleep at all, and if he didn't, who would suffer for it tomorrow?
I'm taking his chemistry set away for... I haven't decided how long yet.
And probably looking into getting him a chemistry tutor.
1. No idea. Probably as Kholly said, he'd just learn not to shit on his own doorstep. (metaphorically speaking.)
2. No idea again. You. Me by proxy. Mycroft.
He can sleep on the sofa. I doubt I'll disturb him working here. He might, however, disturb me.
Unrelated note - anyone know what age group of kids 'Ben 10' is aimed at?
What about ...
3. Congratulate him for the immense result.
It's very impressive for a little boy.
I'd maybe have a different opinion, if I'd be able to smell what you smell at the moment. ;)
I don't even know what Ben 10 is.
The answer to #2 is most definitely me. (And he can sleep in Mycroft's room. Mycroft isn't entirely blameless in this.)
But...as bad as the smell is, I'm sort of glad it happened? I've never seen Sherlock try to share something like that, something he really loves, with other kids before. Even if I do wish he would've picked something else to share.
(Paula - I am proud, in a way, hence the chemistry tutor.)
How did the other kids react? I would think it would be good for him to have his peers be impressed with his intelligence rather than intimidated or overwhelmed by it. (I'm imagining he gets the latter a lot as I expect most kids don't know how to react to him.)
Aw. <3
I'll be over here, laughing and laughing at your misfortune. :)
'The Ballad of Gay Tony' - that mean anything to anyone? I'm guessing it's not a kid's game...
And yes, Danger, in the grand scheme of things, bad smells and some kids laughing is a far, far better outcome than some other experiments he could have done. And Paul at least seemed very impressed (sorry about that, Nicky).
Lestrade: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto:_The_Ballad_of_Gay_Tony
Do we even want to know?
Right - Wiki, what would we do without it? Not try to solve crimes from our kitchen tables, I suppose.
Anyway, not a kid's game. Do parents seriously let their children play things like that? Does saying that make me sound incredibly old?
Nameless Anon - Probably not. I finally got a lot of financial records on my prime suspect. Just working through them, seeing what he bought, when, and how it fits in with his known movements. But half the stuff on here is video games and stuff, which I've never heard of. Just putting together the pieces.
Ben 10 I think is primary school age stuff but at the older end, 7-10 not 3-6. At least so I have picked up from the people at work with kids who all seem to be obsessed with it.
And yes people do let their children play GTA and yes it is terribly disturbing.
Hmm. Interesting. Thanks.
Ben 10 seems to top out at 11... no real interest once they get to Secondary level. Lots of Key Stage 2 lads playing at being Ben in the playground!
Stinkbombs? Yep, might want to check that you don't have any old aerosols around... the next stage might be flamethrowers! Not that I might be admitting anything Detective Inspector...
Scary moments in the classroom include when kids describe films that I don't want to see... like a 9 year old who was describing SAW. I do worry... professionally!!
Kira
xoxo
Sherlock has very very strict rules about fire. And he does seem to obey them.
I have no idea what 'key stage 2' is. But I can imagine how kids must worry you. Everything is so obtainable nowadays.
I think I'm slowly building up a picture of what's happened here, horrible though it is.
I will get this bastard into court, if it's the last thing I do.
Sorry, teacher habit! Key stage 1 is 4-6, what was infants. Key stage 2 is 7-11, juniors. KS3 is 11-14 then KS4 is 15-16 when GCSE's are.
I do supply at the moment, in and out of lots of schools. Since they are never my class all I can do is pass on what they say.
Sometimes when a child talks to you all you can do is listen, fill in forms and find a quiet corner to cry in - even if that's a cupboard.
I can imagine what it must be like to get all the evidence and see the whole picture, I'm glad I only see my bit of it usually because it's enough to make me call my mum. I haven't had to go to court, that's for people above me on the food chain... but a little voice (even if they are 15) saying "can I talk to you miss"... those are the times that you a- know that they must trust you and b- wish for just a second that you had ANY other job.
Good luck with the bastard. Kids need justice.
K
xoxo
I think...I think the hardest part of this case, is that in some ways, there won't be any justice.
I've got a young boy who's dead, his older half-brother in a YOI on remand for his murder, and that boy's father on police bail because I am sure he's behind it all. And then, at home, the rest of the family - the mother of both boys.
Sometimes just thinking about it makes me feel like my brain is in a vacuum, and there aren't any thoughts or feelings that are worth a damn, when faced with all of it. And other times I've got so many thoughts and emotions I may as well not have any, for all the sense I can make of it.
Sorry, I don't expect anyone really wanted to know any of that.
I know exactly what you mean actually, even if it was under slightly different circumstances for me. I'm sorry. It's not fun.
I am sorry that all must be massively hard to deal with. But it feels like you really do need to talk it all out properly with someone, it doesn't sound like it's helping to keep it in. Surely the force has someone you can talk to? We've got people and we're just NHS admin staff!
Your blog is about what you want to say, Lestrade, it's not about what anyone wants to hear (and I doubt any of your readers mind you getting this shit off your chest).
Sounds like the pair of you need to do some talking; to each other, or to other people, or "talking" it out via the blogs. However tough it is, it's got to be better than carrying this stuff around with you?
However tough it is, it's got to be better than carrying this stuff around with you?
You'd think so...but perhaps I grew up with the idea of 'belt up and don't bother anyone else' so ingrained into me, I actually feel far more uncomfortable with the idea of talking about than I do with the idea of keeping it all inside.
And Anon - there are indeed a whole load of therapists and people the Met employ. And a very very strong culture of only going to them when you want to draw your pension early by being retired on mental health grounds (one of the only ways you can leave the force and retain your pension). Let's just say I've never been comfortable with seeing one of them, unless it's been forced on me. And then I've got out of it asap.
You lot and Danger are slowly giving me a new perspective on it, though. I suppose it's like the coffee and the fags. I'm not going to change overnight.
I grew up with the idea of 'belt up and don't bother anyone else' so ingrained into me
Yeah, I know the feeling. Learnt the hard way (and sometimes the fun way) that not everything I was told as a child was right...
Given that Danger appears to be head over heels in love with you for who you are, I don't suppose he's looking for any overnight changes, or for you to stop being the guy he fell in love with.
Unfortunately I have to say "know what you mean" on both the therapy thing and the "no justice" thing.
Sorry there's this culture that prevents you from feeling free to get help. My profession's got some of it too, although with us it's more that there's such a stigma attached to mental illness still, that you worry what it's going to do to your reputation.
I obviously can't compare myself to your depths of experience. But I worked for a while in the juvenile court before my present assignment, and I've got to say the shit I saw there was the worst. The absolute worst. Not only because there are a lot of kids in the city doing horrible things. But because you could see this whole vicious cycle being played out. Almost all those kids came from tough backgrounds, with a lot of strikes against them from the outset. And 75% of them had one or more parents who weren't worth a damn- dealers using their own kids to hold drugs or provide stolen property to sell, or junkies who just didn't give a fuck what their kids did or what happened to them. Not enough money or resources to help them all, even if treatment was a guaranteed solution to their problems, which it of course wasn't.
And that's just the kids dealing drugs and robbing people. There's also the ones (and this was fortunately rarer, but still not rare enough) that are torturing animals, or setting houses on fire, or hurting people for no reason at all- kids who should be just starting in life but already seem to be so broken in some fundamental way that you wonder if it's even fixable at all, or do you just have to wait until they turn 18 and really hurt somebody and then just stick them in jail for as many years as you can.
You look at a mess like that and you just don't know what the fuck to do, what it all means at the end of the day. It's too goddamn big for me, I know that much.
Probably none of this is even vaguely comforting. But the point, if there is one, is that sometimes even if you know there's not going to be REAL justice, you have to keep at it. Because whatever you're able to do is going to mean something to what's left of this family, if no one else. And because we've got to believe that even if all we're doing is sticking a bandaid over a bullet hole, things would be even worse if we didn't at least TRY.
things would be even worse if we didn't at least TRY.
That's frequently the sort of thought which keeps me going.
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