Sherlock and John emerged from Scotland Yard into the early Autumn sunshine.

"So, when did you come up with all that about the sedatives?" Sherlock asked.

"Last night. Or possibly this morning. It makes sense anyhow."

"Mm. I appear to have a puncture mark in my thigh. It's bruised awfully; whoever did it must be spectacularly ham-fisted."

John smirked. "Well, you had poisoned me. I'm not sure you were worthy of a better bedside manner to be honest."

"Yes. Well, thank you anyway."

"I wonder how I survived." John thought aloud. "I hadn't been drunk and hadn't taken any sedatives that I'm aware of."

"Perhaps the Batama tribe would consider you a strong and brave man?"

John thought about that for a moment.

"We'd better go back and sort the flat out. Mrs Hudson will go mental if she sees it and I'm not strong or brave enough for that."

"Mm." The prospect didn't appeal to either of them.

"Shall we get breakfast first? I probably owe you, after the poisoning thing."

"Better had. I think I might have broken the toaster a bit."

"Ah, I'm sure the toaster had it coming."

They headed off.

Notes on the text.

There is no such tribe as the Batama in The Democratic Republic of Congo. I made the name up from a list of similar sounding real ones, and I know nothing at all about the customs of any of these tribes; this is entirely fictional. The Red Cedar is indigenous to that region but again, I have no idea about its properties.

The idea for the story, particularly the poisonous powder and the post-poison conversation, came from the Arthur Conan Doyle short story The Adventure of the Devil's Foot which can be found in His Last Bow. It's well worth a read.

The characters of Sherlock Holmes, John Watson et al in this depiction belong to the BBC. They are based on the work of Arthur Conan Doyle. I don't own them and have not written this story for financial gain.

I've had a great time writing this – I really hope that people have enjoyed reading it too. Thanks again for the reviews, particularly those with hints, tips and suggestions (and those with general praise; that was very nice and quite unexpected). I'm now going to watch my new series DVD and revel in the unseen pilot.

LP