"There seems to be a dog missing," Sherlock replied. "One of the witnesses reported seeing the victim with a dog, a large one, but none of the photos of the victim's home show any sign of owning or looking after a large dog. I want to know why."

"Right." Elena nodded. "So we're looking for the dog. Got it." She found it odd as well. "Any acquaintances have dogs that you know of?"

"None who have come forward," Sherlock responded. "Hence the investigating." And he had to admit, there was a certain thrill in finding information someone wanted buried; it was boring when things were too easy.

Elena nodded. "Where are we starting?" she asked. She figured he wasn't too upset or there would be a lot more pouting and slouching and moaning. This was just put out and distracted, or not distracted enough, depending.

Sherlock didn't answer, just hailing a cab. He wasn't used to so many questions anymore; he'd worked with John long enough that his flatmate didn't bother asking questions. Elena was different.

Elena gave up on conversation just about then, instead settling in next to him for the cab trip. She'd just figure it out as they went along.

The cab dropped them off at a small house out near the edge of London. It was a modest building, complete with a modest yard and a modest car. The yard was fenced in, with the sort of gate that could just be pushed open and would close itself after. So far, no evidence of a large dog.

Elena followed Sherlock out, looking around. She didn't hear a dog or see one, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. "Shall I knock?"

"No, nobody's home," Sherlock replied, analyzing the exterior of the home. Well-kept landscaping, meticulous upkeep of the home itself, the car was sparkling clean; not typically the signs of someone who would own or look after a large dog. There wasn't a tennis ball or chew toy to be seen in the yard. "The victim was a widower; he lived alone here after the recent death of his wife. Not married long, only two years, car accident. There is no one home."

"So no dog here." Elena nodded. "At least it's not likely there's a dog, I don't see anything around for a dog. I guess we should find out who he was closest to, see if any of them had a dog."

"Exactly why we're here," Sherlock said, going over to test the door. When he found it locked, he went and tested some of the windows. When he found an unlocked window, he smirked and slid it open.

Elena hurried in after him. She didn't even protest the questionable legality of that. Instead she started looking around for family pictures or a phone book or anything else that would give them some ideas.

Sherlock looked around, as well, and paused when he saw the light on the answering machine flashing. Going over, he pressed a gloved finger to the play button.

"Message recorded four days ago. *beep* Hi, Brad, it's Kelly. Listen, thanks for looking after Carlotta for me yesterday on such short notice. I managed to get her to the kennel, so everything's all set. Are we still on for Friday? Call me back! *beep*"

"Interesting," Sherlock murmured.

"Kelly," Elena muttered, finding a phone book and pulling it out, starting to go through the entries. "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly..."

"Put the phone book down, find his address book," Sherlock said as he started rummaging through side table drawers. "Kelly is likely in there."

"It's a combination one, it has addresses and other information in here too," Elena said. It didn't take her much longer to find Kelly, and she handed the book over to Sherlock without a word.

"Ah, a dog groomer," Sherlock murmured. "And not on Lestrade's list of suspects or witnesses. She needs to be looked into."

"She doesn't live too far from here," Elena noted. "We could go start at her house, or at her business. See if we can get hold of her."

Sherlock gave a vague hum as he studied the name on the page.

"No, call Lestrade, have her brought in for questioning," he said. "There is a very strong chance that she's the one we want."

Elena pulled out her phone and called Lestrade quickly, passing along the information and rattling off the phone number.

"Anything else?" she asked after she'd hung up again.

"Unfortunately not," Sherlock replied. He made a bit of a face; this had gone far too quickly for his taste. How disappointing.

"Alright, let's get back to the Yard then, see if she's the person." Elena called for a cab, moving out front again.

Sherlock didn't reply, just taking one last look around the place to make a mental catalogue before following her outside. As good a partner as Elena was proving to be (and wasn't that a surprising thought?), Sherlock still missed John.

Elena ushered him into the cab when it arrived and paid for the cab when they got to the Yard.

"Well, go on, go do your thing," she told him, grinning briefly and motioning towards the investigation room they'd undoubtedly put the woman in when she arrived.

Sherlock just rolled his eyes a bit (another uncharacteristic gesture, what was wrong with him?) and headed inside. He even graciously waited until Lestrade was done with the preliminary work before he swept into the interrogation room.

"Your name is Kelly, correct?" he asked the woman sitting there.