Moving On
is a Fanfic for Sherlock Holmes by ultraviolet128 which explores Holmes' activities after Watson's untimely death.
Holmes takes on an attractive woman, Anne Chantrey, as a client, and follows the trail of a stalker while grappling with infatuation.
Due to the number of twists in the fic, this page is Spoilers Off.
Examples:
- Attention Whore: The Barnslake Killer is driven by a desire for infamy, in addition to bloodlust.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Anne's would-be fiancé, Mark, ends up rescuing Holmes and Anne from the Barnslake Killer.
- Fame Through Infamy: The Barnslake Killer wishes to attain notoriety, and intends to accomplish said goal by killing Holmes.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Mark handles Anne's rejection well, and is happy for her that she ended up with Holmes. He even manages to save them from the killer.
- Inheritance Murder: Elsie and William killed Elsie's father and attempt to kill Anne in an attempt to safeguard her inheritance.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Anne's uncle was actually her father.
- Medication Tampering: Anne's uncle died because his medication was sabotaged.
- Posthumous Character: Watson died in a carriage accident before the events of the fic.
- Public Secret Message: When Anne is kidnapped by mercenaries under the employ of her uncle's (actually father's) killer, she writes a note about being engaged to "Neville Isaacs" to alert Holmes to the fact that she is in danger.
- Romantic False Lead: Mark's romantic feelings for Anne serve to heighten the tension between Anne and Holmes; in contrast to most examples of a romantic decoy, Mark is a kindhearted individual, and later saves Holmes and Anne from the Barnslake Killer.
- Sadistic Choice: The Barnslake Killer threatens to shoot Anne unless Holmes shoots himself when they confront him.
- Serial Killer:
- William, Elsie's beau, is charged with several murders unrelated to the murder of Elsie's father.
- The Barnslake Killer claims the lives of several women and a man over the course of a month.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Not only is Mark just as nice as he seems, he outright rescues his romantic rival without a second thought.
- Survivor's Guilt: Holmes blames himself for Watson's death, and imagines that Watson does too. When he finally becomes at ease with himself, Holmes imagines that Watson has forgiven him, even though, to paraphrase Watson's apparition, there is nothing to forgive.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The Barnslake Killer puts an overdose of morphine in Holmes' tea in an attempt to kill him, not knowing that Holmes was planning to use the tea for an experiment.
