Chapter 1

The mystery unfolds and drags Sherlock and Dr. Watson into a strange case of murder.

The man on the rooftop was dressed completely in black, from his shoes to the suit he was wearing under his knee-length trench coat.  He glanced at his watch.  12:05. In another 10 minutes, he would be done with the deed.  He turned quickly, coat flailing in the wind, and headed for the stairwell.  Once inside, he grabbed his rifle, and the silencer he had recently acquired.  He had been practicing his shooting for several weeks to prepare for this moment.  He hurried to the window, made sure no one was watching, though being so late, who would even be looking anyway?  He pulled the rifle to his shoulder and waited.  Two long minutes passed before he finally saw his target.  He took careful aim and squeezed the trigger.  Looking through the scope, he saw the man crumple to the ground in a heap.  Satisfied that his work was done, the man in black packed up his gun and left through the stairwell, sliding down the ladder to get to his car that he had left in the alley next to the building.

 

 

 

            The next day, the tale of the shooting was front page news of virtually every newspaper in London, including the paper delivered to 221B Baker Street.  Upon seeing the front page, Dr. Watson was immediately intrigued by the story, which read as follows: “Last night, at approximately 12:15, a wealthy business man by the name of Richard White was shot and killed as he was leaving his office.  Close friend and associate Clyde Rogers said that White was working late with a client on some financial details last night, which explains why he was there at such a late hour.  White was shot through the forehead and was dead before the paramedics even arrived.  An investigation is now underway and the authorities are offering a reward for any leads in this case.”

            Watson hurried up the stairs to where Sherlock Holmes was lying on the couch looking almost pathetic.  “What is wrong, Sherlock?” asked Watson.  “There is nothing happening here, we have not had a legitimate case in three weeks!  The best case I could find I knew what was wrong the moment the man stepped in here last week!” replied Sherlock.  At this Watson was surprised, “And what was wrong with that man? I don’t recall you ever giving an explanation.” Sherlock sighed, “Is it really that hard to see?  Fine, I will tell you.  First, he said his problem was that he was having problems at work, coworkers not giving him respect, friends backing away from him, and his wife complaining all the time.” 

            “Yes, I remember that,” said Watson, “but how did you figure out the real problem behind all that?”  Sherlock sat up quickly.  “I was getting to that.  Secondly, he was complaining about the price of alcohol when he first came in.  I deduced that he was having a drinking problem, which led to him having a lapse in his appearance.  I noticed that his clothes were rumpled as if they had not been ironed, so his coworkers did not respect him because he has slacked off on his once professional appearance.  His friends were likely backing away because of his drinking problem as well, which caused him to become violent at times, as evidenced by his bruised knuckles.  And his wife was complaining because she did not approve of the drinking and fighting that he got himself into.” 

            “Oh,” was all Watson could muster. “Well, I have found something that might interest you.” With that, he tossed the folded newspaper to Sherlock.  He watched as Sherlock opened the paper, started with a bored look, then changed to keen interest. “This sounds interesting, better than that man with the drinking problem, anyway.” Sherlock said.  He continued, “However, before we get too involved in this, I think we should have a little chat with this Mr. Clyde Rogers to get a little more insight on Mr. White.”  With that, he rushed down the stairs and out the door.  Surprised, Watson grabbed his coat and followed Sherlock outside.  As they waited for a cab, a thought occurred to Watson, “Sherlock, how are we going to talk with Mr. Rogers if we don’t know his address?”  At this, Sherlock laughed, “Why, I can’t believe you didn't ask me that sooner!  It is quite simple, really.  The only major business in that part of London is the London Business and Law Attorneys, therefore, we can go there, and request a meeting with Mr. Rogers.”  Watson was thoroughly amazed at this revelation, as simple as it was, and could only shake his head and muse “Sherlock, if everyone had a mind like yours, the world would be a crazy place.”  “Or a very boring, uneventful place,” replied Sherlock, “who would commit crimes for me to solve if that was the case?  Besides, there are no two people exactly the same, which is generally a very good thing.”

 

            The ride in the cab to the Business and Law Attorneys office was uneventful, and once they arrived, Sherlock leapt out and ran to the door.  Watson hurried to get out and pay the cabbie before rushing in to find Sherlock speaking with the receptionist.  “Here comes my associate now, we would like to see Mr. Rogers,” said Sherlock, “it is about a very important matter.”  The receptionist just sat there, unmoving.  “Do you have an appointment?” she asked.  “No, we do not, but I am sure that he will be available right now until, oh, about 45 minutes from now, and we will likely need less than half of that time.” Sherlock replied.  The receptionist looked very surprised. “How did you know he was available? And for that specific amount of time?”  “Oh, that was easy, I took the time to look over your schedule there in front of you and noticed that he did not have any appointments right now.  The amount of time was simply an educated guess, most business men need a break between clients, and that seemed a reasonable amount of time.” said Sherlock.  At that, the receptionist called Mr. Rogers on his intercom and let him know that he had visitors, and he told her to have them come to his office right away.  Sherlock and Dr. Watson walked down the hall towards the elevator, when Watson realized something, “Sherlock, what did you mean by most business men need a break between clients and making a guess about how much time one would need?”  “Very simply,” replied Sherlock, “I figured that he would leave his schedule empty for today since his associate and friend was just murdered last night, thus making him available for our visit.  My guess about the time was simply to put the receptionist at ease, to make friendly conversation, and distract her from why we may be here.  If the killer is on the inside, we don’t want him to know what we are up to just yet.” 

            

They reached the elevator and stepped inside.  The receptionist had told them that Mr. Rogers’ office was on the 3^rd floor, so Watson pushed the button for the 3^rd floor.  The elevator stopped on the second floor and a man got on the elevator with them.  The first thing that both Watson and Sherlock noticed about this man was that he was wearing all black, including a knee-length trench coat.  Once they arrived on the third floor, Watson and Sherlock got off, but the man stayed on the elevator.  They found the office, and were warmly welcomed by Mr. Rogers.  “How can I help you, gentlemen?” he asked.  “We saw in the paper that Mr. Richard White, your business partner and close friend, was killed last night and were wondering if you could tell us some things about him.” said Sherlock.  “Well,” said Mr. Rogers, “he was a kind man, 43 years old, he started his career as a businessman when he was 19, and was very successful in quite a few high profile business deals, and made quite a large fortune, but he was never extravagant in his living, many people only knew that he was successful, not wealthy too.  I have always looked up to him as a role model for being a good businessman, and he was kind of a mentor to me.  He never had any enemies that I knew of, so I don’t understand why anyone would want to kill him.” 

            “Very interesting,” said Sherlock, “I think Dr. Watson and I would like to solve this case for you.  Is there anything else you can tell us about him? Any hobbies, addictions, family problems, anything like that you know of?”  “He has one brother and one sister,” said Mr. Rogers, “his parents live in Manchester, and are in their 60’s, he loved to go hunting, often with his brother, though they did have an argument over whether or not to put their parents into a retirement home about a year and a half ago. As far as addictions go, he had none that I was aware of, and being partners as well as best friends, I should think I knew him very well, we knew each other for 17 years.”  Throughout this, Mr. Rogers was toying with the ring on his finger, wiggling it back and forth.  “Ok,” said Sherlock, “so he seems like a fairly normal Londoner. Being that he was wealthy, did he have a maid or a butler?”  “As a matter of fact, he did have a maid,” said Mr. Rogers, “her name is Eleanor Cutter, and she has taken care of his house as long as I knew him, at least 17 or 18 years.  She may be able to help you and answer more questions.  I’ll write the address down for you.”  “Thank you very much for your time,” said Watson, “we will be in touch with you if we have any more questions.”  “Gentlemen,” said Mr. Rogers, “please find out who did this and why, I don’t know if I can go through life without knowing why my best friend has been murdered.”  “Don’t worry,” said Watson, “we will find out who did this and what he or she hopes to gain by it.”

            

As they walked to the elevator, Sherlock turned to Dr. Watson and asked, “So, Dr. Watson, tell me, what were you able to gather from our meeting with Mr. Rogers?”  “Well,” said Watson, “he seemed like he was very close to Mr. White, and seemed to know him very well, he is married, judging by his wedding ring, he has 3 kids based on the picture in his office, and apparently has a fair amount of money himself.”  “Yes, yes, but you are missing several things, you only caught the most obvious things.” said Sherlock impatiently.  “Ok,” replied Watson, “you tell me what I missed then.”  “I shall,” said Sherlock, “first, you were right that he is married, however, it was a recent marriage because he was obviously not used to wearing the ring, and it was sparkling, likely he was married within the past one to two years.”  “Wait a minute,” interrupted Watson, “how do you know it was within the past year or two? And what about the kids in the picture?”  “I was getting to that,” replied Sherlock, “he has not been married that long because he had not developed very much of a tan line around the ring, which normally takes a fairly short amount of time to get.  The children are his step children, because he obviously is not used to wearing a ring, and so was not married before, and the children do not resemble him in any way, but favor the mother very heavily.  He does have a fair amount of money, that ring was likely not cheap, and you did not notice it, but his watch is worth a considerable amount of money, gold overlay with diamonds in the hands and shaped into the numbers on the face, as well as silver for the background.”  “Sherlock,” said Watson, “how do you do it? How can you figure out so much in such a short time?”  “My dear Dr. Watson,” replied Sherlock, “deduction is easy, but most people are too distracted by their dull, everyday lives to do it.”

Author's Note

Any constructive criticism and feedback is welcome, but please no cursing. If cursing is used, then I will not hold the comments in any regard to the work.

Reviews

[~*~Peace Keeper~*~]

^^ I enjoyed reading the first chapter, you have some good details in there. My only suggestion is to delete "kind of" in the first part of the sentence: "I have always kind of looked up to him as a role model for being a good businessman, and he was kind of a mentor to me." Also I think you can delete "and" in the second part of that sentence and just state "he was kind of a mentor to me." I think that is all the suggestions I have that I can see. Can't wait to read more!

Good Job

[Jeremy Hiles]

Thank you for your suggestion! That makes sense and I will definitely make those changes!

[~*~Peace Keeper~*~]

^^ You're welcome!

[Kimberly Miller]

Well done! I enjoyed this chapter. You spaced your paragraphs well and most of your grammer is very good. I did catch on miss-spelling and apoligize at the one I probably missed myself. The word is suit and you put suite. Its in the very first paragraph. Other than that, I think you did a wonderful job of introducing this story to readers. I looked forward to more chapters!

[Jeremy Hiles]

Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it! Oops, lol, thank you for pointing that out, I will make te correction! Thank you! I already have th first fou on here, with a coupl more ready to go!

[Kimberly Miller]

Ok! I intend on reading more when time allows! :)

[Kimberly Miller]

Ok! I intend on reading more when time allows! :)

[Kimberly Miller]

Ok! I intend on reading more when time allows! :)

[Jeremy Hiles]

Awesome! Take your time! Enjoy!