A/N: This is a Tynka story that is sort of based off of Sherlock Holmes and inspired by Whodunit Up (aren't there a lot of Tynka stories inspired by that episode?). So, it is sort of the time frame of the Sherlock books, but they're going to talk like modern people, because I couldn't be bothered to change their mannerisms. -CoS
Ty Blue was the premier detective in all of Chicago. If there was a case that couldn't be solved, they brought it to him. He was a man of action as well as investigation. He often tracked down the information or criminals himself.
Of course, he wasn't alone on the job. His assistant, Deuce Martinez, while not particularly gifted in the intellectual sector, was well connected and could reach an expert in any field at any hour.
They were a well-matched team and no case that was given to them was ever left unsolved for more than a week.
However, there was one particular case that left Ty Blue and his assistant confounded. It was known as the Secret Admirer Affair, or so it had been dubbed by the newspapers.
This case involved a sudden influx of secret admirer letters, being left at homes and businesses all around town. It seemed almost every single man in Chicago had received at least one and not one of those men knew who they were from. The letters were uniform as if one person were sending them. But with further scrutiny, one would find that the poems inside the letters provided clues that would lead the lucky man to a woman who was interested in him, usually someone he was close to.
Ty Blue was especially annoyed with this case for two reasons. The first being that it was still unsolved even though men had started asking Ty and Deuce to investigate the source of their secret admirer letters more than two months ago and the second was that Ty considered himself quite the ladies' man and not being able to crack a case, clearly spearheaded by ladies, was a drain on his ego.
Ty was at his desk pouring over some of the letters now. "Deuce?" he called.
"Yeah, Ty?" Deuce approached the table, eyeing several more letters that he was carrying.
"Deuce, what do these letters have in common?" Ty asked.
"Well, the scroll they're all written on is made from the same paper, the handwriting looks the same, the ribbon that ties the scrolls shut is tied the same way, and the poems inside all have a very similar rhythm," Deuce waved one of the letters around.
"So your conclusion?" Ty queried.
"They look like they've all been written by the same person," Deuce frowned in confusion.
"Exactly," Ty rubbed his chin with his free hand. "Why would someone do that though? What would be the benefit?"
"I wish I would get one of these. I've always wanted a secret admirer letter," Deuce sighed.
"You're married," Ty arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't think Mrs. Martinez would appreciate you receiving one."
"But Dina could still send me one herself," Deuce protested.
"But it's not a secret that she loves you," Ty frowned at him.
"You're missing the point," Deuce complained.
"No, you're missing the point too," Ty slapped a letter down on the table. "Why would the same person write to all these men?"
Deuce shrugged.
"Let me ask you a question, Deuce," Ty huffed. "Why do women write secret admirer letters?"
"Because they want to let the man they love know that they love him," Deuce answered.
"So why would someone write to all of Chicago?" Ty asked.
Deuce looked confused for a moment, then shrugged.
"Exactly," Ty leaned forward over his desk. "You see? Each of these notes has a little personal bit in it, proving that the sender knew the receiver of the note; however, no one could possibly know all these men and no one would take their time writing a personal note to them all if they did, unless!"
"Unless what?" Deuce asked eagerly.
"Unless they were doing this from a business standpoint," Ty smiled and leaned back satisfactorily in his chair.
"Come again?" Deuce frowned.
"I mean, there's some professional secret admirer letter person out there," Ty waved his hand toward the window. "They write up cute little poems with the sender's favorite things about their beloved in them, then make them into little ribboned scrolls, then deliver them secretly."
"Why would someone do that?" Deuce asked.
"That's what we'll find out when we catch them," Ty smirked. "Deuce, find out who in Chicago, other than you, who hasn't received a secret admirer letter."
"Sure thing, Ty," Deuce raced off, leaving Ty to relax and imagine what it was going to be like to catch this so-called professional.
Deuce returned that evening with a short list. "Here they are Ty."
"Did you find out anything about them? If any of them might have someone who is secretly admiring them?" Ty asked.
"Yeah, it seems like one of these two guys will be our best choice. One has a girl with a known crush on him and the other has a friend that's a girl, that's been acting oddly around him lately," Deuce tapped the names on the list.
"All right then, let's set up for the catch then!" Ty crowed.
Ty and Deuce set-up their look-out outside the home of one of the men on the list. Deuce had done his research and this man seemed a likely target. Now, they just had to wait, for their mysterious secret admirer note professional to leave their note on the doorstep.
Deuce was softly snoring and Ty was too drowsy to care, before a dark figure finally appeared.
It was a woman, dressed in a dark violet which blended in with the shadows around the buildings. She would have been completely invisible if she wouldn't have stepped out in the moonlight, the moonbeams catching off the sparkling violet material and casting little shining lights around.
She stood there poised in the middle of the street as if she wanted to be seen, then hurried to the doorstep of the home that the famous detective and his assistant were staking out and leaving a scroll.
Ty was so struck by the majestic, gracefulness of the one he was to apprehend that he almost missed his opportunity. At the last possible moment, before she was about to disappear, he raced out from hiding and shouted as he tried to grab her arm.
The woman swung around to face him, moving her arm away from his reaching hand. "Not very discreet, are we?" she spoke in an accented voice.
Since she was wearing a cape over her head, Ty couldn't see much, but he could see enough of this woman's face to know that she was breathtakingly beautiful with eyes that sparkled as brightly as her clothes. He also noticed that she was smirking at him and for a moment, he wondered who had caught who.
"It is about time," the woman continued. "I thought you wouldn't catch me in time. So much for your famous reputation."
"I'll have you know that this is the only case that I have not solved in less than a fortnight," Ty started, but the mysterious woman, lifted her hand in a shushing motion.
"I am sure that you want to know who I am," she smiled gently. "You shall find out soon enough, but not tonight. Take this case as proof that you have met your match, Detective Ladies' Man."
Ty was about to protest this statement when he realized what the first part meant. He leaped forward to grab her, but it was too late, she had already moved away.
As she slipped into the shadows, she disappeared. Although Ty swept the streets for two hours, there was no sign of her anywhere. Perhaps she was his match after all.
Over the next few days, Deuce tried to console Ty and keep up with him, but it was impossible. Ty was raging over the claims this mysterious woman had made and was determined to catch her. He had searched nearly the entire city relentlessly and without giving out a description or enlisting help, because he was embarrassed that a woman had 'beat' him at his own game.
There were also times when he talked about their suspect, that Ty would drift off with a dreamy look on his face. Deuce had a feeling that Ty was a little too personally involved in this case.
They had been a stake-out every night and so far had never seen her again, although letters were always on the doorstep every morning.
"It's like she's taunting me!" Ty raged. "She made her capture so easy the first day, like I never had to try and now we never even see her! But I will catch her! Mark my words, Deuce! It doesn't matter how intelligent, clever, sly, and beautiful she is."
"What does being beautiful have to do with not being caught?" Deuce smirked.
"Nothing! Wait, did I say she was beautiful?" Ty paused his pacing.
"You most certainly did," Deuce laughed. "I think this secret admirer has secretly gotten to you."
"No," Ty stated, but without much conviction. He was beginning to think the reason he kept trying to find her wasn't so much solving the case, but getting to talk to her again.
"Ty, I know you refer to yourself as perpetually single," Deuce put a hand on Ty's shoulder. "But I think you've finally found someone as wily and self-confident as yourself. Just like I found Dina, who has as many connections and as much business sense as I do, and the Chief of the Police, Gunther, found CeCe who is as into dressing herself up and being beautiful as he is."
"The Chief of the Police?" Ty gasped. "We're supposed to attend his engagement party tonight."
"That's right," Deuce glanced at his watch. "I have to get home or Dina will be furious." Deuce saluted Ty as he rushed out the door.
Ty slumped down in a chair. Usually he loved social events, but he just wasn't feeling it tonight. He had to go though. He owed Gunther that much. They were friends and besides that, as Chief of the Police, Gunther sent plenty of unsolved cases his way. Ty sighed as he decided to prepare for the party.
Ty arrived about 10 minutes late and was almost immediately greeted by the Chief of Police himself, Gunther.
"Ty, good to see you," Gunther shook his hand energetically. "Deuce thought that you might not be coming."
"I wouldn't miss your engagement party for the world," Ty returned the handshake and clapped Gunther on the back.
"By the way, how is the Secret Admirer Affair coming along? I've had quite a few inquiries into it," Gunther asked.
Ty felt his heart sink and his ego pop like a balloon. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually about that…."
"He solved the case last week, but due to no laws being broken, the sensitive, private nature of the notes, and the happy results the letters brought to those effected, he found no need to divulge the name of the suspect to the police or the press, but the matter has been handled and the suspect will no longer be delivering the notes," a woman walked up behind Gunther and laid her arm on his. She wore a glittery royal blue dress and matching gloves, her blonde hair was piled high on her head, and her eyes had an all too familiar mischievous sparkle in them.
Ty's eyes widened. It was the mysterious woman!
Gunther smiled. "I see you took my advice, dear sister, and met Detective Blue. I thought that you two would get along. You are both the most cunning people I know."
"Yes, we have quite a lot in common," the woman gave Ty a quick wink. "We happened to bump into each other the other night quite on accident and had a lovely conversation."
"Well, if that case is solved, I must go let the interested parties know," Gunther excused himself and hurried off, leaving Ty alone with the woman.
Before Ty could react, the woman stretched out her arm to him. "I am Tinka Hessenheffer, Gunther's sister. I've moved here from the Old Country. You may know me from somewhere else as well," Tinka's eyes shone with suppressed delight as she said this.
"It appears you got me good," Ty shook his head with a smile as he took her hand.
"When Gunther told me about you, I knew I had to impress you before I met you or you wouldn't give me a minute of your time," Tinka said. "You fascinated me with your inability to commit to anything that wasn't a case and your quick perceptiveness of your cases."
"You certainly had me interested when I wasn't able to solve your case," Ty sighed. "I wouldn't have that it possible for anyone to out maneuver me before, but I've decided something."
"And what is that?" Tinka inquired.
"I like you and your all too clever schemes," Ty smiled at her. "But being as smart as you are, you probably already knew that."
Tinka gave him a foxy grin and tucked her arm in his. "So are you going to invite me to dance since we are at a party?"
"Consider it done," Ty half-bowed. "Are you busy tomorrow? I have some new case files that I haven't gotten a chance to look at yet."
"I would love to have a look at them," Tinka replied, her eyes meeting his as he led her out to the dance floor.
Deuce, who had been watching the whole exchange, shook his head with a smirk. As far as he was concerned, Tinka had committed a crime, theft. She had clearly stolen Detective Ty Blue's heart.