Writers: Elma Kaljanac & Rakan Salim

Instructure's name: Björn Sundmark

Course: EN402C and EN406C

A Study in the Electric Field

Who is Watson?

A meeting with captain Denver:

This case was covered by the media and it was crucial for me to solve it as quickly as possible and get rid of the bad press surrounding the penalty system. Captain Denver was under a lot of pressure from his superior officers to make this case "disappear", and he was clear in explaining to me why. Three days before the investigation began Denver called me to his office to talk about the case. I remember walking through that grey-walled hall and standing in front of the white door with its big black letters read "Captain Office: Tomas Denver". I knocked on the door and the heavy voice of the captain said "come on in detective". The office was even more depressing then the hall. I was standing by the desk and awaiting on orders from the captain, while he was still dedicated to writing something down on a piece of paper, "there is some coffee in the corner help yourself and sit down" he said. I have been drinking coffee all day and I wasn't peckish for some more, but I did as he asked because I understood that he needed more time with his paper work. I sat down in the chair and waited for him to lift his head up, but he never did that during the whole conversation, instead he talked while writing on that piece of paper. The captain was a dedicated worker and disliked any kind of technology even when it was crucial, he would order others to do it for him instead, at the same time he had a hell of investigative mind, and good knowledge about the character of people. One of the most interesting thing about the captain was his ability to withstand any kind of pressure and do the right thing, even though he was outranked by the major in this unit, he had the real authority. Captain Denver was loved by most in the office because he was able to encourage the detectives to investigate freely and had an open door for helping any one with their cases. The Captain had a long experience in investigative work and he would be glad when someone asked for his help. He had a good relation with the judges in the city and therefor he was almost untouchable by the bosses. Captain Denver spent 45 years in the investigative unit and he never got promoted. This rank was forced on him by the bosses to keep him away from other investigations, but they never succeeded because he would back up the detectives in the office as much as possible and find new ways for them to investigate. "The assholes upstairs wants to appoint a douchebag investigator to cover the prison's ass from the media, but you know me, I will never give them the pleasure of doing that" he said with a big grin on his face and looking towards me through his big glasses. "in about three days the major will appoint you for the investigation of the prison-murder, and you will make sure there is nothing fishy about it" he continued while writing on that piece of paper "I know that you are one of the most competent and honest investigators here but this case is not what you think and it would probably ruin your career upstairs because I will not be able to cover you this time and I would understand if you don't want the job" he said, "I'll take the case captain" I said, which was almost expected because he did not lift his head, instead he stretched out his arm and said "great Watson, make sure you don't tell anybody about this and I will arrange for you to take on the investigation in three days now give me my cup of coffee and get out".

First day:

I could still feel the coffee taste in my mouth after the strong crave for it this morning. I walked through the long dark hallway and noticed the grey coloured walls. The sound of keys scrambling against guards legs, doors opening and closing and alarms triggered was not something I saw every day. ''Guard 1432, Cooper, please report to the office'' I heard from the speakers in the corner. Walking through the hallway I saw people staring, I was here for a reason. There was no woman to be seen, except for the female voice in the speakers. The walk to the office was longer than I expected and there he was, standing in his blue suit with a smile on his face. His handshake was steady and hard; his hands were dry and overworked, I could see he has been working hard for his position.

''Mr Watson, Welcome to the high security prison, FortKnox. We have been expecting you''

''Thank you, Director Gordon, you have a lovely prison''

He started looking at me strange, not understanding my ridiculous effort to make a joke. He gestured me in to his office with his hand wide open.

''I believe we should start by you showing me around the prison''

''That is a good idea, you are the detective here''

He used an ID card to open the red metal doors, a loud alarm sound made it clear that we could walk in. I walked in to the hall where the cells were held, Guards at every corner, prisoners talking loudly with each other, at least 30 cells and the colour grey blooming everywhere. I told the director that I wanted to have a minute in the area where Miss Scarlett the Journalist was murdered.

''I'm sorry Mr Watson, we moved the body because of the lack of security for the prisoners and we cleaned the place, but you have probably seen the photos''

I told the Director that I wanted to talk to the main suspect, Sherlock Holmes. He was one of the most dangerous there and locked away in the isolation part of the prison.

We kept on walking when coming to the isolation; I saw 6 doors, behind those doors 6 rooms with 6 prisoners in them. This was a calmer area, with only two guards transferring the prisoners outside when needed. There were cameras in every corner not having a blind spot. Each one of the six doors had a six-numbered code that changed every week. It was always the same 4-6 guards working shifts because of their experience and education. The cell of Mr Holms was isolated in the most secure part of the prison. Section B, cell number 221. I was very curious about the guy and could almost not hide the joy of finally meeting him. The B section of the prison consisted four halls connected with each other and forming a square at each corner there would be a heavy wall with a big door and in every hall there would be four guards heavily equipped with weapons almost like a squad team. At each side of the hall there are six isolated cells and in every cell there would be a camera to watch the prisoners, there were a lot of screaming going on here in this section. This pattern would repeat itself ten flours up which meant that there were 480 cells in this section alone. I entered the last hall where there would be six guards instead of four, two of which were guarding the 221 cell. As I entered the hall I heard the sound of a violin playing and as I got closer to the cell of Mr Holmes the song ended and it got quite. I asked the guard when he began to play and the guard answered four minutes ago. The guard then opened the cell and there sat the most dangerous man in prison. He had his back toward me and I couldn't see the face yet. "Welcome detective, I was longing to meet you as well as you were longing to meet me" he said while turning towards me and smiling "beautifully played, I must say, I was not expecting such a warm welcome" I said while smiling back, "no, you were expecting more screaming in this hall then the hall before, as they told you I'm a dangerous man, but I wanted to spare you the screaming with silence and violin and I imagined that it would be less comfortable to talk with screaming going around the hall" he said while inviting me to sit on the chair. I sat down and asked "how were you able to know when I was coming today?"

A big grin has drawn itself on his face before answering the question "I'm a bit disappointed with you, Mr Watson as to not know how much details means to a prisoner living in a boring daily routine, although I'm a bit nerdy in what is your profession, my time in jail has allowed me to practice it in very deferent dimension" I was puzzled with the answer Sherlock gave me and even more puzzled with him knowing my name. "I guess your next question is how I did know your name?" he continued "it's not a magic trick but pure science developed in my nerdy interest for details, and because of that I would know a lot more about you, Mr Watson, then you about me, for instance I really don't understand why you still wear a wedding ring on your finger when your wife is dead'' I couldn't stop concentrating on the case. Mr Holms went on '' I can see you touching it when you are nervous, you are a detective, probably working a lot, so that means divorced or a dead wife. You are honest and dedicated to your job and wearing the ring even though she died a few years ago" ''Mr Holmes, let's concentrate on the murder and not on my personal life''

''Well you're the detective, why haven't you visited the victim's apartment yet, you will find your answers there if the place isn't cleaned up already'' " I'm going to jump to the question I came here for" I said as I noticed how he was distracting me with those details, but was interrupted by Mr Holms as he continued the question I had in mind "where was I between 3.45-3.55 pm?" I nodded my head as he continued " You see Mr Watson, my eye for detail and my nerdy interest about deduction has led me to develop the butterfly theory" I went along and said "butterfly theory?", "yes butterfly theory, it is simply the behaviour of the electric field within this old prison which allowed me, with the help of time to know more about the time Miss Scarlett died" he continued " you see I was in my cell when I first knew that there were going to be an electric blackout in the prison 15 minutes before it happen, I heard the lamps in the hall blinking as they did 5 months ago, so I took the chance to breakout", I interrupted with a more direct question to Mr Holmes "did you kill Miss Scarlett, Mr Holms?", he smiled and replied "this is not a professional question, because you should come to that conclusion yourself with evidence that supports your deductive theory, so please present the theory and tell me how I did kill Miss Scarlett", "you were the only prisoner on the roof-top when the murder occurred and I found a foot-print that matches yours in front of the ladder where Miss Scarlett fell, as the blackout occurred and the guards lost control of the prison". Mr Holms smiled and almost chuckled as he was amused by the conversation "Yes, I was on the rooftop Watson, which puts me at the scene of the murder, but even the most vicious and cold murderer must have a reason to kill the victim, don't you think?" "yes of course, the motive" I said "if you're truly serious about helping me in solving this murder then you should tell me about the meeting between you and miss Scarlett" "you've put me on the spot by reminding me to fulfil my part in all of this" he said "miss Scarlett requested a meeting with me on the 19th of October at 2.00 pm, just three days before she was murdered" "How do you know she was murdered Mr Holmes?" I asked, "you are a fast learner, I could tell how she was murdered too, but I'll leave that to you my friend" he said with that smug smile and then continued "she was a journalist investigating the murder I was accused of a year ago along with other events that took place in this prison, three suicides, and one prisoner killed in self-defence by a guard. She had a strong belief that the guards were involved in the killing of those suicides especially the guard that acted in self-defence, which I disagreed with" "this was the same fellow that witnessed the murder you were involved in last year isn't he?" I asked, "yes, the same guy" "and you don't believe he was involved even though he killed a guy and framed you for a another?" I asked, "I'll give her credit for linking the murders together, but I don't believe for a minute, he was involved in any of the murders" he said, "how so?", "because all murders are connected and he wasn't here during the first two" "it's an interesting theory, but I'm not giving in just yet, there this no evidence that support your claim and I don't think the incidents are connected, can you prove this theory?". The guard entered the cell and told me the chief is asking to see me immediately, "yes but you have to figure it out for yourself come back when you found the connection and looked into the motive". I was slightly disappointed to end the conversation with such a remarkable man, but I had to go because it seemed to be emergency that I was being summoned for.

As I went back to Mr Gordon's office, I thought about what Mr Holmes said. It seemed unlikely to have a connection between these different cases. I finally arrived to Mr. Gordon's office through the heavy security and I was asked to come in. "well Mr Watson did you find what you were looking for?" "It was an interesting conversation I must say, why did you summon me here, it sounded urgent?" I was a bit annoyed by having to leave in the middle of the conversation with Mr Holmes, "it's a security precaution so that you don't find yourself in Sherlock's Cell during a blackout" "yes about that, it seems as if they occur often here" I said "it's an old prison they happen all the time, last we spoke you said that you were almost certain that Sherlock is the killer?" "yeah he did confirm that he was on the roof" I said, "wonderful, this means you have solved the murder, we should celebrate!" he said while he was reaching for the whisky in his office" "not yet, he refuses to confirm the killing and he did mention something I did not think about" Mr Gordon seemed almost disappointed to hear this and went back to his seat behind the desk "what is that?" he said, "he does not have a motive for the killing" "I'm sorry to hear that Watson, well I wish you the best of luck in this investigation, and I hope it'll be over soon" he said as he stood up and shook my hand, giving me a hint to go out delicately.

Driving home from the prison I was still puzzled by what Mr Holmes said about the connection between the events that had occurred at Fortnox, so I drove to homicide and requested the reports on those particular events before driving home.

After taking a shower and eating something, I sat down to review the reports while sipping my tea. I noticed that about three of those cases including mine occurred in a blackout which got me thinking about how interested Mr Holmes seemed to be with the blackouts in the prison.

Confrontation:

I decided to follow Mr Holm's advice and visit the apartment of the victim, the journalist's apartment was a mess, not close to the clean-up Mr Holmes mentioned. It was a two room apartment, with not much effort put into decoration. This woman was just like me, dedicated to her work and probably not always in time for dinner. I looked around, and there were books, pizza leftovers, plates, bottles, and newspapers everywhere. I remembered Mr Holmes saying '' Watson, she is a journalist, a cleaver and a curious woman, where would she have her important information? Maybe you can find evidence connected to me'' The books were nothing special, but some of the newspapers were all about the same story, a murder in LA a few months ago. This woman was a researcher, finding information and facts for her own stories. Why would she write about Fortnox , when her specialty was murder, rape, and robbery? I sat down on her couch, it was soft even though it contained a mountain of papers. I thought back on Mr Holmes words, ''If the place isn't cleaned up already'' Why would he say clean when it is a mess? Then it hit me, where did she have her information about the prison? I started looking at all the papers on the floor, stories about accidents, murders, robberies but nothing about Fortnox. ''She is a journalist'' Mr Holmes said. Now I knew she must have faxed information to her home from her office. I took the fax machine and found the ''send'' button. Everything she had sent was on this machine, I pressed the button reprint, and out came Fortnox prison research. It was only one page with several numbers but no names, only numbers.

32

1467

480

30

221

22

My eyes stopped at number 480, 221. 480 cells in the isolation section and 221 that is Sherlock Holmes Cell number. He told me I could find a connection.

As I drove back to the prison I thought about the numbers and their meaning.

''Mr Holmes, you were right, I did find something connected to you, and I must say that I am disappointed''

'' Mr Watson, it did take you a while, you found the fax machine didn't you? And the numbers I bet. I am though very disappointed that you only noticed the 480 and 212 numbers. Watson, think of it this way, you saw these numbers because your brain has seen them before, but the others are more relevant. For instance, I imagine the number 1467 is there? that is how many prisoners we have on this facility, The number 32, that is how many new prisoners we get every month. The number 23 is the number of the board members, and I know there were no number 23, but number 22, I counted the director as well. And one of the most important numbers, 60 000, that is how much this prison gets for receiving one prisoner.''

''Mr Holmes, The number 60 000 was never on the list''

'' Well Watson, I can give you that small detail without extra charge''

I went home, the place I've been avoiding. As I was sitting in my small unused kitchen, I took a paper, writing ''the journalist'' in the middle. Murdered in the dining room, had done research about the prison, but not normal research, numbers, connected to Sherlock Holmes. I tipped Fortnox prison on google on my laptop, what I found was only base information and articles. I pressed on "Fortnox, a more comfortable prison than your couch at home'' This was more or less a fun article, and every other article was almost about the same things. I wrote ''to conclude'' on the paper, the prison had no bad reviews, only articles writing good about them and they had a perfect reputation, almost too good to be true. The journalist was trying to find a scandal, or something to break the ice of perfection.

I woke up the sun was shining in my eyes, I had fallen asleep in the kitchen on my laptop. I would probably have a mark on my forehead for the entire day. I looked at my phone and I had 5 missed calls from homicide. I called back and the major answered surprisingly happy. ''Watson, they found a letter connecting Sherlock Holmes to the murder, I knew I could trust you to close this case quickly, now write the rapport and come in to the office, you are more or less a hero'' The phone call ended as fast as it started. I hurried to the prison to see this new evidence and the director was more than happy to finally close this case. ''My prison has had a lot of negative energy since this murder and I am glad that this was finally over, no wonder she asked me about Sherlock Holmes'' Director Gordon said. I took the evidence from the plastic bag, and met Sherlock Holmes right away. I read the letter on the way.

Miss Scarlet.

May I tell you something? My affections for you have grown and I would like you to come to

the prison to meet me. Because how can we know the future and how can we know the

odds if we don't try this out. I'm not a liar, and I will not hurt you like you have said. Can you

ever trust me? I would like to make you believe in me, and I would like you to

be with me. I want you to come, please come, meet me in the dining room, because

in my mind I would love to take you to my cell, but that is a dream. I want to be in

your dreams. Believe me when I say that I can't ask no more but one

favour from you, meet me.

Yours Truly, Sherlock Holmes.

No violin was played today and his energy level was low. ''Mr Holmes, I am sorry to announce that they found your love letter to Miss Scarlet''

'' Watson, Miss Scarlet and I had letters exchanged, some at least. You are a clever one, so I will make it a bit easier for you. This letter has my signature, and I did tell her to come to the prison, just like I am telling you, may the odds ever be in your favour'' He wasn't scared a bit. I could never understand completely what he was talking about. But I did remember what many had warned me about. It was time for me to meet the board and tell them the news. As I walked down the Hall where I first started I didn't feel closure. I looked right and saw the director in his office. I knocked on the opened door and stepped in. ''I would like to ask you some questions Mr Gordon''

''Aren't you done with the case Mr Watson? You should be celebrating, this is promotion for you isn't it?''

'' It sure is, but this is only for the final rapport. Why did Miss Scarlet come to this prison?

'' Miss Scarlet told me that she wanted to interview me and write about this prison, but after the letters exchanged I knew she was here to meet him, It is forbidden for the dangerous prisoners to have visitors''

''You knew about the letters, who controls what goes out and in to the prison?"

''That is Mr Connesaw's job. He reads every letter that is being sent from the prison''

''You had a blackout, how does the security system work then?''

''The system shuts down for a few minutes, but we have guards and no cells can be open, in the isolation part the six numbered code stops working and it can be possible to open the door with enough amount of strength. The green, red and blue doors are locked immediately, but if one of them is open and about to close, it will just stay opened and can't be closed until the back-up generators come on. That takes approximately 3 minutes. Enough time for Sherlock to get out, kill her''

''Thank you Mr Gordon. I will be leaving now''

As I pulled in my chair I saw his big bookshelf with the hunger games collection.

'' I didn't know you were a hunger games fan Mr Gordon''

'' Well Mr Watson, as they say, may the odds ever be in your favour''

I got a flashback back to when Mr Holmes told me these exact 8 words. He knew I would go to the director's office. I went out of his office faster than possible and into the toilets. I repeated his words in my head '' I did tell her to come to the prison, just like I am telling you'' I took out the letter and looked for a sign, what did he tell her in the letter? Mr Holmes is not a loving person, he is the opposite. The first word of the letter is Miss, followed by Scarlet. Then it starts, May I tell you something. The first word may, the word under it is ''the'' and under that it is ''odds''. I kept going and found ''May the odds ever be in your favour''. One word under the other. He had sent her a clue, to the director. I called the Captain telling him what I found. ''Watson, stop it now. You are playing with fire, you have already closed the case, be proud and let it go'' I couldn't possibly let it go.

Holding Mr Holmes file in my hands, I went straight to his cell. I told the guard that we would take a walk for this questioning. ''Mr Watson, aren't you afraid of me, walking alone just me and you without the guards?''

We were walking in the garden in the same spot where Miss Scarlett fell down, on each side there where fences that separated the prisoners from the way leading to the head building, I looked at Mr Holms and told him "during the blackout the guards lost control of the prison while the prisoners shouted and scared Miss Scarlett until she climbed on the rusty iron ladder when she fell down, and you were the closest person to ladder, but yet there were no signs of struggle" "what about the letter, it clearly provides the motive" "there is a hidden message in that letter as you poorly hinted to me, which means either you are an exceptional deceiver or genius detective"

The End