"Hurry Watson!"
I raced after the long figure of Sherlock Holmes down the narrow passages in the University Library. We were examining the scene where a lecturer had died unexpectedly of unknown causes, when he raced out of the library into the open courtyard.
"What is the matter? Why did you rush from the murder scene when we had not been there for more than ten minutes?" I gasped.
"All will be revealed within the hour," Holmes calmly explained.
It was his habit to leave me in the dark until the he dramatically revealed all and solved the crime.
There was no weapon at the scene in the library where the professor had died. The professor, Jim Ortiz, was a visiting professor known for his controversial ideals. This afternoon he was scheduled to speak at a conference regarding the use of abaci in mathematics classrooms. He was of the unpopular opinion that these simple devices did not hinder the overall quality of material learned in the subject.
"Did you bring the book with you that I left at Baker Street?" He asked.
"Yes" I wheezed, pulling it out of my jacket pocket.
"Good," he replied. "Be careful not to put your mouth or eyes near the book."
The book was a brand new copy of Math as a Lifestyle written by his colleague John McDonnald. According to the school secretary it was his habit to spend half an hour in the library reading for pleasure over his lunch break.
"We mustn't delay a minute longer, for the murderer could strike again at any minute. Now where did you say the Warner School for Education is located?"
By this time I had gained my composure. "Adjacent the post office and residential quadrangle."
We then raced as fast as our legs could carry us up the stairs of the newly constructed building and entered the conference room where a staff meeting was taking place. Jim Ortiz, along with every other professor in the school was present.
"Excuse me," Barked the corpulent chairman "What is the meaning of this? Sherlock Holmes you are not welcome to this meeting."
"I will not take but only a minute of your precious time chairman," Holmes sharply replied. "For I have discovered the criminal who has taken your colleague's life."
"I have spent the entire night in my laboratory examining this book that was found next to the body of Jim Ortiz." He grabbed the book from my hands. "At first glance this may look like an ordinary book, but upon closer examination I found a poisonous powder within the binding. How would this powder kill him you might ask? Listen and I will describe not only how he ingested the poison, but who is responsible for placing it there. I interviewed all of the members of mathematics education department and discovered that there was a small book club of three: Jim Ortiz, John McDonnald, and James Seligman. I spoke with Professor Seligman and he claimed that he had quit the group over a year ago due to his lose of eyesight so for the past year it has only been Jim and John within the group."
Holmes slowly walked around the table of professors "Had it not been for his diary I may have not discovered the way in which Jim Ortiz was killed. He described in January how his book club started a tradition of smelling the new books before they were read. A strange custom, but he claimed that he enjoyed smelling the books. Only his closest book reading companion knew that he loved to smell books."
"So it is you, John McDonnald, who killed Jim Ortiz with literacy," Holmes shouted.
Immediately the guilty professor grabbed a stack of books and ran towards the door. Acting out of instinct, I jumped on his back and pinned him to the ground until the authorities took him away.
