Chapter Two: An Easy Case
The next morning, Melissa sped her way to the spot Lestrade had just texted her. Apparently there was already a case she could work on. While Lestrade had seemed uptight yesterday, he had seemed to relax a little once she had revealed that she believed in Sherlock Holmes. He had issued her a gun and tried to tell her how to use it. She then kindly informed him that she knew how to use one. It's not like she had gone through police training or anything.
As she turned down the large driveway that matched the address Lestrade had given her, she was greeted by flashing lights and police officers everywhere. Stepping out of her car, she approached a female officer with rather large curly hair who stood near the caution tape that surrounded the large house.
"You must be the new detective," the woman said, as if Melissa were below her.
"Yes. Melissa Hughes," she said, extending her hand.
"Sally Donovan," she said, shaking Melissa's hand. She held the caution tape up as Melissa ducked under it. "Watch your step," she added, with a smirk on her face.
Melissa approached the front door only to be greeted by a very ugly man.
"Ah, the new resident detective has arrived," he said over his shoulder, smugly.
Melissa saw all the policemen inside turn towards her. She chose to ignore them, turning towards the obnoxious man standing in her way.
"And you are?" she said, eyeing him up.
"Anderson," he said, with a smirk.
"Oh, the one who's having an affair with Donovan," Melissa replied, smiling back.
"Wh…Uh…Excuse me?" Anderson stuttered, stepping back.
"I mean unless you and Donovan just happen to wear the same Chanel lipstick in hazelnut…How long is your wife in the Bahamas for?" she continued, narrowing her eyes at Anderson.
"How do you know that my wife is away?" he asked, ignoring the first part.
"A lucky guess," Melissa replied, pushing past Anderson. She spotted Lestrade entering the foyer and walked towards him.
"Hello there," Lestrade said. "Ready to see the body?"
"Am I ever," Melissa responded. She had been solving crimes for years in her hometown of Bradford. She had attended college in London and found it hard to leave. But when this job opportunity presented itself a few days ago, she couldn't believe her luck.
"Follow me," Lestrade said, leading her to a gorgeous dining room.
There was a young woman lying on the ground. She had no obvious signs of an injury but Melissa knelt beside her to get a better look. Her mouth was slightly open and she could see some sort of powder on her tongue. A glass lay in her hand, what looked like wine was spread in a stain upon the carpet.
"She's been poisoned," Melissa explained.
"Well even I could've told you that," announced Anderson. "The poison was in the wine."
Melissa rolled her eyes, glad she had her back to him. After looking around the body for another minute, she had already solved the case.
"The gardener did it," she said, standing up. Anderson and Lestrade gaped at her. "Well can't you see?" She pointed at the body. "There's dirt on the hem of her skirt. Probably rubbed of on her when she was kissing the gardener. They were having an affair. But he couldn't risk his wife knowing. So he killed his mistress."
"How on earth could you have known that by looking at the body for less than five minutes?" Anderson asked, staring at her suspiciously.
"I observed," she responded. "Look. She even has a fresh flower in her hair. It's the same one that's in the garden. The gardener picked this flower and placed it in her hair, trying to be nothing but kind and gentle. She had no idea that he was going to kill her."
"Sir?" Donovan addressed Lestrade, entering the dining room.
"Yes?" Lestrade answered.
"The Detective Commissioner is on the phone. He wants to know how the new detective is doing," Donovan replied, giving Melissa a very obvious dirty look.
"Well you can tell him that she's doing just fine," Lestrade responded, smiling and awkwardly draping an arm around her shoulder. "She's just solved her first case."
Donovan's mouth stood ajar.
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