We both awoke early the following morning, and Mr. Sherlock Holmes and I were there ahead of time at Paddington Station. There before us, and much to our surprise, was Inspector Athelney Jones himself, with a small travel case beside him. He was twisting a small red and white-spotted handkerchief backward and forward in his hands in a terribly shaken manner.

"Good morning Inspector. You appear to be somewhat distressed, this morning." Observed Sherlock Holmes. "I know from your actions and the telegram in your pocket that there has been a development in this little countryside mystery before we have even had the chance to properly investigate."

"Mm?" grunted Jones, only just noticing us. "Oh, yes! There has been, Mr. Holmes," he said as he dabbed his brow with his handkerchief "I am, indeed, sorry to say that there has been another one."

"Another?" I queried.

Athelney Jones reached into his jacket pocket, produced the telegram that Holmes's keen eyes had spotted. He handed it to Holmes, who read it aloud. I have made the effort of reproducing said telegram here;

POST OFFICE TELEGRAM
Inspector A Jones, 45 Cock Lane

Another incident has occurred overnite.
Linked to same killer possibly. Come ASAP.
- Const. Stevenson

"Hum!" Hummed Sherlock Holmes. "Well, I dare say that a fresh case may be likely to help us form much better conclusions."

"That's just what I was thinking!" Cried Athelney Jones.

"I sincerely hope, Inspector, that they have not touched anything."

"Of course! Stupid me. I completely forgot to tell them..." Said Jones, hitting his hand against his forehead as the train arrived.

The train journey to Barchester was as quiet as could be expected. Sherlock Holmes himself thought to bring along a pamphlet on geographical locations in America, and was studying it with interest throughout our journey. Athelney Jones on the other hand spent the time quietly humming to himself. I instead spent my time watching the scenery move quickly past the window of our carriage as it turned from brick city buildings to green trees and foliage.

The village of Barchester itself was a quiet one, with many of its buildings made out of traditional red brick. A number of people lived around the main village's cobbled square and green inside small houses and cottages. There was also a small pond in the centre of the village green, where a number of school children were stood feeding small pieces of bread to the ducks and birds which commonly frequented it.

"Inspector Jones! It is excellent to see you, sir!" Cried a voice as we stepped off of the train.

We turned around to come face-to-face with a hearty-looking and moustached police constable, who was stood next to a bicycle.

"Inspector Stevenson. I received your telegram early this morning. This is Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr. Watson. Gentlemen, this is Constable Edgar Stevenson, the lead constable in this area."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both. I've read many of your stories in The Strand, doctor. I'm usually the first person in the whole village to get it because I simply do enjoy reading them."

"Why, thank you." I replied, as we shook hands.

"And Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I'm such a big fan. Thank you for coming along. I trust it must be difficult if Athelney here is getting you to help out."

"The pleasure is all mine, constable." Replied Sherlock Holmes. "I do hope that we will be able to bring about a proper conclusion to this intriguing mystery."

"So do I. Honestly, people have been going mad over it. Mad, I tell you! We're not used to such big incidents happening here in the village. I mean, honestly, the most exciting case I had in the year previous was having to rescue Mrs. Norris's cat after he climbed too far up the tree in her backyard again."

"Well my most exciting case in the previous year was aiding in the apprehension of the Acton arsonist. Which, I'm afraid, dwarfs your cat-rescuing effort quite considerably, constable." Bragged Inspector Jones.

"Before we get too far off track, I think we should begin our investigation." Holmes interrupted.

"Oh. Of course. I nearly went off track there." Said Stevenson. "Terribly sorry about that Mr. Holmes. Anyway, I've been reading up the 'setting up a crime scene cordon' section of the police handbook quite a lot recently, so I requested that my other counterpart, Constable Randall, secure the scene, and I told him to make sure that he doesn't touch anything. So hopefully, it should be good enough to investigate.

"The town doctor is also there, Doctor Martin. He's been run ragged having to examine the victims. I could also arrange it that you could talk to some of the victims' families or friends if you need it."

"Thank you constable. If we need anything, we shall know but to only ask. First of all, I think that we should examine the latest incident while the evidence is still relatively fresh."

"Certainly. Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson, Inspector, if you would kindly follow me then I'll lead you there." Said Constable Stevenson, picking up his bike and wheeling it alongside himself as he walked. "Don't worry about walking, everything here's within walking distance. So I hope you're up for trudging about the place.