Quite Elementary

Chapter 2

The police had arrived and Daniel had already given his statement to the police. Yellow police tape had been already placed throughout various areas in the teacher's lounge, where the body of Wesley Nash had been discovered. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the afternoon

"If you ask me, it was an accident," Dean Paul Haley was telling the police.

Officer Myers looked up from his pad, "Really? An accident? Please continue with your brilliant deduction, Dean Haley."

The policeman humored the dean further by folding his arms and giving his full attention.

"It's pretty obvious what happened, isn't it?" Dean Haley stated in all seriousness as he gestured over to the file cabinet, "Professor Nash was getting something out of the cabinet when the clock from the wall suddenly fell on his head, and he hit his head on the edge of the file cabinet on his way down. That would do anyone in."

Daniel had been watching this exchange, frustrated. The file cabinet in the faculty lounge was a throwaway and the only thing they kept in there were holiday decorations and/or paper plates and plastic cups and silverware.

"Or maybe it was staged to look that way," Daniel theorized, to the detriment of Dean Haley.

He knew exactly why Paul Haley was making that claim of an accidental death.

The university had previously struggled in the shadow of its larger and more sophisticated Ivy League rivals. Recently, however, it had been gaining in prestige due to the excellence of its psychology program which included the neuroscience department, spearheaded by Daniel. The acquisition of prestigious faculty members in all departments had been met with a resounding success. The dean wanted to maintain the great PR the school had been receiving.

Great PR up to this point, that is.

"Accident or not," the policeman was saying, "We have to consider all possibilities, Dean Haley. Your scenario of an accident could make sense, but let's not jump to conclusions until all our people have arrived."

"You don't have enough police persons as it is?" Paul Haleyasked, as he looked around the room at the other officers.

"I believe, Paul," Daniel interceded, "the police are waiting for the Medical Examiner to arrive, am I right?"

"Well, there's him, "Officer Myers nodded, "but also the FBI is set to arrive any moment."

"T-the FBI?" beads of sweat appeared on Dean Haley's forehead, "Why are they involved?"

"Seems your deceased professor has led a double life-he's been wanted in Las Vegas for tax evasion, and that's considered a federal offense," the policeman explained, "So we had to get the FBI involved."

Dean Haley did not like that at all, "Couldn't we just keep this whole accidental death on the down-low?" he was sounding desperate, and added, "I don't think it's really necessary to bring the FBI on this case, do you"?

Before Officer Myers could answer, they heard a female voice emanating from the hallway.

"Excuse me…FBI…let me through, please…"

The three men turned at the sound of the new arrival. As Agent Kate Moretti stood at the entrance of the open doorway, Daniel's pulse began to race at her appearance. She hadn't spotted him yet, so he was able to watch her unobserved.

Today she wore gray slacks with a crème colored blouse, topped by a dark blazer. Her dark, soft hair hung loose and lovely. She looked agent-ready, but with a soft, feminine touch. Along with her fresh, all-American look, Daniel liked how Kate exuded a radiant intelligence about her.

After ducking under the yellow tape, Kate remained near the doorway, continually surveying the entire room, expecting to locate the investigating officer.

But instead, she caught a glimpse of Daniel from across the room and immediately her brown eyes softened.

"Daniel" she mouthed to herself. Her heart gave a lurch as she headed straightway to Daniel and the other two men. As she approached closer, the men could see she had a concerned look on her face.

"Daniel, I'm surprised to see you here," she stated, her eyes steadily watching his, "Were you a witness to what happened here? Are you alright?"

He read the tension in her lovely eyes. Daniel's face relaxed and his lips curved into a smile, making him seem younger and a little more approachable than usual.

"Kate," his reassuring voice sounded pleased, "I'm fine."

She gave him that slow,hesitant smile he found so endearing.

Dean Haley and Officer Myers looked back and forth between Daniel and Kate.

"Uh," the officer was saying, "you two need some time alone or something'?"

Kate could feel color rising to her cheeks and shook her head, "No, I just didn't expect to see Dan- Dr, Pierce here at the crime scene, is all," she awkwardly recovered.

"You mean, the accident scene," reminded Dean Haley.

Introductions were made between Kate and Officer Myers.

"Agent Moretti," Officer Myers addressed her, "I'm sure you must be anxious to view where the body was discovered …"

"Yes, of course, Officer, um…", Kate did not catch the policeman's name, for she had been too wrapped up with seeing Daniel, "…yes, officer."

She squared her shoulders, turning into FBI agent mode as she went to view the lifeless body from all angles. After a time, she nodded. The EMTs from the local area had already wheeled in a stretcher. The body of Wesley Nash was carefully placed in the unzipped body bag. A man in a white jacket was examining the body for the last time before he zipped up the body bag.

"Is that the medical examiner?" Daniel leaned over and whispered at the local policeman.

"That's Zachary Brent," the policeman replied back in a low tone, "he's the county coroner."

Kate was now talking with the coroner and Daniel chose to observe the two from a distance. At first he was concentrated on Kate, but soon he switched to watching Zachary Brent. The coroner was moving as if he were in a sped up motion of moving slow, if that made any sense.

Daniel also noted that Zachary Brent rarely made eye contact with Kate throughout their entire interaction. Instead Zachary Brent chose to look off to the side, the sides of his mouth permanently turned downward.

"He knows him," Daniel surmised outloud.

Dean Paul Haley gave Daniel a baffled look, "He? Him? What?"

"The coroner…he knew the victim Wesley Nash as more than just an acquaintance," Daniel announced with certainty.

"You're right about that, Dr. Pierce," confirmed the police officer, puzzled, "they're weekly poker buddies…but how …did you know?"

By now Kate had returned and the attention was focused on her.

"So it was an accident, right, Ms. Moretti?" Dean Haley asked wistfully.

"The coroner informed me that he is not ready to make that determination, and neither am I," Kate responded.

Dean Haley did not look happy as Daniel now addressed her.

"Kate, did the coroner ever mention to you that he and Wesley Nash were friends?" Daniel asked.

She turned to him, surprised, "What? No, he never mentioned that. Is that true?"

Officer Myers nodded and explained, "It stands to reason, Agent Moretti. Being a college town, we're a pretty tight community. Everyone seems to know everyone here. The victim Wesley Nash is—or was—one of Zachary's poker buddies," he scratched his head, "I just can't figure out how Dr. Pierce knew about them being social friends."

All eyes in the group turned to Daniel.

"Simple, really," Daniel expounded, "I noted his body language. Emotions will leak through the body when someone is living them. With the coroner's slowed movements, failure to make eye contact and downturned mouth, Zachary Brent showed signs of being distraught as he examined the victim."

Officer Myer nodded, "I guess that could explain it."

The body was now being wheeled away.

It was a very somber occasion especially when some of the faculty members in the English and Psychology department had arrived and gathered at the doorway, trying to get a last glimpse of their fallen colleague. They continued consoling one another, with some dabbing tears from their eyes.

One woman in particular caught Daniel's eye. It was the department secretary sobbing quietly into her tissue.

Dean Haley felt it was his duty to say something regarding the deceased to the staff that had gathered. Once the stretcher had left the room, the dean addressed the faculty in the hallway.

"I know we are all upset at the loss of one of our own," he stated in a solemn tone, "Wesley Nash was a cherished professor here and more important, a caring human being."

"The guy was a jerk," spoke out Daniel amid several gasps.

Even Kate looked exasperated," Dan-iel!" she stated with a forceful low tone.

Daniel ran his hand through his hair in frustration, not understanding why stating the obvious would bring such a reaction. He then turned towards the area where the body had been found. He scowled at the unknown man he hadn't noticed before, crouched down near the broken clock.

Daniel walked over, curious as to the identity of this man. Even from the back, Daniel could see the mysterious man wore clothes not of this country. In fact, it was not even of this century. The man's old-fashioned frock coat was more cape-like and he wore a deerstalker hat on his head. With the help of a walking cane, the unidentified thin man stood up at last. From his profile, Daniel could see he had a large yellowish pipe dangling from his mouth.

Daniel's internal mind clicked: "It's you," Daniel whispered with awe as the man continued to peer down at the blood intermixed with the broken mechanism of the clock. Sherlock Holmes removed the pipe he had been fiddling about in his mouth, and acknowledged Daniel's presence.

"If by 'it's you', you mean the great Sherlock Holmes, then you are most certainly correct," Holmes admitted with no effort at modesty, "and it is my business to know what others do not know."

He then looked directly at Daniel, "And from what I can deduce from this scene, my dear Pierce, there are clues here others do not see, but they should be quite obvious to you!"

"Daniel?" Kate questioned as she came up beside him, once more looking at him in a totally confused manner.

Daniel slowly turned to look at her for mere seconds to acknowledge her presence. He then turned back to Sherlock Holmes, or, that is to say, where Holmes had last stood. All that was left now was empty space. The imagery of the great detective had vanished. Recalling Holmes' advice, however, Daniel suddenly had a revelation.

"The briefcase," he murmured under his breath.

Kate scowled, "What? Did you just say 'the briefcase'?" Whatever do you mean, Daniel?"

He gazed back at her, and for a split second they were looking into each other's eyes. He willed himself to stem the heat rising within him at being so close to her. What he had been thinking was an impossibility for him.

"Daniel?" Kate encouraged him, as he needed to take a deep breath to become himself again.

"Kate, I just thought of something…" Daniel explained slowly, "Wesley Nash had a habit of keeping his briefcase right next to him, it never left his side. Yet I don't see it anywhere here in this room...where is Wesley Nash's briefcase?"

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(Thank you everyone for making me feel so welcome. I usually privately PM all reviewers to thank them, and although my inbox of my PM is working, the outbox is not.)

Therefore, I will give my thanks here. Special thanks goes to: SallyT, MinxFan94, JMC, Happyhere, Hawkfire28, BetterSorrythanSafe, hamrensel, RedHearts, TheInvisibleQuestion, DianaW and Ashley. I also appreciated all the faves and follows. All of you have contributed to making my day so much brighter!

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