Wow 0.o People reviewed! This is crazy XD. You are all lovely =3 the more reviews, the more I'm pushed to write. You know how it goes ;P. To Jael73: yes, you'll get your romance ;P
And to the mysterious Lilly: Your review has been my favourite ;D This chapter is written a little different towards the end, but you'll see why. Enjoy! :)
Chapter Three: Documents
"The Records House… really Holmes, you may have gotten lucky with your charade at St. Ives, but I highly doubt you'll be able to sneak into the records house undetected", Watson said, a little too matter-of-factly like for Holmes' liking.
Holmes just waved away his words, "Now now, my dear fellow. The probability of my plan working is almost certain. In fact, I'd say it has a 98.5% chance of success", he said, as the carriage pulled to a stop in the street, opposite the records house. And what a gloomy house it was. It was a large, skinny complex. Its large stone pillars were high and chipped, and the windows were in dire need of a scrub.
Watson rolled his eyes. "What is this so called 'plan' then?"
"Simple", Holmes said, taking off his jacket. He turned it inside out then put it back on again. It was an exact replica of a policeman's one this side.
"Dear god, where do you get these things from?", Watson said, amused and curious in spite of himself. Holmes just winked and pulled a matching hat from the suitcase in which he carried. "Always expect the unexpected. It's good to be prepared for anything Watson, you'd do well to remember that. Anyways, you're a doctor. I'm Police Inspector…", Holmes paused for a moment, taking out his badge and reading it. "Inspector Cornelius Gordon"
"Did you STEAL that Holmes?" Watson exclaimed as they stepped out of the carriage, paying the driver before he tipped his hat and took off down the cobble stoned street.
"Heavens no! I'm merely borrowing it, now no more questions until we're inside please", he said as both me walked up the stone steps and into the building.
The inside was just as dreary as the outside. It was cold and had a damp smell about it. The wallpaper was faded and was tearing at the corners. A man at the service counter looked up as they walked over.
"Who might you be?" he said in his drawl of a voice. Clearly from a lower part of London from the way his accent sounded.
"I am Police Inspector Gordon, and this is one of the doctors who work for our investigation team, Dr. Watson", Holmes said in a very formal voice, tipping his hat slightly to shade his face some more.
The mans eyebrows knit together as he looked from man to man. " 'Spector Gordon you says?"
"Indeed".
"I know a Gordon", he said, eyeing Holmes skeptically. Watson closed his eyes and braced for it. They were already discovered.
"You sure lost that belly there 'aven't ya, Gordon?" he said with a laugh.
"Yes well… you know how it is. Kids and the wife keeping you busy"
"Aye", the man said, winking and tapping his nose. "I sure do, anyways, mustn't keep ya's waiting. Off you go sir, you know where to go. I'll be here if you need anything"
"Thank you sir", Holmes said and with a smile, he and Watson walked onwards.
"I can't believe it…", Watson said under his breath as they walked into a large circular room with many shelves reaching very high peaks. On these shelves were boxes of files. Now their job was to find the files about their leading lady.
"Believe what?", Holmes said, as the two men headed towards the section for females, letter C.
"That it worked. The incompetence of that man. Honestly"
Holmes was only half listening when he stumbled upon a large box labeled "CLARK" in thick black, bold letters.
"Watson, over here", he said, motioning for the man to come forward. As they opened the box, they discovered that it was for every female person with the last name 'Clark'. There seemed to be quite a few. So both took the box over to a nearby table, split it in half and began to search through the documents.
Eventually, they found hers, placed the others back in the box. Just as they were about to search it, the doors opened and in walked the man from the service desk. Followed by a police officer.
Holmes placed the file inside his jacket and stood to attention as the room went silent for a moment before the man from the service counter spoke.
"Didn't really think that Gordon could lose so much weight", he said, pondering the thought very, very seriously.
The real Gordon was a rather large, very round man with a curly moustache. He looked as it were, quite angry by that statement.
"Just HOW many times have I visited the Records House, Johnson?" he said, glaring at the man.
"Uhh… Well gee, I don't know sir. That is what the log book be for sir!", he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The real Gordon smacked his forehead.
"No you imbecile. Hardly anyone comes to the Records House. One simply can't just walk INTO the Records House you know-"
As a battle or words marched out between both men, Holmes and Watson managed to sneak around the back of some shelves and out the alley way entrance unnoticed. They quickly hailed a carriage and sped off in the direction of Baker Street.
"HOLMES! I swear, never again Holmes. This is twice in one day. Twice where we have breeched numerous amounts of laws here. Have you ever even stopped to comprehend what you do half the time?" Watson exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"Of course I do. No detail is to go unplanned when planning a plan that doesn't sound workable. But it did work, we got the files and that is the main thing", Holmes said.
"I want to go home now, Holmes. I promised my wife I'd take her out to dinner tonight", Watson said, staring out the window, as he absentmindedly touched the wedding band on his finger.
Holmes just nodded and the carriage dropped him off. "I'll stop by tomorrow to share your findings", he said as he stepped out, looking at the ground rather awkwardly, feeling embarrassed by his outburst.
"I'd expect nothing less", Holmes said with a smile. And with a tip of the hat, Holmes was off to his own humble abode.
A clock chimed from somewhere in the house but Holmes wasn't paying much attention. Instead, he was in his quarters. Candles and fire were ablaze and the flames created a peaceful light around him. It danced off the walls lightly. Sprawled on the floor, were the contents of the folder which he had taken from the Records House earlier that day and Holmes sat on the floor, in the middle of it all.
He had been flicking through the documents for quite some time now. And it became apparent that there was a lot more to this girl than Holmes first thought. Out of the numerous documents, a few stood out amongst the rest; all for very different reasons.
Name: (Miss) Susannah Clark
Date Of Birth: ?/?/1869
Sex: Female
Administrator: Mrs. Mary Adams
Admittance: Miss Susannah Clark was bought to Kingston's Orphanage when she was seven years old. Left at the doorstep one night, the local milkman was the one to ring the doorbell. Was admitted and sent straight to bed accordingly.
Additional Notes: Susannah seems to not know how she came to be at the Orphanage. When asked if her parents left her here, she merely sat and stared, as if she was looking at something so far out of reach. We searched the Records House but there were no records of anyone with the last name 'Clark' with a daughter fitting her description. She hadn't appeared to run away either. Follow up?
Additional Notes Continued: Susannah doesn't appear to be getting along with the other girls. She sits alone at meal times and doesn't contribute to discussions or work with the other girls. She appears to be a rather ordinary girl. A family came today to greet the children in hopes of finding a daughter. Whilst the other girls spent many a time getting ready to look and act their best, Susannah slouched in the corner; glaring very hard at one of the girls the couple seemed to show a particular interest in.
Additional Notes Cont.: Miss Jane Campbell was chosen by the visiting family recently. Upon the day of the pick up, the girls stated that she was teasing Susannah about her 'plain' ways. Susannah sat there as the other girls joined in. A cleaner, Miss Macintyre, was present to report this as well.
She tried to get the girls to leave Miss Clark alone. Miss Clark stared up at the chandelier above Miss Campbell the whole time the teasing was going on. It gradually got worse. And as it did, Susannah's glare hardened at it. Suddenly there was a sharp cracking sound and the chandelier came crashing down… Screams echoed throughout…
Holmes set the orphanage documents aside to the left. Upon flipping one over, he found a small note clipped onto the back of it.
"My Memories: By Susannah Clark, (Age 12)
One day I woke up in front of a large building which housed the unwanted children. I was given a bed and some clothes. The girls there don't like me, so sometimes when we play sport, I go for walks down by the docks. I made friends with a bird there. He looks just like the one in the clock. Sometimes I sit by that clock for hours, waiting for him to come coo-coo-ing out of his little wooden house. I wish I lived in a place like that.
Not so long ago, a girl died. I didn't like her anyway, but I read that you shouldn't speak ill of the departed so I won't. She teased me a lot though and was a horrid girl. I remember looking up and seeing the chandelier on the ceiling. I wanted something bad to happen to her. The other girls gathered and kept teasing and teasing and teasing me. And it started to shake. Then it fell.
There was a lot of screaming and her face looked all bent and out of shape. A very red liquid came from her mouth. No one was teasing me anymore. I felt happy.
Later I-"
But the rest of her story, it seemed, had been torn straight off. This certainly was an important piece of information but how, Holmes wasn't entirely sure yet. But he had gained some important facts from her account.
The final document which Holmes deemed of importance was some notations from observations done by that of Dr. Ferdinand Voisin.
November 12th, 1873,
Miss Clark has been here for almost two months now. Upon arrival, the girl has been well behaved. However, she also hasn't spoken a word to any of the staff, including myself, and nor has she made any contact with the other inmates. Today will be her first interview session with myself. Hopefully I'll be able to find out something from this mysterious girl they label 'the witch'.
November 14th, 1873,
The girl talks! And she talks absolute nonsense. Things of birds in clocks and friends that be shadows. When I asked her about claims others made on her, she shut up like a clam and stared hard at me for quite some time. Paranoia? Perhaps, further investigations to be noted.
December 1st, 1873,
This afternoon at lunch, Miss Clark apparently attacked another inmate by cutting her with a dinner knife. No one knows how Miss Clark came in possession of the knife as inmates are forbidden to eat with anything sharp. When she was thrown into isolation and later spoken to, she claimed that 'it wasn't her', although plenty a people saw it with their own eyes. I have another session with the girl.
Now we can add violence and denial to the list…
December 3rd, 1873,
I had a thought recently after reading a reverse psychology study, that the same thing can also be applied to some medications. It is my personal medical opinion that the oddities of Miss Clark may indeed be cured by a trail of various medications. Since many a time she appears to be having an out of body, out of mind experience with the gibberish in which she speaks, I am considering a trail of a few things to see if will alter her state of mind.
Holmes sat in disbelief. The fact that a doctor can trail such a thing on a patient… this was something to further question Watson about. Also, it seemed, he needed to have a few more words with Dr. Voisin.
With a yawn, Holmes stretched and stood up, leaving the files on the floor for the morning. He moved the documents he had selected of importance, to his desk, leaving a photo of the girl on the top.
On the back, in an elegant hand, it had the words, "Susannah Clark, 17 years".
This meant it was a recent photo, as the girl was now 19 he supposed, depending on when her birthday was. He flipped it back over and studied her face.
She was a beautiful girl, even in the damaged black and white photo with its coffee stained ring in the corner. She wasn't smiling but it looked like she was more playfully smirking. Her skin was clear, and her lips full. Her dark hair which waved and curled rested past her shoulders comfortably.
But the thing that grabbed Holmes attention the most was the girls eyes. As big and beautiful as they were, they too, looked as though she was staring intently at something. So much that if Holmes looked hard enough, he was almost certain, if even for a split second, he could see something shine in them.
"I better watch myself or I'll be the next inmate", he muttered, shaking his head and heading off to his chambers for another restless night's sleep… Tomorrow, it was time to take a trip into Miss Clarks world...
There we have part three. I'll update as soon as I can. I really hope you're all still interested and enjoying it so far :) Again, there is romance =P. But this is also a mystery; so don't give up hope yet! Read/Fave/Review do whatever you guys like. Enjoy! :)