Chapter 8 On the Case
Shellock mused over the name that Watson had just spoken. Lemmy Koopa. Lemmy Koopa….why did that name sound so familiar to him? There was something about it that tickled Shellock's ribcage like a feather. Did he and Lemmy meet before? Perhaps somewhere in London? Wait no, Shellock didn't meet Lemmy in London; no one important lived there. Maybe Shellock was familiar with him for another reason?
Wait, hold on just a minty minute! Maybe it was so familiar….because Lemmy was some sort of celebrity!
"Lemmy Koopa," Shellock said. He took a contemplative drag of his bubble pipe. The bubbles clouded up the room like his thoughts were clouding up his mind. Watson beamed in excitement.
"Why, yes!" he said. Shellock stared into Watson's face. There was something about his expression that was suspicious. Perhaps it was the smile and the mischievous twinkle in his eye? Or perhaps it was the fact that his eyes kept sliding over to Iggy? "Yes. Lemmy has mysteriously gone missing, and I wish to find him sooner rather than later!"
Shellock slowly nodded. Reaching into his hammerspace, he pulled out a notepad and started asking Watson questions.
"What are some descriptors that you would apply to this 'Lemmy?'"
"Well, Lemmy is shorter than most. He has a rainbow mohawk and a knack for puns."
"Oh, and he is quite the jokester!" Iggy said.
"Yes, quite. He is also 18 years old. He was born on August 11th and has a very high pitched voice. He went missing this morning."
Using his red crayon, Shellock took the time to jot down the notes. Rainbow mohawk? High pitched voice? A knack for puns? Hmm. Hmm Hmm hmm. This sounded like a very complicated case.
"Perhaps Lemmy has been kidnapped," Shellock said as he pressed his crayon to his temple. "But who would want someone of the (quite frankly) ridiculous physical descriptors that you have described?"
A look of hurt entered Watson's eyes. It was subtle, but definitely strong enough for Shellock to take notice. He raised an eyebrow at the blue haired Koopa as he began speaking.
"I don't know, Shellock. I think a lot of people would appreciate someone like Lemmy in their household. He is a master Clown act."
Shellock sniffed and jotted down another note. The way that Watson spoke about his brother was suspicious indeed. It was completely possible that he was hiding something, if his inflection was any indication. Perhaps he should take that into consideration.
"Yes, yes of course." He snapped the notepad shut and looked up at Watson and Iggy. "Well, I am afraid that I cannot solve this case with just physical descriptions alone. If you don't mind, I would like to have a chat with some of Lemmy's other family members."
"Oh sure, sure," Watson said. Iggy covered his mouth with his hand and muttered under his breath:
"He really is not letting up on this, is he?"
Shellock leaned toward Iggy on his tiptoes, suspicion taking hold of him.
"What was that, dear chap?"
"Oh, nothing Mr. Holmes!" Iggy said with a nervous smile and a wave of the hand. "Nothing at all!"
Shellock sniffed, doing his best to maintain a stoic front. Something about all of this was really fishy indeed. Perhaps talking to Lemmy's family would give him more details.
"Yes." He slowly and hesitantly turned toward the door. "Come on, Watson. Let us go find Lemmy's siblings."
…
Rounding up Lemmy's family did not take long at all. The other "Koopalings" (what a bizarre name for a group) were populating the castle in cloves. Shellock paced in front of Larry, Wendy, Roy, and Morton as they all stood in a straight line.
"Now," Shellock said as he took another drag of his bubble pipe. "This case is one of the more serious ones. I think you are all aware of the disappearance of your brother, Lemmy Koopa?"
The big, purple shelled brute named Roy raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about? Lemmy, you're not missing!"
Shellock cast a glare at Roy. He raised an eyebrow.
"You have not noticed the disappearance of your brother?" He stroked his chin and sniffed. "I am guessing that you would be the 'ignorant' one of your clan."
Roy's mouth gawked open, his eyebrows dropped in disbelief. He was about to speak out against the detective, but thankfully, Watson stepped in.
"Oh, no guys, Shellock is right. This case is ever so serious and demands our utmost attention!" He leaned in closer to the Koopalings and whispered: "Play along." Shellock made sure to take a mental note of that and store it in the vault. The other Koopalings slowly started to nod.
"Oh, no," said the brown skinned Koopa named Morton. "Shellock, you are absolutely right."
"Yeah!" said Larry, the one with the sky blue mohawk. "Lemmy is missing in action and no one knows where he went!"
"We're all worried sick!" said the (quite unattractive) girl named Wendy. "If we don't find out what happened to him, then we'll...we'll...die! We will surely die!"
Shellock nodded and smoked his pipe. As the bubbles started to rise like steam, he began to think. Clearly, these people all had a very strong connection with their brother. The inflections in their voices indicated that they looked up to him. This was obviously a sign of an anxious mood amongst the siblings.
"Well, don't you worry, dear Koopalings." Shellock cast Lemmy's siblings one of his rare smiles. "Watson and I will surely find your brother." The Koopalings cast Watson a few looks as Shellock pulled out his notepad again. "Now, where was the last place you saw this Lemmy?"
The Koopalings hesitated before Morton spoke up.
"Well, we did see him at the breakfast table this morning."
"Mmhm," said Shellock, scribbling down notes. "Anywhere else?"
"He also performed on stage about four days ago at the Castle's auditorium," said Wendy. He appeared before thousands of people!"
"Aha!" Shellock said as he placed his crayon in his hat. "Surely, one of those people was responsible for his disappearance!" He grabbed hold of Watson's hand. "Come on, dear Watson. You and I are going to the auditorium to investigate!"