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Chapter Two
Recruitment
"Morning Sherlock." The desk sergeant greeted Holmes as we walked in. He chuckled at his own joke and Holmes forced a smile.
"Sherlock?"
"Shut up." I contented myself with a snigger. The offices on the first level were a maze of cubicles and chairs. Holmes led the way through the chaos and up the stairs to a corridor lined by proper offices with doors.
"Here." He said holding open the door of one. "The records keeper doesn't look too kindly on civilians walking through his domain."
Holmes disappeared down another hallway and I examined the tiny room. It was the office of Inspector Hargrave. A few degrees hung on the back wall along with a Union Jack in the corner. Papers were piled six inches deep on the desk. A plastic plant perched atop the inbox. A messenger bag slung in the corner indicated that the Inspector was out of the office at the moment.
The door swung open as I went around the desk to examine the college degrees. "Holmes, I…" I turned to face, not Holmes, but a rather harried woman.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" Inspector Hargrave demanded.
"Watson." I answered helpfully.
"Are you the drummer?" She asked shrewdly. I nodded.
"Ah." The blond woman sat down behind her desk. "I guess you would call me Holmes' mentor."
"My condolences."
She chuckled. "He does have a tendency to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong."
This time I laughed. The door opened again and Holmes froze on the threshold. He looked rather like a man who has come home to find his wife and his mistress chatting over a cup of tea.
"What brings you in on a weekend, Holmes?" Hargrave asked, pretending not to notice the shock on his face.
"Er. The car theft ring. I got an idea and I wanted to look at the file again." Holmes said carefully.
"And you brought your friend just for fun." Hargrave added, looking through another file. "You are aware that I will have to disavow all knowledge of you two."
"Er, yes quite." Holmes agreed, looking relieved. "C'mon Watson. They have a reading room downstairs."
We left the good Inspector sniggering over her morning hot beverage and went down to the reading room. Reading closet might have been a better word. A table and chair took up most of the space, with just enough left over to open the door.
"Here." Holmes handed me the file. It was rather thin for what Holmes implied to be a major investigation.
"This it?" I asked, sitting cross-legged on the desk.
"It's just the summary. All the evidence is in a warehouse somewhere." Holmes put his feet on the desk and leaned back in the chair.
I scanned the first page, which basically said there was evidence for an organized car theft ring. A group of about a dozen people (estimate based on number of cars stolen) seemed to be responsible for about two hundred stolen cars. All the cars were taken out of parking structures or large parking lots during the dusk hours. A packet of papers listed of all the cars believed to be stolen by the gang. Not one was newer than a '98 and almost all were Hondas or Nissans.
"I can see why they think there is a pattern." I said absently. "Why a dozen people?" I asked. That deduction had Holmes name written all over it.
"On a random night, at locations all across the London Metropolitan area, exactly five Hondas and Nissans are stolen. The pattern had been the same for about two months. It took a while before someone connected the dots." Holmes shook his head at police bureaucracy.
"Anyway, that's at least five people. One theft was witnessed by a man who says he saw two men get into the stolen car and drive off. That equals ten. They probably have one person at a central location to receive the cars. A dozen is accurate, yet vague, estimate." Holmes shrugged.
"And the fact that they are all old Hondas and Nissans means there is some good organization behind it. If they were stealing brand new Mercedes, it would get the police's attention pretty quickly." I mused.
"The cars are cheap enough for the owners to be content with an insurance cheque yet retain enough resale value to be worth the effort. If you get enough of them." Holmes added. "Very intelligent."
"So let me guess this little scheme of yours." I leaned against the wall and thought for a moment. I consider myself a pretty good judge of people, and while Holmes was more difficult that most to pin down, he was also a friend.
"You are going to get one of your mysterious contacts in the underworld to introduce us to the new gang on the block. After we impress them with our carjacking skills they take us to their leader and we take them down from the inside."
"More or less." Holmes chuckled. "So you're in."
I realized that I had been speaking in the plural. Oh well, this summer was becoming boring anyway.
"I'm in." Holmes grinned at me. I knew that look. The game was afoot.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.
Chapter Two
Recruitment
"Morning Sherlock." The desk sergeant greeted Holmes as we walked in. He chuckled at his own joke and Holmes forced a smile.
"Sherlock?"
"Shut up." I contented myself with a snigger. The offices on the first level were a maze of cubicles and chairs. Holmes led the way through the chaos and up the stairs to a corridor lined by proper offices with doors.
"Here." He said holding open the door of one. "The records keeper doesn't look too kindly on civilians walking through his domain."
Holmes disappeared down another hallway and I examined the tiny room. It was the office of Inspector Hargrave. A few degrees hung on the back wall along with a Union Jack in the corner. Papers were piled six inches deep on the desk. A plastic plant perched atop the inbox. A messenger bag slung in the corner indicated that the Inspector was out of the office at the moment.
The door swung open as I went around the desk to examine the college degrees. "Holmes, I…" I turned to face, not Holmes, but a rather harried woman.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" Inspector Hargrave demanded.
"Watson." I answered helpfully.
"Are you the drummer?" She asked shrewdly. I nodded.
"Ah." The blond woman sat down behind her desk. "I guess you would call me Holmes' mentor."
"My condolences."
She chuckled. "He does have a tendency to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong."
This time I laughed. The door opened again and Holmes froze on the threshold. He looked rather like a man who has come home to find his wife and his mistress chatting over a cup of tea.
"What brings you in on a weekend, Holmes?" Hargrave asked, pretending not to notice the shock on his face.
"Er. The car theft ring. I got an idea and I wanted to look at the file again." Holmes said carefully.
"And you brought your friend just for fun." Hargrave added, looking through another file. "You are aware that I will have to disavow all knowledge of you two."
"Er, yes quite." Holmes agreed, looking relieved. "C'mon Watson. They have a reading room downstairs."
We left the good Inspector sniggering over her morning hot beverage and went down to the reading room. Reading closet might have been a better word. A table and chair took up most of the space, with just enough left over to open the door.
"Here." Holmes handed me the file. It was rather thin for what Holmes implied to be a major investigation.
"This it?" I asked, sitting cross-legged on the desk.
"It's just the summary. All the evidence is in a warehouse somewhere." Holmes put his feet on the desk and leaned back in the chair.
I scanned the first page, which basically said there was evidence for an organized car theft ring. A group of about a dozen people (estimate based on number of cars stolen) seemed to be responsible for about two hundred stolen cars. All the cars were taken out of parking structures or large parking lots during the dusk hours. A packet of papers listed of all the cars believed to be stolen by the gang. Not one was newer than a '98 and almost all were Hondas or Nissans.
"I can see why they think there is a pattern." I said absently. "Why a dozen people?" I asked. That deduction had Holmes name written all over it.
"On a random night, at locations all across the London Metropolitan area, exactly five Hondas and Nissans are stolen. The pattern had been the same for about two months. It took a while before someone connected the dots." Holmes shook his head at police bureaucracy.
"Anyway, that's at least five people. One theft was witnessed by a man who says he saw two men get into the stolen car and drive off. That equals ten. They probably have one person at a central location to receive the cars. A dozen is accurate, yet vague, estimate." Holmes shrugged.
"And the fact that they are all old Hondas and Nissans means there is some good organization behind it. If they were stealing brand new Mercedes, it would get the police's attention pretty quickly." I mused.
"The cars are cheap enough for the owners to be content with an insurance cheque yet retain enough resale value to be worth the effort. If you get enough of them." Holmes added. "Very intelligent."
"So let me guess this little scheme of yours." I leaned against the wall and thought for a moment. I consider myself a pretty good judge of people, and while Holmes was more difficult that most to pin down, he was also a friend.
"You are going to get one of your mysterious contacts in the underworld to introduce us to the new gang on the block. After we impress them with our carjacking skills they take us to their leader and we take them down from the inside."
"More or less." Holmes chuckled. "So you're in."
I realized that I had been speaking in the plural. Oh well, this summer was becoming boring anyway.
"I'm in." Holmes grinned at me. I knew that look. The game was afoot.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.