The Case of the Baffled Sherlock
Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock Holmes or any aspect of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Holmes belongs to those who hold the copyright holdings but most have since then expired but the original author who this brilliant character along with others arrived from was Sir Arthur C. Doyle. Buffy belongs to several companies and people who are not me and Joss Whedon was the creator.
I looked at the scene before feeling myself sicken. Even as a doctor with experience in the gruesome nature the human body could assume, never before had I seen such as scene as the one before me. I felt my face ashen and could not help but turn to my companion.
Holmes was as pale as I was but I could tell he could not and would not remove his eyes from the scene. His mouth moved as if to speak, but he stopped closing it. He turned as if to exit the scene though he halted. I wished to follow but without faltering in my exit. I could not help but accept that I was unnerved by the scene and did not wish to be here.
This was to be a simple case. It appeared to be one of murder. I had believed that it would be solved almost by magic in Holmes' amazing mind and powers of deduction. How wrong I was. I wish now I had stayed with my wife instead of coming here. My nerves strengthened as I thought.
Holmes had come to me in the morning claiming he would like my assistance. I knew something was out of the normal by his appearance of nervousness. He was jittery, a word I would never expect to use on Holmes, as this was not a kind of movement caused by enthusiasm. If I were not mistaken I would have sworn that he was a dash afraid but of what I could not say so I dismissed it.
Officer Ackermann stood at the scene. He looked uncomfortable although he had been here before so it was expected that he stay there with his reaction as it was. He was the detective of this area and in charge of this case. He looked at our reactions but mostly focused on my companion while he smoked from his pipe.
Holmes moved forward to the body. The scene had the most unpleasant scent of early decay that seemed to strike him immediately. He frowned, as he looked almost confused before looking around where most of the carnage was. He paled even more and for a moment I believed he would faint when he spoke lightly.
"The heart is missing." Ackermann looked startled. He then nodded apparently having missed this clue.
"Do you have any ideas Mr. Holmes?"
I looked about once more taking in the scene with eyes now less shocked, but nonetheless did the scene disturb me. The victim had been identified by his younger sister as Victor Grant, a young accountant who was looking up to a new job according to her. His sister, Miss Wilma Grant, had found his body less than three hours ago when the scene had been at its most pristine condition.
Mr. Grant hung from the ceiling most disturbingly enough by his intestine. I couldn't discern which it was although I was willing to guess the large intestine. His torso stood intact like a hollow shell only his arms and legs remaining whole though not without harm. They were damaged with lacerations.
His face was held no eyes; I spotted one near my foot when I had stepped into the room. I was tempted to leave the room then but the eye had been the least of the horrors. They had been whole from being gouged out but the damage to the face was enormous. I could swear I saw a part of the brain. The eye sockets were collapsed and I was surprised the sister hadn't screamed and fainted at the moment she encountered this.
What caused the most confusion to the investigation was the lack of blood. There was none at all. As far as I could tell it was as if there never had been in him. His heart was missing along with his blood. I could see no mark that could have possibly pulled it from his once live body.
The cavity of his body as I said was mostly hollow. I could identify pieces of his organs here and there among the walls though I had to be careful, as some of them were less than whole. Holmes was pointing to the lungs and which were whole. The upper body's organs and tissues were mostly whole and I realized how Holmes had spotted the lack of heart. The lower organs had been thrashed out as if useless while care had been put into the upper torso.
Ackermann shifted catching my attention, he motioned for both Holmes and myself to go closer. He put out his pipe and met us a meter away from Mr. Grant. He spoke looking as though he hoped for us to have the answers before he had to make a decision that he didn't quite agree with.
"Here is something that caught our attention from the start. We aren't certain where they are from and our department had set them to have them decrypted all here in the United Kingdom. As you can see here," He pointed to a small panel on a desk that stood near by. "these symbols are arranged in a certain place and this is the only place where blood can be found."
Holmes went near and studied them; I could make out a circle of unknown characters, possibly from the East. Indeed there was pool of liquid that appeared to be blood. Holmes shook his head.
"Unfortunately sir, this is not blood. I am not sure what it is but it does appear to be a bodily fluid. My associate here is a doctor. Watson, could you lend us your knowledge, as this seems to be in you field. There appears to be something floating in it but I do not wish to inspect it until Watson has given us his own observations." Said he.
I nodded and made my way toward the sample. Upon inspection it did indeed look like blood only due to the lighting, as the curtains had been drawn in the room making it appear like twilight. There was something unpleasant about, as I could not place it among any thing of the human body that I knew of. I looked closer before I realized that the other eye that had not been seen by my foot was.
"This is a combination of bile and I dare say the other eye of Mr. Grant." I took a pencil on the desk that was uncontaminated. I retrieved the item Holmes had pointed out and the eyes contents that had not been released spilled on to the mixture. A green color, which had been the pupil, I assumed as Miss. Grant and the other eye, which I had encountered, shared the common tint but this one was less bright.
Holmes seemed to take this conclusion in and stepped back until he was about 12 centimeters from Mr. Grant. He examined the body for another moment before turning to us. He was about to speak when the most unexpected thing occurred.
Unfortunately for Holmes, the intestine appeared to be break and Mr. Grant fell. His body fell to the side and moved faster than Holmes could. The corpse then assaulted him; it was quite a morbidly funny scene. Mr. Grant's hollow cavity seemed to fall onto Holmes as a grim costume but was finished off by the intestine falling across his left shoulder onto the ground whilst a few pieces slapped his face. Holmes had never in my life appeared as he had before me.
He quickly removed Mr. Grant and his organs from him and turned to exit. It was quite understandable at the moment I was shocked and sympathized him. I had, at the moment the intestine had removed itself from Mr. Grant's neck, seen what appeared to be to puncture marks. I failed to see any relevance to this at the moment and followed Holmes out.
When we saw him, Holmes, he appeared to be slightly ill. He turned to Ackermann, and me "I'm sorry." He said.
"Why, my dear Holmes, there is not shame in leaving after such an incident." I assured him.
He shook his head and Ackermann looked like he had just tasted a sour lemon. It looked as though he knew what Holmes would say.
"No, Watson, that is not it. I am sorry officer; I am of no use here. I cannot even begin to fathom such a scene. From what we have been told there are no witnesses, no sounds of screaming, and no signs of entry or exit.
"There is no way to tell where the offenders started and what ritual they tried to conduct or how they started to begin with. I am truly baffled. I would like time to consider what––" He spoke. I was becoming more worried for his health as he was turn paler. Then suddenly, he stopped and turned a way from us. He regurgitated. When he turned I could see he was embarrassed by his display.
Ackermann gritted his teeth before he spoke to us. "I would like to have you work with someone who has been recommended. This person has been said to have knowledge in this type of area of crime."
Holmes looked startled and I was assured did I as well. "Who is he?"
Ackermann grimaced. "She. Who is she. She is Lady Regina Giles." He spoke. Holmes violently protested this immediately.
"My good sir who would recommend a woman for this! We could barely stomach such a scene, how would a lady, of noble blood nonetheless, be expected to handle this?"
The officer shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know how to describe this but Miss. Grant though in tears had not reacted as was expected, in fact it was most unusual. She although surprised seemed to accept the fate of her brother. When the details went through we received a call from a certain high ranking individual who suggested Lady Giles."
"Well he must be a dolt! Miss. Grant's reaction can be easily explained. The poor woman must have been in shock seeing her dear brother in such a state." Holmes snapped back.
"That dolt, sir, was your brother." Ackermann said icily. Holmes paled and did not speak anymore. "Please return to your homes, we will call you when Lady Giles has arrived." With that, we departed. I could not help but think of the reason Lady Giles would wish to involve herself in such a case.