I saw another officer there, and I was given sympathy. At my insistence I was granted access, but he firmly forbade Holmes and Watson to enter. It was now ten in the evening, but the storm was finally letting up. Leaving Watson and a grumbling Holmes by the CRIME SCENE- DO NOT ENTER tape, I entered the grassy yard next to the building.
Taking out my camera, I took several photos. Then, I looked under the awning. There was a footprint that must have belonged to the shooter; there was an imprint that said Nike and I knew that Spencer's pair was currently – well- soaked, and he never wore wet shoes. He had changed out of his Nikes this morning; after misjudging the distance of a rather massive puddle. Borrowing some Plaster of Paris from the others at the scene, I made a cast of the print after snapping a photo. The shooter had apparently also fled rather quickly after Holmes, Watson, and I arrived on the scene, as there was a fragment of a navy blue windbreaker snagged on a tree branch. Unfortunately, other than the footprint and the jacket fragment, which I carefully put in a Ziploc bag, the shooter had done an excellent job of covering his tracks.
A short time later, I found myself arguing with the officer in charge.
"Officer Willows, this simply is not a case to be done alone! We will help you, whether you want the help or not!" Officer Brady was getting quite exasperated with me.
"I will not be alone; two trusted men will be helping me! And with all due respect, I am the closest to Spencer, and I will do this alone, and at my house, which frankly has just as good of equipment as the station!"
"Fine! But don't go blaming me when this blows up in your face!" Brady was now quite red in the face.
"I assure you, Officer Brady," I said, my voice as cool icily calm, "I will succeed, or you will see my resignation letter on your desk. Good night."
"Well, that went well," I said to a still annoyed Holmes and a calmer Watson. "But I got permission to do it alone, at least." We were finally going back to my house. "Well, here's my house. I live alone, if you don't count the occasional stray animal. Don't worry, no wildlife is in there now," I said, opening and unlocking my front door. "After you."
"It's not much, but it's perfect for me. Two-bathrooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a study. The study has all my equipment. Would you like to work on the case or get some sleep?"
"Sleep," Watson said with a yawn, as Holmes said, "Work on the case, of course."
"Never mind, I'll work on the case with *yawn* you two," the doctor said, changing his mind.
I stifled a small laugh. "Would you two like coffee or tea? I'm going to get a cup of coffee, myself." They both wanted coffee, although I suspected Watson just didn't want to nod off in the middle of going over the clues so far.
"Thank you, Riley," Watson said, kicking Holmes in the foot.
"Thank you, Riley," Holmes said, glaring at the doctor. Watson just smirked. I sighed.
"Do you have a pipe? My own one seems to be back at Baker Street," Holmes asked.
"No, I don't, and neither of you will be doing any smoking. It has been scientifically proven to cause Lung Cancer, as a matter of fact," I stated.
Holmes and Watson each sank themselves into the sofa, and I opened up my Laptop and sat in between them so they could both see the Laptop.
"What is that – contraption?" Holmes wondered.
"A Laptop," I answered. "Marvel of technology," I said, typing in my password and opening my crime-solving technology. I hooked up my camera to my computer, and downloaded the pictures I took, as well as my sketch I drew in the hospital. I passed the Ziploc bag to Holmes. "Deduce away; but don't actually say anything until I plug the data in, deal?"
Holmes did not answer; as he was too busy staring at my laptop, with his mouth agape. I would bet my job that this day held the most surprises that he had ever had in his life.
A/N: Reviews are very welcome; I hope I did not scare anybody off. Seriously, they would make my day ;-)