Sherlock Holmes Style: Fully Loaded.
Sherlock Holmes may be dead after all these centuries, however his legacy still lives on. Two people are now following his footsteps and are solving crimes which are strangely similar to the ones Holmes and his loyal friend faced.
Note: I like to thank those who reviewed! It makes me happier that they're all positive ones! I'll answer all of them at the end of this chapter!
Book One: A Study In Scarlet.
Chapter Two: First Steps.
Apparently it was much more difficult than both Sakura and Syaoran first thought. While Sherlock Holmes dealt with a house, they are having a rather rough time in dealing the outside conditions of an open area. Sakura decided she might as well fulfil her purpose which Syaoran mentioned earlier.
"Can you please take me to the body?" she asked one of the officers. He gave her a quizzical look before he went and consulted Ito. After a few heated whispers and side glances at her, Ito decided to give her an answer in person.
"Why would you want to have a look at the body?" he asked. At that moment, Sakura had difficulty in trying not to roll her eyes.
"So I can have a proper examination," she said. Ito nodded and asked an officer nearby to take her to the examination room, which was located at the nearby hospital. It took them two minutes to get there. Once she saw the body, she wasted absolutely no time at all in examining it.
Sakura's POV:
When I saw the body, I suppose the man was trying to look like an English man from London. The clothes were pretty much old fashioned.
I can tell that the officer is looking at me, but my attention was centred upon the single grim motionless figure which lay stretched upon the boards, with vacant sightless eyes staring up at the discoloured ceiling. It was that of a man about forty-three or forty-four years of age, middle-sized, broad shouldered, with crisp curling black hair, and a short stubbly beard. He was dressed in a heavy broadcloth frock coat and waistcoat, with light-coloured trousers, and immaculate collar and cuffs. A top hat; well brushed and trim, was placed upon the floor beside him. His hands were clenched and his arms thrown abroad, while his lower limbs were interlocked as though his death struggle had been a grievous one. On his rigid face there stood an expression of horror, and as it seemed to me, of hatred, such as I have never seen upon human features. This malignant and terrible contortion, combined with the low forehead, blunt nose, and prognathous jaw gave the dead man a singularly simious and ape-like appearance, which was increased by his writhing, unnatural posture.
Strangely, this description matched of one of the dead characters; name was Enoch J. Drebber from Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A, in Sherlock Holmes.Strange. As I continued on examining the body, my thoughts turned to Li and wondered how he was doing.
End of POV.
At Syaoran's end, he had just started to think seriously when he was interrupted by a tall man named Fujioka Kimihiro who greeted him and shook his hand.
"This case made a complete stir back at the department," said Fujioka grimly, "Beats anything I have seen so far, bear in mind I'm no chicken."
By now, Ito had joined the conversation.
"So there was no clue?" he asked.
"None what so ever," said Fujioka.
"Are you sure you found no wound at all?" asked Syaoran has he pointed to the marks of blood on the ground.
"Then, it may be the murderer's blood, if murder was committed. This reminds me of the circumstances attendant on the death of Van Jenson, in Utrecht, in the year 1834. Have you heard of it?" said Syaoran as he continued to look at the blood marks. Both Fujioka and Ito were baffled at his words.
"Ah …," said Syaoran again, slightly annoyed, "I do hope Kinomoto-san is having much luck with looking at the body."
At the hospital, Sakura started to get down to business. Her nimble fingers were flying here, there, and everywhere, feeling, pressing, unbuttoning, examining, while her eyes wore a far-away expression. So swiftly was the examination made, that one would hardly have guessed the minuteness with which it was conducted. Finally, she sniffed the dead man's lips, and then glanced at the soles of his patent leather boots. The officer just watched her in amazement while she made notes while muttering underneath her breath.
"So this have not been moved other than the transportation to here am I correct?" she asked the officer. The officer nodded. She was about to leave when something glittering caught her eye. Opening the pocket, she found a plain gold ring which would have once adorned on the finger of a bride.
"A woman's ring," she said as she held it up to examine it, "Possibly a wedding ring."
The officer was surprised; surely they had removed everything from the dead man's pocket. Still being speechless, he remained rather still.
"Well, there's nothing else to be learned here, please take me back to the crime scene," she said to the officer. He nodded dumbly and escorted her out of the building and into the car.
Syaoran's POV:
I watched as the car came to a stop, this meant that Kinomoto has finished examining the body. Good, maybe I'll get a lead on this case when I hear what she found.
"Found anything interesting?" I asked her as she walked towards me.
"I found a plain gold ring," she said as she help up a plastic bag containing the ring, "A woman's ring, possibly a bride's."
Now I'm curious, this simplifies the case considerably.
"Well," she said in a business-like tone, "There's no use by staring at it."
"Indeed," I said, agreeing with her before I turned to Fujioka, "Can you please show me what you found from his pockets?"
"Of course," said Fujioka as he gave a large plastic bag filled with items to me. I put on my rubber gloves, so did Kinomoto as well and we both opened the bag and explored its contents. We found a gold watch, No. 97163, by Barraud, of London. Gold Albert chain, very heavy and solid. Gold ring, with masonic device. Gold pin -- bull-dog's head, with rubies as eyes. Russian leather card-case, with cards of Wakahisa Ensei Takahiro, corresponding with the W. E. T. upon the linen. No wallet, but spare money to the extent of two thousand yen. Pocket edition of Boccaccio's `Decameron,' with name of Fukui Goro upon the fly-leaf. Two letters -- one addressed to Wakahisa Ensei Takahiro and one to Fukui Goro. Kinomoto looked at me with surprise evident in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Doesn't this seem too familiar?" she asked, "Most of these are from A Study In Scarlet, when Holmes and Watson were investigating the death of Enoch J. Drebber of Cleveland, U.S.A."
"You're right," I said when I took a second careful look at the items again. Strange.
"This is some strange case though," said Ito above us. I looked up at him.
"Do you know which address the letters come from?" I asked.
"Some company called American Exchange, Strand -- to be left till called for. They are both from the Guion Steamship Company, and refer to the sailing of their boats from Liverpool. It is clear that this unfortunate man was about to return to New York," said Ito with a puzzled look on his face, "It's possible that the poor guy is going to New York or something."
"Have you made any inquiries to this man named Fukui Goro yet?" asked Kinomoto.
"Yes ma'am," said Ito, "I placed notices in the papers and one of my men is on the phone to contact American Exchange but received no news yet."
"Have you found out where the deceased is from?" I asked.
"He currently resides in an apartment nearby from here," said Ito.
"Have you contacted the landlord of the apartment?" asked Kinomoto.
"Yes, yesterday morning ma'am," said Ito uncomfortably.
"Exactly how did you word you inquiries?" asked Kinomoto again, slightly narrowing her eyes at him.
"I asked about Fukui Goro," said Ito.
"Nothing else? Is there no circumstance on which this whole case appears to hinge? Can you contact them again?" said Kinomoto in a slightly testy manner. Ito looked thoroughly offended but before he could keep his dignity, Fujioka came into their conversation with a very smug look on his face.
"Ito-san," he said, "I have just made a discovery of the highest importance, and one which would have been overlooked had I not made a careful examination of the pavement nearby."
Talk about arrogant. This is going to be a long day.
End of POV.
"Follow me," said Fukui, motioning them to follow him to the pavement nearby, "Have a look at that!"
Ito, Sakura and Syaoran looked down at the pavement. Scrawled across the pavement in blood-red letters lay an incomplete word of hiragana letters: Rache
"What do you think of that?" cried the detective, with the air of a showman exhibiting his show.
Sakura looked at him with scepticism shown in her eyes, "And why was this overlooked? It's well outside of the police markings, anyone could've erased that by simply walking over it," she said in a slightly testy voice, "and if that happened, we would've lost crucial evidence to this crime."
Fujioka looked slightly abashed and offended at her words.
"And what does it mean now that you found it?" asked Ito testily.
"Mean? Why, it means that the writer was going to put the female name Rachel, but was disturbed before he or she had time to finish. You mark my words, when this case comes to be cleared up you will find that a woman named Rachel has something to do with it. It's all very well for you to laugh, Li Syaoran-san. You may be very smart and clever, but the old hound is the best, when all is said and done," said Fujioka.
"He certainly reminds me of Lestrade," whispered Sakura to Syaoran. He gave her his usual wry smile and shook his head slightly in amusement. Fujioka watched the exchange with a baffled expression. After a brief second however, Syaoran burst into laughter.
"I really beg your pardon!" said Syaoran, "you certainly have the credit of being the first of us to find this out, and, as you say, it bears every mark of having been written by the other participant in last night's mystery. I have not had time to examine this area yet, but with your permission I will do it now."
Sakura eyed him with amusement and curiosity as Syaoran took out an old fashioned tape measure and a portable magnifying glass from his pocket. With only those two instruments, he trotted noiselessly around the area, sometimes stopping, occasionally kneeling, and once lying flat upon his face. Watching him, Sakura remembered what Watson said when he watched Holmes did the same thing in A Study in Scarlet:
So engrossed was he with his occupation that he appeared to have forgotten our presence, for he chattered away to himself under his breath the whole time, keeping up a running fire of exclamations, groans, whistles, and little cries suggestive of encouragement and of hope. As I watched him I was irresistibly reminded of a pure-blooded well-trained foxhound as it dashes backwards and forwards through the covert, whining in its eagerness, until it comes across the lost scent. For twenty minutes or more he continued his researches, measuring with the most exact care the distance between marks which were entirely invisible to me, and occasionally applying his tape to the walls in an equally incomprehensible manner.
-Watson-
Yes, Syaoran's behaviour is very much so like Holmes's. When Syaoran satisfied himself from examining everything which comes to his sight, he placed his tools back into his pocket.
"They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains," he remarked with a smile. "It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work."
"Nicely quoted," said Sakura with a smile.
Fujioka and Ito had watched the manoeuvres of their amateur companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt. They evidently failed to appreciate the fact that Syaoran's smallest actions were all directed towards some definite and practical end.
"What do you think of it then Li-san?" they both asked.
"It would be robbing you of the credit of the case if I was to presume to help you," said Syaoran with a sly smile, his voice dripping with obvious sarcasm. "You are doing so well now that it would be a pity for anyone to interfere. If you will let me know how your investigations go then I shall be happy to give you any help I can. In the meantime I should like to speak to the person who found the body. Can you give me their name and address?"
Fujioka glanced at his notebook before answering, "Matsumoto Arata, he's over there by the benches," he said pointing to a man behind them.
"Come along, Kinomoto-san," he said; "we'll go to him now. I'll tell you one thing which may help you in the case," he continued, turning to the two detectives. "There has been murder done, and the murderer was a man. He was more than six feet high, was in the prime of life, had small feet for his height, wore coarse, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar. He came here with his victim in a four-wheeled cab, which was drawn by a horse with three old shoes and one new one on his off fore leg. In all probability the murderer had a florid face, and the finger-nails of his right hand were remarkably long. These are only a few indications, but they may assist you."
Lestrade and Gregson glanced at each other with an incredulous smile.
"If this man was murdered, how was it done then?" asked the former.
"Poison," said Sakura curtly, and strode off. "One other thing, Lestrade," added Syaoran as he tried to suppress his own amusement, turning around to face the two officers: "`Rache,' is the German for `revenge;' so don't lose your time looking for Miss Rachel."
With that, the two walked off leaving the two officers baffled with their mouths open behind them.
"The irony of our knowledge," said Sakura with a smile.
"Indeed, a couple of times I was forced to remind myself how much of a Sherlock Homes' I was," said Syaoran, again with a wry smile.
"Ah, I always felt that I'm more like Watson," said Sakura.
"Well, at least you're fast in note taking," said Syaoran.
"True, but I never remember trivial things," replied Sakura with a thoughtful expression.
"Ah," said Syaoran with another wry smile of amusement, "It's like Holmes said: I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."
"Yes, with that response earlier in the book, Watson noted this: His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge. Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing. Upon my quoting Thomas Carlyle, he inquired in the naivest way who he might be and what he had done. My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System. That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it."
"The bitter irony of that," he said.
"A very bitter irony," mused Sakura.
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Okies, that's another chapter done! Yay!!! And now to answer my reviews!
vreni: Will do!
Shizuka Sakura: I think I have a different personality when I write stories lol
Twilight Kisses: Thanks!
halliwells: Yeah, I did some research on sodium cyanide but I already knew some stuff on potassium cyanide
anonymous reviewer by the name of "question": I will go by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's way, have a cliff hanger in one of the short stories.
Well, that's it everyone! Until the next chapter!
Note: I know that this is shorter than the last one but my brain is sort of clogged up at the moment, I'm also sick at the moment as well but I'll try to make a longer chapter next time!
