Chapter 4

After acquainting herself with the maze of corridors and narrow passages, Iris found herself in the quaint little garden. An apple blossom tree stood in the corner, pink flowers peeking from behind closed buds, surrounded by a myriad of colourful tulips and roses. Beside the paved patio, hid an antique bird house blocked from view by two worn deckchairs. An aromatic fragrance of fresh herbs filled the air, the source being the mini greenhouse to the left of the she felt comforted by her surroundings, Iris decided to sit down on one of the chairs and ponder events that had happened in her past- the sources of her nightmares.

She could remember walking home on a chilling winters day wrapped in her favourite pink and blue scarf.

"Its cold has disappeared to God knows where and dad is still in his drunken state. James is waiting for me at the bus says we are going to get revenge on these boys- one is Carl Powting I think? Powers? Anyway with some poison that he had me locate with his 'followers'.Im not entirely sure its a good thing,revenge.I looked it up in my thesaurus and it said revenge was the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Thats bad,isn't it? Anyways, I love my brother and I know he only wants the best of me- or does he?"

Iris furiously wiped away some straggling tears before she was swept away into another memory.

"Yes! I've finally escaped the clutches of my brother - I can now live freely. Ive decided to pursue a job as a detective- it definitely will help me wash all this blood off my , after my great escape, I was taken in by this guy called Lestrade. He is like a father figure to me, but I am avoiding any sentiment or bonds with another. I most certainly am not a creepy freezing snowman with his head in the clouds, such as the freak Sherlock Holmes, and thats why Ive been given another chance. Im certainly going to make my country proud... Oh God! I sound a little extreme and childish, dont I?Dont worry, Ill soon change that!"

Whilst walking along the gravel path, Iris stumbled over an ornately decorated wooden box of rich taste and high quality. The contents of it came of no surprise to Iris- lo, behold it was a knife. Iris weighed the knife in her hand. It was no heavier than a kitchen blade but would cut on first contact, even with minimum pressure. Its serration were like waves, but not randomly so to compare with cheaper alternatives. The ridges clearly matched the ones on Mr Chapman's neck- now it was only the matter of solving the identity of the murderer.

Looking up to the building behind her, Iris noticed she had just found the knife in front of the balcony of Mrs Schwartz's room.

How interesting.

It was time for the inspections of the remaining two rooms-Iris had already checked high and low in Mr Kant's and the old lady didn't even reside at the Manor. She rapped quietly on the door of Miss Payne's room, before opening the door with a meagre creak and crossing the threshold. It was a 1980's nightmare of bright neon colours and furniture, each wall plastered with horrendous posters of celebrities. The room had been stripped of its original grandeur and replaced with a cheap shabby domain of a typical teenager. Nonetheless, Miss Payne was in her mid-twenties!

Walking around the room, eyes peeled for any tell-tale signs, Iris felt a slight disturbance with the floorboards she was standing on.

"Here there is a difference of 0.3mm and over here…" She spoke out loud, pacing towards three lone nails which were scattered on the floor. "Ah ha! Simple trick, hollow space underneath the floorboards! If I pry this up, we have some….newspaper clippings." Iris frowned at the scrunched up paper in front of her eyes, which was certainly not what she was expecting.

Finally, it was time to scrutinize the last resident's room and it was there, that all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

Chapter 5

Iris lounged on the armchair, even which made a statement of wealth, ostentatious in its detail. The sound of footsteps alerted her that the murderer was close, the door slowly opened.

"I believe I am speaking to the murderer of Mr Chapman, am I right?"

"Indeed, you are correct. How did you guess?"

"It was quite a simple process of elimination. I must admit, I was taken aback when I learnt my first theory was false but after that, everything made perfect sense. My first clue was the knife found straight in front of Mrs Schwartz's balcony. When you rid yourself of something, you are in a hurry which you were in when you realized I was looking around the rooms. So, throwing it at a 90-180 degrees angle, it landed in front of Mrs Schwartz's room. Her room is to the left of yours and she is left handed; I noticed everything was positioned to fit her specific needs. The next giveaway -the time period in which he was killed. Frankly, I have asked around and the nearest shopping outlet is 40 minutes away plus you didn't buy anything either. There was no bag in the first place. However, when I interrogated you, there were no tell-tale signs of false words and so I assumed you had spent a lengthy amount browsing the shops- an hour, judging your personality and general appearance towards the public. After the interlude, you travelled straight to Mr Chapman's house which took 22 minutes due to traffic, according to my phone. There, you opened the door with your own set of keys, greeted your grandfather, followed him upstairs and when he had his back turned, killed him. You spent around twenty minutes at the crime scene, including disposing of any evidence and eventually you returned to your late husband's house in another twenty minutes. This took you till 3.45, your return, according to you housekeeper." Taking a deep breath in, Iris continued her explanation. "Now, the reason why you killed your Grandfather in the first place. I found those news clippings, the ones about him winning the lottery under the loose floorboards in your room. You were only in it for the money, not for anything else. All that crying was a façade, a rather convincing one at that. The bank fund is running quite low isn't it? Your husbands money is all being used for your own benefits and for the care of this house-it's the only memory you have left of him .It is true you had a close bond with your grandfather-you assumed that if he was killed, all that lottery money would be passed down to you ? Well I'm sorry, Miss Aubree Isabel Payne, but you have broken the Homicide Act 1957 and I have no options but to arrest know what,my brother would be proud of me."

That left Iris gasping for breath and the criminal stared at her with a shocked silence.

"Oh, one more thing-you're not the only living descendant, your cousin is. That money wouldn't've been yours anyway. Do me a favour next time-there is such a thing as research."

3 hours later

"Wow, you fancy a cuppa later or perhaps a girls night in with ice cream and soppy rom-coms?"Asked detective sergeant Sally Donovan,otherwise known as Sal, Iris' best friend.

"Sure thing,although..."Iris paused,looking at the case file in front of her.Oh shit.

"What is it?"

"Read it."

"You've been requested to watch the freak?!SHERLOCK BLOODY HOLMES!?" yelled Sally,her eyes wide with a mixture of amusement and distaste.

"Yeah. Sherlock 'bloody' Holmes, here I come..."

Hey guys, sorry for the really slow had writers block and had no motoivation to update my story.

SO, to make up for the months, here was a long chapter including the past of Iris and a little more entrance of some of the characters we know and love.

Please review,follow or fav, it will certainly boost my confidence and make me update sooner, except from every 6 months.

Thanks guys,

A xxx