I was so worried about Dick. We know it was Harrison O'brackley who burnt the place down, yet Zidane still beaten him up and arrested him.
"Do you have any idea what to do Holmes?" I asked.
"I told you Watson, we're off to see Timothy Handler. Surely you remember who he is?"
"Well the name does sound familiar, I'll admit, but I still can't remember the boy on the top of my head." Sherlock chuckled when I confessed.
"Why dear Watson, it's the boy in charge of the financials at the Eelstones murderous practise, remember. Ronan told us that Mrs Eelstone always kept watching him in case he steals any money; c'mon Watson, let's find him."
Finding Handler proved more difficult than we initially anticipated, but then it seemed that all simplicity I originally thought about the case had evaporated. What appeared to be a simple act of revenge has turned into a whole chain of serious injuries and deaths. Most people haven't even known Timothy Handler, and those who did didn't know where he was. Eventually we were tipped off that he works in a suit shop not too far from Bakerstreet. We saw him when we walked through the door. He was a short child who must have been around 11, with brown neat hair and rather goofy teeth.
"Can I help you sirs?" Timothy asked. He had a rather goofy way of speaking too, quite contrast to his ex-peer Holland's voice.
"Actually yes." Sherlock began. "We believe you had information on the Bakerstreet Irregulars."
"Oh here we go again." Timothy moaned. "D'y'know you were the third set of people to ask me about the Bakerstreet Irregulars recently."
"The third?" I queried.
"Yeah; second to ask were two policemen investigating a child who burnt down a building and wanted to know of anywhere where children can get resources to do such things like this. The pair must have been out to drink beforehand though, as they smelt quite clearly of alcohol."
I suppose it goes without saying that the two policemen were Zidane and Gordon.
"And the first?" Sherlock aske quite eagerly.
"That's the interesting one sirs, as it was a child, and he wanted to know where Dick was, so I told him about the Bakerstreet Irregulars. I don't know why but I swear I've seen him before."
"Could it have been Vincent Von Galore?" I asked.
"How d'y'know, I've met Vincent?!" Timothy asked angrily.
"We are investigating him." Sherlock replied. "We know that he asked the employees of the Eelstone practise to be his servants."
Timothy looked relaxed again. "Well that wasn't his exact words, but it was quite obvious that he did want us to be his servants. Soon afterwards the Eelstones died. I was left unemployed along with Dick and Daniel."
"Can you tell me what happened to them Timothy?" I asked kindly.
"Daniel was adopted by some rich couple who lives the other side of London, as for Dick…" Timothy stopped there. I saw tears coming from his eye. Eventually whole tears began rushing down his face. "Oh Dick… what did you do?" Timothy sobbed.
"What did you mean by that?" Sherlock asked curiously.
"Dick used to be a good kid. He went bad. Very bad."
"He joined the Bakerstreet Irregulars." I said struggling to see what was bad about joining a band of street urchins
"Sir" Timothy began, looking at me. "Are you Dr Watson? I heard that you were one of the employers of the Bakerstreet irregulars." I did not understand the logic Timothy used to deduce my identity, but I nodded silently. I merely presumed that Timothy had made a logical deduction. "Tell me sir, do you remember the Alexander Gortmand case?" Timothy asked.
"Watson was not there at the time" Sherlock replied. I was flabbergasted.
"You know this man Sherlock?" I asked curiously. Sherlock nodded.
"He was a spy Watson. People hired him in order to spy on other people, and bring them back information. A rich businessman requested my services in order to stop this man. I sent the Bakerstreet Irregulars to find him. We merely found his corpse in a field. He'd been stabbed to death."
"When was this Holmes?" I asked.
"About a month ago." Sherlock replied. "Apparently Dick has been in the Bakerstreet Irregulars for about 8 months, so yes he would have been involved." He turned on Timothy. "What has this got to do with Dick?"
"I saw him one day in the street… he was speaking to a man who looked like… like… like this." Timothy rushed over to a pile of old newspapers that the shop must own and give to Timothy if left unread I guess. He showed us a paper 'Gortmand strikes again!' There was a drawn picture of Gortmand below.
"When was this Article published?" Sherlock asked anxiously.
"A few days after I saw Dick and Gortmand together." Timothy replied. "As soon as I saw this article I panicked and I started to ask questions, Dick was my best friend beforehand you see, and I was worried. Eventually I was told by a nurse that her boss and his best friend sometimes use a bunch of street urchins. It was she who told me your name Watson"
"Are you saying that Dick Brackley could have used this man to his own benefit?" Sherlock asked angrily.
"I can't deny the possibility." Timothy replied. I had to admit, I felt sorry for Dick during his arrest, but now I've heard that he could have abused his position in the Bakerstreet Irregulars I didn't know what to think.
"We will leave you then Timothy." Sherlock said, and then we left.
"Did you find it strange Watson?" Sherlock asked me.
"What part?" I asked back.
"Remember what Timothy said. It appeared that a child which is most likely Vincent Von Galore wanted to know about Dick's location. Yet from what we've seen, He has not committed any action which is directed at him."
"What are you implying Holmes?" I asked curiously.
"Vincent Von Galore is hiding something and I want to know what.
When we got back to the building in which my old lodgings were, our first concern was the Bakerstreet Irregulars. Sherlock Holmes went straight to Mrs Hudson.
"Mrs Hudson." Sherlock began. "Are the Bakerstreet Irregulars ok?"
"Oh yeah, there a bit shaken but otherwise ok. But no sooner as they left but 3 more children arrived. 2 of them were very smartly dressed but the other one looked nearly identical to the kid who got arrested; they're in the living room now."
I looked at Holmes. He looked at me. I could tell from his eyes that he had the same suspicions as me. We went into the living room. My worst fears have been confirmed. Harrison was the only one standing. Holland was sitting in the seat I would usually occupy, whilst Vincent Von Galore was in the seat Sherlock would usually occupy.
"They're they are." I heard Holland say.
"Hello Sherlock Holmes." Vincent began. "I've been waiting to meet you. I wanted to meet you… very much!"