《The Raven》
Chapter I (A Hero is Born) - Part 1 (A Roommate and a Dead Body)
Chapter I ¨C A Hero is Born
Part 1 ¨C A Roommate and a Dead Body
It was late in the morning. The police car, with its blue and red lights on, had just been parked outside a grey three storey high building. A lean middle aged mustached man got out of the car and rushed into the building, heading for the second floor. He was wearing black suite and trousers and a brown tie. His hair and mustache were brown and his eyes green. His name was Thomas Gorman and he was head of the Homicide Division of the White City Police Department. He headed to apartment ''B2''. The place was crowded with cops.
"Hello Captain!" a woman said. She was Lieutenant Lilian Morse. She was tall, with an athletic body, curly hair and blue eyes. Lilian was in her early thirties.
"Hey, Lieutenant. What have we got here?"
"A dead woman in her mid-twenties. Her name is Johanna Stern. She works ¨C or rather she worked ¨C at a shopping mall. Cause of death was trauma on the head, caused by a sharp object; most likely a knife. The window is broken. The killer may have gotten inside the apartment through there. That is all we know for now."
"I will investigate the area myself. Harry will also be coming here in about half an hour."
"Who is Harry?" Lilian was new to White City Police Department, having been transferred there from another department only a few weeks ago, but she had gotten to know most officers in the department and none of them was named Harry.
"Harry Johnson¡" Thomas said and sighed. "Professor of Criminology at White City University. He is an old friend of mine. Years ago, he used to assist the department as a private consultant. He was a celebrity back then¡ In fact he was celebrated as the ¡®real life Sherlock Holmes¡¯. Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t going to last. His plane crashed ten years ago in Tibet. Everyone thought he was dead. He returned to White City only five weeks ago. When I first learned that he had come back, I thought it was some farce but it proved to be true. I met him under some¡ less than pleasant circumstances. He now teaches Criminology at White City University but he said that he would be happy to aid us if we need his assistance."
"Do we?"
"Do we what?"
"Do we need his assistance?" Lilian said and sighed. "It''s not like it is the murder of the century. I am sure we can solve the case on our own."
"There is no harm in seeking a second opinion. It will make our work easier. Harry is the best detective I know. He will solve the crime in no time." Thomas paused for a brief moment. ¡°Plus¡ it will bring back the old times,¡± he sighed.
The professor stood in front of the blackboard. He had just finished writing the words ''Summary of the History of Criminology''. All the students were waiting quietly in their seats. A few were bored and were yawning, but most of them were interested in the lesson. Harry was a good narrator and his lectures were never dry. His experiences as a private investigator and his solving of tens of cases had made him a local celebrity. Although he had become a professor only recently, he was already popular with students, especially female ones. His handsome looks certainly helped in that regard. Harry was lean and tall. He had shaggy brown hair, light beard, and green eyes. He was wearing a brown tweed suit with a dark red tie. Harry was in his late thirties, thirty-seven to be exact, but he looked younger.
"To summarize today''s lesson," Harry said, "we traced criminology back to the Middle Ages when superstition and fear of devil dominated thinking, then we talked about the classical criminology of the 18th century when rational thought prevailed and about positivism in the 19th century, which was the first scientific approach to crime. In the next lesson, I shall talk about the history of criminology in the 20th century. If you have any questions, email them to me. You all know my email address. If you do not, ask around. I will have to leave earlier today because I''ve got an important meeting. Have a nice day."
As soon as he finished talking, he quickly packed his staff into his black leather case and left the classroom. He had to go to the apartment where he would stay and meet his new roommate, a fellow named Darren Smith. ''Hope I am not late.''
It was a sunny Monday morning. A young man, in his late twenties, walked into Horatio''s Caf¨¦. That tiny caf¨¦ huddled despondent among the huge city buildings. The interior of the caf¨¦ was warm and cheery, with bright lights and colorful walls. The man that had just entered was tall, with dark skin and dark eyes. He was handsome, slim, muscular, with an almost perfectly symmetrical face and shaved hair. He was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
"Hello, Horatio," he said with a smile on his face. "Bring me some coffee, please. The usual."
"Good morning, Darren," Horatio replied. Horatio was in his early thirties. He was slim, with blue eyes and a light beard. He was wearing a green shirt and red trousers. He had opened this Caf¨¦ only a month ago, thus he did not have many costumers yet. Aside from Darren Smith, a doctor and a hobbyist web novelist writing a sci-fi web series, there was only a couple and a lone guy at the Caf¨¦. "As you can see, I''ve got a lot of work here..." Horatio said. His self-depreciating humor helped him cope with the problems of running the Caf¨¦.
"I am sure that things will get better," Darren said. "Last week you had almost no costumers at all. Now you have a few."
"So, how is your search for an apartment going?"
Darren smiled. "I am going to see one right now, actually. An old friend texted me yesterday¡ Mike. You remember him right? That friend of mine who was flirting with Mary at that party we went a few months ago."
Horatio scratched his head. "I think I may remember him."
¡°An acquaintance of his is looking for a roommate to rent together an apartment. So, I will be meeting him today."
"Do you know anything about this guy?"
Darren thought for a moment. "What is his name...? Ah yes, Harry! Harry Johnson is his name. My friend told me that this Harry guy is a bit eccentric at times but that we would get along."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Horatio handed Darren his coffee and asked, "How eccentric? Hopefully not like your last roommate..."
Darren sighed. "I don''t want to be reminded of her... But fortunately this Harry will not be that bad. He is a professor of criminology and private investigator or something like that."
"Cool!" Horatio exclaimed. "It will be like living with Shawn from Psych or Patrick Jane from The Mentalist."
"You watch too many TV shows..."
¡°That¡¯s true. Why though would this professor want a roommate?¡±
¡°Apparently, for some reason the rent price doubled so he decided that it would be cheaper to have a roommate live with him.¡±
Darren entered the third apartment on the second floor. The apartment seemed fine to Darren, although it did lack much furniture. The floor was polished concrete and the walls white. There was a bookshelf, a brown couch and a small, wooden table. As he was inspecting the apartment, another man walked into the room.
"Hello," that man said. "I am Harry Johnson. You must be Dr. Darren Smith?"
"Indeed," Darren said as he inspected the man standing in front of him. He sized him up. His last roommate wasn''t exactly the most pleasant person to be around, so he hoped that this Harry would be different. "I am glad to meet you."
"Don''t worry, I surely will not be as bad as your last roommate!" Harry said, leaving Darren astounded. He hadn''t told anyone aside from Horatio and a few other close friends about his last roommate.
"How did you know that?"
"I also know that you are planning to run a neighborhood medical practice, if you do not already do so. You specialize in internal medicine and are a general practitioner. You are also a fan of Star Wars and probably write sci-fi web novels."
Darren shook his head in disbelief. "Did you do a research on me?"
Harry laughed. "No. I was able to deduce all that from inspecting you and your reactions. For a start, you inspected me thoroughly. The most likely reason for that was that your last roommate wasn''t a pleasant fellow and thus you are somewhat suspicious of roommates. This apartment is not near a hospital, so you must not be working in one. I thus guessed that you are already running or plan to run a neighborhood medical practice. The rest was thus easy to deduce. As for my guess regarding you being a Star Wars fan, well¡ you do have a shirt that writes ¡®Han shot first¡¯. If you want to know more about my methods, you can read my post titled ''The Way of Knowledge'' in my personal website."
"Wow, you really are like Shawn from Psych..."
"I don''t really know who that Shawn fellow is, but if he is a private detective of high intellect with excellent observation skills occasionally helping out a police department, then you are right in comparing him to me."
"You are also modest..."
Harry smiled. "I am just stating the facts. I have a high level of intellectual ability and my observation skills are second to none."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "So, Darren, I like sometimes to play zither. It helps me think. I like to stay awake late at night and study. I bring home body parts of corpses from the morgue from time to time in order to conduct experiments. I also have a habit of going out a lot, especially during the night. If none of those habits of mine are problematic to you, shall you agree to be my roommate?"
"Body parts..." Darren repeated. Although as a doctor he was used to this kind of stuff, still, bringing body parts in one''s home seemed somewhat strange and disgusting to Darren. Yet, he did not want to turn down this deal. The apartment seemed fine and Harry, despite being somewhat eccentric, seemed a nice enough fellow, especially compared to his last roommate. "Well, I guess we are roommates then."
"Excellent!"
At that moment Harry''s phone ringed. Someone had texted him a message. As soon as he read it, Harry laughed and was barely able to contain his excitement. "It''s a murder!"
Darren gaped in astonishment at Harry''s reaction to a murder. "Are you a psychopath or on drugs?"
"No! I am bored! Or rather, I was bored. You see, I need to keep my mind occupied. I need to challenge myself, to solve puzzles. It has been almost two weeks since I last had a case, so of course I am excited that my detective skills are finally needed."
Darren sighed. "The most amazing thing is that you are still saner than my last roommate..."
"So, are you coming with me?"
"What? Coming where?"
"To the crime scene!"
"You must be kidding, right?" Darren asked. "Why should I go to a crime scene?"
"Do you have anything better to do?"
"No..."
"So come on! It will be fun. Plus, you are a doctor, so you may be helpful with my investigation."
Darren sighed. "Alright, I will be coming with you. But only for this one time."
"Excellent!"
Harry and Darren took a taxi and soon arrived to their destination. They rushed into the apartment. Thomas and Lilian were waiting for them. ¡°He is Harry,¡± Thomas whispered to his lieutenant.
¡°Not impressed¡¡± she replied.
¡°Not impressed either!¡± Harry said. He then turned to Thomas. "Good morning Captain. Who is this rather unpleasant lady?¡±
¡°Lieutenant Lilian. Took you long enough to come here¡¡±
¡°Well I did have some business to attend to.¡± He turned to Lilian. ¡°I would say ¡®nice to meet you¡¯ but that would be a lie and I do not want to lie on our first meeting.¡±
¡°You son of a b-¡±
¡°Stop it!¡± Thomas barked. ¡°I can¡¯t have you two arguing in a crime scene.¡±
¡°She started it,¡± Harry protested.
Thomas simply sighed. "Who is this guy?" he said, pointing at Darren.
"He is Dr. Darren Smith, a friend of mine," Harry replied. "We are roommates."
¡°She-¡°
Harry ignored Lilia and went on to inspect the corpse of the young woman lying on the floor. Darren exclaimed ''My God!¡¯ when he saw the corpse and the pool of blood on the floor. Although as a doctor he had seen corpses before, he had not been in a crime scene before and this was totally different for him.
"Her name is Johanna Stern," Lilian said. "Cause of death was-
¡°Stabbing on the head¡ I know; I can see this. I can also see that the window is broken,¡± Harry said. ¡°Care to tell me anything else, preferably something that I haven¡¯t already seen? Although this may be too much to ask¡¡±
¡°You are an as-¡±
¡°Lilian!¡± Thomas shouted. ¡°Please¡¡±
She sighed. ¡°Fine, fine¡ I shall try to remain calm. So¡ there is no DNA of the killer in the crime scene nor are there fingertips; the killer must have been wearing gloves. Jewelry and money are missing, so this is most likely a burglary gone wrong."
"Darren, can you examine the trauma at the head and estimate time of death?" Harry asked.
"Sure,¡± Darren replied. He wasn''t pleased with this task but he wanted to be of use to the police. The sooner this criminal could be caught, the better. Darren examined carefully the wound and said, "You are right; this trauma was certainly caused by a knife. Time of death must be around midnight."
"So, what is your take on this?" Thomas asked. "It is a burglary?"
"No," Harry replied. "I do not think the killer broke through the window. There is no broken glass inside the apartment. If the killer had entered through the window, there would have been broken glass all over the place. Instead, the broken glass seems to have fallen down on the street. The killer must have broken the window from the inside once the victim was dead in order to give us the impression that this was a burglary. This is the reason why the jewelry and money are missing too. If the killer entered through the front door, and that is the most likely scenario, it means that the victim knew the killer. She wouldn''t have let anyone enter into her apartment, I presume. So the one who killed Miss Stern must have been an acquaintance of her. I want a list of all her family members, friends, boyfriends, coworkers. The killer must belong to one of those categories."
"Will text you the list as soon as possible," Thomas said. "While we do that, why don''t you go check the place where she worked? She worked in a shopping mall only a few blocks away from here. Maybe her coworkers there will give you some more info. I and Lilian will be talking to her family and try to learn if she had any troubles."
Harry nodded in agreement. He then turned to Darren and said, "Shall we get going?"
"Well, I don''t have anything better to do, so let''s go¡ partner.¡±
Chapter I (A Hero is Born) - Part 2 (The Daily City)
Chapter I ¨C A Hero is Born
Part 2 ¨C The Daily City
"I''m late!" he exclaimed. He tried to rush into the building of the Daily City but with all the people going in and out of the building, this was a herculean task. He was breathing heavily and his fingers were being crushed in the rhythmic grip of his other hand. His mother and father had told him not to have stress when meeting Danny Adison, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily City and, hopefully, his new boss. But he couldn''t help it.
A ringing sound notified him that the elevator had arrived. He walked in and pressed the button to get him to the sixth floor. When the elevator reached the sixth floor, he rushed to Danny''s office and knocked the door.
"Who is it?!" he barked.
"It¡Its me," the young man said. "I mean, it''s Adam Wells."
Danny opened the door and welcome Adam in. He was a young man in his late twenties, tall, thin and wearing thick black rimmed glasses and a black suit. Danny, on the other hand, was in his fifties, with grey hair and wearing a blue shirt and black trousers. The fact that he looked tough and strict made Adam even more stressful. Adam put up an awkward smile and said, "I¡I am¡.here for¡for¡the interview. For the job."
"I see¡" Danny said. "I''ve read the email you send me with the articles you had written for the Torch of Mirstone. You have a good prose and it seems that you have great potential."
Hearing this, Adam allowed himself to relax a bit and smiled. "Does this mean I am hired?"
Danny sighed. "Sorry, kid. You do have potential, but not enough experience. This is the Daily City we are talking about, the greatest newspaper in the entire world. We sell more than all of White City¡¯s'' newspapers combined and our website is visited by millions daily."
"But experience is not everything!" Adam protested. "Give me a chance to prove myself and I will."
Danny thought about it for a moment. "You do have passion. I like that in a reporter. Well¡ bring me a story and prove me wrong!"
"So¡ I am hired?" a smiling Adam asked.
"Yes. But if you do not bring me a good story really soon, you will leave as fast as you were hired."
"I understand," Adam said. As he walked out of the office, he bumped into a young woman. "I am sorry," he quickly apologized.
"Watch where you are going," she said. "Are you blind?"
Adam was about to apologize again when he saw that woman. She had tall frame and slender body. Her hair was straight black, her eyes dark. Adam could find no words to describe her beauty.
"Are you deaf too?" she asked.
"I¡Sorry... I''ve¡me¡I¡"
Before he could finish his sentence, Danny interrupted him. "He is Adam Wells, our newest reporter."
He then said to Adam, "And she is Jessica Wing, the best reporter of the Daily City."
"Nice to meet you!" Adam said and offered to shake hands but Jessica ignored him. Instead she handed some papers to Danny. "This is the story about the serial killer," she said.
Danny read the first page and smiled. "Once again, an excellent work.¡±
¡°My next story will be about this Harry fellow.¡±
¡°Most excellent! Hey, Adam, you could learn a thing or two from Jessica. If you read her stories, you will understand why she is the best reporter of our newspaper."
Adam simply smiled.
As he and Jessica walked out of Danny¡¯s office, he approached her. ¡°Hey¡ I¡¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be so afraid; I am not going to bite you.¡±
¡°Of course you won¡¯t. That would be silly, wouldn¡¯t be? I-¡±
Jessica sighed.
¡°I mean I am glad to meet you and I look forward to working with you. Can you give me some advice? I am a newbie here.¡±
¡°I can help you, I guess¡ A beggar in an alley has been talking about an ¡®electrical man¡¯. You could talk to him.¡±
¡°Really? Investigating the ravings of a madman?¡±
¡°That¡¯s how I became such a star here; by researching what others though was crazy, by believing the impossible. That¡¯s why I do not simply report news; I discover them.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you investigate this case then¡¡±
¡°I would but I already have a story to investigate.¡±
¡°About that Harry guy?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Jessica replied as she sighed. ¡°It is a complicated case.¡±
¡°Want to tell me more about it? I will be looking into that beggar¡¯s story, so do not worry me stealing your story.¡±
Jessica humphed. ¡°As if you could¡ Harry Johnson is a professor of criminology and private investigator. Harry was a celebrity before going missing; he was solving one case after the other. He returned to White City only five weeks ago.¡±
¡°Where he was before?¡±
¡°In Tibet; ten years ago his plane crushed and he apparently found himself stranded on Tibet. He said that he was saved by some Buddhist monks.¡±
¡°Where is the mystery in that?¡±
¡°Why would he spend ten years of his life living with some monks? Why didn¡¯t he try to contact the outside world earlier? Also, he is pretty elusive and has not given a clear answer to any of the questions asked to him about his stay in Tibet. Not to say that when he came to the city, he was closed in a psychiatric clinic.¡±
¡°I can understand the guy; he is probably traumatized by all this.¡±
¡°Ah please! This kind of cold-hearted, calculative person isn¡¯t the sentimental kind that would be traumatized. He is hiding something. But worry not; I shall find out his secret!¡±
Harry and Darren walked into the shopping mall where Johanna Stern worked. The ceiling was domed high and made of the most beautiful glass. The place was overcrowded. Harry resented all this crowd; he preferred quiet. Darren, on the other hand, couldn''t stop checking out several stores, much to the annoyance of Harry. It had been a long time since he had last gone to a shopping mall.
"Come on!" Harry shouted. "We do not have all day!"
"Since we are here, why not see if there is anything to buy?" Darren asked. "This place has everything!"
"We are here investigating a murder, not for shopping."
Harry walked forward as fast as he could, leading the way. Darren followed closely behind. They were heading to the workplace of Johanna. They walked into a store selling athletic shoes. A young female employee approached them with a smile on her face and said, "Welcome. How can I help you?"
"Firstly, I can tell that your smile is a forced one, though I do not blame you. I too wouldn''t be too happy if I had to work here every day," Harry said. "Secondly, my name is Harry Johnson and he is my... associate Dr. Darren Smith. We are with the Homicide Division of the White City Police Department and are investigating the murder of Johanna Stern. We know she worked here."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The woman''s face became ashen white and she was reduced to tears. "Poor Johanna..."
Darren sighed. "I will cry too!"
"Why?" Harry wondered.
"I can''t help it. I am a sympathetic crier." Darren¡¯s eyes became glazed with a glassy layer of tears.
"Oh come on! We have work to do!" Harry protested. He then turned to the woman and asked, "You knew Miss Stern? Also, care to tell us what is your name?"
"My name is Mary Mulligan. Yes, I did know Johanna. We are- I mean we were friends..."
"Do you know why anyone would want to hurt her?"
"No. I do not think anyone had any reason to harm her."
Harry thought for a moment before asking the next question; "Do you think she may have upset anyone? Did she have any troubles you know of?"
Mary paused for a moment. She looked to the right and touched her face for a few seconds before replying. "No... I cannot think of anything. She was a nice person; people liked her."
"You are lying!" Harry exclaimed. "Not about people liking Miss Stern or that you believe that she was a nice person. You are lying about her not having any troubles."
"You can tell that just by looking at her?" Darren asked.
"Yes. She looked to the right for a moment. When right handed people lie, they look to the right; this allows them to access their imagination and invent an answer. I can tell from her hands that Miss Mulligan here is a right handed person. Also, she touched her face. A chemical reaction causes people''s faces to itch when they lie."
"That is so cool!" Darren said. "Horatio is right. It is as if I am starring in Psych or the Mentalist. You are Shawn and I am Gus! Or you are Jane and I am... Rigsby!"
Harry sighed. "I don''t know who all those guys are, but I am pretty sure that they have nothing to do with our current investigation. Can you please focus on the issue at hand?"
He then asked Mary, "So, in what kind of trouble was Miss Stern in?"
Mary hesitated for a moment before replying. "Johanna was a nice girl but... she cheated a lot on her boyfriend. Once, her boyfriend had found out and they had a fight. He hit her. They eventually got back together and she promised not to cheat again on him."
"But she did!" Harry said, interrupting her. "So, you believe that her boyfriend may have been angry enough to murder her?"
"Well, he did get violent with her once..."
"Why didn''t you tell us about all this before?" Darren asked. "This information could be crucial in solving the case."
"I didn''t want people to know about Johanna''s affairs. I was afraid of how people would judge her."
"Miss," Harry said, "I am pretty sure that Miss Stern would much rather if you aided us find her murderer rather than shutting up so a few people wouldn''t gossip about her. Finding a killer is more important."
Mary nodded in agreement.
"Can you tell us the name of her boyfriend?" Darren asked.
"Gary. Gary Jackson."
"Gary Jackson?" Darren repeated.
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"I went to medical school with a guy named Gary Jackson. If he is that Gary Jackson, then he may indeed be our killer."
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked.
"Back in medical school, there was gossip that this Gary beat up his girlfriend because he thought she cheated on him."
"Well, then we should pay a visit to Gary."
Adam was in an alley, talking to a beggar. He was an old man, his face dirty. He was stinking as he had not bathed in ages. Adam sighed. He really hoped that Jessica was right about this.
¡°So, Mr. Malcom I presume?¡±
¡°Indeed! That¡¯s who I am!¡± the beggar exclaimed.
¡°What exactly did you see?¡±
¡°An ¡®electric man¡¯! I kid you not, kid!¡±
Adam tried not to laugh. ¡°So, tell me more about this¡ man?¡±
¡°He walked in the alley. I initially did not give him much attention but suddenly I saw sparks on his hands. He let out a roar and he suddenly electrocuted a wooden box. I believe he was testing his powers.¡±
¡°Hold on a moment¡ You tell me that you saw a guy who can throw lightning from his hands?¡±
¡°Yup! I know it sounds crazy but it¡¯s true. I saw it with my very own eyes. Something is very off in this city¡¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
Adam walked away. ¡®That guy must have been drunk or he has psychological problems,¡¯ he thought. ¡®But¡ if this is somehow true, it will make my career. Jessica told me to investigate the impossible. I will do just that!¡¯
Harry and Darren took a taxi to the address where Gary was living. His house was a square grey building, with narrow windows. Harry rushed to the front door and ringed the bell. Darren was visibly less excited. He walked right behind, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with questioning a suspected killer.
"Shouldn''t we call the police?" Darren asked. "If this guy is the killer, he may try to kills us if we confront him."
"We are with the police, remember?" Harry replied. "Also, we do not have time to waste. The faster we solve the case, the better. I must be the one to solve the case!"
Harry ringed again the bell but there was no response. "He must not be inside!" he remarked. "That is even better. We can break in and see if there are any clues as to whether he is our murderer or not."
Darren laughed in disbelief before realizing that Harry was serious about this. "You must be kidding, right? I am not going to break into the house of a suspected murderer. I do not want to end up dead."
"Just a few moments ago you were excited about how ''cool'' my job is. Now you chicken out?"
"Look, I am a doctor. I am not a detective. Hell, I only met you today."
Harry sighed. "Fine. I will do this on my own. You can leave."
As he was about to leave, Darren''s phone ringed. He picked it up. It was Horatio calling him.
"Hey, dude, how was the apartment you were going to look?" Horatio asked.
"Fine. My roommate too seems fine. A bit eccentric-"
"I am not eccentric!" Harry protested. "I am merely a genius. Common people find geniuses eccentric because their intellectual inferiority does not allow them to understand them."
"Is that the cool detective you were talking about?" Horatio asked.
"Yes..." Darren replied and sighed. "I was following him in his investigation of a murder but now I am leaving. This guy wants to break into the house of a suspected murderer. Can you believe him?"
"Dude, that sounds awesome! It''s like a movie. If you are not going with him, I will. Tell him to wait for me and give me the address."
"What? You''ve got to be kidding me! You want to put your life at risk because you want to feel like a movie hero?"
"See? Other people would love to be able to accompany me," Harry said, "but you want to miss this opportunity to live a real adventure. Fine! Return back to your boring, mundane life."
Darren thought about it for a moment. "Will call you later," he said to Horatio. "I know I will regret this but I will be coming with you. For this one time only though."
"Excellent!" Harry exclaimed. "Now, shall we try to get this door to open?"
Harry pulled a bobby pin from his pocket. He pulled it open and striped off the knobs. He then bend the tip in the lock to make a pick. He folded the other end onto itself to make a handle. Sherlock then grabbed a second bobby pin from his pocket and bend it in half to make a lever. He quickly inserted the second bobby pin into the bottom part of the lock. He then used the pins to pick the lock.
"Simple, isn''t it?" he asked.
Darren gaped in amazement. "Wow, now those are some good lock picking skills."
"Thank you for your compliment but we should get going. We do not want to wait until Mr. Jackson arrives, do we?"
The inside of the house was untidy. There were a few baskets with dirty clothes. In the brown couch in the center of the room there were traces of food and beer cans. There was also a stench of garbage.
"My God!" Darren exclaimed. "This place is in a mess."
Harry ignored Darren and went ahead to examine the other rooms of the house. In a few minutes, he returned to the main hall where Darren was waiting for him.
"I think we can be pretty sure that Mr. Jackson did not kill Miss Stern."
"How do you know that?"
"Look at this place!" Harry said as he pointed at the messy room. "I can tell that the food and the beer cans were here from yesterday. Mr. Jackson most likely spent his time here, eating and drinking. Also the untidiness of his house speaks volumes about his character. This man is someone who might be violent but is most certainly not a careful or patient planner nor does he seem like a bright guy, if I judge by the lack of any books in this house and his habits, which seem to be confined only to eating and drinking. It doesn''t seem he is doing some other, more productive, activity in his spare time."
"You are right. He did drop out of the medical school in his first year,¡± Darren said. "I was surprised he even got into the school in the first place."
"The murderer tried to throw off the police by making it look like it was a burglary gone wrong. He also made sure to not leave any traces behind. The murderer is a smart, organized person. Mr. Jackson can thus be eliminated from our pool of suspects."
"You think I ain''t smart?!" a man angrily asked.
Harry and Darren turned around to see a tall muscular young man wearing blue shirt and jeans. "What the hell are you doing in my house?!" he shouted.
"He sure is fit for a guy eating junk food all the time..." Darren whispered. He then put up a smile. "Hey, Gary! It''s me, Darren. Darren Smith. Don''t you remember me from the first year in medical school?"
"No!" Gary said. "But I do know that you will remember me for a long time after I beat you up!"
"Hold on!" Harry said. "I am Harry Johnson. I and Dr. Smith are with the Homicide Division of the White City Police Department. We are investigating into the murder of Johanna Stern."
"Good riddance!" Gary exclaimed. "I just found out that this bitch was again cheating on me."
"Man, don''t you have any compassion at all?" Darren asked.
Harry whispered, "Do you really want to enrage this guy? He may not be our murderer, but he sure is violent..."
"Do you have warrant to search my property?"
"Well..."
Before Harry could finish his sentence, Gary punched him on the face. Harry fell on the ground; his nose had been broken and was bleeding. Darren was screaming like a little girl and trying to make his way out of the house when Gary grabbed him by his shirt and punched him on the chest.
"If you ever, ever trespass my property again, I will beat you unconscious!"
"Don''t worry..." Harry said after taking a deep breath. "We shall not bother you again. Have a nice day."
He and Darren then rushed out of the house as fast as they could.
"Hey, can''t you charge him with attacking an officer of the law?" Darren asked. "I mean, you are not a police officer but you are working with the police as a consultant."
"Do you really want us to mention to Captain Gorman that we broke into the house of an innocent man and searched it without a warrant?"
"I guess not..."
"Well, we will have to call the Captain and ask him about how his questioning of Miss Stern''s family went. He must have also prepared the list with all known associates of Miss Stern. We shall then go speak to Miss Mulligan again. Since she knew about the deceased''s affairs, she must know who her last lovers were. The murderer may be one of them. "
"What makes you think I will continue following you around?"
"The fact that you haven''t left yet," Harry replied. "If you really wanted to leave, you would have done so already. You may like to think that you prefer a quiet, mundane life but in fact you desire adventure. You want to be a hero like the ones starring in the TV shows you watch."
Darren sighed. "Damn, you sure know how to read people..."