deal or no deal | Sherlock Holmes

3

𝐸𝓋𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

"Look alive!" I'm shaken awake by a grumpy old man with a fuzzy mustache.

The sun is bright, it's definitely morning by now. I squint my eyes as I take in my surroundings. You see I wasn't planning on staying overnight, but I missed the last train after my visit to the Holmes residence. I don't have enough money on me at the moment. I still need to pay for my ticket home and I need food. So finding a room for the night was out of the question. Which meant my only option was sleeping in a barn just outside the local train station.

"What are you doing on my farm?!"

"Harold! What's going on?!" An older woman approaches the man, who I am assuming is her husband.

"This young lady is trespassing." He pokes at the ground with his walking stick.

I blow air out as I try to get the straw away from my face. I stand and dust my burgundy dress off.

"Sorry to intrude like this, Sir." I wipe my hands before holding one out to him. "Katrina Hensley. Pleasure to meet you! Mr?" He gave me and my hand a disgusted look. I retract my hand and drop it to my side. "Not one for introductions I see. Anyways..." I cough as I try to cover up my embarrassment. "I do apologize for trespassing. But I promise you I wasn't trying to cause any trouble." There's one thing I haven't mentioned. I am a professional liar. When it comes to talking to strangers at least. I've lied my way through plenty of situations. This one should be easy. Step one: apologize and reassure. Complete. "You see I was admiring your animals-" A sheep lets out a loud bleat, I pause but quickly continue. "-your sheep specifically. My Pa and I owned a sheep farm until his health took a turn for the worst and we needed the money to cover the expenses."

The wife holds a hand to her chest, making an aww sound. Step two: the pity trigger. Complete. "I'm so sorry about that, dear."

"That doesn't give you the right to sleep in my barn I'm afraid." The husband butts in. He continues to give me a hard cold stare.

"You didn't let me finish!" I hold a hand up. "I saw a Coyote trying to get ahold of one of your sheep. And- Well I know that my Pa would've wanted someone to take care of a problem like that if it were his sheep. I managed to scare him off for you. I'm lucky to be alive really." I clear my throat as I get ready to spit out my next lie. "See, I am a long ways from home. I had no place to go for the night and I just took advantage of your barn and you two—" I sniffle and wipe a tear. I'm a bit of an actress I suppose. "I do apologize. This was very inappropriate of me."

The wife squeezes her husband's upper arm and gives him a look. A look that reads, "Leave the girl be. She's a mess. We should definitely believe all her lies."

He sighs and waves me away. "Just get out of here." I nod and exit their pasture. Step three: get out without getting into trouble. Complete.

Now I should definitely be heading home. It might seem evil, but I can't wait to see the look on my mother's face when I tell her Sherlock Holmes has temporarily rejected our case. Only because this gives me more time to solve it myself.

Okay so I am evil.

But it's my brother. I need to solve this. In fact I think he wants me to find him. I pull out the letter I received from my brother yesterday.

Oh I haven't mentioned that yet have I?

Right before I left for Ferndell Hall I received a letter from Sam. It was sent in an envelope, written on a plain old piece of paper, it was a basic note. Or so it seemed on the outside. The note itself however was quite odd.