My Genius Rival

Chapter 1

"But you're a woman! What experience could you possibly have?" the urge to roll my eyes has never been so strong. It's hard being a female detective in the 1800s, especially since old men tend to thrive so much in London. "I assure you, sir, I am fully qualified," he let out a scoff before allowing me to continue "I recently found the missing Artemis children, as well as, the three escaped criminals" just to name a couple. You see, I am quite brilliant, however, all of the good cases seem to go to my rival. Well, we haven't actually met, but I still consider him my biggest competitor since he seems to be everywhere. Sherlock Holmes.

The annoying "genius" that has all of London swooning. I read that he's having trouble with his latest case, in fact, the newspaper today was very adamant about it. It has me praying for his downfall. I know, I know, jealousy is an unattractive trait but I'd say I hide it pretty well. "I'll just see if Mr Holmes is free yet" My hands and head hit down on the table as he jolts up from his seat. I hide it pretty well... most of the time. I wait for the cooger to leave for me to slump down into my chair even more, hoping to melt into the floor. "It's over Archibald, the rent for this place is due in 1 week and we have no cases," the fluffy British shorthair cat jumps up onto the desk, meowing at me. "I know, I liked this office too. But alas, she's too expensive to keep." Bringing my fluffy child up for a cuddle, I get an idea. What if I just beat Sherlock with his own case? Surely I can unravel the mystery. I will inquire with the treasury office and we shall see.

Dear Mr Darcy,

I hear that there is still trouble with those suspicious transactions, if you require further assistance, I would be most happy to take the case.

Kind Regards,

Y/N L/N

The letter is sent, and now we simply wait for a reply. In the meantime, I must get ready, my adoptive family is visiting London for a holiday and I am to collect them from the train station in 1 hour and 30 minutes. They have a country residence here of course, but they rarely come so they don't bother with paying for a personal carriage.

As you can imagine from an old family, they are quite proper so I must make myself look society-acceptable or my mother will have a coronary. This means no pants, hair tied back, probably a hat with this sun, and eurgh... gloves. I make my way to my flat, luckily it is within walking distance of the office, which was one of the biggest reasons I love it so much. Right on Cleamont Street is where I reside, just between Baker Street and Fuoely Street, so it's quite busy.

Once ready I let out a deep sigh, at least I look nice. Although I do detest gloves, they are like a weird clingy prison for hands; not pleasant. Blue dress, tight braided bun with a white bow, and white gloves, simple and sweet. Now, it's not that I dislike dressing like this, it is simply impractical for my line of work, and dresses get in the way of completing certain detective tasks.

Anyway, off to the train station; now that is not within walking distance, so I must take a taxi. I hop in and off we go, 'twas a long drive. We get there and I pay the driver to wait for my return with my family so we won't be stranded. Ah, I see them! My lovely father and mother, as well as my older sister.

My parents met when they were teenagers at a ball my grandparents brought them to, naturally, they got married as soon as they were of age; it's a good thing they loved each other. My father's name is Laurence and my mother's name is Clarice, soon after they were married they had my older sister, Charlotte. Char is the beautiful sister, many men and even women swoon over her and her brilliance. Then there's me, Y/N, I was adopted by them when I was 13, which was 7 years ago. I can hardly remember my life before them, kidding, it was 13 years, of course, I remember, still got my Australian accent too.

The best thing is, they never treated me differently to Charlotte, and for that, I am eternally grateful...

Here they come. "Mother! Father! Charlotte! Oh, it's so good to see you all. I have missed you more than words can say" We join for a big hug and then break apart. "Oh Y/N, I do believe you have grown even more beautiful in your absence, my sweet girl" Mum brushes a hand against my cheek and then Father steps up. "Perhaps we should get moving, don't want to be in people's way" I help them with their bags and we make our way back to the taxi. He puts the luggage in with no problem, just a few muffled curses, and we escort them to their estate.

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"Y/N sweetheart, are you sure you don't want to just stay for the night? It's getting quite late, it could be dark by the time you get back into the city" Dad's right, the sun is about to start setting but I think I can make it home in time "Thank you Dad, but I have work to sort out early in the morning and I think I could make it back before it's too dark." They bid me goodbye and I go back to the city in the taxi, the driver seems very tired.

"Alright Miss, I'm going to need extra pay for all that time" understandable, I have been hogging his services for hours, so I hand him the extra money and go on my way. My attention while walking home was off in the case, so that ended up in "Hey Miss, you ran into us" me running into an abnormally large man being dragged by a small girl. "Oh... Terribly sorry" it was an odd sight. He must be VERY drunk. I continued walking while they continued to talk to each other "Sherlock, you're drawing attention- stop! The horse can't talk to you!"

That was Sherlock Holmes?

I soon get to my apartment, more than exhausted. I bathe quickly, then into pyjamas and off to bed, it is not long before Archibald and I are entirely consumed by sleep.

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I am awoken early in the morning by Archibald meowing in my face for food. What use is an alarm clock when you have a cat? I get Archi and myself some breakfast. Tuna for the kitty, and French toast for Moi. As I'm eating I check the mail, obviously, I don't think Mr Darcy would have written back so fast but you never know with him.

Well, turns out he did write back fast. I scurry to my desk and open it. The letter reads:

Dear Miss L/N,

Our investigator is indeed facing a bit of turmoil, I would be most grateful if you did indeed assist and I thank you for offering. Please come to the treasury office on Wednesday at 11:00 am.

Kind Regards,
Mr Darcy

Today is Wednesday. I have 5 hours until I must be there, plenty of time until then. That also leaves 5 hours to get a case of my own today, so once dressed and ready, I head to the office with Archibald and get ready for a short day with 4 hours left.

As usual, I get a swarm of customers with 75% simply seeking to ridicule me. The rest actually had cases. Most of them weren't worth the time though, for example, one lady had lost 3 capsicums and expected me to find them. She is entirely financially stable, she could get 3 more, and they're not expensive items. Not a single case worth doing on the side, guess I can stick to this Sherlock Holmes one.

Before I know it, it's 20 minutes until 11:00. I grab my coat and Hail a cab. "Treasury office, please" I begin to climb in mindlessly when I hear "Oh, you again! I'm not holding up this time" I look and it's the same guy from yesterday, what a coincidence. "Oh, don't worry sir, I won't be keeping you today" he nods and the carriage starts moving off.