‘I am as keen as you are, to figure out who the murderer of your father is, and want to get started straight away, though this is going to be a slow process, I, along with my partner, are going to get to the end of this situation, with your help,’ replied my partner sympathetically, but with such confidence, that Miss Delson was left startled.
‘Thank you for your consideration Mr. Holmes,’ responded Miss Delson.
After a reviving cup of coffee, Miss Delson, also called Helen by Holmes, began to describe the crime scene that occurred last night, while I took down as many notes referring to my observations and deductions. The conversation that took place between Miss Delson and my partner, went somewhat like this:
‘My Father, as you would know, was a rich business man…’ started Miss Delson.
‘Though I know, you prefer to call your step father ‘Father,’ I would want you to be more precise on what you are trying to say, since my partner here, has not been acquainted with your father before, like I have. You may carry on,’ interrupted Holmes.
‘As you say Mr. Holmes,’ said Miss Delson hesitantly, ‘my stepfather owned a large company and as long as it has started, that would be for about fifteen years, financial problems had not aroused until a short seven months ago. He started to lose control of his business, and eventually ended up in debt to other companies, of about one million pounds. He did not tell me, in person, the whole issue of being in debt, until I was informed by his colleague, Mr. Farrell. However, knowing my stepfather, I am certain that he would not have had any tribulations at all to return the money he owed, as he was a very prosperous and generous man.’
‘Could it possibly be, that your stepfather had not actually owed any money, but was being threatened by a former enemy?’ interrupted my partner, Holmes.
‘Ah yes, I remember something, but very vaguely. I do not think it is going to be any use to this case though,’ said Miss Delson.
‘Miss Delson, in order for this case to be resolved, I need you to try to provide us with enough information as you can. Nothing is said to be trivial in matters like these,’ clarified Holmes, now smoking his pipe leisurely.
‘That man was actually a former friend of my stepfathers. His name was Mr. Cadet, if I remember correctly. My father avoided communication with him after they had a slight quarrel over something, though I do not know what instigated it at first. I just know vaguely, that the subject of the disagreement did associate with money, though this time my stepfather did not owe any money, but he, like you said, was threatened by Mr. Cadet to give a large sum of money to him or else…’ trailed off Miss Delson, and from the looks of her, it was highly apparent that she was formulating her own presumptions from what she had just verbalized to us.
‘Yes, I know what you are thinking, and I suppose that I do not need to say what could be one of the very reasons to your stepfathers death, but still, it is not the only explanation to what ensued last night. Nothing is what it appears to be, I assure you of that Miss Delson, nothing,’ said my partner.
‘But now, I would need to ask you some questions in order to enhance into this case and as well as confirm my inquisitiveness,’ proceeded Holmes, ‘how long has it been since Mr. Cadet threatened Mr. Delson?’
‘Oh, it has been almost two weeks now,’ replied Miss Delson, almost instantaneously.
‘Where were you at the time of the murder?’ inquired Holmes, without pausing.
‘I was at a gathering, around five ‘o’ clock, which would be the time the murder took place. To be more precise, I was at ‘Night Club,’ a place I usually meet up with my friends,’ answered Miss Delson, after giving herself a moment of thought to the question.
‘Is Mr. Cadet in town right now, or is he not?’ questioned Holmes.
‘To the extent that I have been informed, Mr. Cadet is not present in town. I assume he had left last night,’ replied Miss Delson.
‘Ah, I see,’ whispered Holmes, though he seemed to be talking to himself.
‘How had Mr. Delson died?’ asked Holmes.
‘He was burnt along with the whole house,’ responded Miss Delson, and despite the fact that it might seem quite queer, Miss Delson finally let out her first teardrop.
‘I suppose this is it then. Miss Delson. I will go to inquire the house and I suppose, right now would be an appropriate time to do so,’ said my partner.
‘Mr. Holmes, I would like to say thank you to you for taking out time for this investigation; I really do appreciate your devotion to help. Ah… may I proceed back to my hotel room or would you want me to come with you?’ asked Miss Delson, with concern.
‘No, I think you should head back to your residence, as I and Dr. Watson are very capable to succeed in this case, but if we do need your assistance, we will let you know straight away,’ said Holmes, ‘Good bye now.’
‘Good bye Mr. Holmes,’ said Miss Delson.
My partner and I watched as Miss Delson walked out of the apartment with her gaze dropped to the ground, and when she closed the door behind her, Holmes, almost instantly, began to speak to me in a hurriedly manner.
‘My dear fellow, have you made any observations to what you saw right there?’ asked Holmes spontaneously.
‘Yes, I have, but I have not been able to formulate any deductions so far. I consider that we should go further into the case, by visiting the house of Mr. Delson, in order to enhance my observations in order to confirm my presumptions,’ said I.
‘We may do that soon, but you must have some that could lead us to a resolution to this case,’ encouraged my partner.
‘Miss Delson was wearing a brown knee-length coat on top of a black corduroy skirt, and black boots, that were slightly brown on the tips, thus I could assume they were worn out and the fact that the clothes were awfully creased, I could also presume that she had been wearing those same clothes the day before,’ said I, searching for any agreement on the face of my partner.
‘Ah… yes, my dear fellow. You have a great eye for clothing. As it appears, it is time to go now. Get your coat, since it is, once more, a bitter evening outside,’ said Holmes thoughtfully, whilst looking out the window.
‘Though I do have a few more deductions that have been lead by certain observations, but I suppose I shall wait till I am certain about them, as they seem highly unlikely at the moment,’ said I, shortly after getting my coat.
‘We shall see Watson, and hopefully, you shall be correct,’ said Holmes with a reassuring expression.
After visiting the burnt house of Mr. Delson and inspecting his body, my presumptions had been verified, and I was sure to see a satisfactory look on my partners face. When we reached our apartment, Holmes, immediately began to compare his observations with those of mine.
‘My dear Watson, had you not noticed the fact that there was a sharp knife across the burnt wooden floorboards, which, I assume, had surely been used to panic Mr. Delson at first. The suspect surely had tried to frighten Mr. Delson into handing in the money, but then, when Mr. Delson refused, the suspect tried to physically assault him,’ said Holmes.
‘And this is confirmed as Mr. Delson did have a narrow stab on his right arm, from which he might be trying to defend himself. The knife strangely had Mr. Delson’s own fingerprints, if you had checked accurately, which, you have, and from this, I can
presume that Mr. Delson, while in the act of defending himself, got hold of the knife, and must have thrown it to the other side of the room. Knowing the knife was out of hand now; the suspect tried their second plan, which was to burn the house down with the can of oil they had brought along with them. Therefore, that is how it all happened, but we still need to figure out, who the suspect is,’ I continued.
‘An excellent deduction, my dear fellow, that is exactly what I have written down in my notebook. Now, we do not even need to head towards the so called ‘Night Club’ and find out if Miss Delson was actually over there, during the time of the murder, as all public places are closed on Sundays, and it was, after all, Sunday yesterday,’ said my partner, Holmes.
‘May I please add to what you have just said. I have a slight feeling that you are suspecting Miss Delson, even though you have not investigated into Mr. Jacobs’s case yet. About Miss Delson, she was wearing clothes from the previous day, which I am sure of, and knowing that she comes from a wealthy family, she would not come in such a disgraceful manner, would she? No, that is highly unlikely, would not you agree to that as well?’ said I.
‘Yes, I do concur to what you are saying, but one thing I want you to know. Mr. Delson did not know any Mr. Cadet, that was all made up,’ said Holmes, ‘ The fact that she was avoiding eye contact during the whole time we had been conversing with her, clearly means--’
‘ Ah! It means that she had been trying to bend the truth. If I am correct, everything she had conveyed to us, had applied to herself. My suspicions are clear! Miss Delson, herself, is the suspect! She had bloodstains on the shoulder of her coat this morning, which at first I thought would have been something else, as she seemed concerned about her stepfathers’ death. Right?’ I continued contentedly.
‘She also seemed to answer every one of my inquiries in favour of it. Therefore, it was highly perceptible that everything she said was false, as nothing comes into somebody’s head in a natural flow. Moreover, this is a fact, as I am greatly knowledgeable in these sorts of things,’ said Holmes, now smoking his pipe strongly, with the contentment of succeeding in yet another case.
‘In addition to what I have just said, the tear that was apparent after a long while into conversing with Miss Delson, was not for the love of her father, but the guilt, as she knew, that I was very close into figuring out that the suspect was her. Though, after all the plans she made to murder her stepfather, the most obtuse thing she did, was come up here herself, in order to make herself appear the innocent next victim, but eventually she got caught…’ continued Holmes, ‘ Now, I think it is time for us to call in Miss Delson, and arrest her.’
‘That was a job well done, my partner!’ said I cheerfully.
‘I agree with you Watson!” said Holmes.
Later the next day we called Miss Delson, pretending that we needed assistance in the case and when she came, she was left aghast, but guilty.
‘Miss Delson, you are under arrest!’ said Holmes.
