Case 3 - The Case of the Broken Hearts


Chapter 1

The phone rang on the nightstand. It rang over and over again until Sheryl Holmes finally woke up and picked it up.

Angrily, she yelled into the phone, "Alright, what's so important that you had to called me in the middle of the night?!"

"Sheryl, it's Mike."

Sheryl paused for a moment to calm down and to wake up. "Are you sending me on a case?"

"Yes."

"But it's 2 in the morning!"

"Well, I don't dictate when people commit crimes. If I did, they wouldn't happen at all."

"Alright, alright, where am I going this time?"

And that's how Sheryl found herself in front of the Wolfe Estates, a gated community for the wealthy, at half past 2 in the morning.

Sheryl stepped out of the taxi and headed towards one of the police officers standing guard in front of the gate and identified herself and her purpose for being there. While the officer was confirming her identity, Sheryl approached the security guard that was on duty. "So, you're the security guard for this neighbourhood?"

"Yeah. Well, one of them, I stayed at the station next to the gate while my partner was patrolling the area."

"Well, did you let anyone in or out around the time of the murder?"

"Nope."

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem, officer."

"Oh no, I'm just a consultant." Sheryl handed the security guard her business card, which proudly read, "Sheryl Holmes' 221B Baker Detective Agency". "Call me if you have anything you need investigated."

The police officer from earlier walked up to Sheryl, "Okay, ma'am, you've been cleared. Here's your I.D. Badge."

Sheryl put the badge around her neck, and the officer guided her to the body.



Chapter 2

"Hello Watson." Sheryl greeted the detective that was standing over the body.

"Sheryl."

Sheryl ate a piece of candy as she started observing the crime scene, which was located in the woods next to the neighbourhood. The woods were also part of the Wolfe Estates, so Sheryl could see an iron fence in the distance, encircling the woods and the neighbourhood of mansions. The body was that of a woman, probably in her mid-thirties. The woman stared up into the stars with her vacant eyes from the garbage bag that she was lying in. Beside the body was a shovel and what was going to be her grave.

"So, what happened?" asked Sheryl.

Detective Watson turned to Sheryl, "Around 1:30, a security guard that was patrolling the area heard a strange noise coming from the woods, so he went to investigate. In the woods, he identified the noise as someone digging with a shovel. As he got closer, the digging stopped, probably because whoever was digging the grave spotted the light from his flashlight."

Both Sheryl and Watson rolled their eyes at this before Watson continued, "He reached this very spot when he heard someone running behind him. All that he saw though, was what looked like a woman running that way."

Watson gestured in the direction of the houses before he moved on, "He then spotted a garbage bag, which he opened."

"I'm guessing that she was in the bag?"

"Yeah. He called the police, and here we are."

"What did the M.E. say?"

"It looks she died from a stab wound to the heart, but, of course, he'll need to further examine the body."

"Right. Candy?" Sheryl offered a piece of candy to Watson.

Watson sighed, "No, thanks."

"Okay then." Sheryl put the piece of candy away and took out some latex gloves. She put them on and started to investigate the body.

Watson sighed, "Sheryl, how many times do I have to tell you that you can't be fiddling around with the body until the M.E. clears it?"

"Oh c'mon, you know how long they take." Ignoring Watson's warning, Sheryl searched the body for any clues, but couldn't find anything. "There's nothing here, I can't even find a wallet!"

Annoyed now, Watson sighed loudly this time. "That's because the M.E. already took it out for us."

"But the last time -"

"The M.E. went to get those evidence bags first, but you started poking around before he got back!"

"Oh..." Sheryl sheepishly said. "Well, what did you find then?"



Chapter 3

Detective Watson took out his notepad. "Her name is Simone Walters, 36 years old, and a real estate agent."

Sheryl looked around, "Does she live here?"

"No, she lives with her husband, Samuel, on the other side of town."

"So what was she doing here then?"

"No idea, Wong and Nadir are running the usual credit card and phone records checks as we speak."

"Oh, that explains why the other detectives on your team aren't here as well."

Sheryl looked at the body again, and then she said, "Well, the murderer lives in that neighbourhood, that's for sure."

"Why's that?"

"The security guard said that the woman that he saw ran towards the houses, right?

"Yeah, so?"

"So this is a gated community, it is highly unlikely that someone snuck in here to bury a body. The mostly likely scenario is that Simone was killed somewhere inside this community, and then brought into the woods to be buried."

Watson considered Sheryl's theory, and then took out his phone. "Sounds plausible, I'll call Nadir and have him track down the security guards to see if Ms. Walters was here to visit anyone."

While Watson made his phone call, Sheryl looked around for more clues. She looked at the body, the bag that Simone was in, the area surrounding the body, and finally stopped on the shovel. It was a regular shovel, but shining a flashlight on it, Sheryl could see blood on the handle, and some of that blood formed fingerprints. Most likely, it was the murderer's fingerprints and blood. Excited at the find, she called over forensics, who would take care of the shovel and lift what evidence they could find on it.

After forensics had taken care of the shovel, Sheryl continued to search for more clues. Finding nothing else, she walked over to Watson just as he finished talking to Detective Nadir. As Watson put away his cellphone, Sheryl asked him, "Anything from the phone records or the credit checks?"

"Not yet. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, the shovel had blood on the handle, and fingerprints. It looks like whoever was digging the grave was bleeding."

"Good, I see that you got forensics to take a look at it?"

"Yeah," Sheryl said proudly. "So what now?"

"Well, I'm going to have to tell Samuel Walters that his wife is dead."



Chapter 4

It was a little bit past 5 in the morning when Sheryl and Watson reached the Royal Majestic Condominiums, another impressive residential location for the affluent. As they rode the elevator up to Samuel Walters' floor, Watson told Sheryl a bit about the victim's husband, "Samuel Walters, a 39 years old lawyer. A really expensive defense lawyer. He got a lot of preps off the hook."

"So you don't like him then?" Sheryl asked as she ate a piece of candy. "Candy?"

Watson dismissed Sheryl's offer by shaking his head. "Yeah, he's a real piece of work. There are even rumours going around saying that he blackmails some of the jury members. No concrete proof, of course."

"Of course."

The two detectives got out of the elevator on the 15th floor and rang the doorbell of suite 1503.

After waiting for a few minutes, Watson rang the doorbell again, and this time, they could hear shuffling inside the suite as its occupant rushed towards the door.

A man in his pajamas opened the door, looking visibly tired. "What do you want?"

Watson took out his police badge and ID, showing it to the man. "I am Detective Watson, and this is Sheryl Holmes. Are you Samuel Walters?"

The man woke up at the sight of the badge. "Yes, I am. What's going on here, officer?"

Watson put away his identification, and uttered the devastating news, "Your wife, Simone Walters, was found dead this morning."

Samuel looked at the two detectives, as if waiting for either of them to tell him that they were just joking. Finally, the man sighed and gestured into his home, "I see, would you two like to come in?"

'No tears? No sadness at all? Just a sigh?' Sheryl thought to herself as the two detectives walked into the home of Samuel Walters.



Chapter 5

Sheryl and Watson sat on the comfortable leather sofa as Samuel sat on a recliner. He was leaning with his arms on his knees and rubbing his eyes while letting out an long yawn.

After his yawn, Samuel asked the two detectives, "Alright, what do you want to know?"

Sheryl and Watson gave each other a puzzled look, before Sheryl asked the question that was on the detectives' minds, "Um, are you alright, Mr. Walters?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well," Sheryl paused for a second, trying to find the right words, "It's just that you don't seem..."

"Upset?"

Sheryl nodded.

Samuel sighed again. "I'm going to be honest with you, detectives. I haven't loved Simone for a while now."

Sheryl stammered, "Wha- What do you mean?"

"I mean that I didn't love her at all. We were pretty much just two roommates who had sex once in a while, although she thought otherwise."

"She thought otherwise?"

"Yeah, she kept clinging onto me, but it was obvious that I didn't love her."

"Why didn't you get a divorce then?"

At the mention of this, Samuel's tone became angry, "Because then she'd get half of the assets, and I obviously deserve so much more than that! I'm the one that brings in the big bucks and works long days! That woman doesn't deserve my money!"

At this point, Watson stopped Samuel, "Mr. Walters, we're not here to discuss who did more work in your marriage."

Samuel's mouth stayed open for a moment, shocked at being interrupted. Quickly though, he regained his composure, "Of course, how can I help you detectives?"

Watson flipped through his notepad, and then asked, "Well, your wife was found in the Wolfe Estates, have you heard of it?"

At the mention of that name, Samuel's expression flinched to one of surprise for a brief moment before reverting back to one of calmness. "Of course, it's a gated community on the other side of town. Simone had briefly considered moving there, but in the end, we didn't.

"Well, any idea what your wife was doing there? Did she know someone that lives there?"

"No, I don't think she did."

"Well, does your wife have anyone that she didn't get along with? Someone that she got into an argument with? Anyone that would want to hurt her?"

"No, not that I know of."

Watson closed his notepad, and gave Samuel his card. "Well, thank you for your time. If you can think of anything, let us know."

"Of course, detectives."

Sheryl and Watson left the condo. Once they were in Watson's car, Sheryl declared, "He's hiding something."

"And why do you think that?"

"I don't know, just a hunch. And he seemed surprise when you told him that Simone was found in the Wolfe Estates."

"Well, a hunch and a surprise isn't going to convince a jury. Let's go back to the precinct, and see what Nadir and Wong have dug up."

With that, Watson backed the car out of the parking spot and drove towards the police station.



Chapter 6

Watson and Sheryl headed towards Watson's desk in the office. As they neared the section where Watson's team sat, Detective Wong headed towards them with a piece of paper in her hand. Excited to see Sheryl, the detective greeted her, "Sheryl!"

"Katie!" Sheryl and Detective Katie Wong gave each other a hug.

They finished their hug and Katie gave Sheryl a big smile. "It's been a while! How have you been? I hear that you got your very own case?"

"Yeah!" Sheryl smiled back.

"Well, what kind of case was it? Something big? Oooo, something involving the mafia?"

"No..., a little girl's cat went missing." Sheryl said, embarrassed.

"Oh, that's horrible! Were you able to find the cat?" Katie's expression became a genuine frown at the thought of a little girl's cat missing.

"Yep."

"That's great, Sheryl! Come here!" Katie held her arms opened and Sheryl moved in for another hug.

The two finished their hug and Sheryl held out a piece of candy. "Candy?"

"Of course!"

Katie grabbed the piece of candy from Sheryl, then, with a serious expression on her face, she handed Watson the piece of paper. "Watson, Sheryl, I have an update on the Walters case."

Watson looked at the piece of paper. "Simone Walters' credit check?"

"Yeah, and I've highlighted several charges on it, they're for Scarlet Investigations."

"Another private detective, like me?" asked Sheryl.

"Yeah, it's run by a women named Scarlet, of course," Detective Katie Wong replied. "I've met her before, and she's a cunning witch."

Sheryl raised her eyebrow. "A cunning witch? Don't you mean a b-"

"Nope, I meant a witch. She specializes in digging secrets out of people. They say that she has a 'magical' way to get people to talk, and after meeting her, I believe it."

"Alright, thanks Wong," Watson put the credit check in his pocket. "Any news about the security guard thing?"

"Nope, I'm going out now to help Nadir with the search." Wong said as she headed towards the elevator. "Oh yeah, by the way, the M.E. has a report for you."

Wong headed into the elevator and gave them a wave goodbye as the elevator doors closed. Sheryl waved back and Watson gave her a nod.

"See," said Sheryl, turning to Watson. "I told you that Samuel Walters was hiding something. Why else would his wife hire a private detective to dig out his secret?"

Watson sighed at Sheryl's abductive reasoning. "Yes, I'll admit that it's a possibility."

"Of course though, the question then becomes, what is he hiding?"

Watson pressed the button to summon an elevator, "Let's go talk to the M.E. first."



Chapter 7

Sheryl looked at the body of Simone Walters as the M.E. took out his report.

"Well, that stab wound was definitely what killed her."

Sheryl looked away from the body and at the medical examiner. "Any idea what kind of weapon was used?"

"Yeah, from the shape, it looked like an ordinary kitchen knife."

"So, the murder probably happened in the home of the murderer then." Sheryl pondered. "The knife was probably used because it was the most convenient thing there."

"Well, maybe," said the M.E. as he put up an x-ray of Simone's skull on to the illuminator and pointed to the cracks on the back of the skull, "but she was also hit on the back of the head with something not long before she was stabbed. She was probably unconscious when she was killed."

"She was killed after getting knocked out?" Watson repeated.

"Yep." The M.E. took down the x-ray.

"Well, looks like she was killed by someone who hated her deeply," said Sheryl, as she looked at Simone Walters' body again.

"Thank you for the report, doctor." said Watson as he headed out the door.

"No problem, detective."

"Yeah, thanks, doc." said Sheryl as she followed Watson out of the morgue. "So, I guess we're going to visit Scarlet Investigations now?"

Watson took out his car keys and said, "Yeah, let's see what secrets Samuel Walters is hiding."



Chapter 8

Watson opened the glass door and he stepped into the office of Scarlet Investigations. A modern looking office, it had the standard white walls and carpet flooring. In the middle were couches surrounding a coffee table; in the corner was a standard desk setup, with a computer and a leather chair. It was from that corner that a sultry voice was heard, "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm..." Watson's voice trailed off as he looked at the corner where that sultry voice came off, and he froze when he saw who it belonged to. It was woman, of course, probably in her mid-twenties.

She had gotten up and was now walking towards Watson. She wore a blouse and dress combo that showed off her figure, with heels of just the right length. Her face was one that suggested maturity and playfulness at the same time. Meanwhile, her straight, red hair flowed perfectly as she walked. Around her was an air of elegance, of the graceful sort, not the stuffy kind.

Watson just stood there, entranced by the approaching woman. A woman that, to him, defined the word beautiful. One that he wouldn't think twice about telling her anything that she wanted to know if only to be in her company for a bit longer.

Seeing that Watson was frozen in front of the doorway, Sheryl walked around the still detective. She took a look at Scarlet, and then took a look at Watson's stunned expression. Wryly, she said, "Now I know why Katie said witch."

Those words snapped Watson out of his trance. Embarrassed, he said, "I- I am Detective Watson, and this is Sheryl Holmes."

"Hello detectives, I am Scarlet." Scarlet held out her hand, and Watson shook it eagerly as Sheryl rolled her eyes. "What may I do for your two?"

It was Sheryl's turn to shake Scarlet's hand, and Scarlet gave her a firm, but graceful handshake. After the handshake, Sheryl said, "We're here about Simone Walters."

"What about her?"

Watson regained his composure. "Well, she was found dead earlier this morning, and we have sources indicating that she was your client."

"I am sorry to hear that. Yes, she was my client, in fact, I just finished up her case yesterday."

"Would you mind telling us about the case then?" asked Watson.

"Of course not, please make yourselves comfortable first. Would you like anything to drink?"

Sheryl and Watson declined her offer, "No, thank you."

Scarlet gestured to the two chairs in front of the desk. "Well then, please take a seat."

As the two took their seats, Scarlet stood in front of them, half sitting on the front of her desk. She picked up the cup of coffee on her desk and started telling them what happened.



Chapter 9

"Simone came to me a few days ago." Scarlet started to explain to the two detectives what Simone hired her for. "She thought that her husband was acting suspicious, and she wanted me to investigate."

"Suspicious, how so?" ask Sheryl.

Scarlet took a sip from her cup, "Well, he's apparently been distant, and doesn't get home until late at night, sometimes not even showing for days. He says that he's 'working at the office', but when she calls, he's not there. Of course, we all suspected that he was cheating on her, but Simone wanted to know for sure. I finished my investigation of Samuel the night before yesterday, and Simone met me here yesterday morning to see what I had found."

"Wait," interrupted Sheryl, "How did you collect your evidence?"

"It was easy, I lured him in with bait and he gave me what I wanted. It'll be a few days before he figures out that the bait wasn't real."

Sheryl raised an eyebrow at the vague answer, "Lured him in? How?"

"Well, let's just say I've got my own secrets to keep." Scarlet took a sip from her cup again. "Shall I continue?"

Sheryl started to say, "But how-"

But Watson interrupted her, "Yes, please continue."

Sheryl furrowed her brows as Scarlet smiled and continued her story, "So Simone met with me here yesterday morning. I showed her the evidence, she cried, she paid me, and then she stormed off."

"So," Sheryl asked the obvious question, "Samuel Walters was cheating on his wife then?"

"Yes."

Sheryl and Watson both winced at the confirmation. They knew what the other was thinking, but neither of them wanted to bring it up again. There was an awkward silence as Scarlet waited for one of the two detectives to say something, while the other two were trying to figure out if one of them should even bring up the forbidden subject.

Unfortunately for everyone in the room, Sheryl decided to bring it up. With her accusing tone directed at Watson, she said, "Isn't it the cheater that usually gets killed in these sort of cases?"

At this, Watson took an angry tone, "Oh really, Sheryl? A person doesn't deserve to die just because they cheated on someone. Besides, you heard the man, he didn't love her anymore."

Sheryl took an angry tone at this and dismissed the excuse, "Well, maybe he should have been working on his marriage instead of fooling around with some girl!"

"Maybe there was nothing to work on!" Watson's voice grew louder. "Maybe she did something that made him stop loving her in the first place!"

"Well, maybe if you-"

Scarlet interrupted Sheryl before she could make her accusation, "I see that you two share a bit of history."

Sheryl couldn't hold her anger in anymore, and she yelled, "Yeah, he cheated on me!"



Chapter 10

Another awkward silence followed, until Scarlet was fed up with it, "Yes, I figured as much, but could you two please discuss it outside? Are we done here, detectives?"

Sheryl and Watson looked at each other. The both of them quickly turned their heads away from each other in anger.

"Sorry..." Watson apologized," We lost our tempers there."

"Yes, now, do you two need anything else?" Scarlet took another sip of her coffee.

"Who is his mistress?" Sheryl demanded. "Show us this evidence that you're talking about!"

"Well," Scarlet pointed to a file cabinet, "The evidence is in there, but I will not show it to you."

"What?" Sheryl's temper was rising again.

"Do you two have a search warrant?"

"... No," said Watson.

"Then I don't have to show you the evidence."

"Alright, then tell us who his mistress is!" Sheryl demanded again.

"I won't do that either, after all, that is between my client and I."

"But this could really help us! Don't you want to find out who killed your client?"

"What for?"

Sheryl stammered, "Wha- What for? What for?! She's your client!"

"She's my former client. I have already finished the job that I was paid for, I have no further need to get involved."

"But-"

Scarlet held up her hand and interrupted Sheryl, "Sorry, detectives. Good luck with your case."

Seeing that Scarlet wasn't going to be cooperative, Watson stood up and said to the still fuming Sheryl, "Let's go."

Sheryl winced at Watson talking to her, but got up anyways.

"One more thing," Watson took out his notepad.

Scarlet put her cup of coffee down onto her desk. "Yes, detective?"

"What time did Ms. Walters leave your office?"

"By the time she finished crying, it was around 11."

"Okay," Watson noted the answer down. "Thank you for your help, Ms. ..."

"Scarlet is fine, Detective Watson."

"Thank you, Scarlet."

Watson walked out of the office. An angry Sheryl followed, but before she left, she declared to Scarlet, "You're not getting any of my candy!"

With that, Sheryl walked out of the office as Scarlet raised her eyebrow.



Chapter 11

Sheryl and Watson got into Watson's car in silence.

Watson took out his phone and called Detective Nadir, who was still out with Wong searching for the security guard that was on duty when Simone Walters visited the Wolfe Estates. "Nadir, it's Watson. Any luck?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, she should have shown up sometime after 11, so limit your search to only security guards that were on duty after that time."

"Will do."

Watson finished his conversation with Nadir and put the phone away.

Suddenly, Sheryl said, "I say that we go confront that cheater!"

Watson paused before answering, "Look Sheryl, we're on a case right now, can we talk about this afterwards?"

"Fine! But he lied to us! Now he has a stronger motive for killing his wife, and this mistress of his also has a motive."

"Alright, I guess you're right," Watson started the car and the two headed towards Benson, Walters, & Shore, where Samuel Walters worked.

The drive was awkwardly silent.



Chapter 12

The Benson, Walters, & Shore building was a seven storey building, and Samuel Walters worked on the seventh floor. He had a lavish office, as expected of a partner at one of the top law firms in the city.

His secretary showed Detective Watson and Sheryl Holmes in. "These detectives are looking for you, sir."

Samuel Walters looked up from his computer, "Thank you, Cindy."

Cindy left the room, and Samuel Walters stood up and gestured at the chairs in front of his desk, "Please, have a seat, detectives."

The two detectives sat down, and Samuel Walters continued, "So, what may I do for the two of you?"

Sheryl looked at Samuel's face and saw that his lips had some sort of unnatural red colouring on them. Perhaps it was lipstick? Breathing in, Sheryl also noticed the faint smell of perfume coming from Samuel's direction.

"Mr. Walters," Watson started, "We've just been informed that you were cheating on your wife."

Samuel's face flinched for a second before it reverted back to his calm expression. "I don't have to answer that, detectives."

"Oh yes, you do," Sheryl stood up and slammed her hands on the desk. With anger in her voice, she continued, "We have another private detective who can confirm that you're a cheater!"

Samuel took a look at Sheryl's angry face, then he took a look at Watson's shocked face, and decided to call their bluff, "Alright, show me the evidence then."



Chapter 13

Of course, the two detectives didn't have any evidence, but luckily, right at that moment, Samuel Walters' phone rang. Samuel looked at the two detectives as if he felt for sure that they had been saved by the bell, and then he answered the phone, putting it on loudspeaker, "Yes, what is it, Cindy?"

It was his secretary, phoning from her desk outside. "I'm sorry, Mr. Walters, but your meeting with the other partners is about to start."

"Okay, thank you, Cindy."

Samuel looked at the two detectives again, disappointed that he'd have to wait to see if they were bluffing. "Sorry, detectives, could we continue this after my meeting?"

Watson delivered a short and concise answer which revealed nothing. "Sure."

Samuel Walters picked up some files and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Sheryl said to Watson, "His mistress is someone in this office."

Watson rolled his eyes, nearly unable to deal with any more of Sheryl Holmes for the day, "And why do you say that?"

"His lips had lipstick on it, probably from kissing someone with lipstick on, and he had the smell of perfume on him. This means that he must have been with her shortly before we got in here."

Not wanting to lose another point to Sheryl so easily, Watson countered, "Well, it could still be someone from outside the office."

"Well, let's ask the secretary then."

Outside, Cindy was typing on her computer when Sheryl and Watson approached her.

Sheryl started the conversation, "Hi, Cindy, right?"

Cindy looked up and smiled, "Yes, that's right. What may I do for you, detectives?"

"Was Samuel with someone else in his office before we came?"

"Nope."

"Was Samuel in someone else's office before we got here then?"

Cindy pondered for a moment, and then she answered, "Well, I'm not sure where he was, but he wasn't in his office for a while shortly before you two came."

"Oh..., okay, thank you," Sheryl turned around, dejected.

The two detectives were ready to leave, so that they could avoid revealing their hand to Samuel Walters, however, at that moment, Watson's phone rang.



Chapter 14

Watson answered his cell phone, "Hello?"

"Watson, it's me." Detective Nadir's voice came through from the other side.

"You have something for me?"

Detectives Watson and Nadir talked for a minute on the phone while Sheryl waited. After hanging up the phone, Watson said to Sheryl, "Nadir and Wong found the security guard that was on duty when Simone Walters visited the Wolfe Estates. Apparently she was visiting someone named Elaine Miller. They going to look up who she is, right now."

Sheryl smiled and walked over to Cindy again, "Is there somebody name Elaine Miller that works here?"

"Yep! She's a lawyer at this firm." Cindy replied, always happy to be helpful.

"Where can I find her?"

Cindy gestured down the hallway to her left. "Her office is just down that hallway, turn right, then the first door on your left."

"Great, thank you, Cindy."

"No problem!" Cindy smiled as the two detectives headed down the hallway towards the office of Elaine Miller.



Chapter 15

'Elaine Miller', said the sign on the door that Watson knocked on.

"Come in," said a voice from inside the office.

Watson and Sheryl entered the office. It was bit smaller than Samuel Walters', but big enough to be jealous of. The woman sitting behind the desk stood up, "May I help you?"

Watson approached the woman and extended out his right hand, "I'm Detective Watson, and this is Sheryl Holmes. We're investigating the death of Simone Walters and we would like to ask you a few questions."

The woman shook Watson's hand, and in that moment, Sheryl noticed that her right hand had bandages on it, and so did her left hand. Sheryl sniffed the air, and smelled what seemed to be the same perfume that she had smelled in Samuel Walters' office. Of course, just to be safe, Sheryl looked at her mouth and found lipstick of the same colour.

Sheryl ignored the woman's extended hand. "Elaine Miller, right?"

The woman withdrew her hand and sat back down, "Yes, that's correct. I don't know how I can help you detectives, I barely knew Simone."

"Oh, but you knew Samuel well enough, of course, I mean, you were sleeping with him," Sheryl launched into her accusations, still standing.

"I beg your pardon?"

Sheryl decided to go with a stronger bluff this time, "Oh, don't try to deny it. Simone had a private detective follow you two, and she's graciously shared her pictures with us. Although, since you seemed to have left your lipstick and perfume on Samuel, I'm surprised that everyone doesn't know already."

This time, Elaine fell for the bluff. Panicking, she said, "Yes, I was having an affair with Sam, but that doesn't mean that either of us had anything to do with Simone's murder."

"Actually, it does," said Watson, "This gives the both of you a strong motive for the murder."

"Exactly," said Sheryl, "And now that we've established that point, let's move on to the next one. You're the murderer."

Both Watson and Elaine gave Sheryl a surprised look.

"What are you talking about?!" demanded Elaine.

"It's simple really," Sheryl explained, "There was blood on the shovel that was left behind at the crime scene, and here you are, with both hands bandaged."

Elaine's hands fiddled nervously with each other, "I- I- tripped and my hands got cut when I landed on the pavement."

"Well, we can solve this easily. Just give us a DNA sample and we will see if it matches with the blood on the shovel."

The two detectives waited for Elaine to say something as she breathed in and out nervously. Finally, she let out a sigh and said, "I did it. I killed Simone Walters."



Chapter 16

Without being asked, Elaine launched into an explanation of the events, as if confessing would lift a weight off her shoulders. "The security guard for my place told me that Simone Walters wanted to see me. He said that she seemed angry, and I figured that it was finally time that she found out and we had our confrontation. This way, maybe Samuel would finally divorce her and we could be together without having to hide anymore."

"So I opened the door and right away she started screaming at me. We argued for what seemed like ages until she just stopped. She said to me that they would never get a divorce, that she would blackmail Samuel with photos of the affair, which could ruin his reputation. She said that with enough time, he would love her again, and that there was no way that she would hand Samuel over to me."

"I hadn't expected that. I hadn't expected that she would be so cruel as to blackmail him. I couldn't let her do that to Samuel, so I begged her not to do it, but she just smirked and started to walk out. I panicked and I grabbed one of my trophies, which I then used to hit her on the back of her head."

"She fell down and fainted. I knew that I wouldn't have much time, so I quickly grabbed a few garbage bags, and put her in them; so that the blood wouldn't spill onto my floor, you see. I then ran into the kitchen grabbed a knife, and before she woke up, I stabbed her in the chest."

"The look on her face, it was so painful, but I did what I had to do, to protect Samuel," Elaine clutched her face with her hands as she recounted the final, pain-filled look that was on Simone's face before it became the vacant face of death.



Chapter 17

Detective Watson led Elaine out of the office and into the hallway. The arrested Elaine hung her head down as they walked.

"What is the meaning of this?" A voice yelled at them from across the hallway.

It was from Samuel Walters, who approached them with a few of his partners behind him.

"What's going on here?!"

"Well," Watson explained, "Elaine Miller is being arrested for the murder of your wife."

"Don't be absurd!"

"Actually," Sheryl said, "She already confessed."

Elaine looked up at Samuel. "Samuel! I'm sorry... But I did it for us!"

"You did it for... You killed Simone?"

"I did it for us! She was going to blackmail you! I did it so that we could be together."

"You... you psycho! I don't know what kind of relationship you think we had, but- but- get that psycho away from me!" Samuel turned and walked away.

Elaine's heart broke after hearing those words. The man that she loved had completely denied their relationship. It was at that moment that she realized that he didn't love her, she was just another fling to him. All that she had done for him would have no reward.



Chapter 18

Watson returned to his team's area after handing Elaine Miller over to a guard for booking. Detectives Wong and Nadir were working away on their computers, finishing up their reports for the case.

Sheryl sat at on a chair in the team's area, her anger brewing. Finally, she said, in a tone that hid nothing, "Well, at least one cheater is behind bars."

Watson looked at her, trying to keep his own temper under control, "Look, Sheryl, I -"

"No! You don't get to 'Look, Sheryl' me after you -"

Watson couldn't hold it any longer, after years of this, he finally had to get it off his chest. "Alright, that's it! I've already apologized enough the first time! This time, I'm going to be honest about this!"

"Oh, like how you were so honest when you were cheating on me?!"

"No! This time, I'm going to tell you exactly why I cheated on you!"

"Oh, I'd looooove to hear this, do go on."

"You were always trying to be Sherlock Holmes!"

"So?!"

Watson grabbed his hair at this. "So? So?! So you never cared about what I wanted!"

Sheryl paused before asking, "What?!"

"When we first met in high school, I was happy that someone actually liked my surname, instead of making fun of me for it. Then we started dating, or at least I thought we were, but all you wanted to do was turn me into Dr. Watson, turn me into your sidekick. Everything that you wanted to do had to be mystery related. I thought you loved me, but you were just in love with the name!"

Sheryl's eye widen with the realization of what Watson was saying, as Watson continued, "Look, Sheryl. I'm sorry I cheated on you. I should have properly broken up with you, but I didn't know how to tell you."

"I- I-," was all that the red-faced Sheryl could muster before rushing towards to elevator, with everyone staring at the both of them.

Katie put a comforting hand onto Watson's shoulder, "You okay, Andrew?"

Detective Andrew Watson turned around to face her, "Yeah, I'll be alright."



Epilogue

Sheryl sat on the edge of her bed, with her head in her hands, thinking about the day's events.

Mike walked in and leaned on the doorway, "I heard that you and Watson were arguing at the precinct today."

"Yeah."

Mike stood there for a few more moments, looking at his sister with concern. Then, he decided to leave her alone with her thoughts, "Alright, if you need me, I'll be watching the game."

Mike turned to leave, but Sheryl stopped him, asking, "Was I that bad, Mike?"

Mike hesitated, but in the end, he said, "Sometimes."

"Oh."

"Look, kid, don't beat yourself up too much about it. Neither of you were perfect."

Sheryl contemplated that for a few moments before saying, "Thanks, Mike."

Mike headed downstairs.

Sheryl sighed in frustration, trying to put her thoughts together. Frustrated, she grabbed a piece of candy from her desk and angrily ate it.

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