Case 8 - Scarlet

It was the middle of February and I was freezing cold. I was walking to school when Samantha called out to me from behind. In a playful tone, she said, "Hey Watson."

I sighed and said, "It's James."

She caught up to me and smiled, "Well, I want to call you Holmes, but Sheryl wouldn't like that."

I didn't now if that was a compliment or not.

Before I could respond, Sheryl showed up as well, walking up to us woozily. In a flat, tired tone, she greeted us, "Hi guys."

Samantha, concerned, asked, "Sheryl! What's wrong?"

In the same flat, tired tone, she said "It's Holm-" before coughing.

"Sheryl, are you okay?" Samantha asked again.

Sheryl recovered and, in a tired voice, she said, "I'm fine."

Samantha and I tried to convince Sheryl to go home, but she wouldn't listen, "No! I have to be there, in case there is a new case!"

I sighed, "Look Sheryl, you're obviously sick. Don't worry about the club, Samantha and I will take care of it."

Sheryl's eyes brightened a little, "You will?"

"Yeah."

Of course, now we had to take Sheryl home, but luckily for us, Sheryl's mother showed up. "Sheryl! I told you to stay home today!"

Sheryl's mother dragged Sheryl home as Samantha and I continued towards the school.

***

"Are you sure you can take care of the club by yourself?" Samantha asked me.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, tell Sheryl I said 'Get well soon'," I replied.

"Okay, I will, thanks James!" Samantha ran off to visit Sheryl, while I stayed behind to man the clubroom.

I sat down in one of the chairs and decided to just tell anyone who came in that Sheryl was sick today and to come back later.

Of course, I didn't except that person to be Scarlet.

Scarlet was one of the prettiest girls in our class, and perhaps even the school. I stared at her as she entered the clubroom and walked towards me, with her long, wavy, red hair gracefully following her. She stopped in front of me and smiled one of the cutest smile that I have ever seen. My heart stopped as I realized that the smile was directed at me.

Some of you might say that I have a crush on her, but I do not!

"Watson? Hello? Watson?"

Scarlet's voice snapped me back into reality and restarted my heart. Stuttering, I let the fact that she used my detested nickname slide and I said, "Uh, yeah. Hi Scarlet. What's up?"

"I need the After-School Detectives' help!"

"Well, Sheryl is sick today, so maybe you can wait until she-"

"But I really need help today! Aren't you a detective too?"

She looked at me with those sad, beautiful, grey eyes of hers, and I just couldn't say no. I sighed and said, "Alright, what do you need?"

"Well, I think my boyfriend is cheating on me."

"You-" I stuttered at the revelation, "You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, is that weird?"

"No." I regain my composure, "No, of course not. Why do you think he's cheating on you?"

"Lately he's been avoiding me. Always saying that he's busy after-school, and even on weekends. Every time I ask him what he's doing, he would say that he was doing homework or studying, but there's no way he has that much studying to do!"

Scarlet's face was red with anger, and she was near tears as well. I stood up suddenly and slammed my hands on to the table. "Don't worry, Scarlet! I'll find out what he's doing!"

"Thank you, Watson!"

A grimace appeared on my face, but I quickly suppressed it. "So, who is he and where can I find him?"

She took out her phone and showed me a picture of our school's eighth grade basketball star, "This is Gregory. He should be practicing with the basketball team right now."

"Okay!" I gave her the thumbs up that Sheryl usually gives, "I'm on the case!"

I immediately regretted that cheesy line, but Scarlet just smiled and said, "Thank you, Watson!"

***

I leaned on a lamppost near the entrance of the school and tilted my fedora (which I never bothered to bring back home after Halloween). I placed a lollipop (which I got from Sheryl's bowl of candy) into my mouth and sucked on it. Putting my hands into my jacket pockets, I watched as Gregory said goodbye to his teammates.

After their farewells, Gregory started walking down the street, and I started following him. Surely, the scumbag was going to meet his mistress right now.

He walked into a burger joint and, unsurprisingly, he sat down in a booth with another girl.

Oh, what will my beautiful client say when I tell her?

I grabbed the booth next to them and held up the menu to hide my face. Then, I leaned in a little to eavesdrop on the pair.

As I joined in the conversation, the girl was saying, "Afterwards, we can go skating, and then we can head back to my place for cake."

Skating, and then cake?! They must be talking about what to do on their next date! Oh, Scarlet, you poor gir-

"Sounds good," Gregory nodded, "I think Scarlet is going to love her birthday party!"

I paused for a moment.

A birthday party for Scarlet? Gregory wasn't cheating?! He was just being an attentive boyfriend?!

The girl rubbed it in, "You're such a good boyfriend, Greg!"

"Haha," Gregory blushed, "Thanks."

The two of them continued talking about the birthday party that they were planning. When they were done, they left the burger joint and went their separate ways.

***

"Don't worry, he's not cheating on you. In fact, he loves you very much," I told Scarlet the next day after-school.

"Really? Why has he been avoiding me then?"

"I can't tell you," I said, "But you'll find out very soon."

"Well, thanks for looking into this for me, Watson. It's good to know that Gregory isn't cheating on me."

She stood up and began to leave.

"Happy Birthday, by the way," I said.

She stopped and looked at me, "Thanks. How did you know that it will be in two days?"

I shrugged and smiled, "I'm a detective."

She raised her eyebrow and gave me a look, as if she thought that I was being weird or creepy.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," And she walked out of the clubroom in a hurry.

I sighed.

And here I thought I was being cool.