The Case

"There you are! What are you doing over here?”

“I’m on a case.”

“Oh. I see. Well...you were suppose to meet me at the food court remember? I sat there for twenty minutes before I had to give up my uncomfortable plastic seat to a screaming mother and her three feral children. I’m starved, can we go get something from Heathers House of Hunan?

“No.”

“I thought you liked Chinese? Fine, we can go to Corndog Heaven, or whatever you want. I’m crazy hungry! Wanna try Harold's Ham Hamlet?”

“I told you, I can’t go. I’m on a case.”

“Right Mike. Look, when did you start working for the police?”

“I’m not Mr Dawson.”

“Mr. Dawson? What, is Noah too casual for chatting with your best friend?”

“Please stop prattling on, I’m trying to think here.”

“Dude! What is wrong with you Mike?! Will you please tell me what is going on. I'm feeling a little confused.”

“[sigh] Fine. See the jewelry shop over there?”

“Where? ...oh yeah. So?”

“Well, apparently a diamond necklace went missing from the display case. The clerk screamed it out about half an hour ago and since then all the patrons have been asked to stay till the cops show up.”

“Why don’t they just check everyone’s pockets”

“Because you aren’t allowed to go around accusing everyone of a crime. Especially when everyone claims to be innocent. Anyway I’ve been sitting here going over it and I think I have it figured out.”

“Did you see who did it?”

“No, but I’ve been working on the possibilities.”

“I think you’ve been reading too many of those Sherlock Holmes books. Things don’t always work out the way they do in stories Mike. You know, real life can’t just be typed up and solved by a complete novice.”

“Sherlock Holmes wasn’t a novice!”

“Mike, listen to you! You sound like a nut! The guy wasn't real. It's fiction. Just because you read a couple of stories you think you can solve real crimes?”

“Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and sixty short stories. Sherlock Holmes is a very complex character. I’m telling you Noah, the principles of the Sherlock Holmes stories can be applied to many modern crimes. The ideals of logic, hypothesis and deduction put forward in the books, are astounding. You should read some of them. I'll loan you a couple."

"Right now I'm not interested in anything that doesn't have a healthy portion of special sauce on it!"

"Well, he was an extremely intelligent character, who never over looked the most minute detail. Heck, I learned how to crack codes because of the story of “The Dancing Men” and then there’s the case about-”

“-I don’t care! Is this why I’m starving to death? So you can play detective?! Look, when the police get here, they will sort this out and they will not need your help to do it! Heck, I can probably do it myself!”

“Would you care to guess who the guilty party might be?”

“Yea, if it means we can go and you'll stop talking like that!"

"Once the police get here, we can go. I promise."

"Okay...uh...look at that guy on the end, with that woman. He’s probably the one, and she’s probably his accomplice! Yeah! Just look at him! He looks guilty...and she looks really upset! I bet he’s got it in his pocket and is trying to find a way to get rid of it before the police come.”

“Is that your official guess?”

“Yes.”

“Your wrong."

"How can you be so sure!?"

"First off, it'd bet that woman is his wife. See both their wedding bands?”

“Yeah...”

“Second, he’s uncomfortable because he was about to buy a set of pretty expensive earrings before his wife arrived.”

“So what?”

“Well, he was pretty surprised to see her, and if you’ll notice, her ears aren’t pierced.”

“Oh. You're right. Well...so who do think did it?”

“Ah! Look the police have arrived. I’m going to go tell them right now. I'll be right back!”

~~~

“Mike, I can’t believe you were right!”

“It was just a matter of simple logic and deduction.”

“Mike, honestly, how did you know if was the clerk? I mean he’s the one that alerted everyone else to the crime!”

“To cover himself of course. Plus there were other clues if you were looking for them.”

“That's amazing! Can you walk me through it?”

“Of course! It would be elementary my dear Dawson!”