The Lumbering Loner

Posted on the 05 June 2014 by Bytesandbanter @bytesandbanter
                                                    Chapter 1:The Loner's Life
Baker Street in London was a very busy region of the city. It was known for incredibly congested traffic, heavily crowded shops and frequent felony crimes. Moreover, it was this very street that proudly possessed the flat in which the world-famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes lived. Though Mr.Holmes had people enthralled in his tales of wit and scientific reason, his new neighbor kept people captivated for entirely different reasons. Shawn was a detective policeman who had moved to the adjacent flat just a couple of months ago. Since his transfer, the number of guests visiting the Sherlock Holmes' museum increased steadily. The manager of the museum got worried when this number reached an abnormally high figure. Upon his inspection, he found that the adjoining flat was attracting a larger audience than the museum itself. What a death! People took photographs of Shawn's flat from the outside and boasted about them. Shawn had become a public figure, someone like a superstar, in no time. His tales of foolishness and absent-mindedness spread like wild fire in London and beyond.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Shawn had his name in the headlines of the local newspaper very regularly for complicating cases in hand instead of unraveling them. There were a couple of cases where he shot the sufferers, instead of the criminals. In two other cases, he let the thieves go after catching them red-handed. When asked why, he replied unregrettingly, "They were very nice to me. Very kind. They even apologized." In one most shocking case, the victim died of heart failure. The only possible reason one could think of, for his untimely demise, was Shawn's immoderate imbecility. Apparently, Shawn's excessive fatuity and casualness caught the poor guy off-guard. Whatever the reason, Shawn got one of his selfies published in the journal after this incident, he felt very good about. His awkwardness, seemingly, knew no bounds.

One day,a stranger visited him who looked rather uneasy and perturbed.He said worriedly,"Sir, there has been a theft in my house.The burglar took money worth ten-thousand pounds in cash.Please help me!"
Shawn replied in an understanding tone,"You look very worried.Pray calm down.I'll visit the scene of crime today evening.I'll try my best to catch the thief.Pray tell me your address."
The stranger then asked,"What are you going to do by visiting the scene of crime?
"We'll take note of the necessary footprints and try to match them."
"What? Take the footprints and find someone with identical ones? That's impossible in a city such as ours!"
"Oh! It indeed is. I think we need to find the cash instead. Pray tell me when I should meet you at your residence."
Just for a moment, the poor visitor forgot all his anguish and grinned. He looked at the sky in despair and said,"Well......its very hot, so you shouldn't. In fact, its scorching! I think I should leave. Anyway, thanks for your time."
With this, he left, probably in search of a better detective.