In Case of an AccidentJune 2013

Jerry and Jenny went on a picnic to Sri Lanka on April 2013. A month later, few days before the planned departure date, Jenny died in an unfortunate accident in Hotel Devon, Kandy. We agree with the above mentioned facts and the government of United States of America hereby requests the Sri Lankan police to allow the departure of Mr. Jerold and the coffin of his wife Jennifer to USA for the funeral rituals as soon as possible. Inspector Lestrade finished reading the extract from the letter that was addressed to the Home Ministry by US embassy, as requested by Sherlock Holmes, who was walking to and fro with his jawline sunken to his chest.

Theres a curious peculiarity in this case, dont you think so, John? he asked. I knew enough of Sherlock to find this question rhetorical, so I silently considered this point, recalling the queer developments in this peculiar case.

Three days ago, when Kandy was aroused by the fact that Wesak was a week ahead, at the very moment I was engaged in an argument with Sherlock about the socio-economic points in making Wesak lanterns, Lestrade called, summoning us to the Police Station, Kandy. There we learnt about this case: A young couple (Mr. Jerold and his wife Jennifer), both software engineers of Silicon Valley had arrived Sri Lanka for a picnic on 25th April. After visiting Colombo and Hambantota, they arrived Kandy on 15th May and stayed in Hotel Devon. On 20th, at 4 a.m. in the morning, Jennifer was found dead in the swimming pool of the hotel and Jerry had admitted that it was an unfortunate accident. Investigations with the Hotel staff revealed that no scream was heard and nobody seemed to act suspiciously on the previous night. However, the unique instinct of Sri Lankan Police found it hard to believe, so there was Lestrade, helplessly tolerating my friend once again through gritted teeth. There, Lestrade showed the letter from embassy to Sherlock to emphasize the need to solve this case as quickly as possible in a few days. He took no attention, but with the delighted remark that this case is peculiar, he fell into silence, resting his chin on his hands.

The man. I want to cross examine him. Summon him immediately muttered Sherlock after an hour of silence in the police station. Police tried calling to his cell (the airtel subscriber you dialed is currently out of the service area. Please try again later. If you are an airtel subscriber, you can leave a voicemail by dialing 123. Get impressive welcome tones), checking his hotel room, where he had not returned. The police was about to launch a search after five good hours of Sherlocks request for a quick summon, but he turned up himself at 7 o clock in the evening. He quickly apologized that he had to visit his friends in the south before departure. His testimony was straightforward, he admitted that she is a good swimmer, but due to her diabetics, she occasionally got muscle cramps underwater. That night, she has gone to swim alone past midnight and may have died helplessly due to such a cramp. He was also telling a great deal about how much he loved her, which apparently tested the patience of my friend. During the interrogation, he sobbed and then for a couple of times he excused to answer few text messages. After ten minutes of debriefing, Sherlock was satisfied and sent the man away.

Lets get to the body. And then to the Hotel Sherlock murmured, half lost in his thoughts. Still darkened in mystery, Lestrade obeyed and we found ourselves in the mortuary of General Hospital, Kandy after a half an hour of crawling through frustrating Kandy traffic. During the journey, Sherlock was going through the set of photographs of the corpse and the post mortem report. Report stated that the lungs were filled with chlorinated water, the regions around the right thigh and temple were slightly deformed and concluded that the death was due to drowning.

In the mortuary, the man in charge greeted us with a fresh yawn. Scratching his head and silently cursing the police for spoiling his nap, he opened the body. Sherlock sprang to life, closely examined the fingernails, fingers, hair, ankles and tongue for about fifteen minutes. This is interesting, John. Very interesting indeed. Now lets not waste a moment to reach the hotel remarked Sherlock, smiling curiously.

Oh god. Stop this Sherlock. Stop commanding and pray tell us what is going on cried Lestrade, who couldnt tolerate this anymore.

Patience, my friend. This case is going to turn into something unexpected. Trust me, I dont wish to spoil the climax replied Sherlock, turning up his collars and walked briskly out of the hospital.

After about twenty minutes, we were in the lobby of Hotel Devon. Sherlock had pounding at his Xperia Z, busily having an SMS conversation while Lestrade introduced himself to the woman in the reception. The woman nervously stood up, dropping her voice and whispered Sir, I believe we have already settled this month.

Thats fine, I know. This is not a raid. Its about the murder of the foreign lady. We need to check room 221. The service key, please. And keep quiet of our visit said Lestrade hurriedly. The woman relaxed, handed the servants key to Lestrade and wished a good day.

In room 221, the room booked by Mr. Jerold was almost deserted except for two open suitcases. Clearly he was planning to leave tonight and we were just on time. Sherlock went through the photographs in his computer (password protected, of course, but he never cares), walked away to talk a few private calls. When he returned, he was beaming with joy.

Our trap is set, dear friends, now lets wait for the prey. It is exactly as I deduced, he commented.

After an hour of waiting, I was starting to think that the prey may have fled and that was when the lock in the door clicked. Both of my friends took positions. Sherlock pressed himself against the wall with pistol clenched in the fist, aiming directly at the door while Lestrade cautiously moved to the door. I crunched to the floor for safety, in case of a fight.

At the moment a tall figure entered, Sherlock yelled Freeze and Lestrade quickly secured its hands with handcuffs, threw him to a sofa nearby and locked the door. It took a second for Mr. Jerold to recover and he started yelling Im innocent. I didnt not kill Jenny for any motive.

I, overjoyed that the case had finally been solved, stood up and commented Come on Mr. Jerold, you didnt know that we suspected you for the murder. Yet you gave yourself away so quickly. Thats the criminals psychology, now get ready for a picnic to Sri Lankan prisons.

Nothing is that simple dear John. I have always recommended you to mistrust the obvious. And a criminals psychology is rarely straight forward, and one should be careful when making such a claim. In fact, why I cornered Mr. Jerold is not exactly for Jennifers death, Sherlock announced, apparently enjoying the embarrassment on my face.

Lestrade, you are about to be clarified he continued when this case came to your concern, you immediately established the idea that this could be either a suicide or murder only. When you encountered with Mr. Jerolds testimony, you grew suspicious and decided for yourself that this should be a murder. You went on interpreting the post mortem report and other evidences to suit your theory. That is not exactly the science of reasoning, I suppose?

Sherlock, we all know now that I was mistaken, so why be delighted in humiliating me further? So, stop boasting now and go on about what is your theory and how it is true, Lestrade answered impatiently.

In reply to him, Sherlock said Fine. Then, Id be more delighted to inform you that I deduced the fact that so called Mr. & Mrs. Jerold are really secret agents of CIA and they were obviously planning to assassinate our president during his speech in Hambanthota on the upcoming Wesak event.

That claim, with all its absurdity and craziness, uttered from the most reasonable man one may find in the planet, has clearly taken both of us aback. I was knocked off my balance, Lestrades jaws dropped, but Mr. Jerold was facing the ground in a queer manner. It was Lestrade who recovered first after a long silence.

Good god, that is more foolish than the twists of adventure in my sons Alex Rider novels! he exclaimed, and how do you prove that you are not kidding, Sherlock?

Lestrade, extraordinary claims require extraordinary logic and I know mine is an extraordinary claim. I began my train of reasoning with the fact that the couple has visited only couple of places in their picnic began Sherlock, enjoying every moment of this climax with the anticipation of a child who enjoys drinking a packet of Milo to the last drop. Colombo, Jaffna, Kandy and especially Hambanthota seemed to be a strange selection of tourist spots. Then, the letter from US embassy almost confirmed my suspicion. The embassy has quickly accepted the explanation of an accident in this curious case, which they never do. Obviously CIA didnt want the police to interfere with their assassination plan due to an unexpected occurrence and after the job, they wanted their agents out of the island as quickly as possible without trouble. Then came Mr. Jerolds testimony. He obviously lied there and the fact was confirmed when I examined the corpse. He stated that Jenny was a good swimmer, if you remember. But it was obvious that the platinum ring she wore in her finger was hardly removed during the past ten years, except when she bathed. Nobody in their right mind would wear a platinum ring while swimming, I hope.

And what husband on earth will continue sightseeing after the death of his beloved wife? My suspicion was confirmed there, and I texted to my friends in police in Hambantota district to learn that an American was suspiciously found taking photos around the same place for hours. As I checked his laptop computer, I found more evidence, photos of the auditorium of presidential speech taken from curious angles showing possible hiding spots in tall locations and positions of police patrols. Also, it should be mentioned that I observed Mr. Jerold using a Blackberry mobile. Which sane person would use such a useless device save the ones who are advantaged by its exclusive privacy?

Now that seems very conclusive I remarked, not knowing what else to say.

If you want more evidence he continued after a pause to catch his breath, he went on pulling a pistol from the jacket Mr. Jerold was wearing here is a latest model silenced 9mm Winchester, fully loaded, American made, unlikely to be found in the jacket of a mere tourist.

So, considering the political situation between two countries, Sri Lanka has risen as a major rival to USA after our victory in the civil war. Our president has bravely brought the wrongdoings of USA to the attention of general assembly in the past month and hes about to talk about USAs war crimes in Iraq on the next UN summit scheduled in June, which would knock them off from their political stability. And CIA is well known to assassinate such brave leaders of enemy countries. At such a situation, a secret agent from CIA arrives Sri Lanka and pays his attention on the building where Sri Lankan President is going to make a historic speech in about a week. All put together with acute observation, yields an absurd, yet possible explanation which explains all the facts. When one had eliminated the impossible, John, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth.

And you will learn more Lestrade he continued when you take him to a proper interrogation. With that he walked away, deeply satisfied with the case.

I, still struggling to grasp what he has told, followed him into a three-wheeler. That Sherlock I commented is marvelous. I never thought such things would happen outside thrillers. And here remains the primary question of all: who killed Jennifer? Some Sri Lankan agent, after all?

No John, that was not marvelous, but obvious. And Im glad that you remembered to ask the right questions he began, but Jennifer was never murdered. It is unlikely a secret agent would be assassinated in open space, in such a peculiar manner rather than conveniently receiving a bullet in her temple. It was simply an accident: she slipped on rainwater into the pool which knocked her unconscious. Being a poor swimmer, and being unconscious, she died drowning. The bruises in thighs and head suggests she slipped off, hitting hard against the floor. That explains that no scream was heard that night. It has been an unexpected accident for CIA, losing their agents slipping off into swimming pools. And it had also been unfortunate for them, that Lestrade consulted me to help him investigate this case.

I was stunned. So, there had been no murder at all, just a simple accident. Also, the embassy and Mr. Jerold have not really lied about that point. However, by a strange co incidence, Sherlock had discovered that they had lied about all the points except that and he had saved the island once again.

Well Sherlock, but how did you come to know that it rained in the city three days ago? You didnt leave the house for a week. And not from weather report, I guess? I asked childishly, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

No, but from the bird droppings replied he, I observed, John, and deduced a long ago that the reduced density of bird droppings in the pavements of the city is a reliable indicator of the recent rain. Rain is the only thing to wash them away, so one could calculate that it rained three days ago by simply looking at the bird droppings.

With that we he fell silent, gazing outside the three-wheeler. The moon was growing from crescent to a full circle, radiating cool light through dark streets. I closed my eyes and tried to sort out everything about this peculiar threat of national security solved in less than seven hours.

It is known that the American CIA is there behind the recent assassination attempt. That clearly indicates the fact that the government of USA is frightened by the rapid development of Sri Lanka as a world superpower. Also, they are troubled that we would tarnish their false dignity in the political sphere by bringing the evidences on their war crimes on Iraq to the worlds attention by next month. Regardless of that, the Sri Lankan Police and Intelligence have proved themselves by effectively overthrowing the assassination attempt of CIA. I honor Mr. Lestrade, the smart Police Inspector who single handedly saved the future of the nation and I hereby promote him as the Chief Commissioner of Police, Central Province. Finally, I once again wish the island for spiritual upliftment in this Wesak day the presidents historic speech of the century in Hambanthota was being telecasted over and over again in all channels including BBC, CNN, Cartoon Network and Aditya during the week. Sherlock didnt care, he had sunken into his regular silence for the past several hours. I didnt have practice today, so I had nothing much to do except to watch the presidents speech. I smiled and switched off the Television, opening my laptop. After five minutes of Check your internet connection annoyance, I could finally log into to blogger to open up a draft and I started typing: Jerry and Jenny went on a picnic.

A story by,Abarajithan G.

DISCLAIMER

All characters and references in the story are fictional. Any resemblance to living or late is purely coincidental. In addition, if not noticed already, all the stereotypic exaggerations are intended for sarcastic and satirical interpretation only. Also, it is highly probable to have numerous plot holes in the story and the reader is recommended to ignore them completely.

The story of the story

In school, as an activity, we were asked to write a short story beginning with "Jerry and Jenny went on a picnic..." using all past tense sentences. I thought to write like this, featuring one of my heroes, a story that both began and ended the as instructed using only past tense sentences in the narrative.

The story is solely targeted to my fellow classmates who liked the BBC series Sherlock. Therefore I emphasized on the adventure and elements of their interest such as various smartphones, airtel company..etc are mentioned. Also, the story itself with its modern settings and characterization is highly influenced by the TV series Sherlock.