The Incident Concerning The Alsatian Dog.

Chapter 6

"What do you know?" Isabel asked, after a few minutes. I put my thoughts on hold and looked at her innocently.

"Nothing yet. But..." I paused, trying to think of the right metaphor. "You know when you've got a really old bag of knitting wool, with lots of different reels in, and there's one little thread hanging out, and you pull it, and suddenly there's more mess and more wool and more tangles come out with this one thread?"

"No?" Isabel said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. You know when you have one loyal customer that you really like, and  then it turns out his wife or brother or cousin holds huge great parties, and they all turn up at the restraunt in their dribs and drabs and all expect to be served first and quickly and it's all just a nightmare?"

Isabel scowled at me.

"Waitress references? Really?" she asked, obviously annoyed. I nodded.

"But you understand what I mean, now, don't you?"

Isabel hesitated.

"I do" she replied bitterly. "But I'm not impressed."

I sighed.

"The important thing is that you're up to speed. Now, the reason I made that metaphor up is because that's what this case is like. You think it's straightforward, but it isn't."

"Right" Isabel said, with an air of false brightness. "Where do I come in?" she then asked. I sighed. She knew me too well.

"I need you to go and get Amber and Fisher" I began.

"Deputy Inspector Fisher?" Isabel repeated. I nodded again.

"Yes. I've got a mission for the three of you. Sound fair?" I asked. Isabel looked suspiciously at me.

"What does this 'mission' entail?" she said. I sighed.

"The only danger you'll be in is getting a telling off from Barnes for sneaking onto his crime  scene" I told her confidently. She looked undecided.

"If you won't do it, then I'll have to" I reasoned. "I'll have to get out of bed, of course. Can't leave Fisher and Amber to fend for themselves..."

"All right!" Isabel sighed. "As long as you stay in bed."

"I won't move" I promised. "Now..."

"I'll be back soon" Isabel cut in, standing up and heading for the door. I smiled to myself as she left. My poor sister really was far too easy to manipulate when you knew how.

My next port of call, I realized, was to get Dr. Scott upstairs. There were a few things I needed analysing, one of them being me. I was almost positive I wasn't ill, but if I was, and just hadn't realised, it could potentially throw my whole theory. The other two things-well, I knew Barnes would never think of looking at them, so I had to before they got thrown away or cleaned.

Going back to the bigger picture, there were still some pretty big holes in it. Like the who. And the why. And most of the how, to be honest. So really, I didn't have much of a picture at all, just a  few loose scraps of idea. But, I decided, the loose scraps of idea could become a much bigger bit of puzzle once Isabel and Dr. Scott got back to me.

Speaking of Isabel, at that moment she came through my door again, with Fisher and Amber in tow.

"You wanted to talk to us?" Amber asked. I nodded, smiling wickedly.

"I need you all to get into Matthew's room" I told them.

"But it got locked" Isabel pointed out.