Sharon was startled awake by the screeching noise of the alarm. She opened her eyes slowly. The room was filled with light, next to her Patric sat with a tray of snacks in his arms.
Sharon was feeling much better, so she slowly got up. Patric asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
She responded, “Yes, and thanks for everything!”
“Great, now have some snacks with me and freshen up. After that, I want to give you some work. By the time we set out to tackle this work, it will be night. Why don’t you stay the night and we can start off with the work tomorrow. I don’t want you to travel alone or spend nights alone anymore, cause now anyone could be spying on us and may come to know that you are on this case. Once they know, they will go to any extent to stop you, and will not hesitate to kill you to do so! We could head to yours first thing tomorrow and pick up some clothes for you to stay here. Would you be okay with that?”
“Definitely I’ll be okay with that. Anything for a case! And thanks for allowing me to stay in your house.” Sharon said.
An hour later Sharon had freshened up and had eaten some snacks with Patric. They were relaxing on the sofa and Patric was just about to start telling her of the case.
He started, saying, “When I was a kid, my mother and father died. They were murdered. They were killed by one person, of that I am sure and that person is Smither Francis. But I do not have any solid proof to support this. Your job is to make sure it’s him who killed my parents. The people who I think are after me are:
- Smither Francis
- Daggy John
- Smitherine
- Nalson Dogwell
All these people are very intelligent and can be spying on us even now. So you better keep an eye out for anything unusual. Also, it is better to be safe than sorry! I wouldn’t want anything bad happening to you.”
“Alright, I’ll do my best to find the killers and bring them to justice”, Sharon said in an assuring tone.
“Brilliant! Now that we have a plan in place, do you want to head to the pool for a quick swim before dinner? We could swim for a bit, and then head for dinner at this Italian joint close by”, said Patric.
“Yes, Patric, that’s cool! Though, let’s wrap up dinner fast and head to bed so that we can get an early head start to our day”, said Sharon.
And so they head in to change. Patric had picked up a suit for Sharon to swim in, it was a pink bikini with white polka dots. The pool was pretty big and well lit; it was surrounded by high trees and a fence, making it hard for anyone from the outside to see the people in the pool. The water was warm and it was a lovely evening to swim.
Once in, Sharon took a couple of laps across the pool and then stopped to take a breather. When she looked up, the butler walked in and asked her if she would like something to drink. She opted for a Pina Colada and Patric asked for a scotch on the rocks. The butler retreated to the house and returned in five minutes with a tray holding their drinks. He came over to her and handed her the Pina Colada she had requested for and walked over to Patric to hand him his scotch on the rocks.
“When did you realize you wanted to be a detective?” asked Patric.
“Well, I spent most of my childhood reading Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Secret Seven and so on. I always wondered what it would be like to be in the center of an investigation, being able to solve a crime for someone. One Christmas, a family friend of mine asked me if I was serious about my wish to be a detective because he had a case for me. Though that case was small, it was regarding a jewel stolen from his home, it gave me the leverage and confidence to follow my dreams. I solved it; his daughter had stolen the jewel to pawn it for drugs, and after that he passed the word around and I just got famous with time!” Sharon said, as she reminisced the old days.
“Wow, I really admire your passion and drive, Sharon!”, Patric did truly look like he was inspired by her.
Sharon said, beaming, “That really is some compliment, coming from you, Patric. Didn’t you too have a lifelong dream to get into acting and had to fight your way up? I read an article in Today’s Juicy Gossip that said that your parents were completely against you wasting your life away with a career in acting and how you ran away from home to pursue your dreams. Is it all true?”
“Yes, that is completely true. For once, I found a journalist who wrote my story as it is and did not try to over hype and add drama to it just to make it more “interesting” for the readers” said Patric.
“Then you are the inspiration Patric”, said Sharon, smiling.
They went on to speak about their childhood, his work, and her detective cases. Sharon realized, that though Patric was a big star, he was still just like anyone else and so very easy to converse with. Soon it was time to head out for dinner, so they got out of the pool and went in to dress up and head out.
When Sharon entered the guest room, she saw a new set of clothes kept ready for her. She bathed and changed into a jeans and t-shirt for dinner. The restaurant they head to served lovely Italian food. Sharon chose to have a simple fettuccini in white sauce with mushrooms and Patric had a spaghetti aglio e olio. They ended their meal with a lovely slice of lemon cheesecake each. Through the meal, Sharon came to realize how important it was for Patric find his killers; to be able to sleep peacefully again.
They returned home after dinner and decided to call it a nigh
t early, as they were thoroughly stuffed. Patric wished Sharon a good night of sleep and headed to his room to sleep. Sharon lay awake in her bed for a while recounting the incidents of the day. She sure was glad that she had another case to solve. Slowly her eyes shut and she was swept into the land of dreams!