(1908, Unknown Month. London)
"Yes, it's alright. I can stay with you tomorrow afternoon as well."
"Really?"
"For real. I wouldn't lie to you, Angelica."
She had washed her face, got dressed up, and had an early breakfast of slightly overcooked toast and an instant cup of soup. Miss Hudson had told her she'd make breakfast early, but she felt bad about it and, most of all, wanted to make a habit of having to look after herself as much as she could. Though she only had a very simple breakfast due to having an Engine-style toaster and a heating pot.
"...Mmm. Why did it had to be burnt though?"
"Mary? What are you talking about?"
"Unn, I was talking about this one. Anyways, I'll see you later, Ange. I'll be at the Scholar Academy tomorrow, so don't wake me up too early."
"Yes. And your promise?"
"Yes, I promise. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow!"
Exchanging promises for tomorrow, she said goodbye to Angelica over the Engine Phone.
She stood before a mirror.
She had a Golden right eye, and a Blue left eye.
This was herself--the form of Mary Clarissa Christie.
Her hair was somewhat a little too long. It would get in the way when organizing books and documents.
"I should probably tidy it up together."
There was a hair clip she should have gotten from Zack a while ago.
Mary opens up the closet and--
~ ~ ~
She was walking towards the West End early in the morning.
Although London was a mix of fog and smoke, the morning air itself was pleasant in a way. It wasn't as cold as it would normally be, but inhaling it would cause one to grow thin. Still...
Mary didn't dislike this morning.
She felt like the night was coming to an end.
She felt that today was just the start of it.
As for the rest...
Yes. Today, she felt particularly cheery.
The book collection of the famous detective. which had been going on for nearly two weeks, was finally finished the day before yesterday. Yesterday, Saturday was her day off as an assistant (or rather, book organizer) so today, Sunday, was her first day of work since finishing her library collection.
This all thanks to her friends. Ange, Mr. Howard, Zach, the two Street Children...even the kids who were friends with the Street Children also helped out a lot too. Charlie had wanted to help, but Donna and Miss Hudson told her not to force herself just yet. Thanks to her friends help, Mary was able to complete the most difficult part of organizing her library, arranging it by category and such in a short period of time. In the end, Mary felt she had a great time.
At the very least, she figured in sharing this week's wages with everyone. And if that wasn't enough, she'd share her future wages by working as an assistant to the famous detective which she nearly forgot was her original purpose in covering her own living expenses. But that was a story for another time.
Today was surely a special day.
Her primary job was organizing book collections and investigation materials until now, but she had also accompanied the detective on investigations and had even been present on a few crime scenes before.
--Today will be so Special to never forget.
--Why is that?
~ ~ ~
It's been about three weeks since Mary started working at the detective's assistant in addition to her studies at the Scholar Academy.
However, reflecting on her work for the past two weeks, she felt that the term "assistant" was a misnomer. All she had been doing was organizing and cleaning the library-like "reference room" located in the building completely adjacent to B221 Baker Street, and she was never able to touch the case materials handled by the detective let alone allowed to touch them.
So Mary simply went about her day-to-day business without ever thinking of anything in particular.
Rather, she was quite humbled by the large quantity of her daily wage, which was almost double that of the market's rate and thought to herself, "I'll give this to my friends". But there wasn't anything special about it. The sight of his book collection greatly piqued her intellectual curiosity, and she was even allowed to borrow books she was particularly interested in as well as hearing stories of foreign lands from the detective's "partner", Dr. John Watson who had just returned from a long honeymoon. Such stories reminded her of the unknown countries her father once explored in the past.
It was a fulfilling experience.
And so, she had no particular complaints.
Thus, Mary now welcomed this Special moment with a tinge of excitement and intellectual curiosity.
Namely--
Mary entered the room on B221 Baker Street and told the Detective, who was thinking to himself in a dour mood, "I'm going to borrow the kitchen", and without receiving a reply, she went in and brewed some tea for him.
He digested it with great interest.
"My apologies, Miss Clarissa. I was lost in thought." He continued on quietly. "An interesting case had came to me the other day and I was so inspired that I had to write a serious, short paper regarding the use of dogs in investigations."
"My apologies from saying this, but--"
"Go on."
"Are you talking about police dogs?"
She said out of reflex.
She was surprised.
Never would she have thought so Special would be happening.
--Never would I have thought He'd say something.
--Anything, much less about some sort of content the great detective is thinking about!
This had never happened before.
"No. I wasn't talking about them, Miss Clarissa. I was thinking about why Prof. Presbury, a commuter of Kenford University, would have his Wolfhound Roy try to bite him."
Was he talking about the Irish Wolfhound?
She remembered him as a giant dog with a gentle temperament.
"That's strange."
"Strange?"
"I think it'd be a well-behaved dog if it's a university professor's dog."
"Naturally. Roy's an excellent pet dog who'd never attack anyone nor bother his master barring under extreme circumstances."
"That's why I think it's strange to begin with."
"First off, there is the possibility of it being unwell. But it's strange. Really strange."
The conversation had ended there.
But that wasn't the only special thing to happen.
~ ~ ~
A person had shown up in B221 despite it being early in the morning.
He was the first gentleman she'd ever seen.
It was a tall man of around 30 years old. He wore a fine suit, and his mannerism was showed the grace of that of a gentleman. However, Mary couldn't help but notice a hint of a youthful student who was nervous in his demeanor.
That is to say, this was the kind of person who'd appear to make a request with the detective.
At such an early hour even. Perhaps the Detective had anticipated this when he asked for Mary to come in early morning when she returned home from work yesterday.
After he shook hands with the detective, he looked a little surprised and couldn't conceal his nervousness upon seeing Mary brewing two new cups of tea from the kitchen in the back.
"This kind of matter is quite sensitive, Mister Holmes," The man quickly pressed on, "Given that I work on public and private affairs for Prof. Presbury, is it really alright for me to speak of such matters in front of a third party?"
"Do not worry."
Yes.
Surprisingly--
"Mister Bennet. Miss Clarissa is a very tight-lipped person. And I can assure you that is a case in which I will need an assistant."
That's what the famous Detective Sherlock Holmes said.
--No way. It can't be.
--I can't believe this is something so Special!
--I'm to be an assistant in the detective's case!
(To be continued)
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