The Case of The Colourful Murders

Beatrice Jolly

Jonathan and Stiles looked over the riddle again, as they were heading back to Baker Street.

 They were both hungry and confused and agreed that getting some food into their systems would help. They had also decided that Jonathan would be the one to cook.

As Jonathan was cooking in the kitchen, Stiles, from his couch, shouted: "I feel like I should inform Larson about this 'Beatrice', whoever she is. Maybe it'll aid his search, because if we want to solve the riddle, we'll have to know who Beatrice is."

"Well, you should", Jonathan replied from the kitchen.

Stiles rang up Larson, who picked up in three rings. Jonathan expected him to say, "There's some girl named Beatrice, I don't know who she is, find out about her", but instead, Stiles said, "I hope your search is going well", followed by a pause, "Quickly find out Claire and Ash's history", followed by a longer pause, and finally, "Goodbye".

Confused, Jonathan went towards Stiles. "I thought you were going to ask him about Beatrice and not..."

He trailed off when he saw that Stiles opened his mouth to speak. "You see, Jonathan, if I were to tell him there's a 'Beatrice' in the picture, he would obviously ask me how I knew that. And you know that no one, save for the two of us, knows about the bits of parchments with clues written on them, and if I were to suddenly tell him about it, I might get in trouble for withholding evidence. So, yeah, it's better off them not knowing about what we have been doing so far."

"Hmm", was all that Jonathan said. He went back to the kitchen, when he saw Stiles walk up to one corner of the room and return with a violin case. He set the case on the couch and began playing.

Stiles paused when he caught Jonathan just staring at him. "Helps me clear my clogged-up mind and think", said Stiles, in reply to Jonathan's silent question. He nodded and went back to his cooking. He was cooking fish and chips, making a mental note to tell Stiles that they had to buy groceries soon.

The music Stiles was playing was euphonious. It was such that Jonathan could not describe in words but could simply waltz away to, delightfully. And he did just that. Soon enough, his body was slowly moving in sync with the music, and his hands were chopping up the potatoes.Both seemed engrossed in their work, Stiles in playing the violin, and Jonathan in waltzing and cooking. All of a sudden, the music came to a halt.

Jonathan turned around and gave a questioning look to Stiles. "Why'd you stop?"

"It was just... bizarre, watching you waltz away to my music when we have to solve a murder case."

"And yet", Jonathan said, turning around to the kitchen counter and now putting oil in the pan, "You're the one who started playing the music. And anyways, how do you expect me to not dance to such melodious and beautiful music?"

"Oh, don't flatter me, Whittemore."

"But I am not doing so, Henderson. You seem to be an expert at playing the violin."

"And why should I believe what you say?"

"Because what I say is perfect, as I am perfect myself", Jonathan smiled, but then frowned, looking down at his prosthetic. A small sigh escaped his lips.

Stiles must've noticed him glance at his prosthetic, since he came next to Jonathan and sat up on the counter.

"Of course you're perfect!", he said, due to which Jonathan cracked a small smile. He looked up at Stiles, and asked, "In what sense?"

"In every sense of the word. You are good at cooking..."

"How do you know? I am cooking here for the first time."