Diary of the Lost

A New Lead

"A pleasure to see you again, Detective Sheldon and Detective Camberwell," greeted the old business man. There was a rhythmic tapping as his cane made contact with the ground, and the grey suit the man was wearing matched his personality- old, yet surprisingly lively.

"The pleasure is ours, Mr. Dalen," Sheldon replied. The old man- Mr. Dalen- led the two detectives through a field of machinery and stone. Inside the minds of the investigators, the same questions ran though their heads:

What did they find?

Is this yet another dead end?

Is that a rat?

Trying not to step on cables (or rats, for that matter), the trio made their way to a bowl-shaped crater in the middle of the plain.

"A paleontologist crew was digging, you see, and they found something that may be of use to you vesties," Dalen explained. Clearing her throat, Camberwell said, "We're detectives, sir; not 'vesties'."
Sheldon coughed in attempt to hide his laughter, making Dalen turn pink and Camberwell start laughing. If the nickname wasn't enough to make crew workers around them laugh, Mr. Dalen let out a loud, abrupt noise.

"Excuse you, sir," commented a nearby worker. Dalen sighed and wondered when people would grow up. Just because someone had too many chili tacos doesn't mean they're not professionals. "As I was saying, we found an item that may be of use to you; a book."

Detective Camberwell frowned. "How would a book help us?" She asked. Sighing with exasperation, the old man said, "Detective, I apologize. I thought I was working with smart detectives, and you thought you would solve your cases a while ago; looks like we were both wrong."

Camberwell frowned and looked at her feet. "You know, you two are rather young to be detectives. After all, you're only in your early twenties," the man added. "I must say, it's quite disappointing-"

"Mr. Dalen, we have had enough with your rude commentary," Sheldon said.

"Yes, yes- just like I have had enough of your silly, immature reactions to a man's actions?"

"Apparently you cannot take humour-"

Sheldon was interrupted by Camberwell's sharp kick. She gave him a look that said, "We're not here to fight; Just let the man continue and we can get out."

The two detectives walked along, listening only to the important bits of information Dalen gave. "While the crew was digging, they found a book with the words "Diary of the Lost" engraved onto the cover. One of the men was foolish enough to put the artifact into the hands of my co-worker."

"Who is your co-worker?" Sheldon asked. "Calvin E. Sarsaparilla,"  Dalen spat. "Sarsaparilla?" Camberwell asked, laughing at the thought. "Yes, an odd name that teaches kids to use proper grammar," the man replied. "In fact, Sarsaparilla is here right now," he added, gesturing to a stout man with a grey, bushy mustache.

"Calvin E. Sarsaparilla, at your service!" Said Dalen's co-worker once he saw the trio. "I'm looking forward to working with you- going on adventures and solving crimes!"

Sheldon furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, 'working with us'?"

"Well, I'm going to be helping you with you cases, of course!" Sarsaparilla answered. He frowned and turned to Mr. Dalen. "You didn't tell them?"

"Er..... I was getting to it, Calvin. But now, I- uh, must go," the old man said nervously. "Good luck on your cases," he said, waving to the detectives. "I hope you come back alive," he muttered once he was out of earshot.

------------------

"So, tell me more about yourselves!" Calvin said enthusiastically. Sheldon looked toward Camberwell, wanting her to go first. "Well," she said. "I got my job as a detective a few years back; I consider myself quite lucky to be given such a job at a young age. I'm twenty-four, I've been assigned to a case with one man kidnapped or- possibly- murdered. In my free time, I-" she paused. "I guess I don't have much free time. I used to read many books, but now I've given up on that."

Calvin nodded. "Free time is valuable; what a shame that you don't have it." He turned his head to Detective Sheldon. "And you, my boy?"

"I'm twenty-five, just a few months older than Kayte-"

"Kayte?"

"Me, sir; my first name is Kayte," Camberwell informed the new member in their "group". "Anyways," Sheldon continued. "I'm just a few months older than Kayte and I'm working on a case involving a dead couple. I haven't had a chance to do anything else other than work on the case; it requires all my attention. I grew up on a farm. I got to ride my uncle's horses and walk his dogs, but then I moved to New York when I was eight. I got into high school and college a few years later, and here I am. All I can say is that I don't have any regrets about taking this job."

"I see," Calvin responded. "You're very informative- and interesting, at that- Detective." The man took a sip of his coffee, as they were in a café not too far from the digging site. His mustache was the color of his coffee when he placed the cup down. "I must admit, I never knew you grew up in the country," Camberwell said the Sheldon. "What was it like?"

"Chores- lots of them. I had to take care of the horses, feed the dogs, muck out stalls. But other than that, I didn't have a care in the world," he responded, taking a bite of a doughnut from the café's selection of pastries.

"Quite different from your life here," Sarsaparilla pointed out. "Yes, very. Let's get back to the site, we can discuss the past on the way, since, like you said," Sheldon said, "time is valuable."

With that, the three stood up from the table, left a tip in the tip jar, and started to walk back to where the diary was.