The Experiment

The Inspiration

"So who is our victim here?" William asked as the carriage made its way down the dirt road.

"Let me see..." George opened his note pad. "The victim is Molly Blaque the fourteen year old adopted daughter of Mrs. Dahlia Blaque who specifically requested you Sir."

"Dahlia Blaque?!" William almost shouted.

"Someone you know sir?"

"Dahlia Blaque is the world's leading herpetologist!." William said sounding more excited than he had since he returned from Buffalo.

"Herpetologist Sir?" George said with a puzzled look on his face.

"She's a zoologist who specializes in reptiles and amphibians." William said in a serious tone. "I wasn't aware that she had adopted children."

"Yes Sir according to the family registery she has a birth daughter as well. Her name is..." George flipped through his notebook for a moment. "Lilia Blaque and she is five years old this October."

William's eyes flew open at that information. In a moment of shock he had temporarily forgotten the case at hand.

"So explain the case George. Go on." William said in a quick paced tone.

"According to Molly she had been walking around the park not even a mile from the family estate looking at the native Plantain Lilies when she was accosted from behind by a rather large man. He told her very loudly that she was a shackle that must be removed before beating her until she was unconscious. He just left her there for dead sir. Until a grounds keeper found her. She is still alive but after telling her mother what happened the shock sent her into a comatose state. Mrs. Blaque has her being monitored from their family estate currently but is having her transferred to a proper hospital later on in the day." He said as the carriage stopped in front of large white southern style plantation house.

The men stepped out of the carriage and made there way up to a large stained oak door. They knocked a few times until someone opened the door. She was only about 5 feet 5 inches tall with blue eyes that had large dark circles beneath them, pale skin that seemed to cling too closely to her bones, an almond shaped face that hung a little bit, and long black hair that touched the back of her knees. She had on a simple purple skirt with a white shirt.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Blaque." William said tilting his hat.

"Thank heavens you gentlemen are finally here! Follow me please." She led them through a large living room into a small library. She sat down in a large purple velvet arm chair when a little girl ran into the room. She had black curls that were tied back with a thin red ribbon, a rounded face, pale skin, and her tear filled eyes were brown. She had on a blue dress with a big red ribbon wrapped around the center, and white stalkings with black buckle shoes.

The little girl ran up to William and looked at him for just a moment before turning to George tugging on his sleeve demanding his attention.

"Don't bother the nice constable now." She said extending her hand for the child to grab onto.

"Oh no it's quite alright Mrs. Blaque." He said getting down on one knee to make eye contact with the little girl. "Well hello ma'am my name is George I'm a policeman. I must say you are a very pretty girl what's your name?"

"Lilia Annabeth Blaque." She said in a shy voice pausing in between words still holding onto his sleeve. "Are you here to help Molly?"

"Yes miss Lilia we are. But for us to do that we are going to need your help yes? We need you to go stay with Molly until she goes to the hospital. Can you do that?" George asked in a friendly voice.

Lilia smiled clicking her heels together giving George a very nice salute. "Yes sir!" Before she left she walked to her mother motioning for her to lean over. She whispered something in Dahlia's ear which caused Dahlia to giggle a little. After that Lilia turned around and ran out of the door at full speed.

"It appears my daughter finds you intimidating Dective Murdoch." She said as George got back into his chair.

"William is fine Mrs. Blaque." William said with a small giggle at Lilia's antics.

"Well in that case please call me Dahlia. And you as well Constable." Williams mind was stopped in its tracks.

"O-oh of course Mrs...I mean Dahlia." He said regaining his thoughts. "Please tell us about your relationship with Molly." He stammered out.

"I found Molly on the streets of Newark, New Jersey 5 years ago a month after my husband died. She was 9 at the time, her family had kicked her onto the streets. She suffered terrible beatings from dreadful people. I had been going home from a doctor's visit, I was pregnant with Lilia at the time, when she bumped into me by accident. Her face was dirty, her hair was matted, her clothes were tattered, and she looked as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. She had fallen over when she bumped into me and as I went to help her up she curled up and started crying. She begged me to not hit her for getting my dress dirty. No child deserves a life like that, so I took her home and cleaned her up and fed her, a month or so later I adopted her." Her hands started shaking. "But the reason I asked for you detective is because i believe I have a clue as to who did this horrible thing to Molly." The tears started to flow from her eyes. "The man who killed my husband was never caught and now I believe he is after my children."

The men's eyes shot open. "What makes you think that Dahlia?" William asked in a concerned yet questioning tone.

She reached onto the table next to her grabbing 2 pieces of paper and handing them to William. "The one on top I found on my bedside table a few days after my husband was shot. The one underneath is one Molly had in her hand when the grounds keeper found her."

The men read the 2 notes and looked at eachother with worry.

"You will catch him, won't you William?" She sniffled out clenching her hands together on her lap.

"Of course we will Dahlia. We're going to post a constable here in the house to make sure nothing happens to you or Lilia. I'm also going to have a constable at the hospital to watch Molly." William said looking at George and then back to her.