The Adventure of The Misheard Echo

Me and My client were sat down at a table. Her name was Maria Edwards, and she said she was a servant for Thomas Reynolds.

"Mr Reynolds was a very good Master to me. He died a fortnight ago. It's said he died of a heart attack, but his family believe I was the one who killed him. I would like to prove them wrong- you see. They think I Poisoned him, but there was no trace of poison when he died. And yes, I was the only one there at the time, but still, it is medically proven he died of a heart attack!"

"I see... and, there's definitely no possibility that you were the murderer?" I asked. In my past 10 years of crime solving, I've never came across a case like this. It seems to me Mrs Edwards is trying to prove them wrong, but why would she be so eager? Ah! Yes, that's it! She either doesn't want to be thought of a suspect because she is innocent, which is most likely, or she is the antagonist, and doesn't want them to know. Most of the time, its that the crime case is too risky for them to be caught, which means this rarely happens.

"No- well, now from what I can see. I've heard you're a very experienced detective, Mrs Duggan. I need your help!"

"And to give you that help, we need Evidence. Do you mind us coming to the scene?" I asked. My three other companions were listing things on their notes. This was their first case as they've just started their detective career. I remember my first case. Very exciting, and complicated, but that's another story to be told.

"Yes, that's completely fine. I'll send you a telegram as its in Darby, but I will tell you where to meet me."

"Yes, before you go, can you tell me the whole story? I mean, we cant build a house with no bricks. We need to know the facts, Miss Edwards" I said, my acquaintances jotting things on their notepads.

"Right, yes, ma'am. It all started when I was walking down a corridor. I was going to give Master Charles, Mr Reynolds son, his breakfast in the nursery, when I heard a yell coming from the corridor. I wasn't fast enough, but heard an echo saying 'My deal was moistened!'. I had no clue what he meant, though when I saw him he deemed delusional. He had just been betting with his close friends before his meal, though what caused the heart attack to occur we do not know. There was no trace of poison anywhere to be found" She said. My companions nodded along, listening to what she was saying.

"Thank you for telling us. We shall come whenever the time is right. Lets hope its soon though; I could perhaps come tomorrow or the day after." I said. I had learned to sort out a case as quickly as possible.

"Thank you for helping me. I, personally, am innocent of conducting this case, but I don't think the others believe me." She said, laughing nervously.

"We will meet again very soon, Miss Edwards." I said.

"Yes" She said, and Allison, my personal maid, escorted her out.

"Right, have you all wrote down key information about this case?" I asked the three. They all nodded. Their information will be a big help to work out this case, and it seems like a lot of information is needed.

The next day I received a telegram from a Miss M. Edwards in the post. It said:

Meet me at Derby Inn Pub on Wolfsbane Road tomorrow at 5:30pm.

I will hopefully see you there.

Yours Sincerely,

Miss M. Edwards

I showed my fellow student detectives the note, and they all agreed to come along. Their information was worthless and we needed to get to the bottom of this.

Later that day, I heard a very vigorous knock on my door. As soon as Allison opened it, an angry male stormed inside.

"Sir, is everything alright? We cannot work out any more cases as were in the middle of a very important case at the moment-" I said calmingly trying to change the air a bit.