Detective Richard Herman

My Friend

Another nice day to relax in the coffeehouse.

I said that to myself while sipping coffee and reading a newspaper in a coffeehouse I often visit. There hadn't been any new cases so far, so I had some free time.

That day, I was alone again, as usual. I rarely drink coffee with anyone else. I feel comfortable drinking coffee alone. Though sometimes, I have a friend whom I often drink with.

Then, speak of the devil. He appeared. He saw me and came to sit with me. He sat down at the opposite side of the table and ordered a coffee.

"A nice day to be drinking coffee, especially for the famous detective, don't you think?" The man asked.

I answered, "I didn't expect you to appear. But I guess some company once in a while wouldn't hurt. As for your question, Ernest, I agree. A nice day to be drinking coffee."

Ernest chuckled. He was the man I occassionally drink coffee with. He is a nice man working as an engineer. He is a smart man. He is also the man who said Lord Arthur was an idiot.

Ernest said, "So, what cases have you been up to recently?"

I answered, "The detective's case, Aurelia Arthur's disappearance, and the theft in the art gallery."

He asked, "Can we discuss each case?"

Ernest likes to listen in on my story about solving cases. He often felt very fascinated by my stories.

I replied, "Sure. Let's start in order."

Ernest said, "Alright. There's no need for you to reexplain what happened that night. You already told me."

I asked, "So what would you like to talk about?"

Ernest asked, "First things first, what was the motive for detective Morris to murder detective Laton?"

I answered, "Jealousy. Detective Morris wanted the spotlight back on being the detective with the best reputation."

Ernest, "From that, we can learn jealousy is not a good thing."

I objected, "That actually depends on how you see it. If the envy we are talking about causes bad things like the murder, then it is indeed bad. But if it makes a competition without anything bad like crimes and dirty tricks, I don't think there's any problem with it."

Ernest objected, "But it often goes the bad way though."

I answered, "Of course. People would want to ensure victory or easily win. That's the very problem."

Ernest asked, "What will you do if you have a strong sense of jealousy? How will you make it disappear? If you can't make it disappear, how would you make sure it won't turn out to be a destructive competition?"

I answered, "If I have a strong sense of jealousy, I will make sure it will bring no harm to anyone. I will make it disappear by becoming better than the person I am jealous on. If I can't make my jealousy disappear, I will do various things to avoid triggering my jealousy."

He replied, "I understand that you don't want to bring harm to anyone, so when you become envious, you will make sure it's harmless. But about the answer to the second question, your answer implies you don't like losing."

I said, "That's fine. For as long as it won't cause any trouble, there's no harm in hating defeat."

He asked, "How about the third answer? How will you avoid triggering your jealousy?"

I answered, "By avoiding the people I envy. That would reduce my chances of thinking about that person and triggering my jealousy. Another way is by having fun and forget about my inferiority complex. That way, I won't strengthen my hate on the people I envy."