(16:33)
You were not.
SH

(16:34)
Are you trying to make me
feel better?

(16:34)
Is it working?
SH

(16:35)
A bit, yeah, thanks.

(16:36)
Maybe now you can forget
what you think you should
want and concentrate on
what you need.
SH

(16:39)
And apparently, what I need
are more of your cases. Do
you have the time to take my
mind off my relationship
failure by telling me what’s
the stupid case you solved?

(16:41)
This pawnbroker came to see
me. A few weeks earlier, his
assistant had urged him to
answer an add from The
Red-Headed League offering
work to red-headed applicants
only. He applied and he got
the job because apparently he
was the only one with genuine
red hair.
SH

(16:43)
The pawnbroker (Liam) was
offered over £330 a week to go
to an office a few hours every
night to copy some old
encyclopedias onto the computer.
One day, he arrived at the
office and found a sign on the
door saying The Red-Headed
League had been dissolved.
SH

(16:45)
Liam was angry to lose such
an easy income, so he found
the office’s landlord and went
to see him. The landlord had
never heard of The Red-
Headed League, but he did
have a red-headed tenant.
He gave Liam the number of
the joint implant business
where he worked.
SH

(16:46)
When Liam went there to
confront him, the tenant
pretended he had never seen
him. Then, Liam came to see
me.
SH

(16:48)
Intriguing. It doesn’t sound
that idiotic for now.

(16:48)
I’m not done.
SH

(16:50)
I went to the implant shop,
found the red-headed man
who had hired Liam, and
noticed he had unusually
dirty knees. I managed to
distract him, scrubbed off
some of that dirt, and
analysed it in Barts’ lab.
SH

(16:52)
The dirt came from the same
area as Liam’s shop, so that’s
where my investigation took
me next. I tapped the
pavement in front of the shop,
and that’s how I solved the
case.
SH

(16:55)
That can’t be it. What didn’t
you tell me?

(16:56)
Can’t you solve it from all the
clues I gave you?
SH

(16:58)
You know I can’t.

(17:00)
Fine. From the dirt on his
knees, I knew he had knelt
somewhere close to Liam’s
shop. There, I discovered
that the shop is right next
to a bank, which pretty
much told me everything I
needed to know.
SH

(17:02)
Tapping the pavement only
confirmed what I knew: The
Red-Headed League was an
excuse to keep Liam out of
his shop while his assistant
and the red-headed man
tried to dig in the basement
to get into the bank’s vault.
SH

(17:03)
Nope, I don’t believe you.

(17:04)
If I had decided to make up
a case to cheer you up. I
would have thought of
something much cleverer.
SH

(17:06)
Christ! I’m actually crying
here. Digging into a vault?!
What were they using,
spoons?

(17:07)
No, they had explosives.
That’s why they had to keep
Liam out of his shop.
SH

(17:09)
But he was still in his shop for
most of the day, right? Why
didn’t he notice the hole being
dug in his basement?

(17:10)
The basement was full of boxes,
so it was easy to cover that
whole area.
SH

(17:12)
What happened when you told
Liam?

(17:13)
He turned as red as his hair
and stormed out. I believe he
fired his assistant.
SH

(17:16)
At least he got some money
out of it. I still can’t believe
it, it’s hilarious and kind of
amazing. They deserve a
few points for originality!

(17:18)
The case was easy to solve, but
at least it amused me. I can’t
say the same for all criminals.
SH

(17:19)
Glad you were amused! I
wish I had been there to see
you work it out.

(17:24)
Hey, I have to go. My
sister just called and she’s
taking me out to dinner,
which never happens, so
she must have something
important to tell me.

(17:24)
I’ll talk to you later,
alright?

(17:25)
Have a nice dinner.
SH

(17:26)
If I meet a thief or a
murderer, I’ll give them
your phone number.
SH

(17:28)
Hahaha, ta!