Fic: The Case of the Brown Cap: Gen
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holmes_minorTitle: The Case of the Brown Cap
Length: 500
Rating: Gen
For: monthly prompt: case
Summary: Holmes investigates a death of a mushroom forager.
“It is a very curious case, Watson.”
“Are you suggesting that it wasn’t an unfortunate accident? Everyone in the village knew Captain Hawkriver to be an avid forger of mushrooms, but on this occasion, his discrimination failed him. A tragedy, no doubt, but a crime? He simply collected the wrong type of brown cap mushroom and lamentably suffered a fatal consequence for his error.”
“That might have been the case, Watson, but for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The mushroom foraging guide found in his coat pocket.”
“But wouldn’t that strengthen, not weaken the case for his death being accident? I had a look at the little book myself and saw, quite plainly, that the drawing of the Sussex Brown Cap reveals it to be almost identical to that of the Brown Toad’s Death, the ones Hawkriver had with his supper. The mistake could be easily made, even by an experience forager like Hawkriver. On a side not, it is precisely why I always make certain you finish at least a third of your omelette before me.”
“Watson!”
“Sorry, Holmes, but you have a much heartier constitution than I do.”
Holmes gave Watson a side-eye and harrumphed for good measure. “Be that as it may, shall turn our attention back to the case? Yes, in the foraging guide found in Hawkriver’s coat pocket the drawings of the two types of mushrooms indicate they are very, very similar, but did you read the summaries?”
“You know I prefer pictures, Holmes.”
“Unfortunately for Hawkriver, he shared your bias. If either of you had read carefully, and considered the matter thoughtfully, you might have noticed a discrepancy between the written description and the drawing. Hawkriver being a foraging enthusiast had the best guide, Smith’s, in its latest edition, and unluckily for Hawkriver’s killer—yes, I said ‘killer’—I also have a copy of this edition. Thus, I can easily show you the difference.”
Holmes whipped a little book out of his own coat pocket. Then he took up Hawkriver’s copy and opened them both to the relevant pages.
In a few moments, Watson saw it.
“By Jove, Holmes!”
“Yes! You see?”
“Someone’s doctored the drawing!”
“Yes, they altered the guide to make the Brown Toad’s Death look even more like the Sussex Brown Cap than Nature intended.”
“They did this to purposefully lead Hawkriver to make his fatal mistake!”
“That is the theory supported by the evidence.”
“It’s subtle, Holmes.”
“Very subtle, Watson.” He began to tick things off on his fingers. “We are dealing with someone who knew Hawkriver very well, knew the forests around his home very well, had access to Hawkriver’s possessions and was willing to take an enormous risk.”
“And wanted him dead,” Watson added.
“And wanted him dead,” Holmes echoed.
“Well, let’s move on to a list of possible suspects, but, um, Holmes?”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind very much if we left omelettes off the menu for the near future?”
“Not at all, my dear Watson, not at all.”
Length: 500
Rating: Gen
For: monthly prompt: case
Summary: Holmes investigates a death of a mushroom forager.
“It is a very curious case, Watson.”
“Are you suggesting that it wasn’t an unfortunate accident? Everyone in the village knew Captain Hawkriver to be an avid forger of mushrooms, but on this occasion, his discrimination failed him. A tragedy, no doubt, but a crime? He simply collected the wrong type of brown cap mushroom and lamentably suffered a fatal consequence for his error.”
“That might have been the case, Watson, but for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The mushroom foraging guide found in his coat pocket.”
“But wouldn’t that strengthen, not weaken the case for his death being accident? I had a look at the little book myself and saw, quite plainly, that the drawing of the Sussex Brown Cap reveals it to be almost identical to that of the Brown Toad’s Death, the ones Hawkriver had with his supper. The mistake could be easily made, even by an experience forager like Hawkriver. On a side not, it is precisely why I always make certain you finish at least a third of your omelette before me.”
“Watson!”
“Sorry, Holmes, but you have a much heartier constitution than I do.”
Holmes gave Watson a side-eye and harrumphed for good measure. “Be that as it may, shall turn our attention back to the case? Yes, in the foraging guide found in Hawkriver’s coat pocket the drawings of the two types of mushrooms indicate they are very, very similar, but did you read the summaries?”
“You know I prefer pictures, Holmes.”
“Unfortunately for Hawkriver, he shared your bias. If either of you had read carefully, and considered the matter thoughtfully, you might have noticed a discrepancy between the written description and the drawing. Hawkriver being a foraging enthusiast had the best guide, Smith’s, in its latest edition, and unluckily for Hawkriver’s killer—yes, I said ‘killer’—I also have a copy of this edition. Thus, I can easily show you the difference.”
Holmes whipped a little book out of his own coat pocket. Then he took up Hawkriver’s copy and opened them both to the relevant pages.
In a few moments, Watson saw it.
“By Jove, Holmes!”
“Yes! You see?”
“Someone’s doctored the drawing!”
“Yes, they altered the guide to make the Brown Toad’s Death look even more like the Sussex Brown Cap than Nature intended.”
“They did this to purposefully lead Hawkriver to make his fatal mistake!”
“That is the theory supported by the evidence.”
“It’s subtle, Holmes.”
“Very subtle, Watson.” He began to tick things off on his fingers. “We are dealing with someone who knew Hawkriver very well, knew the forests around his home very well, had access to Hawkriver’s possessions and was willing to take an enormous risk.”
“And wanted him dead,” Watson added.
“And wanted him dead,” Holmes echoed.
“Well, let’s move on to a list of possible suspects, but, um, Holmes?”
“Yes?”
“Would you mind very much if we left omelettes off the menu for the near future?”
“Not at all, my dear Watson, not at all.”
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Date: 2021-09-06 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2021-09-10 07:29 am (UTC)I suppose it's a vegetarian's version of the daredevils who eat *fugu*.
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