Sherlock Holmes

and the mystery of the last piece of pizza

Written and created by Jagna Czyżak, Zuzanna Pastuszak, Natalia Tretkowska (year 7) and Oskar Sarnecki (year 8).
Drawings (earrings, magnifier and pipe) by Jagna Czyżak.

It was a cold and windy afternoon at Baker Street 221B. Holmes and I were sitting in front of the fireplace with our dog, Gladstone, drinking our 5 o'clock tea. It was raining cats and dogs outside. I truly hoped for a calm weekend. How wrong was I...
Suddenly we heard the main hall door slam. We heard a fast run up the stairs. I slowly peeked through the door and when I turned around I saw the same old overprotective Sherlock holding a gun in his hand.
- Oh my god, Holmes - I whispered - calm down.
We heard a person running out of breath, slowly walking towards the room door.
A young woman carefully opened the door. Brave Sherlock was still standing with the gun.

It took me a moment to recognize the woman. She was a lady in her mid 20s. I knew she lived with her father in a mansion nearby.
Her name was Eleonore Delacour. Her family came from France and they had been rich for generations.

Mr Delacour - her father, was the owner of a wealthy fabric factory.
The young woman was wearing a pale pink long dress trimmed with lace. The lacy gloves and large, extremely decorative hat gave the look an additional expensive elegancy.
- I'm sorry to interrupt, I'm sure you're busy with some significant cases - miss Delacour sighed - but I may have another one for you...

It took me a moment to recognize the woman. She was a lady in her mid 20s. I knew she lived with her father in a mansion nearby.
Her name was Eleonore Delacour. Her family came from France and they had been rich for generations.

Mr Delacour - her father, was the owner of a wealthy fabric factory.
The young woman was wearing a pale pink long dress trimmed with lace. The lacy gloves and large, extremely decorative hat gave the look an additional expensive elegancy.
- I'm sorry to interrupt, I'm sure you're busy with some significant cases - miss Delacour sighed - but I may have another one for you...

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- Another lovely weekend has just flew away - I mumbled.
Sherlock sat up and took the pipe out of his mouth:
- How can we help a young lady?
She took a deep breath and continued...
- Strange things have been happening to me lately. At first I thought I was going mad, but now I know for sure it's not me. I think someone broke into my house, and stole my diamond earrings and the last piece of pizza I left for later!
- Were these earrings important to you in any way? - my partner asked.
- Yes! - she sobbed - They were the last thing left after my mother!
- Are you sure that none of the servants ate the pizza?
- I'm sure they didn't! I gave them an evening off and they went out.
Holmes took a puff of pipe, and continued:
- Was there anything unusual happening lately?
- Yes - she admitted - I noticed that a few things have been disappearing, I just thought I lost them somewhere, but the earrings were too important to ignore.
- Do you have any enemies?

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- No, not personally, but my father may. Not so long ago he confessed that someone had punctured his car tires!
I called Lestrade but he said it wasn't serious enough .
- Did you see anything going on around the house?
- Hmmm, about two weeks ago I heard my father bickering with somebody. When I asked him who the person was, he started shouting at me and hasn't spoken about it since then.

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- No, not personally, but my father may. Not so long ago he confessed that someone had punctured his car tires!
I called Lestrade but he said it wasn't serious enough .
- Did you see anything going on around the house?
- Hmmm, about two weeks ago I heard my father bickering with somebody. When I asked him who the person was, he started shouting at me and hasn't spoken about it since then.

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- Do you know who it was?
- No.. but he had a low voice...and strange accent.
- Alright, we can work with that. We will visit you tomorrow as we have some important work that has to be done and investigated. What do you think, Watson?
- I'm perfectly fine with that. - I replied.
- I agree and I hope you will find that person. Good afternoon. - Miss Delacour said while leaving the room.
- Good afternoon - me and Holmes answered.
- Shall we play a game of chess? - Holmes decided to change the topic.
- Great idea, indeed.

The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly.
The following morning we decided to pay a visit to the girl's mansion.
It was a building from the 18th century based on Luxborough Street, surrounded with a slightly over-grown garden.
The building itself was breath-taking, there were
spacious balconies and large windows, giving the interior a lot of the natural sunlight. Luxborough Street area was a really rich place. A lot of wealthy people lived here.

The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly.
The following morning we decided to pay a visit to the girl's mansion.
It was a building from the 18th century based on Luxborough Street, surrounded with a slightly over-grown garden.
The building itself was breath-taking, there were
spacious balconies and large windows, giving the interior a lot of the natural sunlight. Luxborough Street area was a really rich place. A lot of wealthy people lived here.

As soon as Holmes used the knocker, the main door got opened by the woman in her fifties. She appeared to be Miss McCarthy, a loyal servant that had been working for the Delacour family for a number of years.
We decided to start our investigation with her.
- Would you mind if I ask you a few questions? - Holmes began.
- Not at all – she replied politely.
- Well, could you tell us what you were doing the day before yesterday around 8 pm?
- Certainly, we were all out, Miss Delacour decided to give us an evening off...So nice of her – she added – since Paolo left, we have had even more tasks to deal with and...
- Who's Paolo if I may ask? - Holmes interrupted.
- Oh yes, he was our gardener, but he left a couple weeks ago after he had a quarrel with Mr Delacour.
- Do you know what it was about?
- I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect that Paolo wanted a pay rise. As far as I know, Mr Delacour refused and Paolo didn't turn up for work the following morning....Well I haven't seen him since then....But, on the other hand, he was a pretty lazy gentleman, he required some siesta from

2 pm until 5 pm and so on.....You know, Italians....
- Yes...- Holmes nodded and took a drag on his pipe.....
A while later Miss Delacour joined us and she pointed out one of the paintings hanging on the main hall walls.
- This is the painting of my dear mother – she said – if we take a few steps towards it, you'll see the earrings she was wearing. These were exactly the ones that disappeared that evening....

2 pm until 5 pm and so on.....You know, Italians....
- Yes...- Holmes nodded and took a drag on his pipe.....
A while later Miss Delacour joined us and she pointed out one of the paintings hanging on the main hall walls.
- This is the painting of my dear mother – she said – if we take a few steps towards it, you'll see the earrings she was wearing. These were exactly the ones that disappeared that evening....

- Good point, thank you – I replied.
- They look very expensive. I think it's worth a try asking in nearby jewellery shops. I suspect that the thief is planning to sell them to one of the goldsmiths. There is no point in wearing them, everyone would notice such a beautiful piece of jewellery.
- You may be right..You are my last hope, Mr Holmes – she sighed.
As the weather wasn't too bad we decided to take Gladstone for a walk while looking around in the jewellery shops in the neighbourhood. It didn't take long when I spotted a pair of similarily looking earrings in the shop window in Diamond Goldsmiths on Ulster Terrace Street.

-Do you remember who brought them in? – I asked the seller.
-Yes, of course, a man with an Italian accent. I remember him, he seemed to be in a hurry and didn't even mind when I offered a price much lower than they were worth.
-I think I know who we are

looking for, Watson. An Italian. Only he would want the pizza. – Holmes smiled - all we need to do is get back to Miss Dealcour and get Paolo's address.

An hour later we were standing in front of a small cottage knocking on the door. A tawny man slowly opened the door.
-Good afternoon, I'm detective Holmes and this is doctor Watson. Miss Delacour gave us your address. I think you have something to tell us.
-Yes – he sighed ashamed – That was me. I stole her earrings...
-Could you explain why?
-Yes... I asked Mr Dealcour for a pay rise as I couldn't afford any more than this tiny cottage, but instead, he told me to work overtime for free, otherwise he told me that he would fire me. I went to speak to him but he refused to pay me any more than I had before. I was furious so I personally sabotaged him by ruining his car tires and stealing those earrings. You know, I have to look after my wife and our six children. That's why I took what he owed me...