Sorry about it being Thurs! I forgot! But here it is!!! Enjoy!!!

The Case of the Mysterious Shooter

Jan 4^th, 1906

Holmes received a telegraph from his good friends , Mr. & Mrs. James McGregor today. It read;

Dear Sherlock Homes,

Lillian and I would be most happy if you would join us on Saturday the 5^th in Countworth, Norway. For we have not seen each other in twelve years. Please bring any relative or close friend of your choosing. We will look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

James & Lillian McGregor

"I say Holmes that sound interesting. Are you going?"

"Looking over all of the circumstances, and the fact they said, ‘We will look forward to seeing you,’ I can undoubtably say, yes Watson."

"Wonderful," said I. "But your companion?"

"But of course you will join me, Watson."

"I would be delighted to, Holmes. What time should I meet you and where?"

"6:00 at the Coombe Tracey station. Dress warmly. Norway is very cold."

At 6:00 the next morning I met Holmes at the Coombe Tracey station. I was carrying my umbrella to keep from getting wet that dreary morning. I wove my way through the crowd of people heading for the 2^nd class seats. I met Holmes in the gift shop.

"Holmes.........I started, but was interrupted by the conductor who yelled ‘all aboard!’"

I tried again, "Holmes what is your plan?"

"We take the train from Redhill to Romford. Then we take the train from Romford to Convey Island. We then board the Nocken steamer and arrive at exactly 13:00:00 in Berrefjord. It takes 15 minutes to join the McGregors in Countworth," he said as he walked to the 1^st class seats.

At 3:00 we rode a trap into Countworth. We hoped off in center town, and started our walk towards house #43 on Link Lane. On the way, Holmes stopped in a pottery shop to buy a gift for Mrs. McGregor. A little while later we entered the McGregor’s home. They warmly greeted us, and we soon felt at home.

"How was your ride up, Holmes?" questioned James.

"Fine, although the weather was terrible," Holmes answered.

"James,’ said Lillian, ‘I’m sure you have lots to catch up on, but it’s almost 11:00 o’ clock. I think it’s time to go to bed."

"Yes of course,’ replied James. ‘Dr. Watson, do you like to participate in athletics?"

"Why I never thought of it, but yes, I suppose I do."

"If you want there is a biathlon in three days. Doesn’t give you much time to train but, you can compete if you like. All you do is snowshoe 25 miles carrying a gun, then shoot at three targets with a muzzleloader. You sleep there and then snowshoe 19 more miles to the finish. What say you?"

"What a fantastic plan. I love snowshoeing. I’ll see you at the finish line on Tuesday then."

Three days later I was lined up at the starting line waiting for the gun to fire. James, Lillian, and Holmes were talking on the sidelines. I wondered what they were saying. Pop!!!! But wait, that wasn’t the pistol, it was something else.

"Help!!!!! Hue Carnil’s been shot.

I quickly looked towards the sidelines, searching for Holmes. He wasn’t there. I saw the McGregors headed for the large striped tent. I quickly followed. There in the middle of the tent, laying on a cot, was Hue Carnil. While the doctor was inspecting Hue, I found Holmes in the crowd. He was asking questions to those whom were nearest Hue, I suspect. The crowd grew silent as the doctor announced Hue Carnil would not be participating in the biathlon.

The crowd dispersed little by little, until there were only a few people left. I walked over to Holmes to ask if he had noticed anything of interest. I had been so distracted by getting a head start, I hadn’t noticed anything.

"Holmes, did you pick up anything?" I asked.

"Yes, I can definitely narrow it down to a person participating in the biathlon. I overheard that Hue Carnil is a very well trained runner, so there are those who are jealous of him. They would do a lot to make their chances greater of winning. But to shoot him.... that takes more than jealousy, it takes a grudge, or something even worse. You keep yours ears and eyes open, Watson. Report to me daily."

I left the tent to see if they were going to go ahead and start the race now. They were, so I lined up at my station, #13. In a few minutes they fired the pistol and off we were. It was a long time before we finally reached the shooting range. I scored 13 out of 15 in the muzzleloader range. After everyone was done shooting, we set up tent for the night.

Dinner was quite filling. Carved caribou with a side of either mashed potatoes, fries, or applesauce. I managed to receive all three! I went to my bedding place to eat, and overheard a discussion right outside my side of the tent.

"So, you say Dr. Watson is in on this spy-trip," the voice whispered.

"Yes, he’s with Holmes. Tell the gang not to say anything to him. We don’t want him to get suspicious. That’s all we need. Tell everybody to meet at Death Man’s Cave at midnight. Tell ‘um to be smart about it too. Sneak out five minutes after each other."

"Right Steve. I’ll spread the word."

"Sue, I told you to call me Stout."

"Sorry, just a mishap. It won’t happen again."

I almost dropped my plate but fortunately caught it. How was I going to tell Holmes? He wouldn’t know until morning. I could pay the washerman extra if he delivered it tonight. I walked over to the kitchen.

"You, washer. Here’s my plate. Oh, and I’ll pay you 1 pound if you deliver this note to Mr. Sherlock Holmes at house #34 Link Lane tonight," I said.

"Only for 2 and a half pounds," he answered.

"Two," I said. "My final offer."

"Done. I’ll deliver it immediately."

I fell asleep waiting to go to Death Man’s Cave, and when I woke up in the morning was quite upset. I cursed myself. How could I have fallen asleep. Now the mystery will never be solved. I managed to eat breakfast in spite of it all. Bacon, eggs, home fries, and pancakes helped cheer me up though.

I walked outside to suit up for the last leg of the journey. At ten o’ clock we started off for the finish. I came in 27^th place. It wasn’t bad considering that there were fifty competitors. I walked over to Holmes and the McGregors after returning my equipment.

"Congratulations Watson,"cried Holmes.

"For what," I answered. "I came in 27^th. There is no prize or honor for that."

"But there is for 1^st. You better go claim your trophy."

"I tell you Holmes, I came in nearly last. How could I have won?"

"You sent me the note about Steve."

"How did you get it? You shouldn’t have gotten it until this morning."

"I took up the job of washer man. How could I leave you to explain the clues? I went to Death Man’s Cave and found out some history, along with why they wanted Mr. Carnil out of the race. Everyone was jealous that Mr. Carnil was winning the race every year. So they thought that if they just shot him in the foot it wouldn’t be that much damage, no one would be caught, and they would win. I let the judges and police know ahead of time. They should be safely in questioning right now. The gang was a group of 27 men. You came in 27^th place. So you move up to first, and everything works out for almost everybody. Enough talk, let’s go celebrate Watson’s victory at the best restaurant in town. Mrs. McGregor."

So that was our exciting time we had in Norway. I still have the trophy I received for winning, the first I have ever had won. I must leave for it is time for dinner. It was a great and memorable trip. I will never forget.

I hope ya'll liked it!!!

~M

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