"Mad as a Hatter" Mystery
Sherlock Holmes and I, Dr. John Watson, were peacefully sitting in the room of 221b Baker Street. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I got up to answer it. Inspector Lestrade was at the door. He told us there was a man who had been murdered. Apparently, the man, Mac Donald, was pushed down the stairs where he died.
Holmes and I arrived at Mac’s little house. We observed the stairs and its surroundings. Two other people lived with him. They were the only suspects we had at the time. Both of them told us about Mac and their association with him. George McFlelor, on of the suspects, worked with Mac as a hatter. Karen Donald was Mac’s sister, but was the other suspect. Both gained from Mac’s death. Mac left both of them possessions that were given in his will.
While Holmes and I were investigating George and Karen for possible murderers of Mac, Mac’s body was in an autopsy. They were making sure that Mac’s cause of death was being pushed down the stairs. George and Karen seemed to be really nice. There were no signs of murderers. No clues came up. We did not find anything near the stairs. There was nothing in the rest of the rooms. We would stay there a lot, searching for proof to find the killer. George would go to work while Karen stayed at home working. The second day in the investigation, George came back just like the day before yet something was different. It seemed like he was going crazy. When Karen saw him, she had a worried look on her face. I asked her what was wrong.
“It’s just that he is acting the same way my brother did before he …….he died,” she answered.
Holmes and I were confused by what she was saying.
“What do you mean?” Holmes asked.
“Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you. Before Mac died, he started acting crazy, similar to the way George was acting just now. His hands also started to tremble.” Karen replied.
Holmes started to think as he walked away slowly. I followed him and asked him, “What do you think, Holmes?”
He replied after a few seconds of more thinking, “I think that we should go for a stroll.”
“Okay, Holmes,” I said.
We only went a few steps before Holmes started to talk.
“Do you know what the expression ‘mad as a hatter’ means?” Holmes asked me.
I replied, “Of course. It is the term used when hat makers, hatters, use mercury on fur to make hats. The workers would rub the fur with mercury, then do some more things such as steam it to give the hat the right shape. They would breathe in the mercury as they worked. They acted crazy and might even have hallucination, seeming to be mad.”
Holmes said, “Yes, that’s the expression I’m talking about.”
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Holmes spoke again.
“We need to know the results from the autopsy. Do we have them?” Holmes asked.
“Not yet, but they should be done. Do you want me to go get them and meet you back at the house?” I asked.
“That would be great. Thanks, Watson. I will see you back at Mac’s little house,” Holmes replied.
I left to get the results from the autopsy. Frankly, the results surprised me a ton. I left quickly to show the results to Holmes. When I got there, Holmes was in his room. I went to go get him and show him the results.
Holmes looked a little surprised and worried. Before I could say anything, Holmes ran out of the room and went down the stairs. I quickly went after him. I went looking and found him in the kitchen talking to Karen. When I got there, he was in the middle of a question.
“When did George leave?” Holmes asked.
“Early this morning,” Karen answered.
“When does he come back?” Holmes said.
“About 4:30,” Karen said.
“Before your brother died, did he ever go earlier than George or did he stay later than George?” Holmes asked.
“Just three days a week did he work more than George,” Karen replied.
Holmes started nodding his head as if he was agreeing to what he was thinking. After some silence in the room, I spoke up with a question of my own.
“Holmes, why did you ask these questions?” I asked.
“Watson, I think we have the wrong perspective on this case. I don’t think we have a murder on our hands. Remember the mad hatter expression?” Holmes asked.
“Of course. What about them?” I asked.
“Well, instead of Mac being murdered by a person, I think it was because of his job that he died.” Holmes said.
“If that is right than George is in danger of dying too.” I said.
“Exactly. The mercury we found in Mac will kill George too.” Holmes said.
“Oh, no. You have to go get him right now. Who knows when he is going to die? He can’t be exposed to more mercury. Go bring him back. I will make a bed for him.” Karen said.
Holmes and I went to the hat company where George worked as fast as we could. We got George and told his boss that he needed to be taken home for medical reasons. He let us go, but not without a fight. It seems he had George and Mac working with mercury in a new way to make the hats cheaper. Holmes told him to stop doing it.
When we arrived at the house, we laid George on the bed. He was going to be fine as long as he stopped working as a hatter. He would have to find another job when he got better and when he had no more symptoms.
We told Karen that he should stay in the house until he was better. Karen would take care of him and keep him safe. We told her that if she ran into trouble, she could always ask for our help.
Holmes and I went back to Holmes’s house. We stayed in the peaceful silence as we relaxed after solving the case of the man who died from mercury. Holmes started playing the soothing music of a violin. I listened to the sweet, beautiful sound in the house of 221b Baker Street.