The Benefits of Lucas Montemayor

Irene's Point of View It's been days since my father was buried and yet, I'm still yearning for him. Especially the times when I would go home and he would welcome me with his sweet smile while holding a script so we could start practicing my acting skills. It's not that easy, because I need to memorize long dialogues. But my father died when I needed his help memorizing the script. Everything started when a mysterious someone sent me a death threat, saying that I should back out from the role of portraying Irene Adler— the woman in the story who caught Sherlock's interest. I have hunches about who sent me these threats, but I don't have enough evidence for it. And besides, I need to know who was behind my father's death. “Your father committed suicide,” the police said while looking at the marks around my father's neck. My father is jolly, and I can't believe that this is a case of suicide, plus he planned to go to my rehearsal today. “That's unlikely! My father planned to go to my rehearsal!” I shouted. They didn't talk to me and just brought my father to the morgue. I was about to go after them when I slipped and saw the horizontal markings on my father's neck. “What are you doing? Stand up!” a police officer said. Someone helped me stand up. I couldn't do anything but think about what happened to my father. “Irene! You need to focus. The show's near yet I can't feel that you're into this play,” Director Smith said. If I continue to be like this, Sera will likely take my place. I sighed and tried to focus on the play, but I always fail. “Okay, let's take a break first,” Director Smith shouted and walked towards me. “Irene, I know that you're still sad about what happened to your father, but I think focusing on the play will do good for you. Your father doesn't want the play to fail because of him, right?” Director Smith asked. I nodded. I think I really should not think about the things that make me sad yet. When I entered my dressing room, I saw red roses that weren't there before. Maybe the janitress placed these here. My gaze went to the white envelope. “You can't focus on the play. Maybe you should just let go of the role or else, I will sabotage it!” I sighed. Another threat again. When will this end? How many threats did I already receive? Five? Six? Will I still get death threats next time? Or a real death? I went to the play, anxious. “Another death threat?” Celes asked. I only nodded. She whispered to me, “Maybe you should consult Lucas Montemayor. I heard that can solve cases with just one look at it,” she said. Maybe I really need to consult a detective so I would be safe on our play. After the rehearsal, I hid the death threats I always see in my dressing room. I quickly went outside but Sierra stopped me. “Where are you going, Irene?” she asked. She's the sidekick in the roleplay, and just like me, she also auditioned for Irene Adler's role. “I will just buy coffee in Starbucks.” I smiled sweetly at her and went out. I went to Starbucks first because someone texted me that I should go there. I waited for minutes when two men wearing glasses caught my attention. They're wearing an all-black outfit, too. My eyes widened when they sat next to my chair while I'm sipping my cappuccino. “Well, Sebastian and Jack at your service, Ms. Beautiful,” he said and they took off their shades. Sebastian's skin is fair, and his brown eyes match his face. While Jack's white hair matches his black eyes. “Irene Cassel,” I said and accepted their hands for a shake. “What do you need?” I asked and sipped my cappuccino. “Well, you're going to Sherlock Holmes right?” they asked that shocked me. I didn't say this to anyone. “Don't panic. It's obvious because of these death threats,” Jack said and took out the death threats inside my bag. I checked my bag and they're gone. How did they get those? “If you're wondering how to let me remind you what happened a while ago,” Sebastian said and smiled at me. I nodded and started eating the classic chocolate cake that I ordered. “Earlier, while you're about to come here, you bumped with someone and that was me. You didn't notice that the things on your bag fell because you were finding something earlier. Jack entered the scene and helped you with your things. You didn't notice because I texted you and you panicked so you wouldn't see what Jack gave to you. That's why we were able to get some of the death threats that were sent to you,” Sebastian stated. Oh, I remember. Earlier, someone bumped me. “Then, what do you need exactly? And how did you get my number?” I asked. “That's the thing you need to find out,” Jack said and winked at me. “Just tell me, I'm not fond of solving mysteries,” I said to them. One of them stood up and gave me a white envelope. “Don't tell me this is a death threat?” I asked and they laughed. “Not all white envelopes are death threats, Irene. Just think that it was our boss' help to you,” he said. What? Boss? What help? “And what kind of help will this envelope make?” I asked. I'm starting to get curious about what's inside this envelope. “Just show that to Lucas Montemayor and he will surely accept your case.” That's what Sebastian said earlier while I was walking to the road towards the address indicated on the map. This will show me the way to 225 Apartment Street. I was about to press the doorbell when a child bumped into me. She was holding a paper. “I'm sorry, miss,” she said. She was so cute in her little dress. I sat and looked at what she's holding. “What's that, kid?” I asked. She showed it to me. “Oh, this? This is a riddle my uncle gave to me,” she said, excited while showing me the riddle. A boy and his father got into a car accident. When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor saw the boy and exclaimed “that’s my son!” How can this be? I also saw choices. “A. Father. B. Neighbor. C. None of the choices,” she read. I thought about it. I eliminated the father of the child, because how will he treat his child when he's in the accident, too? I also eliminated the neighbor. Because she said that the child was hers. If that's the case, then he had a relationship with the father of the child. But it's not on the clues. “C is the answer,” I said while smiling at her when I solved the riddle. “If that's the case, then what's the answer?” she asked and happily took the ballpen from her pocket. “His mother. Because the two choices were impossible. If we will look on the other side, we will know that it's his mother, because we only have two parents, right?” I answered but she frowned. “But I have three parents. Uncle Lucas, Mommy, and Daddy,” she said scratching her head. I laughed when she ran upstairs. “Wait,” I said while following her. When I'm finally up, I saw a living room. Three men are talking. One was wearing an inspector-like attire. The man in front of him was holding a gun. He's wearing the cloth Sherlock Holmes' portrayer wore in the play. Maybe this is Lucas Montemayor. “Uncle! I solved your riddle!” she said while laughing and explained her answer. “Obviously. But for 10 minutes, that was quick, isn't it? Because you weren't the one who answered the riddle. Is that right, Ms. Irene?” he asked. Everyone looked at me. How did he find out? “How did you find out?” That was the first question that came out of my mouth. He stood up. “It's nice to meet the living Irene Adler,” the man behind Lucas said. His hair was blonde. Maybe this is Johnny Reyes, Lucas' assistant. “It's just simple. When she has gone down to find someone to teach her, you're outside trying to press the doorbell. But the door suddenly opened. You and she bumped into each other. Besides, this is Sapphire's hair. When you kneeled in front of her, you talked to her and saw the paper and got bothered with it,” he said while looking at me. How did he know about that? I was shocked when Sapphire spoke, she was beside Lucas. “But, Uncle, you said that you'd give me chocolate if I solved your riddle?” she asked, trying not to burst into tears. Lucas sighed and gave her a candy that was on the table. “They were just the same. They both have sugar content,” Lucas said. I laughed slightly. Well, he's right about that, but Sapphire looked like she won't back down. “But this is not what I want,” she said. I quickly looked for a bar of chocolate in my bag and gave it to her. “Thank you, Ms. Irene,” she said, smiling. I always bring chocolate because it relaxes me whenever I can't memorize my script. My eyes shifted back to Lucas who was busy with his gun. “How could you say that you're right with your deduction? It's possible that the hair fell on me,” I answered. He only faced me. “Because I'm Lucas Montemayor. If you're asking about your case, I'm happy to say that it didn't catch my attention. Now, Johnny, can you show Ms. Irene the way outside?” he asked and sat on the chair. My mouth went agape. So this means that he didn't accept my case? “Lucas, that was fast. I will just get some coffee for her. Larry, you can go now. I thought you have a case to attend to? Ms. Irene, please sit down and explain your vase to Lucas,” he said. Lucas stopped him. “No need, I already know her case. She doesn't need coffee because she already had her cappuccino in Starbucks. She also ate a classic chocolate cake. If you're asking for the evidence, it's on her hair. She didn't notice that her hair made contact with her cake because she was busy talking to Sebastian,” he said and I clapped my hands. It's like he already knew everything with just one look. “Well, well, Ms. Beautiful, if Lucas will not accept your case, you're free to report to me,” the man wearing an inspector's attire said. I took my hand when he suddenly kissed it. “I didn't introduce myself. I'm Inspector Larry, Lucas' best friend,” he jolly said when Johnny interrupted. “When did you become Lucas' friend? Leave, Larry, before you could even steal our client.” “Lucas didn't accept her, right?” He was about to answer again when Johnny spoke. “I'll just leave you, two,” Johnny said. The three of them left and now that Lucas and I were alone, I feel awkward. “Can you just hear me out?” I said with my voice shaking. He only looked at me and slowly neared his face to mine. I feel nervous. I just closed my eyes. If he will kiss me then that's fast. Especially that it's my first kiss that he will steal. “What are the benefits I will get if I will accept your case?” he whispered. His breaths gave tickles to my ear.