HOW HE TRAPPED A STALKER

SHERLOCK and I had been together for several years when we took on one high-profile case, where a campaign of stalking had culminated in a terrifying incident: the stalker broke into the victim’s home and lit a fire.

Police were afraid that lack of evidence would prevent them from charging the arrested suspect. A mobile had been seized. Detectives thought that, if an accelerant had been used to start the fire, there might be traces on the phone. Sherlock and I were dispatched to the station. The phone was placed on a chair, and the moment Sherlock entered the room his body language changed.

He was up on his hind legs like a meerkat, studying the mobile. He looked at me, then at the phone, then back to me.

It was a positive indication. There was a trace of an ignitable fluid, and the phone could be placed at the scene of the crime by phone mast records. Thanks to Sherlock, the police had their culprit.