by Sam Hearn
Scholastic Children’s Books
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2016
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2016
Text copyright © Sam Hearn, 2016
The right of Sam Hearn to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted by him.
eISBN 978 1407 17024 4
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Produced in the UK by CPI
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues
are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely
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SHERLOCK HOLMES
Big brain or big-head? We’ll see.
Most likely to ... who knows?
He’s such a mystery.
JOHN WATSON
The new kid in school. Loves
writing, drawing, eating biscuits
and drinking hot chocolate.
Most likely to ... be a doctor –
maybe!
MARTHA HUDSON
A class leader. Funny and super
confident.
Most likely to ... succeed at
EVERYTHING!
JAMES MORIARTY
Sherlock’s nemesis... He’s
annoying, selfish and always where
you don’t want him to be.
Most likely to ... take over the
world.
MARTIN & HENRY BAKER
Twin brothers whose dad is a DI
at Scotland Yard!
Most likely to ... follow in their
father’s footsteps and become
a crime-fighting duo.
DAZ
Loses everything! Yes, everything.
Most likely to ... become a life
coach (when he finally sorts
himself out).
BART
John’s old pal from primary
school days. Fresh-faced, friendly
and super cool.
Most likely to ... become a
graphic designer.
MR GAPP
The coolest teacher in the school.
Making learning fun since FOR
EVER!
Most likely to ... go down in
Baker Street history.
BASKERVILLE
The coolest doggy detective ever!
He can sniff out a custard cream
a mile off.
Most likely to ... get belly rubs.
London.
Sherlock!
Keep up,
Watson!
Sherlock!
Typical Sherlock. He’s always
a few steps ahead.
Somewhere off
Baker Street.
Always chasing the
next lead.
I know,
Baskerville
I’m going as
fast as I can.
WOOF!
Where are
we going
anyway?
Trouble is, once Sherlock
gets going, there’s just
no stopping him.
He’s like a bloodhound
on a scent!
You better
stay here,
Baskerville.
Well, I don’t mind a bit
of adventure. I mean,
who would?
You’ll see,
Watson.
I’m going
where the
clues lead...
Where the
adventure
takes us...
Now hurry
up!
Trouble is, once Sherlock
gets going, there’s just
no stopping him.
I just had no idea how
crazy it would be...
Or what sort of trouble
we’d end up in...
THE GAME
IS AFOOT!
1
1
JOHN WATSON
Likes: reading, writing, doodling.
Wants to be a doctor. Maybe!
Adventure… Craziness… Trouble… It wasn’t
always like that though. At least not before I
met Sherlock Homes, I mean. I should probably
start somewhere near the beginning, otherwise
this is going to get a bit confusing!
My name’s John. John Watson. Yep, that’s
me up there with the glasses and the goofy
grin. To be honest, my first day at Baker
Street Academy was a bit nerve-wracking!
I’d been away for what seemed like my whole
life, and I could only remember little bits and
pieces from the last time I was in London and
going to a proper school like this… But, yep,
there I was, the completely, obviously sticking-
out “new boy” with no friends – totally nervous,
a little bit excited and to make it even worse…
2
Ah! John Watson.
You’re rather late.
We were expecting
you this morning.
Uh-oh! That’s Mrs Cavendish, my new head
teacher. She seemed pretty annoyed with me.
It’s probably not the best way to start my
first day at a new school. Oops!
I went bright red and got all
embarrassed, but luckily Mrs
Cavendish got nicer pretty
quickly. She must have felt sorry
for me or something.
Mrs Cavendish introduced me
to my new teacher, Ms DeRossi.
Then the secretary, Mrs
Staveley, gave me some new
workbooks to start me off
in my studies. I thought Mrs
Cavendish would send me
straight to class after that,
but instead she said that one
of the other students was
going to come and show me
around a bit.
“Ah, Martha, there you
are. This is our new arrival,
John Watson. I thought you
might like to show him the
ropes a bit today as he
gets settled in.”
- Knock, knock -
(This is Martha. Confident smile and mischievous eyes.)
&n
bsp; Hi, John. Pleased
to meet you!
Welcome to
Baker Street
Academy.
A good start, right? Yeah, I thought so too,
but then she grinned cheekily
and whispered, “Nice shade of
red you’ve gone there!” Oh no.
I’m doomed! This is going to be
me every day for the rest of my
life…
Way to start
your first day,
John!
Don’t they have
alarm clocks
where you come
from? Hehe.
S’all right, John, I’m just
messing with you. Come on,
I’ll take you to meet a good
friend of mine.
Hi, Amber!
Hi,
Martha!
Cool. Good
to meet you,
John!
I know, I know.
I’ve always
had a bit of
a lateness
problem.
Mum’s always joking that I was late for my own
birth, so I’m probably double doomed. What can
I say?
Martha smiled and gave me a friendly nudge, then
we strolled our way through the school corridors.
This is John.
He’s new.
All right,
Martha?
Hey,
Martha!
Coming
for some
lunch?
How’s it
going?
Hey,
Martha
Hi, Emily.
Hi, Daz.
I’m good,
thanks!
“He’s always losing stuff,”
whispered Martha as we
passed them by. “It’s
so funny!”
I’m showing
John around. I’ll
catch you guys
later.
Martin and Henry
are brothers. Their
dad’s a policeman –
Hi, Martin!
Hi, Henry!
like, some
super-cool
detective or
something.
7
Cool. See
you later
then.
Hello, Martha. Hello,
John. Always nice
to meet a new face
at Baker Street
Academy!
I’ll look
forward to
seeing you in
class, young
man.
Hey, Nisha! Hi, Ems!
Nah, I’ll see you
later.
Oh, hi, Mr
Gapp. This is
John. He’s new
here today.
Just then, a cool-looking teacher came out of a
classroom in front of us.
“Always pays to be on the
good side of the teachers,”
added Martha as he walked
away. “That’s Mr Gapp – he’s
one of the best.”
I’m on new-
kid duties. This
is John.
Nice to
meet you,
John!
8
So Martha seems pretty cool! Even if she
did like to make fun of me a bit! She’s totally
funny and super confident, and from what I
can tell, she knows pretty much everybody in
the whole school, even the teachers!
“Hey, there’s Bart,” Martha pointed at
a fresh-faced boy heading our way.
“Hi, Bart, this is John.”
Oh, wow. Talk about weird! I can’t believe I
(literally) bumped into somebody at school
that I knew already! Bart was one of my best
friends from when I was young. Martha really
does know everybody!
BART!!!
JOHN!
Bart! Wow, that’s amazing. I
haven’t seen you since we were
at Stamford Primary.
SHERLOCK?
Yep.
’Fraid so!
Yeah! That’s a long story…
Mum and Dad are doctors. Dad works in the
armed forces, so we’ve moved around a lot!
We’ve lived in all sorts of places – England,
Scotland, Germany, Spain – I don’t remember
all of them though. I was probably too young.
I’ve just been in the Middle East, ’cos Dad was
out in Afghanistan.
I know! It’s crazy!
Where have you been
then, John? My mum said
you’d moved away.
Wow! Cool. So
now you’re the
new boy then?
You’ll like it here. It’s
pretty good fun at Baker
Street Academy. Hey –
talking of fun, have you
met Sherlock yet?
Ha ha! Exactly! You
should see what’s
happening in the science
room … Catch you guys
later.
Ha! No, he
hasn’t. I’m
saving the best
bit till last.
10
“Who’s Sherlock?” I asked
as we left Bart and carried
on to wherever it was Martha
was taking me.
Yeah, I know… I thought Martha was talking to me
there for a minute as well. But it turns out that
the school even has a dog! How cool is that?!
Martha said he belongs to the
caretaker, Mr Musgrave, and
his wife, but he’s allowed to go
pretty much wherever he wants
by the looks of it! Martha said
she gets to take him for walks
sometimes too.
He’s the good friend of mine
I mentioned – you’ll like him!
Come on!
Ahh. There’s a good boy!
There’s a good good boy.
Come on, Mr Furry Pants!
Who’s a Mr Fluffy Trousers
then?
BASKERVILLE
THIS IS
We gave him a good fuss for a few minutes
until he ran off woofing after some other dog
adventure, then Martha took me along to the
science block to meet this mysterious friend of
hers…
We’d barely got through the classroom door
when a voice called out from the far side of
the room...
Martha!
You’re just in time.
WOOF!
WOOF!
12
SHERLOCK GIVES A
DEMONSTRATION
2
13
Hi, Sherlock. Just in time
for what?
“Yes! Sherlock,
this is J—”
That’s exactly what I was thinking… As
we walked into the science room I could barely
see a thing, there was so much smoke and mist
everywhere. An excited face appeared out of the
haze and then the boy that it belonged to came
running towards us waving a test tube in his hand.
For this! I’ve
done it.
No, wait! Don’t tell me.
J … James … no, John
… Watson. Yes! How
are you, John?
It’s the
perfect result.
Oh, I see
you’ve brought
a friend with
you…
Ha! Never
mind that. It’s
obvious.
I’m all right,
thanks.
Wait, hang on
a minute – how
did you know my
name?!
14
Sherlock was smiling and
looking me up and down
like I was another science
experiment.
You had a long flight yesterday,
I take it? Mmm-hmm. Plenty of
time for writing and drawing
in your journal. Had a bit of
trouble finding us too, I see -
the roadworks, I suppose. No
wonder you were late today!
So this is Sherlock, I thought to myself… Martha’s
good friend and possibly some sort of super-
brained mind reader! Something weird was going
on here… Better just try to play it cool.
“Er … yeah. Nice to
meet you, Sherlock. Is
that … blood?”
I pointed to the test tube he was clutching. It
had some suspicious dark crimson liquid in it.
Sherlock’s face lit up and he burst out laughing.
15
Ah. Well, never mind.
Hot chocolate’s more your thing,
I see. Yes. And croissants. You’ve
had two already this morning!
Almond and chocolate.
Ha ha! Blood! It’s mostly raspberry,
John. That and a few other special
ingredients. I’ve been working on
the perfect base for an ice-cold
treat. A bit of help from Mr Spice’s
chemistry supplies and I’d say you
won’t find a better smoothie this
side of Oxford Street! Would you
like to try?
Martha started laughing too. That
explained the room full of mist
then! I wondered if this was
what Martha meant when she
said she was saving the best
bit till last.
“No, thanks,” I said
nervously. “I’ve already had my
breakfast.”
Sherlock smiled, put the test tube
down on the desk nearby
and brushed his hands off.
16
And if I’m not mistaken,
you are particularly fond
of biscuits.
Ha! Of
course they
do, John!
Yes! Custard creams
to be precise.
Hey, that’s
not fair!
Everyone
likes biscuits,
don’t they?!
Come on.
All this talk
of biscuits
is making me