The Competition

Jack had waited all day long and it was finally his turn. An old man with a cane in his hand, and a lady who was in a wheelchair were eyeing him. The man sighed out loud, but the woman had a smile on her face as she gestured him to follow behind him.

"Watson, I am sure that this young gentleman here will be able to pass the examination. But before that, would you like to have a tour of this place?", she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"You say that sentence every time, Mrs. Hudson. But look at what happened every time you said that? They haven't answered even one of his questions on the test", he said with disappointment evident on his face.

Jack thought the two of them were a couple at first, but later learned the fact that they were a Watson and Hudson. He was tempted to hear their name and who they were, and he asked the question immediately.

A laugh was all he got as an answer. They thought that Jack would have guessed who they were by now, but when they saw his face and saw obliviousness written all over it, Watson lost all hope of finding a tenant fit for the house.

"Maybe I should have not followed the will and just sold the house to the Holmes. They offered a decent amount of money", he thought as he looked at the long line of people that were still standing and waiting, hoping that they would be the one to live in the legendary 221B.

Jack was ushered into a room, and there was a piece of paper on a desk. There was nothing else around him, and the only source of light was a table lamp. No windows and the only door inside was guarded by two men armed with a rifle.

"Wow, such tight security. I am sure that if anyone tried to break inside, they would be shot on the spot", thought Jack as he looked around. Adjusting his glasses, he entered into the room, and was locked on the outside. There was a speaker in the corner of the room, and Watson's voice came through it.

"The rules of this test are as follows. You will not be allowed to draw any diagrams on paper, and you shall answer every question within 100-150 words. Anything longer than that shall be not considered as an answer".

"Once you sit on the chair, a bomb will be activated. You will have a time limit of 1 hour and thirty minutes to finish the test. If you fail, you will be hit with sleeping gas and will fail the exam by default".

"I'll think of it as dying", thought Jack as he listened to the announcement with keen interest. The test was much harder than he thought, and he felt the pressure getting to him. He began to take deep breaths and calm himself down.

"Once you have completed the test, you are to press the buzzer on the top right corner of the table, and you will be escorted into the waiting room. We will let you know in a few minutes if you have passed the test".

"I wish you good luck, and may God be with you", finished the announcement.

Jack began to think as he walked towards the desk. He hadn't taken a seat yet, and he was standing next to the desk. He didn't want to sit, as he knew that would trigger the bomb that was tied to the chair.

"What if I try this?", he thought as he picked up the paper and pen, and sat on the floor. He placed his hand on the lamp and felt a slight surge of electricity course through him.

"Seems like it's sit, or find a way to bypass the test rules. Mr. Sherlock is one that doesn't live by the rules, and if he made rules, it must mean that he wants us to break it", he smiled as he looked back at the table.

He laid on the floor, and began to look at the bomb that was tied to the chair. It was a bomb that would only activated after a certain amount of weight is placed on it. On a yellow note, he found the weight that was required for it to activate.

"500 grams to activate? It seems small, but I wonder where I will find something of that weight?", he thought as he looked around the room. It was dark, and his eyes were slowly getting accustomed to the darkness around him.

"They even took away my cell phone from me. I would have been able to use the torch at this moment", he mumbled as he peered into the darkness. he saw the outline of an object, and he slowly reached out for it.

"It seems heavy enough to activate the bomb", he thought as he looked back at the chair. After walking towards it, he placed it on the chair, and he heard a beep.

He quickly slid under the chair and picked out his trusty pocket knife that he kept with him at all times. Multiple wires were going in and out, and he was confused as to which one he should cut.

"Let me see, there is blue, red, green, and black. Now, why are there four colors? Why would he use four colors instead of the traditional three? The puzzle must be here somewhere, and the timer is running down", he thought as he came back up.

He tried to turn the lamp, but got the same electrocution as last time. "If the light is only supposed to be here, and pointing this way, is there something on the desk?', he thought as he looked at it.

There was no carving or such on it, and he was disappointed at first. He remembered that Sherlock liked puzzles, and if this was a puzzle made by him, then the light must have been a misdirection.

He quickly went under the desk, and what he was made his eyes go wide. He didn't expect that he would find something like that under the desk.

"This is a map of the room that we are currently in. If what this map says is true, then the diagram of the bomb must be on the right wall", he thought as he got up and began to feel around with the tip of his fingers.

"I got it!", he exclaimed as he ran back to the chair, and closed his eyes, and began to feel around again. The beeping was annoying, but he used his memory and the feeling of touch and found the wire that needed to be cut.

"I hope it is the right one", he thought as he cut the wire quickly. The beeping intensified at first, but after a few seconds, it was silent. Jack opened his eyes and saw that he was still breathing, and was in the same room.

"I did it!", he exclaimed as he sat on the chair to begin his test.