Chapter One

The Problem

Meg: I know I said that I had no inspiration for another story. Well, this one is the result of a riddle-fest I had with Skye-chan. Although I am positive that Skye should be writing this one because (a.) she actually came up with this idea in the first place (b.) she knows so many more riddles than I do and (c.) she can actually solve riddles 99 percent of the time, unlike me who can solve them about 45 percent of the time. Oh well, you're stuck with me. Eve Titus and Disney own the Great Mouse Detective and all related characters. I own all other characters.
"Thomas Butler became rich from the steel industry in Pittsburgh. Started out with practically nothing, ended up marrying a lady of delicacy and becoming one of the richest mice in the country. By the time he was forty, he was able to retire and moved to England, where he and his wife started a family. They have two children, a girl of five and a boy of three.

"Last night Mrs. Butler went to bed around 10 o'clock. Her husband promised that he would be in bed in another hour. But when Mrs. Butler woke up at midnight, she discovered that he had not come to bed. She got up to find him, and found him in the children's nursery. When she tried to beckon him back to bed, he told her that he would be there shortly. Mrs. Butler fell asleep again. She woke up to a crash and her husband's voice crying, 'The children! The children!'

"The whole household was roused. They discovered that the cry came from the nursery. Mrs. Butler and Luther, the elderly butler, attempted to break the door down. Eventually the coachman and his son had to come up and chop the door down.

"They found Butler on the floor, with a wound to his head. He was unconscious. The children were gone."

This was the chilling tale Basil of Baker Street related to Dawson and I as we rode a train to Sussex. "Is it a kidnapping then?" Dawson asked. "A ransom note?"

"Yes. There was a note left on the little girl's bed. I believe it asked for the Eye of Diom in exchange for the two children's lives."

"The Eye of what?" I asked stupidly.

"A rare emerald discovered in the mines of Diom, India," Basil answered.

"Of course. They ask for some big fancy diamond-"

"Emerald," Basil corrected.

"Whatever. Why don't they ask for something simple, like one hundred thousand pound notes or something?"

"Creativity is a big part of the criminal's art, Meg."

"But," Dawson cut in, "the Eye of Diom has been missing for quite some time now. How would Butler have it unless he was a criminal himself?"

"We could ask Butler that, but I don't think he'd be up for it. He's been in a coma since last night due to trauma from the blow to his head."

"Is he going to recover?" Dawson asked.

Basil laughed grimly. "If he ever does, it does not look like he'd be in a position to relate anything of importance to us."

The Butler Manor was huge. It had everything from a massive garden to its own pond to a bell tower.

Mrs. Butler was a quiet and reserved person. She greeted us with a sense of self-possession, as if forbidding herself to worry over the fate of her children and the future of her husband.

"Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Basil," she said in a quietly grateful tone. "The local constable and some Mouseland Yard officials have been here, but they left to follow the trail left by the kidnappers."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Mrs. Butler, may I see the room where your husband was attacked and the children were abducted?"

"Certainly. Luther will lead the way."

The five of us went into the nursery. It was heart wrenching. Tables and chairs had been broken, as well as a small china tea set. There were a few dolls sitting on a chest in the corner, and a train set closer to the door. A trail of blood led from one of the beds to just a few paces away from the door. Basil merely glanced at all of this as he took out his power lenses and began a thorough examination of the room.

Dawson left the room. Curious, I followed him. Outside, in the hall, the ransom note had been left on a table. It was a page torn from a Bible, of all things: the last chapter of Revelation. In the margin on the side a note had been scrawled demanding for the Eye of Diom.

Dawson was squinting at it, trying to adopt Basil's methods of deduction. "1,569," Dawson muttered, looking at the page number.

I peered more closely at the page too. "Last chapter of Revelation..." I said quietly.

"King James' Version," Basil piped in, appearing at my shoulder.

I jumped. "Aren't you supposed to be searching the room, Mister Basil?"

"Saw all I needed to see."

"What did you find?"

"Only that the Mouseland Yard officials and local force have followed a trail to a train station, as I have asked this good man out here," he said, motioning to the guard in the hallway. "So I believe we can leave them to their little goose chase. Mrs. Butler," he continued, turning to the poor woman, "may I ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly," she said softly.

"In private, please?"

She nodded, and silently took us to a study at the end of the hall.

"Mrs. Butler, when did you first meet Mr. Butler?"

"About eight years ago. I had gone to a gathering in Philadelphia with my father. He was so polite to me."

"Pardon me asking a few personal questions, but what did you know about him at that time?"

"Well, I knew that he was very successful in the steel industry."

"Anything about his connections?"

"No."

"What about when you were married? What did you know about him?"

Mrs. Butler seemed to regard Basil with a little suspicion. "I knew that he loved to ice skate and enjoyed a good pipe and was undeniably generous to any person that asked anything of him. He has a long list of charities, Mr. Basil, that he donates money to each year. My husband is a good man!"

"Unquestionably so," Basil said quickly. "I only ask these questions to form an opinion as to what kind of man your husband is. Mrs. Butler, do you know what the Eye of Diom is?"

"Yes."

"Why do you suppose the kidnappers asked you for it?"

She sighed. "Mouseland Yard asked me the same question. I do not know. As far as I am concerned, we have no way of obtaining it. And that is where I am so worried, Mr. Basil. What is going to happen to Rose and Michael if we cannot get this jewel for them? And who would want to hurt my children?"

"That is precisely what I am going to find out. Do you believe that Mr. Butler had somehow gained possession of the Eye of Diom?"

Mrs. Butler seemed to be very confused. "I... don't know... but... is it possible?" she said more to herself than to us. Her eyes widened.

We waited patiently for her to say something. "No. Of course not."

"Are you sure?" Dawson persisted.

"Why would he have a stolen emerald?" Mrs. Butler said a bit louder.

"Mrs. Butler, it is essential to know if he has it."

"And besides, it has not been proven that the Eye was stolen," Dawson added.

I had held my tongue up to this point. When Mrs. Butler denied that her husband had anything to do with the jewel, I interrupted, "What is more important, protecting your husband from a crime or saving the lives of your children?"

I had hit a sensitive spot. Mrs. Butler gave me an incredulous look. And then her expression changed to relief.

"Mr. Basil, Dr. Dawson, I do not know if my husband has anything to do with this emerald, but if he does, then I shall help you in any way I can to find it."

Basil gave me a grateful look. I smiled back.

Mrs. Butler went to a safe hidden behind a portrait. "This is my husband's personal safe. If he had anything to hide, it would be in here. I never use the safe myself, but I know the combination in case of emergencies." She set the combination and opened the safe. I peered over Basil's shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of an enormous emerald or something else, but instead, my eyes met a huge pile of papers.

Mrs. Butler gasped. She held up a large sealed letter. It was addressed to My Dearest Danielle. I assumed that Danielle was her name.

Basil and Dawson searched the safe while Mrs. Butler read her letter. She had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Basil and Dawson stopped what they were doing.

"There is no need to look in the safe anymore," Mrs. Butler said quite unnecessarily. She handed the letter to Basil.

He took it and read it through twice.

The he read it out loud for Dawson and I.

Meg: This is not one of my typical stories. And I have a major writing block on Chapter Two. I had had this chapter written for practically three weeks now, but decided to post it up now. Just bear with me as I try to get everything straightened out. I promise to finish it, but it might take awhile.