If you've ever read the Disney comic, "The Sideshow Sea Beast", you'll know that Fidget reforms and befriends Olivia, after the events of "The Great Mouse Detective", and that they often, accompanied by Toby, solve mysteries of their own. Olivia, narrating the comic, mentions that before the case of the "Sideshow Sea Beast", they've already had a good deal of such adventures, but she doesn't go into details on them. This is my look at what they might be, starting with my interpretation of what's going on in that scene we are shown at the beginning, where Olivia and Fidget are running from that ghost in the graveyard, and how that might have come about.

It was a sunny Saturday morning, and Olivia Flaversham, not having school or Church to occupy her time, was off to visit the residence of Basil of Baker Street. Since she and her father, Hiram, had returned from Scotland after the hols, she found herself visiting the detective's flat every Saturday, without fail. She loved meeting up with the famous detective and his kindly assistant, Dr. Dawson, not to mention their jovial landlady Mrs. Judson, and her new assistant, Fidget.*

Today, when Olivia arrived at her destination, Basil was in a very flurried mood. "Dawson, my good fellow," he was saying, forgetting about their young guest for the moment, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It seems as though, without fail, the number of crimes and mishaps maximizes about ten times on the weekends! Look at these cases!", he motioned towards an array of paper stacks, varying in height, and not very tidily arranged, on his table. "And some of these are downright nonsensical! Look at this one!" Basil snatched one of the letters, while both Olivia and Dawson peered at it from behind. "A ghost has been sighted at the local cemetery, and they want us to look into it. Rubbish! For one thing, it was observed by a drunken mouse, late at night, and even so, he admitted to the police the next morning that it resembled a white bed sheet. Obviously, it was either a hallucination, or merely a prank pulled by some wretched juvenile!""Uh, but Basil," Dawson intercepted, "how can you be so sure it was not a real ghost? I mean to say, there've been countless sightings of spectres throughout the ages, and while many of them have been proven to be false, surely some of them must be real?"

"My dear Dawson!" Basil slapped his forehead, "if there were any such things as ghosts, they would have to be…" At this point, Olivia picked up the letter and skimmed it over, herself. Still holding it in one hand, she turned and tugged on the sleeve of Basil's smoking jacket.

"Er, yes, Miss Flankersmith?" Basil turned around suddenly, trying to smile for her, though anyone could see he was annoyed at this sudden disturbance.

Olivia ignored his remark, she'd come to realize he only called her by the wrong name for fun, for old time's sake.*

"Mr. Basil, may I take this letter to look at it more closely, please?"

"Oh, uh, I suppose it would do no harm. Now, there are so many cases, and so little time to take care of them all. We shall have to prioritize, Dawson! And I say the sooner, the better! Ah, here's one! Now when can we get to this…"

Olivia quietly went out of the room into the hall at the back. In this corridor was a staircase, leading to the bedrooms upstairs, along with a wine-coloured rectangular rug on the floor in the center, with gold lining all around, partway in. There was a table under a hall mirror, a wardrobe for guest's coats that was seldom used, and a few old portraits and newer photographs, but other than that there was little to no furnishing. There were a few doors around, one leading to the dining room, one leading to Mrs. Judson's personal sewing room, one leading in an alternate entrance to the kitchen, and one leading to a small closet. Olivia knew that the closet served as a "bedroom" for Fidget,* and so she went over to the closet and knocked on the door. Upon receiving no answer, she quietly called, "Fidget?"

Still no answer. It was very quiet in the closet, and, concerned, she cautiously opened the door. The closet was deserted. Olivia then remembered that Fidget always kept the door ajar when he slept, because if it were closed on him, he couldn't open it from the inside. Besides that, he never went to bed until 10:00 a.m., and it was only 9:20.

Olivia went across the hall to the door leading into the kitchen. Mrs. Judson was inside, making a cheddar loaf.

"Mrs. Judson?" Olivia called.

"Oh, hello dearie!" The landlady beamed as she looked up from her kneading.

"Have you seen Fidget?"

"Ohoho! He's outside with Toby, and my but don't they resemble each other at the moment! Mrs. Hudson - that's the human landlady who lives above us - gave Toby a bone this morning, and I just happened to have given Fidget a lollipop from the sweet shop. They're together, side by side, each enjoying his treat, and won't let nobody near 'em! Do you know, Mr. Basil went out to greet Toby earlier, and the dog started growling the moment he petted him! Didn't want anyone else touching his bone! Anyway, Basil gave him a sound scolding, and then moved on and said 'Good morning' to young Fidget, and do you know what he did? The moment the detective's hand was on that young bat's shoulder, he started growling right the same as the dog!"

Olivia and Mrs. Judson laughed together for a moment. "I daresay, Basil was in quite a huff when he came back inside! Ohoho!"

Olivia giggled again. "Do you think it'd be alright if I said hallo to them?"

Mrs. Judson thought there'd be no harm in that; both the basset hound and the bat had taken such a shine to Olivia, it seemed, that they'd undoubtedly be nicer to her.

Olivia then went outside, and over to the alley between 221 Baker Street and the building beside it. Sure enough, facing away from her, a few feet away, was Toby, curled up on his tummy and gnawing away at his delicious bone, and beside him, behind his front right leg, was Fidget, curled up in the same style, sucking and chewing at that tasty lolly.

Olivia had to laugh. The two made quite a picture together, like a father hound with a puppy, modeling his sire's every move to perfection.

Olivia walked up to Toby and patted his back paw. "Hallo, Toby!", she called.

Toby bristled for a moment, before he recognized her voice and her scent. Immediately his hackles went down, and he sat up, turned around and licked her face happily, wagging his tail.

Olivia giggled. "You're so cute, Toby!" she declared as she hugged him around his front ankle. Then she went over to Fidget. "Hallo, Fidget!"

Fidget's eyes were closed as he lay there, savouring the sweet he held between his webbed fingers, but upon hearing her voice, they opened slowly, and he looked up at her smiling face. "Good to see you, Livy! Uh, did you want some?"

Olivia looked at the sticky, spit-covered, three-quarters-eaten glob-on-a-stick that her friend held out to her. She much preferred her lollipops unused, so she replied, "Um, no thank you."

Fidget was content with this; it'd been years since he'd had one of these, so he really felt more than a little possessive of it.

"Actually, I wanted to show you this," Olivia took out the letter from her coat pocket. Fidget looked up from the lolly again, this time sitting up. She handed the paper to him, and he looked it over. "It's written to Basil."

"I know that. I asked him if I could look at it. I thought maybe you'd be interested as well."

Fidget couldn't have figured out what she thought would make him interested in that letter if it were to end global poverty. She explained, "Mr. Basil is very busy with his cases; he and Dr. Dawson are sorting through them right now, to decide which ones they'll look into first. He said when he showed us this one that he thought it was silly, so he's probably not going to look into it until the others are finished."

"Uh-huh."

"So, I thought we could take care of it for him!"

Fidget clarified, "You mean, we go down to the cemetery to find some makebelieve ghost?"

Olivia frowned. "Don't you believe in ghosts, Fidget?""Livy, if there were such things as ghosts, the sewer where I used to live would've been crawling with them! We lost count of how many guys were fed to Felicia years ago!" Fidget shuddered, and Olivia guessed he was either thinking about the numerous times he nearly joined those unfortunate souls, or the time his father had. Not wanting him to start brooding again, she quickly continued, "But Fidget, I've read that ghosts only stay after they're dead because they're trapped on Earth! Maybe the spirits of all those folks that Professor Ratigan killed were free, but this one at the cemetery isn't!"

Fidget could think of no answer to this, but he still wasn't convinced. "But when would we go? I wanted to sleep after I finished this."

"We could go tonight! My bedtime is at 9:00, so you and Toby could come to my place around 9:30. Daddy would probably think I was asleep. Then we could go down to the cemetery and investigate that ghost!"

"What if your dad finds out you're gone?"

"I'll leave a note on my bed, Fidget. It'll tell him where I'm going, who I'm with, and what we're doing. But I hope he doesn't find out till we've solved the mystery."

Fidget looked unsure, so she continued, "We'll be alright, I promise. We'll have Toby there, and we'll have each other. Oh, say you'll come, Fidget! I've always wanted to be a detective, since I first read about Mr. Basil's work in the news. And you're so good with the night! Also, Basil would be so happy when he found out we'd solved the mystery for him!"

Fidget thought it over, then said, "Alright, let's do it!"

"Thank you, Fidget!" Olivia hugged him around his neck, and he hugged her back. It seemed as though he couldn't get enough of hugging the little girl. "And Toby, you will take us there, won't you?"

Toby barked and wagged his tail, nodding his head. "Good! Remember, 9:30 at my place!"

When 9:30 that night arrived, Olivia was ready. Hiram had tucked her in at 9:00, and after he closed her bedroom door, she waited 5 minutes, watching the clock on her wall, for the light from the streetlamp, streaming through the window lit up her view of its face. After 5 minutes, she was confident her father would think she was asleep, and she then crept out of bed, barefoot so as not to make too much noise. She quietly got dressed, then pulled out the note she'd written before bed, out from the drawer on her night table. She had her coat, hat and scarf on the bench at the window, along with her shoes, so she could grab them at the last moment. She made her little bed up, for as a rule she never left bed without doing so, left the note ontop of the blanket, and then she went over to the window and sat, and waited.

Right on time, she watched Toby come trotting along her street, and stop on the sidewalk outside her home. Fidget was seated atop Toby's back, and he quickly indicated for the dog to be quiet, before whispering to Olivia (whom he was face to face with), "All set?"

"Yes, Fidget!" As soon as she'd watched them arrive, she'd slipped on her shoes, coat, and scarf. She now adjusted her tam o'shanter, then accepted Fidget's extended wing, giggling as it made her feel ladylike. As Olivia greeted Toby, Fidget reached over and closed the window from the outside. When they were both seated comfortably, Olivia turned to Fidget and whispered, excitement spicing her voice, "And now, as Mr. Basil says, 'The game's afoot!' Toby, sic'em!"

Without a sound, so as not to alert Hiram, Toby went running down the street with his two passengers; their destination: the graveyard.

As they rode on, Fidget couldn't help but breathe in the cool, fresh air of the night. The air and the feel of riding a rushing dog almost replicated the motion of flight, the way he remembered it from childhood, and he instinctively spread his wings out wide, taking in the full force of the wind.

"Lovely night, isn't it?" he asked.

Olivia turned and nodded.

"So uh, exactly what are we going to do, when we get there?"

"We look around the place for anything suspicious, and wait in case the ghost appears. If the fellow really did see something, and if Basil's right about it being a trick, there'll probably be some sort of evidence the culprit's left behind." Olivia used every detective-like word she could remember from listening to her idol.

"Evidence? Like tracks and stuff?"

"Of course! Or even better, if the 'ghost' appears, one of us could distract him while the other grabs him to check for a sheet!"

"Uh, heheheh, Livy, which of us is gonna be grabbing?"

"Um, I didn't think of that yet. Well, let's see… you're good with the dark, right Fidget?"

"It's a gift," he shrugged.

"And you're good at sneaking around, right?"

"I learned a few things working for Ratigan."

"Good! Then you can grab ahold of the ghost while he chases me! Are you cold, Fidget?"

Fidget's razor-like teeth were chattering, but he wouldn't let on the real reason in front of Olivia. "Um, maybe a little. Should've brought a cloak* or something."

When they reached the graveyard, Toby stopped, and Fidget slid down his leg, then caught Olivia as she slid down. Olivia told Toby to sit, which he did, and then she and Fidget approached the cemetery gate. Neither of them felt even half as brave as they did on the way over, but now that they'd come this far, they'd better see it through.

They slipped through the black, iron bars of the gate, Olivia first. Suddenly she let out a squeal of surprise. "Fidget!" She cried in annoyance as she realized it was only a very shivery Fidget clutching her from behind. "You're afraid!"

"Erm, no I'm not!" Fidget quickly denied the accusation, but the young girl was not convinced. "You'd almost think you believed in the ghost after all!"

"I don't, Livy," Fidget said firmly, hands on his hips. "It's just that - we don't know… um, if it turned out to be someone… you know… bad things could happen!"

"What?"

"Someone playing a trick, right? What if they wanted to hurt us - you - um, Toby, er - someone - er"

"You?" She knew Fidget didn't want to say it. This was in part because he was learning how to be well-mannered, and he was not sure yet whether it would've been polite. The other reason was simply pride; what male ever wants to admit to a female, especially a pre-teen one, that he's scared for his own safety?

"Uh, yeah." Fidget relaxed for a moment.

Olivia knew he was right. Come to think of it, she hadn't even thought of that before. What happened if, should this ghost turn out to be someone in disguise, they were not friendly? Other than little children (and which ones, besides herself, would be out at this hour?) what sort of person would do this sort of thing? A lunatic? A drunkard? Or perhaps someone even more shady than that… someone with some sort of vile intent behind this charade?

Well, there was no turning back now. Taking Fidget's hand and gripping it questionably tight, she proceeded on, her companion trying his best to hide his fear, while she made little effort. She had more important things to focus on at the moment. As they approached the part of the cemetery used by the mice, she reached into her pocket, fishing out a magnifying glass which was slightly large in her hand. "Like Mr. Basil," she whispered to the bat who remained two steps behind her, almost literally. She stooped over and held the magnifying glass to the ground, searching for anything of importance to her "case". Fidget, meanwhile, kept his eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble.

After a few minutes of doing what might have looked, from an aerial view, reminiscent of a bee's conversation,* the young sleuth and her "assistant" stumbled across something. The most likely form of evidence Olivia had suspected to find. "Tracks!" She whispered excitedly.

Fidget came around to look. "How d'you know they're not ours? We've been walking around in circles, squares, triangles, and shapes I can't even think of the names of!"

"Shh! Listen, Fidget! If they were yours, one would only see a left footprint, alongside a peg mark. They're small, yes, but they're not mine. Look," she stomped on the ground beside one of the strange tracks, then showed Fidget as she lifted her foot again. "See the difference? The shoes are not the same. In fact, whoever made these tracks has even smaller feet than me."

"But Livy, who could have such little feet?" Fidget wondered, glancing around as if expecting to see the culprit behind one of the tombstones.

"I don't know…. Do you think it could be a child? A really young child?"

"In the graveyard? Are there any tracks of an adult around? Who lets a kid go by themselves?"

Olivia, thinking of the two of them out here on their own, hesitated, and an almost outraged Fidget snapped, "Oh come on, Livy! I'm seventeen years old! I'm not a kid!"

Olivia changed the subject. "We should try and figure out how long ago the child - if it was a child - walked down here. It seems like they go in a straight line down towards those trees over there. Now let's see, how did Basil say you test tracks?" She knelt on the grass, still examining the tracks through her magnifying glass.

"What's so funny, Livy?"

"Huh?" She turned her head towards Fidget. "Nothing - I wasn't laughing."

"Huh. Sounded like you did. There! There you go again!"

Now Olivia listened. Thank goodness Fidget had such good hearing. "Oh Fidget! Can't you tell that's someone else! In fact, it sounds like a kid!"

"You mean, he's still around here after all?"

"How do you know it's a boy?"

"I'm listening. I - I can just tell," Fidget shrugged. He was paying closer attention to the sound now, and presently he added, "It seems to be coming from over there," and pointed to a large group of graves out in the open, about three yards away from them. It was a long distance to travel, but they had to get to the bottom of this - for one thing, if this child was here alone, what would happen if this mysterious "ghost" showed up? They'd have to make sure the child was alright.

As they neared the rows of graves Fidget had pointed out, Olivia wondering why the tracks went off in a completely different direction, suddenly Fidget said, "Gosh, do you know where we are?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at these markers, Livy. Carolyn Batterfield, Batricia McCormick, Jolly MacFlyson, Stella Wingsley? We're in the bat's part of the cemetery!"

"Do - do you think that means something?" Olivia cocked an eyebrow.

"Um, I dunno. I'm just interested, that's all."

"Oh, of course," Olivia had to admit, Fidget had been around few members of his own kind, aside from his father for the first ten years of his life, so to be amongst a large quantity of them - especially the mortal remains of those ones who'd long since moved on - would probably be something of a novelty for him.

Fidget had all but forgotten the child, and was studying the tombstones, but Olivia continued searching. "Don't you think - Fidget?" She turned around, hearing him reading out loud in a mumble. "Fidget! Pay attention!"

Innocently unaware of what she'd said, Fidget called her over. Olivia groaned - he could get so engrossed in the strangest things - but nonetheless came to him, to hear what he would say. "Livy! Can you believe it! It seems like about half the people here were gypsies!"

"Do you think any of them were related to you mother?"

"Dunno. Papa never told me Mum's last name."

Olivia knew Fidget's interest had been piqued, but she was still keen on solving this case, and finding that child. She let for a moment of silence, before continuing, "Fidget, don't you think it's strange that the child's footprints go over that way, when you heard him over around here? How could he have gotten here without leaving any more tracks?"

"Uh, well, he might have…" Fidget looked around, but in their direction he could see no nearby existing cover - like a building or a large set of trees - that the hidden youngster might have travelled behind, away from their gaze. This was getting more and more puzzling for them. They glanced around in all directions, not understanding any of it, but then, suddenly, a low moan called out, behind them.

Both froze where they stood. Glancing simultaneously over their left shoulders, they went wide-eyed and turned fully around. There, behind the tombstone just in front of them, rose up a moaning, white figure.

Beginning to tremble, Fidget asked, "Uh, heheheh, Livy? That - that's not a kid, i-is it?"

Also shaking, Olivia replied, "Um, that's a sheet over it, right?"

"Heheheh, if - if it were, the person would have f-feet, w-wouldn't they?"

"Fidget? You - you're one to talk, y-you've got only one!"

"T-talk? I say 'less talk, more RUN!'"

Both turned and quickly dashed off, through the tomb aisles and across the area, till they reached the gate. There they stopped, to catch their breaths, Fidget holding Olivia while she rested her head on his shoulder. "I didn't like that," he said, between breaths.

"Fidget, do you realize what we've done? We ran when we saw that ghost, and we just left that little child all alone! What if it finds him?"

"You're not saying we should go back?"

"Fidget, would you want to be left there, all by yourself? Who knows what that thing could - wait a moment!" Olivia snapped her fingers. "Fidget, the ghost's only been seen by that old mouse and by us, at night!"

"Uh huh?"

"We found that kid's tracks, but we never actually saw the kid himself, we only heard him!"

"…And?"

"Fidget, you heard him in a completely different direction from where we saw the tracks heading, yet we didn't see any of those tracks in the direction of the bat graves."

"Yeah, maybe they were further away from us?"

"Maybe, but listen to this. We wondered what child would be out on their own at this time of night, right?"

"Yeah… Livy, are you getting at something?"

"I think I am, Fidget! Look at it this way, a little boy, out on his own, late at night, but it's early for you of course, and we see evidence he's walked in a certain direction, but we hear him off somewhere else, and can't see how he got there. We follow his laughter to the graves of the bats, and then we don't hear him any more, but we see that ghost! And now that I think about it, that white thing did look an awful lot like a bed sheet - do you get what I'm saying?"

Fidget had watched her intently, taking in what she said. Now he sat down cross-legged and thought things over. Olivia watched his hands animate his thoughts as he mumbled them out, then he said, "Ah, now I think I've got it!"

"Exactly! Now, remember what we originally planned to do when we saw our ghostly friend?"

"Uh-huh! Boy, we really played that out well, didn't we?"

"Well, he caught us off guard, Fidget. We just won't let that happen again this time. Now, here's how we do this…"

Several minutes later, Olivia slinked back alone through the aisles of the deceased bats once more, talking to herself as though she was talking to Fidget. "Oh don't be such a cowardly custard, Fidget! Ten to one, we imagined the whole thing. Fidget? Fidget!" As part of her act, she turned and looked behind her, as though trying to discern her friend's whereabouts. "Now where do you suppose he went? Boy he moves fast, for a bat who can't fly…"

Once again, that moaning occurred behind her. She looked around, trying to mask the mischievous gleam glinting in her eyes. She watched as once more, the blanched, billowy figure floated up from behind that same tombstone. "Oh dear!" She deliberately feigned fright. "Oh, Fidget! Fidget help! Oh where are you!"

Suddenly, as the ghost floated towards her in a descending manner, Fidget jumped out from behind one of the markers in the row behind the one the "ghost" had risen from, and skilfully leaped over the stones, then pounced on their sheet-covered juvenile adversary.

From under the sheet, they could hear muffled, childish squealing, and the person inside was now wriggling about comically, try to free himself.

"You okay, Livy?" Fidget asked, keeping his wings firmly wrapped around the little bedcloth-ridden hooligan.

"I'm fine, Fidget," she giggled.

"Please, don't hurt me!" the little boy wailed from under the sheet.

Fidget looked at her, and she nodded. Pulling the sheet off, he revealed a tiny little boy bat who must've been around five years old. Standing up in front of Fidget, he only came halfway up the older bat's thighs. Fidget momentarily thought back with fondness to when he was that small.

"I was only playing," the little boy pleaded. "Please don't hurt me."

Olivia went over to the little one. "Hello there," she smiled, kneeling down till she was at his level, "My name is Olivia!"

"I'm Boris," the boy replied.

Olivia studied him. He was a cute little thing - his fur was very dark gray, almost black in colour, and he had big, earnest, whitish-yellow eyes. His elongated ears were drooped down in submission, at the moment, and his wings were slung low and loosely clasped, as though in shame. It was a look Fidget himself gave all too often, in fact.

"Where are your Mummy and Daddy, Boris?" Olivia inquired.

"Daddy's at work, Mummy's at home with Lisa, doing laundry."

Olivia wondered if "Lisa" was Boris's sister. "Why are you out here, by yourself, Boris?"

"Like I said, I was playing a game. Joey showed me how to play "ghosts" with the bed sheets, so I thought I could play with them out here, and pretend I was a real ghost, haunting the graves. I always go to my grandfather's grave - I never met him, but he was real nice. He wouldn't mind… I don't think."

"So, what do we do with "Boris", Livy?"

Boris looked up at the teenager standing over him. "Hey, you're that nice fellow who used to work for that mean old rat! Now you live with Basil of Baker Street!"

Fidget was surprised by this. Even among the bats, Basil was so well known? Wait, he was now so well known? This little kid thought he was nice? True, he was still trying to make amends for his years working for Professor Ratigan, but he wouldn't have consciously called himself that. Actually though, hearing it come from the younger boy was kind of flattering.

"Uh, yeah, that's right!" Fidget grinned. "Well, maybe you should… go on home?"

"Fidget, we can't send him off by himself! Where do you live?"

"In East Sheen."

"Well, we'll take you back there now. Won't we, Fidget?"

"Will you carry me, piggy-back?" Boris turned to Fidget, hopefully.

"Uh, not all the way down there!"

"We'll get Toby to carry all of us. He's a big, friendly dog. You'll like him."

"Please, please carry me? At least to the street. Please?"

Fidget never cared much for carrying people around on his back, but he recalled the days when his father used to carry him around in that style, or the days when, after the accident which cost Fidget his lower right leg and his ability to fly, his father had carried him around in the sky, Fidget hugging the old bat tight. Besides, Boris was tinier than most folks he'd had to carry, in the past. A lot tinier and lighter than some, he thought as he remembered one particularly important party he'd transported in such a style, not too long ago. "Well, alright, here we go!" Fidget swooped the giggling boy up, then planted him behind him on his back, and made off on all fours, Olivia walking beside him and chatting with the little boy all the time.

She learned in this way that Boris' mother was a laundress, which was why Boris and his older brother Joey had had contact with bed sheets, that his father was a gardener for Mr. Lemuel Kinnear, a wealthy entrepreneur but a notoriously stingy mouse, and that Boris, whom his family could not yet afford to send to school like Joey, was in the habit of sneaking off to great distances, like the graveyard, on his own.

"Don't your parents ever get worried?" Olivia inquired.

"If they find out I'm gone, they do. But I try to avoid 'em finding out."

By this time, they had reached the gate, and as they passed through the bars and onto the sidewalk, Olivia called for Toby. Boris stared amazed as the hound arrived.

"Wow! He is a big doggie!" Hopping off Fidget's back, he ran over to Toby. The dog took a liking to Boris as well, for after he had sniffed him over, he licked his face. Laughing, the little bat climbed up over his snout, onto the top of his head. Olivia and Fidget followed after, and Olivia then told Toby where to go.

A little while later, they arrived on Boris's street, and stopped outside his home. Olivia stayed on Toby, but Fidget escorted little Boris up to the door, carrying the sheet under one wing. A few seconds after he knocked, it was answered by a tallish, wiry middle-aged woman-bat. She had the same fur colourings as her son, and rather greasy black hair tied back in a bun. Her webbed fingers were dry and chapped from washing and tending to laundry for years.

"Erm, 'evening doll. This your son?" Fidget motioned towards Boris, whom he rested his hand on the shoulder of.

"Boris! Where've you been now?" The lady ignored Fidget for a moment, confronting her child.

"I was vis'ting Grandpa, Mummy."

"Uh, yeah. Visiting him and scaring the heck out of me and my friend." Fidget showed the woman the sheet.

"Oh Boris! You know Mrs. Bucket expects that set of sheets done by morning! What on earth were you doing with it?" The woman examined the sheet, now considerably stained with grass.

"I was playin' ghost, Mummy," Boris said with puppy-dog eyes.

"I'll deal with you later, young man. Now you march yourself straight on in here!" The little boy did as his mother told, after saying goodnight to Fidget.*

After he'd disappeared from view, his mother turned to the teen who stood before her. "I must thank you, sir. He has a bad habit of going far away when we aren't looking. I'm always worried when he does that that he'll get hurt somehow, but Derek's always away gardening, my eldest son has school and his weekend job at the grocers, and my daughter and I must do the laundry. "

"No problem," Fidget shrugged. "Glad I could help." He corrected himself, "No, that my friend and I could help." He pointed to Olivia, who still sat atop Toby. The laundress smiled and waved, and Olivia waved back.

Fidget then offered, "If you want, I could take care of him, sometime."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to trouble you, sir -"

"Heheheheh, it'd be fine. He's a fun little kid."

"Oh, thank you very much. May I ask where you live?"

"Right now, I live at 221 Baker Street, working for the landlady, Judson."

"221 Baker Street? Where the detective Basil lives? Oh! You must be Fidget, the bat who used to work for Professor Ratigan!"

This surprised Fidget yet again. "Know him?"

"Thank heavens I don't!" She laughed. "But you know, you're something of a hero for helping to get him exiled. To us, at any rate." 'Us' meant the bat population of London and all the other nearby cities in England who'd received that relieving news.

"Mother?", a young, feminine voice called. A moment later, a girl-bat of about fourteen joined the woman at the door. She was skinny, and had hair like her mother's, but it was not styled, and fell loosely about her shoulders. She was a somewhat lighter shade of gray than the others in her family that Fidget had met, so far. Seeing and recognizing him, she smiled shyly.

"Fidget," the woman wrapped a wing around the girl, "This is my daughter, Lisa."

"Pleased to meet you," Lisa giggled. Fidget tipped his hat in greeting; Lisa's staring was making him a little edgy. She was admittedly a pretty young girl, but he was unused to that sort of attention.

"I read all about you in the papers," Lisa went on to say, "you're so very brave!"

Fidget blushed.

"May I have your autograph?"

"Um, uh," Fidget stammered.

"Oh Lisa, don't bother the boy with all that!" Her mother scolded, but Lisa had already extended a handkerchief and a pencil to Fidget - having overheard the conversation at the door, she'd come prepared. Fidget nervously took the handkerchief and the pencil, then thought over what to say, before writing a short, friendly message to her, and handing the materials back. She giggled again, then sauntered back into the house.

This encounter left Fidget with a lot to think about, and as he rejoined Olivia and Toby set off back to the home of the Flaversham's, he commented, "Did you know I was a legend among the bats, Livy?"

"No I didn't, Fidget. But isn't that good news?"

"I dunno." He certainly sounded unsure. "I know so few of them, and suddenly they all seem to know about me. That's kind of scary."

"It's not scary, Fidget! That's what it's like for celebrities! Mr. Basil and Dr. Dawson must be known by thousands of people of all sorts, and it doesn't bother them!"

"It doesn't?" Fidget cocked an eyebrow. "Have you seen Basil? He's always getting ruffled up about people asking for autographs or asking him questions about himself, or things like that. Kids, mostly."

"But Fidget, Basil's always got so many cases to solve. Those things distract him from his job."

Outside Olivia's window, Fidget went to push it open - thank goodness it hadn't locked in place when he closed it - and Olivia commented, "Well, our first case solved!"

"So, you plan on doing more?"

"Of course! We could work secretly as backups for Basil and Dr. Dawson. Whenever there's a case Basil doesn't want to do, or can't take the time for, and it's not too hard or dangerous, we can work on it! How about it?"

Fidget contemplated this. He had certainly enjoyed the evening, for the most part. There had been those few minutes when Boris's prank had succeeded in frightening the two of them out of their skins, but otherwise it had been very fun and exciting. Plus, solving that mystery was rather rewarding. "I'm in!" he declared, shaking hands with Olivia. They bid each other good night, and he helped her in through the window, then rode off back to Baker Street, on Toby. Olivia waved to them, then quietly pulled her shoes and socks off, shed her coat, scarf and hat, then climbed off of the window-side bench as silently as she could. She got changed for bed again, then slipped the note back into her night table drawer, and clambered into bed, sleepiness catching up on her after her busy night. After she said her prayers - she'd said them kneeling beside her bed with Hiram, earlier, but she thought she'd better say them again - she grinned. Her first case! And now she and Fidget had formed a partnership in detective work! How exciting, she thought as she dozed off, dreaming about what their next job may be.

AN: Well, there's their first case! As for those things I've marked with an asterisk:

1. I'm still trying to think up a background for how that came about, but trying to explain it now would have made the chapter awfully long. I hinted later that Fidget managed to help get Ratigan exiled, eventually…

2. If you've been to the GMD fansite "The Game's Afoot!", it is suggested in the FAQ section, after a question on why Basil always called Olivia by the wrong surname, that he did it as a method of irking her to keep her mind off her troubles, for a moment, and that before she left, he did it again simply as a joke. I personally think that was a very clever observation… but I imagine if Basil knew about it, he would have said "Elementary!".

3. Yep, he sleeps in a closet - not to suggest anything. But the rung on which coats would normally be hung up works just fine for him; think about the way he slept on that faucet on the rum barrel!

4. His wings would probably get hurt by a coat, so I'm guessing the bats wear cloaks for warmth.

5. After all, bees communicate by dancing, and if you've seen a video of this, then try to picture Olivia and Fidget parading around searching for tracks as they did, and the two scenes look uncannily alike.

6. Perhaps it doesn't need to be said that for them, that's like saying "good day", to you and me.