Again, I only own OCs….
Eli H. Lee
"There were certainly more people there than I had thought there would be," Dawson said as both him and Basil walked along the streets. The detective paused as he looked around suspiciously.
"Yes well, Howard Knox was known as the mouse new criminals went to for a head start," he said, walking alongside Dawson. "Whenever any criminal needed help, he was who they went to. What his daughter said included all of them that knew him." Dawson looked at him before thinking very hard, the concentration causing a crease on his forehead.
"Ratigan must have known him well then too. I mean, he was there, though I suppose he and the young lady were a couple of sorts. Of course not my business if it isn't but-"
"Ratigan has a fancy towards her, if that's what you mean Dawson. Personally, I'd want to stay away from 'Knoxy' Knox as far as possible." Both mice looked to see Inspector Greg in front of Basil's door. "Though I suppose that given the fact of the limited choice of women in the criminal business and those willing to place their lives within that part of society, I shouldn't be surprised."
"Inspector?"
"What in the blazes are you doing here?"
"You got two lovely ladies inside with Mrs. Judson serving them crumpets and tea. One of them Officer Water's daughter," Greg said as he looked towards the door.
"I wasn't aware of a daughter," Dawson said, also looking towards the door in curiosity. Basil straighten his coat a bit at the information before reaching out for the doorknob, only to turn back to the inspector.
"Why is she and the other lady here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Our informant, Theodore Daniella, was found murdered. Water's daughter happens to be Officer Daniella's wife." Greg looked to the side as if in somewhat pain himself. "And this murder... well, quite frankly it's bloody. And the poor woman has enough to worry about now." Greg pulled out a cigar shakily, lighting it.
"I would ask why we're not discussing this inside but I have a feeling it has to do with her as well," Basil said, his expression clearly asking Greg to get on with the point. Greg glared at the detective for a moment before turning to Dawson.
"Dawson, as a doctor, you agree that stress is the last thing you want a pregnant woman to feel?"
The doctor in question look taken aback from the question, but nodded just the same. "Yes, quite recommended to make her feel as comfortable as she can in fact. She's... err, in such condition I take it?"
"Aye. So giving you the details out here and not in front of her at this moment is going to save a lot of stress for both her and her friend." Greg blew out a puff of smoke, looking down and letting himself lean against the wall a bit. Basil lifted his hand off the doorknob and waited for Greg to continue. "Alright on the details. Time of death was sometime late last night, between 11:00 and midnight. Shot five times in the chest, once in the head, and stabbed countless of times, but they weren't what killed him. He had been stabbed through the heart with a sword, but we're not sure what kind. The shots seemed to be overkill, but could have been to make good and sure of him being dead. The stab wounds on the other hand," Greg paused for a moment, his fur on his face seeming to have paled. Dawson and Basil both had the same expression, as the details were quite clearly… brutal. "They were clearly made later, later enough that he was dead. They didn't look like a plan murder, Basil, it looked like planned vengeance to me. And the doctor we had examining the body clearly said that each stab wound was by a different hand."
Dawson by this point was now leaning against the wall, his hand over his mouth and his creamish fur even paler. Basil clenched his eyes shut, his nose twitching at all of this. Greg pulled a bag out and handed it to Basil. "We also found this on him." The detective looked inside and raised an eyebrow, though his face was still pale. He lifted a pearl necklace that contained a teal apatite in the center by hooking his finger around the smaller pearls. "Apparently, he was given one last job before his death, stealing that necklace. The rightful owner called it missing, and we've put it together back at the station that it must have been missing two and a half hours before his death."
Basil looked at the necklace carefully, his eyes narrowed. "But it's a fake. A good fake, but still a fake. And there doesn't seem to be any blood splatter on here, so he must of have had the real necklace and this fake would have been place on his corpse after his death."
"Who was the body found by?" Dawson asked, clenching his hat in his hands.
"The wife's friend who's with her inside at the moment. When Theo didn't go back home by the time he promised, and since the missus wanted to call the news of her pregnancy to some relatives, she asked her friend if she could find him. Poor gypsy girl got a nasty surprise when she found him washed up on the side of the Thames," Greg said, his brown eyes flicking towards the door. "Now, before we go in, and yes Basil, I'm going in with you and Dawson since this is the death of a fellow officer, I want to get a few things clear still about the ladies. Parthena's an actress and a singer, so I'm going to warn you that she may seem a bit dramatic at times, pregnancy might also be in help with that. Her Rom friend is Dika Lovell. She's moved in with Mrs. Daniella to help her out and such, and is also very close to the woman. So whatever you do Basil, for the love of bloody hell, Don't. Offend. Either. One. Of. Them."
All three of them went in only to see a young female hamster tending the fireplace. She had pale fur, almost white, with strawberry blonde spot patches. She wore a dress with a blue off-the-shoulder dress, with puffy arm length sleeves, a lavender scarf around her waist and shoulders, and a black and teal bodice. In one ear she had two golden loop ear rings while in the other she had two sapphire ear rings. She had black heels on, as on her forehead was a gray headband holding back the tuff of fur that went forward towards her fore head. All three men looked at her for a moment as she stood up and noticed them.
"Oh, err, sorry. I thought that the fire needed some tending to and…"
"Save your breath, ma'am," Greg held his hand up as he spoke before turning it to Basil and Dawson. "Ms. Lovell, I wish to introduce Basil of Baker Street and Doctor David Dawson. Basil, Dawson, this is Dika Lovell." The hamster Rom smiled weakly, nodding in greeting to the other two mice. Basil also nodded in return, sinking into a nearby chair. Dawson stood still for a moment, his hat in his hands before he came out of whatever daze he had just been in.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lovell," he said, smiling a tad sheepishly while bowing. Dika shook her head slightly while sighing.
"Call me Dika, Doctor. I'm uncomfortable with formalities." Basil, while resting his fingers on his forehead raised an eyebrow at the sight of a light blush on Dawson's face.
"Where is Mrs. Daniella right now?" the detective asked, taking note as the gypsy looked towards the door to the kitchen.
"With Annie in the kitchen." She gave a smile, much stronger that her previous one before looking back at the detective. "'Thena's probably eating all the cheese crumpets the old lady's giving her." Basil refrained from rolling his eyes as both Greg and Dawson gave somewhat of chuckles. Just then, right on cue, a dark brown female mouse, dressed in a red dress, matching headband, and a red-orange feather in her black, raven hair entered the room, a plate of cheese crumpets and some sandwiches in her hands. At the sight of the company in the room, the young woman tried to smile weakly. Greg nodded in greeting and motioned for her to come over.
"Come on, 'Thena. The Inspector just brought Basil and Dawson in," Dika said as she gave the other woman an encouraging smile and lead her to the other chair. Mrs. Daniella did so, her eyes looking tiredly at the detective and doctor.
"Basil, Dawson, this is Parthena Daniella."
"The actress?"
"Yes."
Parthena smiled weakly before it faded. "I suppose Inspector Greg already gave you the details?" At Basil's nod, the new widow continued. "Then you'll probably understand why I want the criminal put behind bars. These criminals should be placed behind bars, hanged, and by any other means of justice that they can be punished." Her hardened gaze caused a small suspicion in the detective.
"Do you have any idea of who would be against your husband, Madame?" Basil began, studying her expression carefully. Parthena took a crumpet as her eyebrows narrowed.
"I can think of quite a few. Anyone who found out of Thomas's undercover, which could be anyone in Ratigan's gang or that sewer rat Ratigan himself if the rumors are true-"
"They are, I'm afraid."
"Well then, Ratigan would be one. I wouldn't be surprised then. But then there's three others I can think off the top of my head if I were to put it as close to personnel as possible." Basil and Dawson looked at each other as Greg stood by Basil's chair.
"And they would be?"
"I don't know their first names," she said, taking a bite out of the crumpet and swallowing it. "But they were connected to the mouse who killed my father."
Basil, Greg, and Dawson all looked at her. "The Knoxs?" Dawson asked, clenching his hat in his hands harder. Parthena nodded, closing her dark eyes. Dika placed a hand on her friend's shoulder before turning to the men.
"I was visiting that day, 'Thena had invited me over to help her with a script for one of her plays. There were two men, one a mouse, the other a rat, and a woman. Looked like she was a mouse. They were with Thomas in the house study, arguing like crazy over some money for this Howard fellow," the hamster said, sitting on the floor while doing so.
"Was the rat grey with yellow eyes?" Basil asked, instantly thinking of Ratigan.
"No. Well, he was grey, but he had blue eyes. And two scars on his nose. The other man looked extremely like him… and the woman… Not exactly what I hear most mice men would like in the appearance of lady mice I suppose."
"Pardon?"
"She looked like a mouse. Her fur on the other hand seemed more like the color a rat would have. That and she had mousy brown hair." Dika gave a weak chuckle there. "Get it? 'Mousy' brown? And she was a mouse and… sorry…"
"William, John, and Gwen… and with Ratigan in possible tow," Basil said, rubbing his tired eyes. What Dika said next didn't surprise the detective much.
"But aren't these Knoxs smugglers? From what I know of smugglers don't kill. Well, this Howard guy might have been an exception, but still."
Greg gave a noise that sounded close to something between a snort and a laugh. "You'd change your mind the moment you saw how the youngest daughter operates everything, Dika. Knox is a dangerous woman."
"Why do we keep calling her by her last name?" Dawson question caused Basil to rub his ear subconsciously.
"Because calling her by her first name will get you a bullet in the head. And she'll do it in a blink of an eye and not even glance at you."
Silence for some reason went over the small crowd there before Parthena spoke up.
"You know, when she and the two men said that we'd regret it and pay for it… Theo's death wasn't what came to mind. I guess the daughter can be as bad as the father."
…
Meanwhile, somewhere near Farringdon Street, there's what seems to be a small mouse hole that leads to the richly painted door of the Knoxs' House. Behind that door, it can be seen throughout the homely home that the family had earned a very well pay as smugglers and thieves.
Up the stairs and in what seemed to be a small dressing room, Bertha could be seen admiring the necklace Ratigan had given her half-sister while Madeline and Knox herself were at the mirror, the step-mother working something onto the youngest member's face.
"You have ta admit, sis," Bertha said, turning over the apatite part of it over, tracing her hands lightly over it as if she was afraid it would break. "He has taste for fine, fine things."
"Berthy, put it down. We don't want it to break or anything of the sort." As Madeline said that, she turned her tired face to the honey-blonde mouse. If one looked closely, one could see the bags under Madeline's sky blue eyes. Bertha smiled sadly before setting the necklace down and picking up a dark blue chapeau that had a light blue band around it. Looking over, she almost let out a laugh at Knox's reflection of no amusement in the mirror, showing Madeline trying to fix a light blue mask that was rimmed with apatite gems on the corners onto her face. Knox herself was wearing a dark blue dress, at the same shade as the hat Bertha held in her hands, with little touches of light blue here and there. Her usually messy hair was tied up in a ponytail with a matching ribbon.
"It's sad this may be the closest thing we're gonna get after five years," Bertha said, giving the chapeau to Knox as their mother tied the stripes of the mask.
"Pardon?"
"You know what I mean, Knoxy."
Before the grayish mouse could answer, a knock on the door was heard and a Scottish accented voice was heard behind it. "Pardon, lassies, but our visitor is 'ere."
"You can come on in you know, Harvey," Madeline said, finishing helping Knox put on the necklace. Harvey opened the door and peered inside, before leaning against the door frame. "Padraic's here?" The reddish brown rat nodded before giving a glance towards Bertha, who in turn was trying to retie Knox's ribbon while Knox tried to get her to leave it alone. The stepmother pushed the girls apart before signaling the younger one to go. As the two other women left, Bertha looked to Harvey to suddenly see a bonnet of white jasmine, lavender, and morning glory in Harvey's hand.
Ok, I had to stop it here. I'm sorry, but this chapter was both taking too long and I need to get to work on chapter 3 on my rewritten fanfiction for Madagascar.
Please review.