Disclaimer: I DON'T own the Great Mouse Detective, all rights go to Disney and Eve Titus. The only thing that my co-writer, bajy, and I own are our OCs.
Please enjoy, and review.
Episode 3:
Morning Park Murder
(Part 2)
"So, that's what happened?" Luke asked after sipping his tea. "You were at the crime scene with Basil himself?" Primrose nodded to her older brother in response. The young female mouse was with her brother in a cafe next to the bakery as the two talked about what happened at the park in the back table of the cafe so that no one would eavesdrop on their conversation.
"So, what's the plan?" Luke asked, curious. "Is Grace Fightra in or out?"
Primrose thought about this for a minute as she held her chin.
Normally she would not stand down when trouble was afoot, but since Basil was on the case, knowing who he was, she could risk herself being exposed by him. even if she had manage to slip by him without him knowing too much this time, she left the scene of the crime so suddenly, that would make the ballerina suspicious to him enough, and her eyes were different from most mice her in london and she was just surprised but otherwise grateful that he had not noticed them too well ( yet anyway), but still she could not risk that happening...
But...
What if Basil, Dawson, inspector Lestrade and even Dianne were to get hurt in this case? Considering how horribly Miss Jonfield had been murdered, meaning that the culprit behind this was armed and dangerous. She knew that basil could take care of himself and he had been on more dangerous case then this, but still, who knows how dangerous this guy is, the culprit might catch him and his companions off guard and stab them in the back.
Despite her own concerns, worry or not, she was not going to standby and let the criminal get away with this, she had to do something. With that thought decided, she soon answered Luke's question as she looked into his cerulean blue eyes, "Gracie's in bro." Luke smiled and took another sip of his tea.
~GMD ADVENTURES~
Later that afternoon, Basil and company arrived at the Polyman Manor. Inspector Lestrade knocked on the door and the maids welcomed him inside with Dianne, who rudely walked in front Basil and Dawson. The detective and Doctor soon followed and were lead to the waiting room.
"Mr. Polyman will be with you soon." The maid said with a bow and took took her leave. Basil took a look around as he could see that everything in this house seem to be quite expensive, as he already guessed, all except for the painting on the walls, all of them being hand made and the theme of each one was similar but otherwise the same as each one was different but again similar: a big green luscious field with millions of beautiful flowers, and in each one sometimes there was a tree in the middle of the field or there was a lake coursing through it or both and each one with a different colored sky to signify the time of the day. Judging by how out these painting seem to be, he would have to estimate that these painting were about 10 years old. Who painted all of these? He began to wonder.
"Ah! Hello! Welcome to my manor!" The group looked to see a elder white mouse with a sophisticated business suit walk on in with a maid carrying a plate of crumpets and tea. "I'm Lewis Polyman, but I can only assume you already knew that. But! I know of the Great Mouse Detective, Basil of Baker Street." The mouse walked over to the detective and shook his hand eagerly. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Basil!"
"Likewise." He said simply as he heard Dianne scoffed in annoyance before Mr. Polyman went to greet the other three guests.
"Now, what can I help you all with?" Polyman asked as he sat down and the maid poured everyone a cup of tea.
"Mr. Polyman," inspector Lestrade began, "There was a murder this morning in the park. The victim's name was Maryland Jonfield, she use to work here for you before moving on to your rival's manor, Mr. Maytop. Last night, there was an attack that happened there, threatening to kill Mr. Maytop. You wouldn't happen to be involved in this? Since you and the Maytops haven't been exactly on great terms for the past 5 years."
"Wh-What? A Murder? Attack? Whatever do you mean?" Mr. Polyman asked as he raised a brow in concern, or so it may seem.
"We talked to David Maytop, the son of your rival. He said that he saw Miss Jonfield leave the manor early in the morning." Lestrade said. "Knowing that you and the Maytops have some criminal history. We assumed you-"
"Silence!" Mr. Polyman immediately said, angered so suddenly, as the inspector was startled by this, this startled the doctor too. However, it did not startle Basil and Dianne as they both raised a brow at this as the man before them spoke in a calm but still angered tone, "My business with the Maytop's and Miss Jonfield is none of your your concern whatsoever."
"Why do you say that?" Dawson asked hesitant but calmly trying to help calm the situation, only to land in more hot water as he sneered at the kind doctor.
"Because-"
"Sir, someone killed Miss Jonfield, and we have reason to believe that you are involved in this somehow." Basil chimed in, standing from his seat. Mr. Polyman glared at him as he stood up as well. Meanwhile, little did any of the mice know that they were being watched by a certain female heroine, Grace watched and listened in on the conversation near the open window, waiting for the right time to make her presence known as Mr. Polyman soon spoke.
"And what, if I may be so kind to ask, makes you think that I am involved in any of this?"
Basil returned the glare but looked around the room with his eyes. He soon saw that Mr. Polyman's shoes were clean, not a speck of dirt on them. Basil then thought for a second. It couldn't have been Mr. Polyman. First, he didn't seem like the type to wake up early and go to the park. Second, he did seem very angry about his family being accused of something like this. Lastly, Basil looked at the paintings again and saw something different about each one of them. They were all used with water color, yes, but what was different was the strokes.
"...You wouldn't happen to have a daughter, would you?" Basil asked Mr. Polyman, who was taken back by the question.
"Ye-Yes...I do have a daughter. Marissa Polyman, she-"
"Father?" As if on cue, the young daughter of Mr. Polyman entered the room wearing an afternoon tea dress. "What's going on in here?" Like her father, she was a white mouse, but she had hazel eyes instead of silver ones like her father. This concerned him, Mr. Polyman did not want his daughter involved in this matter, "Marissa dear, these mice-."
"Are here on an investigation concerning a murder that took place in the park about 20 minutes ago, we have reason to believe that the attempt of attack at the maytop estate and your father are connected to this matter in some way." said Dianne who cut his sentence short as she pushed her glass on the rim of her nose, finally breaking her own wall of silence since arriving to the Polyman estate.
Marissa became worried, "Father, is this true?" She asked him in concern.
"Well uh,...you see...I..." he tried to say but he kept stammering nervously, Basil noticed this as he smirked, they were getting closer to solving this case as Mr. Polyman turn back to the detective as he resumed his glare at him.
"Alright detective, talk. How did you know that I had a daughter?" He demanded.
Basil smirked. "Simple, actually. The paintings you have here on the walls, show water color style. And watercolor painting is normal done by artists with slim and delicate hands. Females are more like that. I guessed that you must have a daughter with such skill. The maids could've done so too, but they're mostly silent and I can tell that you rather have them cook and clean then help your daughter with such activities. However, Miss Jonfield was different, wasn't she?" Polyman took a small step back.
"What in blazes are you-"
"Allow me to explain." Basil said, walking over to one of the paintings and observing it. "Miss Jonfield worked for you, but quit and turned to working for Mr. Maytop. There she raised his child, David, like her own son. Then, she suddenly is called in the middle of the night to bring a suitcase filled with who-knows-what. Then she's killed." Lestrade and Dawson were amazed on how much Basil explained in such short time. Dianne, however, was a bit skeptical of him.
"So-So, you're telling me my father killed Miss Jonfield?!" Marissa asked shocked. Almost sounding too shocked. Mr. Polyman looked at his daughter shaking his head, telling her: "No no no! Marissa, my dear! I would never do such a thing." The business mouse turned back to Basil and gave a harsher glare.
"You DARE accuse me of such a dirty act?! You're just barking up the wrong tree, detective!" He snapped.
"...No. I'm at the right tree." Basil stated. "However, I seem to be barking at the wrong branch." Basil looked at Marissa with a stern look.
"Wrong branch? What in the world are you talking about?!" Mr. Polyman demanded again.
"I'm talking about your daughter, Mr. Polyman." Basil answered. "You and Miss Jonfield were very close, like her and David were. But when she left, you had no one to play with. Everyday, you waited for her to come back, didn't you?" The detective asked the girl as he faced her.
"I-I have no idea what you mean." Marissa stated.
"You soon learned that Miss Jonfield went to work for Mr. Maytop, and you were afraid she would never come back. So, out desperation to keep your father's business safe and get Miss Jonfield back, you threaten Maytop with the attack last night."
"I had nothing to-"
"Also," Basil continued, "you told Miss Jonfield, more like ordered her, to meet you in the park the next morning with a suitcase. I'm guessing was full of money. You wanted her back, but you had no intention of killing, did you?"
"Shut up! Father, get this mouse out of here!" But Basil still continued.
"You didn't mean to kill her, but being the spoiled girl you are, you weren't going to take no for an answer." There was silence until Polyman finally spoke.
"You-You brute! Accusing my darling of such a thing! How can you-"
"You're wrong about one thing detective..." Marissa mumbled loud enough from everyone to hear. Basil looked at her, curiously.
"Oh really? And what would that be?" The young lady pulled a pistol out and aimed at Basil. Everyone in the room was shocked, especially Marissa's father.
"Inside the suitcase wasn't money, they were old portraits that me and Miss Jonfield made together!" Small tears formed in Marissa's eyes. "But she left because father was harsh on her. And if I can have her, then no one have the love she gave me!"
"Miss polyman, please, don't do anything you will regret soon." Basil told her stern but calmly as he tried to get her to listen to reason.
"Please Marissa, listen to him and put the gun down, I know you -!" Marissa's father tried to tell her, but he was soon cut short as she shouted, "SHUT UP! You don't know what it feels like to feel betrayed, or to have your heart broken to tiny bits!" Tears welled up in her eyes as she soon pointed the gun at Basil as the expression on his face was serious as Marissa glared at him in angry.
"I'm not going to let this little secret get out detective, so I have no choice to to silence any who knows of this. Starting. With. You!"
"Enough of this foolishness, young lady!" Shouted a voice that sounded Spanish.
Startled, everyone turn to the source of the voice, Basil knew who's voice that was right away even if he only heard once when the two first encountered, they all saw a young woman in purple and black clothes and her hair in a braided bun and she wore a purple masquerade mask with a black ninja mask underneath it, Basil and the inspector knew right away who it was.
"Who are you?!" Marissa demanded, her gun not straying from the detective.
"I'm someone who's here to stop this. Put the gun down." Grace demanded.
Marissa growled at her as she soon pointed the gun at her, aimed at her head. But Grace did not flinch, not even a little as the seriousness on her face did not falter in the slightest.
"Is that...?" Dawson started to ask but he could not find the words to finish it. But Basil and inspector lestrade both knew what he was asking as they both nodded.
"It is, doctor. " the inspector said to him, his eyes not straying from the female fighter. "Grace Fightra." Basil said to him, finishing the other half of the inspector's sentence. His eyes also not straying from the young heroine.
"That's her...?" Dianne asked softly as she stared at her, skeptical but otherwise quite stunned to see her.
"I don't know who you are, but you better back down before you end up with a bullet in you head." She told to her threateningly. Grace could clearly see the look in her eyes, filled with anger, but underneath it all of that, she could see the hurt in her eyes, and even deeper down then that, she could see that she didn't want to do this. Fighting with fists was not an option right now, but fighting with logic and reason most certainly was.
"Is this want you really want Miss Polyman? To become a selfish murderer? Do you think that is what Miss Jonfield would want for you to be?" She asked her stern but seriously. Marissa froze in shock when she said that.
"...Shut up..." Marissa was able to say. "You don't know anything about Miss Jonfield..."
"As true as that may be, I can clearly see that deep down in you heart, you cared a great deal about her, you saw her as the mother you once had, just as mr. Maytops son did." Grace paused for a moment as her eyes soften slightly but still retained its serious glare as she continued, "that alone tells me that she was a very kind and caring old woman. And she treasured you both deeply in her heart." She said as she slowly started to walk towards her.
"...Shut up..." She said as her voice tweaked a bit in sadness as her hands, which were still holding the gun, began to shake.
"I understand why she left your father to work for the maytops, but that does not mean that she didn't care about you anymore." Grace continued to tell her.
"Shut up.." Marissa demanded, her voice kept on cracking little by little as more tears welled up in her eyes as they threaten to burst out, but Grace did not stop as she continued still.
"She still loved you, even after she left, and I would not be surprised if her one regret when she resigned from working with your father...was leaving you all alone."
"Shut up..." She demanded still, wanting her to stop, but she didn't.
Grace knew that if the true was not shown to her, then she would live with this regret for the rest of her days, and might eventually become a criminal herself, or worst, commit suicide. The only way to get through to her was not by violence, but by logic and reason alone.
"The pain of losing someone close to you is understandable, but having to lose someone by your selfish ways is even more painful then you can handle, even if you will not admit it."
"Shut up!"
"If you stain your hands with blood of innocent people, then you're no better than a criminal yourself."
"Shut up!"
"If you killed everyone in this room, even your own father, then the pain you are feeling will only get worse and worse and never go away."
"Shut up!"
"And you will have no one to blame but yourself."
"SHUT UP!"
She shouted as she tried to shoot her, but her hands were sweating and shaking so badly that she could not pull the trigger properly.
Grace stopped in her tracks as she was now in front of Marissa, with only a gun standing between.
"I know that the truth hurts, but if it remains unsaid, then you will live the rest of your days never knowing the truth. If you don't learn to accept it then your pain will never cease. But if you do, then even though it will still hurt, that pain will soon vanish, taking its burden off of you shoulders, and your heart." She said as she gently removed the gun from Marissa's hands as she was losing her grip on it. Now with the gun out of the range of her face, she finally concluded as she tossed the gun a side, "tell me, if mrs. Jonfield was still alive right now, standing in front of you, what would she want you to do? Suffer the pain you feel now? Or admit the truth and come clean with the pain fading away from your heart? what would she want what was best for you?" Marissa gasped softly in deep shock and sadness as stared at her, hands still shaking, tears now falling down her cheeks, and her voice now abandoning her as the words that Grace said soon sank into her head. Marissa felt her legs tremble underneath her until the finally gave out and the young lady fell to the floor on her knees, tears running down her cheeks from her eyes.
Memories of her and Miss Jonfield flooded in her mind as she remembered all of the times she had with her. All of the good ones and the bad ones, she had known her ever since she was 3 years old, and she remembered the kindness that she had shown her, teaching her right from wrong, loving her like the daughter she once had. Then came the memory of one particular day with she was 7, three years before mrs. Jonfield resigned, when she was reading the paper to the toddler, when she read to her the latest story in the London times.
"...And so, The case of the Robbery at the jewels delight jewelry store was once again solved by the famous detective, Cornelius Basil, and the robbers were safely put behind bars." Mrs. Jonfield read to her as Marissa sat in her lap with awe and excitement on her face.
"Amazing, he did it again Miss Jonfield!" She said to her in excitement.
"Indeed he has my dear." The old woman spoke to her as she too was smiling happily.
"How does he always do it? Solve the case and stop the bad guys?" The child asked with curiosity.
"He's works hard and never gives up dear." The old women told her simply. However, this then brought up yet another question as the child asked, "Miss Jonfield, why do the bad guys do the wrong thing and hurt people?"
The old women was not expecting a question like that from her, but she answered anyways as a frown soon replaced her smile, "Well, dear, believe it or not, those bad guys use to be like you and me, kind and happy innocent people, that is until...certain bad things happened in their lives that cause them to become bad people and lead them to do such terrible things. and those people, when blinded by anger or sadness, will not listen to reason. And eventually they'll get punished for their actions in a few ways, either be sent to jail, or worse." The old woman sighed sadly before she continued, "such people like that always make me sad."
Marissa saw the sadness on her face as it her feel sad, she wanted to make her feel better again. So she smile and told her, "Miss Jonfield? If it makes you feel better, I promise I'll never do anything bad to anyone and be a good girl." She told her confidently.
The old woman was surprised by what she said, but she soon smiled at her as she chuckled, "Thank you, dear, I know you'll keep true to it." She replied before the small child smiled happily back at her and she giggled in delight.
Marissa was soon brought back to reality as grace spoke once more as the young women came to an even bigger shock of realization, "just because someone made you mad, it does not mean that you should hurt them for it. If you lash out at someone just because they hurt your feelings or for just telling you the truth will not do you any good, it would only bring you and the person you've done wrong to into more harm then you could ever imagine. If you never listen to reason, then you shall surely be lost.. and alone." She told her as she came down to one knee at eye level. Marissa stared at her as she soon looked down at her hand as they still shook violently. She broke her promise to the only woman whoever cared about her, and she was the one who killed her. Soon she buried her face into her hands as she started to cry very hard.
Grace truly felt sorry for her as her face soften more. Soon she reached into Marissa's pocket as she pulled out a dagger which was in its shaft and the smell of blood made its presence known. She stood up as she tossed the dagger to the inspector as he caught it.
"This is the dagger she used to kill Miss Jonfield, her blood is still on it." She told him before he nodded to her, her spanish accent not faltering in the slightest.
She then turn to Mr. Polyman as she stared at him. He looked in her eyes as she somehow was telling him what he need to do as she nodded. Sadden, he soon walked over to his daughter as he soon knelt down to her level and pulled her into a hug as she then buried her face into her father's chest. Grace stepped away from them to give them some space.
"Well, this is all very sad, really it is." Everyone looked at Dianne, who was breaking the mood of the moment. "But I'm afraid in the name of Scotland Yard and the city of London, Marissa Polyman, you are under arrest for the murder of Maryland Jonfield."
As much as he didn't want to do this, inspector Lestrade took out the handcuffs and locked them around Marissa's wrists.
~GMD ADVENTURES~
"Thank you for all your help, Basil. And you too, Dr. Dawson." It was later that evening and the police had already took Marissa away. Basil and the inspector shook hands once more.
"If you need anything else, inspector, do not hesitate to contact me." Basil said. Lestrade nodded and left with Dianne and the rest of the Scotland Yard. Basil then remembered Miss Grace and turned around to see the young heroine standing by the entrance of the Polyman's manor. This week was filled with more surprises than he was expecting, especially concerning the young heroine he had met days ago. And what she did today greatly shocked him as she was able to resolve the case through logic, reason and understanding in only a matter of minutes, much like he would. Not only was she strong, fast, serious and determined, but she was also intellectual, understanding, reasonable and she even displayed sympathy and kindness towards Marissa in the end. Grace was not just a fighter, she was also clever, sincere and logical.
It was strange, but whenever Basil thought of her, he would always get this odd feeling in him, which still confused him as he could not recognize what this feeling was. Grace was about to exit the estate when she heard basil call her, "Miss grace, wait!" She stopped for a moment before she turn to face the detective. Their eyes meeting once again. His Emerald orbs staring into her mismatched blue irises, and vise versa.
"Yes?" Grace asked, getting a little impatient waiting for an answer. Even though he got her attention, basil did not know what to ask her, there was so much he wanted to ask her, but he did not know which to ask first. But he could see that she was in a hurry, so he would have to ask one question. And soon he decided what question he wanted to ask her as he managed to find him voice.
"What do you plan to achieve in this line of work you have chosen to do?" The detective asked. Grace thought about the question Basil had asked her. Then she finally turned and faced him and said:
"All I just want is to help the people of this town anyway I can, to stop criminals and defend the innocent, no matter the cost. I want to help them...so that they would not have to suffer like I did years ago. My goal... is to help anyone in need, even if it costs me life." Basil and Dawson stood there. A bit in awe of her determination and courage. Grace Fightra was really something. The female heroine then looked at Basil and did a small ballet curtsy.
"Until we meet again, Great Mouse Detective." And with that, Grace Fightra took her leave. But Basil knew that they would all encounter each other again, but who knows when?