Chapter 7 - Party Mystery

"I'm bored already," Alyssa grumbled as they entered the vicinity.

"Is that Marla's friend?" Peter whispered, pointing to a bleach-blonde woman who was showing a bit too much skin for her age.

Sophie grimaced, struggling not to make a face as they walked over to their hostess. "Yep. That's Stacy."

"Disgraceful!" Basil spat, looking away from the revealing woman. She was just as bad as Marla, who clearly didn't believe in discretion or leaving anything to the imagination with her plunging neckline and slit sides of her eggplant purple dress.

"Oh, I don't know, she looks like a knowledgeable woman," Ratigan snickered, seeing how she was all cozy with an older gentleman.

"Disgusting," Basil muttered under his breath.

The two rodents ducked, however, when a young man approached the group and greeted them with a rather haughty air.

"It's so nice to see you all again," he smiled a bit too widely, kissing Marla's cheeks without really kissing her.

"Oh, Nicky! How's my little brother doing?" Marla cooed, making sure his hair was perfectly in place.

"Couldn't be more perfect," he beamed, shaking hands with Kalvin before briefly glancing at Alyssa and Peter, who gave him dirty looks. "Sophia – as beautiful as always, I see."

"Nice tie, Nick," she said curtly, placing the clutch over her chest, as if to shield her from her "uncle".

"We'll let you two kids catch up," Marla giggled, waving as she yanked her husband to a table.

Basil could feel a vein ready to pop out as he hid inside the bag, listening to this Nick character obviously trying to flirt with Sophie. He couldn't stand the thought of her talking with this scumbag, but what was he to do? Just stick his head out and tell him to leave? Surely, that would be as bad as Ratigan's fit in the classroom. So he sat, bit his tongue and clenched his fists, waiting and listening.

"Neat party, huh, Sophia? You know, I helped Stacy with some of the planning myself."

"That must have been very strenuous for your poor, little mind." This got a chuckle out of Basil.

"How patronizing of you. When are you ever going to accept me, Sophia?"

"When you stop acting like an ass."

The sound of someone tapping their glass earned everyone's attention at once, as well as Basil's. Raising the lid of the clutch to get a better look, her frowned as he felt Ratigan close behind him. "Personal space, Professor-"

"This is the only spot where I can see anything, so zip it," he snapped back.

Glaring at each other, they tore their attention back to the man who had clinked his glass. It was the old gentleman with whom this Stacy was paired with, making some silly speech about how he was the happiest man alive with her. "Can't imagine how," Basil rolled his eyes. She looked demanding, cold, and careless to him.

"It gives me great pleasure to give her this little gift on our anniversary," the man continued, pulling out a little velvet box and opening it before the crowd. A set of gorgeous, excessive diamond earrings sparkled in the light of the room. Everyone immediately gaped and gasped, pointing in awe at the gems.

"Those are imitations of Elizabeth Taylor's 1957 earrings that are here on display during spring at the museum," Nick explained after he whistled in approval. "Quite the beauties, huh?"

"Hm," she said, unimpressed. "They're pretty, but they're for show. This is all just a big show for the money. There's no emotion behind."

"Maybe someday you'll understand," Nick sighed.

"No, Nick, maybe one day you'll understand," she retorted coolly, edging away from him.

As Stacy gushed and beamed, she reached for the earrings…

…and the lights went out.

Women from all over screamed in surprise and fright, while children screeched with excitement and terror. The men started to shout about finding the switch or fuse box when the gentleman of the house shouted, "Who took them?!" In the darkness of the room, Basil could make out a short, lithe figure scurrying away, nearly slipping as he ran out the door of the dining room.

"Call the police!" Stacy screamed, and almost at once, the lights turned on. The velvet box in Stacy's husband's hand was gone, and they were both furious. "MY EARRINGS!" she screeched, her face turning bright red.

"Don't worry!" a new voice shouted from the door, causing heads to turn. An older man dressed in a police's uniform entered the room with two men holding a bewildered and frightened man in handcuffs. "We've got him!"

"Lloyd!" Stacy's husband exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Jeff, it's all taken care off. Just as we were walking into the party, we found this guy trying to get up off the floor with this in his hands." He held up the velvet box, gasps filling the room as people began to glare at the man.

"Buddy, am I glad to see you," Jeff grinned, rushing over with Stacy to take back the box.

"Jeff, you're a darling," she cooed, her eyes on the box. "Now let me take that-"

"Sorry, Stacy, but there's nothing in it," the officer, Lloyd, shook his head, opening the box for them. "It's empty." This elicited a cry of shock and outrage from the crowd. "We've already patted him down – there's nothing on him. He must've hidden it somewhere."

"I didn't do it, please! You've got to believe me!" the poor man begged, dressed in a butler's uniform as was required for the employees for this event.

"Shut up!" snapped Stacy. "I should have known…you, of all people, Alex! We gushed on Lizzy Taylor together for hours! You knew how much this meant to me!"

"But I didn't do it-!"

"Tell it to the judge," Lloyd frowned, ordering his men to take him away. "Leave him in the car and keep a watch on him, I'm going to check the place out for the earrings."

"Please! Won't somebody believe me?!" the server, Alex, wept as he was taken away, the little drama fascinating the guests.

"Well, that was melodramatic," Ratigan sniffed, fixing his collar. "Glad it's over."

"It isn't," Basil said, tapping his chin in thought as Nick's voice grabbed his attention.

"Thank God they at least caught the jerk-"

"Something doesn't feel right," Sophie shook her head. "It's a little too convenient that they found the 'culprit' so quickly, don't you think?"

"Soph, you don't think that they'll a…detective on the scene, do you?" Alyssa asked, putting specific emphasis on the word as her eyes darted down to her sister's clutch.

"Yeah, that'd be great, wouldn't it?" Peter grinned.

Nick scoffed, giving them a sneer. "That's absolutely-"

"Correct," Sophie winked, giving her clutch a gentle pat. "And I happen to know the best detective there is. I'm sure he'd be glad to help."

"Oh, please, no!" Ratigan whined, covering his ears. "You've got to be joking!"

Basil couldn't help the overwhelming swell of pride that filled him, a smug grin growing on his face, which he quickly changed into a cool look of indifference as he glanced over at his nemesis. "Well, it looks like I'm needed, old chap. Do excuse me."

"Curses!" Ratigan hissed at him malevolently.

"You can't be serious!" Nick exclaimed.

"Excuse us, Nick, but we need to make a call. Why don't you go flirt with the punchbowl?" Sophie waved him off, striding out of the room with Peter and Alyssa, pausing only when they arrived at a private, quiet corner of the living room. "Basil, Ratigan, you can come out now." Basil leapt at the chance to escape, hopping onto Sophie's open and expectant palm. "Basil, won't you-?"

"Say no more, Sophie, my dear," he grinned, withdrawing his magnifying glass from his coat. "You can count on me. Those earrings are as good as found!"

"This is so cool!" Peter whispered, excited to see a beloved Disney character in action.

"We'd better hurry before we get caught or catch the officer's attention," Alyssa cautioned them, looking over her shoulder towards the door leading to the dining room.

"I'm sure you've already had a good look at Stacy and Jeff and can tell they're not ones for gratitude," Sophie said to Basil. "But this is technically a crime, and-"

"You knew I wouldn't be able to resist anyways, I'm sure," he chuckled, adjusting his deerstalker cap over his head. Biting his lip, he glanced up and met her gaze. "Besides, I'm not doing it for them…I'm doing it for you."

Her cheeks filled with blush once more, her eyes full of modest delight. "Oh Basil…" Bowing her head, she pecked a kiss on nose, his face turning as bright red as a maraschino cherry as he chuckled sheepishly and tugged at his tie.

"Oh brother," Alyssa rolled her eyes, earning a chuckle from Peter. Ratigan made no comment…instead he remained silent, stroking his upper lip in thought, a slight smirk showing on his lips.

"E-hem, n-now see here!" Basil stammered, clearing his throat as he quickly put on a stern face. "Let's look at what we do know. Mr. and Mrs…?"

"Cutler," Alyssa informed him.

"Thank you, my dear. Mr. and Mrs. Cutler were at the main table with the box and missing earrings. When she reached for them, the lights went out and there was a figure running about who snatched the trinkets. I myself saw his outline and noticed that he slipped as he ran out the door. That's when the lights came back on and shortly afterwards, the police came in with that man in custody."

"And he's apparently a Liz Taylor fan like Mrs. Cutler, so it makes sense that they accuse him of stealing the earrings," Peter added.

"Precisely, Master Peter," Basil nodded. "It's the perfect excuse to arrest him, as well as his terrible timing. But there were two details I noticed about this poor fellow that instantly tell me he's not the culprit."

"Oh? And that would be…?" Ratigan sniffed.

"Elementary, Professor," Basil answered curtly. "First off is his stature – the culprit was about a foot shorter than our accused butler, and he didn't have such a rotund belly, either. The second has to do with his shoes."

"His shoes?" asked Sophie.

"Oh yes. You see, as he was running out of the room, he nearly slipped backwards, and his slippery shoes emitted a faint squeak as he did. My deduction is that they were wet, perhaps from crossing the lawn outside."

"That's right! The sprinklers were on, so his feet would be wet!" Sophie agreed. "Then that means that Alex's shoes-"

"Are perfectly dry, not a drop on them," Basil grinned. "And since his shoes were wet, I'd wager there's some sort of mark around here in this room that could help."

"Do you think he's still here in this house, Basil?" Peter asked, looking from one end of the room to the next.

"Oh, undoubtedly," he answered, scanning the floor for evidence. "There's no way he could have escaped when there was a policeman attending dinner and he was just about to walk in upon hearing the commotion from inside. Indeed, he is hiding until the dust settles completely so that he might make a clean getaway." His eyes soon caught sight of a shiny spot on the floor, his lips curling into a delighted smile. "Over there, Sophie! Do you see it, just by the rug?"

She squinted, nodding as she finally saw what he had noticed. "Yeah…come here, you guys!" The group hurried over, surrounding the footprint with great interest. Basil slid off of her hand and onto the floor, swiping a finger across the edge of the moist footprint and inspecting it.

"This certainly smells like that sprinkler water," he announced, rubbing his finger and thumb together, his brows furrowing. "…interesting…there's residue in here…almost feels like rubber…rubber soles, I take it, and quite worn out. This person's been traveling on foot quite a bit."

"I don't get it, why would someone want to steal imitations of a dead lady's earrings?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"There's more to this than meets the eye," Basil reassured him. "And from the look of how these footprints fade and the pattern on the floor, it looks as if our thief bumped into someone and tossed them aside before continuing out, most likely taking this opportunity to separate the box and jewelry, framing the poor chap."

"It's too bad we can't ask Alex if he saw the guy," Alyssa shook her head. "We might get some more details if…" She saw the look of deviousness in Basil's eyes, making her stomach drop. "Oh, please don't tell me-!"

"Master Peter, you and Miss Alyssa will cause a distraction for the police outside while Sophie and I go and chat with Mister Alex," Basil announced.

Alyssa smacked her forehead. "Me and my big mouth."

"And just what am I to do?" Ratigan asked, pouting at Basil. "I'll be bored to tears while you're at work-"

"Cause a distraction if you wish, just don't get in the way," Basil waved him off gruffly. "I'm sure one of those officers is deathly afraid of rats."

Ratigan fumed at this, struggling to maintain his composure when Sophie cautiously patted him on the back. "C'mon, Padraic, we need you calm in order for this to work," she encouraged him, praying that he wouldn't explode from Basil's comment. He blinked, stunned by her sincerity before masking his surprise with a charming smile.

"Of course, my dear, anything for you."

~221B~

"That's one way to get an officer's attention," Sophie grimaced as Ratigan climbed up a man's pants, causing him to cry out for help and dance around like a maniac. The other officer ran to check on Alyssa, who pretended to faint in Peter's arms (at least, she hoped it was just her acting) when the boy had asked her something.

"At least it's working," Basil noted as they moved towards the abandoned police car.

One of the windows had been cracked open barely an inch, allowing Sophie to whisper into the opening, "Alex, can you hear me?"

The was a slight movement of a human body against the car seat before the man peeked out with one eye to see who had approached him. "Yes…? Wait, I know you! You're Marla's step kid…Sophie, is it?"

"Hi Alex," she nodded. "Look, I've got a friend who's a detective and wants to help you get out of here."

"Oh, thank God!" he sighed in relief.

"But you've gotta help us," she explained, checking once more to see how the distractions were holding up. She took a second to glance at her shoulder as see Basil wink at her before using her hair as a curtain as he rested against her skull, right by her ear. This way, the poor man wouldn't think she was crazy talking to a mouse as he could still instruct her on what to ask and hear what the victim had to say. "Alex, did the thief bump into you by any chance? Please explain what happened as best as you can, don't miss out a single detail," she pleaded, quickly adding, "And hurry."

"W-Well, I was just walking in through the back way – from the kitchen – and I stepped into the living room when the man rushed out and slipped on the floor, crashing into me and causing me to fall. He was wearing a uniform, like mine, but he was shorter than me, and he wore some sort of goggles to cover his face, as well as a bandana over his mouth."

"Did he say anything?" Basil whispered.

"Did he say anything when that happened?" Sophie asked.

"He just grunted…oh, he said 'rats!'" he exclaimed softly. "And I saw he was white-no! Grey-haired and his brow was all wrinkly. Then he tossed the box at me and got up and ran into the kitchen where I had just come from."

"So when the cops came towards the house, they saw and heard the commotion through the bay windows and came in through the front seeing you, and that's how you got arrested," she finished.

He nodded, frowning in sorrow. "Oh, please! Get your detective friend here fast," he pleaded.

"Are there any other details? Do you know of anyone who might want to frame you or has a love of Elizabeth Taylor, too?" Sophie asked, repeating all that Basil told her.

He shook his head. "No! I'm on good terms with just about everyone here, especially Mrs. Cutler! She was so quick to judge me…"

"She's selfish, and she's not your friend – she's your employer," Sophie said gently, giving him a reality check. Looking up, she saw that Peter was carrying Alyssa inside with the help of one of the officers, while the other still danced around with Ratigan on his body. The officer helping Peter excused himself before running over and trying to find the cause of his friend's distress. "I have to go, but don't give up – we'll figure this out," she promised, giving him a hopeful, reassuring smile before dashing off back towards the house through the back way, leading to the kitchen.

"Well, we'd better hope Ratigan isn't near this guy when he shouts out 'rats'," Sophie jested, taking Basil in her hand and carrying him gingerly.

"On the contrary, my dear, we will need Ratigan with us as every possible moment," Basil grinned. "He's now become our official 'thief' detector."

"Y'know, most people drop a profane curse word when something like that happens. Even if they drop a pencil, they'll say something inappropriate," she thought aloud. "Interesting that he would say something as clean as 'rats'."

"Wonderful deduction," Basil praised her. "We also know that the thief is an elder, and that he's wearing a server's uniform. With a little luck, we'll find him within the hour! But first…" He ducked into her hand as she stepped into the kitchen and snuck past the workers, making her way towards the living room. "We'd best check on the others."

~221B~

Basil was certain they would catch the fiend if they lay low. That meant going back and mingling a bit at the party, checking each server that walked by. He glowered at the policeman, Lloyd, for going off and drinking on the job, joking with his friends on his 'success'. Typical. After several moments, the gang reconvened and said the same thing – there were two gentlemen who fit the bill. Many of the workers there were well over their fifties, having served Jeff Cutler's family for years as man of wealth, while the other half that appeared that night were hired for the event as a package from the catering company, but the two that were smallest and fit the description they had construed. One man was at least in his eighties, sluggish and hard of hearing, while the other had a hump on his back and a thick Irish accent, a smidge younger than the first man.

"What do you think, Basil? Have you got an idea of who it could be?" Sophie asked as he took in the information.

"I believe I do, but I'd like to confirm my suspicion, and in order to do that, we'll have to go to the second floor of the house," Basil insisted. "There's only a stall here on the first floor with no real room to hide anything, so the place where he hid the jewelry and his disguises must be upstairs."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Peter asked, rising at once. "Let's check it out!"

"Hold on, Master Peter, it'll be too conspicuous if we all leave at the same time for the same place," Basil shook his head. "We shall have to stay in different positions in the house. I suggest you stay here, Miss Alyssa, and Master Peter will wait in the living room."

"Keep in contact with your cellphones," Sophie added.

"Sophie, this could be dangerous, but we'd work much faster if you went with me upstairs," Basil requested, looking at her with a serious, intense look in his eyes.

"You can count on me, Basil," she nodded, offering her hand to him.

"Thank you," he said softly as she placed him on her shoulder.

"And just what do you plan to do with me?" Ratigan frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why, you're coming with us," Basil said almost cheerfully, winking at Sophie. "As a matter of fact, your presence is most crucial."