Chapter 10

"Mr. Hagus and the Teapot"

The next morning, Scuttlebutt's interrogations continued and still, the ex-museum assistant was not saying anything. By this point, Basil had begun to run out of patience and Nellie was quick to notice this. There was still the matter of the broken teapot that was used to hide the bomb that went off in Chinatown and Nellie felt like they should focus on that.

"That's the information I have been trying to get out of him, Nellie," cried Basil as they sat down for breakfast. "He just will not speak and I don't know what else I can do to get him to talk."

"Perhaps we should just focus on the broken teapot handle we found," said Nellie. "I think we need to pay Mr. Hagus a visit and see just who vended him the teapot to begin with. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Nellie is right, Basil," added Dawson. "We should pay a visit to this Mr. Hagus fellow and see where he got this fine piece of magnificent work to say the least."

"He probably got it from a vendor that must have arrived from China or something," suggested Nellie. "I've heard Mr. Hagus tell stories about getting items from countries like the Far East and such."

"Then that is the kind of information we need to ask him about," said Basil. "Once we finish our breakfast, we'll get to the truth."

While they sat down to eat, Grasping and his associates were hiding out in an empty building waiting for the moment when they would leap out and assault Nellie.

"Now remember, my friends," advised Grasping. "We need to wait until she is alone. All we need to do is follow Ratigan's orders to send a message to Basil and his associates."

"A message?" remarked Toplofty. "If this is a way to get back our reputation as respectable mice, Grasping…"

"It's more than our reputation, Toplofty," snapped Grasping. "We've built our reputation by forcing our workers to respect hard working leaders like us and by God, we will do that. Ratigan is going to give us everything that we have so wanted, but only if we carry out a message to send to that Basil fellow. Understand?"

So, the three ex-factory workers kept themselves quiet, hiding in various locations around New York City and waited for the rest of the day, waiting for the moment when Nellie was at her most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Basil, Nellie and Dawson arrived at Mr. Hagus' shop, which had been long since repaired since the events with the Manhattan Monster. The avid Scotsmouse was delighted to see his most frequent customer walk in.

"Ah, my dear lass, Nellie!" he cried as they embraced into a small hug. "How delighted I am to see your pretty face!"

"Charmed, I am sure, Mr. Hagus," chuckled Nellie, quickly backing away from her friend, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of Basil and Dawson. "This is Basil and Dawson, the two detectives from London who are helping us investigate the bombing in Chinatown."

"And trying to investigate what happened to that poor lass," sighed Mr. Hagus. "Some mice just don't have respect for other mice these days, especially when they hold strong political views."

Basil took this opportunity to sort of search the shop, searching for any clues that might help him in the investigation. Mr. Hagus could see that Basil was not just here at his shop as a normal customer and decided to find out what was going on. However, he had a good thought to what Basil was doing.

"If you don't mind, my good sir," said Basil, examining a small music box. "We discovered that there was a teapot that was bought here just before Chinatown was bombed. Am I correct?"

"I had gotten a shipment of teapots a few days ago if that was what you were wondering," replied Mr. Hagus. "I get shipments of teapots from the Orient once a month. Do you know how long it takes to get them here from the Orient? A long time, longer than a journey across the sea between Scotland and New York."

"If you don't mind, Mr. Hagus," said Nellie. "Did you happen to have a customer who bought this teapot a few days ago? He was a snarky fellow, wearing a green coat and hat, light blue trousers?"

Mr. Hagus remembered very well what Nellie was trying to ask him and decided at that moment to reach into a desk and pull out a set of receipts from a few days earlier.

"I don't suppose you are wondering about that blaggard that was in here a few days ago," remarked Mr. Hagus. "He was quite a rude young mouse and I told him to take the teapot and piss off out of my store. As he left, I noticed that dummy had a friend with him. A huge fellow who looks as if he was a house fit for the highlands."

Basil looked slightly confused at this and Nellie felt that she needed to tell Basil that her close friend was a little eccentric. However, being the detective that he was, Basil already guessed that this particular Scotsman had a mind that was kooky and nuts.

"Yes, well," said Basil, briefly losing his focus on the task at hand. "Do you know where we can find this mouse who is fit for the highlands as you say it?"

"How should I know, laddie?" remarked Mr. Hagus. "Whoever he is, I'd bet he was already captured because he clearly can't run. In fact, he reminds me of that crazy police chief that died in the sewers. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a twin or something."

Nellie was startled at this, for she could remember that there was a mouse similar to what her friend was talking about who did in fact die several years back, or simply just disappeared. But, knowing that this was valuable information not just for the investigation, but rather to warn the public about.

A little while later, they left the shop and returned to the scene of the bombing to collect more clues and interview more eyewitnesses.

"Basil, I'm beginning to wonder if we should warn the public about what is going on with the suspects," suggested Nellie. "We need to let them know about the big fat mouse in question. If only Mr. Hagus could have given us a description or something."

"Perhaps," remarked Basil. "But, we cannot take any chances. You are right, we should give the public something of an advanced warning or something. The warning should be that if there is a big fat mouse that resembled this 'Crazy ex-Police Chief' or whoever walking around, then members of the public should notify us or a member of law enforcement at once."

"If you don't mind," suggested Nellie. "I need to head over to the Daily Nibbler to convince Reed that we need to send out a message about this. I will be late, so don't wait up for me."

Although it was against his better judgment, Basil thought about telling Nellie that she shouldn't be wandering the streets at night, but he reluctantly allowed Nellie to head over to the Daily Nibbler, despite the dangers that were possibly wandering the streets.

"Just be careful," warned Basil as he and Dawson prepared to head back to the house. "Who knows what scoundrels are out this time of night?"

"Basil, I've wandered the streets of New York at night many times," chuckled Nellie. "I'll be careful and be back as soon as I can."

But, little did Nellie know of the danger that was about to befall her…