Chapter 28
The Vilhelm Case: Solved
"So where should I look on this landscape?" Haru asked touching the painted ceiling, while Baron held her up on his hand, as he stood on a ladder.
"Anything at all! Just keep searching!" Basil said from the other side of the room with irritation, while Hound held him up as well, while Basil touched the painted ceiling. "I know you're just trying to be helpful by asking Haru, but we still have no idea, and you repeating it is not helping."
Haru pouted angrily.
"I know that! But I was just asking because-!"
"Haru please, I can barely concentrate!" Basil gritted his teeth.
"Gosh Basil! I know this is stressful and we all haven't had much sleep since Belgium. Not to mention the fact that Ratigan and Clive could be somewhere nearby, but would it kill ya to be a bit nicer instead of a jerk?!" Haru resorted back.
Hound chuckled nervously. "Now, now you two. . ."
Baron who was slightly frowning at the mouse detective's behavior regarding Haru, peered at Haru in concern.
"Since Belgium?"
Haru gave a patient smile towards Baron, before shooting a dirty look at Basil again.
"I was just asking in the first place because I thought maybe we should try searching the waterfall portion instead of the rest of the painting!"
"That would be a good idea. Considering the waterfall and lake is what the Prince talked about in his journal. It wouldn't hurt to concentrate on that side of the painting." Baron added.
Archibald, who was anxiously pacing the room looked up at them.
"Please do. Anything that would make sense and speed things along."
Basil rolled his eyes but smiled at Haru.
"Why didn't you just say so?" he mocked slightly, earning a cheeky glare from Haru as she stuck her tongue out at him.
Baron and Hound both moved towards the center of the room, where the waterfall was painted above them and raised the two mice under it.
Basil and Haru both moved their hands over the detailed painting of the rushing water until Basil felt an oddly shaped area.
"Aha!" Basil exclaimed, startling everyone and pressed his hand hard on the bump, which caused it to move down like a switch or a button.
A creaking sound was heard behind the mysterious dresser, and the dresser slowly moved to the side that revealed a small opening to a dimly lit space.
Archibald beamed.
"We actually opened it!" he said as he and the group slowly inched closer to the opening.
Placing Basil on the ground, Hound frowned.
"A bit of a squeeze, we'll need to crouch down to get inside." Hound said, looking towards Baron and Archibald.
Baron nodded and placed Haru down on the floor along with his cane and hat.
"Come on Basil, that means we go in first," Haru said marching into the room.
"Haru! Wait a tick! We don't know what could be in . . . here. . . " Basil said trailing off as he and Haru gaped at what they saw.
Despite the fact they entered from a small entrance, the room was large. Even larger than the King and Queen's bedroom itself, with a high ceiling above them. But the size of the room isn't the only thing that startled them, it was what was inside. The whole room had many tables with expensive looking chemistry apparatus, with vials of glowing liquids of many colors. The sight nearly took Haru's breath away.
"Well. . . this isn't what I expected." Basil said his eyes scanning the place.
A whistle of came from behind them, and Basil and Haru turned to see their three other companions were now inside.
"My. . . I'm sure you're happy about this, aren't you Hound?" Baron said smiling towards Hound.
"Indeed I am." Hound smirked as he went fully into the room and towards the said equipment.
"It's the Queen's lab. . ." Archibald breathed staring at everything.
Baron's expression immediately turned serious.
"Her lab? The same place she made that poison that Toto consumed? Some sign of antidote could be here." Baron said as he immediately began to search the place.
Haru's eyes lit up.
"You're right! We have to find something in here to help Toto!" Haru said rushing behind Baron, as he leaned his hand down for her to climb on.
Archibald frowned at them.
"But that could be literally anything here. We wouldn't be able to know unless the Queen herself were here." Archibald said cringing at all the vials surrounding them. "And we're certainly not about to have Toto drink any of these without concrete evidence it's the antidote."
Hound sighed sadly.
"He's right you two. We have a better chance of saving Toto, by finding the Prince. The Prince himself might know of the antidote since the poison and the antidote was only known by his parents and possibly himself."
"Even still, just search for anything unusual," Basil said.
Everyone expect the detectives, struggled to find even the simplest of clues among all the foreign equipment. In the midst of it all, Baron sighed.
"You okay, Baron?" Haru asked looking up in concern at him.
Baron gave a grim smile.
"Yes, I'm quite alright, Haru. I'm just getting anxious about all the time passing right now and Toto's situation." Baron said looking over another chemistry table.
Haru cringed.
"Yeah, it's very hard not to worry and think about Toto." she said looking over at Basil, who was now looking at the room's fireplace.
Making her way over to him, she stood next to Basil as he peered inside.
"Um Basil, looks like just plain ash- "
"Hush!" Basil interrupted Haru and went into the fireplace, startling her.
"Basil! You're going to get all dirty! . . . At least let me help!" she said rushing in after him.
Once completely inside, Haru looked around her at the dark walls of the fireplace and the piles of ash that towered above her and Basil.
". . . Wow. There's actually a lot of ash here. . . maybe at least for us. . ." Haru commented, with a small chuckle.
"Can't be a detective if you're afraid to get your hands a bit dirty," Basil smirked, getting deeper into the fireplace.
Following a bit reluctantly, Haru leaned down to get a better look at the ash below her.
"Anything yet?" Haru heard Archibald ask from outside the fireplace.
"No, still nothing yet," Baron replied solemnly.
"Tch. Perhaps we should search elsewhere?" Hound asked hesitantly.
The room filled with a sudden silence, everyone feeling the same dread. After this, they wouldn't have anywhere else to look. This was their last solid lead, and if Watson, Dawson, and Crisp didn't get any new ones, they would be in a dire situation, with no chance of saving Toto in time.
This new sudden revelation, caused Haru to immediately go on her knees to search the ash no longer caring about staying clean.
Basil, who was now covered in black ash from the waist down, dug his hands into the ash intently, then briefly turned to glance at Haru who had suddenly disappeared.
"Haru?" Basil frowned looking around only to see the piles of ash all around him.
'Did she leave the fireplace already?' Basil thought, peeking out of the fireplace, but still not seeing any sign of her.
Basil's mind immediately swirled, a sudden panic growing in him, not liking the idea of Haru disappearing after she recently claimed she saw Clive here. Could it be?
Just when Basil was going to leave to investigate, a pile of ash next to him began to erupt, and Haru poked her head out of the ash with a loud gasp, startling Basil.
"Haru!" Basil said with a smile of relief, but his eyes squinted in annoyance.
Haru immediately jumped out of the ash pile, holding large pieces of what looked like torn paper in her hands, spiking Basil's curiosity.
"I found these. It's paper that wasn't burned completely, you can also make out some words if you squint." Haru said handing them to Basil, who took Haru's advice and squinted at the dirty and slightly singed paper indeed making out some words.
. . . DOCUMENTA. . .OFF. . . FESTIV. . . HAS BEEN LET. . . DUE TO. . . ATT. . . PTING. . . POSIO. . . ING. . . OF. . . LEGAL. . . NOTICE. . . SEND. . . PRISON. . .
Basil read with wide eyes at the vague and possibly even misread words written in from of him. He slowly looked up at Haru, who wore a determined face.
"You . . . got this from here, right?" Basil asked motioning towards the pile she had jumped out of.
"There and from over here too and in the back of the fireplace," Haru said. "I may have missed some pieces too."
Basil studied Haru and the torn paper silently for a while before a big grin began to spread across his face. He laughed and abruptly picked Haru up and spun her and himself around, startling Haru badly.
"Aha! Excellent! A new lead! Oh, Haru, you've found one!" he said not sparing to think how forward he was being.
He stopped spinning and put Haru down and rushed outside the fireplace, leaving a dazed, dizzy and wobbly Haru to follow behind him.
"We've found something," Basil said coming out of the fireplace, still dirty from the waist down.
Hound's eyes lit up.
"Oh really? In the fireplace?"
Basil nodded, as Hound reached down towards him to place him on a nearby table.
"Haru found these," Basil said holding out the pieces of paper for Hound to grab.
"Did she now?" Hound said picking up the paper and his eyes lit up. "Great work, Ms. Haru!"
Haru blushed from the praise, but it was barely visible from the ash on her face and body. It wasn't until now that she realized the ash was irritating her eyes and she began to have a coughing and sneezing fit.
Baron rushed to her, picked her up and pulled a handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket and attempted to brush the ash off of her, while she continued to cough and sneeze.
Baron frowned.
"I'm going to need to get Haru cleaned up, she's not reacting well with all this ash on her. If you don't mind gentlemen, I'd like to take her now?" Baron said looking at everyone in the room.
"Yes please do," Basil said looking at Haru in concern as she began to wheeze.
"There's a bathroom connected to the room with Muta and Toto, you can go there," Archibald said.
"Thank you, we'll join you again soon," Baron said gratefully and looked down at Haru in his hand. "We're leaving, Haru."
Haru nodded, having calmed down a bit, but her eyes remained watery and red, as she and Baron left the room, while he still tried to brush more ash off her.
"Hmm. . ." Hound said looking at the writing as Archibald peered over Hound's shoulder in order to peek as well.
"That. . . looks like an official royal document!" Archibald said grabbing a piece from Hound to inspect it closely. "It is! It's a bit hard to see from the burns but you can still make out the royal seal."
"An official document? I assume it's unusual for it to be burned in a secret room like this correct?" Hound asked.
"Yes, very unusual. Official documents like this should be securely stored away with the others, even ones that are no longer needed would be archived. Who would try to burn this document and why?" Archibald frowned.
Basil's eyes narrowed in thought.
"It might be a stretch, but from what I gathered from those little words, perhaps this was a document of someone from the palace being sacked and poison is connected to it somehow or another. . . "
"Then it's definitely concerning that this was in the fireplace of all places," Archibald said alarmed. "The person who this document is about has to be behind this!"
"But there is a possibility the King and Queen could have burned it, because their room, much less this one, hasn't been disturbed since their deaths." Hound frowned.
Archibald growled in frustration.
"Great, just more things to consider."
"Either way we can't say for sure, Haru said there is a possibility she missed, even more, pieces of this document. We should double check to make sure there isn't anything we're missing." Basil added.
OOO
"Is that the last of them?" Dawson asked Kunz who gave a tired nod.
"Y-Yes. T-Th- That is. . . until we f-find Delmira." Kunz said giving everyone a nod and left the room.
"I think it's best we recap what we've just been through, as a result of how fast we were going through everyone," Watson said grabbing his pile of notes.
"Goody." Crisp said sarcastically.
"The first one we talked to was Stuart. He's the emissary, he at the time of the festival, was the guide for the royals from the other animal kingdoms. His thoughts on Prince Vilhelm is that he is just a confused boy." Watson stated as he scanned one of his notes.
"Stuart does play a somewhat important role in all of this. He's the one that ensures there is peace between this kingdom and others, and he makes sure important news is relayed throughout this kingdom. So if they did decide to announce the dead King and Queen and missing Prince, Stuart would be the one to make sure it goes out." Dawson thought aloud.
"But despite that, he does seem pretty harmless. . . " Crisp shrugged.
"Ah. . . and the next person we talked to was. . .?" Dawson asked Watson, who flipped his notes.
"It was that nonstop-talking maid chick, Lenore." Crisp frowned.
"Yes, Lenore. At the time of the festival, she was down in the town spending time with her family. After the festival was over, she said she went back to work like always. However, she said that she and the other maids didn't get a chance to clean the King, Queen, and Prince's rooms even before their disappearance. So that means the rooms are untouched from the time the Royals were last seen. Lenore also said she thought the Prince was ungrateful and self-righteous, her views on him were mostly sour." Watson said reading from the notes.
"But from what I can tell, it could have been all in her head, since she complained he treated her like a maid, despite the fact she is one." Crisp said rolling his eyes.
"There are so many conflicting views on the Prince and that is very unusual. We can't really tell if the Prince is truly bad or simply misunderstood," Dawson said raising an eyebrow.
"Which bring us to the one we spoke to after Lenore, Rudy." Watson said flipping a page.
"Yes, nice to meet you. . .?"
"Rudy." The pointer husky mix answered Dawson, the young adult's crystal blue eyes showing confidence.
"Rudy. Rudy, what is it that you do?" Dawson asked.
Brushing his long head fur from his eyes he grinned at the group.
"I'm the royal entertainer. Mostly here to entertain the Royals, in particular, the Prince."
Crisp snorted.
"In other words, he's the Royal's clown." Crisp murmured to Watson.
"I heard that. . ." Rudy glared. "I'll have you know I'm highly respected for my sense of comedy gold around these parts, so much so I get the pleasure to entertain the Royals, and as a reminder, the Prince."
Dawson and Watson's eyes widen slightly before Dawson asked another question.
"Tell me, what were you doing during the Offering Festival?"
"Mostly enjoying all the stares of admiration from all my fans, which was pretty much the whole kingdom." Rudy boasted.
"You said you entertain the Prince. From your experience with working with him, how do you feel about him?" Dawson asked.
Rudy raised an eyebrow at the group but shrugged.
"How I feel about him? Well. . . he's a nice kid, one of the harder ones to crack a smile, though, but I succeeded because I'm simply amazing." a grin returning to Rudy's face.
Before Crisp could make a smart retort, Dawson spoke.
"So, in short, you. . .?"
"Yep, I think he's a cool kid." Rudy answered.
"He was so flamboyant, I hated him." Crisp glared causing Dawson to laugh nervously.
"The next one we talked to was Beto, the handyman, and mechanic," Watson said.
"His interview was one of the more interesting ones, considering what he discussed with us, related more to the case at hand," Dawson said.
The adult male wolf with a reddish brown fur coat, stared at the group uneasily with his bright orange eyes, after Dawson had asked the next question.
"Well after the Festival was over I had to make sure that everyone's means of transportation was in good shape. However. . . err. . . one carriages needed some work done, so I had to separate it from the others to avoid an accident. But. . . when the King, Queen, and Prince went missing, I checked to see if their royal carriage was still in its rightful place. It was. But the faulty carriage was gone." Beto said gravely.
Dawson and Watson's eyes widen.
"So that means. . .!"
Beto nodded.
"They unknowingly took the faulty carriage, that ended up causing their deaths."
Crisp's eyes then hardened.
"Someone purposely caused this. They put the damaged carriage with the working ones and intended the King and Queen to use it."
"It could have easily been a mistake too. I feel I didn't put enough care in storing it away, maybe someone transferred it back believing it was fine and needed to be put back with the others." Beto said.
"That's true too. Someone would have to have known the King and Queen would be taking a regular carriage instead of their royal one to avoid attention, and until now as far as we know, no one knew that the family was secretly leaving the palace to who knows where." Dawson said.
Watson placed his pen on his lips in concentration.
"Beto doesn't work real close to the Royals like the previous people we talked to did. But he did say from what he heard that the Prince was a troublemaker, but he didn't say 'evil'."
"After we spoke to Beto, we then talked with the head of the maids, Lady Divine," Dawson said.
"She, however, complained about the Prince." Crisp said.
"She mentioned his tantrums, outbursts, and mood swings with such disdain." Watson frowned. "Yet she didn't really breath a word of him being 'evil'."
"There is also the matter she mentioned about a gap in their files," Dawson said.
The proud bulldog stared at the group with her dark eyes, almost glaring at them as if she were the one doing the interrogating before she finally spoke.
"After the festival ended it was back to our duties. I assigned the maids to clean the palace, except the King, Queen, and Prince's quarters. Due to all the excitement of the festival, they had asked to hold off cleaning their rooms until they regained their energy again. I worked alone in the file room because the room is exclusively for the people closest to the King and Queen. I cleaned the room and made sure everything was organized as usual. . ." Divine said trailing off and frowning at the group as if she were debating to continue.
"I cleaned the room and made sure everything was organized as usual. . ." she repeated. "But this time. . . I noticed a file was missing."
Dawson, Crisp, and Watson looked at each other then back at Divine, waiting for her to continue.
"It was obviously a newer file since it wasn't there the last time I cleaned. It was also obvious it was missing because the place where it should have been was empty, but that isn't even the strangest part." Lady Divine said her stern eyes softening a bit.
"The strangest part was the file that was missing was supposed to be under the area for people who've been let go."
"Someone has been recently fired. . ." Dawson stated.
"And coincidently the official file stating the specific person's discharge is gone." Crisp said.
"Lady Divine says that no one knows of anyone being fired lately. So she says it must have been so new that the file was made a day maybe even hours after the King, Queen, and Prince left." Watson said.
Crisp then tsked.
"Then the last one we talked to was, Paquito. That deadbeat head of the royal guard." Crisp said with a cringe.
The black lab, pitbull mix leaned in his chair, a wide grin on his face, ticking off the quaker parrot as he growled out.
"Yes well besides the fact you were out partying instead of doing your job, during the festival, is there anything else of importance? You know? Like a murderer type wandering around, while you were out smooching girls."
The smirk on Paquito's face was immediately replaced with a guilty smile.
"Ah-hehe. . . um no, . . . not that I'm aware of. . ." But suddenly Paquito's black eyes widened.
"But hey, you know? There was something interesting happening now that I think about it. Um, the royals from the lizard and monkey kingdom were here, Stuart, err. . . a guy who was in charge of escorting them around. Well, he asked me for a short time to come with him because he said the King wanted to speak with me. Well, that was all fine and good only when we got there, the King, Prince, Kunz, and other kingdom royals were there and the air was full of tension. Before I entered, though, I heard things like 'Are you sure, Vilhelm?' 'Yes father' 'Ar-Are you s-sure you d-didin't eat anything?' 'Okay good.'"
Dawson blinked at Paquito, while Watson almost furiously jotted down on his notes.
"Was that situation explained to you by chance?" Dawson asked.
"No, whatever they were talking about was brushed off before I could get any closer. After that, the King ordered me and a couple other guards to escort the royal guests out of the Kingdom safely. They took everything in stride so I wasn't really concerned at that point. So I did my job, came back and partied some more, after that, it was same old same old."
"And getting to our last question, what are your thoughts on Prince Vilhelm?" Dawson asked.
"Who, the squirt? I don't really come in contact with him much since whenever I come in contact with his parents, he is never around. But I do hear he is a brat. In fact, when the King sent for me to escort the royals, he was sort of hiding behind his father like a scared puppy, which in a way, he literally is. Maybe a brat, maybe just a kid, either way, I don't have a real opinion of him besides what I hear from the staff to judge him, which wouldn't be a wise thing to do to decide someone's character."
"That's all we uncovered from them." Watson sighed setting his notes down. "But the issue involving Delmira is still unsolved."
"Not for long."
Dawson, Watson, and Crisp turned to see Hound, Basil, and Archibald come into the room.
"You all are back," Dawson said with a smile.
"Yes, we discovered some. . . interesting info and we came down to see if any of the people you talked to may be linked with it in any way." Hound said.
"But we'll discuss that later. Delmira has been found." Archibald said.
Astonishment erupted from Dawson and Watson's faces, while Crisp only scowled.
"The royal guards have said they found her and they'll send her up any time now to talk to us." Hound said.
"We figured it was best we were all here to hear what Delmira would have to say. It may be the key to tying this whole case together." Basil said.
Dawson looked behind the group and frowned.
"Shouldn't Haru and her friend Baron be here too? They are people who know the one who was possibly poisoned by Delmira and might have some info as well."
"Indeed. Kunz should be bringing them back soon as well. Hopefully in time before Delmira is brought to us." Archibald sighed.
Hound walked over to Watson and grabbed the notes in order to read them, while Basil read from Hound's shoulder.
Basil's eyes narrowed at some of the words on the paper and tsked. He hopped off of Hound and landed next to Dawson and Crisp on the table.
"Care to explain further about these interrogations?"
OOO
"Feeling better now Haru?" Baron asked pulling a wet and ash covered cloth away from a now newly cleaned Haru.
"I've been better, but I'm alright. My only complaint is that my coat is now cold and damp," Haru said touching the fabric of her coat and removing it. She inwardly groaned at seeing her clothes and brown fur slightly damp as well.
Baron gave her a small apologetic smile and set the wet cloth down.
"Hopefully your clothes will dry soon, we can't have another member of the Bureau in critical condition," Baron said glancing apprehensively at Toto who smiled towards Baron sadly.
"Too bad we didn't prepare for the possibility of Chicky becoming a mouse and packed her some small sized clothes for her. . . just in case. . ." Muta said sarcastically, crossing his arms as he sat by a now conscious Toto on the bed, still breathing heavily.
Toto smiled weakly.
". . . I . . . still. . . am dying. . . to hear the. . . story behind that. . ." Toto said staring at Haru's form as best as he could without raising his head.
Muta growled and harshly put Toto's head in a comfortable position again.
"Forget that for now. Chicky says she'll tell us all about it once we find the Prince and get you all better, which will happen." Muta hissed his last words out, just daring Toto to disagree with him.
Haru sighed and held her coat in front of her and swung it and herself around in an attempt to dry quickly.
"Oh well, it's not a big deal anyway," Haru said reluctantly putting her coat back on.
Suddenly the room's door burst open revealing a panting Kunz with wide eyes.
"They. . . h-have found D-Delmira," he said catching his breath.
Everyone including Toto's eyes widened.
Baron's eyes then narrowed and he nodded towards Kunz.
"Right, I'm coming." Baron then turned to Haru on the oak table. "I think it's best you stay here and do your best to dry off."
Haru reluctantly nodded.
Muta glanced back and forth between the two of them and then at Toto.
"Well if Chicky is staying I'm coming too. I want to see what this 'Delmira' has to say." Muta said his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Baron then raised his brow.
"But if Ms. Haru will be the only one here, and something happens to Toto, she may not be able to get to us fast enough," Baron said.
"Oh! You can send Crisp up here." Haru suggested.
"Very well then. We'll all be back up here soon." Baron said nodding, while he, Muta, and Kunz rushed out the room.
Haru moved down the table and closer towards Toto.
"I'm sorry this happened, Toto." she said jumping on the bed and immediately began to brush his feathers softly.
Toto gave a ragged sigh.
"I-I'm so. . . sorry too. . . but . . . I'm glad. . . no one else. . . is in my. . . situation." Toto breathed.
Haru's heart ached as she peered at Toto.
'Even now he would still think of others instead of himself. . . Oh, Toto.'
Haru gave Toto a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry Toto, we'll make you all better in no time."
Toto smiled towards her and opened his beak to say something, but he stopped and his eyes widen suddenly. His eyes were fixed on something, he then suddenly tried a second time to speak only more panicked.
"Ah-! H-Haru!" Toto managed to screech out.
But before Haru could even react to why Toto was acting this way, Haru's world quickly became dark. It wasn't until she blinked her eyes a couple of times and movement that she recognized wasn't her own, did she realize she was put into a burlap sack.
"Hey! What is going on?!" Haru cried immediately jumping to her feet, as best as she could, and climbed to the opening of the bag.
"Let me out!" Haru's eyes widen in horror as the opening of the bag closed, trapping her inside.
Many thoughts flooded into her brain at once.
'What is this?! Is this some type of joke?! Is Muta back and playing a practical joke on me?! No. . . Muta and everyone know better than to play around while Toto is suffering and possibly dying.'
Haru's eyes widen further in panic.
'Could the person doing this be involved in all of this?!'
Coming to that sudden conclusion Haru cried out, but panic clearly edged in her voice.
"Toto?! What's happening?! Toto?!"
Haru silenced herself to hear Toto's labored breaths turning into gasps now. She heard the bed creak noisily as if Toto was thrashing around violently. The fact that the sack she was in was near enough for her to hear Toto's almost thunderous thrashing, she knew the intruder was doing something to Toto.
"Toto! Stop! Please, whoever you are, stop! Please don't hurt him! STOP IT!" Haru screamed her voice becoming more hysterical the more she heard Toto's groans and cries of agony.
Suddenly the room was deathly silent, making Haru stop her frantic cries and movements in horror, holding her breathe.
'Is Toto. . .'
"Toto?!"
She didn't get a response, she could only hear her own heart beating in her ears.
Not believing what her thoughts were telling her, Haru screamed out louder.
"TOTO?!" Haru cried, a flow of tears escaping her eyes.
Haru was then thrashed around in the bag, the mysterious person, hushed her with a growl.
Pure rage flooded Haru's body in that instant.
"Who are you?! Are you working with Ratigan?! Tell me! You killed Toto, didn't you?! ANSWER ME! WHAT DID YOU DO?! ANSWER ME-!"
In a flash, the opening of the sack was unfastened and before Haru could react, a white powder substance was thrown into the bag with her and the opening was quickly closed again. Haru quickly became overcome with the substance and she began to violently gag.
Haru coughed and covered her mouth and nose in vain, her head getting a piercing headache as she began to feel lightheaded. She struggled to keep her eyes open and even stand.
"Ba-. . ." she barely managed to whisper before she fell limp in the bag.
The intruder seemed satisfied by the sudden lack of movement in the bag and looked over towards the blue journal by the bed. The intruder picked it up and brushed through the pages quickly, skimming the words. With a growl, the figure threw the book out of their hands, for it to land slightly under the bed and left the room.
OOO
"I'm telling you, I had no idea the water was poisoned! This isn't my fault! I was set up!" Delmira cried at the group staring her down as she sat alone at the table.
Watson bit his lip and turned to glance at Hound who stood by Archibald, with a frown.
"Please Delmira. . . Tell us what you know, even if you didn't do it purposely, tell us where you got the water or how you are involved with all of this." Watson pleaded.
Muta growled and walked away from Baron's side and slammed his paw on the table, causing the female dog to jump in her seat.
"Tell us why Toto was poisoned." Muta hissed.
Baron watched from behind, a relatively calm look on his face. In any other situation, Baron would have wanted to go against Muta for being so hostile towards a young lady. But now Baron was fighting to stay cool and collective while he fought his own anger and frustration building within him at Delmira's reluctance to talk. They had no time for this! Toto could be minutes away from death as they spoke.
On the other side of the room, Basil and Dawson stood on a smaller sized table watching the scene unfold.
"Basil, should we say something to help?" Dawson asked staring at Basil with worry.
Basil, with his arms folded and a deep frown on his face, spoke out.
"Ms. Delmira. You claim you had no idea the water was poisoned correct? Then would you care to explain how the water you served was somehow spiked without your knowledge?"
Delmira looked up from the table.
"I did not know it was poisoned," she repeated. "I just wanted to be helpful to you all and help further your investigation. Even if it was as simple as serving you all refreshments in case you needed them. I meant no harm."
Baron, deciding he couldn't remain silent any longer, stood next to Muta by the table closer to Delmira.
"Then how do you suppose the water was poisoned?"
"I-I don't know. All I did was fill up the glasses with the water, then I realized I forgot the ice and I left to get some, then I brought it out for you. That's all that happened."
Hound raised an eyebrow.
"You left the water unattended to get ice? If that's true, someone else could have sneaked in and poisoned the water while you were gone."
Watson murmured something under his breath to himself catching the attention of Archibald, whose eyes widen.
"Delmira. . . in any way, in all honestly, do you possibly hold any disdain towards the royal family?"
Delmira looked abruptly at Archibald.
"No! Never! I-I could never hate the King and Queen. They were the nicest souls in this whole kingdom. I could never even imagine committing treason and causing any type of harm towards them. . ." she said her voice wavering at the end.
"You only mentioned the King and Queen. What about the Prince?" Dawson asked.
Delmira turned her attention to the table, her eyes narrowed as if she was contemplating what to say.
"Prince Vilhelm. . . he. . . has his flaws, but. . . I could never hate the pup. Sure, he gets on mine and the other maids' nerves, but at times, he can be such a sweetheart." Delmira's eyes softened. "He has his days and I don't blame him for it. But in rare moments, he can offer the most genuine smile you could ever see, and even thank me and the others for their work that we do for him. Not to mention how happy he is participating in the Offering Festival, to bring joy to others. He may not be openly kind like his parents and he may have his outbursts, but you can clearly see at times he's a kind soul and for that reason, I can't find it in myself to hate the child."
The room was silent after she finished speaking. They all took in her words which seemed and they hoped, to be genuine.
Watson was the first to break the silence.
"Delmira, you. . . -" Watson was interrupted by the room's door being flung open and Crisp swooped in, in a panic, bringing alarm to everyone in the room.
"Crisp?" Dawson said.
Muta frowned at the green parrot.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be up with birdbrain and Chicky." Muta accused.
Crisp landed quickly next to Basil and Dawson with a huff and breathed.
"Haru's nowhere to be seen." Crisp eyed them cautiously.
Basil, Baron, Dawson, and Muta looked up suddenly.
"What?" Basil questioned with a trace of anger in his voice.
"Surely she wouldn't just leave while she was tasked to watch Toto?" Dawson said looking towards Crisp in worry.
Crisp eyes suddenly turned grim and spoke almost hesitantly towards the group.
"That's another thing. While I searched the room for Haru, I noticed that the raven. . . he wasn't moving. . . or breathing... he's... stone."
The room went deathly silent at Crisp's words and Baron was the first to break it by dashing out the room, followed by Muta.
"What could this mean for Haru then?!" Dawson asked slightly panicked.
"It could mean a lot of things," Basil said and quickly jumped on Crisp's back as Dawson stumbled on in a rush. Crisp was then immediately airborne and out the door.
"An abrupt turn of events. . ." Hound said his eyes narrowed.
"What should we do?" Watson asked glancing at a confused Delmira.
"We should go along. " Hound said and turned to Archibald who nodded.
"Come Delmira, since we can't exactly leave you alone right now, you'll have to come along."
Delmira's eyes drooped as she nodded and followed everyone out the door.
OOO
Muta slammed the room's door open and ran up to Toto's bedside, instantly grabbing the stone hard shoulders of the raven.
"Birdbrain! Please tell me you're kidding around! Get out of your dormant form already, you're not fooling anyone!" Muta yelled shaking the stone statue of Toto, desperately. "Birdbrain this isn't funny wake up now! Toto!"
Muta felt a hand on his shoulder which made him cease shaking Toto and looked up at Baron, who wore an unreadable expression.
Slowly understanding the unspoken words between them, Muta let go of Toto and moved away in order for Baron to be in front of Toto.
Baron eyed Toto's form, a deep dread forming in his chest. Toto was no longer flesh and feathers anymore, he was now his original state, a hard stone cold statue. But the lack of life emitting from Toto was frightening to Baron, even when Toto normally was his dormant creation state, he still emitted some sign of being alive as most creations do, but Baron didn't see it anymore.
Baron leaned down slowly towards Toto, placing his gloved hand on Toto's left wing and closed his eyes in concentration.
By now, everyone else entered the room, their eyes instantly glued to the two creations.
Baron's green eyes finally opened after some time and he got up slowly.
"I- . . . I can't feel him. . . " Baron murmured in shock, causing Muta to rush near Baron, his own eyes widening.
"So. . . are you saying, birdbrain. . . ?"
Baron didn't answer, only closed his eyes and curled his hand into a fist at his side, while his other hand nearly crushed his cane in his grip. That was enough of an answer to Muta who growled and turned around to face Delmira who tensed at the gaze he threw at her.
"You! This is your fault!" Muta yelled charging at her but was held back by Hound and Watson. "Let go! She killed Toto! It was her! Let go!"
Delmira trembled at Muta's cries of sheer rage at her and was lead by Archibald to the furthest part of the room from Muta.
"Calm yourself, Muta! Please!" Watson cried, holding on tightly to the large cat.
"I understand how you are feeling Muta, you too Baron." Hound said holding onto Muta also, and glancing towards the stoic Baron. "But blaming it on Delmira is not going to solve anything. Your friend Haru is missing, Toto is gone, something isn't adding up. If Delmira was truly behind this, wouldn't she have to have been here, when we all knew very well she was with us."
Muta then harshly pulled his arms from Hound and Watson.
"She could be working with an accomplice. . ." he hissed, his hackles up once his eye's met Delmira's, who looked away.
"There is no sign of Haru after all," Dawson said biting his lip nervously.
"I told you." Crisp retorted.
Basil frowned at the startled, angry, and melancholy group with a frown.
'Ratigan can't have possibly just waltz in here and took Haru again, could he?'
"What are we going to do now?" Archibald asked suddenly. "I don't mean to be rude, or even disrespectful but we don't have time to look for your friend Haru. We need to make finding the Prince our priority."
Muta then turned to glare at Archibald in fury.
"Why should we?! There's no rush looking for that brat anymore, not when Toto's already dead now! It's too late for Toto!"
Archibald flinched at Muta's anger which was now directed at him and then growled back.
"I'm sorry about your friend, we tried to hurry to find the Prince, but we obviously weren't quick enough. But suggesting we abandon all our efforts and try to find your friend is outrageous! We need to find the Prince first! For all we know, your friend is just wandering the halls as we speak!"
"There is no way Chicky would just abandon Toto in his state, she knew she had to wait for Crisp to come because that would be the fastest way to find us, leaving on her own would have been stupid. It's obvious, Haru was taken against her will!" Muta yelled back.
Dawson turned to Basil, waiting for some instruction. Basil only turned and gave Dawson a regretful frown, he then sighed and spoke out.
"Archibald is right. We do need to make finding the Prince our priority."
Everyone in the room stopped their conversations and stared at the mouse, standing on the desk close by.
"What?" blinked Crisp, not expecting that from Basil.
"Basil? I thought you would want to find- ."
Basil waved a hand dismissively at Dawson and Crisp and began to speak.
"Trying to find Haru alone would be reckless. We don't have the slightest lead where she might be. . . with Prince Vilhelm however, we do."
Muta having just about enough of the thought of abandoning Haru, opened his mouth to argue, but Basil didn't give him the chance to speak.
"We are closer to finding the Prince. We have yet to even share all the information each of us has gathered. This case is very close to cracking, I can sense it. Surely, finding the murderer would be our best bet at finding the Prince and Haru. No one else would have a motive of kidnapping her now, no one besides. . ." Basil trailed off but shook his head. "Well besides that, there is a fifty percent chance Haru is with the murderer as we speak, even at those odds we have no better option. We can solve this, there's always a chance, as long as one can think."
The room took in the small detective's words, and Hound sighed.
"He's right. It's more logical that way." Hound said then turned to Baron, whose eyes were clouded and his body was still tense. "Baron. . . are you comfortable with all of this?"
Baron let his eyes clear and his body loosen, he glanced at the unmoving Toto on the bed, and sighed to calm himself.
"Yes. We need to find Haru." Baron said, a flash of determination glinting in his eyes.
Hound grinned.
"Good. We'll avenge Toto, yet."
The group then settled down and calmed themselves, before they all spoke. The interviews, the ripped and burned paper in the Queen's laboratory, the Prince's journal entries, and Delmira's claims were all discussed.
"Hold on, you said one of the interviewees said that there is a missing file, correct?" Basil asked Dawson.
"Yes, Ms. Divine did."
Hound immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out the burnt paper, looking over the distorted words again.
. . . DOCUMENTA. . .OFF. . . FESTIV. . . HAS BEEN LET. . . DUE TO. . . ATT. . . PTING. . . POSIO. . . ING. . . OF. . . LEGAL. . . NOTICE. . . SEND. . . PRISON. . .
"Yes, it makes sense. . . this is the missing document!" Archibald said.
Watson murmured the words to himself.
"If my prediction is correct, it was along the lines of saying 'Documentation. Offering Festival. Someone has been let go, due to attempted, poisoning of. . . someone. . . Legal notice to send the said person to prison.'"
"So that must mean someone did, in fact, do something during the Offering Festival and tried to poison someone," Baron concluded his eyes narrowing.
Crisp's eyes widen.
"Hey, and that one slacker official guard guy, didn't he say something about the King calling him and overhearing some conversation about the guest royals not eating anything? You think that has something to do with it?"
Hound snapped his fingers.
"It has to be!"
"Someone has a thing for poisoning people here. . ." Muta murmured and turned to Delmira, who sat to the far side of the room. "Maybe it wasn't you after all. Maybe someone spiked the drinks you were going to give us, when you left for ice, after all."
Delmira's mood lifted but instantly plunged down like a rock when she noted the 'maybe' in Muta's words.
"We also need to consider what Beto told us. He stated that someone placed the faulty carriage among the working ones, accident or not, it's what caused the King and Queen's death. Also, Paquito did say the Prince was acting unusual when that happened." Dawson contemplated.
"Which also brings us to the Prince's journal," Baron said. "The Prince has spoken mostly in the journal about a special place, his 'Heiliger Gral', as he calls it. For what we can deduce, it's the same place that is painted on the ceiling of the Prince's room."
Archibald's eyes widen.
"I always wondered, why that painting had so much significance to the Prince. . ."
"But still things don't add up. Most what we are saying about the burned document and what occurred during the last day of the Offering Festival, are just assumptions, we still have no clue who is behind this all and we don't have solid evidence." Watson said.
"Indeed." Hound groaned, placing a hand at the base of his forehead, then his eyes widen.
"Delmira." Hound said, getting the maid's attention.
"Was there perhaps anyone you talked to before you left to get more ice, or even before you prepared the water?"
Delmira shifted in her seat at the sudden attention on her.
"N-No. . . not that I. . . actually. . . I did speak to Kunz before I decided to give you all the water. He asked for water himself, which gave me the idea to serve you all some water." Delmira's eyes widen in realization. "In fact. . . he even suggested the idea I serve something to you all! He even told me to tell you it was specifically a gift!" her eyes widening in horror.
Everyone's eyes narrowed at that sudden accusation.
"Hmmm. . ." Basil hummed, still unsure of the maid's true colors. "Baron?" Basil suddenly asked. "Did you and Haru ever manage to finish reading the Prince's journal? Specifically an entry on the date of the last day of the Offering Festival?"
"Unfortunately Ms. Haru and I couldn't find anything on that particular day." Baron sighed. "In fact, that part of the journal was ripped out."
Hound raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Ripped out, hmm?"
"Speaking of which where is it?" Muta frowned looking around.
Baron also frowned.
"I placed it on the table here, it's gone. Just wonderful, maybe it's-" Baron suddenly looked towards the bed Toto's form was laying on and looked down to notice the blue journal slightly under the bed. He walked over and picked it up. "That's strange, how'd it get all the way over here?"
"Haru could have moved it, but I doubt Chicky would be able to move the journal easily in her current size, all the way here, just to slightly put it under the bed."
Baron went over to the table Basil and Dawson stood and placed it by them. Basil immediately opened the journal and moved the pages quickly and stopped suddenly.
"You're right, there is a part that's been torn off. By the looks of it only a couple of pages, though."
Hound snapped his fingers.
"I wonder. . . Watson, come with me."
Watson nodded and they both left the room before anyone could ask where they were going.
But no sooner did they leave, they already came back, holding crumpled pieces of paper.
Watson looked up at the group.
"We ran into Lady Divine. She said she went to inspect the rooms once more, but said that the Prince's room was trashed."
"What?" Archibald questioned, alarm in his eyes.
"She said it looked as if someone just had ransacked the place and just left." Hound said as he then smoothed out the crumpled paper and slapped it by the blue journal next to Basil and Dawson. "These were scattered across the room."
Basil immediately looked down at the writing and his eyes lit up.
"Here it is! An entry on the last day of the Offering Festival. It was crumpled on the floor you say? Hmm, it seems that the person involved wasn't thorough enough to get rid of the evidence, or rather he didn't care to. . . he is for some reason no longer concerned about us finding him. . . " Basil concluded.
Muta growled.
"They should be! Once I get my claws on them!"
Baron's eyes narrowed.
"Indeed," Baron said not daring to look back at Toto. "This also could connect with Haru's sudden disappearance. . . We have to find her. . . "
"Well?! Read it already?" Crisp impatiently yelled at the mice besides the paper.
Dawson stepped in front of the paper, hesitantly, and began to read.
I'm. . . scared. . . I . . . I don't know anymore.
I thought that. . . some hated me, but this. . . it's just a whole new thing.
Ah- see, even my handwriting is sloppier than usual, I guess I'm not doing too well at hiding the fact I'm terrified.
The Offering Festival is supposed to be a peaceful occasion. It makes my blood boil at the thought of the evil that could've happened today.
The food was poisoned, all of it! The royal food in particular. I saw when it happened.
I told dad, and he immediately had all the food be brought back and make sure the visiting royals were okay.
After that, mom concluded after examining the food, that it was poisoned after all, but by the deadly poison, THAT poison. . .
So many fatalities could have happened. Yet. . . I think it was all set up to get rid of just father, mother, and me, mainly at least.
He wants us gone.
This whole incident is having my parents riled and disturbed.
Dad and mom are possibly confronting him right now. I hope they get rid of him and send him to prison. After all, he is guilty. I saw him sneak into the royal kitchen and poison the food with my own eyes! I'm just glad my parents believed me.
But even though he had been caught. . . . I'm still anxious. I don't know why, but I am. I just have this bad feeling that we're still not safe.
I wonder. . . If I ask. . . if we can go to the place soon again? It'll be calming for sure, not just for me but also for them. I hope we can go soon.
I just hope that my anxiety will disappear and just be nothing. There is no reason to be scared anymore. Kunz will get what's coming to him for attempted to poison us all.
He never liked me and I never liked him, I guess I finally know why he treated me coldly for so long now while putting on a two-faced act in front of my parents. I shouldn't even exist in his eyes. Mom and dad never should have married in his eyes and had a hybrid dog - wolf Prince like me. We're no better than dead in his eyes.
- V
The room was eerily silent as the group took in this information.
Archibald was the first to snap out of it and growl dangerously.
"WHERE IS HE?!"
OOO
A/N: Fun fact: Want to know why everyone was a bit startled when Delmira said Kunz told her to tell them the water was specifically a gift?
Gift Definition:
English: a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.
German: a substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed.
You guess it! Gift means Poison in German. . . LOL don't believe me? Check for yourself, better yet, go on google translate and put in English "poison" and the other side German… and see what pops up x'D
Whether Kunz did this intentionally or not. . . who knows. . . xD
(I'm sorry I just HAD to put this SOMEWHERE! IT'S TOO CLEVER AND SNEAKY NOT TO USE!)
