Chapter 10
Light streamed into the room where Basil and Olivia slept. The detective woke up first to see the sun rise and Olivia noticed the sun too. "I would like see the sun rise at the top of the castle," the young woman mouse said to Basil.
"Maybe I can treat you to that," Basil replies and opens the dresser. He checks his coat pocket, the box and ring were still there. He dresses in trousers, a white shirt, and a vest.
He looks to see Olivia wear a deep maroon colored dress with fashionable shoes that had laces that tied at the front. She then shows Basil her dresser full of traditional German dresses.
"I think you should wear one of these," Basil said and adds, "For Oktoberfest I mean."
"Bas-I mean Elliott, we're here to find Rosenberg, remember?" Olivia scolds at him.
"I'm just saying that these dresses are beautiful," the detective replies, but the young woman mouse didn't seem to be happy. "Olivia, what's wrong?" he asks.
Olivia breathes in and exhales, but Basil notices some tears in her eyes. "I guess...I feel so...stressed," she answers and Basil takes her into his arms.
"I know how it feels, but I said we'll catch Rosenberg," he said. Then, there was a knock and Basil answers the door to show Dawson, but he takes one look and folds his arms.
"Doctor, what is it?" Olivia asks, but Dawson just shakes his head.
Basil pulls him in and replies, "Now Dawson, we didn't engage in anything last night."
"Oh really?" the doctor asks. Basil and Olivia look at one another, it was clear that Dawson didn't believe them. "Now I might not be married, but I still believe in old values," Dawson said.
"Dr. Dawson, all right, we slept together, but we swear we didn't engage in any sexual activities," Basil replies and Olivia nods in agreement.
"Still, I agree with Mrs. Hudson, it's forbidden to-" "That's enough Dr. Dawson!" Olivia yells at him, causing both of the male mice to stand back in fear. Olivia breathes in deep and gains her composure.
"Basil is right, we just slept together, nothing more," Olivia said, just as Karl Koffman appears.
"Karl, guten tag!" Basil said to his good friend.
"Guten Tag meine freunde," Karl replies and asks, "I trust you slept well?"
Olivia leans towards Basil's ear and asks, "How do you say "Very well" in German?"
"Sehr gut," he answers.
"Sehr gut Herr Koffman," Olivia said and Karl chuckles.
"Basil, du alter dummkopf, you need to teach Deutsche to your comrades. It is the schönste Sprache Europas," Karl replies, but Olivia and Dawson scratch their heads in confusion.
"He said that German is the finest language of all Europe, although I beg to differ a little," Basil translates, but Olivia folds her arms.
"Actually, I would like to learn more about...Deutsche," she said to Karl.
"I had the kitchen prepare a fine meal for us this fine day," he replies and shows the way. They entered the lift and went up a level. As they exit out of the lift, Karl attempts to take Olivia's arm, but Basil, in jealously, takes her arm.
"Karl, do you expect that Rosenberg to strike? It was quiet last night," Dawson asks.
Karl leads them to the door of the great hall and looks at them, "Actually, we believe Rosenberg is closer then we think," he said and opens the gigantic set of doors.
Just as the doors flew open, a dark figure stood up from a table. He had a cane in one hand, but Basil takes a minute to register who this figure was, "ROSENBERG!" he shouts and hides Olivia behind him. She looks at the stranger, he was wearing black, including black eye glasses, he had scars all over his face and he struggled to walk on his left side.
"Hello Basil and friends," he said in a deep, scary voice. Olivia's brain then replays the voice she heard on the telephone when her father was murdered and it matched with Rosenberg. Her body shivers with fright, but then she felt a deep and angry rage.
She pushes Basil aside, grabs a knife from a nearby table and charges at Rosenberg. "I'LL KILL YOU!" she screams.
Rosenberg doesn't move as Olivia gets closer. The rage Olivia was experiencing blinded her, in fact, she failed to notice a rough-looking mouse charging right at her. The mouse body-slams into her, causing her to crash into a table, and she collapses to the ground.
Basil and Dawson come to her side and look at Rosenberg and back to Karl. "Karl, what is this?!" Basil demands. He notices Karl's men and then, rough looking mice appeared beside them.
"Rosenberg and his Besatzung arrived before you did, I'm sorry Basil," Karl answers.
"Why?" Dawson asks and Olivia begins to gain her senses.
"Rosenberg threatened to kill my wife and children, I had no choice," Karl replies, but Basil stares at his friend in anger.
"No choice?! You have a whole army! You could've finished them before they started!" the detective shouts at the tall mouse.
Karl looks at the three, but his face showed defeat. Olivia looks up at him, gets to her feet, and, despite being shorter, manages to hit him in the muzzle. "Coward!" she spat at him.
"Tie them up," Rosenberg orders and his hench-mice tie their hands behind their backs. "Let's continue our talk...downstairs," he said, struggling to breathe. The three were led down to the dungeons with Rosenberg struggling to walk on his left leg. The dungeon halls were lit with torches, but Rosenberg seemed to hate them.
The three couldn't stop showing their angry faces, especially at Karl. Once they were in the deepest part of the castle, they were overcome with the dreadful cold and dampness.
"Here," Rosenberg orders, pointing to a slab of stone. The three were forced to sit down on the cold piece of stone and they stare at Rosenberg.
"Just how are you alive? I saw you plummet into Lichtenhain Falls," Basil asks the crook. Olivia examines Rosenberg, he was the same size as Ratigan, and he even had a rat tail.
Rosenberg takes in a breath, "I would've died...if it wasn't...for my...good partner..." he said, struggling with every breathe in between words.
"Ratigan saved you? But he left you," Basil replies.
"You think...?" Rosenberg asks and adds, "He...sent in...the best doctor...in Germany...but...I'm stuck with...this..." he explains, showing the left side of his face.
The three of them exam his limp and Olivia whispers, "Traumatic brain injury."
"Speak up!" he yells at her, but grabs his chest in pain. Olivia looks at the evil rat, she hated him, but she put on a brave face like she did with Ratigan ten years before.
"You suffered from traumatic brain injury, therefore your left side is limp. I also believe the injury caused you to be sensitive to light, hence the dark glasses and wanting to be down here, and I'm guessing broken ribs or a crushed chest wall, hence you struggle to breathe in between words," she explains and looks at Dawson, "Do you agree Dr. Dawson?" she asks. The two male mice look at each other in amazement and Dawson nods.
"And how...you know...?" Rosenberg asks.
"I read a lot of books on health, mostly the brain and behavioral issues," Olivia replies and Basil just stares at her in surprise, but Rosenberg didn't seem impressed.
"You...women...know nothing..." the rat said, "Hence...why women...should...stay quiet..."
Basil was prepared to defend Olivia, but he figured it was best to keep quiet on that subject. "Rosenberg, why are you doing this?" Basil asks.
"I should...have my...associate...answer to that..." Rosenberg said and the rough looking mouse comes forward. "This is...Schmidt...tell them...Schmidt..." he adds.
Schmidt had dark fur and had holes in his ear lobes. "Rosenberg wanted to rejoin Ratigan back in London, but as you can see, he likely won't survive a boat trip to England. However, all that changed ten years ago, thanks to you," he said and continues, "Ratigan had the brilliant idea of taking over the Empire of Mousedom. Unfortunately, you had to ruin the fun for us."
Rosenberg's criminal crew snicker in agreement, but Karl Koffman and his army remained quiet. "After you killed Ratigan, Rosenberg was still too weak to formulate his revenge, hence why it took longer then we hoped," Schmidt said.
"We didn't kill Ratigan," Basil replies, "Ratigan was a coward to the very end. He refused to accept-" "SHUT UP!" Rosenberg shouts at him, but grabs his chest in pain. Schmidt tried to help him, but the rat pats his shoulder.
"Rosenberg figured it would be easy to kill the old Flaversham, just so the young Miss Flaversham can go to you for help," Schmidt continues, "Rosenberg had Rinhart and Cliffield stay in London and once they were "caught" by you, they simply hand over Rosenberg's current location. The thing is, we got to Koffman before you did, it was too easy as he has a weakness for his family. However, I should point out that he barely survived the trip back to Berlin."
Olivia shakes her head as if in confusion, "I don't understand, just how would Rosenberg know that we were coming?" she asks and Basil nods in agreement.
"You'd be surprised that there is a mole somewhere in Thames Prison," Schmidt replies. The three mice look at once another and then back at Rosenberg and Schmidt.
Basil stands to his feet, "Rosenberg, you will not get away with this," he hisses at the criminal mouse.
"I suppose...you have...something...to say..." Rosenberg said, clutching his cane tight.
"Indeed I do," the detective replies and adds, "Just like Ratigan, you are a slimy, reclusive, bad-tempered, old sewer-!" But before Basil could finish, Rosenberg hits him hard in the rib cage.
Basil collapses to his knees in pain and Rosenberg stands triumphantly over the detective. "ELLIOTT!" Olivia shrieks, but then realizes her mistake.
Rosenberg looks at Olivia and back at Basil, then whispers in Schmidt's ear. "Did you just call him 'Elliott'?" the criminal mouse asks. Olivia doesn't answer, but she could tell that Rosenberg and his crew have figured it out somehow.
A sinister laugh rose up from Rosenberg's lungs, despite being plagued by whizzing pain. "Sir, what's so funny?" one of Rosenberg's cronies asks.
The rat coughs a bit and replies, "I might...be crippled...and sometimes...slow...but I...recognize that...look...in their eyes..." Rosenberg said and Basil looks up at Olivia with a look of defeat.
Rosenberg whispers in Schmidt's ear again and the mouse's face lights up. "Gentlemice! Rosenberg here is a genius!" he calls out, but his master stops him from talking any further.
"Basil of Baker Street...The Great Mouse Detective..." Rosenberg said, still struggling, but somehow overcoming the pain and he finishes, "He's fallen in love with the Flaversham girl!"
He starts to laugh along with Schmidt and then his entire crew laughs along with them. Karl, however, stares at his old friend in shock and then at Olivia, seeing their faces that showed defeat and love for one another.
From the author: Things just got bad for our favorite mouse detective and friends! We just have to wait and see what kind of outcome will follow for them!
