Story 29: The Case of the Three Lockets
September 15th, 1913
It had been more than a week since Ben Whittaker, the Basil twins' new friend had left for Portsmouth to attend naval school. Leana was upset as he didn't come by to bid them farewell and she was told that no one knew when he'll return for winter break.
John broke the news to their other friends, Milton and Winnie, who were also sad that Ben didn't bid them goodbye in person. Elliott Basil, the famous mouse detective and the twins' father was disappointed as he missed the chance to meet his children's rescuer, although the physical description he was told did make him feel uncertain. Basil wasn't sure if Ratigan had any surviving offspring as there was no record of any other family, apart from the rat's mother and half-brother.
Ilse Altendorf had a long history of marrying and killing her husbands with poison as a way to inherit the money to fund her criminal empire. Ratigan's and Rosenberg's fathers met a similar fate as they had "no back bone" according to Ratigan.
The detective decides to put this off his mind as today would be the day that his twin children would be initiated to Milton and Winnie's 'Detective Appreciation Club' as they had put it off following Ben's sudden departure. Basil was not invited to ceremony, but he did wonder if he would receive a summons to the club and also be initiated into the club.
Basil comes back to the present when there was a knock at the door and his housekeeper, Mrs. Judson answers. "Excuse me, does Dr. Dawson reside here?" a male voice asks and the detective's good partner stands to his feet.
"Dawson, who's that?" Olivia, Basil's wife asks. Dawson goes to look and he lets out an excited cheer and escorts the male mouse inside. He was wearing a dress suit, he was stout like Dawson, but there was a bandage on his head.
"Basil, Olivia, this here is Dr. Arnold Morgan, he and I worked together during our time in the regiment," Dawson explains and his friend looks at the detective and his wife.
"I've heard a lot of the many cases you solved, pretty sure David almost suffered a few heart attacks while investigating," Dr. Morgan laughs and looks back at Olivia, "Why congratulations!" he said, referring to her round belly. "I hope the little one pursues medicine like David here," he adds, but that did make Olivia think back on the vision she had while in Linlithgow.
"Oh Arnold, I'm sure the baby would want to pursue something besides medicine," Dawson said and then looks at the bandage, "What happened to you?"
"Oh this? Last night I walked in on an intruder attempting to take a locket out of my collection. I honestly don't know why because it's practically worthless as I bought it at auction for less than £1," Dr. Morgan said and mentions that he fought off the intruder and he went off. "I was hoping you would find any significance on the locket as I have many that are worth more than that dull thing," he said to Basil.
The detective thinks for a moment; it was unusual for a thief to be interested in a worthless piece of metal. He removes his robe and puts on his signature coat, but notices his wife also taking off her robe.
"Darling, what are you doing?" he asks.
"I thought I could go for a stroll, need to get out of this stuffy house," Olivia answers, "I can't wait for the baby to be born," she whispers and Basil chuckles a bit. Olivia was wearing a soft blue dress that stretched out for her extending belly. Mrs. Judson had actually forbade her mistress from wearing a corset while pregnant as it was a "torture device" for both the mother and baby.
Basil actually forbade his housekeeper into making a corset for Leana as he didn't want his daughter and even any future daughter from wearing those dreadful things. He did recall his mother saying it was hard to breathe while wearing a corset, but society wanted women to look thin and "presentable", which he found idiotic as it did overlook the physical well-being of a female.
Olivia did mention that she would only wear a corset while out in public, which was on rare occasions, although it was possible she would stop wearing one all together.
The three mice follow Dr. Morgan to his home, which was a bit of a walk and required getting on a trolley due to Olivia's condition. They arrived in Primrose Hill, a beautiful area with pastel colored Regency townhouses on the north end of Regent's Park. Basil and Olivia did like this part of London as the flowers were beautiful here in the springtime and with autumn in the air, the leaves on the trees had changed into shades of gold or red.
Dr. Morgan unlocks his front door and shows them into his parlor, where he kept a display with his collection of jeweled necklaces. "My word Arnold, you certainly have quite a collection here," Dawson said, staring at a red-gold necklace. Basil also examines the same necklace and his brain begins to turns its wheels.
"This one is from the Middle East," the detective tells Dr. Morgan, who asks how he knew, "Red gold has a greater presence of copper and the only place for 'red gold' to be found is in the Middle East."
"Hmmmm, amazing," Dr. Morgan replies and Basil chuckles.
"It's elementary my good doctor," the detective said and his wife chuckles a bit; she did love it when he used that phrase. "Now, do you have the locket in question?" he asks. Dr. Morgan produces a thin necklace with an oval shaped locket pendant. Basil examines it and concludes it was made of brass.
He couldn't get the pendant to open and tries to turn the nob on it, but it wouldn't move. "Hmmmm, very unusual," Basil said and gives the locket back to Dr. Morgan, "And you said the thief was only interested in this?" he asks.
"Yes, which makes it very strange as the other necklaces here are worth more than this cheap locket," Dr. Morgan replies.
"I'm curious, why did you get that locket if it is worthless?" Olivia asks and Basil also wanted to know.
"Oh, I am a collector of necklaces, both priceless and worthless, I have a weakness for both. However, this is one of three lockets made in the same design," Dr. Morgan explains, which got Basil's attention.
"Do you know who bought the other two?" Dawson asks his friend.
"A young lady mouse, a bit younger than your partner's wife here, but had a fair beauty from what I recall. I'm afraid I left before the third one was sold off, so I don't who bought it," Dr. Morgan answers. Basil begins to think on this; who would be interested in a worthless locket?
"What auction house did you get this from?" the detective asks.
"The New Bond Street Auction House, they specialize in the selling of items that were sold by a relative or confidant of a deceased rodent," Dr. Morgan said and Basil begins to think.
"Would they have record of who brought the lockets to the auction house?" Olivia asks.
"Not sure," Dr. Morgan answers.
"Well Dr. Morgan, the only piece of advice we can give you is have you lock all your doors and windows before you retire for the night. Would you have a gun or something to use as a weapon if the thug were to return?" Basil asks and Dr. Morgan opens a side drawer to reveal a pistol.
"If the thug does return, you let us know," Basil adds and gives him the telephone number to his home. The three mice leave Dr. Morgan, although they weren't sure about him keeping the locket behind.
"This doesn't make any sense," Basil whispers as they walk towards the trolley that would take them back home. "Dr. Morgan has those priceless and exquisite looking necklaces in his collection. Why would a thief be interested in a broken locket?" he asks mostly to himself, but wanted to hear Olivia and Dawson's suggestions.
"I'm mostly interested as to why an auction house would sell off those kinds of trinkets," Dawson said. He wasn't paying attention and nearly bumps into a lady mouse wearing a beautiful looking coat. "Oh I'm so sorry!" he apologizes.
"Oh, no need, I wasn't paying attention either," she replies. Basil and Olivia look at this woman mouse; she had white fur, like Kitty's, and had piercing blue eyes, although they looked like icicles, cold and deadly.
"Listen, is the home of Dr. Arnold Morgan down this road?" the lady mouse asks and they nod.
"Why do you ask?" Basil replies; the lady mouse didn't look like a relative of Dr. Morgan.
"My father use to work for him, so I wanted to drop in and say hello before I turn in for the night," the lady mouse answers, "My name's Candace Gordon, although people call me 'Candy'. Bit of an annoying nickname to be honest."
She looks at Basil and then at Olivia, "Oh my! You're the detective, Mr. Basil?" she asks and he nods. "Oh, your wife does look splendid. I always had an admiration for pregnant rodents," she adds, in which they thank her for her comment.
"Well Miss Gordon, let's not keep you waiting," Dawson suggests and bid her good night. Olivia watches as Candace Gordon walks down the street towards Dr. Morgan's home.
"Olivia, is something wrong?" her husband asks.
"I don't know why, but I got a eerie vibe from that lady," she answers and that made Basil and Dawson curious. "I mean, doesn't it strike you odd that she wants to drop in to say hello at this time of the evening?" she asks as they reach the trolley.
"Well, from the looks of her, she must be a socialite," Basil replies and the two male mice help Olivia up to the rodent compartment, with some assistance from the trolley crew. "There really needs to be better way to get up here, especially for pregnant rodents," he complains and the crew did hear him.
"Aye, it's true, but so far no one has offered a suggestion. However, we rodents need to keep a low profile," one of them said. The trolley then begins to move, taking passengers back to their places of residence for the night.
The detective, his wife and associate return home to Baker Street, just as the children did. "We got so much to tell you!" John exclaims, his parents could tell he and Leana had a good time at the 'Detective Appreciation Club'.
They settle inside their warm home, where Mrs. Judson offered tea and cheese crumpets while the twins explain about their initiation into the club before getting into bigger details. "We were in this candle lit room, although still pretty dark, but Milton and Winnie had us place our right hand on a book. It wasn't a Bible, it was a copy of 'One Thousand and One Nights'," Leana begins and notices the look on her father's face.
"Ah yes, I love those stories. 'The Three Apples' story is thought to be the oldest detective fiction story," Basil said and begins to think on the other stories from 'One Thousand and One Nights', but he decides to let his children continue.
"We recited the initiation and were welcomed into the club," John said and his sister had a big smile on her face, then show their thumbs. They were covered in blue ink. "It means that we're officially in the club, but we had to put our thumb prints on an oath, meaning we can't say anything outside the club. They did make some exception on the initiation as it does make new members excited," John replies.
"How many other members were there?" Olivia asks.
"A lot, some were a bit older and were from other schools, but we did recognize a few from Kingswood. The kids divided themselves into different groups; there were the chemists, the researchers, the decoders, and to name a few others. The older kids do have this ham radio, to listen to Morse coded messages and even send replies," Leana explains and that got Basil excited.
"Now that sounds like a club your father would like to join," Olivia said with a bit of a laugh.
"You know, Milton and Winnie did mention that the club members would be more than happy to help you out on some of your tough cases," John replies.
"I will take up on that as there might be a new case for us," Basil said and explains about Dr. Morgan and the locket that a thief tried to steal from his collection of priceless necklaces.
"A broken locket you say?" Leana asks and her father nods. "Are you sure it was broken?" she asks, again.
"The thing was was that I couldn't open the pendant and the mechanism to it wouldn't turn," Basil answers and that got the little girl's brain going.
"That is weird; why would a thief be interested in that particular locket?" Leana asks, mostly to herself. She was becoming more like her father, as she was mostly interested in partaking in his cases and listening to his past cases. Her brother was interested in the adventure part of the mystery, but did offer some help on the case.
"I'm thinking the mechanism is a special key. The pendant might contain something in there," John said, just as they were called to dinner. The twins decided to ask their friends and the club members when they would go tomorrow after school.
After supper, the twins take the time to do their assignments, mostly on reading the new story 'Gulliver's Travels' for Classic Literature and prepare for a test for French and Greek on Friday. John had embraced the Greek language and sometimes would speak a few sentences, even though his parents had a hard time translating as they never studied Greek.
Basil had a fair grasp on German, while Olivia spoke Gaelic, the dialect from her homeland of Scotland and understood some French. The family settle themselves in their beds, ready to spend some leisure time with their deceased loved ones in the Heaven realm.
Olivia decides to ask her husband a question. "Did you join any clubs when you were younger?"
"No, I wasn't the sociable type as I am today," he answers, removing his clothes and shoes before dressing in his night shirt and pants. "I do have you to thank for it. For making me more sociable I mean. I wasn't very much into making friends and...well you know. I became this recluse after Henry was killed and lost all interest in pretty much everything," he explains as they settle in bed.
"I do admit, some rodents still see me as a bit awkward due to my eccentricity," he adds and Olivia laughs a bit.
"I think it's good to have unusual behavior, it's what defies you and you don't really follow society's views on behavior," she said, just as she lets out a yawn. Basil places a hand under his head to look at his wife. She sometimes did not follow society's view on how women should behave, which made him love her more, as she did prefer to partake in adventures.
However, in her condition, she had to skip out on some of her husband's cases, due to the severity of the danger that would be involved, among other things such as traveling. The doctor in Linlithgow did order her to not travel a lot and to get plenty of rest.
Basil could not wait for the baby to arrive; he wanted to spoil his new child, like he did with the twins when they were infants. The one thing he had to do is leave the baby at home when he would be assigned to a case. It was a difficult thing to do, but once the baby reached a certain age, probably four years of age, he would like to take his child on a not so dangerous case.
He hears Olivia's soft breathing and he rests his head on his pillow, breathing in deep and welcoming sleep.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
By the next morning, the twins were happy for the new day as they had some fun in the Heaven realm last night. Both Draco and Olympia, the two new horses and Hermina, the Shetland pony were eager to be ridden. With Hermina being small, the twins rode her with their parents riding the bigger horses. Their grandfather and grandmother, Hiriam and Leana Flaversham rode on Argus, the big Shire as he was large enough for two riders.
Draco was more gentle with his rider, Olivia and Olympia really loved it when Basil urged her to jump over obstacles. "I'd say we made a smart choice on bringing these three into existence," John said.
"It was Daddy's idea, remember?" his sister Leana reminds him.
When the clock struck 6 in the morning, as the sun started to rise much later, the Basil family decided to ask their loved ones if they've seen Tsura, Lulu or Fonso as they had been gone for some time.
"This is a bit strange for them to disappear for so long, but I have a feeling they are busy with something. Not sure what it is though," Hiriam said, but also adds, "It could have something to do with the fall equinox, it is just about a week away."
"Yes, autumn is a bit of a huge deal here in the Heaven realm," Basil's father John Frederick said, but didn't have time to explain as the living family members were starting to wake up.
As soon as Basil and Olivia woke up, they were thinking about what John Frederick had said. "Autumn is the harvest season," Olivia said and Basil agrees on this.
"So, your father would gather all his crops and store away for winter," he replies and she nods. "And the traditions of All Hallows Eve did originate from the ancient harvest festivals," he adds.
"Oh yes! The Gaelic celebration of Samhain is considered to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the "darker half" of the year," Olivia suddenly remembers, in which her husband was amazed of her intellect.
They join their children at the dining room and the detective mentions of what he and Olivia discussed on what their grandfather before they woke up. John was the most excited as he was more into the celebration of All Hallows Eve. "Now John, I don't want you to get sick on sweets," Olivia warns, but her son doesn't listen.
"I wonder when Milton will give out his invitations, his birthday is the day before the 31st," Leana said and her brother became more elated.
The two dress in their uniforms and left for school, with Mrs. Judson tagging along as she needed to go to the market. Their father did ask his children to mention the unusual locket to the other club members when they met up after school.
A little after the twins left, there was a knock at the door and Rachel summons Inspector Timothy Wyatt in. "Mr. Basil, is this a bad time?" he asks the detective, in which he shakes his head. "There's been a murder at Primrose Hill Road, a colleague of Dr. Dawson I believe, Dr. Arnold Morgan," Mr. Wyatt explains.
"WHAT?!" Dawson nearly shouts, getting to his feet. Both Basil and Olivia were also shocked about this information.
"I am sorry Dr. Dawson, I understand you worked alongside him during your time in the Regiment. Please accept my condolences," Mr. Wyatt said and Dawson takes a seat as he processes this. While he was never close to Dr. Morgan, he did consider him as a good friend.
"Inspector Wyatt, who discovered him?" Basil asks.
"His housekeeper; from what she told me, she went away to visit a sick relative in Harlow and returned on the early morning train. She found him unresponsive and called the doctor, who declared him dead," Mr. Wyatt explains.
"Did you notice anything missing?" Olivia asks and mentions that they visited him last night.
"No, it's rather unusual. He has these priceless necklaces all on display in his parlor, but his housekeeper said they were all there," Mr. Wyatt answers, but Basil knew that the thief returned last night to retrieve the strange locket.
Basil decides to return to Dr. Morgan's home to locate any clue and to see if the locket was indeed stolen. The detective dresses in his signature attire, including his deerstalker cap. "Olivia, maybe you could contact the auction house on New Bond Road, ask them about the other two lockets and see if they could give the names of the buyers," Basil said, but Olivia begins to think.
"I'll do something even better. I'll go straight there and ask them in person," she replies, which shocks him.
"Darling, are you sure? What about-" "Elliott, I understand that you are worried, but this baby will not be coming any time soon," she cuts and looks into his eyes, "Please, trust me, plus I do want to get out of this house. It's a beautiful day from the looks of it," she insists.
The detective begins to think; he did want someone to go with Olivia, so he summons Rachel to tag along. "Please don't do anything drastic," Basil whispers before kissing her.
The two male mice follow Mr. Wyatt back to Dr. Morgan's home. It was indeed a lovely day, with a chilly breeze blowing in, but the sun was out and shined bright. The doctor's home was guarded by rodents from Scotland Yard's Rodent Division. It was formally known as the 'Mice Division', but Commissioner Winston decided to change it in order to dedicate services to both mice and rats.
In fact, a few rats were brought into the force, although it wasn't easy as many mice had a hard time trusting them. However, Winston, with help from the Basil family, assured the public that not all rats were evil and did not commit horrific acts like Ratigan or his family.
As Basil and Dawson enter the parlor, they see the covered body of Dr. Arnold Morgan, which was ready to be transported to the morgue. Basil takes a minute to examine the deceased; there were no visible injuries, apart from the bandage on his head.
"Tell the medical examiner to check for a broken neck or possible signs of asphyxia," the detective said to the officers who would transport the body.
"Aye sir," one of the officers replies and leaves with his comrade, who carry the body out of the house.
"So you met Dr. Morgan last night? For what?" Mr. Wyatt asks Basil. The detective, while searching for clues, explains about what happened to Dr. Morgan before he was killed, mentioning that the thief was only interested in a locket.
"A locket? But why?" Mr. Wyatt asks.
"That we're stumped about. As we are aware, Dr. Morgan has these necklaces that are worth more than a cheap trinket. Although, my children did mention something last night that the locket might hold a valuable piece of information," Basil explains and then his brain sparks a theory. "That one locket and two others might be part of something bigger."
"Maybe whoever made those lockets left a message in them," Dawson suggests, in which his friend nods in agreement.
Then, the telephone in the parlor rings and an officer answers it, a look of surprise forms on his face. "Mr. Basil, it's your wife," he said, handing him the receiver.
"Olivia, how did you get this number?" he asks, but then remembers that telephone operators had the ability to connect callers to a number they didn't know of. "Sorry, I forgot about the operators," he quickly replies and asks of her findings.
"The second locket was bought by a Miss Milana Sharpe and the third was purchased by Monsieur Richaud Côté," Olivia explains and gives him their addresses. "Oh, one other thing you should know, the auctioneer was approached by a male mouse when the auction house was closed during the lunch hour. The mouse did ask about the lockets and was angry when he was told they were sold off. He bribed the auctioneer to give him the names of those who bought them."
"A very selfish thing for him to do. He's put some rodents in grave danger," Basil said and Olivia did say that Rachel gave the auctioneer a nasty lecture on accepting the bribe without thinking of the consequences. "Pretty sure Mrs. Judson would give him an earful, too. I am going to miss her, but her daughter is like her."
"I'm going to miss Mrs. Judson, too," Olivia said and urges her husband to be cautious while on the case before she ends the call.
"I really love that woman," Basil whispers, referring to his wife, and joins his partner. "Dawson, we better go find this Monsieur Côté, he lives close by," he said, mentioning of Olivia's findings. "We haven't a moment to lose," Basil adds as they leave Dr. Morgan's home.
Monsieur Côté's home was near the west entrance to Regent's Park, it was still a bit of a walk, although Basil wondered if the killer went there after stealing the locket at Dr. Morgan's.
As soon as the two male mice reach the front door of the home, it flew open to reveal a middle-age female mouse wearing an old coat. "Oh pardon me gentlemice, but the master is out," she said in a Cockney accent.
"If you don't mind we'll stay as we have some questions for him," Basil said, but notices the ice blue eyes, they were identical to Candace Gordon's eyes. The female mouse lets them in and walks down the street to hitch a ride on a horse-drawn carriage.
The detective and his partner look around the house, they wanted to locate the locket, but they were distracted by a sound. It sounded like stomping of little feet and they follow it to the coat closet. They open it and were overcome with shock to see two little children, a boy and a girl, bound and gagged on the floor. "Dawson! Quick!" Basil cries out, removing the rope from around their wrists.
They remove the children from the dark closet and settle them on the couch before removing the gags and other pieces of rope. "She took it!" the little girl mouse cries.
"Oh my dear," Basil said in a comforting tone, offering his handkerchief for her to dry her tears.
"She took my locket!" the girl mouse sniffles.
"Père! Where's Père?!" the boy mouse asks, just as a male mouse enters the room, rubbing the back of his head. The two children rush up to him and he holds them tight.
"Monsieur Basil?" he asks when he notices the detective. "What are you doing here?"
"We came here as you and a few others are in danger, but I was a fool. I let that female mouse go without bothering to ask who she was," Basil said and then, Monsieur Côté begins to curse in French.
"She just shoved her way through the door," he said after taking a moment to breathe, "She said at first she was from some charity group, but when I told her I was not interested in donating as we normally dedicate to charity around Christmas, she just barged in and knocked me out."
"And she tied us up and locked us in that closet," the boy mouse, Côté's son said and his father begins to curse some more in French.
"Dawson, attend to Monsieur Côté, I must get to Miss Sharpe before those crooks do," Basil insists and then rushes out the door before his partner could say anything.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
It was after the lunch hour when Basil arrived at 'Sharpe's Antiques'. Miss Milana Sharpe ran the shop with her elderly mother and they had a rather big collection on old toys, clothes, and other items from the Victorian era.
Basil did feel a bit at home here as he was surrounded by 'artifacts' from the era he was born and grew up in. He was sure Olivia would be at home here, too. "Hello, how may I help you?" Miss Milana asks.
Basil wastes no time in explaining to her that he needed the locket she purchased from the auction house, mentioning that some rather dangerous rodents were trying to acquire all three of them. Miss Milana was surprised after the detective finishes explaining and she shows him the locket. It was identical to the one Dr. Morgan had and he gives her a slip of paper.
"If those brutes show up, give them this, I'm pretty sure they'll show up at my doorstep," he tells her and thanks her for understanding the situation.
He leaves the store, but instead of going home, he heads straight to Kingswood Academy as it would take him some time to get there. He did figure he would arrive around dismissal and he would ask Milton and Winnie for their help. He usually never asked help from children, but the 'Detective Appreciation Club' might offer great assistance in this case.
The detective arrives on the dot as the bell was rung and the children were let out, eager to go home with their parents who were also waiting for them. John and Leana exit the school with Milton and Winnie, but were surprised to see Basil waiting for them.
"Daddy!" Leana exclaims and jumps into her father's arms.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" John asks, also hugging him.
"I will explain once we're in a safe location," he replies and looks to Milton and Winnie, "Mr. Romney, Miss Fernsby, I am in need of your assistance and of the 'Detective Appreciation Club' members," he said and notices that both of their eyes grew wide and bright with excitement.
"Oh but what about-" "Milton, there's no time," his sister Winnie cuts in and the children lead Basil to the Romney's home, not far from the school. It took them roughly a few minutes and Basil was elated during the walk.
Instead of going through the front door, the children took the detective to the back yard, where they stop in front of a tree stomp. "You swear not to tell anyone of our location?" Milton asks Basil in a whisper.
"I swear not to speak of this place," he replies, but does a quick X over his heart. They lead down a hole where they stop in front of a door, where Winnie then knocks on the door, but does it in a code.
A peep hole opens at the top and a voice asks, "Password?"
"Baskerville," Milton answers and Basil was surprised as this was the name of the family that was haunted by a ghostly hound in which The Master, Sherlock Holmes took part of the mystery some time ago. In fact, it was the most famous case that Basil heard and many humans and rodents would still speak of it.
He looks at the pair of eyes, who were staring at him, "You have an adult with you," the voice said.
"We have a very special guest," Winnie replies and Basil notices that the eyes grew big. The peephole closes and the door opens, revealing a large space underneath the tree stump. Basil was escorted inside, with the door closing behind him.
He takes a moment to survey the space, which had illuminated oil lamps, but he sees a few children, some a bit older than the twins and wore different school uniforms, working at various tables. He sees a chemist set, which was being attended to by a girl mouse. There was a ham radio where two older children were listening to Morse code. There was a book shelf where some other children were reading on some old books.
The children stop what they were doing when they notice the newcomer, an adult in this case. "Mr. Basil?" the girl mouse attending to the chemist set said, "What are you doing here?"
"Mr. Basil here needs our assistance," Milton replies, "Stop what you're doing and please listen to what he is about to say," he orders and everyone obeys. Basil produces the locket that was bought by Miss Milana Sharpe and explains about the murder of Dr. Arnold Morgan, who owned the first locket. He also mentions the break in at the Côté house, where the second locket was taken.
A boy rat asks for the locket and Basil hands it to him. "Hmmmm, a stubborn mechanism," the young boy rat said, referring to the lock on the pendant. He and his colleagues of the 'puzzle breakers' group take a moment to examine the mechanism and began to work on the lock.
After a few moments, Basil hears the turning of the lock, it sounded like a key being turned. Then, the pendant pops open, revealing a slip of paper, but it was written in some sort of code. However, they see a name on the back of the paper.
"Hanley Alcott, who's that?" Leana asks, but the 'researchers' group went to work in trying to locate any meaning of the name by looking through old newspapers, however, Basil did remember the case. He decided to let the group uncover anything as this would be a learning experience for those youngsters. The 'code breakers' group also went to work in deciphering the unusual code.
Basil was amazed at the teamwork these children put into, something he had never seen during his career. The leader of the 'researchers' group then features a newspaper from last year. The main story featured a criminal mouse by the name of Hanley Alcott, who stole a rare and valuable gemstone from the British History Museum. When he was arrested, the gemstone was not in his possession and he refused to tell the police where he hid it.
The police were interested in locating some associates, including a female cousin of Mr. Alcott who took part in the theft, but they had fled shortly after the heist. There were some pictures of the associates and Basil was shocked as he recognized the female cousin as Candace Gordon, even with the photo being in black and white.
"You know her, Mr. Basil?" the leader of the group, an adolescent female mouse asks.
"I ran into her last night when we left Dr. Morgan's home, she claimed that her father was an acquaintance of Dr. Morgan," Basil said and he checks on the 'code-breakers' group.
"Maybe you can help us, Mr. Basil," a male mouse with a lisp to his voice said. Basil nods as he use to write in code when he was at university, often writing coded messages to his sisters.
"It looks like a jumble of letters, except for the word 'six'," another code breaker, a female mouse, who was wearing a gray and red blazer with a gray skirt said. Basil looks at the paper and looks at letters.
"Six, un, douze, dix-neuf, cinq," he stops as he realizes something, "These are not letters, they're numbers."
Leana did recognize the French words for the numbers and writes "6, 1, 12, 19, 5, 24, 1, 12 and 12." The code breakers then went to work once more and they translate the number to "False Wall".
"False wall?" Milton asks, "Do you think the gemstone is in a false wall somewhere?"
"That sounds plausible, but if only we had the other two lockets to decipher the rest of the code," the boy mouse with the lisp said. Basil then speaks with the 'researchers' group, whom the girl mouse blushes a bit.
"What else can you find on Mr. Hansley Alcott?" he asks her.
"Still reading a lot on him, but here it says he spent a lot of his youth in France and was gifted in jewelry making," she answers and gets back to doing more research.
"I appreciate the help, in fact, I appreciate everyone here in helping me in this case," Basil tells the club members and meets them individually. The older children at the ham radio then pick something up through the air waves and Basil takes a listen.
"Death of Doctor ruled as a homicide," he translates and listens some more. The medical examiner had ruled Dr. Morgan's death by asphyxiation, something that Basil knew the whole time, but wanted to be sure. "Um, how did you acquire this?" he asks the leader of the Morse code group.
"My father works at Thames Prison and often sends messages to me through this ham radio. I did tell him that I wanted to be good at deciphering Morse code and even send coded messages in case of a war or some catastrophic event," the adolescent boy mouse said. Basil then asks him to send a coded message back.
"Associates of Hanley Alcott are responsible for the death of Dr. Morgan Stop," Basil said and then a response came back.
"Pa is saying the police believe so too," the boy mouse said and another message begins to come in. "Pa is saying Alcott was questioned earlier and he did admit to making those lockets and sending them to the auction house in the hopes his cousin would purchase them, but he got the times mixed up."
"Why would Alcott send them to an auction house? Why not have them delivered to his cousin and associates," Winnie asks, in which the others were curious, too.
"To avoid arousing suspicion," Basil answers and the children listen to him, "You see, when a crook attempts to reveal the location of their stolen goods, they use any means to send a message to colleagues without having the law nosing in. In this case, Mr. Alcott used the lockets to send messages to his cousin."
The club members take note of this and the detective notices that it was getting late. "John, Leana, I know you like to spend time here, but I don't want you or any of your friends to stay for too long. With those brutes out there, they might do something drastic to obtain this third locket," Basil said and looks at the other children.
"If there is anything else you can think of that would be crucial to this investigation, contact Inspector Timothy Wyatt, he's my confidant and he would bring Scotland Yard along to arrest Alcott's associates," he tells them and they nodded their heads.
Basil and his children bid Milton and Winnie a goodnight and they were eager to draw this case to a close.
As soon as they walk through the door to their home on Baker Street, Dawson calls out, "Basil! Where have you been?!" The doctor stares at his friend and notices the twins.
"I'm sorry Dawson, but I asked the members of the 'Detective Appreciation Club' to help me crack the most difficult part of this case," Basil answers, showing the locket he acquired from Miss Milana Sharp and the coded message that was inside.
Olivia, who was at her chair, looks at her husband in surprise, "You asked some children to help you with that?" she asks, while Basil removes her coat and hat and dress in his robe.
He lets out a chuckle, "My dear Olivia, those children are a brilliant bunch. Why, those puzzle breakers figured out how to turn the locket in the right direction. And we did discover why the killer is interested in the three lockets."
He lets John and Leana explain about Hanley Alcott, who was responsible for the theft of a rare and valuable gemstone. As he was gifted in jewelry making, he created the lockets to send coded messages to his associates, including his cousin, whom Basil suspected it was Candace Gordon.
"That lady mouse we ran into last night?" Dawson asks and Basil nods. "Good gracious, but how would she be able to strangle Arnold? She did look rather petite," he asks, again.
"Alcott had other accomplices, so Miss Gordon brought them together to seek out the gemstone," Basil said and notices Olivia with a questioning look on her face, "What is it Olivia?" he asks.
"I'm curious about this gemstone, does it have any historical significance?" she replies and her husband begins to think.
"From what I recall from the curator of the museum, that gemstone was said to be part of the French Crown Jewels. However, during the French Revolution, the jewels and other items belonging to the royal family were stolen. Some items have been recovered and placed in museums, including that gemstone," Basil explains and continues, "Mr. Alcott did spend much of his time in France, perhaps developing an obsession for the country. Not a terrible thing in my opinion, but obsessions can have dire consequences."
Before he or anyone else could say anything, Basil notices something on the side table next to his chair. "What's this?" he asks and Olivia lifts the piece of cloth to reveal a big wooden block that had holes in it, but he notices that they were speakers.
"Is this a radio?" Basil asks and Olivia nods.
"There was a store next to the auction house selling these, I thought of surprising you on the big day coming up," she replies, but Basil's stomach drops. He looks at the calendar; the anniversary of their reunion and Hiriam's death date was coming, but the two preferred to celebrate their reunion.
"Oh my! How could I have been so stupid?" he said, slumping down in his chair. "Darling, I'm so sorry, I-" Olivia stops him from talking. She didn't look angry at him.
"I know, you can't remember a lot of things when-" "No, I was blinded by this new case that I completely overlooked the most important date of our lives," Basil cuts in, but Olivia shakes her head and cups his head in her hands.
"It's only two days away," she reminds him, "But I want you to finish this case, I want those crooks behind bars and that gemstone recovered. It would be nice to see it restored at the museum," Olivia said and Basil stands to his feet to enclose her in his arms.
"I will treat you to that, consider it as my gift to you, although I want to spoil you," he said.
"Oh, that would be lovely," she replies, then whispers in his ear, "It would be best until after the baby is born and everyone out of the house." Basil felt the heat in his cheeks; he did say to her some time ago over the summer that he wanted to make love to her all day.
Making love with Olivia was the most exhilarating part of his marriage to her and Basil did remember he had no connection to the other women mice he met before she came into his life.
After giving her a tender kiss, in which John reacted with disgust, Basil turns his attention to the radio. "This is rather unusual invention, but I heard many great things about radios. Let's see if it works," he suggests and turns the first nob.
There was some static coming from the speakers, but Basil fiddles with the other nobs and then, a female opera voice emanates from the radio. The female voice was singing the famous 'Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen' or the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute.
"Fascinating," Dawson comments as they listen to the song. The family and their good friend settle down with a pleasant meal at the dinner table, but Olivia looks at her husband once more.
"So the message was 'False Wall'," she said and he nods. "What does that mean, do you know?" she asks.
"I'm afraid I don't know," he answers as he finishes his portion of beef stew. The detective returns to the parlor and sits in his chair, he was trying his best to figure out the message.
"False wall," he said, "Just what does a false wall have to do with Hanley Alcott and that gemstone?" His daughter walks up to him, having finished her meal and rests her head on his knee, in which he takes her into his lap.
"Maybe tonight while we sleep, you could locate the memory of Alcott's arrest," Leana suggests, "Maybe there's something within that memory that might hold a rather important clue," she adds, in which her father's face brightens.
"Oh Leana, you're a genius!" he exclaims, but notices his son walking in, "Both of you are geniuses, I should say," he adds, wondering if John was hurt by what Basil said a moment ago.
"Well dad, I'm more into the foot chase, instead of the thinking part of the investigation," John said, which made Basil smile.
"You know, I was into the foot chase too when I was an apprentice, but Henry told me it is best to think before the pursuit," he tells both of them. The evening starts to wind down as everyone in 221B 1/2 Baker Street settle in their beds. Basil tells Olivia his plan on going to his tree in the Memory Forest in the hopes of recollecting the time of Alcott's arrest.
"But don't you need Tsura or Lulu to take you there?" Olivia asks.
"I believe we can go there any time we want to, just as we put our thoughts to that location," Basil replies before setting his head down on the pillow and dozing off. He does take one of Olivia's hands into his, although he wanted to hold her, but her round belly was heavy and would crush his stomach.
Olivia was eager for the time when they would hold each other while they slept, again, but for now, they had to wait for the baby to arrive. She breathes in deep and succumbs to sweet slumber.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
As predicted, Basil found himself in the Memory Forest and sees his own tree, but he had no clue in how to levitate to the top where much of the leaves were. Then, he notices a ghostly blue object floating towards him, which then takes the shape of his body.
"Hello Elliott," the memory guardian greets his master. "I understand you have a bit of a dilemma," the specter said.
"Not exactly, I just need to locate the memory of the time of Mr. Hanley Alcott's arrest. Really wish I can recollect on my own," Basil replies, but his memory guardian chuckles a bit.
"When was the last time you went to a library?" it asks. Basil had a hard time remembering, so his memory guardian says, "Imagine the actual building being the exterior of you head, the inside is your brain. With all those shelves containing various books, much like this tree having these leaves, you obvious can't recite all those books in less than a day. Does that make any sense?"
"A little, but I do see your point," Basil replies. The memory guardian then takes him to the very top of the tree and lets Basil roam around for a bit. "All right, on the day Mr. Alcott was arrested, no it was night time and he was caught at..."
Then, a leaf appears before him and watches the memory play before him. He sees himself with Commissioner Winston in the dank prison room where Alcott was held. The Basil from the year before asks Alcott where the gemstone was, but he refuses to answer.
Instead, Alcott whispers something and the present Basil does his best to recollect what Alcott said at the time. "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness," Alcott whispers.
"Hmmmmmm, I've heard that before," the present Basil said and then another leaf appears. It featured him with Leana; it was long before the twins' birthday and the present Basil sees the little girl reading from a book.
She recites the same passage Alcott had spoken of and then it hit Basil. "A Tale of Two Cities," he said, referring to the famous Charles Dickens book and then, he hears Winston's words speak out of thin air.
"Alcott was seen hanging around the Charles Dickens' House. In fact, he would occupy the rodent quarters of the house for long periods of time according to the rodent caretaker. In fact, after he stole the gemstone, he was caught just down the street from the house. He has an unusual fondness of that place," Winston's voice said.
Basil clears his mind and the leaves return to their spots on the tree. "You are a cleaver mouse Elliott," the memory guardian said and Basil gives a smile before he thinks of the Flaversham homestead.
In a whirlwind, Basil was teleported away from the Memory Forest and he finds himself outside of the Flaversham house. "Daddy?" he hears his daughter's voice and he turns around to see his family with Hiriam and Leana Flaversham. They had gone for a carriage ride as Draco and Olympia were leading.
"Did you find what were you looking for?" Olivia asks, stepping out of the carriage.
"I did, but listen children," he said, coming down to the twins' level, "I want you to stay away from the Charles Dickens' House. I did discover that Mr. Alcott had a thing for The Tale of Two Cities."
"I remember that book," his daughter Leana said and he nods. "It mostly resolves around the French Revolution. Mr. Dickens did spend much of his holidays in France and he did refer to the French people as "the first people of the universe.""
"Very good darling, but please don't go anywhere near that house, I have a feeling that the other messages the brutes obtained did mention the house," Basil tells his two children.
They did not reply right away; they did want to help their father, but he still did remember the case involving his stolen identity. The twins did follow Luther Hart to Leicester Square, the pleasure quarters of London. Basil was furious with them for risking their safety, that is until Dawson found them and with help from Nathaniel Topham, the real culprit was arrested and Basil's name was cleared.
"John, Leana, you haven't answered me right away," their father said and he sighs, "Listen, I appreciate the help, but I don't want you to risk your safety."
"Yes we know, we just want to be part of the case," John said.
"And you were part of it, including the club members who helped me crack this case," Basil replies, but then lets out another sigh, "You know, I want you two to know that I think of you every day. And yes, I want you to tag along, but I do want you safe."
"All right dad, we understand," John said, "Although I think Milton would want to go after the culprits. We'll try to keep our mouths shut, but I have a feeling the other club members, such as the researchers discovered Mr. Alcott's obsession with Charles Dickens."
"I can understand loving a country, but I think Mr. Alcott has taken it too far," Leana said to her father, for which he nods.
"Having pride for one's country isn't really a terrible thing, but Uncle Jacob really loves his homeland of Scotland and he did detest the British. That is until Elliott here opened his eyes," Hiriam tells his grandchildren.
"You know, I did become fascinated with Greece after the case in Alfriston and I do wish to go there," John said, "But I hope I don't develop too much of a bad obsession or maybe develop an addiction. Would that be a good word to use?" he asks and some of his family members chuckle a bit.
"As long as you don't develop an addiction to drugs or alcohol, but I'm fine with you two having a fixation on a different country. I love my homeland of England, yet your mother and I do want to see the world," Basil said.
"Would you be upset if we were to move away from England?" John asks, which surprises his parents.
"Yes we would, but as long as you two are happy, then we are happy," Olivia said, "But if you decide to stay in a country outside of England, you better promise to send letters to us every week."
"Oh Olivia," Basil laughs, "I think every month would be all right and maybe visit them at least during one holiday every year." He then decides to change the subject asks his father-in-law, "The beginning of the harvest is soon right?"
"It is and you just reminded me of the many parties I use to attend when I was a youngster. Oh the barn we use to host the harvest celebrations would be full of adults either dancing, eating or drinking, while the youngsters, including myself would play a few pranks," Hiriam answers and looks at his wife, Leana Flaversham.
"It was during one such harvest celebration that I met this pretty lady and everything fell into place from there," he said in a romantic tone.
"I can't wait for All Hallows Eve," John said and looks at his grandparents, "Do you think you can host a party like you use to attend for us?" he asks.
"That sounds like a splendid idea," his grandmother, Leana replies and then, they hear the chiming of the clock tower. It was 6:15, the sun would rise in less than half an hour, but the living family members still had time.
"You know, I do wonder when Milton will send out his birthday invitations. His birthday is one day before All Hallows Eve and he said something about a costume party," Leana Basil said.
"There's still plenty of time, but if it is a costume party, then I would for Mrs. Judson to make some altercations to that gown I wore at the Guy Fawkes Masque those years ago," Olivia said and Basil does remember the red and gold gown she wore with the red hood.
"It would be lovely to see you wear that, again. I do wish to wear that costume Mrs. Judson made for me for the masque. Oh, I was so stubborn at the time," the detective recalls falling rather ill after returning from Norway in November of 1907. He pushed himself to the limit as he had missed Olivia and wanted to make the night special, but the fever was excruciating.
"I do remember that night," Hiriam said, "You were a stubborn fool who was in love as I said to you that time before healing you of that illness. You're still a stubborn fool who is still in love, a good thing to be honest."
"I do like to spoil Olivia, not sure if I spoil her enough," Basil replies and the two male mice laugh a bit. It was then time to leave as the twins would need to get ready to go to school and Basil wanted to close this case. He did wonder if the brutes did sleep at night.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
The autumn air outside was filled with the sweet scent of rain that came down overnight. The leaves were rustling in the wind, with a few falling from the trees. Basil took his children to their school, with Dawson tagging along. They did want to make sure they went inside the school before heading to Scotland Yard to ask for Mr. Wyatt's assistance.
"Where were you last night Dawson?" Leana asks, as he did not join the family and their loved ones like he did before.
"I was looking for Dr. Morgan, but I wasn't able to find him in the Heaven realm. Not sure where to look as I would end up in strange places," the doctor explains.
"He might've set up a residence far from our grandparents. The Heaven realm must be larger than we believe," John suggests as they arrive at the front of the school.
Basil gives his children a quick kiss on their foreheads, "Remember what I told you?" he asks and they nod. "I am counting on you not to get in any kind of trouble, much like you did with Luther Hart," he said and watches them walk through the doors of the school.
"Why do I get the feeling that they will not listen?" Dawson asks and looks at his partner.
"If they disobey this time, then I will not them attend any parties next month. Including Milton's birthday. I hate to deprive them of that opportunity, but I realize that I do need to show some tough love," Basil answers, to which Dawson agrees.
The two male mice walk away from the school, Basil did want to make himself noticeable as it was one way to attract a culprit. "Basil, what are we-" "Making ourselves vulnerable," the detective cuts in.
"Good Lord Basil, you know I hate that," the doctor replies.
"Yes, but it is one of the best ways to catch a culprit as many would rather-" "Don't say it!" Dawson snaps, starling his good friend. "You're a family mouse, just how do you sleep at night when you do these kinds of cases?" he asks.
"Dawson you know I love my family and yes, I would be devastated if I were caught and perhaps tortured. However, I've learned that-" "Just stop right there!" Dawson shouts, again. Basil was confused, he'd never seen his good friend this angry before.
"You obviously don't get it; how would your wife and children feel if you were to go missing and your body discovered? Have you not thought of what they think about your career and the dangerous cases you've taken?" Dawson asks and then adds, "I honestly don't understand you sometimes. You put your children's lives at risk and I'm surprised no one from child protective services has-"
"Don't you dare go down that path!" Basil shouts back; he hated the thought of his children being removed from his home and possibly be denied the right of seeing them, again.
"Look Dawson, I want my children to know the true horrors of this world, as well as its beauty. They have seen and met a few terrible rodents, but I believe exposing them to these sort of people would enable them to do the right thing in life," Basil explains.
Dawson, however, shakes his head. "I know they possess your intellect, but I feel that exposing them at such a young age is not the wisest thing," he said.
"You believe what you think," Basil replies in a low voice, "You don't have children yourself, but I pray that some day you will be a father yourself and you'll understand of what it is like of wanting them to be by your side."
Dawson was silent for a minute; he did miss the presence of his partner's children, which Basil didn't get, but Dawson decided to not argue on this anymore. "You know what Basil, since you seem to have the hang of things, you go on and pursue those culprits. I'm going home," the doctor said, which shocks Basil.
"What? Dawson, you can't be-" "I don't want any part of this investigation anymore. In fact, I had some thoughts about retiring from the crime solving business," Dawson cuts in. Basil was overwhelmed by what his good partner had said; he really didn't want Dawson to leave, but he was getting older and his chances of having a family were slipping away. The detective thought Dawson was upset on Dr. Morgan's death; the mouse had no immediate family, no wife or children, and it must've shaken Dawson a bit.
"Dawson, take a walk," Basil replies, "I want you to clear your head on this."
"Fine, I just hope those brutes don't hunt you down," Dawson said, angrily. They walked away from each other, with Dawson heading back towards the school and Basil continues to walk aimlessly.
He stops and presses his back against a wall; he never felt so alone before. Dawson was the greatest friend and he did, in fact, bring Olivia into Basil's life, and the two of them did make his world brighter, again.
Just as he was about to leave and resume his walk, the female mouse, Candace Gordon approaches him and she had company. "Why hello Mr. Basil, taking a stroll?" Miss Gordon asks.
"Actually, I was looking for you. I have some questions to ask you," Basil answers and looks at the two male mice who were with her. One was rather big for a mouse, but he definitely had muscles and the other was just at Miss Gordon's height and thin like her.
"We have some questions to ask you, too," the thin male mouse replies and then features a pistol. The muscular mouse cracks his knuckles, but Basil was not afraid.
"Oh calm down you two," Miss Gordon orders them, "Let's take this elsewhere, somewhere more secluded," she suggests, but turns to the thin male mouse, "You go ahead to the school, where the brats are."
"School?" Basil asks.
"Oh, I should mention that we tend to take your children hostage, that is if you don't cooperate with us," Miss Gordon said and Basil lets out a horrified gasp, noticing a Scotland Yard uniform under the mouse's coat.
"If you touch them, I'll-!" Suddenly, the detective was hit hard on the back of the head. He was knocked out cold and the muscular mouse binds his hands before putting him on his shoulder.
"Seriously? You go way too far," Miss Gordon said, but then the locket Basil had in his coat pocket falls out. The lady criminal takes it, but then notices the slip of paper. "False wall!" she exclaims, "Oh Mr. Basil you made this too easy," she said to the unconscious detective.
"So we don't need the kids?" the thin mouse asks.
"Actually, I do want to have some fun with them. It's a shame that Mrs. Basil will not be joining us," Miss Gordon answers and her male companion leaves, while she and the buff mouse take the detective to a concealed location.
Meanwhile, the thin male mouse, now wearing the Scotland Yard uniform enters through the doors of Kingswood Academy. He enters the reception room and approaches the female mouse working the desk. He clears his throat and she looks at him. "Can I help you?" she asks.
"Yes, I'm here to collect Mr and Miss Basil, the detective's children. There's been a development in a case, but it's best to take them to a secure location," he said and she leaves the room. She then returns with the Basil twins, who stare at him with quizzical eyes.
"Who are you?" John asks.
"I'm here to take you to your father, there's been a development, but I was told to take you to a safe place," the male mouse answers. The twins look at one another; it was obvious that something was wrong, but they didn't trust this mouse.
They did follow him out the front doors where he grabs them by the hand, squeezing them hard. "OW! You're hurting me!" Leana cries out and her brother tries to fight, but the adult mouse pulls them up by their hands, lifting them off the ground.
"Now you two listen closely, if you cooperate with us, then we'll spare your father's life," he warns and they stop resisting.
"What did you do to our dad?" John demands.
"Nothing, yet," the crook replies and takes them roughly by the hand, leading them away from the school. Then, they notice their friends Milton and Winnie running down heading towards them.
"I can't believe we're late!" Milton shouts, but they stop when they see the twins.
"Excuse us," the male mouse said, walking pass, but the twins lock eyes with their friends.
"Help us," Leana mouths the words as the mouse forces them to walk faster. Milton and Winnie watch as the three walk away from them, but it was clear that their friends were in danger.
"What do we do?" Winnie asks her brother, but they notice Dawson walking down from another street. "Dr. Dawson!" Winnie shouts and the doctor looks up to see the two children.
"Master Milton? Miss Winnie? What are you doing here? Should you be in school?" he asks.
"There's no time to explain, we have a situation!" Milton exclaims and tells Dawson of the strange mouse taking the twins. The blood in Dawson's veins went cold and he begins to shake.
"Good God! Then that means-" Dawson stops and looks back up the street where he came from, "Basil!" he exclaims.
"Oh I was afraid that something awful would happen," Winnie said, but Dawson brings them close.
"Listen to me very carefully," he said and tells them of his plan.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Basil begins to come to his senses; he does notice that his hands were bound with rope and he was off the ground. The detective looks around, he was in a shack of some kind, where the rope binding his hands were hanging on a hook. He felt like a piece of meat that was ready to be cut up by the butcher.
"Why hello Mr. Basil," a female voice said and he turns to see Candace Gordon, sitting on a stool while the buff looking mouse stands next to her.
"Miss Gordon," Basil replies in an angry tone, "Where are my children? You haven't laid a finger on them, have you?!" he shouts.
"I haven't," Miss Gordon answers, then shows the locket, "It seems you decoded the last part of my cousin's message for us. I do believe you have figured out my cousin's love for France."
"I did, but he took it a little too far," Basil said, but the lady mouse looks at him with her cold blue eyes.
"I have a love for France myself. I always wanted to go there, but Hanley was lucky to spend so much time there. That gemstone he took from the museum would provide a life of leisure. Why, we would settle in a grand apartment in Paris, dine on the finest food and drink the best wine," Miss Gordon said with a bit of a grim smile.
"So you murdered Dr. Arnold Morgan and barged in on the Côté family?" Basil asks.
"Well, Jake here killed Dr. Morgan. I told him not to, but that old miser put up quite a fight. I was intrigued by his collection of necklaces, but we're only interested in the gemstone, for now at least," Miss Gordon answers and looks at the buff mouse Jake.
Jake ties a gag over Basil's mouth, while Miss Gordon dumps the contents of a liquid over the wall; Basil smells the familiar scent of pure ethanol. Miss Gordon produces a box of matches and strikes one, igniting the tip.
"I have to say Mr. Basil, I might go down in history as the one who killed the famous mouse detective. All those crooks will be singing songs about me for a long time," she said in a cold voice. Jake leaves the shack, then Miss Gordon flings the lit match at the wall where the ethanol was dumped. The flames quickly shot up the wooden structure and Miss Gordon leaves, shutting the door behind her.
Basil had to think fast; he observes the hook he was hanging from. The wooden board provided him enough room for his legs to take hold of. He uses the muscles in his arms and back to help him hoist himself up to the board. Once his legs had a tight grip, he manages to slip the rope that bound his hands off the hook.
The room was getting hot and filling with smoke as more of the structure began to burn. Basil adjusts himself on the board, his hands were still bound, but he removes the gag from his mouth. He uses it to cover his mouth and nose as he makes his way to an opening at the other end of the board.
He makes his way through the opening, noticing a pile of wool down below. He suspected that the shack must've been used to store sheep's wool. "FIRE!" he hears some human voices and he jumps to safety, the wool provided him a soft landing.
"Basil?!" the detective hears the familiar voice of Dawson and sees the doctor running to his partner's aid. "Basil, are you all right?!" he asks, helping him with the binds around Basil's wrists.
"I'm all right Dawson, but we need to hurry! That vixen plans to take my children and-"
"Basil!" Dawson cuts in, "Milton and Winnie saw John and Leana be taken by an uniformed officer, but the twins-" Basil stops his friend from talking any further; his worst fears had been realized.
"We need to go! Now!" Basil insists and the two begin to run, they were hoping to catch the culprits before they reached the Dickens house.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
The twins were waiting outside of the Dickens house with the criminal mouse, who had discarded the police uniform and wore normal outing attire. John and Leana had walked pass their good friends, whom Leana mouthed the message of them being kidnapped.
They had faith that their friends would alert the school and therefore, the authorities would arrive to arrest the crook or crooks. A female mouse and a buff looking male mouse arrived.
"Did you get it?" the thin male mouse asks and the female mouse, Candace Gordon produces the locket with the written message.
"Are these the Basil twins?" she asks, looking at them with her cold blue eyes.
"What did you do to our father?" Leana demands, her brother taking a defense stance in front of her.
"Oh, he's all right," she answers, but they didn't believe her. John charges at Miss Gordon, but the buff mouse Jake grabs him by the back of his coat and lifts him off the ground.
"Put me down!" the little boy mouse shouts, but goes silent when Miss Gordon produces a syringe and a bottle of clear liquid.
"Now, if you don't cooperate, I'll insert this lovely poison into your sister and you'll watch her die," she said in an icy voice. Jake puts John down, his sister coming to his side. "Now, let's find that gemstone," Miss Gordon insists and she, with her two male companions force the twins through the door that lead to the rodent quarters of the Charles Dickens House.
There was a tour group ready to commence when the mice enter inside. They follow the tour group, taking in the sites of the human quarters up above, but from a safe distance as there were some human occupants.
Miss Gordon then leads them to a room where it was set up to model Dickens' study up above. There was a writing desk and a few book shelves; the fire place had white stone marble and a few duplicate journals with writing were splayed out on the desk.
John was in awe of this room; he wanted a study like this to write his stories in. "Move that shelf," Miss Gordon orders, pointing to a book shelf on the other side of the desk. The thin mouse tries to move it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Don't sit there give me a hand!" he yells at Jake, who obeys. The twins realized that the three crooks were occupied, therefore they were free to run away. However, John watches in horror as Jake throws the book shelf down, the contents scatter on the floor, like garbage being tossed aside.
This infuriated John, but his sister pulls him out of the room and they run down the hall. They look back for a brief moment, but then crash into someone. "OH!" they hear a voice and they look up to see their father, with Dawson, Mr. Wyatt and a few officers.
"DAD!" John exclaims and Basil hugs them tight. Then, they look up to see the three crooks exiting the room; Miss Gordon had something in her hand that was covered in a rag.
"I thought you killed him!" the thin male mouse shouts at Miss Gordon. Basil has his children stand behind him, he didn't want them to get hurt in case if gunfire were exchanged.
"Well done Mr. Basil, it seems I underestimated your ability to cheat death," Miss Gordon said, pulling out the gun from the thin male mouse's pocket. She takes aim at him, but Dawson produces his own gun and fires a round at the light fixture above the crooks.
The distraction gave Mr. Wyatt and the police the opportunity to charge in and take the crooks into custody. One of the officers took the syringe and the bottle of poison, in which the twins stated that Miss Gordon threatened to use it on Leana.
This made Basil's blood boil to such a dangerous level; the devil mouse attempted to kill him at the shack and would've murdered his children anyway. He marches up to Miss Gordon, his face mere inches from her.
"I don't believe in violence against women, but you Miss Gordon make an exception," he whispers in a threatening tone. However, he looks at Mr. Wyatt and says, "Inspector Wyatt, I recommend that you warn the judge that this lady mouse is a master manipulator and that she deserves to be in a high security prison. Don't let any of the guards be fooled by her charms either."
"Aye Mr. Basil," Mr. Wyatt replies and the officers remove the crooks from the building. Basil notices John and Leana holding the item covered in the rag; they remove it to reveal a large red colored gem in a rose cut.
"Is this a ruby?" Leana asks.
"I think it is," John said, just as their father summons a male mouse wearing the uniform of the British History Museum.
"Good gracious," the mouse said and examines the gemstone, "This is would be the grand ruby of the French Crown Jewels. However, when it was stolen during the French Revolution, it was cut into this shape, so we call it the 'Ruby Rose'. I was told that it is worth millions of pounds," he explains.
"So what would Miss Gordon do with it?" Leana asks.
"The best thing for her to do was to sell it to the highest bidder, no museum in France would give her a cent as they don't accept artifacts that were stolen from other places of science and facts," the museum curator answers.
"So will it go back to France?" John asks the curator.
"The French government was generous enough to extend the lease on this ruby to one year, that is if it was ever recovered. In one year, this will go to a history museum in Paris, but it will remain there permanently," he answers and departs with the ruby.
The Basil family, with Dawson exit the rodent quarters of the Dickens House, where Milton and Winnie were waiting. "What are you two doing here?" John asks after they hugged them.
"We wanted to see the outcome after we went to Headmaster Thornton about you being kidnapped. Last thing he said before calling Scotland Yard was that he was going to give the receptionist an earful later," Milton replies and asks, "Are you all right? What was it like in there?"
"It was terrifying," Leana answers and goes to her father's side, who takes her into his arms. "I thought she killed you," she whispers in a teary voice. Basil's heart sinks once he hears those words; Dawson was right, he didn't know how his children felt about him when he made himself vulnerable.
"I'm so sorry love," Basil said and hugs her and his son.
"Can you promise not to take any more dangerous cases such as this?" Leana asks.
"I'll try to persuade Mr. Wyatt to let Scotland Yard handle the most horrific cases, but I can't make promises on those that require my full attention," Basil answers and he takes them back home to Baker Street, with Dawson, Milton and Winnie following.
"Is it wise for you two to skip school?" the doctor asks the friends of the twins.
"I think once we and Headmaster Thornton explain it to my folks, they'll loosen up a bit, but will probably still face a lecture or something," Milton said and he adds, "It's a good thing Dawson came along, otherwise this would have different outcomes."
"Milton!" Winnie snaps at her brother, regrading the last part.
"No, he's right," Basil said and stops to look at the two friends, "You did the right thing in warning Mr. Thornton, who summoned Scotland Yard; Dawson and I wouldn't be able to take them on."
"We did tell Headmaster Thornton about the case and of Mr. Alcott's obsession with France. We did figure out that he use to frequent the Charles Dickens House and that he quoted the opening from 'The Tale of Two Cities' when he was arrested," Winnie explains and Basil smiles at them.
"You know, the two of you, as well as the other members of The Detective Appreciation Club will make fine crime solvers. I would certainly be honored in becoming a member myself, if you let adults join in that is," the detective said, which made Milton squeal with excitement.
"Oh no, you just made him happy," John warns, then laughs.
"We can do the initiation now! Or whenever you like!" Milton exclaims. His sister Winnie does her best to contain his delight.
"You do need the other members present right? So we can wait at your family home in the meantime and I'd be happy to explain the circumstances," Basil said and Milton and Winnie show the way to their home, which happened to be not too far.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Romney were surprised when their son and adopted daughter enter through the front door, with Basil, his children and Dawson behind them. "Why aren't you in school?" Mrs. Romney asks, but Basil steps in to explain what had happened earlier.
Mr. and Mrs. Romney had a maid bring in tea and biscuits as they listen to the detective's case on the three lockets and the gemstone that had been recovered. "So you two thought it was best to skip the remainder of your lessons?" Mr. Romney asks his children, but then rolls his eyes. "Well, you two did provide a great help for Mr. Basil, so I'll let this go just this once," he said. Milton and Winnie give him a squeezing hug.
"But if you skip another day of lessons, then I'm banning you from attending the club for a week," Mr. Romney warns, to which his children nod.
"Oh, papa!" Milton exclaims, "Can we invite them to my birthday celebration?" he asks his father.
"It's still over a month away, but how do you feel about it Mr. Basil? Everyone must wear a costume I'm afraid," Mr. Romney asks and Basil chuckles.
"My wife and I would be happy to attend, the same goes for these two," the detective said and his two children nod. When the clock struck 3, Milton and Winnie went first to the tree stump, but had Basil recite the words on the admission.
Basil didn't have to take long to memorize the words, so he took a moment to speak to his partner. "Dawson, I just want to let you know that you were right on my children's feelings," he said and the doctor listens. "All I wanted was for them to tag along and experience what I do, but I didn't take a moment to think on how they would feel if I were to die on a case."
"I would like to say something, too, Basil," Dawson replies and Basil listens, "I realized that you are different from the other fathers I've met throughout our career, but you love your family and I shouldn't have gotten angry in the way you raise your children.
"You see, I was a bit upset with the death of Arnold Morgan. He had no immediate family and it got me thinking about wanting to have a legacy like you, instead of becoming a lonely miser like him. It has been a long time since I courted a female and I guess I can be a bit awkward, but I hope Jodie and I will have a chance at happiness," Dawson explains and Basil places a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You know, I believe Miss Judith likes awkward and I've noticed that whenever she sees you, she is very happy. I'd say you have a very good chance with her," the detective said and they share a brief hug.
"You are a very good friend I should say," Basil adds and hears Dawson sniffle a bit. The twins then call out, the ceremony was to begin shortly. John and Leana escort Basil and Dawson out to the tree stump where the club was located.
John knocks in a code on the door and, instead of the peep hole opening, the door slowly opens to reveal a dark space inside. John leads his father, while Leana takes Dawson's hand and they walk in the dark hole.
The door then closes, a lone candle was the only source of light and Basil feels his son tug on his hand. Dawson and Leana stand to the side as they watch Basil walk up to the lit candle. Basil stands in front of the candle, perched on a little table and Milton's face appears.
"Name?" he asks.
"Elliott Gresham Basil," the detective answers and Milton produces a book. It was a copy of 'One Thousand and One Nights', then Milton opens to the 'Three Apples' story.
"Place your right hand on the page," Milton instructs and Basil does so. "Recite the admissions," the boy mouse said.
"I, Elliott Gresham Basil, solemnly swear to be a loyal and dedicated member of the 'Detective Appreciation Club'. I vow not to discuss any secrets to the outside and I vow to provide my fellow club members the means to solve a mystery," he replies and more lights illuminate the room beneath the stump.
Milton has Basil remove his hand from the book and have him dip his thumb in blue ink. Milton produces a slip of paper; it was the oath on swearing to secrecy the twins had mentioned. Basil makes an imprint on the paper and the other members give a cheer.
"It's official! Detective Basil is a member of our club!" Milton calls out and some of the older kids pop open bottles of fizzy drinks. The children offer the lone adult member of the club a warm welcome and they were looking forward to helping him solve the toughest of cases.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Evening had rolled in; Basil, his children and Dawson had arrived home, to see Olivia anxiously waiting for them at her chair. "Mummy, we're sorry for taking so long, but we had a rather exciting day," Leana said.
"Well, I hope your father has a good excuse," Olivia replies, looking up at her husband, who nervously chuckles, but then shows his thumb that had the blue ink on it.
Basil tells his wife about the events of the day, including his admission into the Detective Appreciation Club. "I believe I am going to like this club; those children might be very helpful on some tough cases in the future," Basil said. His wife gives him a smile and watches as he turns on the radio, tuning in to an orchestra playing. Basil tunes his violin and joins in with the orchestra.
From the author: I borrowed elements from the Sherlock Holmes movie 'Dressed to Kill' starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. I actually do recommend it, apart from the 'Hound of the Baskersvilles' also starring Rathbone and Bruce.
So this was a dramatic chapter with a few fun elements added to it. I'm sure Basil will be asking the 'Detective Appreciation Club' for assistance in the future.
On a side note, I've decided to end this story arc come this Christmas season, but that doesn't mean the adventures will be over for our favorite mouse detective and his family. I plan on making a 'second season', in which it will be aimed for a much more mature audience as hinted throughout the stories.
See you soon my fellow readers!