The Great Mouse Detective: The Vermin Murders

by VioletRose13

Professor Ratigan was defeated and Mousedom is safe… until a new danger rises up from the shadows. A masked killer called 'Vermin' is slinking through the streets and slaughtering innocent mice in the cover of darkness and it's up to Basil of Baker Street to find Vermin and end this killer's reign of terror once and for all… And on the way, he meets a very special someone.

1. Prologue

The year was 1897. It was a chilly autumn night in London and everyone was staying in… well, almost everyone. There were a few nightwalkers going around, and one of them was a young mouse with bright red hair and wearing a blue dress. She had just finished another night of work and she was on her way home; she knew it was dangerous to wander the streets of London at night, but she knew her way home like the back of her paw and she believed it was safe… until it wasn't.

She kept her cloak draped around her as she walked, her heeled boots clicking on the cobblestone roads as she walked were all she could hear in the still night air. But even though she knew she was alone, she still felt like someone was watching her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, but no one was there. Then she heard thunder rumbling above her and she felt a drop of rain on her nose; it was starting to rain. Thinking fast, the young lady decided to take a shortcut through the alleys. As she walked, the feeling that she was being watched grew stronger and she was becoming more and more nervous; so nervous that she started to quicken her pace from a walk to a jog.

A dark shadow zoomed across the wall in the corner of her eye and she started running faster and faster before she bumped into something. She looked up and saw that it was a tall dark figure all dressed in black and wearing a top hat and a mask covering their whole face.

"You gave me a start." She said, heaving a sigh. "For a moment, I thought I was in a bit of trouble." She smiled and slowly approached the figure, calming down. "You lonely? I hate to see a man lonely. I'm something of a generous lassie, and I'm sure you're generous too. Ain't you?" She took the stranger's hand and pulled him further into the alley. "My room isn't far… or maybe you'd rather not wait."

She stopped, turned her back to him, and started to remove her cloak before the stranger opened the bag he was carrying and began rummaging through it. The young mouse tossed her cloak to the side and turned around with a smile… but her smile faded when she noticed the glint of something shiny in the figure's hand. She realized it was a long, sharp knife.

"No. No, no, wait!" She cried as she backed up against the wall; the figure approached her, holding the knife tight in his grip and raising it over his head.

She shut her eyes and screamed.