I first flew over to the Bakery down in Neopia. The police Chias were crowding around, and questioning people. I landed, and went nearby the yellow police tape. The Breadmaster was talking to the police.

"Well, I had gotten a shipment of doughnuts, and went inside to get the shop ready, when I heard a noise. I looked outside and saw a Grarrl with a mask on filling a large sack with the doughnuts."

The police scribbled it down on their pads.

"So Bouncy_Bubble was telling the truth." I mused over this, and then remembered I had to go to Sharp_Tooth's house. I took off, and flew off. After about an hour, my wings were beginning to fail, when I saw Tyrannia. I sighed with relief, and began to land. After looking around and asking a few of the locals, I managed to find Sharp_Tooth's house. I glanced at the transparashield mansion, and rang the doorbell. The door opened, and a Chia looked at me.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"I need to talk to Mr. Sharp_Tooth."

The Chia straightened his tie, and opened the door fully. I walked in and saw many butlers and maids cleaning, cooking, and doing other things. In the front room was a Lenny behind a desk. She looked at me.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I need to see Mr. Sharp_Tooth."

She pressed a button, and said into an intercom, "Mr. Sharp_Tooth, there is a Faerie Lupe here who wants to talk to you."

The answer came back immediately. "Send him up here now!"

I got the directions and walked up the flights of stairs. When I got to the top floor, I saw a door with "Sharp_Tooth222's Office" imprinted on it. I knocked lightly and opened. There the Grarrl was talking into the phone.

"Yes, tell that Acara that I need to have that deal done tonight! This is very important. Okay, thank you."

He hung up the phone. As he did, his eyes fell on me.

"Ah yes, Mr. Fang_Bite, about that deal, I'm so glad you came here. You see- "

"Hold on! I'm not here about any deal. I'm Detective Lupe, and I need to ask you a few questions about what you did yesterday."

The Grarrl adjusted his glasses. "What?"

"An owner had her valuable necklace stolen yesterday, and I need an alibi from you."

"Why me?"

"You're a suspect in the case. I believe you know the owner, name's Rose."

He nodded. "Oh yes, her. Her necklace was stolen? Shame. I really wanted it."

"Well, I need your-"

"You see, for years I have been collecting rare diamonds. It's a hobby of mine, and that necklace would complete my grand collection."

"That's nice, but-"

"I mean, really. I offer Rose good money for it, and she never accepts. I've been trying for years!"

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"Oh, so she told you about that? That reminds me, I was going to Neomail her with an offer today. Well, thank you for reminding me. Bye now."

I tried to keep my temper from blowing. I took out my recorder, and began to record the conversation. "Look, I need your alibi. Just tell me where you were, and what you were doing."

"Oh, why didn't you say so? I was at a meeting, 9:30 NST. The meeting took place at a building next to the art center in Neopia. It's not on the map, but you can see it. Here's the room I rented for the occasion." He handed me a piece of paper with the number 25 on it. I turned off the recorder and began to leave.

"Wait!" Sharp_Tooth yelled. I turned around.

"What?"

"Did Rose say anything about selling her necklace if she gets it back?"

I shook my head. "No, sorry." I then ran out of the room before he could ask anything else. After leaving, I caught a bus to Neopia. I walked around the main center, and sure enough I saw a building. I walked in, and went over to a Kacheek who was typing into a computer.

"Excuse me."

The Kacheek glanced at me. "Yes?"

"I need to know some information for a case. Did a Grarrl named Sharp_Tooth222 have a meeting here at 9:30 NST?"

The Kacheek pulled out a paper, and began to look over it. "Nope. No Grarrl having a meeting at that time."

"I see," I said. I thanked the Kacheek and left. My wings were rested, so I flew over to Rose's house in Faerieland to see if I could find any clues around the house. She saw me as I was coming down, and came over.

"Did you find who did it?"

I shook my head. "But I have a pretty good idea."

Rose sighed with relief. "That's good. Anyway, would you like to have something to eat?"

I then realized that I was hungry. All that investigating must have taken longer then I thought.

"Sure."

We walked inside the house, and I sat at a small table. As I sat, I noticed a picture of a Fire Lupe resting on top of a fireplace in the next room.

"Who is that?"

Rose glanced over and saw the picture. "That's my first pet, Nyjantin. I adopted him from the pound while he was still three hours old a long time ago. He left to explore the world, about two months ago, so I went back to the pound and adopted Water_Lily."

I looked at another picture of Nyjantin playing with another Cloud Lupe. "Who is that Lupe?"

"That's his friend, Yokameron, who was my neighbors pet. He left with Nyjantin. Here's your snack."

She gave me a Chocolate Chia and a cup of Earl Gray tea. I wolfed down the chocolate, and drank a bit of the tea, even though I don't really like tea. Just then, I remembered I was here to get some more information.

"Do you know if any neighbors were home when your necklace was stolen?" I asked.

"Yes, the people to the house right of us were home. The people in the house to the left are on vacation though."

I thanked her for the snack and went over to the house on the right. I knocked on the door, and an Usul came out.

"Hello. Who are you?"

"I'm Detective Lupe, and I need to talk to your owner." I looked around the door to see if I could catch view of her owner.

"Okay, hold on." The Usul shut the door, and came back a little while later with her owner.

"How can help you?"

"I'm investigating a case involving your next door neighbor Rose, and I need to know if you saw anything suspicious yesterday night."

The owner shook her head. "No, I was out yesterday at the Art Center, and I came back late. But you can ask Lonar6492 or Lonar for short. She was here last night, and knowing her she probably stayed up late. Lonar, please come here!"

The Usul came back into the room, and looked from me to her owner. I explained what I needed to know, and then I took out the tape recorder and began to record the conversation.

"Can you tell me if you saw anything suspicious last night?"

Lonar nodded. "I did see someone walking around, but I thought it was just Rose. I didn't see anything else suspicious though."

I turned off the recorder. "Thanks." I thanked both of them and left. I went back to my office, and began to ponder the case. I listened to all recordings, and listened for any flaws in either Grarrl's story, but I couldn't find any. I looked over the fact that Sharp_Tooth did not go to a meeting, but still couldn't find any evidence for him. I listened to the stories again, and again, and again…

"WAIT!" I played back the one story I was listening, and stopped at the one part.

"EUREKA! I GOT IT!" I was ecstatic. I made two calls, and waited. Meanwhile, I used my computer to do some research…

One hour later, the pet I called came over.

"Hello Detective." The pet sat down in a chair on front of my desk. The chair snapped.

"Sorry," I said. I made a mental note to get a better chair. "You can stand up."

"Gee, thanks." The pet picked up the pieces and put them away. I cleared my throat and got ready.

"Hello. I called you here for a good reason."

The pet looked confused. "What's the reason?"

I stood up on my four paws. "I know you took the necklace."

The pet's eye's widened in surprise. "What? But I-"

"Nice try, but I have the evidence. You fooled me for a while, but I found the one flaw in your story."

The pet glared at me. "And what flaw would that be, Detective?"

"Good. You aren't trying to deny it…. Water_Lily."

Water_Lily looked at a small window I had. "So, what was the flaw?"

"Well, you see, according to your story, the thief threw the fake necklace hard. Now, a Grarrl or Skeith are muscular pets, and if they threw a glass item, it would shatter. When I came over, the fake necklace was in perfect shape. Your story was good, and you were lucky Rose didn't catch this flaw. Even I didn't, because I never thought you would have done it, but now I know. And I also know that Lonar helped you by telling me that she saw someone carrying the safe. I don't know how you two carried that thing, but you might as well tell me where it is."

Water_Lily suddenly grabbed at piece of the broken chair and threw it at the window. It shattered, and she flew out.

"Now!" I glanced out the window. Instantly, police outside began to follow her. The Chief walked over to me.

"I'd like to thank you, Detective Lupe."

"Just Detective," I said, feeling very happy.

1

2 ONE HOUR LATER

"So Water_Lily was the thief."

I was at Rose's house, explaining what had happened.

"Actually, you aren't the first. Water_Lily and her friend are actually a team. I looked up info concerning criminal information, and found a description of a Faerie Poogle and regular Usul who put them selves in the pound and wait to be adopted. A little while later, they steal from both houses and help each other take the items and money from the other's house. I guess they were going to wait until either one of the Grarrls would be accused or if I couldn't figure it."

"What about the fact that Sharp_Tooth lied to you?"

"He didn't. Tonight he has a meeting at the same place and time, and he got them mixed up. I called him later and found out the true time. Anyway, that's the story. I don't know where they put the safe, so do you know if there is a place in this house that you wouldn't look around?"

I waited awhile as Rose thought about it. "I got it! Njantin's old playroom!"

We ran up the stairs, and went into a room. There were several toys, and a huge pile of plushies in a corner. I went over to the pile, and began to remove the plushies. Sure enough, there was a safe underneath.

"Here it is."

Rose opened it, and looked inside. There was the necklace.

"Thanks Detective Lupe!" I could tell I had my first satisfied client.

"Just Detective." I then handed her the bill. "About the bill-"

"Oh yes." She wrote out a check for the amount. I took it and left. I went to a public phone and called the police regarding the doughnut case.

"Now to go back home and rest!"

I flew over to my home, and went inside. I sat on a couch and turned on the TV.

"And in today's news, the criminal team of Water_Lily and Lonar were arrested today, thanks to P.I. Detective Lupe. Also, the doughnut thief was found. Looks like today was a good day for police."

"Just Detective," I muttered. The news Blumarro shuffled some papers.

"And that's tonight's news. Coming up, the Lupe Mysteries show."

"No thanks," I said. "I've had enough detectiving for a while." I turned off the TV.

2.1 THE END