Dissolving

He paused for a moment. Then he said, "But all is over now. Professor Padraic Ratigan shall be no more." Having said those words, Basil got up and, melancholically, took down the portrait and turned it over so the picture was no longer visible. Olivia had tears in her eyes once more; though but a child, she possessed a highly developed ability to empathize with others that was not commonly found in others her young age.

No one else uttered a word, for the situation was strange and uncomfortable. Basil sighed, and, tacitly, with bent posture, walked past his audience and headed towards the entrance door, which he opened, and, after having gone out of the house, closed again behind him. He stood outside for some minutes, pondering. It was raining, as usual, and it was quite chilly. Big Ben had just begun chiming 11 p.m. A slight shiver ran down Basil's spine. Was it the cold?

"We could have been sublime as partners..." he thought to himself. Dejected, he rolled up his left sleeve, sluggishly unrolled the bandage covering his left arm, and scrutinized the concealed injury, one of several deep slashes courtesy of the wroth rat's razor-sharp claws. With a barely audible sigh, he rolled back the bandage and stared at the pitch-black overcast sky. He did not care that heavy drops of rain were pouring down on him. "All of this... all because of some kind of hurt he was once caused because he was different…" he thought. "Ratigan made pain the centre of his life's motivations… I wonder what would have become of me, had I been more like him… I guess we weren't so similar after all. Perhaps I am indeed an unfeeling robot, like Flaversham's creation."

Suddenly, he realized that tears had welled up in his eyes. Mingled with the raindrops, they slowly trickled down his face, whilst he, stoically as ever, stood still, facing the sky without even twitching. He knew this state of abject misery was only a temporary condition that would very soon be over. He then thought to himself, "Whom are you fooling, Basil… You know perfectly well that your feelings are simply too deep for anyone to see… Yet thankfully, your brain's power is far greater. ... Farewell, Ratigan… Indeed it was goodbye too soon." He looked down, swallowed, made sure he dried his eyes completely, and went inside again.

Mrs. Judson, Dawson, Flaversham and Olivia all looked at him, pityingly yet somewhat curiously. In the same manner as he had gone out, he walked past them in silence, but more quickly this time. "Basil?" Dawson said, expecting some kind of response – in vain, for there came none. The only thing that the four mice heard was the sound of Basil's bedroom door closing with a very slight bang.


Notes and References:

-Basil telling Dawson "It's not as bad as it seems" is a reference to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Illustrious Client"

-Some say the devil is dead is an Irish song; it is included here in spite of not being written at the time this story is set. The actual lyrics are: "Some say the devil is dead, the devil is dead, the devil is dead, Some say the devil is dead and buried in Killarney. More say he rose again, more say he rose again, more say he rose again, And joined the British army."

-Picture of Florian Brown: Reference to the gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

-In the Disney movie, Ratigan mocks Basil for arriving at his hideout later than he expected: "I expected you 15 minutes earlier. Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?"

-Cogito: Reference to the famous phrase coined by French philosopher René Descartes, "Cogito ergo sum" (Latin: "I think, therefore I am"; "cogito" = "I think")

-The scene where Basil asks whether Ratigan's reasearch is out of purely academic interest is similar to the scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Tom Riddle asks Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes, and the latter hopes that it is "for purely academic purposes" that the student is interested in this piece of extremely dark magic.

-The telegraphs between Basil and Ratigan: in the Disney movie, Basil tells Ratigan "The game's not over yet" after Ratigan cries "I won".

- "Crime is common, logic is rare": reference to Sherlock Holmes's statement in The Copper Beeches

- Basil's statement "He followed me, I followed him" is a reference to the lyrics of Goodbye so soon (Lyrics by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh) from the Disney Film: "You followed me, I followed you, we were like each other's shadows for a while…"