"Now…who were we going to ask first?"

Jester and Jane were taking the sun in the courtyard next to the cherry-blossom tree. No-where in particular, just taking it.

"Uh…well…" Jane considered this. "The thing is, Jester, I know we told Pepper we would do our best, but I'm just not too sure where to start on this one. See, sniffing out Rake's roses is one thing, searching for stolen biscuits is entirely another."

Jester frowned slightly and tilted his head to one side with a soft tinkle. "How so?"

"The biscuits can be disposed of easily, leaving no trace of them behind. Whereas the roses would be certain to disagree with one's stomach if eaten."

"Ah. Another good point, Lady Knight."

They stood in silence for a few minutes, watching some birds picking at the shabby clothes on the practice dummy. Suddenly, Jester clicked his fingers, making Jane jump.

"I know where we should start! Let's make a list of prime suspects for questioning, and work through them."

Jane shook her head. "Surely they would all just deny it."

"Ah, but Jane, who said we were going to be questioning them about themselves?" he replied, slyly. "In fact, to make it easier, we could just not tell anybody why we are questioning them at all!"

Jane paused. "All right. It is worth a try, I suppose. You are usually right about these things, after all."

"Usually?!" scoffed the blue-clad boy. "I would have thought 'always' would have been the most appropriate word to use there!"

So they fetched parchment and quill and ink, and sat in Jane's tower room discussing what they already knew and who should go on the list.

"Alright. So we know you didn't take them." said Jester.

"Right."

"And we know I didn't take them-"

"Do we?" giggled Jane, but she soon stopped when she saw her friend's expression. "Oh Jester! It is merely a joke."

"Ha ha."

"Continue on, then."

He resumed, still looking daggers at her. "As much as I highly doubt that Rake or Smithy would take three whole trays of biscuits, especially without asking, I still think it necessary that they go on the list. Agreed?"

"Agreed." said Jane, nodding. "And Smithy's pig?" she suggested, as an afterthought.

"She could prove a difficult suspect to question, but alright." replied Jester, scribbling it down. "Gunther…"

"Is definitely enough of a pig to do it and is most certainly going on that list!" exclaimed the female squire, rather ferociously.

"Yes milady." said Jester, quickly writing down Gunther's name to save his hands from getting chopped off.

"And the prince and princess." added Jane, calming down a little. "Although, we will have to be careful in our questioning them, of course."

Jester wrote it all down, before looking up timidly. "Now, Jane, don't get angry, but are you sure Dragon-"

Jane sighed.

"No, come on, hear me out!"

"He was asleep, Jester, as I have already said."

"I know, and I am not trying to blame him in any way." he said, hastily. "But you were not watching him all morning, and if he did do it, then he could have had an ulterior motive for it. And…and I was just thinking before that Pepper usually keeps the biscuit barrel just by the window, and he may have been able to stick one of his paws-"

"Claws," corrected Jane, "In through the window…yes…" She blinked at him, as though finally seeing clearly. "Clever. I never thought of that. Alright, you win. Put his name on the list, then."

Jester gave a little mock cheer and obliged her.

"Well, that seems about it, for now." he stated, looking over their work with a pleased expression on his face.

"…Jester?"

"Yes?"

"Um…" Jane hesitated, looking almost ashamed of herself, and then stared out the window, unseeingly.

"Yes?" Jester repeated with a little more emphasis.

"Oh, this is going to sound horrible, Jester."

"Just say it. As far as I know, it's only me who can hear you."

"Yes…well…it is just that…Pepper may or may not have been…lying to us. No, wait, that is not what I mean. Well…yes…it is. What I mean to say is that, it could have been planned as a joke or- or more likely, a decoy of some kind. A small part of a much bigger plan?" She looked up, hopefully.

Jester's expression was unreadable.

Jane looked at the floor. "Never mind." he heard her mumble. "That was mean. I don't know why I even thought of it-"

"No." said Jester, suddenly and decidedly. "You do make a valid point, there. I'll put Pepper's name on the list (doing so as he said it), but only as a last resort, okay? I would hate to have to question her about her own biscuits so soon."

"Me too." agreed Jane with a shudder. "Let me see it, then."

He handed her the list. It now looked like this:

Prime Suspects

Drake

Jethro

Pig

Gunther

Prince Cuthbert

Princess Lavinia

Dragon

Verbena?

"Jester, why have you written Smithy, Rake and Pepper's proper names?" Jane questioned.

"Because, my dear Jane, very few people here at the castle know their real names, and the three persons in question, excluding Pepper, cannot read much yet, not even their own names, as I have only taught them how to read and write their common names, so far." came the lofty reply. "This will therefore make our list much more inconspicuous if it is left lying around for other people to read, yes?"

"True…good thinking…" Jane answered, slowly. "But what about if one of the royal family see it? One of the knights…or a member of the senior staff, or- or even the merchant?"

"Simple. We just tell them that it is a game we are playing with the royal children."

"That should work…hopefully…what about Gunther, though? He is not likely to believe us if we tell him a story like that."

Jester looked quizzical. "He is not likely to care what we are doing, anyway, is he?"

Jane looked slightly skeptical at this, and opened her mouth to say something. But she stopped short, as they were interrupted at that moment by Pepper, calling them for lunch.

Minus the biscuits, of course.

They got up and left, Jester stuffing the list hastily into his coat pocket as they went.