Chapter Three
Dennis watches as Winnie disappears into the night, before flying back into his room and lying down on his bed and falling asleep. He had been up for quite a while, after all.
Winnie, on the other hand, was on the case. Something had been nagging her. Marshall recalled seeing Dennis committing the crime, but never mentioned anything about someone entering his room, what gives? She was going to find out.
She made her way back to the scene of the crime. The food was still there, and so was the writing on the floor. But she didn't care about that. Instead, she was here to question Marshall. She approached Marshall and began shaking their metallic leg once more.
"Oh, what is it now?" They asked. The helmet was hardly if it all expressive, but it was clear from their voice that they were dismayed.
"You wouldn't have happened to see anybody enter Dennis's room during the crime, did you?" She asked curiously.
"Hmm? No, I haven't. Not a single soul entered Dennis's room besides himself thus far." He stated with supreme confidence, though the available evidence clearly contradicted his statement. Could he be lying?
"Is Marshall the true culprit? Maybe that would explain how he saw Dennis commit a crime that he clearly didn't…" She briefly thought to herself, before realizing it didn't make much sense.
"Marshall doesn't really have a scent, unlike the culprit. Plus, why would Marshall do it?" She pondered to herself. She then thought of Dennis's mask and how it was covered in someone else's scent.
"Maybe…The "Dennis" Marshall saw wasn't Dennis at all! Yes, that has to be it." She affirmed to herself.
"Winnie?" Marshall stated, breaking Winnie from her deep thinking.
"Oh, sorry…" She meekly stated, before then taking on a more serious pose. "Marshall, you claim to have seen Dennis committing the crime, but did you really?"
"Are you doubting me? I know what I saw." He sharply replied back.
"If you know what you saw, then do you know if you saw his face? What was he wearing?" She interrogated.
"Erm, well…No, I didn't. The cheeky bugger was wearing a mask. He also wore a black cape."
"As I suspected." She proudly proclaimed. Offering no further explanation, she bid Marshall a twee goodbye. "Toodeloo!"
She had all the evidence she needed. She didn't know who the culprit was, but she knew exactly how to find them. The question was, how was she going to prove it? She needed to find the culprit and confront them. But first, she needed to find out where they were. She had a hunch, and she was going to follow it. She made her way to the front desk, and particularly, the intercom. She had something to announce.
"Attention all guests: If you or someone one you know has lost a Nintenboy 64, please come to the front desk immediately! It is in our possession for the time being until someone claims it." She gleefully said.
The plan was simple: Whoever owned the Nintenboy was most likely a kid and almost certainly would be clamoring for it back. They likely don't realize that there's a detective hot on their trail and wouldn't think much of the item showing up in the Hotel's lost and found. All she would have to do now is wait for the true culprit to have unknowingly fallen for trap laid out for them. It was diabolical, but it was also brilliant.
Not even five minutes had passed before a young boy, no more than ten years old, came running up to the front desk. The boy had a very scrawny build, with thick-rimmed glasses, a green shirt, khaki-colored shorts, and a black cape that gave off a strange, but otherwise unassuming appearance. One whiff of his scent confirmed a match between him and the scent of the evidence. This boy was the culprit.
"I'm here for the Nintenboy!" He exclaimed breathlessly.
"Ah, yes." Winnie said, sweetly. "If you could just give me your name and room number, I'll go grab it for you."
The boy obliged and gave her the information she needed. Winnie wrote it down and went to retrieve the Nintenboy.
Once she had it in her possession, she made her way to the boy's room. She didn't bother knocking, she just walked right in.
"Hey! What gives?" The boy said, indignantly.
"I think you know what gives." Winnie said. "You're the one who vandalized the hotel!" Winnie asserted.
"Eh? I did no such thing!" The young boy protested.
"Come on, you can tell me the truth. I'm a detective, you know," Winnie said.
"I already told you, I didn't do it! Besides, I don't even know what you're talking about," the young boy said.
"Well, if you didn't do it, then how do you explain this?" Winnie said as she held up Dennis's superhero mask.
"That's not mine!" The young boy said.
"I know, that's the problem." Winnie smirked. "It isn't yours, and yet…It has your scent all over it!" She exclaimed.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything," the young boy said.
"Look, I know you're the one who did it. Just confess and I'll go easy on you," Winnie said.
"Where's your proof?" The boy quickly retorted.
"Hmm? The scent, were you not listening?" She answered.
"That's not real evidence! I could claim your scent was on the mask." He countered, sniffing Winnie. "You smell like someone who'd vandalize a hotel, you're the culprit!" He said sarcastically.
Winnie was left flustered. She didn't have any concrete evidence to back up her claims. The young boy was right, the scent was hardly enough to prove he was the vandal. She needed something else, something more concrete. But what?
"A-ha!" Winnie said, as she had suddenly remembered something. "I know how to prove it!" She said, taking out the Nintenboy.
"My Nintenboy!" The young boy exclaimed. "Where did you find this?"
"Hmm? Oh, I found it in Dennis's room." Winnie said, coyly.
"So?" The young boy said, clearly unphased.
"So, I know you were in Dennis's room." Winnie said.
"What are you talking about? I've never even met the guy." The young boy said.
"That's not what your scent says." Winnie said, confidently.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" The young boy said, getting flustered.
"Your scent is all over this Nintenboy, which means you've been in Dennis's room recently." Winnie said.
"So what if I was in his room? That doesn't prove I did anything!" The young boy said.
"Actually, it does." She stated. "Did you know someone saw your little stunt?"
"What? No, that's not possible!" The young boy said, getting more and more flustered.
"Oh, but it is." Winnie said, smirking. "You see, they described the culprit to a tee. Wearing a mask, and a black cape. Sound familiar?"
"N-no, that's not me! I-It couldn't be!" The young boy said, getting frantic.
"I'm afraid it is you." Winnie said. "You're the only one who fits the description."
"N-no, I didn't do it! I swear!" The young boy said, getting desperate.
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you." Winnie said. "You're the only one with the means, the motive, and the opportunity."
"N-no! Please, I didn't do it! I'll do anything! Just don't tell my parents!"
"You'll do anything?" Winnie said, as she began preparing something. "Then come clean. Admit you're the one who vandalized the hotel, and I promise I won't tell your parents." She said, though obviously lying. If her zing got punished for something he didn't do, she was going to make darn sure the culprit got punished for what they actually did.
"I-I…" The boy stuttered at first, before then taking a sigh. "Alright, fine. I vandalized the hotel, happy now?" He conceded to the young werewolf.
"Very." She remarked.
"Alright, fine. I vandalized the hotel," the sound could be heard emanating from the Nintenboy 64 using its audio recording app. She had stealthily recorded the young boy's confession using his own hand-held. With this, she finally had it: the hard evidence she had been searching for. Nobody could dispute this.