Chapter Five

Winnie was back at the tree-house. The place where she had started her detective adventure looked like it'd be where it ended. She hanged up her "trench coat" as she laid in the middle of the floor, stuck in a stupor. She struggled to cope with the situation she found herself in. In a few hours her parents would be arriving to pick her up, and upon hearing of what happened would likely ground her for as long, if not longer, than Dennis is being grounded right now.

"Maybe, it won't be so bad?" She thought to herself as tears began forming, "I'll just tell them the truth. That I was trying to help, and that I'm sorry. Maybe being away from Dennis won't be so bad…"

Of course, it was all delusion, and she knew it. But it was all she could do to try and calm herself down. If only she hadn't been so rash, if only she had thought things through a little better. If only, if only, if only… There was a knock on the door. A light knock, but a knock nonetheless. It snapped Winnie out of her thoughts as she quickly got up to see who it was.

It was Dennis.

"Hey, Winnie. Can I come in?" He asked. Winnie was surprised, but happy, to see Dennis. She quickly ran to the door to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, I wanted to tell you: Don't give up!" He said with a passion in his voice. "It isn't too late to turn things around and reveal the true culprit." He said.

"Dennis…" Winnie said, touched by his words.

"I believe in you, Winnie. I know you can do it." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, Dennis." She said, as she tearfully embraced him. He was taken aback at first, but he quickly reciprocated.

"Anytime." He said. "Also, I want to apologize."

"Apologize? For what?" She asked.

"For not believing you when you said Weilan was the culprit." He said. "I should have known you wouldn't have gone as far as you did if you weren't absolutely sure he was. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Winnie said, as she smiled. "You didn't have to apologize."

"I know. I still wanted to." He said.

"But, Dennis…" She said as she began wiping her tears away, "Without the Nintenboy, how am I supposed to prove Weilan's the culprit?"

"There's no such thing as a perfect crime." He consulted. "A true detective always finds a way."

Winnie nodded in agreement. She was determined now more than ever to find a way to prove Weilan was the culprit. She wasn't going to give up, not now, not ever. She was going to find a way to prove Weilan was the real vandal, and she was going to do it with or without the Nintenboy.

"Well," Dennis said as he began turning to the door, "That's enough from me. I need to back before mom realizes I'm not in my room." He stated.

"How'd ya sneak out, anyway?" Winnie asked.

"The window." He said. "Just like you showed me."

Winnie smiled. "I'm glad I taught you something! Bye-bye now."

"See ya," He said as he transformed into a bat, "and good luck!" He then flew off into the distance.

It was now just Winnie all by her lonesome, as she immediately went to finding an alternate way to reveal the culprit.

"There must be another way, some alternate path that I'm missing…" She thought to herself as she perused her memories of everything that had happened that day. She thought back to the only other piece of evidence still at her disposal, that being the superhero mask.

"The mask!" She exclaimed. "Of course!"

Winnie knew that if she could find a way to connect the mask to Weilan, she would have the smoking gun she needed to prove he was the culprit. She just had to find a way to do it. She racked her brain for any ideas. She thought back to Marshall, who claimed to have saw Dennis vandalizing the Hotel.

"If I could just prove it was Weilan instead of Dennis that Marshall saw, then that will prove that Weilan is the culprit!" She thought to herself. "Time for Round 2." She said to herself as she put back on her "trench coat" and left the tree-house and rushed back to the Hotel, this time with a newfound determination.

Mavis, Johnny, and Dracula were still in the main hall of the Hotel discussing something rather inconsequential when a resolute Winnie entered into the building. The main hall had been well-cleaned at this point.

Mavis was surprised by Winnie's appearance, given that she had only dismissed her not too long ago. "What are you doing back here?" She questioned.

"I can prove without a doubt Weilan's the culprit." She said.

"Oh, not this again…" Mavis thought disappointedly to herself, she bended down to the girl's height as she tried to reason with her. "Look, Winnie, I get that you like Dennis and its nice of you to try to defend him but-"

"I'm not trying to defend Dennis." Winnie said, cutting her off. "I'm trying to prove Weilan's the real culprit."

"Right…," Mavis said, "And look how well that went the first time. You need to stop lest you make things worse for yourself."

"I have to try." Winnie said, pleadingly. "Please, just give me one more chance."

Mavis sighed, she knew that getting rid of her wouldn't be easy. "Fine, but if you so much as lay a finger on Weilan, I'll have you thrown out of here so fast your head will spin."

"I understand." Winnie said.

"Good." She said as she began standing in a more upright position, "So, let's hear it."

"One more chance…I have to make this count." She thought to herself. "Gladly. Marshall!" She yelled the name of the Hotel's security personnel. They actually wasn't too far away, she just wanted to yell their name. Marshall rushed over from his post over to the group.

"Marshal reporting for duty, sir, err, madame." He said.

"You claimed to have seen Dennis vandalizing the Hotel, yes?" Winnie questioned.

"Wait, you saw Dennis vandalizing the Hotel and didn't say anything?" Mavis herself questioned.

"Well, yes, by the time I would've it had become already became obvious I thought." Marshall stated.

"There's just one issue, Marshall: You didn't see Dennis. Not his face, anyway." Winnie said.

"That's true," They conceded, "He was wearing a mask."

Winnie then brought out Dennis's superhero mask from her "trench coat" and waved it around. "This wouldn't happen to be the mask you saw, would it?" She asked.

"Ah, yes! That's it." They perked up and stated.

"That mask belongs to Dennis, where are you going with this?" Mavis questioned.

"Just because this is Dennis's mask doesn't mean he wore it during the crime, or that he was even the last one to wear it recently." She explained. "In fact, it was Weilan who last wore it!"

"And how did you find this out?" Mavis asked.

"I verified it with my sense of smell. The nose knows." She said self-assuredly.

"And why should we believe you?" Mavis asked. "Yeah, I like you Winnie but your impartiality would not survive scrutiny in the court of law. I think." Johnny added.

"You don't have to believe me." She said, smirking. "You just need to believe Marshall. I'll explain in a moment, but for now I need Weilan to be brought over here."

"I'll go get 'im." Marshall stated, before running off to do just that. It was only a few moments after that Marshall returned with Weilan standing next to them. Weilan looked annoyed, and he was shooting daggers at Winnie.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Winnie showed him the mask. "Have you seen this mask before?" She asked him.

"Nope. Never have. Can I go back to my room now?" He said rather dismissively.

"So he's resorting to lying now, unsurprising…" She thought to herself. "No, you can't. I'm not finished. You see, Marshall claims he saw Dennis, but I actually think the one he saw was you! And I have one simple test to prove it: Have you wear the mask."

"W-What?" He said somewhat nervously. "I'm not doing that."

"Why not?" She asked with a smirk.

"It…It might be contaminated!" He blurted out.

"Contaminated!?" Mavis said, her mood souring. "Are you calling my son diseased!?"

Nobody liked that excuse at all, with that line alone the tide of the conversation shifted in Winnie's favor.

"N-No…I-I…" He stuttered. "I'm not putting on the mask, okay!?" He asserted.

"Oh, yes you will! Justice will be served!" She said before tackling him to the ground as she tried to force the mask onto him. She had him successfully restrained until he transformed into a bat and escaped from her grasp. He then blew a raspberry, or at least what looked like one, before flying off.

"Grr…Get back here!" Winnie said as she then embarked on an impassioned chase after him.

Marshall and Mavis looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They then looked at Johnny, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you think we should do?" Mavis asked. "We can't just let her go off half-cocked again, can we?"

"I don't know," Marshall said, "She seems different this time. More determined. I think we should give her a chance."

"Fine." Mavis said.

"I'll go keep a close eye on her." Johnny said, before departing.

"I think that's a good idea." Marshall said.

Winnie was in hot pursuit of Weilan, who was zipping through the hallways at breakneck speeds. She was doing her best to keep up, but she was quickly losing energy. "Dangit, Weilan's too fast!" She thought to herself. "There's got to be a way to catch him…"

Just then, she heard a voice call out to her. "Hey! Winnie!" It was Johnny.

"Johnny? What are you doing?" She asked.

"Need help catching up to Weilan? I gotta idea, follow me!" He said, before talking her to a room in the Hotel that housed nothing but tables.

Winnie looked very confused. "How is this supposed to help?" She asked.

"You're looking at a flying machine like the world has never seen!" He said excitedly.

"A table?" She said with a puzzled expression.

"Just watch." He said, as he picked up Winnie and placed her on the table. He then hoisted himself on top of the table and said the magic words which then caused the table to come to life and begin levitating in the air.

"Woah!" Winnie said in astonishment.

"Noble steed, go forth!" Johnny exclaimed enthusiastically as the table bolted out of the room and into the hallway.

Weilan was still flying as fast and as far as he could from the pursuing Winnie. He took a look behind and saw that she was nowhere to be found, he thought he had finally gotten away from her.

"Phew…" He thought reassuringly to himself. Just then, someone, or something, zipped past by him. It had went so fast that he couldn't make out any details of what it was. The object then slowed down in order to better match Weilan's speed and it then became clear just who it was that had surpassed him: It was Winnie and Johnny, riding on a flying table.

"W-WHAT!?" He said worriedly, with a look of sheer bewilderment on his face.

"Wasn't expecting us, huh?" Winnie said confidently, with a smirk. "It's time to return the favor." She said as she jumped off of the table, tackling Weilan to the ground. This time, there would be no escaping her grasp.

"Give up, will ya?" Winnie said.

Weilan struggled for a moment to escape, before he signed and resigned. "Fine…"

A few moments later, Mavis, Dracula, and Marshall were greeted with the return of Winnie, Johnny, and Weilan in his human form. He was wearing the mask as instructed.

"Oh!" Marshall said in surprise. "I had gotten him confused for Dennis because of the mask he was wearing, but now I see that it was him I saw vandalizing the Hotel!" He stated.

"I see…" Mavis said, as she looked over at Winnie. "I'm impressed, Winnie. You actually did it."

"Of course I did." Winnie said, with a smirk. "I told you I could."

"Well, I'm glad that's all sorted out." Dracula said, before he then turned to Weilan with a look of pure anger and disgust. "As for you, young man…You are hereby banned from the Hotel for life!" He said.

"Does this mean Dennis is ungrounded?" Winnie asked Mavis.

"Of course, go tell him the news." She simply replied.

Winnie then ran off to go tell Dennis the good news. As Winnie ran off to tell Dennis the news, Weilan was being escorted out of the Hotel by Marshall. He was struggling and protesting the entire way, but it was clear that he was defeated. He knew he had lost, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"I'll get you for this, Winnie!" He yelled as he was being led out. "Just you wait!"

Winnie ignored his threats, she was too happy to care. She had done it, she had proved that Weilan was the real vandal. She had saved Dennis, and she was sure that he would be happy to hear the news.

She knocked on his door, it didn't take long for Dennis to open the door.

"Winnie? What are y-" Before Dennis could even finish a sentence, he was cut off by Winnie jumping on him and hugging him, knocking him down.

"I did it! I did it!" She exclaimed. "I proved you didn't do it, and Weilan's the one getting banned from the Hotel!"

"That's great!" Dennis said, as he returned the hug. He was genuinely happy for her, and for himself. He was finally free from the false accusation, and he could finally leave his room.

"I'm glad you're happy." She said, as she began to tear up. "I was so worried…"

"Don't worry, Winnie." He said, as he wiped away her tears. "I knew you'd find a way to prove I didn't do it."

"I'm just glad it's all over." She said.

"Me too." He said.

"So, do you wanna play?" She asked gleefully.

"Yeah!" He said, "But, like what?"

"I dunno. You decide." She said.

"How about Detective? You can be the Detective this time, I'll be the sidekick." He said, smiling.

"Oh, Dennis…" She said, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed profusely from this unexpected show of affection. "I've played Detective long enough, you be the Detective, I'll stay right by your side!"

"Well then," Dennis said in a low, secretive voice, "I'll find the clues that reveal who stole the cookie from the cookie jar!"

"Ooh, I can't wait to see how you solve this one," Winnie said, clapping her hands in anticipation. The two then set about their game.

And with that, the case was finally closed.