Chapter Six

A week had passed since Winnie had solved the Hotel Vandal case. Mavis was in the midst of preparing a surprise for friends and family but had yet to give any hints as to what it could be. Dennis and Winnie were currently engaged in one of their many playtime games. This time they were playing Detective, a particular genre of game which had only grown in popularity among them ever since Winnie solved the Hotel Vandal case. As usual, Dennis was the detective and Winnie the assistant. Though, unusually, Winnie was feeling rather uncomfortable. Something had been nagging her recently. No, truth be told, it'd been nagging her ever since the case was solved, she only now had the courage to address it.

"Dennis, could we stop for a sec?" She said with a look of displeasure on her face.

"Huh? What for?" Dennis said, confused and slightly worried. He thought he may have done something wrong.

"It's just that…" She said as she slumped in her chair, "I've been thinking…"

"Yes?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Are we sure Weilan's the culprit?" She plainly stated.

"Huh? What makes you ask that?" He asked, curiously.

"You've seen how he looks right? He's too scrawny to have caused all that damage, at least not by himself." She posited.

"To be honest, I had a feeling Weilan wasn't culprit." Dennis said.

"Huh? You did? Since when?" Winnie inquired curiously.

"Since you first accused him of being so." Dennis replied.

"What? Why didn't you say anything then?" Winnie asked, now more confused than ever.

"I wasn't 100% sure. It was just a hunch, after all. Besides, I trusted that you'd be able to solve the case!" He said with a smile.

"But what if I didn't? What if I got it wrong?" Winnie asked with a worried look on her face.

"Well, then I suppose we'd just have to go back and investigate until we found the real culprit." Dennis said.

"I see…" Winnie said, her mind racing with thoughts.

"Is something wrong?" Dennis asked.

"No, it's just… I can't help but feel like there's something we're missing." Winnie said.

"I know the feeling." Dennis said.

"What do you mean?" Winnie asked.

"I've been thinking the same thing. It's like there's something right in front of us, but we just can't see it." Dennis said.

"But what could it be?" Winnie asked.

"I don't know. But I'm determined to find out." Dennis said.

"Me too." Winnie said.

And with that, the two of them set out to find the answer to the question that had been nagging them both.

When the two made it to the Hotel, however, they immediately realized they had a problem: There's nothing to investigate. Which should've been obvious, it had been a week since the case was presumed closed, after all. The main hall and all other areas of interest were cleaned spotless. An extensive scent search found not even Weilan's scent let alone anyones that would be out of the ordinary.

"Welp, looks like we'll have to rely purely on our brains," She said as she tapped at her head, "Got any ideas, Dennis?"

Dennis rubbed at his chin as he pondered for a moment. Finally, he replied "We could try asking Weilan."

"Weilan? But why would he help?" She asked.

"Dunno, but it's worth a shot." He simply replied.

"Alright, then, we'll wait for it to be time for school." She said.

"How are you get inside the school?" Dennis questioned.

"Your school has recess, right? We'll regroup there." She stated.

"Alright." He affirmed.

Luckily, that time did not take long as Dennis would have night classes he'd have to take.

"Dennis, it's time for school." Mavis said in a cheerful tone as she called on her son. It didn't take long for Dennis to get dressed and head out the door with his mother. Thankfully, the school, Transylvania Elementary, was a walkable distance from where the Hotel resided, so all Winnie would have to do is shadow them to avoid being detected.

When they finally arrived, Dennis gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off towards his friends. Mavis, for her part, simply watched on with a smile and a twinkle in her eye, before she headed back to the Hotel. Winnie, on the other hand, planted herself firmly on the ground. The hardest part of all this would be waiting for recess while trying not to be absolutely bored out of her mind. As she waited, she spent her time chasing the nearby critters and even managed to snag herself a meal for her and Dennis to enjoy later-on. After what felt like forever, she watched as numerous monster children loudly rushed outside to play in the nearby court, including Dennis and his friends.

Winnie took a deep breath to calm herself before she made her move. "Alright, Winnie, you can do this. Just act casual." She thought to herself. She then slowly approached Dennis and his group of friends from behind.

"Hey, Dennis." She said in as casual a tone as she could muster.

Dennis and his friends turned around to see Winnie standing there. "Winnie! What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised. He honestly forgot about their plan.

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and say hi." She said, fabricating a story as to not come off as suspicious to the Dennis's group of friends. "Gentlemen, may I borrow him a moment?" She asked them. To their credit, none of them seemed to care about this werewolf girl that came out nowhere, they just wanted to play.

"Alright, but hurry back, we're about to start a game of tag!" One of them said.

"Of course, just let me speak with my dear friend for a moment." She said as she pulled Dennis away from the group. Dennis, for his part, was more than happy to oblige.

"So, what's up?" He asked.

"I, uh, wanted to apologize for being kinda out of it earlier." She said. "I was just really worried about this whole case, y'know?"

"No worries, I understand." He said. "So, should we go looking for Weilan?"

"Of course." She said. The two then set off to look for Weilan. It actually didn't take that much time, he was sitting on one of the school park benches by himself. As soon as they came into view for him, Weilan shot the both of them, but especially Winnie, with a glare.

"Oh boy, what do you want?" He asked.

"Weilan, we just wanted to talk." Dennis said in a calm tone.

"Talk? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?" He asked.

"About the Hotel vandalism case." Winnie said plainly.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Weilan, we know you didn't do it alone." She stated.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, clearly confused.

"We know you had help." Dennis said. "We just want to know who it was."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said.

"Weilan, please." Winnie pleaded. "Just tell us who it was."

He looked at her with disgust, but also thought about the situation and how he could use it to his advantage. "Are you gonna get me unbanned from the Hotel?" He asked.

"Uhm, no, you deserved that." She replied back.

"Are you gonna get me ungrounded by my parents?" He said, apparently in addition to being banned from the Hotel he was also grounded shortly thereafter.

"No, that was your fault." She said.

"What about a new Nintenboy?" He asked.

"How am I supposed to afford that!? No!" She said.

"Then why should I help you!?" He asked, annoyed.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Dennis interjected.

"Why do you even care? Haven't you won already?" He yelled. "You got me banned from the Hotel, what more do you want?"

"We want the truth. If somebody helped you, they need to be dealt with, too!" Winnie said.

Weilan scoffed. "How noble."

"Now please, Weilan, just tell us who it was." Dennis said.

He thought about it for a second before finally relenting. "Fine, it was Dennis." He said.

"What!?" Dennis exclaimed.

"He said you were the one that helped him do it." Winnie said, trying to piece together what Weilan was saying.

"Why would I do something like that!?" Dennis asked, indignant.

"I don't know, you tell me." Weilan said, crossing his arms. It became clear that Weilan's comment was meant in jest. "I'm not helping you unless you help me."

"So you admit you there was an accomplice?" Dennis pointedly asked.

"That's not what I said." He said, shaking his head. "Why don't you investigate? I'm sure you'll love the answers." Weilan teased. "Now if you excuse me," He said as he got up, "I'm done talking to you." He began walking off.

Winnie and Dennis watched as Weilan walked off.

"He's really not going to tell us, is he?" Dennis asked.

"No, he's not." Winnie said, with a heavy sigh. "But, I think I might know who it is."

"You do?" Dennis asked, surprised. "Who is it?"

"I'm not sure yet." She said. "But, I have an idea of how to find out."

"Well, I still have school, so we'll have to continue this later." Dennis said.

"Agreed." She said.

"Dennis!" Exclaimed one of his classmates. "Come on, we're all waiting for you!"

"Wanna play tag with me and the boys?" He asked.

"Of course!" She said with enthusiasm, and from that point forward they spent the remainder of recess just playing games and having fun with the other children. Eventually, it became time for Dennis and the rest of the kids to head back for lunch.

"See ya, Winnie!" Dennis said as he began walking back into school along with the rest of the children.

"Wait, Dennis!" Winnie exclaimed, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn around.

"What?" He asked.

"I got you a meal." She said as she took out a lunch bag from "trench coat" and handed it to him. Inside was a screamcheese n' egg sandwich.

"Where did you get this from?" He asked, curiously.

"There was a food truck nearby, and they offered me free food since I'm such a cutie!" She proudly stated.

"Thanks, Winnie! I'll have it for lunch." He said as he then began walking back towards the school. Winnie herself began heading back towards the Hotel as she retraced her steps.