Basil sat in his armchair, nursing a cup of tea, violin tucked under one arm. It was nearly 3 o'clock in the morning, which meant it was almost time.
Much had changed on Baker Street in the past couple years, most especially since Kiara's last visit. Notably, the humans had begun a campaign to clean and update the sewers. In the process, Ratigan's home was destroyed. Out of pity and on account that they were meant to be reconciled, Basil had mentioned in passing the flat above his own being open for rent, but he wasn't certain and the neighborhood probably wouldn't be to Ratigan's tastes anyways.
Soon after, Basil looked out his window to see Ratigan's henchmen moving his furniture into the flat upstairs.
That was when the trouble began.
Odd smells came from Ratigan's apartment, he would often host dinful dinner parties, and spilled copious amounts of wine, seeping through the ceiling and dripping into Basil's flat. The worst of it had been when Ratigan bought a new pet roach, as if his wretched cat—which seemed to visit only to fight Toby—wasn't bad enough.
In retaliation, Basil had devoted more time to his lab equipment, whirring and exploding. He adjusted his mailing address so that Ratigan would receive it all, and have to trudge down the stairs to offload on Basil. Of current relevance was the new time Basil had designated for his violin playing: strictly during the darkest and most quiet hours of night, fortissimo.
The clock chimed, and he got up from his chair with a stretch. He tucked the violin under his chin, and lowered the bow toward the strings.
The pager on Basil's coffee table beeped, and he jumped. The violin bounced on the seat cushions while Basil opened up the pager, a wide grin spreading across his face. It wasn't really a pager, but some bizarre technology that Ratigan had invented to enable communications between them and their mutual goddaughter. It'd been quite a while since the last time she called, let alone visited.
With a few button pushes, the screen activated, and Hayley's face flickered into view.
"Oh. Er, good—evening isn't it—where you are?" Basil greeted. "How are you?"
"Basil! I need your help, you and Ratigan both!" she said.
"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen to Kiara?" Basil started toward his chair, absentmindedly preparing to sit down.
"She's gone!"
"What?" He sprang to his feet again. "What do you mean she's gone?"
"I mean she's been kidnapped!" Hayley's eyes shined with tears. "I think it was Chipendale, he's back! I don't know how he got a time machine, maybe he copied Ratigan's blueprints, but I definitely heard his voice on Kiara's phone right before it happened! There was a big gust of wind and the windows got smashed and Kiara was gone!"
"Don't worry." Basil's brain kicked into overdrive. "We'll find her, and we'll save her. I'll call you again soon." He hung up, and went to his maid's closet for the broom. Going to the part of the ceiling that made up the floor of Ratigan's bedroom, he banged the broom handle against it.
"Oh for the love of God and country, aren't your moonlight sonatas bad enough?!" Ratigan shouted down after a few moments.
"Ratigan! Come down here at once! Kiara needs us, and we have work to do!"