On the way to Mrs. Fillyjonk's home, the unexpected happens. As the two men and one Hemulen were walking through an open field, all of sudden, someone appeared from below the thick grass, soothing and quickly, like a wind blowing through a tree and scattering its leaves in the fall.

— I know who got rid of Mrs. Fillyjonk! And it was not Moominmamma! – The creature said.

— Moominmamma, who's that? – Asked Dale, who almost fell backwards, but miraculously he held on to his position.

— Do I know you? – Said Harry, confused as Dale yet fascinated by the odd-looking creature before his eyes. – Oh, who am I kidding, I know no one around here, yet you look so familiar, like you belong to a children's book.

— A children's book, you say. If only... By the way, my name is Sniff, pleased to meet you! – He said, greeting both men and the Police Inspector as well in respect. – And you are?

— This is Officer Truman and Agent Cooper. – The Police Inspector said cordially.

— Oh, I heard the professionals were working on the case. – For a moment, Sniff stared at both men with curiosity. It felt like an eternity for Dale Cooper, who stood quiet most of the time whenever he was faced with something unusual, and Sniff was close enough to be, well, an unusual kind of whatever he was. A kangaroo, a rat, a bandicoot, all he knew is that he was one of his kind, or perhaps a stuffed animal that came to life and wanted to feel alive as he looked into his soul with its googly eyes.

— I have a question. – Harry said, feeling a bit awkward.

— I got one too! – Sniff was very enthusiastic. – Who's first?

— Uh... You first.

— Is that how the people from beyond Moominvalley dress themselves?

— Yes. – A bit of silence follows after Harry delivers his answer to Sniff. – That was your question?

— It was. Thank you very much!

— You're welcome. Now, to my question...

— Are you naked? – Said Dale, who spoke in Harry's place.

— No, I haven't bought any clothes yet. – Sniff replied. – It's different from choosing to be the way I came into this world, you know. I also practice running backwards on Tuesdays, that's not an option either, I want to earn the record of fastest living being in Moominvalley who can run backwards, and so far I have won against a turtle, a hedgehog, a Woodie, a Teety-Woo and I don't think Little My counts, but one day I'll win from her for sure!

— Now, back to my question... – Said Harry. He was not interested in any small talk at the moment. – You mentioned this Moominmamma a while ago. Who is she?

— She is innocent, I swear! – Cried Sniff. – The Police Inspector, he committed a mistake! A big, grave mistake! He got a pair of eyes focused on a tree, but not the whole forest!

— What does he mean?

— It happened a few days ago, Officer Truman. – Answered the Police Inspector. – I have no proof Moominmamma has committed the crime, but since she happened to be at Mrs. Fillyjonk's mansion before my arrival, I had no choice but to arrest her as a suspect.

— Moominmamma did not do it! She has an alibi! – Said Sniff, to everyone's surprise.

— Do you even know the meaning of the word alibi?

— I know it very well, Inspector! And I can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Moominmamma is not guilty. I got evidence, see?

— I see nothing. – Harry said as Sniff held out the palm of his right hand.

— Exactly! You don't see anything as much as the Police Inspector did not see Moominmamma commit the crime. In fact, no one did because we were all asleep, then some of us heard Mrs. Fillyjonk's painful scream in the middle of the night. I thought she just hit something in the dark, it happens and it's a very unpleasant sensation, and as cliché as it sounds, it was a dark and stormy night. Believe me, it was really dark, and now that someone has actually died...

— You're going too far astray, get to the point. – Dale interrupted.

— Oh, I'm sorry. – Said Sniff, before continuing his narration. – Where was I? Right, the Inspector here woke up early in the morning to investigate the crime scene where he happened to find Moominmamma. However, that proves nothing! Anyone could have been there before, but he saw Moominmamma and thought she was there first and instead of arresting her for a crime she committed, he arrested her for possibly committing a crime he thought was committed by her. Murder and suspicion of murder... These are two different things!

— Good reasoning, but there is no alibi. – The Police Inspector came to a conclusion. – Moominmamma was seen in the crime scene, not elsewhere at the time of her arrest.

— My point still stands. I mean, does it? – Sniff believed in what he said. Well, almost always. – I forgot the words... Oh yes, preconception! That's the word I was thinking about, not alibi. My mistake, folks. I read a lot of Moominpappa's books recently, it's hard to keep up with that amount of information.

— What do you think, gentleman? – The Police Inspector turned to Harry and Dale, then turned his eyes back to Sniff. – Should we trust this bystander?

— Hey, I'm not a bystander!... Whatever that means.

— To an extent, he may be right. – Said Harry, looking at Mrs. Fillyjonk's mansion from afar. The place seemed so empty and lifeless now that its owner was gone. – Misunderstandings happen, and that's why we're here, to investigate the crime further.

— If there's something supernatural going on here and believe me, there may be... We'll find out. – Dale said as he advanced towards the mansion.

— Can I go with you? – Asked Sniff.

— You can't. Commoners are not allowed to trespass the crime scene. – Said The Police Inspector, also following Dale.

— But I have to know the truth! I won't accept things as they are! And I'm not a commoner, of all things!

And, no matter how loud were his shouts and pleas, no one heard Sniff or cared about him. That saddens him, although you don't have to shed tears in front of others to convey a feeling of sadness. Instead, Sniff walked away with his head looking down on his footsteps, while Harry stood there watching until he decided to follow him.

— It's so unfair... – Said Sniff as he sat upon a rock to reflect. – Moominmamma should not be arrested when she hasn't done anything wrong. This should never have happened. I know the Police Inspector jumped to conclusions, but he is a more important person than I am, so who cares? And I have no proof, I may as well be lying for the sake of.

— Tell me more about Moominmamma. – Harry did not interrogate as a police officer, he just wanted to talk like he always does, on and off duty.

— Oh, Moominmamma... – Sniff took a deep breath and sighed, not with relief. – She's one of the most decent and kind people I've ever met in my whole life and, as long as I have known her, she never lost her temper like the others. Like her son, for example. I thought Moomintroll was a friend of mine but he seems to ignore me whenever we're together. He only notices I'm there because I am, somewhat, a nuisance.

— How come you are a nuisance?

— I don't know, it's just the way I am, but he does not seem to care. Like, Moomintroll is so mean at times, and yet everyone ignores how bad he can be because he is growing up and learning and... I'd think he was the one who got rid of Mrs. Fillyjonk for whatever reason, but he is so incompetent at surviving midwinter it's beyond belief! Like, if he can't eat pine needles to save his life, then how come he got the skills needed to, you know, kill? He doesn't!

— I see. – Despite the silliness, there was some logic in Sniff's words, according to Harry. – If Moomintroll isn't the culprit roaming free, then who else could it be?

— Hmmmm... Maybe you!

— Me, the culprit? – Harry asked, incredulous. It was so absurd that he couldn't help but smile, albeit briefly.

— Yes! I read mystery novels, the one who commits a crime is usually the newly introduced character no one has heard of before! And you look very suspicious wearing those pants, officer. – Sniff was quite serious, no nonsense in his mind or actions.

— I swore an oath to uphold the law. – The same goes for Harry Truman.

— You say you follow the law, but does the law itself know it? Who knows what sort of secrets you keep in hiding. Chocolate in your pockets, a fishing net in your wardrobe, funny looking trousers in the closet... A secret affair, of all things! I know people like you and me are complex, they are not made of cardboard!

— It's true. – Harry had no idea how the conversation went from depressing to amusing. It sort of happened, that's all he knew.

— You know what else can be true? That, perhaps, we were all fooled, and no one is responsible for Mrs. Fillyjonk's sudden demise. No, it was death by natural causes.

— Death by natural causes, how so?

— Think about it... If your body has disappeared overnight, that means you no longer have a body. And wouldn't it be natural to assume that if you don't have a body, that means you're actually dead?

— You're quite the detective. – It was a very unusual thing to say, at least for Harry. Sniff bore no resemblance to the detectives he had met before, but Moominvalley did not seem to have any detectives, or crimes to be investigated as well.

— I heard there's a big reward for anyone who can solve this mystery. – Sniff said as he watched some clouds in the sky. – Big enough so I can move on to Malaysia, or Myanmar, or Liechtenstein or any of those countries with weird names I read in the encyclopedia. Is Babaluma a real place? Eh, whatever. Anywhere outside Moominvalley is fine to me.

— Why do you want to leave this place? I mean, it's so beautiful.

— Moominvalley may be as beautiful as you see, a nice place to live but then you know some of its people... And everything changes. The green grass often hides the dirt underneath.

— I know what you mean. – Harry looked around and noticed a mix of stillness and solitude in the fields. How come the flowers and insects added so much color and detail to an empty land? Maybe it was the energy emanating from Sniff, because he was sad while everything else looked so happy and cheerful.

— From where you came from, officer?

— Me? I'm from Twin Peaks.

— Twin Peaks? Is it as beautiful as Moominvalley?

— It is.

— You see that hole? – Sniff pointed to a large crater full of brown earth. – Mr. Hemulen spent all day digging holes around Moominvalley, not as part of his gardening activity, but in hopes of finding Mrs. Fillyjonk's body... If there was a body left. It's been three days and until now, he has found nothing.

— Nothing?

— No, nothing. It's not as if everyone is doing their bit and helping, because they aren't. For most of them, Mrs. Fillyjonk's death was unimportant and changed nothing in the grand scheme of things, which may be true to a certain extent, but it doesn't sound like positive thinking either.

— Did you know Mrs. Fillyjonk?

— I did. – Sniff closed his eyes in an attempt to picture the late Mrs. Fillyjonk. – No one liked her, yet a piece of me wish I could like her, or put up with her no-nonsense approach like Moominmamma did. She looked so... Different from everyone else, so serious and organized. She preached order in a world of chaos and apples falling from trees. Her children wore the same clothing, they look the same if not for their heights. She was so far removed from our carefree reality that... It's funny, I do kind of miss her, even if I can't think of any pleasant memories.

— Was there anything remarkable about Mrs. Fillyjonk? Anything that stood out for you, and only you?

— There was one thing. – Sniff looked at the vast wilderness and the wind that blew across the grassy hills. – I have no idea if others have already noticed, but whenever she introduced herself as "I'm Mrs. Fillyjonk, mother and housewife!", I heard "Hello everyone, it's nice to be here but I hope you don't end up like me" instead. She looked so sad and desperate, like she made a foil of herself by having to say the same words over and over again in hopes of impressing us. She tried so hard to be someone she wasn't, and I could relate to that. Maybe... If things were different... We could have had some tea. I like tea, I'm not very fond of it but I enjoy sitting on a table. The tea is an afterthought but when your mouth is dry after having a long conversation, you may drink anything in your reach. Don't you agree?

— I suppose so. – Said Harry, shielding his eyes from the sun's rays. – A shame I can't stay here, I have a job to do.

— Me too! – Sniff exclaimed. – I will prove Moominmamma's innocence and get that big reward!

— She must be really important to you.

— What? The big reward? I can do a lot with a hundred golden coins.

— I mean Moominmamma.

— Oh... Yes, Moominmamma means a lot. I owe her my life, and I dare say she is the heart and soul of Moominvalley. Without her, I wonder if everything would be as it is. And to think I was here from the beginning...

— The beginning?

— Yeah, when the Moomins arrived at Moominvalley. – A huge dark forest stood before Sniff. The tall trees seemingly mock him with their height, though he's no longer afraid as he used to be. – They didn't always live here, and I happened to find them. Or, at least, they found me. I was a lonely child, a small creature unworth of a name, feeling dejected, running from the shadows... My right eye hurt alot, I could not see things clearly and everything around me looked the same. I have long convinced myself that I would never be able to escape until one day, with the arrival of a mother and her son looking for a sunny place to live and so I decided to follow them. How could I refuse? I've been longing for someone's company and I was granted not only that, but a new life and a name too.

— It's quite a story. – Harry was impressed and out of words. – You seem to be in good shape for someone who's been through a lot.

— Thanks to Moominmamma. – Sniff added. – She took care of me and often called me her "little sun and stars". Without the Moomin family's support, I wonder what I would be, wandering through these woods in hopes of feeling the sun's warmth ever again.

— I'd better go now. – Said Harry, straightening his hat. – If you find something related to the case, please inform me or Dale.

— I will! Detective Sniff, at your service! – Sniff seemed surprisingly calm, lucid and well despite what he had said earlier. – See you later, officer.

— Later. – As Harry and Sniff walked away in opposite directions, they were both sure that they would meet again.