September 20, 2024

Skye's POV

This morning, we got a message from the Earl, saying that a funeral will be held for the princess today.

"So, we're going, right?" I said.

"Yeah, of course!" Marshall replied.

"But are we even invited?" Rocky asked.

"Well, if the Earl told us, then maybe we are. After all, he'll be expecting us to come today." Rubble said.

"But it wasn't him who arranged the funeral and everything," Sweetie said.

"Wait, it wasn't?" Rubble said while everyone turned to Sweetie.

"She's right, pups..." Ryder said, "I talked to the Earl today and he said that the princess' parents arranged the funeral."

"Oh... okay then!" Rocky nodded.

"Come on, pups..."

After preparing the Paw Patroller, Ryder, and us pups hopped aboard and drove our way to Barkingburg. On the way, Ryder contacted Chase.

"Hey, Chase! How's it going over there?"

"I'm fine over here. We've been busy finding suspects and inspecting the castle since the murder happened."

"Well, that's good to hear. We're heading to the Princess's funeral today, wanna come with us for a bit?" Ryder asked.

"I would love to, actually. But, I'm tied up a lot here and I can't just leave right now."

"It's alright, Chase. We understand..."

"Thanks, Ryder. And sorry I can't come with you guys."

"No problem, Chase. Just keep working on what you're doing. We're fine here."

After hanging up the call, we finally arrived at Barkingburg, where the Princess's funeral was prepared. The Earl was right by the door, waiting for us.

Sweetie's POV

"Paw Patrol, I'm glad you came..." the Earl greeted.

He turned his gaze at me and saw that I had arrived too.

"And Sweetie... thank you for coming too,"

With my melancholic look that stayed the entire ride, I replied.

"Thanks, I wouldn't want to miss my princess's funeral."

"We want to send our condolences too to the Princess's family," Marshall added as he handed a sympathy card.

"Thank you so much, pups..." the Earl thanked them, "Come on, I'll walk you inside."

As we were walking inside the building, we finally saw the Princess's coffin displayed in front of them, surrounded by lots and lots of white flowers.

"Ahem... Excuse me, Ma'am. But the Paw Patrol is here," the Earl interrupted the silence in the room.

The Princess's parents stood up and faced all of us. Before Ryder or any of us could say something

"What are they doing here? You! What are you all doing here?!" the mother lashed out.

"Madam, now is not a good time to-"

"You shouldn't even be here! Your job was to protect my daughter, and you failed!" she continued, completely cutting off her husband.

"We're sorry we let this happen, your Highness," Rocky was the first to mutter something despite the woman's anger.

"You're sorry, all right? Well, guess what? The police are still investigating the Princess's death," she added, "And I'm gonna make sure they find out that you or one of your pups is behind all of this!"

"My queen, that's enough, okay?"

Her husband turned her around, away from Ryder and the pups, so she could calm herself down. He apologized for the chaos that occurred.

"I apologize for her attitude earlier. She's still grieving and she talks wildly a lot."

"It's alright, sir. We'll just go ahead and leave you two alone," Ryder answered.

"Again, so sorry... But thank you for stopping by," he replied.

Marshall's POV

Well, that was some chaos I wasn't expecting today! The Princess's mother is in rage at us. I never thought that would happen, nor did I think what would happen if they saw us come in. As we were exiting the building, I was a bit bothered by the queen's hurtful words.

"Ryder, was she really just doing wild talk or could she be telling the truth?"

"What do you mean?" Ryder asked.

"Oh, when she said that she'll prove we're all behind this and stuff?" Zuma guessed.

"Yeah, that too..."

"Well, the police investigating the case must be true. After all, Chase is out with them right now." Ryder said.

"But we're not behind any of this, are we? We just so happened to be there that night," Skye said.

"Well, who else could have done it?" Rubble asked.

"Yeah, we're the only ones in the castle that night," Rocky added.

"Oh, pur-lease... If you are going to plan on doing your own investigation, I'd suggest you just leave it all to the police," Sweetie interrupted.

Everyone remained silent after the interruption.

"Guys..." Rubble broke the few minutes of silence, "I think she's right."

"But what if they try to frame us u-"

"Chase?"

We all stopped at hearing Ryder calling his pup. We gazed at the direction Ryder was looking at to see Chase coming through the hallway. He stopped on his paws when we all turned to him.

"Chase, w-what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Yeah, I thought you said you couldn't make it to the funeral," Skye added.

"I did..."

"Then, why did you-"

Zuma was cut off when a couple of policemen followed Chase from behind.

"We're looking for Zuma, Skye, Sweetie, Rubble, and Rocky," the police said.

The five pups glanced at the police, hearing their names.

"Um, Chase? What is this about?" Rubble asked.

"I just want to ask you all a few questions, that's all..." Chase told them.

The five pups whose names were mentioned all exchanged glances, each letting out a gulp.

"Guys, is this bad?" Rocky asked.

"I don't really know how to describe this situation right now..." Sweetie said, trembling in fear.

Ryder's POV

We waited outside the police station for them to finish. Marshall and I kept walking in circles, restlessly, nearly bumping into each other once.

"I'm confused..." Marshal brought up, "If they called them, why didn't they call me too?"

"I don't know, but just be thankful Chase is not questioning you yet," I answered.

"Yet? So, he will question me?" Marshall whimpered.

"Marshall, I don't know... I'm just... Look, everything will be fine, okay? Just don't get surprised if they ask you, just in case," I assured him.

"Why didn't they call you in?"

I paused after hearing that question, figuring out how to answer.

"Um... I was with Chase guarding outside when it happened. So, I guess he didn't think of suspecting me."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Marshall nodded.

Finally, the five pups came out. Marshall and I glanced at the sound of the door opening. Both of us were dying to know what happened back there.

"So, how did it go?" Marshall asked.

"Um, I can't say it was great..." Skye answered.

"I felt like I was gonna faint in fear in that room," Rubble added.

"Dude, he was just asking questions. Don't be so overreacting," Zuma replied.

"But they did say this won't be our last meeting of questioning," Sweetie said.

"Yeah, something tells me..." Rocky agreed with a nod, "The five of us are all gonna be suspects."

We all exchanged glances of worry and fear. Things have just gotten much harder now, and I never saw this coming.

Chase's POV:

Ryder packed some dog food for me. As I was digging into my lunch, I couldn't help but think about the answers my friends gave. I can't just cross them off the list. I need to investigate further.

"How did the questioning go, Chase?" the sheriff asked.

"Good... My friends had some interesting answers." I said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you know what? What you told me was right..."

"About what?"

I breathed in before saying this.

"That even my friends could be lying. I think there's something they're still not telling me."

Welcome back, Detectives!

Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy this past week and didn't get a chance to write this. But now, I'm back. I'll write more about the investigation in the next chapter because I don't want to ruin the chapter title.

Any clues you have found so far in the story? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

That's all for today. Stay tuned for the next chapter! If there were any errors and mistakes in my details, please let me know and I'll try to correct them before I get further in my story.

- Detective Skye -