The Basil Family Case Files

All characters of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios and the author Eve Titus. Original characters belong to me

Story 1: A Murder in Paris

Westfield College, London, May 1913

It was a big day for all the women at Westfield College, both for the humans and the mice who studied hard at the school and would use their intelligence on creating the world a better place.

The mice were holding their graduation ceremony in the space above the auditorium. In the crowd of mice women, Olivia Flaversham-Basil was awaiting to be awarded her diploma in her Bachelor of Political Science. Her husband, the famous mouse detective Basil of Baker Street would give a speech as he had kept his word to Mrs. Dickinson, the head of the political science department.

Basil wanted to encourage a new generation of women mice as he believed they would make the world much better, not just at home, but also in the career field.

Mrs. Dickinson was finishing up her speech and says to the audience, "Now I would like for Mr. Elliott Basil to offer a few words of encouragement for you young ladies." The crowd cheers as Basil approaches the microphone. It was a strange invention, but the detective liked it as it gave him a louder voice for everyone to hear.

"Thank you Mrs. Dickinson," Basil begins and looks at his notes, but he pretty much memorized it. "The word 'encouragement' has a lot of meaning. You strive for greater things in life, but from what I learned over the years as a detective, many mice still rely on old values. I've seen many young women mice such as yourselves be expected to take over the household once they marry and have children.

"However, as we are in the 13th year of the 20th century, I've noticed a lot of good and bad changes. We are still living in a male dominant society and unfortunately, many men expect their female kin to keep quiet and submit to their demands. That does not mean that it will be that way for all time."

Olivia listens as her husband continues to talk and cradles her abdomen. It had been a week since she figured out she was pregnant, again with their third child. They did make love one weekend in April and Basil did not use a condom. The night they had sex, Basil was insistent in having another child, but Olivia thought he was out of his mind as they had twins to take care of.

She had thought of telling him after the ceremony today, but she wasn't sure of how he would take it. She listens to Basil's speech, but notices some of the women mice graduates sighing romantically.

"Ladies, the door to opportunity is open for all of you. Who knows? One of you might discover a new chemical element or something that would be crucial for everyday life. I encourage all of you to try your best, it's all right to make mistakes, but all of you will do great things, even if you discover something by mistake. I have a feeling that many of you will leave your mark," Basil said and the graduates cheer as he finishes.

Once the graduates received their certificates of completion, the women mice and their families attended the afternoon graduation party on the roof of the auditorium. Olivia finds her family with Dawson, Mrs. Judson and her daughter, Mrs. Rachel Judson-Fitzgerald. It would be very soon that the elderly Mrs. Judson would retire and her daughter, lovingly called Mrs. Rachel by the twins would take over the Basil household.

"Mummy, I'm tired," Leana said and her brother John nods.

"I am too," Olivia replies and rubs her eyes.

"Darling, would you mind telling us the reason why?" Basil asks and she stares at him in surprise. "Don't look at me like that, I remember what you went through when you were having these two."

"Mom, what is daddy saying?" John asks. Olivia blushes, but she also smiles.

"Well, I'm having a baby," she answers and her two children look at one another in confusion.

"A baby?" Leana asks. The twins were too young to understand the process of pregnancy, but Basil and Olivia figured it was best to tell them when they were older.

"You two are going to be a big brother and sister," Olivia said and both twins smile.

"I want a little brother!" John exclaims.

"No a sister!" Leana shouts, but Basil hushes both of them.

"Now you two, we're all going to have to wait, but I don't want any of you to fuss as caring for a baby is a lot of hard work," their father tells them and they nod. "You two certainly gave us a few sleepless nights, especially when you had the flu," he adds and shivers. "The toilet was never the same again," he whispers and Olivia laughs. She remembered she had to rush home when she was let out for winter break as the twins got real sick. That Christmas in 1910 was pretty awful as Leana and John were fussy, mostly due to being hungry and thirsty, but they couldn't hold anything down other than bread. The flu did go away just in time before the 1911 spring semester.

Olivia went through a similar illness when she was a child and she hated it for sure. Her father spent many sleepless nights trying to make her comfortable. The ear infection she had was probably the worst pain she went through, but she didn't want to count the birthing of the twins in 1908. Now that an entirely different level of pain and suffering.

"You and your sisters went through the same thing when you were two years old," Mrs. Judson said to her employer. "You also had an ear infection and you would scream for hours. Oh dear, I'm hearing those screams all over again," she adds.

"Well it's a good thing I didn't go deaf," Basil replies and Olivia looks at him in surprise.

"I had an ear infection too. It was the most terrible pain I went through," she said to her husband and he was just as surprised.

"My word," Basil said and adds, "I'm just happy that you didn't go deaf either." Olivia chuckles at this.

"Are ear infections painful?" Leana asks.

"Very painful," Dawson answers and they leave the rooftop of the auditorium to head home. It was a lovely spring day and very soon, it will be Olivia's 26th birthday in June. The trees were shedding the last of the blooming flowers and new green leaves were taking over the branches. The few flowers in the flower beds were withering, but new flowers would sprout soon in time for summer.

"If my calculations are correct, you will be due in December?" Basil asks his wife and she nods.

"The baby's coming at Christmas?" Leana asks.

"Maybe, we'll just have to wait and see," Olivia answers and John frowns.

"Mice with Christmas birthdays get all the fun," he said, "They get extra toys and games. Then, everyone celebrates the holiday and the birthday."

"Well, it's better than All Hallow's Eve," his sister replies and John thinks about it.

"Actually, All Hallow's Eve sounds better. Plenty of sweet treats to eat all night," he said, but Leana gives a look of disgust.

"I don't like sweets," she replies. Leana did inherit her father's distaste for sweet things. It was noticeable when she was old enough to eat solid food and she ate a bit of chocolate, but she hated it right away.

The Basil family settle in their home. Olivia had brought home her things from her dorm as she did stay there during the course of her time at Westfield. It did feel good to be home at Baker Street.

Olivia settles in her chair next to her husband's by the fireplace. Basil bought a comfy chair for Olivia's 25th birthday last year as they would be sitting in their own chairs and thinking or reading. Olivia's chair was the color of soft blue as it was her favorite.

Mrs. Rachel brought in tea and cheese crumpets. The twins ate theirs, but Olivia was having a craving for ham. Luckily, Mrs. Judson and her daughter Mrs. Rachel created a crumpet that would suit to Olivia. Olivia ate her ham and cheese crumpet and her craving was satisfied.

"Now, what is going on in the world today?" Dawson said to himself as he opens up the newspaper.

The twins occupied themselves with the toys their late grandfather created before his untimely death in 1907. Basil always enjoyed watching them play with Hiriam's toys, the detective was sure their grandfather would love spending every minute with them.

He then comes back to the present when he hears a knock at the door. "Daddy, I think it's a new case!" Leana exclaims and Mrs. Rachel goes to answer it.

"Is Monsieur and Madame Basil here?" a male mouse asks.

"They are," Mrs. Rachel answers and lets the mouse in.

Basil and Olivia look at the new client and then at each other. "Monsieur Basil, I am in need of your services," the mouse said and they notice a French accent.

"He's French, right Papa?" John asks his father.

"Why yes," Basil replies and both he and Olivia look over their new client.

"Pardon us monsieur, but we like to see what we are getting ourselves into," Olivia said and adds, "Based on your accent, I'm guessing you're from Paris?"

"Oui Madame," the mouse answers, but Basil points out the dirty bottoms of his pants.

"You like to work, perhaps agriculture. Hmmmm," Basil said and sniffs the air around the French mouse. "I smell the aroma of grapes, perhaps red grapes. You work in a vineyard?" he asks.

"Oui, I run the best vineyard outside of Paris," the male mouse said, but clears his throat. "My name is Alexandre de Blanc," he introduces himself and looks at the couple. "I am in need your help. I have been receiving these horrible notes from an unknown criminal," he said and produces some notes. They were written in French, but Basil and Olivia could make out a few words.

"Is someone threatening to kill you?" Olivia asks and Monsieur de Blanc nods. He then explains that he started receiving the letters last year and that strange occurrences would happen on the vineyard he worked at.

"There's something missing about this," Olivia said to her husband and she looks back at de Blanc, "Why would anyone target you?" she asks.

"My deceased employer, Monsieur de Salut put me in charge of his vineyard, but many mice were not happy about this. His family was the most angry," de Blanc answers and continues, "I was good partners with Monsieur de Salut, we became more like friends than employer and employee. Needless to say, the other mice working at the vineyard were not pleased with this.

"Before he passed, he wrote a new will without telling anyone. The original will would place de Salut's son in charge of the operations, but I think what made de Salut angry with him was that his son wanted to sell the vineyard and take the money," de Blanc explains.

"You see, the vineyard was my employer's pride and joy. His great-grandfather started it from the ground up, it became one of the best in France and the world. I think it was the psychical labor de Salut enjoyed the most. He was hands on, like me," he adds and looks at the couple. "So, will you accept my case?" he asks.

Basil looks at his pregnant wife, while she wasn't showing, she did have a look of excitement. He was aware that she always wanted to see Paris. It had been years since the detective himself set foot in the City of Light.

However, what worried Basil is that Olivia's pregnancy would complicate matters and traveling to France would be a bit worrisome. "Elliott," he hears Olivia whisper and he listens, "I think I'll be fine. That is if Albert will take us to Paris."

"Hmmmm, not a bad idea. Boat travel seems troublesome these days, but I wonder if Monsieur de Blanc even flown before?" Basil replies, but de Blanc laughs.

"You said flying?" he asks and they look at him. "I happened to come here on a gull, speaking of which, he's outside now." They follow him outside of the house and to the family's surprise, the gull was there waiting patiently. Much like Albert, he wore goggles and an empty sardine can was strapped to his back.

"Monsieur Jacques," de Blanc said and the gull looks at them.

"Ah! The famous mouse detective of Mousedom!" the gull Jacques exclaims and bows to them. Basil and Olivia examine the bird, he was a bit smaller than an albatross and his head and face were covered in black feathers.

"You're a black headed gull," Olivia said and Jacques looks at her.

"And you must be the famous Madame Basil! Or formally Mademoiselle Flaversham! I heard a lot of the case from 1897," the gull replies and she nods.

"Pardon me, but I would like to return to Paris," de Blanc insists and Basil and Olivia nod.

"Give us a few minutes and we'll be on our way," Basil replies and he and his family return inside the house.

"It's not fair!" John exclaims, "You and mummy are going to Paris without us!" Basil gives his son a glare and he hushes.

"Now John, this is a business matter, but I wanted to treat your mother to a much needed holiday abroad. She always wanted to see Paris and since we haven't taken up our honeymoon, this is rather a splendid opportunity," the detective said as he packs some clothes in a bag.

"Honeymoon?" Leana asks.

"It's a holiday, but only for adults," Olivia explains, "When you get married, you spend time away from all sort of things, just so we can spend time together."

"That sounds romantic," her daughter replies, but John rolls his eyes. The two were finished in packing their clothes and dressed appropriately for the journey. They tell Mrs. Rachel and Dawson to care for the twins while they were gone.

"We'll be home in two weeks," Basil said, grabbing his deerstalker cap, "I have a feeling that this case will be easy," he adds and the two walk out the door. Once they settle in the sardine can on Jacques, including de Blanc, the gull runs down the street and takes flight. His run was a bit smoother than Albert's.

The three mice gaze down at the city of London before Jacques heads down south. The wind felt cool against their faces, especially since the sun was blazing hot and Basil and Olivia had to remove their hates to wipe off the sweat from their heads.

"Elliott," Olivia said, "You told me you went to France, how long ago was it?"

"It was in the late summer of 1903, almost ten years ago now. I mentioned that the Kinkle's family heirloom was stolen, so Dawson and I went to Paris first, but unfortunately, the flight with Albert gave Dawson a rather terrifying experience," Basil explains and continues, "So Dawson ended up in the hospital and I was on my own in locating the heirloom."

"Just curious, what was the Kinkle's heirloom?" she asks. It had been years since both Samuel and Robert Kinkle were stripped of their titles and banished to Devil's Island due to their cruel treatment of their female kin.

"It was a jeweled pendent in the shape of a bird. The thief actually had an obsession for shiny jewels," Basil answers.

"Did you get to see the Eiffel Tower? What about Notre Dame Cathedral?" Olivia asks her husband about the landmarks in Paris.

"Slow down darling," he insists and she stops talking. "I did see the Eiffel Tower, strange looking piece of architecture in my opinion, but it certainly gave Paris a unique identity. Why we have the Palace of Westminster with the Clock Tower, but everyone seems to refer to it as Big Ben."

"Yes, I still have the habit of calling the tower Big Ben," Olivia replies and he nods.

"I should warn you, Parisians do take pride for a variety of things, their art, their language, and their food. So, if they feel insulated, they will be your enemies for life," Basil tells her and she nods, but deep down she was excited that she will finally set foot in Paris

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

A few hours pass by and Jacques calls out to the mice that they would pass over Paris soon before reaching the vineyard. Jacques went below the cloud line and the mice, particularly Olivia takes in the new scenery.

"There it is!" she exclaims, pointing to the Eiffel Tower. Jacques flies over the tower and Olivia was just ecstatic to be flying over the city of her dreams. The gull changes course and heads east.

"Ah! Look!" de Blanc calls out and points to the Palais Garnier Opera House. Olivia and Basil smiled as Jacques flies over the opera house's statues that perched on the rooftop.

"Now I certainly did not get the chance to see the opera house," Basil said and scratches his chin. "I wonder if we can see a performance there," he adds.

"Well Monsieur Basil, it just so happens that the Italian opera 'Otello' will be performing this week. I see the opera every month, splendid place to be," de Blanc said, but Olivia was stumped about something.

"Monsieurs and Madame, we will be landing at the de Salut vineyard shortly," Jacques tells them and they settle down in their seats. Basil notices the sun starting to set, it had been hours since they left London.

They see a grand looking chateau surrounded by slopes where the grape plants were. The gull lands outside of the chateau's main door. The mice were greeted by a maid, but she didn't seem too happy to see de Blanc. He orders the maid to take their guests' belongings to their room.

"I would like for you two to stay here until you find the fiend who has been threatening me," de Blanc said and escorts the Basil's inside. The mice quarters in the chateau was beautiful, complete with fine statues of mice and various artwork.

de Blanc takes them to a splendid room that had a view of the vineyard. "We will be having dinner shortly, so please do look presentably," he tells them and leaves the room, just as the maid sets their things down.

"Monsieur, Madame," the maid whispers, but looks back around to make sure that de Blanc was out of sight. "Ne croyez pas un mot qu'il dit," she said in French, but says in English, "de Blanc is a liar."

She quickly leaves the room and shuts the door. Basil and Olivia look at one another in confusion. "What did she say the first time?" Olivia asks and Basil's brain begins to process of what the maid said.

"She said 'Don't believe a word he says'," he replies and scratches his chin, "I wonder what she means."

"Actually Elliott," Olivia said, "Monsieur de Blanc said he goes to the opera every month. I find that a little bizarre, don't you think?" she asks and he thinks back on that conversation.

"Indeed," he said, "It does seem strange that a mouse who works at a vineyard would be going to the opera. If his life is being threatened, why go out and spend leisure time?"

"Yes and he said he likes to be hands on with his work," Olivia adds, "I don't think the mice of high society would welcome someone like that."

"Well, some of the mice in the higher ranks of society do look down on the 'nouveau riche'. Those who came into money, rather than have generations of wealth and rank," Basil explains and they both think about it.

"Elliott," Olivia said, "I don't know if you like to guess, but I'm thinking someone is threatening Monsieur de Blanc because he must've stolen from them."

"That is a rather good theory," Basil replies and an idea pops in his head, "I wonder if the will Monsieur de Blanc mentioned is still here, the new one he claimed Monsieur de Salut created just prior to his death."

Suddenly, the silence outside of their room was shattered with the maid screaming at the top of her lungs. "IL EST MORT! IL EST MORT!" she cries and the Basil's rush outside their room to see some of the household mice rush up the stairs. They follow them and enter a room which was more extravagant than their own room. On the bed was Monsieur de Blanc, bloody vomit had spewed from his mouth and his eyes were wide in terror.

"Don't touch anything!" Basil shouts and repeats it in French, as he and Olivia enter in. The two begin to examine the body of de Blanc, but Basil was quick to recognize the type of poison that was used.

"Arsenic," he said and the staff was horrified. Olivia looks around the room and notices a wine glass on the side table. Wine had stained the carpet. She takes it and sniffs it.

"It was in the wine," she said, but Basil also points to a plate of food.

"Now what is this doing here?" he asks the staff.

"Monsieur de Blanc said he wasn't feeling well," one of the maids replies, "So he insisted that he have a glass of wine and some food."

Basil and Olivia wanted to take a look in the kitchens and at the wine cellar. The kitchen where the food was prepared was clean and not one of the cooks had arsenic on them. The wine cellar was also clean, in fact, the bottles were carefully aligned, but there was one bottle that stood out from the rest.

"Don't touch!" a voice calls out from behind. "That is my father's prized bottle," a male mouse said. Basil and Olivia look at the mouse, he was wearing a workers' uniform and his hands were scarred and dirty.

"Wait, your Monsieur de Salut's son, correct?" Basil asks and the mouse nods.

"I'm Jean-Henri de Salut," he introduces himself and looks at the two mice. "You're Monsieur and Madame Basil, perhaps you can help all of us," he adds and many of the staff nod their heads.

"We do have a couple of questions about Monsieur de Blanc and of the accusations against him," Basil replies, but looks around the cellar. "Do you know where the bottle of wine that was served to de Blanc is?"

The kitchen staff begin to look for it, but the maid swore she placed it on the counter. Basil and Olivia examine the counter, there was a smell of sweat and some white specks were there.

"Hmmmmmm, dander maybe?" Basil asks Olivia and she nods. She takes a cleaning cloth and takes some in it. She decides to speak to the staff, while Basil returns to de Blanc's dead body and that was when he notices that the mouse had changed clothes before his death.

Basil than looks at the dead mouse' hands, but notices that they were clean, not even a speck of dirt was under his fingernails. "That's unusual," he says to himself and looks at Jean-Henri de Salut.

"Show me your hands again, Monsieur," the detective said and he does so. Basil looks at them, they were the hands of a hard working mouse, but de Blanc's certainly lacked the scarred hands.

"Monsieur de Salut, how long has de Blanc worked here?" Basil asks and the mouse sneers.

"My honest opinion, not ever since he came here three years ago," de Salut answers and Basil was surprised. "You look surprised, what did he tell you?" de Salut asks.

"He said that he and your late father were more like friends than employer and employee," Basil replies and de Salut's face went red with anger.

"Ce b?tard!" he shouts and then looks back at Basil, "What else did he tell you?!"

"He mentioned that your late father created a new will that would give him power to run the vineyard. He said that you were planning to sell the vineyard and take the money," Basil answers, but he sees de Salut's eyes fill with rage.

"Menteur! Voleur!" de Salut shouts in French and he looked ready to strangle the corpse of the mouse.

"So everything he told my wife and I was a lie?" Basil asks and de Salut nods.

"The truth is, de Blanc was a swindler, un escroc!" de Salut said and clears his throat, "When he started working here, some of the employees here said their earnings went missing. We couldn't figure out who took them, but one night when I was with un ami, we found him fooling around with une prostituée. So we followed him and we saw him pay une somme d'argent extravagante! And this was not just for the prostitute's services, but he paid for a lot of food and wine.

"He told my father that he lost everything in the flood earlier in the year of 1910," de Salut explains and Basil nods. He had read a lot on the 1910 flood in Paris. The flood was due to a higher than normal rainy season in the winter of 1909 to 1910 and the Seine had overflowed. Many mice had lost their possessions in the flood waters, but the loss of life among the rodent population was heartbreaking.

"Monsieur de Salut, if de Blanc was a thief, why didn't your father turn him in to the police?" Basil asks and de Salut's face drops to a frown.

"Mon père was a charitable mouse, so he gave employment to those who lost everything in the flood that year. Unfortunately, before he died a doctor gave us the dreadful diagnoses, la maladie d'Alzheimer," de Salut explains and Basil feels his stomach drop.

Alzheimer's was a terrible memory disorder that was discovered in 1906 and Basil hated in what he read about the discovery in the medical journal. Those who had it would go through difficult periods of remembering recent events and Basil would hate to think that the late Monsieur de Salut was taken advantage of.

"How long did your father have the disease?" he asks.

"I believe he began to show signs of it in 1905. He had trouble remembering where he placed an item or what he was suppose to do. Come to think of it, I remember looking at some financial notes and de Blanc had asked my father to give him 100 francs. However, he never paid it back and then he asked for more. Then after a few months, my father stopped writing records on the finances," de Salut explains.

"Did Monsieur de Blanc owe money to others?" Basil asks and de Salut nods.

"He owed all of us money! I found out he used his charms on the women here at the vineyard and he tricked them to pay for a variety of services. However, when my father's will was read, he got everything," de Salut said and Basil begins to think.

"Where is this will?" he asks. de Salut looks around the room and finds it in a journal. "Now, do you have anything that would have your father's signature?" the detective asks and de Salut shows him to his father's study. There were a few documents containing records on the finances for the employees and the operations of the vineyard.

Basil looks over a much older document and compares it to the will. A grin forms on the detective's face. "What do you see?" de Salut asks. Basil takes both documents and looks at de Salut.

"Monsieur de Salut, can you bring everyone and I do mean all the employees here at the vineyard outside?" he asks and de Salut nods. He leaves and then Olivia comes in.

"Elliott, what have you been doing?" his wife asks, but she notices the grin on his face.

"My dear, we've been charmed by a swindler," Basil answers and Olivia nods at this.

"That's what everyone I spoke to said about de Blanc," she replies, "They said he owed money to them, even Jacques," she adds.

"Wait, Jacques is still here?" Basil asks.

"I'm just as confused as you, I thought he would be long gone after he brought us here," Olivia said, but then shows a feather. "I noticed that he was molting his feathers. Elliott, look at this," she adds and shows the white specks on the cloth she had. Basil looks at the feather and notices that some were moving.

"My word! Those are bugs!" he exclaims and hurries out of the room to retrieve his microscope. He takes the cloth and places some of the specks on a sliding glass and then a few from the feather on a different one.

He examines the ones from the cloth, they were mites too and he compares them to the ones from the feather. "Now, let me see," Basil said and takes out a book on bugs. He checks over the description of the bugs and comes across what he believed to be bird mites.

"Um Elliott," Olivia said, "Should we be worried? Mites like to bite and drink blood."

"Oh don't worry, these mites prefer the blood of birds. Strange as it is, but it is true. Although, we should take a bath later," Basil informs her and they leave the room. They join de Salut and the vineyard's employees. Jacques was there, too.

"Mesdames et Messieurs," Basil begins, "At 1300 hours, London time, my wife and I were approached by Monsieur de Blanc. He said he was receiving threatening notes from an unknown fiend.

"Now, as I look back on that, I realized that he tricked us in doing his dirty work," Basil said and the mice look at one another in shock. "During this investigation, my wife Olivia here spoke to some of you. She said that de Blanc was a liar and a thief and as I spoke to Monsieur de Salut, I realized that de Blanc not only took advantage of all of you, but also your late employer."

The mice gasp in horror and Basil shows the will de Salut gave him. "As I had compared this to one of de Salut's financial records, I conclude that this will is nothing more than un faux," Basil said and the mice gasp again.

"Qu'est-il donc arrivé au vrai?" one of the vineyard workers ask, he wanted to know what happened to the real will. Basil goes back inside the house and goes into the wine cellar. He returns with the bottle that Jean-Henri de Salut told them not to touch.

"Monsieur Basil!" de Salut exclaims, but Basil holds up his hand. He gives it to him and a puzzled look forms on de Salut's face. "C'est étrange," he said as he looks at the bottle. The cork was secure in place, but the bottle had no wine in it.

Basil then produces a corkscrew and they take the cork off. No aroma came out of the bottle and de Salut turns it upside down. Then, a scroll of paper slips out and de Salut opens it. A look of shock forms on his face.

"Mon Dieu!" he exclaims and adds, "This is my father's real will!" The crowd of mice cheer, but Basil silents everyone.

"This case is not yet over," the detective tells them, "We believe de Blanc was poisoned, but the culprit left a vital clue." Basil tells them that he and Olivia found what he thought was dander at the spot where the wine bottle went missing.

"However, that dander was actually mites," Olivia said and the mice look at one another.

"Mites?!" de Salut exclaims.

"I can assure everyone, these mites do not feed on mice. They prefer the blood of birds," Basil said and that's when he looks at Jacques. Everyone looks at the gull, who was taking a few steps backward.

A few of the male mice jump on the gull just as he was about to run. "Rel?chez-moi!" Jacques demands, but the mice were able to tie him in rope. Basil and Olivia were amazed in how quick they were.

"When we're hit with high demand, it's best to work as quickly as possible," de Salut said to them and he tells one of the household maids to summon the police.

"Monsieur Jacques," Basil said and the gull looks at him, "Care to explain why you killed Monsieur de Blanc?"

"You said so yourself, he was a liar and a thief!" Jacques shouts and adds, "He owed me so much, but he said that once he got his hands on de Salut's money, he'd pay me back. He never gave me a penny when the old mouse died. I've waited for over a year, but he came up with excuses every time I asked about the money."

"Why didn't you tell the police?" Olivia asks, but Jacques stares at the ground.

"We formulated the plan of fabricating the false will, so if I did tell the police, I would be arrested for being an accomplice. I should've known that he wanted everything de Salut had and not give anything away!" Jacques answers and the police arrived. They took statements from Basil and de Salut and left with the gull.

"Monsieur et Manque Basil," de Salut said, "I cannot thank you enough for your services, but we all have a confession to make."

de Salut and the employees look down at the ground, "The truth is that I sent the first few threatening notes, but then everyone wrote to him as my threats were not working. We wanted him to confess his crimes, but he just got worse," de Salut explains, but Basil understood this.

"Monsieur de Salut, to be honest if someone took advantage of my father or my father-in-law, I would probably do the same thing, although probably not," the detective replies and Olivia leans her head on his shoulder.

"I wanted to ask if you would like to stay here at my chateau, as my honored guests that is," de Salut asks them.

Basil looks to Olivia, who smiles. "I did tell my wife that I would treat her to Paris once this case was finished. I never thought it would be this quick," the detective replies.

"Oui monsieur," de Salut said, "There are many wonderful places to see in our beloved city." He then looks at his hands and asks, "You said those mites prefer the blood of birds?"

"Oui, but I do recommend a bath with soap," Basil replies and de Salut orders the employees that came into contact with Jacques to take showers with soap.

"We have our own domestic showers here at the chateau, you and your wife are welcome to use them," de Salut said and has a maid take them to the showers inside the chateau.

The bathroom was lovely and the maids offer them clean robes. They took their clothes to be washed and leave the couple in the bathroom. They stood under the shower head, the water came down like hard rain, but it was a wonderful feeling to be cleaned.

They took turns washing each other and they would kiss in between. "There needs to be something better than soap," Olivia said as they finish washing off the last of the soap lather and turning off the shower.

"I think there will be, new inventions are being made every year," Basil replies and cuddles her in a towel. Once they were dried off, they dress in the robes and went back to their room.

They dress in new clothes and joined de Salut in the dining room for dinner. There were many French dishes and Olivia wanted to try all of them. Wine was offered, but Olivia declined as she was pregnant.

"I honestly believe alcohol causes harm to a baby," Olivia said, but a few of the maids did nod.

"You're very smart Madame Basil," one of the maids said, "And also very cautious." The couple tried out some of the dishes and Olivia was elated in how tasty they were.

"France does make the best food in the world," she said and de Salut and his staff smile at this, but Olivia begins to think, "Wait, I want to say it right. La meilleure nourriture est fabriquée en France."

"The best food in France is made here in Paris," de Salut said and chuckles, "But we appreciate of your thoughts on our cuisine. Now you mentioned that you will be staying for two weeks, what do you wish see here in Paris?"

Olivia tells de Salut of her desire of seeing the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe and the many cafes around Paris. "Oh, Elliott wants to see a performance at the Palais Garnier," she adds and Basil nods.

"I can offer you my family's balcony seats, the best place to be in the entire opera," de Salut offers and the Basil's nod. The night winds down and the couple go to bed, but the detective notices a big smile on his wife's face.

"You look very happy," he said and she kisses him.

"We are here in Paris," she replies, "Our first night. I will look back on this and tell myself, "I went to Paris for my late honeymoon."" Olivia looks at her husband, "But Elliott, I am a bit confused. Why would a swindler come to us for help?"

"You know my dear, some swindlers, especially those who use their charms often think they are above everyone else. They think they can get away with everything, but it is quite obvious that they are blinded by their own greed and selfishness," Basil answers and they cuddle in bed. Before dozing off, Basil peeks his eye open to see Olivia, that smile was still plastered on her face and a smile forms on his face, too.

Over the next few days, Basil and Olivia toured the city of Paris. Not only did the humans enjoy the beautiful late spring in the city of romantic enchantment, the mice were also taking advantage of the splendid weather.

Basil and Olivia really enjoyed the parks where many mice were having picnics and they watched a few artists paint on their canvases. One of the artists even asked the couple to stand in as models. "You are not from Paris?" the artist asks and they shake their heads. "Don't worry, I believe every mouse deserves to see our city of romance," he adds, his accent made the word "romance" come out as "roman".

The mouse artist finishes his canvas and shows it to the couple. The two of them were staring out at the pond, but their faces were full of love and light. "Paris will forever be the place where mice fall in love," he said before they departed.

There were not many tea parlors in Paris, as many Parisians love their coffee or espressos, but a few places did offer tea. On the first day, Basil had a café crème, which was a watered down version of an espresso, but it gave him a jolt of energy which caused his heart rate to go faster. "Remind me not to get anything that has coffee in it," he said to Olivia when they finished.

They decided to take in the view of the Eiffel Tower from the park below it, as Olivia thought it would give her a fright at the top. "If we ever come back, I would like to go to the top," she tells her husband.

The city's streets were often packed with humans and mice, so Basil was cautious at all times, mostly because he was afraid Olivia would be crushed under a human's foot. They visited the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame Cathedral, but the view at the top of the cathedral was breathtaking.

"I bet the King of England doesn't have a view like this," Olivia said as she takes in the view and Basil had to agree with her.

It was later that week that de Salut gave them tickets to the performance of 'Otello' at the Palais Garnier. It was then that they needed some fancy clothes to go to the opera. Luckily, there were plenty of shops to buy clothes and Olivia was ecstatic of the many choices, but Basil was a bit irritated as he never liked wearing new clothes.

Olivia did feel good that she wasn't showing just yet, so she settled with a beautiful blue gown that had short sleeves with glittering fabric. On the night of the opera, Basil was stunned to see Olivia wearing the gown and the opera gloves she had.

"I think this is the most beautiful gown you've worn so far, but I will say that the wedding dress you wore was far more stunning," Basil said as he tries to make himself comfortable in the opera suit.

"You obviously hate anything other than those trousers and vest," Olivia replies as they took their seats. The mice that took part of the construction of the opera house had created their own stage within the walls, but the auditorium was modeled after the human size one. It was extravagant and luckily for the mice, no human had come across the tiny sized theater.

The performance of 'Otello' was amazing, even though Olivia didn't understand a word of Italian, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Basil enjoyed it, too and would often translate the Italian for his wife during the performance, but she insisted that he remain quiet. The opera was over before midnight and Olivia was tired.

During the travel back to de Salut's estate, they stop to see the many lights of Paris. Olivia was dizzy and thought she would faint, but she came back to her senses.

As the couple's honeymoon was nearing to a close, it was obvious that they enjoyed every minute of it in Paris. They decided to venture out of the city to see the countryside, including the village of Versailles.

"Did you know that Marie Antoinette never actually said "Let them eat cake"?" she asks Basil and he nods.

"Indeed she didn't," he replies, "It was just a false quote to get the people angry at her. Her reputation was suffering before the revolution," he adds and Olivia nods in agreement. She did recall the case they had in Linlithgow where a client happened to own one of the diamonds that was part of the infamous necklace that would bring the Bourbon Dynasty to their breaking point.

The couple read about the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, and various other historical events that happened. Olivia could understand why a populace would not want a monarchy, but she hated it when she read that many innocent lives were executed.

The palace of Versailles was a wonderful place, but the many groves in the garden were amazing. Olivia thought no other palace would match the splendor of Versailles, not even Buckingham Palace.

On the day the couple were ready to leave, de Salut took the opportunity to summon a familiar friend of the Basil's. "Mister and Missus Basil, I'm disappointed in you," Albert tells them, "Why didn't you tell me that you were having your honeymoon in Paris?" he asks.

"We're awfully sorry Albert," Olivia said and explains the case to him.

"However," Basil states, "I believe that this will not be the last honeymoon we'll have." Albert chuckles and the couple was prepared to leave. de Salut, however, thanked them with a few bottles of wine from the vineyard.

"If you decide to come back, you're always welcome here," de Salut said and the Basil's settle in the sardine can on Albert's back. The albatross takes flight and flies over Paris before changing his direction to the northwest.

"I often think Paris is a bit too much," Albert said, but the two mice groan. "Nothing wrong about it, but it'll still be here, maybe after the apocalypse," the albatross adds and the couple think about this.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Albert arrived in London a little late in the afternoon, but like every other time, it felt good to be home. Once they were at Baker Street, Albert insisted that the next time they went aboard, they call him first.

"We certainly will," Basil tells his friend and they watch Albert fly away. The couple open the door to their home. At first, they thought the house would be a mess, but the twins ran to their parents, all shouting and clamoring for their parents' attention.

"Attention!" Dawson shouts and the twins salute to the doctor. Basil and Olivia were surprised and they look at their old friend.

"Dawson, what did you do to them?" Basil asks his partner, but the doctor chuckles.

"A little trade secret. Should've done this years ago," Dawson replies and welcomes the couple home. John and Leana said that Dawson taught them how to clean up after themselves and to respect the elders.

"I have to agree Dawson, should've taught them years ago," Basil said to his partner as he and Olivia settle down. After a nice dinner, the couple share the case and their time in Paris to everyone.

"Paris sounds lovely," Leana said in a dreamy tone. John was about to say something, but Dawson glares at him.

"Dawson, I hope you haven't scarred them for life," Basil said, aware of the glare the doctor gave to John.

"No," John replies, "I need to respect my sister's wishes, even when it sounds silly." Basil assured his son that Paris was the best place to go as it was a city of many dreamers, not just romantic dreamers.

Later that evening, when everyone was going off to bed, Olivia sees her husband writing in a journal. "What are you writing?" she asks.

"The case we had in Paris," Basil replies and continues to write, "I am going to include the lovely time we had, even if the shopping was a bit much for me." Olivia laughs at this and Basil finishes the entry and places it on a shelf where there were many journals. She takes note of a few and sees that they were dated by year.

"You've written every case you had?" she asks and he nods.

"Ever since I started my apprenticeship," Basil replies and Olivia looks at the one dated 1897. She flips through a few pages, but she was too tired to read any of the entries. She did see the date 'June 20-21, 1897', but thought it best to read it some other time.

The couple went off to bed and they reflect on the time they had in Paris. Olivia certainly loved thinking about it and she says to Basil, "Do you think we'll get the chance to go back?"

"Not a doubt in my mind, but we should bring the twins along. I have a feeling that they will find their calling there, but who knows? Maybe some other city will be calling to them," Basil replies, but it did scare him a bit. "Honestly, I hope they stay close to home," he adds, but Olivia kisses him.

"I know it's hard to see them go, although I am terrified, too, but you can't keep them close forever," she said and settles down to sleep. Basil cradles her close and rubs her abdomen. Come December, they will welcome a new addition and Basil thought that this one will not be the last.


From the author: I am new to short stories, but I hope everyone will enjoy them!