Chapter 6: Meeting Toby
He was a dog with a great sense of smell, but he was a lovable creature and a very excitable one.
Like most dogs, they sometimes can tell who is good and who is bad. But other times they can never tell at all.
But when he saw me and got a whiff of my scent, he knew that I was a trustworthy creature despite my size.
Because one thing was for certain...I actually had a fondness for dogs.
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June 20, 1897 8:54 a.m.
Several Hours Before…
Basil exited out of the tailor’s shop, after finishing his newest Chinese outfit disguise. Something that nobody except the shop owner would ever know or even expect, because he was going to use it to infiltrate one of his archenemies known hideaways, and hopefully find some evidence to put the fiend behind bars. However, he has to be quick. So after shutting the door, he immediately quickened his pace, but not before bumping into two individuals and saying to them, “Do excuse me.” 
He didn’t have time to apologize to either of them, and right before he was about to start running, a female voice shouted at him from behind, “Hey, watch where you’re going, pal!”
Behind the grey mask, Basil’s eyes glared as he stopped where he was. He didn’t know who this woman was, but he can tell from her accent that it was American. Still, he never heard of someone saying “pal” at the end of a sentence. But whoever she was, that was a rude thing to say to a gentlemouse. He started to turn around and was about to talk to this lady about manners, then there was a gasp, almost like she was afraid all of the sudden. When his eyes began to look at her, time seemed to slow down as he saw a tan furred mouse quickly turning her around and flipping down her hood. His eyes squinted as he could’ve swore he saw something from her.
Was that...a small ear on the right side of her head?
He wasn’t sure he was seeing right, but he had to get a closer look. So after they went inside, Basil went over to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face. Unfortunately, due to her entire frame being covered in a dark green cloak, he couldn’t tell. He even watched her go towards a mirror, hoping he could at least see her face, but the blasted hood from the cloak was concealing it. As he continued watching her, his thoughts were drawn back about what he saw. He still wasn’t sure he was seeing right, but he knows he could’ve swore he saw a small ear. 
Could it have been...a human ear?
No, that couldn’t be, but he couldn’t deny that he has seen humans before, just by watching from the shadows of Sherlock Holmes. However, he was drawn back to the rumor that he’s heard for the past week. It was the big talk in London besides the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Thinking back before the events, he remembers being called in to investigate with Scotland Yard when there was an unusual disturbance in Shaftesbury Avenue. Many witnesses had told him down to the slightest detail about what happened.
He didn’t believe what he heard when the witnesses told him there was a small human girl in the midst, and they also claimed, while detailing what she wore, that she had as many would say “unusual clothing”. At first he thought to be nothing more than rubbish, but seeing the eyes of every witness who told the same story to him, he could tell they were telling the truth. However, he was a mouse of logic and reasoning, if there was such a thing as a small human, he needed evidence to find out if it’s really true or not. Speaking of evidence, when he tried to find something during his little investigation...he found nothing. For the first time in his career, there was not a single trace of evidence, not even a single clue to point out the whereabouts of this mysterious small human. He couldn’t find any footprints, due to the rain that probably washed it all away before he arrived with his umbrella in hand.
Basil knew that this little rumor was just the beginning, and indeed he was right about that. For the last couple of days, everyone around Mousedom was talking about it, even after it was printed off the newspaper on the front page. He even got that newspaper just so he could figure out something about this rumor. For those last couple of days, he couldn’t find a moment's peace of mind. It was even distracting him for finding his arch-nemesis, and it was starting to bother him.
In order to bring his curious mind at ease, he went back to the same spot where this alleged “small human girl” was taken place. He even double-checked just to make sure he didn’t miss anything during those last couple of days, but once again he found nothing. But, piecing together some of the information that he gained from the witnesses, he could probably conclude that it was just a magic trick from some female mouse, dressed-up as a human in order to fool people and gain some attention. However, a part of him was telling him that it wasn’t true, the eyes of those witnesses told him otherwise. Unfortunately for them, he didn’t have time to be chasing such rumors. The only thing he had to focus on was finding his arch-nemesis and putting him behind bars. So he put that from the back of his mind, and hopefully it might fade.
But that all changed the moment he met...her.
Seeing her had not only reignited his curious thought about that rumor, but part of him knew that this was his chance to find out if this rumor was true or not. He couldn’t let a big chance like this slip away from his grasp. So with that in mind, and hopefully this will cease his curious thought about this ridiculous rumor and put it out of his mind for good, he waited by the shop until they both left, and the first thing he was going to do was ask the witness who saw her.
For the last two minutes since he was standing there, patiently waiting for her to leave, he finally saw her along with that tan furred mouse that she was with as they left the shop. He had to make this quick before she slips away from him. Quickly rushing inside the shop, the owner was a little surprised to see him again as he said, “Well, fancy seeing you again.”
Basil went over to him. “That woman.”
“I beg your pardon.” The owner had a confused look.
“That cloaked woman you saw just now. Was there anything unusual about her?”
The owner cocks one eyebrow while rubbing the back of his head and saying, “Well ‘unusual’ is the right word to describe her. Well…I did notice...”
“Yes. Yes, what is it?”
“I noticed there were...five fingers on her hand.”
“Five fingers.” Basil muttered. He knew all too well since watching humans, and he also knew that they always have five fingers.
“It was the strangest thing that I’ve-” He didn’t finish as Basil took off and left while the owner said while raising a hand to try and stop him, “Hey wait I-” He sighs while shrugging his shoulders. “Everyone’s always in a hurry.”
Basil had to hurry and catch up with them, his feet running as fast as they could, and maybe just maybe he could catch a glimpse and find out if the rumors were true or not. This was his one-time big chance to find out so he could put his mind at ease and focus on the real task at hand. As he was pushing his way out of the crowd, not having the time to say excuse me while focusing so much on finding that girl who was with that tan furred mouse. He stops in the middle of the crowd while looking in all directions, hoping to find her somewhere in this crowd. Luckily for him, he managed to find a dark green cloak where it was walking right next to the tan furred mouse she was with. “A-ha, there you are!” Basil says excitedly as he follows them, but had to slow down his speed by jogging while keeping his distance behind them. 
For the last three minutes since Basil started to follow the two individuals, it was smooth sailing for him. After getting away from the crowd, he follows them to an empty street. They stopped for the moment, making him hide by a wall while keeping his eyes on them and his ears opened while hearing the tan furred mouse say in a noticeable Scottish accent, “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” The cloaked female nodded. “Just a little stuffy is all.”
The cloaked female took off her hood, revealing her red-hair just as the witnesses described her.
“But at least the coast is clear for me to take this off.”
“Well, you’ll get used to it when wearing it. Come along now.”
They started to move again. Basil didn’t want to lose this chance, he had to find out more about her. And to do that, she has to face him. However, he didn’t want to blow his cover, so he had to find another way. That came out fast when his foot brushed against a small rock, picking it up while humming in thought and looking ahead, then at the wall he was at, this could work. With a plan in action, he brought the rock towards the wall and beat it, making it create a loud noise since the street was completely empty.
Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock!
The two individuals jumped a bit while turning around, making Basil quickly hide while keeping an eye on her. But his jaw drops and his eyes widened in complete shock at what he was seeing...
This was a human girl, who was unknowingly staring at Basil!
But that couldn’t be possible, maybe this was just a trick. Maybe she’s wearing some sort of costume just to fool him. Unfortunately for him, that part was crossed out of his head, because he realized two things about her. She didn’t have a tail that would’ve exposed her from the hem of her cloak and he saw the pinky on both hands that curled, which meant they were a part of her body. And not only that, they had five fingers. When he now saw her face to face, his mind came to a shocking conclusion…
This was a genuine human and she was actually small!
“What was that?” He heard the human woman say.
“I-I don’t know.” The Scottish mouse says. “But I’m sure it’s nothing. Come, let’s go.”
Basil watches with wide shocking eyes as both the human and the Scottish mouse left until they were both gone from his sight. The back of his inflatable costume was put against the wall as he mutters, “It can’t be...this can’t be possible.” His mind was trying to wrap around from what he saw, but his mouth continued to move as he spoke, “So the rumors are true.”
For the first time in his career, he was dumbstruck. But at least now he solved the mystery of the mysterious rumor. But this went against all logic and reasoning. How was this even possible? His curious mind gave him that answer. When one mystery was solved, there was another mystery. He couldn’t explain it, but there was something about this that seemed...odd. However, there were many questions that needed to be answered like:
Who was she?   
Why is she here?
How did she get so small?
Ding-dong-ding, came the chiming bells of Big Ben as it struck nine, bringing Basil out of his collected thoughts. He glares and stomps a foot while angrily saying, “Oh, confound it all! I don’t have time for this!”
Indeed he didn’t have time, this wasn’t the time to be distracted, he needed to focus on the task at hand. However, his mind was still lingering with so many questions concerning that human. For the moment, he needed to put it in the back of his mind. The first thing he needed to do was handle something else. So right before he started running, he looked behind him to where that human left with that Scottish mouse. Behind his mask, he had a smirk on his face as he said, “Will meet again...little Miss Human.”
Unfortunately for Basil, fate had a way with reuniting him to her, that not even he could ever anticipate.
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Several Hours Later…
June 20, 1897 9:02 p.m.
Basil was listening carefully to Anna’s tale while smoking his pipe, and the first thing he wanted to know about was how she got here. After Anna already showed him the silver watch and explained to him that she’s looking for a golden watch of the same value as this, he was immediately both surprised and intrigued after she told him that she was sent here by that watch. 
After opening it, he was amazed at such a craft. However, that left him the question as to why somebody would want a golden watch of the opposite value? There could be a thousand, no, maybe even a million, and maybe not one of them could match this watch. It’s almost like finding a needle in a haystack. Still, he had a strange look on his face when he noticed two things. The first was that he noticed that the hands were at the same time as Big Ben. And the second, was that there were three buttons on top of the watch. He asked her what these three buttons do, but she told him that the middle button was the one that brought her here. As for the other two, she didn’t know.
Basil was still surprised, a watch with the power to warp someone out of their world and into his world. He was still a little curious about the other two buttons. What can they do and what’re they capable of? He didn’t want to chance it, because he didn’t want to mess with it or know what they could do if either of the buttons were pressed. This was beyond him and his understanding.
Unfortunately for him, Anna hadn’t told the full story. She didn’t tell him that she’s from the future in the year 2017 or told him that Mr. Moriarty was the one who sent her here, because she was accused of stealing that silver watch and the only way to clear her name was by finding a golden watch in this time period. She only left out those details, because for one thing, Basil would never understand, and she knew that she had to get some help and then handle the rest herself.
After Anna’s first tale, she immediately told Basil about the kidnapping. It was still a little painful to be reminded of how she failed to protect Hiram, but she had to be strong and trust herself if she was going to get him back. When she was done with her second tale, Mrs. Judson came to her and told her that she found some clothes fit for her size and it was now time to change into dry clothes. As she left, it was Olivia’s turn to tell her side of the story of when her father was kidnapped.
While Basil continued to listen to Olivia’s story, Anna came back into the room wearing a simple yellowish-beige dress that Mrs. Judson used to wear when she was younger when she served Basil’s family for quite a long time. Basil’s eyes glanced up at her momentarily before returning his full attention to Olivia while biting into his pipe as he listened.
When Olivia finished her story she concluded, “And then my Daddy was gone.”
The detective hummed to himself in thought, taking it all in. What Olivia told him wasn’t much to go off of, if anything at all. There wasn’t a single clue that led to the reason why her father was the target of Ratigan’s plot. “I see,” He said. After learning from both perspectives of their stories of how the toymaker was kidnapped, there was somewhat of a connection. He couldn’t explain it yet, but there were some things that stuck out to him like a sore thumb. His eyes were looking at Anna’s eyes while he said with suspicion in his mind, “However, there is some concernment. And it concerns you, Miss Johnson.”
“Me?” Anna says with confusion.
“Yes, from what I gathered from my young client here, is that you told her father that ‘he’ll take you’. What did you mean by that?”
Anna had a feeling that he was going to ask that while she was getting dressed, and even though she didn’t tell Basil the full story, Olivia who was so young and innocent, she would tell the full truth to him. So, she came up with an idea to make a believable story, and hopefully Basil would buy it. “I had this funny feeling in my gut, I guess you can call it human instinct. I thought that somebody was going to get taken, and I was right. But think about it for a moment, burglars don’t usually target homes that have lights turned on. And it wasn’t like he was going to go through the front door or take anything that wasn’t even valuable to him.”
She had evaded his question with that little story of hers, which had a bit of truth in them, but no matter. Basil blew out a puff of smoke and scratched his cheek with the mouthpiece of his pipe while saying, “Fair enough.” It was easy to believe that Miss Johnson had simply fallen into a state of hysteria during a frightening situation. However, from what he learned from Olivia’s story, Anna was holding onto a mop and was about to swing it if Fidget were to come in. Was she just feigning her fear for bravery, or maybe she was just going as Anna would say “human instinct”? Either way, he would let this matter go...for now at least.
But she had made one big slip up earlier in this very room.
The room was silent as Anna watched Basil circling around her, casually smoking his pipe. Finally he stopped, pulled the pipe from his lips and spoke, “If I remember correctly, you had confirmed that Fidget had a crippled wing.” He looked down at her from over his nose, his head held high. “How could you have possibly known this if you were locked away in a broom closet during the entirety of the attack?”
Anna wasn’t prepared for this question, but an idea struck as she was reminded of when she was locked in the broom closet. There was that one detail she could use to her advantage and create a believable story and hoped this would fool Basil. Even though she admired his intelligence and perceptiveness, he wasn’t the only one who could use a brain. “I saw some of the scuffle through the keyhole, it wasn’t much, but I did notice a bat-like wing and it looked like it was broken or something.”
“Hmm, I see.”
She was glad that Basil was fooled. But for Basil, he wasn’t quite sure if he should buy this story or not. Even though there was some truth in them, he knew that she was hiding something from him. But the question was, what is it exactly? He would have to work with the little information that he had. But still, Basil loves a good challenge.
“This case is most intriguing with its multiplicity of elements,” Basil paced back and forth in the room. “Its many twists and turns…” He turned back to the girls. “Now, you’re certain you’ve told me everything?” He pointed his pipe at them. “The slightest detail may be important.”
“It’s just as we said.” Olivia insisted. “And then my father was gone.”
“What do you make of it?” Dawson asked Basil as the detective placed the pipe back in his mouth.
He was smoking on it for a second before taking it out of his mouth again and muttering in reply, “Ratigan’s up to something.” He was stalking over to the window. “A crime of the most sinister nature, no doubt.”
Olivia followed after him, pulling Anna along with her by the hand.
Basil paid them no mind as he continued to contemplate himself. “The question is, what would he want with a toymaker?” He continued back towards the center of the room.
Olivia and Anna were about to follow him back when lightning flashed through the window. They both turned to see an upside down face of a bat, whose jaw was down, revealing sharp teeth through the glass, making Anna gasp as she saw the terrifying face of Fidget. However, what she didn’t know was that when Fidget saw Anna through the window, his jaw dropped in both shock and surprise when he saw her. Even though he already knew about the rumor, he didn’t expect to see that she was actually real.
Olivia screamed, snapping Anna out of her trance and alerting Basil.
Without thinking, Anna grabbed a nearby stool and tossed it at the window, making it crash as it hits Fidget’s face. “D’ow!” He yelped in pain as he lost his balance and fell out of sight.
“Quickly Dawson!” Basil spared not one second as he raced for the door. “We’ve not a moment to lose!” 
“I-I-I’m right behind you, Basil!” The doctor exclaimed while stuttering as he ran outside after him.
The room was empty save for Anna and Olivia. Anna was slowly breathing, trying to calm down her racing heart when she came face to face with Fidget, but at least now she did what she couldn’t do back at the toyshop. Smash Fidget’s face in and protect Olivia no matter what.  
Mrs. Judson ran into the room. “What is all the commotion? Oh!” She found Anna standing stiff like a statue and staring at a broken window while Olivia was clung to her dress. The maid rushed to their side while saying, “Are you alright my dears? Where’s Mr. Basil?”
Finally finding the strength to move, Anna took a deep breath and sighed while covering her eyes and slid her hands down her face. “He’s outside. We...were being spied on by one of Ratigan’s goonies.” Good God, it felt like she was about to have a breakdown, but at least she finally managed to compose herself.
“Come my dears,” Mrs. Judson led the girls away from the broken window. “It’s going to be alright. You two are safe here. No harm will come to you while Mr. Basil’s around.” She sat Anna down on the green chair while the mouse maid started to pour a fresh cup of hot tea. She hands it to Anna while saying, “Here, drink this, you’ll feel better.”
“But I broke the window.” Anna says while looking at Mrs. Judson, preparing to deal with the consequences of her actions. But she was surprised after what Mrs. Judson said next.
“And rightfully so!” She gave a small stomp. “I’ll have no criminals entering this house. You were protecting this sweet little girl here. So don’t beat yourself up, my dear. Now here, drink. It’ll help.”
Anna graciously accepted the cup and put it to her lips, sipping quietly. Like Mrs. Judson said, the tea soothed the rest of her nerves as she sighed and leaned back in her soft chair while enjoying her drink.
Olivia peers outside the door. “Do you think they caught him?” she asked worriedly.
“Now, there’s nothing to be afraid of, my dear,” Mrs. Judson patted the girl on the head. There was a barrage of footsteps and the mouse maid quickly pulled Olivia out of the way while glaring at Basil for nearly running over this young girl as he zoomed into the room with uncontained excitement, holding a hat in his hands.
Dawson came in last after Basil as he stopped near the door and said to Olivia, “The scoundrel’s quite gone.”
“Ah-ah-ah!” Basil exclaimed, holding his finger in the air while holding onto Fidget’s hat before stripping off his robe. “But not for long, Miss Flamhammer.”
“Flaversham!” Both Olivia and Anna snapped in exasperation.
“Whatever. Now…” Basil shrugged, too riled with excitement to care as he tossed away his robe. Anna watched with amusement as he pulled his brown waistcoat out of a grandfather clock and strapped it on. “We simply pursue our peg-legged friend until he leads us to the girl’s father.”
“Then you’ll get my Daddy back?” Olivia was overjoyed and gave Basil a hefty glomp from behind, making him double over from the weight.
“Yes!” Basil gasped, his voice cracking.
Anna tried to bite back a giggle at Basil’s “Get this thing off of me!” expression, but she couldn’t keep it in when she watched him wriggle out of Olivia’s hug.
Basil’s ears pinkened and he glared at Anna. “And quite soon, if I’m not mistaken.” He fixed his tie, trying to compose himself. “Now, hurry along, Dawson, Miss Johnson,” Basil grabs his signature brown Inverness coat from a mouse knight’s armor and puts it on. “We must be off to...Toby’s.”
“Toby’s?” Dawson asked. 
“Wait...me?” Anna stopped mid-sip of her tea and raised her head up in confusion. Did Basil seriously just invite her to come along with him? Of course, she was planning to go, but...she had expected Basil to be the leave-the-women-and-children-at-home sort of guy. This made no sense.
Basil didn’t appear to have noticed her surprised remark as he answered Dawson, “Oh, you must meet him.” He buttons up his Inverness coat, then takes his famous deerstalker hat from up top of the mouse armor’s helmet and puts it on. “He’s just the chap for this.”
“You...Y-Y-You want me to come?” Dawson asked incredulously.
“Ha!” Basil blew into his magnifying glass and cleaned it with his sleeve. “I should think a stout-hearted army mouse like you would leap at the chance for adventure.” He playfully jabbed Dawson in the stomach with it.
Dawson laughed, “Oh, well, I-I-I am rather curious.”
“Now hold on just one moment!” Anna placed the half-full tea cup onto the nearby table, right next to a plate of cheese crumpets that Mrs. Judson had baked as she raced after Basil. “I understand why you want Dawson to come with you. But why on earth do you want me to come?”
Basil smirked and turned to face her while saying, “I would prefer to come back home to see everything in one piece, especially my windows since you broke the last one. You’ll do less damage this way.”
Anna scoffed and crossed her arms.
“Wait for me! I’m coming too!” Olivia grabs her hat that was on the bottom of the violin, after already getting her coat and scarf on and runs after them. But in the process, causes the violin to start to teeter and fall.
Basil gasps as he dives to the floor and catches it before it could make an impact to the floor. “What? Certainly not!” He carefully places his violin back on the chair. “This is no business for children.”
“Basil, I’m not leaving Olivia here alone,” Anna said worriedly.
“Are we going to take a cab?” Olivia asked while stuffing her pockets with some of the cheese crumpets.
Anna turns around while bending down and placing a hand on Olivia’s shoulder and saying, “I’m not sure sweetie, why don’t you go and wait-”
“She is not accompanying us!” Basil says sternly.
Anna glares and turns to face Basil and says, “And I told you, I’m not leaving Olivia here alone and unprotected!”
“Nonsense.” Basil placed both hands on her arms for comfort while smiling. “Mrs. Judson will take good care of her.”
Anna didn’t like that smiling facade of his, she could already tell he was up to something as she glared at him again and asked, “Alright, what are you playing at?”
“I beg your pardon?” Basil cocked an eyebrow.
Anna roughly pushed Basil’s hands away. “I’m not stupid, Basil, I can read between the lines. Do you think that I’m incapable of watching over Olivia myself? She’s entrusted to me! What is it exactly that you’re trying to imply here?”
Basil was a little surprised, even though his face didn’t show it. He was impressed that she was able to catch up to him much quicker than he anticipated. He could also tell that this human was smart and clever, and could almost stay a step ahead of him...well almost. However, since she was able to read him so easily, it was best for him to tell it to her face to face, now that there was no point in hiding this from her, he says, “I’m implying that you’re a suspect in my eyes and that I’m under no liberty of having you potentially endangering a child.”
Anna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I have no part in this kidnapping!” She denied. “Do you think that I would bring her here to you if I wanted to do her harm?”
“Maybe not,” Basil says while nodding. “However, I think...that you're hiding something from me.”
Anna had a surprised look. Does he already know?
Seeing that surprised look, brought a small smile on his face as Basil continued, “Don’t take me for a fool, Miss Johnson. I don’t know what it is you're hiding from me, but I might think that you could be a petty criminal for all I know.”
“Now Basil,” Dawson tried to intervene. “I think you might be jumping the gun here.”
“Stay out of this, Dawson.” Basil didn’t take his eyes off of Anna.
“You don’t have any proof,” Anna says angrily while glaring at him. She was getting sick and tired of being accused as a criminal.
“True, but I plan on gathering every bit of proof in this case.” He points a single finger at her. “But understand this, Miss Johnson. If I find out that you are no doubt a criminal or if worst comes to worst, conspiring with the enemy, I will not hesitate in putting you behind bars.”
Anna couldn’t take anymore of this bullshit any longer, and her self-restraint shattered once again. Her hands formed into tight fists as they shook and she says while looking at Dawson with clenched teeth, “Dawson, cover Olivia’s ears, I don’t want her to hear what I’m about to say to him.”
Dawson could see the anger in Anna’s eyes and understood as he covered Olivia’s ears.
“ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME?!” Anna shouted as she turned her attention back to Basil and Dawson jumped from her shout. “Do you honestly think that I’m with that mouse-pretending rat named Ratigan?! While he’s out there laughing his ass off because he got away with kidnapping my friend and doing God knows what to him even as we speak. While you suspect me of being a criminal, what else do you also suspect me as besides being a small human? A tourist, a traveler, a circus freak...a gypsy name Esmeralda? I DON’T CARE! All I know is that I’m just a girl who’s got herself at the wrong place at the wrong time and I’ve had it with being accused of something I didn’t do jack-shit about!” She started jabbing her finger on Basil’s chest while she was slowly bringing her face towards his. “So you can go right ahead and gather as much evidence as you want, but I’m not leaving Olivia’s side.” She stopped jabbing her finger at him, but kept bringing her face towards him, making Basil lean slightly backward while turning his head away from her, due to the spittle’s that she was spewing from her mouth as she concluded her rant by saying, “And if I ever hear you conclude by saying that I’m a criminal. I’m going to literally take that evidence and SHOVE IT STRAIGHT DOWN YOUR ASS!”
She started breathing after she finally finished her rant. Basil wipes the side of his face with his hand, a little unfazed from that little rant of hers as he looks at her with an unamused look. Everything was quiet at first...until Dawson broke that silence by clearing his throat and saying to Anna, “Umm, feeling better?”
Anna took a deep breath by breathing through her nose and exhaling out her mouth as she calmed down and said, “Yes, much better.”
“Good,” Basil says, still having that unamused look, “because she’s still not accompanying us.”
“Well, I want to go with Anna.” Olivia pitched in, after Dawson took his hands off her ears.
Basil sighed and gently took Olivia’s hand while smiling and saying in a light voice, “My dear, I don’t think you understand.” He starts to sit down on his chair. “It will be quite dangerous.”
There was crunching wood and twanging strings, the second when Basil sat down. His eyes widened and his face turned to shock, Olivia’s face turned surprised, and as for Anna...Well, she was trying to hold back her laughter by biting her lower lip, but couldn’t hold it in as she covered her mouth with both hands and snorted at this. She couldn’t believe how absent-minded he was after already putting his violin back on the chair, but she already knew about this part and decided to let karma deal with this little punishment from her, instead of just trying to slug that handsome face of his. Even though she had thought of it.
Basil groaned and pulled the broken violin out from beneath him. “Oh! Why, you...Look what…” He dangled his poor instrument in front of him as he inhales sharply and groans while trying to compose himself.
Anna puts Olivia behind her, for fear that she might get caught in Basil’s anger as she thought, He better not, that was his own damn fault!
After Basil pulled himself together, he smiled as he stood up and said to Anna with a tense voice, “Miss Johnson.”
“Yes, Mr. Basil.” She says in a sweet tone while smiling.
“The girl is most definitely not accompanying us!”
“Then I’ll be staying here.” Anna places her hands on her hips.
“That is not up for discussion.” Basil’s face changed to a serious look.
“Indeed it is not. Either we both stay, or we both go.” She crosses her arms while having a smug look. “Take your pick. I can do this all night.”
Basil fumed. Never before in his life had he met someone so...stubborn and infuriating! 
“I am the master of this house-”
“Oh, are you really going to play that card with me, buster?”
“-and what I say goes! And I say you will come with us, and the girl stays!” Basil stomped his foot. “AND THAT IS FINAL!”
Anna smirked.
Dawson sighed as he turned to look out the window, shaking his head with a small smile. It was insane how moments like these reminded him of his own spats with his late wife.
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Basil cautiously cracked open the mouse door to Sherlock Holmes’ residence. He peeked out to check to see if the coast was clear. He looks down at Olivia who had innocently opened the door even wider and then at Anna who peeked over the girl’s head with nervous curiosity. He couldn’t believe that he was letting that stubborn woman bring the child with them. It was absurd and downright dangerous!
“And not a word out of either of you,” he said sternly at them. “Is that clear? I-”
Olivia shushed him and Anna slapped her hand over Basil’s mouth when a large shadow came. She shrank back against him, pulling the door to a crack as giant footsteps were coming their way.
“I observe that there’s a good deal of German music on the program. It is introspective, and I want to introspect,” the man who Anna recognized as Sherlock said to his partner.
“But, Holmes, that music is so frightfully dull.” Watson protested.
“Come on,” Sherlock beckoned him and they both left the room, closing the door behind them.
Anna slowly let Basil go, certain that those two were gone as she thought, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t interested in knowing what those two were talking about.
Basil wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, disgusted. He moved around her and carefully opened the mouse door once more, making sure that they were alone. Certain that the coast was clear, he walked out with his hands behind his back while having a calm smile on his face.
Anna and Olivia followed after him while Dawson dawdled behind them. Anna looked around the room in amazement. It felt so strange seeing everything so big. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so small in my entire life…” she said quietly. She looked up to check how high up the ceiling was and instantly regretted it. Her casadastraphobia threatened to kick in and she quickly looked down.
It’s okay, She thought, the ground isn’t going anywhere.
Trying to shake off the vertigo and needing some sort of sense that gravity was still intact, Anna grasped Dawson’s sleeve.
Noticing her nervousness, Dawson asked, “Are you alright, my dear?”
Anna smiled up at the doctor. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m not used to such big rooms. It’s rather intimidating, you know? I’m just not used to being small.”
Dawson gently tucked her arm into his and patted her hand comfortingly. “When you are the size of a mouse, the world suddenly looks a lot more greater, doesn’t it?” He smiled when she nodded. “Don’t you fret. Everything will be alright.”   
Basil was either oblivious to the conversation behind him or he simply didn’t care. He strolled through the room like he owned the place. “Toby!” he called out. “Toby!”
Olivia tugged onto Dawson’s jacket and whispered in question, “Who is Toby?”
Dawson stopped, “Well, my dear, Toby’s uh, well he’s uh…uh...” Realizing that he had no idea, he leaned towards Basil and asked, “I say, Basil, who is this Toby chap?”
Basil was smiling and was about to answer, but pounding footsteps rumbled the room as Anna looked up and gasped.
When the pounding footsteps came to an end, Basil announced happily, “Ahh, here he is now!”
Towering over them with its tongue lolling out of his mouth was an excitable basset hound. He had light brown fur on his back with a brown spot, brown ears and nose with peach fur on his front, and wore a blue collar with a dog tag around his neck. Anna couldn’t deny that she liked dogs. However, with her being small and Toby a giant, it was starting to make her feel nervous.
She took a small nervous step backwards, but Basil smirked and shoved her forward to Toby’s lowered snout, causing her to squeak. “Miss Johnson, meet Toby.”
“Uhh, hi,” She nervously greeted. “Nice doggy…” She pets Toby’s nose, hoping this’ll tell him that she’s not bad. “Nice big doggy.”
She yelped when Toby’s snout pushed against her, making her stumble back a bit. He sniffed at her eagerly and his tail wagged vigorously. Deciding that he loved this new stranger, Toby licked Anna from the feet up, uplifting her dress and causing her bangs to stick up. “Ugh!" Anna cried out in repulsion and wiped her face and shoved her skirt back down. “Gross!” Toby didn’t stop there. He continued to lick the girl, knocking her to the floor with his tongue. “Stop!” she cried while laughing.
Basil was a little disappointed. He had hoped that by using Toby, he could prove that his suspicions were correct about her being a criminal, but seeing Toby liking her made him cross that suspicion out of his mind. However, that didn’t mean he actually trusted her entirely, he still had that one suspicion about what she was hiding from him. But like he said, he was going to gather every bit of evidence on this case.
Dawson came to Anna’s rescue. He pulled her away from Toby and helped her to her feet while saying, “Are you alright, my dear?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Anna wiped her face again.
Toby sniffed again while Dawson stood in between her and the dog like a shield. Toby snorted at the mouse’s new scent and pulled his head back, eyeing Dawson curiously.
Basil cleared his throat and introduced the doctor. “Dawson, Toby.”
Dawson laughed nervously as Toby sniffed him cautiously. He tipped his hat in greeting. “Charmed, I’m sure.” He patted Toby’s nose.
Instantly, Toby began growling at Dawson while shoving him with his snout, baring his teeth at the doctor.
“Now Toby!” Basil ran to Dawson’s rescue. “Toby, stop that!” He pushed back at the basset hound’s nose. “Toby, cease! Desist! Ha!”
Anna looked back to see poor Dawson trembling behind the leg of a red armchair. How he managed to run there so fast astounded her.
Basil tsk and apologized, “Frightfully sorry, old man.” Toby caught another scent and decided to follow it. “Toby has the most splendid sense of smell of any hound I’ve trained. But he can be...deucedly frisky.”
“No kidding,” Anna muttered, tying her hair back into its bow after it had come undone. Toby was just as crazy and lovable as her cockapoo, Mickey, back home.
Basil couldn’t help but wonder why Toby would accept Anna so easily and reacted aggressively towards Dawson. A doctor! A man who helps to save lives, for heaven’s sake. Pondering into his hand, he thought, Must be the catgut. That didn’t sit right, his violin strings were made of catgut and he played it frequently. Maybe surgeons just smelled strongly of medicine and Toby didn’t like it.
As Toby continued to search for the scent, after coming out from under a blue cloth covered table. His nose led him to a footrest where Olivia’s feet were hidden behind the fringes.
Olivia cautiously moved the fringes aside as if they were curtains. Seeing who Toby was, she smiles widely. “Hello, Toby,” she greets while patting his nose. He sniffs at her and she giggles happily. “Silly doggy.” She reaches into her coat pocket and asks the dog while smiling, “Would you like a crumpet?”
Toby nodded excitedly while panting in response.
Olivia pulls out one of Mrs. Judson’s cheese crumpets from her pocket and holds it out. In an instant, the crumpet was gone after one lick. Toby was smacking and licking his chops in delight after having a tasty treat.
“Yeah, now...Toby! Toby,” Basil began to reach into his own coat pocket. “To the matter at hand. I want you to-” He looked up to see that Toby wasn’t paying attention to him at all. Instead, the canine was lying on his back, getting a belly rub from both Anna and Olivia.
“Who’s a good doggy, Toby?” Anna cooed. “Huh, who’s a good doggy?”
Olivia giggles as Toby pants and his foot was thumping. But the moment was interrupted when there was a loud sharp whistle and Toby paused and looked at the scowling face of Basil, his arms were crossed and his foot tapped impatiently while clearing his throat.
Anna sighed and thought that Basil was such a buzzkill and slid off of the basset hound’s belly while landing on her feet. Olivia also slid off of Toby and landed onto Anna’s arms.
Toby flipped back over to his feet and looked at Basil while listening to him.
“Good, now, Toby,” Basil says, now satisfied. He reached into his pocket again. “Toby, I want you to find...this fiend!” He swept out Fidget’s hat right in front of Toby.
Toby growls angrily while his eyes narrowed and his mouth pulled away from his sharp teeth.
Basil smirked. Finally, he was getting the correct reaction. “Yes! You know his type,” he goaded Toby on, growling along with him. “Grr, a villain! Grr, a scoundrel!” He raised the hat, causing Toby to stand, his eyes never leaving the object. Basil gets down on all fours on the floor with Toby doing the same thing as they continued to growl and snarl. “Grrrrr, low brow, close-set eyes, broken wing!”
Toby stopped growling, completely lost at the last part.
“Oh, he’s a peg-legged bat with a broken wing,” he clarified, dangling his own arm in example.
“What is he doing?” Olivia whispered to Anna, who watched the whole scene with amusement. This whole part where Basil was growling, snarling, and getting on all fours had always made her crack up.
“He’s getting Toby to memorize Fidget’s scent so we can follow him,” Anna whispered back with a smirk while keeping a hand towards her mouth as she snorted, trying to keep herself from laughing out loud. This was the Basil that she adored. Not the stuck up know-it-all-mouse, but the comical, fun-loving detective that was so absorbed in his passion that he didn’t even notice just how silly and unorthodox he was acting. As they resumed growling and snarling on the floor again, with Toby’s fur rising from the back of his neck. Anna used her other hand and muffled her laughter while nearly doubling over from the hilarity of it all. Olivia joined her in a fit of giggles. Luckily for them, Basil was too busy riling Toby up to notice.
“Yes! Grrrr! Yes! That’s the spirit! Got his scent?” Basil waved the hat in the air.
Toby nodded excitedly, understanding the task and detail.
“Good boy! Good boy! A-ha!” Basil cried out with excitement. He grabs Toby’s leash and is about to clip it onto the dog’s collar.
Once again, Toby was not paying any attention to him as he turned to face Olivia, Dawson, and Anna, who managed to pull herself together. But a few escaped chuckles escaped her lips as she pet Toby’s nose and said, “Good boy, Toby! Good boy!”
Basil scowled and quickly ran in front of Toby, almost shoving Anna out of the way. The young woman glared at the back of his head and placed her hands on her hips in annoyance.
“Miss Flamchester,” he began.
“Flaversham!” Olivia, Anna, and Dawson exclaimed at him in unison.
“Whatever,” he brushed it off and clipped the leash onto Toby’s collar. “Your father is as good as found!” He turns to face the hound. “Toby…”
Hearing the beginning of a command, Toby struck a serious pointer position.
“Sic’em!”
At first, Anna was going to just let Toby crush Basil like he did in the movie and let karma stomp over him for being a jerk. But seeing it about to happen from her angle was a lot scarier than watching it from the other side of the screen. Fear for the detective’s safety drove Anna to grab him by the back of his coat and she yanked him in the nick of time just as Toby’s paw charged forward from there path.
Basil stared at her, stunned that she had just saved him. Before he could wrap his mind around it, the leash he was holding jerked him off his feet and Anna, who forgot to let go of his coat, was swept away with him. She yelped and wrapped her arms around his torso as Toby ran them out of the room. Without thinking, Basil hooked his free arm around her waist, keeping her secure from slipping. “A-ha! Yoinks! Tally-ho! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!” Basil laughs loudly.
Olivia and Dawson ran after them as they could hear Anna yell, “Oh my God! Shut up and pull us up before I strangle you!”