It was a day like any other. The little people ran to and fro, tending to their dull, everyday lives. Petty criminals did their thing, ignored by a populace too ignorant and inattentive to stop them.

None of that mattered to Chief Inspector Wavel El-Mellon Cloussoi the Third. His considerable skills are not meant for the trifling matters of the everyday. His sights are set on only the most dastardly of criminals, those too elusive for the commonfolk to ever even see, much less apprehend.

It is no surprise, then, that he picked up the scent of villainy as soon as Shura, Mistress of Games in New Thera, shouted that her beloved hedgehog, Yozhik, had gone missing. Not one to arrive before his cue, it was a small group of adventurers that responded first instead. Taryius Lichlord, Frances Le'Yuet, Avianca Faelithar, Selto Xanatov, and Sphera Zviera-Muireadhaigh questioned Shura about the possible whereabouts of her pet.

It wasn't long before Elma Koa, a heretofore little-known woman, barged in. Claiming to be a defender of animals everywhere, she demanded answers to the mystery of the missing hedgehog, no matter how much Shura protested.

The two women did not get much time to argue. Even as they examined a set of footprints outside Shura's store that clearly showed signs of coerced hedgehog movement, Belladona, Queen of Vampires, shouted that her dragon Geh'shya had gone missing. Soon after, Daveed's hound was the next victim, and now the time had come for the Chief Inspector to step in.

With a diminished entourage of just Selto and Sphera, Wavel quickly got to work tracking the various footprints across the land. His investigation took him to Eleusis, where Elma chastised the locals for being completely indifferent to the suffering of the poor missing animals. Then, his keen senses took him to the North Road, where notorious thief Profit Bayt al-Azhan stood suspiciously over another set of prints.

Profit was quickly accused of being the one responsible for the missing creatures, an accusation he vehemently denied. Only after a thorough and very skillful interrogation was the Chief Inspector satisfied that Profit was not the mastermind (instead just a lackey, he deduced).

It wasn't long before the near-infinite wit of Wavel led the group to Tasur'ke. With Profit and Tahquil Maris now tagging along, they delved into the caverns underneath the sleepy village, finding the missing pets within a group of smugglers. At the centre of it all was the mastermind: Boss Jovan. Jovan seethed with rage at seeing his arch-nemesis arrive, cursing the Inspector before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Once more, the brilliant Chief Inspector Wavel El-Mellon Cloussoi the Third saved the day. Jovan stubbornly proclaimed that he would yet teach Sapience's pets to be 'useful', but those were surely just the words of a sore loser. Probably.

~

Summary: Several denizen pets went missing across the realm but, with the help of Chief Inspector Wavel El-Mellon Cloussoi the Third, they were once more reunited with their owners. Boss Jovan was the dastardly mastermind behind it all, but he escaped in a puff of smoke, promising it wasn't the last the world had heard of him.

Penned by My hand on the 23rd of Scarlatan, in the year 814 AF.