Post by natsuki-san on Mar 21, 2007 21:36:55 GMT -5
Yeah....
This was for school, but I did like it very much so I'll post it here before I go on dA and try to figure how to put it up there. It's eleven pages long.
Um...
It's like... A modern-day Sherlock Holmes story... The main character's name is Annisette Rouge, and she has a ninja sidekick named Ryo Takaharu... It ends a little crappily, though. The formatting also got botched... Sorry.
And the plot is that the Moon has been stolen by ninjas.
Owari, enjoy...
~natsuki-san
(read and review~)
moulin rouge.
It wasn’t too long ago. Ryo had settled down with a sharpening stone and a dull sword. Annisette sat cradled in her large red armchair in front of the picture window with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, fingers drifting lazily down the long lines of Braille. It was a slow, sunny Saturday. They’d had precious little time to themselves, and it only made sense that they would not be allowed much more.
Ryo Takaharu, resident ninja sidekick, glanced up at the cover from his seat on the floor. The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes. That was an unappetizing cover title. Such a thick book, he thought disdainfully, now clutching his polishing cloth in one hand. Give me some old-fashioned ninja scrolls any day. Out loud, he said, “You do know he wasn’t real?” It was more statement than question.
Annisette Rouge, licensed P.I. of San Francisco, lifted her face from her book, fingers still running lightly over the raised dots. They paused only to tuck a wisp of auburn hair behind an ear. “Yes,” she answered the sunglasses that marked her as blind on the table beside her. Cloudy green eyes stared through the ninja and past the walls behind him. “It’s very interesting,” Annisette continued in her lilting French accent, pushing again at the stubborn red lock. “I’ve never read about such devious schemes as thought up by the villains in Sir Doyle’s books. You should read some of his stories, Ryo - we could both learn from them.” The twenty-five-year-old girl gave up worrying her hair and let it hang. “In fact... I fancy ourselves a bit like Holmes and Watson.” She resumed running her long fingers across the bumps on the pages.
Ryo reached over from his place on the Oriental carpet and tucked the wisp neatly behind Annisette’s ear. “Eh, whatever,” said Ryo, every inch the jaded teenager. “It’s too big and heavy for me to read, especially in Braille.”
“Ha-ha.” She tried to look stern, but ended up smiling. “Actually...,” she began, but then cut herself off. Her eyes trained on the door as if she could still see it. “Ryo,” she said abruptly, “We have a visitor.”
The eighteen year-old ninja knew not to question the hearing ability of his partner, choosing instead to move behind the large, high-backed chair and place a hand on her shoulder. In his other hand he still held his sword. It was a little blunt yet, and he didn’t have the sheath to put it away, but a naked sword in the hands of a ninja always looked impressive. And Ryo did like to be impressive.
A large, balding, distraught man in an almost-immaculate suit, With tailcoats, noted Ryo, burst through the sunroom door. He was babbling frantically in a high-pitched voice to their French maid, insisting, in a heavy British accent that he must see the famous “French detective.” The poor girl was practically trying to shove him back out the door until she caught sight of the two near the window. “Mademoiselle Rouge! Monsieur Takaharu!” she gasped, obviously thinking she’d interrupted some great goings-on. “I- I apologise,” she said quickly with a thick French accent, “But this... this ruffian,” here she gave an extra dig with her elbow into his generously padded side, he wheezed heavily, “insisted on seeing you immediately. I will show him out right away, Mademoiselle.”
“Wait - ,” said Annisette, but before she could finish what she was trying to say, the bulky man suddenly gave a high shriek unbefitting of one his size and fainted dead away. There was a loud thump as he hit the floor.
“What is it, Corrine? Did he faint?” asked Annisette in the awkward silence that followed.
The French maid suddenly took charge and ordered Ryo to fetch smelling salts from the bath down the hall, and told Annisette to stay with the man while she ran to get water from the tap in the other room. Ryo quickly scuttled out, running through the corridors and hoping he wouldn’t get lost or trip. Corrine tramped her way from the room, snatching up a silver pitcher without breaking stride. Annisette felt her way around until she found an antique Oriental fan upon its pedestal. Feeling her way around, she found the man’s head, and then sat and waved the fan impatiently in his general direction.
It was about a minute before her ninja partner returned, out of breath from traversing the vast regions of the Rouge mansion, and another minute for the maid to return, water filling the jug to the rim.
“If you please, Monsieur,” Corrine said, contrite again. She dipped her head in his direction without spilling a drop, “Would you wave the bath salts under his nose?”
Ryo complied, knowing nothing about this field. When nothing happened, he checked the man’s eye. “He’s still in a faint.”
The maid nodded, then readied her silver pitcher. “I had hoped it would not come to this,” she sighed, her accent as strong as ever. She emptied the silver decanter over the man’s head.
Within seconds, he came to, spluttering and indignant. He turned to Ryo. “Why, there was absolutely no prerogative for that, you little rip, none at all.” Suddenly he paled. “It’s a ninja,” he said, his voice escalating to an octave higher than usual.
“No, I’m not,” said Ryo, a little annoyed. He drew himself to his considerable height, sarcasm on full blast. “I’m the detective.” The man scuttled behind Corrine, trying to hide his bulk behind her much smaller frame. Making an irritated face and whispering, “He’s all yours,” to Annisette, she turned and left the room.
Ryo turned back to the man, attempting to scrounge up enough details to relate to Annisette. The inevitable question came.
“What does he look like?” asked Annisette, getting up and padding back over to her chair. “Don’t leave out anything this time.” She sat and formed her fingers into a steeple.
“He looks like a butler, or at least he came from some fancy party. He’s got this suit - it’s all black, some dust on it. Several scratches - they look like they’re from ninja stars, or at least something very sharp, like a carving knife... Er, dust on his shoes, also on about an inch of his pant cuffs, um... Some confetti in his hair, or what’s left of it (a loud splutter from the balding man). A chain, maybe for a fob watch, goes into his pocket. White shirt with sweat stains, I’d say he ran a long way. There’s a snooty-looking bird embroidered on the pocket of the white shirt. A bow tie in danger of coming off, and missing buttons... That’s all I can say. Some stain that looks like sweet-and-sour sauce... What’s your deduction, Madame Holmes?”
“Wait - You are the detective?” scoffed the inconspicuous lamp, or rather the large man failing to hide behind it. “From the rumors I heard, I was expecting a man. I thought that one,” he fluttered his hands at Ryo, “might have been the detective, but...” He laughed nervously, eyes suddenly darting towards the ninja.
Ryo suddenly saw themselves as the man did. A tall, lean Japanese man, at least five foot eleven and seventeen years of age, black shirt, black scarf, black pants, clad all in black, even black hair, with a strip of black cloth bound around his head. A red dragon danced at the end of his scarf. Startling blue-green eyes glittered dangerously in a sharp, angular face, pale contrasting with the darker colours. In his hand he held a long, dangerous looking sword.
On the other hand, Annisette seemed almost tame. A good head shorter than Ryo, she stood about five foot five inches, light red hair accenting creamy skin. Unfocused, misty green eyes did not give away their secret - Annisette was blind. She usually wore sunglasses. Red locks were put up in some sort of bun to keep her hair out of her face, and she dressed simply - Often a trench coat, jeans, and a sweater while she was out in her field of work, but at home she sometimes wore a skirt and blouse. She seemed cultured, soft. Not at all like a detective who got down in the dirt to unravel mysteries.
“Yes, I am,” said Annisette testily, long fingers clutching the armrests of her chair. “I am Annisette Rouge, registered Private Investigator of San Francisco, California.” She flashed her card. “This is my ninja assistant, Ryo Takaharu. And who might you be? I can tell that you are a butler, that you work for the Upperclassmans, and you have run from one of the children’s birthday party, most likely in Chinatown. There also seems to have been an attack there, am I correct?” Her green eyes stared fiercely in the direction of the large man.
“H-how did you know?” he gasped, taking the seat Ryo indicated for him. The ninja took his place behind Annisette’s chair. The sword went on the table. “I am of the Upperclassmans’ household, and have just run down from the twin’s birthday in Chinatown to here. I had heard that a detective named Rouge could solve anything, find anything. However did you know all that?”
Annisette leaned back and touched the tips of her fingers together again, hiding a grin. “The ‘snooty bird,’ as Ryo so aptly described it - ,“ The said man flushed a light pink and looked out the window, “must have been the peathingy or the parrot, and only the Upperclassman family stitch that bird onto their household’s clothes. Unless it was a custom job, the only other option would have been a macaque parrot, and that bird is embroidered on the front pocket of a brand of tee-shirt. The confetti indicates a celebration, while the sweet-and-sour sauce points to Chinatown... though it could have easily been the small restaurant down the street. However, dusty cuffs and shoes show you have run a long way, and Chinatown is far enough. Confetti points to a young child’s party. And as for the attack - it is obvious enough in itself.”
The butler was taken aback. “Well, I’ll be!” he exclaimed, quite impressed. “You really are the detective! My name is Winston Chives, but you may call me Chives.”
She gave an imperceptible nod. “What need to you have of my services?” she asked. “You can’t have run all this way just to see the famous detective?”
“Yes!” The butler sat straight up. “You see, I have come to you with a rather distinct problem - the Moon has been stolen!”
In the silence that followed, one could almost hear the air escaping from Ryo’s ears as he attempted to contain his laughter. Annisette turned her face towards the ninja behind her. He hastily turned his sblack persons into awkward coughs.
“Er, that is,” spluttered the butler, “The gem known as the Moon was stolen from my mistress, Baroness Sylvia von Upperclass at exactly one thirty-five this afternoon.”
“Hey, I’ve heard of that,” said Ryo, shoulders still shaking a little. “Wasn’t it that gem that was found on the moon? Some rich lady bought it.”
Annisette closed her eyes, nodding. “I know of it,” she said. “It was dug up on the moon, then found to be an unknown gem... The stone itself is very beautiful, white, not quite opaque... Swirls of grey in the center, with some specks of black – almost as if a miniature moon is suspended in the middle. After being donated to a museum for a short period of time by the astronauts who found it, a baroness by the name of Sylvia von Upperclass bought it and had a clamp attached so as to be able to string it onto a necklace... So reads the Encyclopedia Britannica... That is all I remember of the subject.”
Chives the Butler gaped openly at the reposing detective. “My lord! You got down every detail that I can think of!”
Annisette leaned forward, getting down to business. “And you say it was stolen?”
“Yes!” Butler Chives started forward. “Just this afternoon! Let me see...
“Yes, I remember now. It was only twelve in the morning, when we were all down at the twins’ party, it being their tenth and all. Joshua and Serenity. You’d never be able to tell them apart if Serenity cut her hair. But what a pair! They were getting in the way of everything, even the ninja we hired.”
“You hired ninja?” That was Ryo.
“Oh, yes. The twins had wanted a Japanese comic-themed birthday, being so interested in their new Japanese comics and everything. Except, all the Japanese restaurants had been booked, think of that! So we rented a Chinese restaurant, and that had been alright with the twins.”
Ryo was tapping his fingers on the table, hoping that the butler would just get on with it. Chives, noticing the ninja’s agitation and how his hand strayed towards the sword, continued.
“Oh, right. Back to the crime...
“So, for a while nothing could get done, because you know how they are at that age. Finally we got the twins to settle down and the party began.
“There was so much going on. The Baroness had pulled out all stops for this one, even though the twins are adopted. There were many acts and everything, some people called cosplayers went up and did this skit. The twins, up in the front row, liked it best until the ninja. Well, they started performing, knives flashing and all that, and one of them, I think it was the leader, jumped up into the rafters and seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke. Their act seemed to go on longer than planned, but the twins didn’t seem to mind... Suddenly, my mistress cried out, and there, floating in the air in front of her, was the Moon, with the chain she wears it on dangling underneath! She made a grab at it, and so did the servers who were next to her, but it flew up to the rafters, where the ninja who had disappeared was waiting. He had a fishing pole, and I guess that was how he made it float up to him, hooking the necklace. Then he whistled loudly, in some sort of pattern, threw some smoke bombs down, and disappeared from our sight! The other ninja threw stars at us, but no-one was injured because their aim was so bad. Shortly afterwards, when some of the men tried to storm the stage, they disappeared. It would have been a funny scene if the Moon had not been stolen, but worse than that, one of the twins was stolen as well!”
Annisette started from her chair. Ryo twitched and dropped the polishing rag at his side. “What?” he half-roared. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”
“Well, well, well, I..,” spluttered Chives.
“That’s enough,” said Annisette. “Which twin?”
“Joshua,” said the butler. “But my mistress gave me explicit instruction to retrieve - ”
“That,” interrupted Annisette, “is beside the point. We will find both the Moon and the child, the expenses will be charged to Madame Sylvia. Now, if you would be so kind as to answer a few questions...?”
“But of course,” said Chives, leaning back. Annisette motioned for Ryo to sit on the stool next to her.
“What did the ninja dress like, look like? Did you notice a direction they took, or were you blinded by the smoke? Were there any investigations conducted of the floor, or the surroundings? Which building in Chinatown was this crime committed, as well as the district. How was the twin kidnapped? Finally, what do the twins look like?”
The butler grappled with the questions. “Er... The ninja were in all black, like they were supposed to be... Wearing things the twins called forehead protectors with a spiral-leaf thing stamped on the metal parts, as well as scarves with red swirlies on them. Um. Their hair didn’t stick out very much, but the leader had brown hair sticking out of his hood. You could only see their eyes.
“I’m not sure which direction they took... But the building was in the Red Lantern district, the restaurant name being the Golden Dragon. It’s got a giant gold-painted dragon on the roof. Josh was kidnapped by a ninja, after the boy rushed him to protect his sister.” The butler sniffed. “Joshua is a bright boy, blue-eyed, light brown hair. His sister, Serenity, looks almost the same, except her hair is much longer than his. They’re two peas in a pod.”
Annisette nodded. “Now, if you please, could you direct us to the Golden Dragon?”
~
Ryo stopped their powder-blue Mitsubishi outside of the restaurant. Clambering out, he opened the door for Annisette as the butler stumbled out the other door. The detective nudged her seeing-eye dog, Nana, out in front of her as she took Ryo’s hand. The St. Bernard stood at ease, eyes lazy and tongue lolling.
“Now then, could you show us the inside of the building? I would like to look at the crime scene.”
The butler led the duo through the lobby, where Annisette, at the whine of Nana, felt around until her hand bumped into something, which she put into her overcoat pocket.
Continuing on, they met up with a tall, skinny woman. The first word that popped into Ryo’s head was pompous, then in rapid succession overfed and vulture. Her neck was ridiculously long, and her hair was done up in three tight buns, drawing her face into a tight mask that still could not hide the wrinkles. A long, Chinese-style dress slit up the shins inhibited walking, and huge diamond earrings adorned her ears. Her face was altogether pinched, a long beak nose reminding Ryo of the afore-thought-of bird.
“Well?” she attempted to trill (Squawked, thought Ryo). A strong German accent pervaded all. “Where is he? The famous French detective? Is it this one?” She looked the ninja up and down. “Well,” she sniffed, “He does not look French to me! He looks more like that horrible man who stole my Moon! And who is this wench? What is she doing here?”
There was a deadly silence, filled with the low growling of Nana. The usually complacent dog’s hackles were raised.
Annisette spoke up. “I am the detective,” she said lightly. “I would like to see the scene of the crime, if you please, Madame von Upperclass.”
Sylvia von Upperclass turned a nasty custard yellow. “Very well,” she said stiffly, tones clipped. “This way.”
Nana led Annisette down the hall, still growling. Ryo followed, and the butler trailed after, muttering apologies.
They arrived in the dining hall only to see that it was in shambles. Rice lay spilled on the floor. Ginger fish lay squashed by stampeding feet, sweet and sour sauce seeped into the tablecloth. In the corner, a short Chinese man bemoaned the fate of his restaurant in his mother tongue.
As Ryo went over to pat him awkwardly on the back, Annisette got down on hands and knees to search for clues. Nana followed, nose to the floor. After a short pause, her ninja sidekick joined the pair as well. They came up a few minutes later, the floor scoured for clues, but wasted food still soiling the carpet. The Chinaman got up to get a broom and his carpet cleaner.
“Whatever you found, Ryo, would you please hand it to me? Also, I’d like you to check the rafters.” He nodded and leapt high to land on one of the support beams.
“There’s some bait from a fishing set,” he called. “I’ll bring it down.” He used some of his ninja arts to poof down instead of jumping. The ninja handed a small, fluffy, orange piece of fishing equipment as well as a scrap of cloth, to Annisette. “It was caught on a piece of wood. It’s black.”
The butler rushed in with a tear-stained little girl holding a scrap of paper. “This is Serenity,” said Chives. “She’s found a ransom note for Joshua. It was written on the back of a business card.”
The small child shyly handed the note to the red-headed detective.
“Thank you, Serenity,” said the woman gently. “I’m very sure you’ll be seeing your brother soon.” She held up the small card to Ryo. “What does it say?”
“Both sides, I’m assuming.” When Annisette nodded, Ryo read aloud, “’Fifty thousand dollars for the boy. One hundred thousand for the gem too. Put money in trashcan at WestOak Street and 53rd Street.’ Hah, ‘too,’ ‘thousand,’ and ‘money’ are all misspelled. On the other side it says, ‘Mssr.s David Roory and Stanley Tibone, Professional outfitters, for Cosplay, Fancy Dress, and Custom Fittings.’ That’s all. Pretty blank card.”
Annisette sniffed the cloth, and then held up her evidence as Nana wagged her tail. “There was a splinter of wood that didn’t come from here. The grain of the tables and rafters are a combination of maple and pine, while this is oak. The cloth smells like sea salt. And, with this frayed piece of rope I found in the hall, smelling like the sea as well, I think we have enough evidence to find the gem and the little girl’s brother. The rope is only used for nets made for seashore fishing. Serenity, Mr. Chives, are you up for a trip to WestOak Street?”
At the door, the Baroness said, “Well, I do hope you get my jewel back. It cost quite a lot. When you find Joshua, tell him to stop this nonsense at once.” She stalked off, wobbling in her stiletto heels and muttering, “This entire party was a fiasco! I never even got to speak with the Mayor’s wife! I’m beginning to think that adopting was not a good idea after all!”
“It’s a terrible thing,” murmured Annisette in Ryo’s ear, “When parents do not care for their children.” She patted Serenity on the head with eerie accuracy. The little girl, who was clinging to Nana, looked up and smiled.
“Are we going to find Josh now?”
~
The ninja waved the three people and one dog over to the grimy window where he was peering in at a strange gathering. Five men dressed all in black were seated on wooden crates as they talked about something or the other. A small, brown-haired boy was bound and gagged in the corner, a large gem next to him.
Ryo himself was standing on tiptoe atop an oak crate, peering in through a small window into the warehouse known as Lot 24. It was right up next to the Pacific coast, with a crane in the back for ships that might have come through here. Now it was abandoned, a perfect place for crime to spread and grow.
The smell of sea salt permeated everything. As Annisette and the others clambered over boxes, past the wide entrance to the warehouse, and finally sneaking past a door to get to the ninja, Ryo put an ear to the window in an attempt to hear better. Strange, filtered sounds drifted past the dirt-encrusted glass. A tinny voice made itself clear.
“God, finally. I can’t wait until the whole job is over. We didn’t mean to get the kid, but gosh, was it a good thing we did.”
“Yeah,” said another voice, distorted by the glass. “It’s like... Insurance.”
Strange, muted laughs. “When’s the bossman get back?” asked a third one. “It’s not so much fun here in Moulin Rouge.”
So that was the name of their hideout..? Moulin Rouge? mused Ryo, watching Chives trip over an anchor left on the dock. Fitting. This warehouse is so red with rust you can’t even tell what colour it was in the first place. He idly scratched the side of the building with a fingernail.
A loud screeching sound, amplified by the echoes coming from the empty warehouse, rang out. Ryo froze, then ducked down before anyone could see him. He looked across at the four stuck in the middle of nowhere, trying futilely to get to the wall and hide beside him.
Then he realized that the scratch couldn’t have possibly been him, since the inside of the warehouse was padded with oak wood. Then -
The crane in front of Ryo swung around, depositing something on the dock. It was large and silvery, glinting in the sunset. The ninja crouched down, employing all of the stealth tactics his sensei had ever taught him.
“Hey boys!” shouted a hearty voice. “I’ve brought it!” The owner of the voice stepped forward. He was clad all in black, same as the other ninja, but some of his brown hair showed through.
The ninja came streaming outside. There were now seven altogether, including the loud one. Ryo hoped to the high heavens and whatever gods might be listening that the others had found someplace to hide.
This was for school, but I did like it very much so I'll post it here before I go on dA and try to figure how to put it up there. It's eleven pages long.
Um...
It's like... A modern-day Sherlock Holmes story... The main character's name is Annisette Rouge, and she has a ninja sidekick named Ryo Takaharu... It ends a little crappily, though. The formatting also got botched... Sorry.
And the plot is that the Moon has been stolen by ninjas.
Owari, enjoy...
~natsuki-san
(read and review~)
moulin rouge.
It wasn’t too long ago. Ryo had settled down with a sharpening stone and a dull sword. Annisette sat cradled in her large red armchair in front of the picture window with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, fingers drifting lazily down the long lines of Braille. It was a slow, sunny Saturday. They’d had precious little time to themselves, and it only made sense that they would not be allowed much more.
Ryo Takaharu, resident ninja sidekick, glanced up at the cover from his seat on the floor. The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes. That was an unappetizing cover title. Such a thick book, he thought disdainfully, now clutching his polishing cloth in one hand. Give me some old-fashioned ninja scrolls any day. Out loud, he said, “You do know he wasn’t real?” It was more statement than question.
Annisette Rouge, licensed P.I. of San Francisco, lifted her face from her book, fingers still running lightly over the raised dots. They paused only to tuck a wisp of auburn hair behind an ear. “Yes,” she answered the sunglasses that marked her as blind on the table beside her. Cloudy green eyes stared through the ninja and past the walls behind him. “It’s very interesting,” Annisette continued in her lilting French accent, pushing again at the stubborn red lock. “I’ve never read about such devious schemes as thought up by the villains in Sir Doyle’s books. You should read some of his stories, Ryo - we could both learn from them.” The twenty-five-year-old girl gave up worrying her hair and let it hang. “In fact... I fancy ourselves a bit like Holmes and Watson.” She resumed running her long fingers across the bumps on the pages.
Ryo reached over from his place on the Oriental carpet and tucked the wisp neatly behind Annisette’s ear. “Eh, whatever,” said Ryo, every inch the jaded teenager. “It’s too big and heavy for me to read, especially in Braille.”
“Ha-ha.” She tried to look stern, but ended up smiling. “Actually...,” she began, but then cut herself off. Her eyes trained on the door as if she could still see it. “Ryo,” she said abruptly, “We have a visitor.”
The eighteen year-old ninja knew not to question the hearing ability of his partner, choosing instead to move behind the large, high-backed chair and place a hand on her shoulder. In his other hand he still held his sword. It was a little blunt yet, and he didn’t have the sheath to put it away, but a naked sword in the hands of a ninja always looked impressive. And Ryo did like to be impressive.
A large, balding, distraught man in an almost-immaculate suit, With tailcoats, noted Ryo, burst through the sunroom door. He was babbling frantically in a high-pitched voice to their French maid, insisting, in a heavy British accent that he must see the famous “French detective.” The poor girl was practically trying to shove him back out the door until she caught sight of the two near the window. “Mademoiselle Rouge! Monsieur Takaharu!” she gasped, obviously thinking she’d interrupted some great goings-on. “I- I apologise,” she said quickly with a thick French accent, “But this... this ruffian,” here she gave an extra dig with her elbow into his generously padded side, he wheezed heavily, “insisted on seeing you immediately. I will show him out right away, Mademoiselle.”
“Wait - ,” said Annisette, but before she could finish what she was trying to say, the bulky man suddenly gave a high shriek unbefitting of one his size and fainted dead away. There was a loud thump as he hit the floor.
“What is it, Corrine? Did he faint?” asked Annisette in the awkward silence that followed.
The French maid suddenly took charge and ordered Ryo to fetch smelling salts from the bath down the hall, and told Annisette to stay with the man while she ran to get water from the tap in the other room. Ryo quickly scuttled out, running through the corridors and hoping he wouldn’t get lost or trip. Corrine tramped her way from the room, snatching up a silver pitcher without breaking stride. Annisette felt her way around until she found an antique Oriental fan upon its pedestal. Feeling her way around, she found the man’s head, and then sat and waved the fan impatiently in his general direction.
It was about a minute before her ninja partner returned, out of breath from traversing the vast regions of the Rouge mansion, and another minute for the maid to return, water filling the jug to the rim.
“If you please, Monsieur,” Corrine said, contrite again. She dipped her head in his direction without spilling a drop, “Would you wave the bath salts under his nose?”
Ryo complied, knowing nothing about this field. When nothing happened, he checked the man’s eye. “He’s still in a faint.”
The maid nodded, then readied her silver pitcher. “I had hoped it would not come to this,” she sighed, her accent as strong as ever. She emptied the silver decanter over the man’s head.
Within seconds, he came to, spluttering and indignant. He turned to Ryo. “Why, there was absolutely no prerogative for that, you little rip, none at all.” Suddenly he paled. “It’s a ninja,” he said, his voice escalating to an octave higher than usual.
“No, I’m not,” said Ryo, a little annoyed. He drew himself to his considerable height, sarcasm on full blast. “I’m the detective.” The man scuttled behind Corrine, trying to hide his bulk behind her much smaller frame. Making an irritated face and whispering, “He’s all yours,” to Annisette, she turned and left the room.
Ryo turned back to the man, attempting to scrounge up enough details to relate to Annisette. The inevitable question came.
“What does he look like?” asked Annisette, getting up and padding back over to her chair. “Don’t leave out anything this time.” She sat and formed her fingers into a steeple.
“He looks like a butler, or at least he came from some fancy party. He’s got this suit - it’s all black, some dust on it. Several scratches - they look like they’re from ninja stars, or at least something very sharp, like a carving knife... Er, dust on his shoes, also on about an inch of his pant cuffs, um... Some confetti in his hair, or what’s left of it (a loud splutter from the balding man). A chain, maybe for a fob watch, goes into his pocket. White shirt with sweat stains, I’d say he ran a long way. There’s a snooty-looking bird embroidered on the pocket of the white shirt. A bow tie in danger of coming off, and missing buttons... That’s all I can say. Some stain that looks like sweet-and-sour sauce... What’s your deduction, Madame Holmes?”
“Wait - You are the detective?” scoffed the inconspicuous lamp, or rather the large man failing to hide behind it. “From the rumors I heard, I was expecting a man. I thought that one,” he fluttered his hands at Ryo, “might have been the detective, but...” He laughed nervously, eyes suddenly darting towards the ninja.
Ryo suddenly saw themselves as the man did. A tall, lean Japanese man, at least five foot eleven and seventeen years of age, black shirt, black scarf, black pants, clad all in black, even black hair, with a strip of black cloth bound around his head. A red dragon danced at the end of his scarf. Startling blue-green eyes glittered dangerously in a sharp, angular face, pale contrasting with the darker colours. In his hand he held a long, dangerous looking sword.
On the other hand, Annisette seemed almost tame. A good head shorter than Ryo, she stood about five foot five inches, light red hair accenting creamy skin. Unfocused, misty green eyes did not give away their secret - Annisette was blind. She usually wore sunglasses. Red locks were put up in some sort of bun to keep her hair out of her face, and she dressed simply - Often a trench coat, jeans, and a sweater while she was out in her field of work, but at home she sometimes wore a skirt and blouse. She seemed cultured, soft. Not at all like a detective who got down in the dirt to unravel mysteries.
“Yes, I am,” said Annisette testily, long fingers clutching the armrests of her chair. “I am Annisette Rouge, registered Private Investigator of San Francisco, California.” She flashed her card. “This is my ninja assistant, Ryo Takaharu. And who might you be? I can tell that you are a butler, that you work for the Upperclassmans, and you have run from one of the children’s birthday party, most likely in Chinatown. There also seems to have been an attack there, am I correct?” Her green eyes stared fiercely in the direction of the large man.
“H-how did you know?” he gasped, taking the seat Ryo indicated for him. The ninja took his place behind Annisette’s chair. The sword went on the table. “I am of the Upperclassmans’ household, and have just run down from the twin’s birthday in Chinatown to here. I had heard that a detective named Rouge could solve anything, find anything. However did you know all that?”
Annisette leaned back and touched the tips of her fingers together again, hiding a grin. “The ‘snooty bird,’ as Ryo so aptly described it - ,“ The said man flushed a light pink and looked out the window, “must have been the peathingy or the parrot, and only the Upperclassman family stitch that bird onto their household’s clothes. Unless it was a custom job, the only other option would have been a macaque parrot, and that bird is embroidered on the front pocket of a brand of tee-shirt. The confetti indicates a celebration, while the sweet-and-sour sauce points to Chinatown... though it could have easily been the small restaurant down the street. However, dusty cuffs and shoes show you have run a long way, and Chinatown is far enough. Confetti points to a young child’s party. And as for the attack - it is obvious enough in itself.”
The butler was taken aback. “Well, I’ll be!” he exclaimed, quite impressed. “You really are the detective! My name is Winston Chives, but you may call me Chives.”
She gave an imperceptible nod. “What need to you have of my services?” she asked. “You can’t have run all this way just to see the famous detective?”
“Yes!” The butler sat straight up. “You see, I have come to you with a rather distinct problem - the Moon has been stolen!”
In the silence that followed, one could almost hear the air escaping from Ryo’s ears as he attempted to contain his laughter. Annisette turned her face towards the ninja behind her. He hastily turned his sblack persons into awkward coughs.
“Er, that is,” spluttered the butler, “The gem known as the Moon was stolen from my mistress, Baroness Sylvia von Upperclass at exactly one thirty-five this afternoon.”
“Hey, I’ve heard of that,” said Ryo, shoulders still shaking a little. “Wasn’t it that gem that was found on the moon? Some rich lady bought it.”
Annisette closed her eyes, nodding. “I know of it,” she said. “It was dug up on the moon, then found to be an unknown gem... The stone itself is very beautiful, white, not quite opaque... Swirls of grey in the center, with some specks of black – almost as if a miniature moon is suspended in the middle. After being donated to a museum for a short period of time by the astronauts who found it, a baroness by the name of Sylvia von Upperclass bought it and had a clamp attached so as to be able to string it onto a necklace... So reads the Encyclopedia Britannica... That is all I remember of the subject.”
Chives the Butler gaped openly at the reposing detective. “My lord! You got down every detail that I can think of!”
Annisette leaned forward, getting down to business. “And you say it was stolen?”
“Yes!” Butler Chives started forward. “Just this afternoon! Let me see...
“Yes, I remember now. It was only twelve in the morning, when we were all down at the twins’ party, it being their tenth and all. Joshua and Serenity. You’d never be able to tell them apart if Serenity cut her hair. But what a pair! They were getting in the way of everything, even the ninja we hired.”
“You hired ninja?” That was Ryo.
“Oh, yes. The twins had wanted a Japanese comic-themed birthday, being so interested in their new Japanese comics and everything. Except, all the Japanese restaurants had been booked, think of that! So we rented a Chinese restaurant, and that had been alright with the twins.”
Ryo was tapping his fingers on the table, hoping that the butler would just get on with it. Chives, noticing the ninja’s agitation and how his hand strayed towards the sword, continued.
“Oh, right. Back to the crime...
“So, for a while nothing could get done, because you know how they are at that age. Finally we got the twins to settle down and the party began.
“There was so much going on. The Baroness had pulled out all stops for this one, even though the twins are adopted. There were many acts and everything, some people called cosplayers went up and did this skit. The twins, up in the front row, liked it best until the ninja. Well, they started performing, knives flashing and all that, and one of them, I think it was the leader, jumped up into the rafters and seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke. Their act seemed to go on longer than planned, but the twins didn’t seem to mind... Suddenly, my mistress cried out, and there, floating in the air in front of her, was the Moon, with the chain she wears it on dangling underneath! She made a grab at it, and so did the servers who were next to her, but it flew up to the rafters, where the ninja who had disappeared was waiting. He had a fishing pole, and I guess that was how he made it float up to him, hooking the necklace. Then he whistled loudly, in some sort of pattern, threw some smoke bombs down, and disappeared from our sight! The other ninja threw stars at us, but no-one was injured because their aim was so bad. Shortly afterwards, when some of the men tried to storm the stage, they disappeared. It would have been a funny scene if the Moon had not been stolen, but worse than that, one of the twins was stolen as well!”
Annisette started from her chair. Ryo twitched and dropped the polishing rag at his side. “What?” he half-roared. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”
“Well, well, well, I..,” spluttered Chives.
“That’s enough,” said Annisette. “Which twin?”
“Joshua,” said the butler. “But my mistress gave me explicit instruction to retrieve - ”
“That,” interrupted Annisette, “is beside the point. We will find both the Moon and the child, the expenses will be charged to Madame Sylvia. Now, if you would be so kind as to answer a few questions...?”
“But of course,” said Chives, leaning back. Annisette motioned for Ryo to sit on the stool next to her.
“What did the ninja dress like, look like? Did you notice a direction they took, or were you blinded by the smoke? Were there any investigations conducted of the floor, or the surroundings? Which building in Chinatown was this crime committed, as well as the district. How was the twin kidnapped? Finally, what do the twins look like?”
The butler grappled with the questions. “Er... The ninja were in all black, like they were supposed to be... Wearing things the twins called forehead protectors with a spiral-leaf thing stamped on the metal parts, as well as scarves with red swirlies on them. Um. Their hair didn’t stick out very much, but the leader had brown hair sticking out of his hood. You could only see their eyes.
“I’m not sure which direction they took... But the building was in the Red Lantern district, the restaurant name being the Golden Dragon. It’s got a giant gold-painted dragon on the roof. Josh was kidnapped by a ninja, after the boy rushed him to protect his sister.” The butler sniffed. “Joshua is a bright boy, blue-eyed, light brown hair. His sister, Serenity, looks almost the same, except her hair is much longer than his. They’re two peas in a pod.”
Annisette nodded. “Now, if you please, could you direct us to the Golden Dragon?”
~
Ryo stopped their powder-blue Mitsubishi outside of the restaurant. Clambering out, he opened the door for Annisette as the butler stumbled out the other door. The detective nudged her seeing-eye dog, Nana, out in front of her as she took Ryo’s hand. The St. Bernard stood at ease, eyes lazy and tongue lolling.
“Now then, could you show us the inside of the building? I would like to look at the crime scene.”
The butler led the duo through the lobby, where Annisette, at the whine of Nana, felt around until her hand bumped into something, which she put into her overcoat pocket.
Continuing on, they met up with a tall, skinny woman. The first word that popped into Ryo’s head was pompous, then in rapid succession overfed and vulture. Her neck was ridiculously long, and her hair was done up in three tight buns, drawing her face into a tight mask that still could not hide the wrinkles. A long, Chinese-style dress slit up the shins inhibited walking, and huge diamond earrings adorned her ears. Her face was altogether pinched, a long beak nose reminding Ryo of the afore-thought-of bird.
“Well?” she attempted to trill (Squawked, thought Ryo). A strong German accent pervaded all. “Where is he? The famous French detective? Is it this one?” She looked the ninja up and down. “Well,” she sniffed, “He does not look French to me! He looks more like that horrible man who stole my Moon! And who is this wench? What is she doing here?”
There was a deadly silence, filled with the low growling of Nana. The usually complacent dog’s hackles were raised.
Annisette spoke up. “I am the detective,” she said lightly. “I would like to see the scene of the crime, if you please, Madame von Upperclass.”
Sylvia von Upperclass turned a nasty custard yellow. “Very well,” she said stiffly, tones clipped. “This way.”
Nana led Annisette down the hall, still growling. Ryo followed, and the butler trailed after, muttering apologies.
They arrived in the dining hall only to see that it was in shambles. Rice lay spilled on the floor. Ginger fish lay squashed by stampeding feet, sweet and sour sauce seeped into the tablecloth. In the corner, a short Chinese man bemoaned the fate of his restaurant in his mother tongue.
As Ryo went over to pat him awkwardly on the back, Annisette got down on hands and knees to search for clues. Nana followed, nose to the floor. After a short pause, her ninja sidekick joined the pair as well. They came up a few minutes later, the floor scoured for clues, but wasted food still soiling the carpet. The Chinaman got up to get a broom and his carpet cleaner.
“Whatever you found, Ryo, would you please hand it to me? Also, I’d like you to check the rafters.” He nodded and leapt high to land on one of the support beams.
“There’s some bait from a fishing set,” he called. “I’ll bring it down.” He used some of his ninja arts to poof down instead of jumping. The ninja handed a small, fluffy, orange piece of fishing equipment as well as a scrap of cloth, to Annisette. “It was caught on a piece of wood. It’s black.”
The butler rushed in with a tear-stained little girl holding a scrap of paper. “This is Serenity,” said Chives. “She’s found a ransom note for Joshua. It was written on the back of a business card.”
The small child shyly handed the note to the red-headed detective.
“Thank you, Serenity,” said the woman gently. “I’m very sure you’ll be seeing your brother soon.” She held up the small card to Ryo. “What does it say?”
“Both sides, I’m assuming.” When Annisette nodded, Ryo read aloud, “’Fifty thousand dollars for the boy. One hundred thousand for the gem too. Put money in trashcan at WestOak Street and 53rd Street.’ Hah, ‘too,’ ‘thousand,’ and ‘money’ are all misspelled. On the other side it says, ‘Mssr.s David Roory and Stanley Tibone, Professional outfitters, for Cosplay, Fancy Dress, and Custom Fittings.’ That’s all. Pretty blank card.”
Annisette sniffed the cloth, and then held up her evidence as Nana wagged her tail. “There was a splinter of wood that didn’t come from here. The grain of the tables and rafters are a combination of maple and pine, while this is oak. The cloth smells like sea salt. And, with this frayed piece of rope I found in the hall, smelling like the sea as well, I think we have enough evidence to find the gem and the little girl’s brother. The rope is only used for nets made for seashore fishing. Serenity, Mr. Chives, are you up for a trip to WestOak Street?”
At the door, the Baroness said, “Well, I do hope you get my jewel back. It cost quite a lot. When you find Joshua, tell him to stop this nonsense at once.” She stalked off, wobbling in her stiletto heels and muttering, “This entire party was a fiasco! I never even got to speak with the Mayor’s wife! I’m beginning to think that adopting was not a good idea after all!”
“It’s a terrible thing,” murmured Annisette in Ryo’s ear, “When parents do not care for their children.” She patted Serenity on the head with eerie accuracy. The little girl, who was clinging to Nana, looked up and smiled.
“Are we going to find Josh now?”
~
The ninja waved the three people and one dog over to the grimy window where he was peering in at a strange gathering. Five men dressed all in black were seated on wooden crates as they talked about something or the other. A small, brown-haired boy was bound and gagged in the corner, a large gem next to him.
Ryo himself was standing on tiptoe atop an oak crate, peering in through a small window into the warehouse known as Lot 24. It was right up next to the Pacific coast, with a crane in the back for ships that might have come through here. Now it was abandoned, a perfect place for crime to spread and grow.
The smell of sea salt permeated everything. As Annisette and the others clambered over boxes, past the wide entrance to the warehouse, and finally sneaking past a door to get to the ninja, Ryo put an ear to the window in an attempt to hear better. Strange, filtered sounds drifted past the dirt-encrusted glass. A tinny voice made itself clear.
“God, finally. I can’t wait until the whole job is over. We didn’t mean to get the kid, but gosh, was it a good thing we did.”
“Yeah,” said another voice, distorted by the glass. “It’s like... Insurance.”
Strange, muted laughs. “When’s the bossman get back?” asked a third one. “It’s not so much fun here in Moulin Rouge.”
So that was the name of their hideout..? Moulin Rouge? mused Ryo, watching Chives trip over an anchor left on the dock. Fitting. This warehouse is so red with rust you can’t even tell what colour it was in the first place. He idly scratched the side of the building with a fingernail.
A loud screeching sound, amplified by the echoes coming from the empty warehouse, rang out. Ryo froze, then ducked down before anyone could see him. He looked across at the four stuck in the middle of nowhere, trying futilely to get to the wall and hide beside him.
Then he realized that the scratch couldn’t have possibly been him, since the inside of the warehouse was padded with oak wood. Then -
The crane in front of Ryo swung around, depositing something on the dock. It was large and silvery, glinting in the sunset. The ninja crouched down, employing all of the stealth tactics his sensei had ever taught him.
“Hey boys!” shouted a hearty voice. “I’ve brought it!” The owner of the voice stepped forward. He was clad all in black, same as the other ninja, but some of his brown hair showed through.
The ninja came streaming outside. There were now seven altogether, including the loud one. Ryo hoped to the high heavens and whatever gods might be listening that the others had found someplace to hide.
