TWO HOURS, AND many Moehog strokes later, Marvin and Mark were lying face down,
panting on the shores of Krawk Island.
"That was your worst idea ever! A Uniocto tried
to drown me!" Mark complained.
"Ah be quiet you Peadackle, it was just playing!"
Still grumbling, Mark followed Marvin up to
a small cottage, where a unbalanced and ungainly Nimmo was waiting for them.
"Ahh... You've arrived! Go on out back and you
can start investigating. Would you like a cookie? Or maybe some lemonade?"
Marvin exchanged a look with Mark. "Uh, sure."
She disappeared back into the cottage to get
them some snacks, and Marvin began lecturing Mark on what to do in their odd
client's presence.
"Don't stare at her! So she's a kind old lady
who's offering her detectives cookies, so what?"
Mark glared at Marvin. "It's just weird, that's
all."
After three cookies each and a glass of lemonade,
the M & M detectives were ready to begin their investigation. They checked everywhere
throughout the garden, where Ms. Exit said that she liked to keep her chalk.
At last, Marvin found a clue.
"Aha! Chalk dust!" He began crawling around
on the ground surrounding the dust, magnifying glass in hoof, looking for footprints.
Mark, wishing to look useful, attempted to find a clue as well.
"Aha! Look Marvin, a piece of clothing!" Marvin
came clip clopping over and examined the cloth. He sighed in exasperation.
"Ah geez Mark! Look, this is just a piece of
Ms. Exit's apron! It's the exact same pattern as the one she was wearing when
she greeted us."
Mark cast his eyes down. "Oh..."
Marvin snorted at him, and continued with his
investigation. He found that the chalk dust was in a trail, a trail leading
to a large rock in the centre of the garden. He went to the rock, and began
examining it. He tapped it with his hoof, swatted it with his tail, and even
tried knocking it over with his horns. At last he stepped back, and charged
full force at the rock. It was thrown completely off balance, and fell to it's
side, revealing a deep, dark pit. Marvin stood in awe, the depths of the hole
seemed to continue on forever!
"Ah... I do believe I've found another clue!"
Marvin stepped up to the pit, and without hesitation
jumped in. It was a lot deeper than he had expected!
"Ahhhh!!! Mark! Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...."
Marvin's voice grew fainter as he fell deeper into the darkness, screaming for
Mark to come and save him. Mark knew what he had to do. Gathering up all of
his courage, the little white Moehog approached the pit, and jumped in. It was
quite long, but he was pleased to see that his landing had been softened by
something.
"Get off me you klutz!" Marvin rasped.
"Oh, sorry Marv." Mark hurriedly jumped off
Marvin, and got a bearing of his surroundings. They were in a large, dank cave.
Huge, pointed stalactites hung from the ceiling, little droplets of water slipping
off an falling into a large, eerie, translucent pool. Marvin picked up a nearby
stone and tossed it in the icy liquid. Both Moehogs watched as it spiraled down
through the greenish blue waters until it disappeared from sight. Marvin whistled.
"Whoo... I'd reckon that pool would go on forever!
It looks bottomless, eh Mark?"
Mark offered no answer. He was frozen in complete
and utter horror at what he saw, materialising out of the shadows...
Mark saw, out of the darkness, two pairs of
glowing yellow eyes! He threw himself to the ground, and covered his head with
his hooves. Marvin glared at Mark.
"Get up you Peadackle!"
Mark whimpered and pointed at the eyes. "Wha...
What are those?"
Suddenly, two creatures came out of the gloom.
They were Krawks! (The fully grown kind) --and in their arms, they held several
boxes of chalk! Even more surprising, the Krawks were stuffing them in their
fang filled mouths, and seemed to be enjoying them!
"AhHA!" Marvin cried. "You are the chalk-a-holics!
You've been stealing Ms. Exit's chalk, haven't you?"
The Krawks shook their heads in perfect unison.
"No, she took the chalk from us! You see, chalk
is a Krawk's main food source, it's perfect for our bones and scales."
"Yes, it gives us a twinkle in the eyes and
a back like polished leather! But anyway, this is our family's famous Krawk Island chalk mine! It's been in our family for generations, and this mean old
lady who lives up there," He said, as he jabbing a claw at the ceiling of the
cave "--Built her house right on top of it! We can't grow our chalk anymore,
and soon we will all starve. Luckily, we had our secret chalk stores, but that
lady considers us pests so she's trying to steal out chalk and make us starve!"
The Krawk sobbed, as he broke down in tears.
"There, there." Said the other Krawk, patting
his companion's back. "It'll be OK, Krawkadilious."
Mark was confused. "So, our client is actually
the crook?"
The Krawk turned to him contemptuously, his
voice dripping with sarcasm. "So the last Poogle finally crosses the finish
line!"
Mark bashed his head against the wall. "No!
No! No! Arrrgh! Furlock Joanes never had to deal with this!"
Marvin stopped him. "Wait a minute bro, now
we can go and place Ms. Exit under arrest for Chalk theft!"
Mark grinned. "Really? Then what are we waiting
for?"
Marvin pulled a handy-dandy rope from his backpack
and tossed it up to the surface. It's weighted end wrapped around a rock, and
Marvin was able to climb up it. Mark followed him, but it took him a little
longer. At last they were both ready to make their first arrest. Marvin strode
purposefully up to Ms. Exit's door. He tapped his hoof against the door, and
waited Ms. Exit answered it. Marvin held up his head, and looked Ms. Exit squarely
in the eye.
"Ma'm, we have found the murderer!"
Ms. Exit was confused. "Murderer?"
Marvin shook his head. "Err... Sorry, I meant
chalk bandit. Anyway, the culprit is... you! Mark, quickly, the rope!"
Both Moehogs were surprised by how easily Ms.
Exit allowed herself to be tied up. It was as if she knew struggle was useless.
Marvin felt important. He had solved a case! Well, him AND Mark, but mostly
him.
Suddenly, and without warning, Ms. Exit wriggled
out of her bonds, and pulled off her face! Marvin and Mark gasped in shock.
"Mom?!"
Ms. Exit, who was actually Mrs. Hog, (our two
detective's mother,) smiled sadly.
"Yes dears, I'm very sorry that I had to deceive
you, but I only wanted to give you a case."
Mark was flabbergasted. "So, you mean, the whole
thing was a fake?"
"Yes sweetie, you see, you were never going
to get a job. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but no one in their right
mind would ever, ever use your detective agency. Not when you had the buzz detective
company to compete with, I mean, you've never even been to detective school!
I just wanted to make you feel better about yourself. I'm sorry, but that's
the way it is. I probably shouldn't have, but I wanted to get you out of that
stuffy office. All you do is play armada and answer candy requests. It's not
healthy."
Marvin and Mark simply stood there, jaws hanging
open, until it dawned on them. "Wait a minute Mark... This means that we...
solved a case! Yeah!! Yes!"
Mark snorted blissfully. "We rock! We rock!"
Mrs. Hog narrowed eyes and tried to explain.
"Um, no boys, you didn't solve a case, you--" But she was too late. Her boys
had gone off to celebrate the solving of their first mystery with thornberry
crepes and strawberry blend slushies.
The End
Author's note: None of these characters are real, I just it'd be fun to write
a detective story starring two pathetic misfit Moehogs. | 
