Lupe Pack Detectives-The Fake Detective

      Around noon, I held a final meeting with Squire Oak and Terra. It was basically to discuss the evidence and who was going to present what as it was a team effort, based on what we have gathered. To me, it did not feel right to have one Neopian present all of the evidence.

      In the afternoon, both the Bubble Detective and Glitter made a brief appearance at our Neohome. The Bubble Detective showed us a challenge letter that she had received a couple of days before, telling us that Ellipse did indeed challenge her. Unfortunately for him, she was retired, thanks to a leg injury she had sustained years prior, and there was no way she was coming out of retirement, even if was brief. Glitter would be representing her instead, even if Glitter was no longer working for the PPL. It was something that I did not mind at all.

      Just like last time, when it was nearly time for the meeting, I left the Neohome early, before meeting up with Glitter and Terra. Squire Oak was not with them, but he had told them that he would be meeting us at the entrance to the Catacombs.

      As expected, just like before, at the appointed time, Ellipse came out amid a shower of fireworks, although, this time, he was wearing a smug smile on his face. That quickly disappeared as soon as he spotted Glitter with us.

      “This is supposed to be a private meeting, so the Neopian Times shouldn’t be here. That is not allowed,” he told us.

      “A private meeting in a public place, Ellipse, even though it’s late at night. Now that’s a good one,” Glitter calmly replied. “Anyways, I’m only here as a neutral third party, just to ensure that the procedures are fair, and not on behalf of the Neopian Times, seeing as I’m the only Neopian that know how you operate. I’m also letting you know that the Bubble Detective is retired from her sleuthing activities and has declined your invitation to participate in your event.”

      Glitter took a seat on one of the benches before waiting for the answers from us. Ellipse was still unhappy with her presence, but nonetheless, continued with his ‘findings’ as to who started the fires.

      “I have reason to believe that the homeowners themselves are the ones responsible for starting the fire. After all, they wanted to flee from their past life and start over. That’s their motive, is it not?”

      “While it is true that the homeowners have the necessary motive to commit the crime, that’s not enough. You need evidence to prove that they are the ones responsible, so what do you have for us?” Terra inquired. At that point, he produced the fake case file as he told us about their ‘criminal’ past, causing me to briefly look at the ground and smile. Ellipse ended up commenting that I had already conceded defeat, when in reality, it was the opposite, given what I actually knew.

      “I’m actually not conceding defeat, Ellipse. Before coming here, did you even take a look at the case file to see what was actually inside, given the fact that we were aware and warned that we were being watched by numerous Neopians?” His smile faded as soon as he opened the folder and found only blank pages. He did not have to say it, but he knew he was in deep trouble as he had nothing to prove that the homeowners were responsible.

      Terra was the first on the counteroffensive, producing not only our suspects’ history, but also Ellipse’s as she explained why we were letting the homeowners off the hook but putting him on our radar. I smiled again as soon as she mentioned that she was a former PPL agent with knowledge of the case he was involved in.

      Squire Oak was next with his report, namely stating that a couple of witnesses had spotted the Scorchio deliberately torching the Neohome on Wishing Well Drive, surprising the Scorchio as Ellipse ended up muttering something under his breath. We definitely had the upper hand at that point, even if the squire was protecting the identities of the witnesses and Baron Rouge.

      Finally, it was my turn. I simply took out a couple of sheets from the folder just to refresh what I was going to say. Although I was nervous, I did not show it towards Ellipse as I knew he would pounce on that and try to salvage the mess.

      “If you weren’t so eager in defeating us, then you probably wouldn’t have made so many errors that would have led to your downfall, most of them from the fire on Wishing Well Drive. We never mentioned to the reporters how the previous fires were started, and we had yet to determine how at the latest crime scene. On the other hand, you knew exactly how when you visited the Bubble Detective. Thanks to that little tidbit of information that you inadvertently gave away, an intact Queela Bomb found far away from the scene had prints matching those on some unexploded Egg Bombs used in the earlier crimes, more specifically, from a Scorchio. There was also a Shadow Scorchio scale found near the Wishing Well crime scene”

      “I’d like to point out that the Kraku Berry Juice compromised the Egg Bombs, so it should be near impossible to discover prints. There’s no way to conclude the same Neopian was responsible,” he growled.

      “Not to us, perhaps, but the Virtupets Space Station does have the technology to analyze complex situations. As I recall when we first met, you did say to use every resource available to solve the case.” At that point, I took out the list given to us by Watson as this was the final piece of evidence that we had to prove it was Ellipse responsible for the fires.

      “Speaking of resources, we had someone within the DoN make a list of registered detectives for us. Prior to us meeting you, none of us have heard of you before, so I decided to check to see if you were legitimate. As it turns out, you weren’t, and the DoN isn’t likely to recognize any Neopian who doesn’t register with them, especially if they’re committing crimes under the pretence of solving them, or has a prior criminal record.”

      “So, in conclusion, the Lupe Pack Detectives, the Bookworms and the Royal Detectives have agreed that you, Ellipse, is the Neopian responsible with plenty of evidence to back that claim up, while you are claiming that it was the Neohome owners with no evidence. Might as well concede defeat, Ellipse, your charade is over!” Glitter loudly replied.

      It was decided that I would take Ellipse down the DoN, but I did not mind. Fortunately, after explaining the situation to Lightning Lenny, he told me that he would get Judge Hog to sentence him as quickly as possible, given the circumstances. I nodded, knowing that the ordeal was finally over.

      As soon as I returned home, I noticed that my siblings and Nimbus were still up, anxiously awaiting the results. Instead of telling them, I silently nodded, causing them to briefly celebrate the news, Nimbus in particular sighing in relief. We were going to save the bigger celebration for later. As I headed upstairs for a well-deserved rest, I could imagine the Bookworms and the Royal Detectives jubilantly celebrating the news.

      The following morning, the Bookworms and the Royal Detectives visited our Neohome to join in our larger celebration. As expected, both teams were giddy that the case was solved to its proper conclusion and that the right Neopian was caught.

      Throughout the day, we had several guests, which included the Bubble Detective, Chief Pongo and Grace, visit us to congratulate us on a job well done. One of the other guests was Shelly, who we found out from herself and Nimbus that she was working undercover for her report on the hotshot reporters. Seeing as she was here and the entire team was assembled, we allowed her to interview us.

      By the time the celebrations had ended by nightfall, we were exhausted, but still giddy. That all changed when we heard someone knocking on our front door. I thought that it was another Neopian wanting to congratulate us, but when I opened the door, I saw that it was a Defender messenger, a Shadow Lenny. This did not bode well.

      “I have an urgent message from Judge Hog. Ellipse’s somehow escaped,” he told me, catching me off guard as it was not something that I had not even expected, given the reputation of the DoN. I had a feeling that both Terra and Squire Oak were being informed about this change as well.

      Inside my mind, questions began swirling on how this could have happened, although I suspected he had some outside help, thanks to the knowledge that we were being watched. One thing was for certain, Ellipse was not going to get away with escaping from his crimes. Justice will be served to him, whether he liked it or not.

      The End.