Reginald Acorn and The Mysterious Jewel Thief

     4:30 am, Neovia.

     I've been living here for a month already, but I still can't get used to it. The fog is particularly thick tonight and I'm shivering in my trench-coat. My breath is drawing small clouds of smoke around me.

     Big Skeith, my boss, is heavily breathing next to me. He's the biggest darigan Skeith I've ever seen and he smells like bacon. Don't tell him, apparently, it's rude to say people smells like bacon, which I don't understand because I sure do like bacon

     He's wearing a tightly fitted trench-coat and his hat is deeply screwed on his head. You are only able to see two creepy red lights, where his eyes are.

     Big Skeith, while being my boss, is also the chief of police of Neovia town. His real name is Marcus Worsley but everyone calls him Big Skeith, it apparently started years ago and it kinda stayed. He's rude, loud, violent and tells things like they are, but he's the best chief there is. He will always defend his men no matter what. He also gave me my chance to join the police, something I've always wanted, and despite the fact that I had zero experience.

     I'm just a newbie here, my name is Reginald Acorn, also known as Baron. I'm a grey Gelert with a big tuft of grey hair on my head. I'm 20 and the youngest in the police station. I was born and raised in Brightvale, though I loved it there, it wasn't very exciting as far as the police work was concerned. I've always wanted to join the police force since I was a kid, I blame the Defenders of Neopia for this !

     We've been lurking on this street for a few hours now and I'm currently freezing. This part of the world gets really cold at night, I miss the warm and nice sun of Brightvale sometimes, And mama's delicious cooking too.

     I'm not the kind of Gelert to stay still, but when Big Skeith tells you to not even move « those creepy ears of you Gelerts », you don't move those creepy ears of yours, as insulted and offended you may feel.

     " You won't elude us much further, stupid thief. You made me run, and I hate running." Grumbled Big Skeith next me. I could see by his air that he was fuming.

     All I knew about that thief is that he was a guy and a Gelert, just like me. He had been spotted around the city quite a few times before and had a lot of successful larceny to his name. No one has ever been capable of arresting him, according to my colleagues, he's like an eel.

     A shadow suddenly moved and made me raise up in alert. Big Skeith put his big and clawy hand on my head and shoved me back into hiding.

      "There's a lot shadows around here kiddo, most of them are harmless. That is, if you don't bother them." He smirked, his teeth shining in the cold night.

     What was that even supposed to mean ? How can a shadow cause any harm ?

     The bells of the city hall suddenly rang, making me jump.

     5:00am

      " Come on, I know you can't resist this occasion." whispered Big Skeith under his breath.

     Big was right, for any thief, the occasion was perfect.

     Maybe a bit too much I guess.

     The best jeweller of Brightvale, my hometown, was staying for a few days in a chic hotel of Neovia. I saw him a few times when I was there, my hometown... Aah, Mama's cooking …

     !! Sorry, I lost track and my stomach is growling.

     We knew the jeweller was carrying several precious gems and high-end jewellery with him. All of them worth several millions of Nps ! Imagine how much cake I could buy with that kind of money ! His arrival in Neovia was supposed to be top secret for security reasons, but the jeweller told us he was sure someone was into him. Big being a conscientious chief decided that at least 10 of us would be lurking around the hotel every nights, to make sure the poor guy would leave Neovia with all of his gems.

     As I was daydreaming about cake, Big grabbed me by my coat and spat « He's here ! »

     I looked around and couldn't see anything. The lights of the lampposts were flickering, making all kinds of weird shadows around. Suddenly, the clouds moved, revealing a bright and shining full moon. And I saw him.

     Standing proudly on the roof of the hotel, he was grinning with all of his shiny teeth and juggling with some shiny stones that were reflecting the moon's light... The gems ! How could he ??

     _ " Reginald, run after him, we'll get him !! " shouted Big Skeith.

     I followed the shadow at full speed, him on the roofs, and me slaloming in the streets just bellow. I could not see his face at all, but I could guess he was mocking me.

     Despite my love of food and desserts, I'm actually really fast and managed to keep up with him, jumping over fences, avoiding running head straight into a lamp pole...

     In the distance, I could hear Big Skeith cursing and yelling orders to my colleagues. They were after him too, but no matter what, I was still a bit behind. I tried my best to look at the shadow, trying to find something to identify him, just in case we couldn't catch him, but all I could tell in this darkness, is that he had a small build and was shorter than I was. How come a Gelert with shorter legs than me could run faster was beyond me.

     As if he was mocking me, he suddenly jumped in front of me, in the street.

     He smiled, most of his face still hidden under a hood.

      "So, here to catch me kiddo ? Well good luck with that ! You're gonna need it !" He laughed while playing with a gem in his left hand.

     Angered, I jumped forward trying to catch him. As the tip of my fingers brushed his clothes, he suddenly moved to the side, revealing what was in front of me, and that I couldn't see as I was focused on him. The river !

     I fell into the cold water and started to panic. I can't swim, and never could. The water was freezing, gorging my clothes and making me sink. Suddenly, a big and strong hand grabbed me by my clothes and pulled me out of the river, Big Skeith !

     As I was struggling to catch my breath, I glanced at the roof of the house in front of us, where a voice was calling us out.

      "Thank you for the spectacle, my dear friends ! It was really entertaining, as for these beautiful jewels, they're mine now !" He said cackling as he started to turn around.

     "Oh and one last thing, the river has a really low level in this part of the town, so with your size, you should have been able to touch the bottom easily, I'm not that mean ! At least, not always !" He says as he exploded in laughter, wheezing a little, the next second he disappeared into the fog.

     I was drenched, frozen right to my bones, humiliated and Big Skeith was fuming next to me, as he punched the ground with his fist. We all knew we would not be able to catch him.

     So much for my first case...

     The End.