Basil's American Tail - Chapter 1 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 1
Basil's American Tail
New York City, 1886
Puffing upon his wooden pipe, Basil of Baker Street, England's premier mouse detective, exited the gangplank of the ship docked at Castle Garden carrying a large suitcase, careful to dodge the feet of the much larger human immigrants and tourists from London. Basil wasn't here as an immigrant of course, he fancied jolly ol' England just fine. Nor was he here on vacation either; he had very little time for such extravagances when there were criminals lurking about. No, it was a case which had led him to take the long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
The case, as it were, involved several valuable
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 2 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 2
Officer Bob Rodentstein huffed and strained carrying Basil's large suitcase as they made their way up the stairs to Basil's temporary apartment, the mouse-sized steps hidden within the walls of the much larger human-sized building. To someone of their size a two-story building might as well have been a sky scraper. It took several flights of stairs to make it all the way up.
"Please do hurry up, Bob. We haven't got all day and I want to begin my investigation immediately." Basil said, thinking the less time spent in this depressing city the better.
"Honestly, what did you put in this thing?" Rodentstein asked irritably as she trailed beh
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 3 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 3
When Basil and Nellie came back they both carried bags with them. After buying some food at the market Nellie had taken Basil to a British-themed pub downtown that served cheese crumpets as appetizers, and they'd bought a stockpile of them. There was an ice box in the tiny kitchen for them to keep their food in, and a stove with which to heat it up later. Basil had also purchased a nice tea pot.
"Very well then, I think you've proven yourself a worthy partner." Basil said.
"The honor is all mine." replied Nellie as she removed her fake beard.
"So, as per our agreement, you help me wrap up this case and show me the ins and outs of New Y
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 4 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 4
Miss Kitty walked into her dressing room with the purse, giving Nellie and Basil a bumpy ride. The smell of perfume inside the bag was intoxicating, but Basil explained that it would be useful for masking their smell. Cats could smell mice from anywhere.
"What are we going to do when she opens the bag?" Nellie asked in a whisper, "I really don't like this idea."
"Relax, we'll be out of here before she opens it. We just need to wait for the right instant." Basil assured her.
Miss Kitty finally placed the purse down on a desk and opened a drawer for some lipstick to apply it in front of the mirror. Basil deduced upon hearing the
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 5 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 5
The nightclub was full of rowdy, drunken cats, noisily talking, laughing, getting into fights. The bar consisted of some wooden crates stacked together, and the rest of the nightclub used spare tables and chairs from the human bar upstairs. The alcohol came from the spare supply the humans kept in the basement. Some catnip was available for a good price as well. In the midst of all this, Cat R. Waul and his posse were seated at a table, engaged in a high stakes game of poker with some cats from the Mott Street Maulers. Warren himself wasn't in attendance, having business elsewhere.
"I hope we don't die of smoke inhalation up there."
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 6 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 6
"So you're gonna snoop on Warren, huh?" Miss Kitty asked, back in her dressing room.
Basil and Nellie were atop her desk. It was 2 in the morning, and all the cats had left but Miss Kitty.
"Yes, we believe he is our number one suspect." Basil said.
"Ya know how dangerous dats gonna be, don't ya?" she asked.
"Yes we do, we're well aware." Nellie said, "I think it might be best to come up with some way we can meet him in a safe environment, like Tammany Hall the next time he goes to Honest John for his protection money."
"Tell me Miss Kitty, is there anything you might know about Warren that could help us?" Basil asked.
Miss Kitty t
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 7 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 7
Basil's ears perked up upon hearing a knock on the door.
"Aha, that must be Nellie now." he said, putting his violin down and sipping the last of his tea before getting up to answer the door.
When he opened the door he was in for a shock. Nellie's dress was torn and dirty, her face was scraped, her hair was unkempt, the bun coming undone and her hair's true length flowing down off her shoulders. She wore a pained expression, holding her wounded arm where the sleeve had been torn.
"Great scott, Nellie, what on Earth happened to you?! Please come in, sit down, or lie down, whichever."
Nellie walked past Basil, panting after making it d
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 8 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 8
Once Honest John was able to spare a moment for the two of them, Basil and Nellie approached him, moving around the mourners for Mickey O'Hare. It did seem a tad disrespectful to have all this going on at a wake, but Gussie Mausheimer's appearance was what started it, so it didn't seem to matter at least to Honest John.
"Ah, Basil of Baker Street! How's the case been goin'?" he asked drunkenly, "Care for a drink?"
"No thank you dear sir. I thought I would brief you on my progress and try to get some information from you." Basil replied, "Could we go somewhere a bit more private?"
Basil gazed about the room. Warren's spies could
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 9 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 9
Basil examined the cigar ashes under a microscope at a desk in the living room as the clacking keys of Nellie's typewriter filled the air from the other room.
"Hm, yes the tobacco used to make this was surely grown somewhere in the southern United States, so that tells me it wasn't imported and probably wasn't too expensive." Basil said to himself.
He could try to trace the cigar to where it was purchased, but the task might not be very productive. There were stores all over the city that the cigar could have come from, and Basil still didn't know New York that well. He was finding that his style of detecting was far more effective in Lon
Basil's American Tail - Chapter 10 by Surenity, literature
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Basil's American Tail - Chapter 10
Warren puffed on a cigar, stopping to admire himself in the mirror as his accountant Digit counted a bag of cash; protection money from all of the mice.
"So eh, how are my profits doin' today?" he asked Digit, "Betta be up from yesterday. Those pesky street rats, escaping Moe's, who do they think they are? I'll get 'em all back."
"W-well boss, with Moe out of the picture w-we're losing upwards of twenty dollars a day. We haven't taken a hit like this since Nellie Brie exposed that other sweatshop." Digit replied fearfully, hiccupping as his antennae buzzed, "We still have the Cheese Factory and a couple other sweatshops around the city t