‘Tancred Detective Agency’ was written plainly on a neon sign outside a tall and narrow building, and Hal and Odell spotted it in no time. Still, they stopped a moment. Under the glowing sign was a second that added ‘And Daycare Center,’ which had been handwritten on cardboard.

“We waste time; let’s enter,” Hal said with a shake of his head. He pushed open an old wooden door, and the duo was immediately greeted with the shouts of children in the distance. From the front doorway, there was a long hallway and a staircase. A sign pointed down the hall to indicate ‘daycare,’ and a sign pointed up the stairs to indicate ‘detective.’

Hal and Odell did not waste a moment to ascend the stairs. The shouts quieted as they went up, and they soon reached a single door with tinted glass. Hal looked around a moment to check the surroundings, and Odell carelessly knocked.

‘It’s unlocked!’ a voice came from inside.

The duo entered a stereotypical detective office. A single desk with chairs sat at the end of the room in front of a window with blinds. Filing cabinets took up much of the wall space, and a giant corkboard had many papers and strings pinned on it.

There were two figures in the room. The first was a Zenotote girl with a pink head and blue limbs. She wore a red and white dress and had a matching top hat covering the scales on her head. In her hands, she held a broom used only moments before the duo entered.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?” the pink and blue Zenotote asked. It was clear to the duo that her voice had been the one to invite them in.

“Don’t bother, Rym,” A shout came from the figure at the desk. A Bentulousian man sat in the chair. “It’s abundantly clear why these two are here today,” he added. The man was short, a feature of Bentulousian males, and covered in dark grey fur. From his chin, a long beard ran to his shoulders, and a pair of goggles seemed to enlarge his blue eyes. A purple outfit that looked like it would be in place on any stereotypical detective covered his body.

Rym rolled her slitted eyes.

“Surely you can’t know who they are?” she asked in an exhausted tone that suggested she’d repeated the line many times.

“Odell Fio, the Son of King Jasper Fio, an old friend of mine. He is accompanied by Hal Bloodmurder, an up-and-coming Netzian soldier. And don’t call me Shirley!” the short Bentulousian answered with a smug look.

Rym sighed and shook her head.

“Your last name is Bloodmurder?” Odell whispered to Hal.

“The details are not something you are privy to,” the green-haired Netzian replied with a red face. He had come up with the last name as a small child on the streets as a ‘scary’ way to intimidate the adults. Unfortunately for him, Feya took it seriously and put it on official documents for him and his sisters. The latter of which constantly pestered him about it.

“As for why you are here,” The grey Bentulousian continued, “It is a simple matter to deduce. Rumors have been going around town that the beauideal Dia Mond assassinated the king of Aquia. Then, an injured Hobusian soldier shows up at my door!”

“An injured soldier?” Odell asked, but the short Bentulousian continued.

“It is clear that the two of you, and perhaps more, were dispatched to track down the killer and bring a grand conspiracy into the light!” the Bentulousian finished while jumping to a standing position on his chair and pointing to the duo.

“Tancred…” Rym muttered under her breath as she pressed a clawed hand to her head, similar to when one has a headache.

Odell pulled out the letter and handed it to the strange Bentulousian.

“So, anyway. My dad wanted me to give you this letter… and some lady on the street wanted to slap you as a message.”

“Ah, Lilly, sounds like she’s doing well,” the short Bentulousian said with a nod before he quickly snacked the letter and pulled it open. His eyes darted back and forth. As he read, his face turned sour, and his hand clenched tightly on the note. “Have you seen the contents of this letter?” the short Bentulousian asked after a moment.

“No, and my Dad said nothing,” Odell confirmed.

Tancred said nothing and proceeded to rip the letter. He tossed the scraps like confetti and smacked his palms together like he was knocking off dust.

“Don’t throw it on the floor!” Rym shouted in an exasperated voice as she banged the broom to draw eyes on it.

“Not to worry, the maid can clean it up!” Tancred said with a smile as he jumped out of his chair. He was instantly shorter than his desk, and only the sounds of his footsteps confirmed he was walking around.

“We don’t have a maid! You fired her!” Rym pleaded.

“Ah yes, I forgot she was a spy,” the short Bentulousian confirmed as he emerged from behind the desk. He held his hands behind his back and nodded.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“She wasn’t a–“ Rym began, but her words were ignored. Tancred walked across the room to Odell and Hal. Both looked down to see the short figure in front of them.

“Listen close, boys,” the short Bentulousian said with confidence. Odell knelt to listen; Hal crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, “my old friend Jasper Fio has made quite a claim and request. I can’t share most of the details on my honor as a great detective, but I will share what I can.”

Tancred looked between his guests to make sure they continued to listen. When he was sure he had the attention of Hal and Odell, he continued:

“In short, that old king thinks that the beauideal Dia was hired specifically to cause reasonable suspicion on Nun’s mayor. I knew as much from our injured guest; what I didn’t know was how deep old Jasper thought the conspiracy ran.” Tancred shook his head. “He has asked me to investigate the deep underbelly of this city to uncover the truth.”

“What truth?” Hal said in an annoyed tone. The short Bentulousian only shook his head once again.

“I can’t say with certainty what we may find which could be called ‘truth,’ but the journey to reach it will be difficult. We must clear the mayor’s name and shine a light on the true villains!” Tancred added.

Odell nodded along, and Hal sighed.

“Why don’t I call my sister? She works for the mayor.” Rym asked. “If we need to clear a name, we can just meet with him and ask.”

“I am afraid that will not work. If there truly is a conspiracy that runs up to the heights of the mayoral office, we will need to keep the true nature of our search secret! Our Hobusian friend downstairs already suffered heavy injuries for getting too close. We must assume that the enemy is waiting with a rifle to fire upon anyone who might speak too much about them!”

Rym was about to complain about Tancred’s over-exaggeration, but a knock at the door caught the attention of everyone. Odell almost jumped in shock, and Hal found himself reaching into his ability space for a weapon. Tancred laughed, and Rym grumbled to herself as she swept up the torn-up letter.

“Relax, young boys, our Hobusian soldier simply wants a word,” he said to the jumpy duo.

At the door of the detective's office stood a Hobusian. He was slightly taller than Odell, with enough bandages wrapped around him to mistake him for a mummy if the concept existed on Resh. His grey face showed from under the bandages, and a broken, cracked crown jaggedly ran alongside his forehead.

The Hobusian leaned against the door, and several children of various species did their best to prevent him from falling over.

“Good to see you, Odell,” the Hobusian said in a low and tired voice.

“Do I know you?” Odell asked. The stranger chuckled.

“Hagan Aio, Cecelia’s uncle. I think the last time I saw you, you were this tall,” the man explained while holding his hand near his waist. Odell made an ‘ah-ha’ sound as he realized.

The name was infamous in the Hobusian noble circles, but Odell had never bothered to familiarize himself with the man’s appearance. Last the young prince heard, Hagan had taken up employment as a special agent for the king.

“The loss must have been severe,” Hal commented as he eyed the many bandages on the Hobusian soldier.

Hagan shook his head.

“I’m a little beat up, but the children thought I needed more medical care,” he said with disdain as he tried to gently but forcefully push the children away from himself. “Rym, I believe it is your turn to watch them,” the injured Hobusian soldier added with a pleading tone.

“Why are there children here anyway?” Odell asked.

“Detective work can’t pay the bills alone anymore!” Tancred said with a bitterness accenting his voice. He waved for the others to follow.

They were led down the stairs to an open room in the building. A couch and other sitting arrangements had been set up over a thick carpet. Odell and Hal sat on the sofa with Tancred, Rym sat in an empty chair, and Hagan was carefully aided into what looked like a recliner. The children that had followed him and additional ones sat on the carpet in the center and eagerly listened.

Hagan cleared his throat as he continued to speak.

“I remained in Hobz for the conference. When the news came out that King Whitlock had perished, King Fio sent a message for me to go to Nun. So I came here and began to look around and ask questions,” Hagan stopped and looked to the children at his feet. “This story doesn’t end pleasantly. Should we have them leave the room?” he asked.

“Their parents let them see worse on tablets; keep going,” Tancred said with a casual wave of his hand. Hagan shrugged and continued.

“Unfortunately, I was ill-prepared for what came. I thought I had a lead on the ringleader, but I fell into a trap. My opponents sought to play with me. They snapped my arm first, then my leg. One carried a large scythe, and he tried to cut my innards out. I barely escaped, and I only think they stopped chasing since they thought I was left for dead.”

“Did you die, Uncle Hagan!” one younger child asked.

“If I were dead, I wouldn’t be here, and I’m not your uncle!” Hagan snapped at the child. The young ones laughed in response. He cleared his throat and began to address Hal and Odell, “King Fio had given me Tancred’s name, so I managed to crawl my way here for refuge, but I have been out of contact with the king ever since. At the very least, I found something that will prove helpful to you.

The enemy is planning something new, and they have begun to move. They are still trying to stay in the shadows but are very active. The beauideal Dia is the first lead, but I figure you knew as much. She has to keep making public appearances to avoid suspicion, so I thought I’d leave investigating her for later. The second lead I found is the Hilbert Casino and Hotel. I believe several of their agents are working there; to what end, I cannot say.”

Tancred crossed his arms and nodded.

“Now you have it,” he said to Odell and Hal.

Odell nodded and looked around at all the faces. He felt he should say something meaningful but couldn't think of what words to use. Hal managed to speak up for him.

“The casino shall be a suitable location; let us gather what we need and leave,” he said.

“I thought you might say that!” Tancred said with a laugh as he jumped to his feet. “Well, let us be off; we have quite a journey! Rym, you will join us. Hagan, you will continue to watch the kids!”

“Now, hold on a minute!” Hagan began to protest, but Tancred had already run out the door. Odell and Hal quickly followed after. Rym stopped and gave Hagan a look of sympathy. “I’m not even an employee! Why am I suddenly in charge of this daycare!” The injured soldier protested.

“Apologies, your backup should arrive soon,” Rym said briskly before following The others out the door.

“Uncle Hagan, do you want to go fight the bad guys too?” a child asked.

Hagan couldn’t form his hand into a fist due to the bandages, but he shook it in the air like he had.

“I am an elite soldier that specializes in espionage and assassinations, not your uncle!”

“You must not be a very good soldier if you got beat up that bad,” another child said in the sort of innocent, but deeply cutting, way only a small child could.

The injured soldier let his head hang in defeat as the group of four headed out on the streets. The casino was their destination.