Mouse Murder Mystery 5

Greta's Last Case

A Dominic Mus Mystery

Copyright Anthony Percival-Smith 2008

Night train

Natasha was exhausted; she had been traveling for 3 days and was looking forward to being home. Conservatory Station of Belleville was only an hour away. Travelling was usually a tonic for Natasha but this trip had been very depressing. Three days ago she took a train from Conservatory Station to the Aerodrome were she caught a flight to Peterville. She stayed the night in a hotel by Peterville's airport. Next morning she went down to the airport to meet Captain John Cheshire who was taking her out to Murnstadt. The plane was a small four seater built out of balsawood and paper, your basic bush plane.

Natasha approached a man standing outside Hanger #2 and asked, "John Cheshire?"

"Oh hello Natasha. I wouldn't have recognized you. The last time I saw you you were just a pup."

"Likewise."

"How is your father?"

"Fine. He's why I am here, wants me to go to Murnanland to pick up some samples for him."

"So he said when he phoned. Don't know why he wants you to go to Murnstadt though. Nobody goes to Murnstadt."

John led Natasha out to the plane. After he performed a brief walk round the plane, they started off on their trip. Nobody goes to Murnstadt or Fungrad because of the Great War between Murnanland and Funerland over three generations ago. The war had been fought for four generations to the ultimate destruction of both sides. The war ended when the mice of Murnanland and Funerland found out that both sides were using captured female prisoners in breeding programs to literally deliver more soldiers to the front. This destroyed their reasons to fight, but the war had destroyed everything that they had, leaving the mice feeling bitter toward the place they had loved and fought for. Within a week all the mice had left Murnanland and Funerland.

By midday they were approaching Murnanland and Funerland. Natasha could see the piles of rubble that had been Murnstadt and Fungrad overgrown and desolate. To either side of the two cities she could make out the vast expanses of graveyards. Over the four generations of war, 300 million mice had died and all were buried in the graveyards. The graveyards were endless, and each graveyard was marked with a grand entrance celebrating the noble deaths of so many for the futile cause of state identity. The states had vanished in the war. Natasha looked down seeing for the first time the place that her great, great grandmother Greta Mus had grown up. Natasha was struck by the feelings of sadness that the sight of Murnstadt had made well up inside her. She sat in silence as the plane approached a small airstrip; the only thing in the whole area that looked maintained. By the shack at the bottom of the airstrip, a mouse was standing by a car.

Natasha got out and John took the plane to the bottom of the strip to turn it around. Natasha walked over to the car and said, "I am Natasha Mus. My father Dominic said that you have something for me." The mouse just nodded, went to the car and opened the back door. He returned with a small attaché case, handed it to Natasha and said, "Give my best to your father, but tell him not to ask this of me again." The mouse turned, walked toward the car, got in and drove away. Natasha thought to herself, "What the hell is going on here?".

The flight back to Peterville was quiet, John had barely said a thing. Natasha stayed overnight in Peterville and took a flight back to the Aerodrome. The train pulled into the platform at Conservatory Station. As Natasha stepped down from the carriage, she saw her father standing at the bottom of the platform. They embraced upon meeting.

Dominic asked, "How was your trip my dear?"

Natasha replied, "Depressing but I have the samples. Who was that anyways at the airstrip?"

"Otto Mus, a distant cousin. We met years ago."

"Well he wished you the best but was not to happy about the situation one bit."

"That is understandable."

"What are these samples anyways Dad?"

"I will tell you when we get home. You will stay the night I hope?"

"Sure if you tell me what's going on."

Once in the apartment and the coffee had been made, Dominic and Natasha sat in the living room.

Natasha opened, "OK Dad want was this all about?"

"Well Nat we are going to solve Greta's last case"

"What do you mean?"

"During the Great War, Greta was an detective inspector. She was not able to solve her last case in Muranstadt before or after the end of the war and the scattering. The samples you brought are from corpses buried in the graveyards. That is why Otto was upset."

"But surely we need more than DNA samples to solve her last case?"

"We have her diary and two other pieces of evidence. Here read her diary."

Greta Mus's Diary

'January 23, 1951

Another night of bombing, the fires were still burning during the morning walk to work. You would have thought that there would be little left to burn after generations of fires sweeping through the city. The city was caked in soot. The trams are not working and the rubble had not been cleared. Yet mice were in the street walking to work, another depressing day. At the entrance to the Police station, I saw my superior Detective Chief Inspector Peter Boss and his daughter, my trainee, Hannah Boss arrive together.

Peter said, "Morning Greta, what do you and Hannah have planned today?"

Greta replied, "Hope to finish off and file the Hampton case, just need to organize and check all the information before filing it away. Hannah did you find the coroner's report."

"Yeah it fell behind the radiator."

Peter said, "That Hampton case was sad. Father returns from the front and kills his whole family, when will this war end?"

Greta replied, "No end in sight I'm afraid. I just hope we get through the day with out more misery." Greta smiled and said, "Speaking of misery, what's for lunch today?"

Hannah and Peter in unison answered, "Weak brown broth and a few rotten seeds." This was lunch everyday. Nearly all the mice in the city were close to emaciation and perpetually tired.

In the main lobby of the police station Peter bid Greta and Hannah good luck. As Greta was about to go toward her office, the Desk Sergeant waved her over.

"Sorry Greta, but I just received a call about a dead body found in one of the rooms at Hotel Momenta. Can you deal with it."

"Yeah sure. Hannah we gotta go."

Hotel Momenta

The Hotel Momenta was a good walk away. It was in a once good district, but was known even in happier days as a no-tell-hotel. On the way to the hotel, a line of prisoners marching down the street held up Hannah and me. Hannah asked, "Why do we only see female prisoners being marched down the streets?" I felt like telling her that male prisoners were killed upon capture, but surely she must know this and was merely ignoring this knowledge. We reached the hotel and the manager showed us up to the room.

Greta asked, "Who was checked into the room?"

Manager replied, "Field Marshal Heinrich Rattus"

"Really. Was he accompanied?"

"I did not check him in. You have to ask the evening desk clerk. He will be in soon. He tends bar in the afternoon."

"What's his name?"

"Joseph Cheddar. Yeah an out of state mouse, all named after cheese."

"Who discovered the body?"

"I did. He was listed for a wake up call, and when I did not get an answer, I went up to see if he was in. I knocked on the door, but no answer, so I took a look. From the doorway I could see the blood and knew he was dead. I shut the door and called you, and told the maids not to clean the room."

At the room, the manager opened the door. Looking in I could see the Field Marshall lying back on the bed, blood staining his white undershirt and pooling under him. At the bottom of the bed were his boots, he still had pants on but his belt was loosened, and his tunic and shirt were folded on the side of the bed. His position on the bed suggested that he was sitting on the edge of the bed taking off his clothes when he was stabbed, and the folded tunic suggested that someone else was in the room helping him undress. Hannah and I spent an hour looking around the room and could find nothing more except clearly the room had been carefully wiped clean. The pawprint guys were going to find nothing, but worth a try. Also the weapon used was not in the room. The body looked as though he had been dead more than 12 hours. I left Hannah to finish off the scene of the crime and call in the pawprint guys and the coroner and went down to the Bar to talk to Joseph.

"Hi Joseph? Inspector Mus. I would like to ask you some questions. Is now OK?"

"Yeap."

"The manager said that you were on the desk yesterday evening? Did Field Marshall Rattus check in with you?"

"Yeap."

"Did anybody accompany Field Marshall Rattus like a staff officer or girl fiend?"

"Nope."

"Would anybody be able to get to his room with out you seeing? And a multi word reply would be helpful."

"NopeBut the back staircase door can be opened by a guest to let someone into without me seeing. This is the Hotel Momenta after all."

"How many guests were in the hotel last night?"

"Oh, off the top of my head about 14 to 16."

"Did anybody ask for Field Marshall Rattus?"

"Yeah, a guy came into the hotel about 11 and asked if Rattus was in. I phoned his room but there was no answer. The guy seemed annoyed and then asked me if the Field Marshall had left a letter or anything for him. Yeah, Yeah he said his name. Wait a second, what was his name? Oh, ah ApisIvan Apis."

"Was there something left for him?"

"Nope."

General Hans Canis

It was late afternoon by the time Hannah and I got back to the police station. No pawprints were found and the Field Marshall had been dead for over 12 hours. The approximate time of death was estimated at between 9 and 12 PM. I was tired but needed to finish the filing on the Hampton case and see the Field Marshall's wife. Walking down the hall I see that my office door was open. In my chair with his booted feet on my desk was General Hans Canis. He was a trim, well-fed mouse and head of the military security service.

"Canis, to what do I owe this honor."

"Greta as usual you greet me with the upmost disrespect. You should be more careful."

"Wow, I have a choice between being killed in a bombing raid, on the job, or by you. What's a girl to do? So many suitors, so many decisions. Where are my smelling salts? I feel faint."

General Hans Canis smiled and said, "Seen any dead mice lately?"

"Oh one or two, but I don't think you are here to talk about them."

"No. Field Marshall Rattus?"

"Other than being dead what do you want to know?"

"The murderer would be nice after all Rattus was one of us."

"Are you sure you are one of them?"

"Greta let's not trade barbs."

"OK who is Ivan Apis?"

"Suspected spy. Maybe more of an anarchist, hard to say these days"

The way Canis answered so quickly without asking any questions about Ivan Apis made me think he knew more than he would ever tell me, but he also wanted me to know that. Canis swung his feet of the desk and stood up.

Canis said, "Thanks for the chat. Hate to love you and leave you, but work beckons."

"Yeah, just remember to ask for the money up front."

"Always a pleasure Greta. See you soon."

Mrs. Heidi Rattus

Heidi lived in a good part of town. The soot was washed off the buildings regularly and rubble removed from the streets. She and her now dead husband had an apartment on the third floor. She answered the door wearing a housecoat smoking a cigarette.

"Yes. How can I help you?"

"I am Detective Inspector Greta Mus. I need to ask you some questions. Do you have time now?"

"Hans said you may come by. Come in. Go through to the living room."

"I am sorry for your loss Mrs. Rattus"

"Don't be and its Heidi. Sit down please."

I fell silent not knowing what to say; she seemed so unaffected.

Heidi sat down and said, "Sorry if you expected a grieving wife but Heinrich has been dead to me for some time now."
"Do you know why your husband was staying at the Hotel Momenta?"

"He was screwing Gertrude Musca I presume. It was the Hotel Momenta after all. I am sure rooms are still let by the hour, more time than Heinrich ever needed if my memory serves me correctly. Whoops, I guess you haven't come to hear my past disappointments."

"Who is Gertrude Musca?"

"That little bitch of a mouse is our exulted leader Adoph Sus's secretary." After a bit of silence, "Don't look so surprised Greta. I couldn't care less."

"I have to ask you this, but where were you last night between 8 and 12?"

"With Hans if you must know. Ask him if you dare."

Getting up from the sofa Greta said, "I might just do that. Thanks for your time."

It was late and I went home. I would tackle Gertrude Musca in the morning.

January 24, 1951

Gertrude Musca's apartment

Greta answered the knock on her apartment door. Hannah Boss was standing there.

"Come in, I'll just collect my things. I guess we have a pass to the government district?"

"Yeah, and we have a car taking us there courtesy of General Hans Canis. How do you know him anyways?"

"I wish I didn't, and it is better that you don't know either. Come along lets get going."

The car and driver were waiting out in front of the apartment. We drove through the wrecked streets to staircase road. Down and around we went, ten levels of the metropolis down to the basement, the government district. At the gate our passes were checked. We drove to the Watergate apartments were workers of the government lived. There was no bomb and fire damage in the government district a jarring difference from the levels up the stairs. All the mice looked feed and healthy. Hannah and I went up to the third floor of the apartment, and walking down the hallway, I had the distinct impression that we were being observed. Hannah knocked on Miss Musca's door, but there was no answer. She knocked again, the same thing. I heard nothing moving in the apartment. I put my hand on the handle of the door and found that the door was not locked. When the door opened I took me a few seconds to grasp what I was looking at. A good-looking female mouse slumped on a chair in the middle of the living room; she has been shot in the head.

"Hannah you had better call the local police. The phone is over there. Hannah over thereI know its OK."

Hannah pulled herself together and was on the phone. I went over to the body and saw that she had been shot and obviously tortured. Her front paws had been tied behind her back, and in the pool of blood at the base of the chair, there were back toes that had been cut off. The pliers were on the coffee table. Looking at her paws I could see broken claws; she had put up a fight and in between the digits were tufts of hair. I took out an evidence bag and collected some of the tufts; not what you should do at a crime scene but I had some unease about how the Government was going to handle this case. Beside the body was an envelope addressed to Ivan Apis, which had a stain on the corner that looked like dried blood.

General Hans Canis walked in through the door with three other security officers.

"Greta we will take this from here."

"It is not your call Canis."

Hans walked straight over to me and looked at the envelop quickly and then me. Suddenly I was doubled over, he had punched me in the stomach. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the envelop disappear. As both Hannah and I were strong-armed out of the apartment machine gun shots rang out ripping into the ceiling.

A mouse at the end of the hall said, "Canis give me what I want."

"No can do Ivan."

From behind the mouse shots rang out slicing through him. Dead.

With more jostling, Hannah and I were hustled out of the Watergate complex to the car. As Canis was pushing me into the car he said, "Go home and stay there, it's about to start. I mean it stay safe."

On the drive home I put my hand in the pocket of my overcoat and found the envelope addressed Ivan Apis. Listening to the radio over lunch after Hannah and I were dropped off at my apartment, we learned of the contents of a letter. Murnanland had been using capture female prisoners in a government-breeding program to produce soldiers for the war for over two generations. In a document from Funerland it also said that their side had exactly the same breeding program. The war had become basically capturing female mice for the two sides breeding programs and nothing more, absolutely pointless. Anti-government riots on both sides broke out. After a week of chaos where high-ranking members of the government and military were slaughtered, the war was over. I heard about Hans, he had been found at Heidi's apartment and both were killed by the mob. The dead were buried as custom demanded. When the dead were buried there was nothing left, the mice of both lands left. The great scattering left the two lands empty as a reminder of futility.'

Natasha looked up from the diary and said, "What a tragedy, but what happened to Greta after this?"

Dominic answered, "It took some time, but she was reunited with her soldier husband Stefan. They were refugees and eventually ended up in Belleville. She and Stefan worked menial jobs scrubbing floors cleaning streets that type of thing. She never was on the police force again. They were poor but had a family, which eventually led to us. Lets hope that we can solve her last case. In the diary, I found an envelope addressed to Ivan Apis and an evidence bag with some tufts of hair in it."

CSI Biology 3596a

You are given seven samples. You are expected to analyze the samples with three autosomal markers and a Y chromosome marker.

Sample 1: General Hans Canis
Sample 2: Field Marshall Heinrich Rattus
Sample 3: Mrs. Heidi Rattus
Sample 4: Miss. Gertrude Musca
Sample 5: Mr. Ivan Apis
Sample 6: Blood on the envelope
Sample 7: Hair found in Gertude Musca's apartment.