The Needlehole Mysteries

YEYE!!! LOVED IT!!! can't wait to hear the rest. .. and illustrate

Thank you very much for the quick responses, everyone! It's really encouraging to know that people still want to read my stories even when they're coming slow. Hopefully there won't be too many more delays though. The next update is already about half-written!

How's the story going??

Yeah, how IS the story going?

That poor little tortured Eldo...

....and I am still waiting for GB to come back...

Sorry guys, the past week or so has been really shitty and I haven't been able to get a lot done in general. It's too early to tell if this week will be better but this story is near the top of my list of priorities as soon as I have the opportunity.

oh, no rush, I know the feeling of having a shitty week maybe I should upload something, so we can have something to read

I must have missed this a couple days ago, but YAY ELDO!!!!!! I see a royal title headed your way if you keep this up!

The Treason of Forumshire

Part 2


By the time Eldo woke up it was already mid-afternoon. The window in his room faced west so the sun bathed the room in a warm golden light. Feeling well-rested, Eldo went to the basin to wash his face and examine himself in the mirror. He had lost weight in prison, but he had gained back some of it during the more recent months when he was in a much nicer cell and was fed better food. He had not eaten since before his trial almost an entire day before, however, a fact his stomach loudly reminded him of.

Quickly throwing on a change of clothes (his only civilian pair, which he discovered had been returned to him in the rucksack) Eldo made his way into the main room of the pub. No other patrons were there, and most of the staff seemed busy scrubbing down the tables, floor, walls, and ceiling. Eldo glanced around uneasily. Aside from the brief conversation last night, he had not had an ordinary conversation with another person in over a year.

“Er, excuse me,” he said tentatively, looking towards the kitchen. One of the chefs looked over, and Eldo took a deep breath before continuing. “Um, I'm really sorry, but did I miss all the meals today? I'm afraid I don't know exactly what time it is.”

“It's three minutes before five o'clock,” said the chef, pointing at a clock on the wall. “Dinner doesn't start for another hour, but if you're a rooming customer, we can make something simple for you.”

“Simple is great,” said Eldo, giving a weak smile. “Whatever is easiest for you, really. I'm not at all picky.”

Soon Eldo was wolfing down a large plate of reheated scrambled eggs and toast from the night before, along with a house salad. After finishing he paid for his room and board through the next day.

Wanting to experience the fresh air again, Eldo went out for a stroll. As he walked along the street he realized that the Muck and Duck was in fact the same pub in which he and Sgt. Herring had met Biffo Banks and Petty Tyrant, where they had put together the last pieces of the puzzle of the missing Coal Scuttle. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“I shouldn't be able to feel this old yet,” grumbled Eldo, kicking aimlessly at a pebble in front of him. He suddenly realized that without meaning to, he had been walking his old path towards Mrs Figg's House of Eels and Pleasure. “Some things never change,” he said with a wry smile.

When he arrived at the side-street where Mrs Figg's was located, however, the smile left his face. All the windows were boarded up and the famous neon sign was covered the a heavy tarp. At that very moment a Hobbit was chaining the doors shut.

“Hey!” called Eldo, running down the street. “What's going on here? What happened to Mrs Figg's.”

“This most shameful house of depravity is being shut down,” sniffed the Hobbit, who finished chaining the doors shut. He turned to face Eldo, who was shocked to see the face of Odo Banks.

“Odo! How can you do this? It's Mrs Figg's House and you know it,” Eldo cried in desperation.

“It seems that Mrs Figg has moved back to Bree-land where she came from to stay with that horrid husband of hers. A decision I approve of, since Bree-land is the only place such disrespectable fools would be accepted.”

“So you bought the House, then?” asked Eldo with great concern.

“Yes, I did,” said Odo, who seemed very satisfied with himself. “It is to be torn down and replaced with a respectable school for girls who seek training from an experienced man in the arts of wifery. Although I must say that the town council was most opposed to approving the zoning change, I can't imagine why.” Odo sniffed delicately again.

“Yes, I can't imagine why,” growled Eldo.

“What business is it of yours, stranger?” said Odo, looking directly at Eldo for the first time. “Begone with you!”

Eldo blinked. “We've met before, haven't we? I'm DI … I mean, I'm Eldo. Remember the Coal Scuttle case?”

Odo looked curiously at the former policehobbit before lighting up with recognition. “Eldo! Oh, how good to see you. I can't believe I didn't recognize you right away. I was actually thinking of you just the other day.”

“You were?” Eldo said with surprise. He felt flattered, but then he realized that Odo had probably been thinking of ways to ensure Eldo's long-term imprisonment as revenge for his capture of Mirabella Banks.

“Yes, I have a case that needs solving. Another mystery, you could say.” Odo gazed intently at Eldo before continuing. “You wouldn't be interested in helping me, would you?”

“You should probably talk to the real police,” said Eldo. “Maybe you heard about it on the news, but I'm not on the force anymore.”

“Oh yes, I heard about that,” said Odo. “Dreadful unrespectable business and all that. But actually, that's why I thought of you specifically.”

“Really?” said Eldo. He found himself growing curious despite his misgivings about the Banks clan. “Why's that?”

“Because the 'real police', as you put it, have not been helpful at all,” said Odo. “This is not something to be discussed out in the open, though. Would you return to my estate with me?”

“I suppose it can't hurt,” said Eldo. Inwardly he was surprised but extremely grateful that anyone would still approach him as a detective. “I'll heard what you have to say.”


Two days had passed since Sgt. Herring and Agent Nora arrived in Michel Delving from Skattykatzenfjord, and Nora was becoming increasingly desperate for news of the trial. They had been unable to get any news at all from the guards and secretaries at the Fortress of Justice the day before. Sgt. Herring suggested they seek news elsewhere, but before that Nora was determined to make one last effort.

She woke up early on their third day in Michel Delving and went from their inn to the Fortress of Justice alone. The night shift guards were changing stations with the day shift guards, but she slipped up to the main information desk in the lobby, where the new secretary had just taken her seat.

“Excuse me,” said Nora, giving her most endearing face and voice. “I came to this city because someone I know was being tried here, and I'm so worried and desperate for information. Do you think you could pleeease help me?”

The secretary looked at Nora with a bemused expression. “Of course I can help you, dear. What is your friend's name?”

“Eldorion,” said Nora. “I heard on the news he was being tried in Judge Whitfoot's courtroom, if that helps.”

The secretary pursed her lips. “I'm afraid the details of that case are all sealed, Ms...?”

“Nora,” she said quickly. “My name is Nora, I came here all the way from Skattykatzenfjord to see Eldo. I realized I might not get to talk to him but I have no idea where he even is at this point.”

The secretary looked sympathetic. “Is he your husband?”

Nora blushed. “Oh, no! We, uh, we haven't known each other for that long yet, but we had worked together recently and I was...” she trailed off.

The secretary smiled knowingly. “All I can say – and I really shouldn't be saying this, so you didn't hear it from me – is that your Mr Eldorion was acquitted and moved away from Michel Delving yesterday.”

“Moved away?” asked Nora. “But if he was acquitted, why would he do that?”

“Apparently he was told to stay away from the city,” explained the secretary. “I don't know where he was taken, but he should be walking free even as we speak. I'm sorry, but that's all I can tell you.”

Nora nodded happily. “Thank you so much!” she cried, and hurried back to the inn to tell Sgt. Herring the news. If Eldo was free, then there was only one place in Forumshire he would have chosen to go to.


Odo and Eldo sat across from each other in Odo's parlor, drinking tea and munching on biscuits. After he had had his fill, Odo began to explain. “As I'm sure you know I'm involved in a number of very lucrative business ventures,” he said.

“Yes, I know,” said Eldo. He looked around the luxurious room and cast a critical eye on the golden buttons of Odo's waistcoat.

Odo cleared his throat and continued. “Well, not even a week ago, one of my most profitable business partners, Otho Burrowes, turned up dead in his parlor in Nobottle, just over the way from here.”

“What did the police make of it?” asked Eldo.

“They said it was a suicide, but only because they had no clue what else might have happened,” Odo said testily. “There was a hole in the side of his head as someone had drilled into it, but they didn't find a drill or any signs of a struggle at the scene.”

“I hate to say this so early in the investigation, but I have no idea what to make of that either,” Eldo said with some skepticism.

“Of course you don't, not yet,” said Odo. Eldo glared at him. “You were locked up until yesterday and you haven't even visited the crime scene yet,” Odo explained quickly.

Eldo sighed loudly and stood up. “If that's all-”

“That's not all!” Odo interrupted. Two days ago, there was a similar murder in Michel Delving. In the middle of bank robbery, one of the robbers killed a teller with what witnesses described as a metal pipe. Only the teller was never hit with a pipe. All that happened was a flash, a loud bang, and then the teller is dead and bleeding from a hole that looked like it was made by a drill.”

Eldo sat back down slowly, staring at the Hobbit across from him. “Are you making this up or embellishing it?” he asked cautiously.

“I've told you Eru's own truth,” said Odo. “I swear it on my honor.”

Eldo smirked and fought not to laugh out loud at Odo's choice of words. He did not trust the Banks, but he had no real goals or purpose after his release and he didn't want to miss something dropped so perfectly into his lap. “This sounds like an absolutely fascinating case, then. Shall we go to Nobottle to see what I can make of the crime scene?”

“That's all I ask,” said Odo, though he was rather surly at Eldo's smirking. “Let's be off.”


Sgt. Herring and Agent Nora quickly packed their things and departed Michel Delving with the next chartered pony cart they could find. By the time they arrived both were antsy and impatient. As they trundled through the streets of Needlehole, the tarp-covered sign of Mrs Figg's House came into view.

Nora's face fell. “Oh no! I completely forgot that Mrs Figg moved to Bree-land. I don't know who else to go to for news here.”

Sgt. Herring frowned. “I think I might know someone,” he said. “I just hope she hasn't moved too.” He tugged on the reins and the pony trudged towards Main Street.

As they reached the street, Nora's eyes widened in recognition. “This is where I first met Eldo and you!” she exclaimed. “That building right there. Isn't it the Sheriff's office?”

“Yeah, it is,” Sgt. Herring said with a sad smile on his face. “We're going for the building next door, though. The lady who lives there probably knows more about the news than anyone else in Forumshire.”

The Sergeant pulled up the pony cart and the duo jumped to the street. Once they reached the door, Sgt. Herring knocked loudly. In less than a minute it opened to reveal a bespectacled woman with long, wavy brown hair and vaguely elfin features.

“Ambassador Amarie, good morning,” said Sgt. Herring. “I don't know if you remember, but my name is Sgt. Ringo Herring and we met some time ago when I lived next door.”

Amarie's eyes flashed, but before Sgt. Herring could discern the meaning of that, the Ambassador's face shone with a bright smile. “Of course! How could I forget a fellow Fjordlandian so far from our homeland?”

“I didn't know you were from Skattykatzenfjord,” Sgt. Herring said cautiously. “I didn't realize I had mentioned it, either.”

Amarie's smile grew wider. “I couldn't tell you where I found out even if I wanted to!” she said brightly. “When you read as much about the world as I do, you sometimes forget how you learned something, because your brain is so full of the what of the matter.”

Sgt. Herring stared at the Ambassador for a moment before shaking his head slightly, as if clearing it. “Well, I'm very sorry to barge in on you like this, but I'm actually returning to Forumshire for the first time after a year spent in Fjordlandia, along with my companion here, Nora Herring-”

“You're a Fjordlandian too?” interrupted Amarie. “How lovely! We should have a party with traditional Fjordlandian dress and cuisine. To think that there would be so many of us here in this one village!”

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Amarie,” said Nora. “I'm afraid we can't stay in Needlehole for too long. You see, we're trying to find our friend, Eldo, who I'm sure you've read about in the news. We were told he came here but we don't know where to begin looking.”

“How could I forget Eldo?” asked Amarie. “Why don't you come in and I'll see what I can find for you.” The three entered the house and entered Amarie's living room. Amarie put a plate of traditional Fjordlandian biscuits on the coffee table before sitting down. “I'm surprised you knew to come here,” she said. “Eldo's destination wasn't in the newspaper reports.”

“You seem to have known that he came here though,” Sgt. Herring said slyly.

Amarie smiled mysteriously. “Perhaps you're right, and perhaps you're wrong,” she said in a sing-song voice. “The wise seek to collect knowledge, for knowledge is power.”

“I can't help but notice that you're not sharing any of that knowledge with us,” said Nora.

Amarie peered over her glasses at the young woman sitting across from her. “Should I? No one just gives away power, and it's a daily struggle to stay safe with all the tension between Dark Planet and Forumshire after your mis-adventure in Bree-land.”

Before Nora could reply, Sgt. Herring cut in. “I think what she meant to say is that we're very concerned about your friend and we were sincerely hoping that you could help us since you're our only lead,” he said diplomatically.

Amarie sat silent for a moment before speaking. “Well, we're old neighbors, so the least I can do is be neighborly. A friend of mine who works at one of the pubs in town told me that Eldo left town yesterday to visit a friend in Dwaling.”

Nora didn't know what to make of the information, but from the look on Sgt. Herring's face she knew it couldn't be good. “That's practically on the other side of Forumshire,” he said.

Nora struggled to keep her face from displaying her sadness. “Why would he come all the way out here only to turn around?” she asked no one in particular.

The Ambassador shrugged. “My friend seemed to think that he had been planning on staying at Mrs Figg's, but of course-”

Nora stood up abruptly, her expression suddenly hard. “I'm sure Eldo had his reasons,” she said with an air of finality. “Ringo, we'd better hurry if we want to catch up with Eldo. Let's go.”

Sgt. Herring smiled apologetically at the Ambassador as they said goodbye. Once in the cart and on their way again, he sighed and turned to face Nora. “Why did you have to be like that?”

“I'm just really frustrated with running back and forth across Forumshire,” she said grumpily. “And she didn't have to say what she did about Eldo coming here!”

Sgt. Herring appeared ready to say something himself about Eldo coming to Needlehole, but he thought better of it. He turned back to face the road, sneaking only a side-long glance at his companion.

“Come on Nora, chin up,” he said reassuringly. “We'll find him in no time, and then it's smooth sailing. You'll see.”

The next morning the duo were only halfway to Dwaling. They had slept for only a short while; Agent Nora nestled between their bags in the back and Sgt. Herring stretched out as much as he could on the driver's bench in front. After a meager breakfast from what they had brought along, they began driving again. Nora struggled to stay awake and soon began slumping against the Sergeant's shoulder as she dozed off. Sgt. Herring had not slept any better, but his intense military training allowed him to function on no sleep at all when necessary.

Around mid-morning Sgt. Herring stopped the cart to stretch his legs. Before standing up he gently lowered the sleeping Nora to the bench and covered her with a blanket from the back. He then walked in a slow circle around the cart, casually examining his surroundings while trying to work the kinks out of his back.

A slight rustling of the leaves in a nearby bush caught Sgt. Herring's eyes. The woods through which they were riding were full of animal life, but this bush seemed too large to be shaken by a rodent. Narrowing his eyes, the Sergeant walked closer. Before he reached the bush, the sound of a snapping twig from further in the woods distracted him.

The Sergeant frowned. I must be getting paranoid, he thought to himself. Nonetheless, the unexpected difficulty they were having in finding Eldo bothered him, and he found the surrounding woods to be unsettling. With a final suspicious glare at the trees he turned around and started to make his way back to the cart.

Before he had gone three paces, he felt a wire dig into his neck and a pair of thick arms close around him from behind.


Eldo cursed as he examined the parlor from floor to ceiling for the third time. Behind him, Odo sat on the sofa, flipping through a thick notebook filled with numbers and scribblings. He seemed content to let the former DI do his investigative work undisturbed. Eldo found an unobtrusive Odo to be quite unusual, but he welcomed the change.

After an hour and a half of searching, however, Eldo was forced to give up. He returned to the chalk body outline in the center of the room and glared at it. “I'm sorry, but there's absolutely no sign of a break in or that anyone who wasn't supposed to be here has ever been in this room,” said Eldo. “The only unusual thing was a some sort of black powder on the floor. I thought it might be coffee grounds, but they don't have the right smell. Either way, that's not anything to go on.”

“Don't sell yourself short, Eldo,” said Odo. “You've already found something that wasn't on the regular police's report.” He examined the patch of carpet where Eldo had placed a small red marker indicating the presence of potential evidence. “I suspected as much,” he said quietly.

“You suspected what?” asked Eldo in annoyance. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he was being kept in the dark.

“It's just that this fits with something from the report of the bank robbery I told you about,” explained Odo. “I didn't want to bias your judgment so I didn't mention it before now, but I'd like you to read the report from that crime scene.” He removed a thick folder from his suitcase on the floor and handed to Eldo.

Eldo sat down in one of the parlor's plush armchairs and read through the report quickly. Near the end, his eyes widened. “A strange black powder found on the floor of the bank? How could the police not have noticed that here? Shouldn't they be looking for similarities when the cause of death is the same?”

“They should,” said Odo. “But not everyone has the same sort of invesigative eye as you. It's why I hired you for this job. Besides, you may also have noticed that the bank's floor was white marble, whereas the powder here was on a darkly-colored carpet.”

Eldo blinked in surprise. “That's … really perceptive, actually,” he said. “You don't happen to know what this powder is, do you?”

Odo shuffled his feet and stared at the floor. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he said. “But you have to promise to keep this a secret!” he said, beads of sweat already showing at his collar.

Eldo gazed at the richly-dressed Hobbit mistrustfully. “It's something illegal, isn't it?”

“No, no! Not at all!” said Odo hurriedly. “It's experimental. They don't even have laws about this sort of thing yet because it was only invented a year or two ago. One of my firms has been trying to find a safe method of mass production, so I'm rather intimately involved in the nascent industry....”

As Odo continued, Eldo rolled his eyes. “Can you just tell me what it is?” he asked.

Odo stopped talking and looked very serious. “It's called gunpowder,” he said. “It's part of those pipe weapons from the bank robbery. This is the final proof that one was used here.”

“Gunpowder...” Eldo let the unfamiliar word roll of his tongue. “And what exactly are these weapons?”

“Guns,” said Odo. “The name fits, huh? Me and one of my partners have been developing them in our Research & Development Labs.”

“Why would you develop something to kill people so horribly?” asked Eldo incredulously. “Even you wouldn't sink that far just to turn a profit.”

Odo muttered something inaudible and stared at the floor again.

“You didn't,” Eldo said in disbelief. “Who in Middle-earth were you planning to sell them to, anyway?”

“That doesn't matter,” snapped Odo, with some of his usual haughtiness returning. “What should concern you is that the partner who has been helping me with this project is the same one who was killed by a gun in this very room.”

My poor house, just wait til I get hold of that infernal Banks Moved to Bree?

I should write something I feel, since I've been nagging, but I'm out of words... it's brilliant! poor Ringo!

but loved it, ofcourse ^^

yeah poor Ringo

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! It's always great to know that people are reading and care about what happens.

PI Eldo.

Surely it would take more than that to bring down shirt ripping door kicking Fjordlandian army man Ringo, right? And Forumshire which used to be such a cosy place... tsk tsk tsk...

The art of wifery. Housewife school as it was called here (no kidding).

I like how Ringo is so sweet to Nora.. they're like BFF's xD or.. maybe Eldo should be concerned.. he's been away for like a year I really wanna see where this goes

just gonna leave this one here, since there isn't much action here anyway

AWESOMENESS!!!

THATS AMAZING!!!!! love it, just how I imagined them. You really have a talent for drawing.

That is damn fine Norc! I really like your line style. Brilliant.

thank you guys, I'm awfully flattered

I've said it elsewhere, but I love the drawing, Norc. And I hope to have another update some time this weekend.

And in the meantime I will try to do something including Ringo and Agent Nora. They seemed to have become such good friends, it would be a shame not to make something with those two

Ringo and Agent Nora goofing around with a camera..


this is done in a hurry, so I apoligize for lazy colouring. not my strongest side.

Yes, those abs look about right..