"You want her to abandon her home because she has a mouse?" Sabrina said incredulously.
"It's the only chance you have. There is nothing you can do to stop vermin. They just keep coming and coming and coming, haunting your dreams, eating your cereal! Oh, the horror..." The cat gazed vacantly as if trapped inside a troubling memory.
"What's 'vermin' mean?" Daphne whispered.
"Vermin are pests like rats, mice, and cockroaches," Sabrina explained.
Daphne's face contorted with disgust. "Gross!"
"I'm going to have to check the basement to make sure you don't have a nest," Boots said, though Sabrina could see he was visibly trembling.
Sabrina tugged on her grandmother's sleeve. "We saw a mouse hole at Baba Yaga's house," she reminded her.
Granny winked at Sabrina and then turned to Boots. "A mouse, you say? Mind if we take a look?"
"What about my missing clock?" Morgan asked.
"It's possible that it's connected," Granny replied.
Boots eyed the family suspiciously. "I have to tell you, Relda. This could get dangerous. We might not all make it back alive."
"Looking for mice?" Sabrina asked.
"They're vile, unpredictable creatures. They're all teeth, fur, and claws."
"We'll try to be careful," Granny Relda said.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Boots cried.
"If you find anything, please let me know," Morgan said to Uncle Jake, running her hand down his arm. "Oh, strong."
"Yeah, I lift weights from time to time," he bragged.
Granny grabbed her son by the other arm and pulled him outside. "You can be so embarrassing sometimes, Jacob."
Boots led the family around the building and down a flight of steps to the basement. When he unlocked the door, he turned to the family and raised a finger to his mouth. "Shhh! They've got great hearing."
The basement was damp and cluttered. There were stacks of moldy cardboard boxes, a collection of poorly laced tennis rackets, an artificial Christmas tree still covered in tinsel, and an old coffee table with a wobbly leg. Boots weaved his way through the room, staring up at the cobweb-strewn rafters. He explained that he needed to be directly under Morgan le Fay's apartment. Once he found the spot, he took a flashlight off of his tool belt and shined it along the walls and ceiling.
"What are you looking for?" Daphne whispered, peering into the shadows.
"A nest," Boots purred. "Or a hole in the ceiling. They could be chewing their way into Morgan's apartment."
"A mouse can chew through a floorboard?" Sabrina asked. It seemed impossible that a tiny creature could do that kind of damage.
Boots shook his head. "Only a fool would underestimate a mouse's capabilities. They can squeeze through a hole a quarter of their size. They can chew through concrete and jump up to twelve inches. Plus, they're ravenous. They've got to eat fifteen to twenty times a day, so they're highly motivated. When you combine that with how many babies they make in a year--
upwards of a hundred--you can see we are under assault. They're coming for us, kid. They're going to take over the world. It's not a matter of if... it's a matter of when."
Just then, Daphne brushed against a cardboard box, knocking it to the ground. There was a heavy thump and clang, but Boots acted as if someone had just set off an explosion. He leaped behind a chair and shouted for everyone to get down.
"We're under attack!" he shouted.
Granny helped him back to his feet and assured him the invasion had not yet begun. When he had calmed himself, he went back to his search.
"There's no holes down here and no tracks upstairs. I suspect it was only one mouse. Morgan probably carried it in from outside. They can leap onto a coat and cling to it for days. Mice are sneaky. In fact, their name comes from a Sanskrit word for thief."
"Could it be something other than a mouse?" Uncle Jake asked.
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know--a little person, perhaps a Lilliputian?"
"Sorry, Jake, that's not my specialty, but anything's possible."
Granny reached into her handbag and found a pen and a small scrap of paper. "Would you call us if there are any other unexplained situations like this one?"
Boots nodded. "You on some big case, Relda?"
Granny smiled. "We are Grimms. This is what we do."
*
"I cant believe the effect that woman had on me," Uncle Jake said as they drove through town. "I think she's got some kind of magic over men."
"I half expected you to offer to scrub her floors," Granny grumbled.
Uncle Jake laughed. "Don't worry, Mom. I'm not going to bring a witch into the family. I've got my eye on a princess."
"You should have had your eye on finding clues," Granny scolded him. She turned in her seat and looked at the girls. "Well?"
Sabrina and Daphne gaped at her.
"What are you asking us for?" Sabrina sputtered.
"Because you two are detectives. This is your case. What have you detected so far?" the old woman asked.
Daphne shrugged, causing Sabrina to grimace. She was hoping her little sister had noticed something she hadn't.