ROOK: So I left Gino's and—
Hold on. Gotta get some gameplay info in.
ROOK: WHAT?!? Oh, whatever.
(Every once in a while, a yellow box with text in it pops up at the top of the screen. You may, but don't have to (except the first one), click on it with the remote to see what it's saying in full. It'll dim the screen and put a yellow text box over it, which is identified by the first one as a tutorial. You press A again to close it. The second one comes right after the first and says "B Run". Basically, you hold B while you're moving the Control Stick to run. This is in contrast to My Sims and My Sims Kingdom for the Wii, where you just hold the Control Stick farther from center.)
ROOK: Done?
For now.
ROOK: ... Okay, so from there, I ran over to the park. I stopped at a trash can and reached in. ... Hey, you never know.
ROOK: That is either a human brain in there, or a pile of spaghetti. I'm gonna go with spaghetti.
Did you eat it?
ROOK: Ew! This is My Sims Agents, not Earthbound! I entered the park, and there was Poppy and a man with spiky hair and a wicked goatee. There was a dog beside the man.
ROOK: Hey, Poppy. So, explain this dog situation to me.
POPPY: Well, I was minding my own business here pruning flowers... and then, when my back was turned, this bad man stole Dogwood!
MORCUBUS: Hmph! What nonsense. The name's Morcubus, and the little girl is simply a sore loser.
ROOK: Hello.
MORCUBUS: While she spins an interesting tale, the dog is mine! And his name isn't Dogwood... it's Killfang, dog-disciple of shadow and flame!
ROOK: Wouldn't the flame... never mind.
POPPY: No! That name is sad and bad! He's my Dogwood! He's always with me, and was with me right up until this bad man stole him!
ROOK: The dog walked a little bit forward, and Morcubus matched him.
MORCUBUS: Ah, Killfang. See how he flocks to me? Obviously he is mine! He has been mine since the dawn of time!
ROOK: He let off one of those evil laughs of his.
POPPY: No he's not!!!
MORCUBUS: Well, then prove it, little girl!
POPPY: Um...OK...well, I know Dogwood best...
ROOK: Morcubus shook his head.
POPPY: ...and he loves his pink squishy ball!
ROOK: Can I see this ball you're talking about? Perhaps I can...
POPPY: ...I lost it...
ROOK: Okay, you two. Let me get to the bottom of this. I'll determine who's telling the truth here.
ROOK: I figured I needed to find the ball. I checked the fountain. The sound of the water was peaceful, but there was no ball inside. I checked some of the bushes. There was a boxwood. It would have been amusing to find Dogwood's ball there, but no such luck. There was a spider in the next one, and grubs in the one after that. Finally, the one by the trash can by the exit to the forest area of the park yielded the ball. I held it up to Dogwood. He seemed to take to it. Score one for Poppy. I wondered about the dog's prints. I took out my magnifying glass—
By pressing up on the Directional Pad.
ROOK: ...Pressing what, now?
Nothing, nothing.
ROOK: Anyway, I started looking at them. They seemed to be heading that way just because the dog wanted to go there. Could be a point for Morcubus. I put away my magnifying glass—
By pressing down.
ROOK: Are you going to do that every time I take out my magnifying glass and put it away?
No.
ROOK: Good.
Just with new stuff.
ROOK: Argh. Okay. I opened my case book. I could check for more footprints, talk to Morcubus, or talk to Killwood. Dogfang. Whatever. So I started with asking the dog.
ROOK: Why are you freaking out over here, boy? is it because you love Morcubus?
???: Grr...yipyip!!!
ROOK: Oh. You don't seem to like him. What is it, then?
???: Yip yip yip! ...*drool*
ROOK: Oh yeah? Something over there? Okay...I think...
ROOK: I guessed that his real desire might be for something out behind Gino's. I decided to ask the two about it, starting with Morcubus.
ROOK: So, Morcubus, what do you know about the dog's habits?
MORCUBUS: First off, the dog is named Killfang. Secondly, he loves destroying bones!
ROOK: I didn't say he wasn't Killfang. Is this what you, the owner, normally let him do?
MORCUBUS: HAHAHA! Why, yes! My work provides me with many leftover bones to give to my stalwart mutt!
ROOK: I was afraid to ask what it was he does, at that point.
ROOK: Alright then, we'll see how much he enjoys them. I'll be back...
ROOK: Then I talked to Poppy.
ROOK: Poppy, are you sure you were in the park the whole time?
ROOK: Oddly, not the question I wanted to ask.
Yeah, I couldn't choose it from the list of questions.
ROOK: Yeah, okay, that makes — WHAT?!?
Never mind.
ROOK: I'll try not to.
POPPY: Yeah Rook, I wandered a bit, but I've been here the whole time. I promise.
ROOK: OK Poppy, I'll keep looking around for answers.
ROOK: I wanted to believe her, but on a whim, I used my magnifying glass. Her prints led out of the park and up to Gino's. I'd have to ask him about this, especially as the dog's prints didn't seem to accompany them. Maybe he'd also have some bones or know where I could get one. Inside, I saw Travis was there, so I figured, why not.
ROOK: Do you know who owns the dog in the park?
TRAVIS: I'm not sure!
ROOK: Okay, Trav. Thanks for nothin'!
TRAVIS: Heh, sorry dude!
ROOK: So, I moved on to Gino.
ROOK: Hi Gino. Have you seen Poppy and her dog recently?
GINO: Poppy? Why yes! She came in here just recently to eat lunch.
ROOK: I see. And did you see her dog with her?
GINO: Her dog? No, I didn't see a dog with her.
ROOK: Thank you very much, Gino.
ROOK: I wondered why she had lied about that. I'd have to talk to her about that later. But first...
ROOK: Oh! Gino, there's one more thing...
GINO: Yes?
ROOK: Do you have any leftover bones?
GINO: Leftover bones are immediately discarded out behind my pizzeria! It's in the city health codes, you know.
ROOK: Thanks again, Gino. I'll go back to the dumpster and help myself.
GINO: That's truly disgusting!
ROOK: Hey, Gino...solving mysteries is messy work sometimes.
ROOK: So I went around back. There was the dumpster... and a few crates. I wondered what was in them, so I took out my trusty crowbar... *sigh* Go ahead...
Huh? Oh! By pressing left on the Directional Pad.
ROOK: Glad that's over. I used it to pry the lid open—
By pressing A, then shaking the remote.
ROOK: Oh brother. Anyway, the first crate I searched had cookware in it. The next, cheese. Mmm... The last one had... jerky in it. I took one, figuring that was a possible lure for the dog if it turned out not to be the bones. I did find a likely bone in the dumpster, and went back to the park. I had to talk to Poppy, because her lie bugged me.
ROOK: Poppy, about your visit to Gino's... earlier on you said the dog was always with you. But I spoke with Gino, and he claims that you went into his pizzeria to get lunch, and he didn't see a dog with you.
POPPY: Ooooh....! Yes, It's true...I left Dogwood by himself. But it was just for a moment! I promise!
ROOK: I remembered that she promised she'd been there the whole time, too, but I decided not to press it.
POPPY: My big sister Violet said that I'm too young to take care of a dog, and I didn't want to disappoint her...that's why I lied...
ROOK: I decided to be gentle with her. What else could I do?
Well, there was the "scare her straight" option, but I usually can't bring myself to pick it.
ROOK: ... Okay.
ROOK: That's okay, Poppy. But remember, I'm trying to help you. I need to know the truth!
POPPY: Okay! Sorry, Rook...
ROOK: I decided to test the dog's reactions to the two items.
ROOK: Here, boy! Have a bone!
???: *Grrrrrrrr....*
ROOK: He didn't seem to like the bones. So...
ROOK: Here, boy...is this jerky what you were looking for? And if so, why didn't you just, you know, go around the wall? It's not like there's a gate...
???: *Nom nom nom*
ROOK: Well, that settled it. It was time to report my findings.
ROOK: Poppy, I've solved the case! Oh, and I guess this involves you, too, Morcubus...
POPPY: That's great!
ROOK: Dogwood definitely belongs to Poppy.
POPPY: Hooray! Come here, Dogwood! Here, boy!
ROOK: Dogwood immediately leapt into her arms.
MORCUBUS: This is an outrage! I demand an explanation!
ROOK: You told me that Dogwood loved chewing bones, but clearly he does not.
MORCUBUS: What?! Who doesn't love chewing on bones?
Search me as to why he decided to use that as proof if he thought that.
ROOK: No kidding. And I was really afraid to ask his line of work at that point.
ROOK: It was Poppy who identified Dogwood's favorite toy: this pink ball.
ROOK: I gave her the ball, and she started playing with Dogwood.
MORCUBUS: But that little girl lied about me taking the dog! He just walked up to me!
ROOK: He was just hungry. He only walked your way because he was trying to get over to Gino's jerky.
ROOK: Poppy and the dog ran off together.
MORCUBUS: Feel pretty clever, don't you, detective? Well don't! You've made a very powerful enemy today.
ROOK: It's just a dog.
MORCUBUS: I don't care about the dog! That was just entertainment.
ROOK: As in, the scene where the villain is mean?
MORCUBUS: ...Sure. But you... you tried to make me look like a fool.
No great feat there.
ROOK: Shh! I'll handle this! I didn't do anything except find the truth.
MORCUBUS: The "truth" is I'll kill you if I can. And believe me, I can.
ROOK: ... I'm not sure you were supposed to be quoting 'Code of Honor' there...
MORCUBUS: Oh, right. Ahem. The "truth" is you'll rue the day you crossed... the infernal Morcubus!!
ROOK: More laughter. He left.
ROOK: Yikes. What's the deal with that guy? I better head back to Gino's.
Next time: we meet someone new!
