Dear Gina, Losing Your Boss Must've Been Really Hard On You. How Are You Coping?

Lord Barok Van Zeiks,

We are immensely thankful to receive a response from you. The art of science is the art of collaboration. Every little bit propels us further into the future. We are disappointed to hear the falsity of the rumors, but some of our members have expressed concern there has been a misunderstanding. We are seeking information on a "land crocodile". A very large member of the monitor lizard family, theorized to be residing somewhere in the Indonesian islands. While dragons of myth would be ground breaking, all of our members agree that they reside firmly in legend.

We a currently drafting a separate inquiry regarding how how the exotic animals were maintained when they were alive. Our condolences on your fathers passing.

-Zoological Society of London

To the Zoological Society of London,

Thank you for clearing up the confusion. My apologies for believing that you were referring to the mythical beast, I have a friend who is prone to flights of fancy, and quite possibly does believe that dragons, the great winged lizards, do exist. I have humoured him in his search as of late, and thus it has been on my mind.

As for your true question of dragons, I do not know of this large lizard of which you speak. While my parents were world travelers, I have always much preferred to stay in my home country. I have not gone anywhere near such a place where you believe these dragons may be found.

As for the exotic animals, I do not know if there is any particular way to know how he obtained them. I highly doubt it was in any sort of legal way. I regret to say that I do not have any further information that I can give you.

Signed, Lord Barok van Zieks

To Dr. Harebrayne,

Your transportation device thingy is impressive and all, but the real important question is:

can it run DOOM?

To zhorrot,

I don't know what you mean by this question, but I have been informed that Barok feels an immense sense of doom whenever he hears loud noises as I reconstruct my machine!

Despite the fact that I have quite expert help in the form of Enoch, Sherlock, and Iris, no science is without its own flaws, and bumps, scrapes, and minor blowings-up are rather common.

Thank you for your question! Albert Harebrayne

Can I hold chuunosuke please?

Dearest Anon:

You are absolutely free to hold Chuunosuke! He seems to have a penchant for chaos, despite me not making him that way, so do watch any snacks you may have on your person!

As Papa sometimes says, he makes for a crumby companion.

Please treat him with care!! Love, Iris

Hi!!!

Albert what is the nicest thing Barok van Zieks has done for you?

Hello, anon!!

Having been asked this question twice in such few days, I have been reflecting on the relationship between the two of us. All my life, I have never had a friend like him. He understands me in a way that no one else does. And, I know that he does not judge me for who I am, how I act, and, most importantly, how I feel.

And so, it is with this knowledge that I brought up my particular feelings towards him the other night. The two of us were laying in comfortable silence in the morning, as we often do, when I expressed the depth of my affection towards him, how much he means to me.

I can now say with confidence that the nicest thing Barok has ever done for me is to return my affections, and enter into this exciting new part of my life. I cannot wait to see where our experiment goes from here.

With a heart light as a feather, Albert Harebrayne

dear sherlock holmes: do any of mr mikotobas friends ever ask you to dance. if yes, do they say "go white boy, go" and if not, would you dance for them hypothetically

Dearest Ribbonroad,

I'm afraid to bring the mood down, but Yuujin does seem to be running out of friends. That being said, Jigoku was a rather large fan of the term 'jig', and therefore he and I ended up doing a lively jig together whenever we saw one another.

He did not use the phrase you mentioned, as I have never heard anyone use that phrase before. As for if I would dance for him... Ah, it would be hard to say no!

Sherlock Holmes

Dear Mr. sholmes

While I know you use your great powers of deduction exclusively for good, with only the occasional frivolity. What would you do if you decided to pursue more unlawful activities? An evil alter ego perhaps?

Best,

My dear,

I am glad to hear that you have such an opinion of me! I will admit, there are times wherein I will commit a crime if I think it will right a wrong, though I do prefer to be on the side of the law.

In terms of my more unlawful activities, I do think it would be interesting to describe a theoretical crime that may be done, with just enough clues to solve it, and if the individuals I give such a puzzle to cannot figure it out, the crime would commence. Does that make sense? What a puzzle!

Signed, Detective Herlock Sholmes

P.S. - I do quite enjoy the indecipherable symbol you've sent me! It happened to puzzle me.

dr mikotoba do you think other people feel the same positive emotion about mr holmes' strange and peculiar vibe that you do, or do you have to pretend you are merely looking past it

Dear Ribbonroad,

I am afraid that many people cannot appreciate Holmes' unique charm. He is a fascinating man who can add so much to one's life if they simply let him, though most people are far too afraid to let him do so. He is an unpredictable man, and his particular flavor of spice of life occasionally rubs the wrong way against his friends and colleagues.

And by occasionally, I do unfortunately mean most of the time. My friends always asked why I cared so much for him, as he was such a strange person... I'm afraid it's something I cannot explain, but it is something I cannot apologize for. He is a uniquely wonderful man.

Dr. Mikotoba Yuujin

How did Naruhodo and the Mikotobas' boat ride home go? How have things been back in Japan?

Hullo, dear friend.

The trip back to our home country was certainly a bittersweet one. It was not my first time having to say goodbye to my second home, but it could be argued that this time was even more difficult. The three of us managed well enough on the boat, with plenty to do to keep our minds occupied, but as I lay awake in an empty bed, I longed to be with my partner.

I feel immense pride for those two fine young adults. They have been getting along better and better as of late, sharing an experience that few could possibly hope to understand. I long for such camaraderie myself.

Things have been successful in Japan. The three of us have worked hard to implement new ideas within our legal system, adding some contingencies in the hopes of stopping any situations like that of The Professor to happen in our country.

I would like to say I do not regret the choice to leave immediately, but I cannot say that in full confidence. I go back and forth on whether or not I made the right idea.

In short, the situation is complex but progressing smoothly. Signed, Dr. Yuujin Mikotoba

hosonaga-san what is your favorite disguise youve ever utilized on a mission

To Ribbonroad:

I shall have you know that I cannot, will not, be discovered this easily! As I am an incredible master of disguise and could be anyone, anywhere, at any time, it would be utterly foolish for me to admit what my favorite disguise is!

However, that being said, I suppose I could tell you about one of my disguises I have retired.... Hm.

All I will say is that I am quite fond of turtles.

Signed, Detective Satoru Hosonaga

For Madame Tuspells:

I would like to preface this by saying I am a great admirer of yours, of your work as an artist and of your determination in the way you effectively utilized ✨girl power✨ when you broke into the cemetery that Fateful Night and contributed to Lord Stronghart's downfall 🤭💖.

That being said, what have you been up to since the events of that November when The Great Secret Trial was held? It is my understanding that since Lord Van Zieks made the truth about the Professor case public, you were formally asked to close down your special exhibit. How have you been since then? Are you planning to replace your special exhibit with another new work?

Best wishes,

Anon

Bonsoir, Anon.

I am always thankful to hear from a happy customer! While I do appreciate any sort of publicity, good publicity does tend to help me. As for the downfall of that old man, well, I am happy to rid the world of such men. Men who demand instead of ask.

That trial has changed the environment in this foggy city. The fog descended for a while, muddying the minds of everyone on the streets, curdling the joy that was in the air from the great exhibition. In those months, my beautiful museum was closed. I used the time to create new exhibits... including one about that very trial.

I have discussed the events with many of the people I met in that trial, and while I wanted to do a figure of that detective who was killed, a fierce young girl convinced me not to. A shame, too, as it was so well preserved in that photograph...

Ah, well. I am fortunate to be joined in my creative and sales endeavors by a charming young lady with an affinity for flames. The two of us have gotten on like a... like she says, like a barn on fire.

Esmeralda Tusspells