Rebecca asked timidly, quelled by the canine Inspector’s formidable presence.

“Plans for a horrible destructive force. A force so great that it can level an entire city.” He leaned over the table, his face a few inches from Baloo’s. He was so close that his luxuriant moustaches brushed against the big bear’s nose. He peered at the big bear suspiciously. “If it falls into the wrong hands, I shudder to think what could happen.”

Baloo and Rebecca gasped in astonishment.

The inspector stood upright and slammed his palm down on the table. “How do you plead?”

“Innocent!” Baloo said vehemently. “We’re tourists, not thieves, an’ we’ve never heard of Le Whatsihoosit Whatever.”

“We’re on our honeymoon,” Rebecca added quietly.

“A likely story.” He pulled two pictures from his uniform pocket and slammed them on the table in front of them. “Can you deny this?”

They were the photographs that Lester had taken of Baldrik’s daring escape.

“Oh...my!” Rebecca gasped.

Baloo was silent as he stared at the incriminating evidence.

Inspector Deuseau smiled grimly. He had taken Baloo’s silence for guilt. “I thought so.”

“That ain’t me,” Baloo said through clenched teeth.

“Impossible, monsieur.” The inspector tapped the picture with his finger. “He looks just like you.”

“Yeah, but...” Baloo faltered. He stared at the pictures, incredulous.

“Can you provide an alibi?”

Immediately, Rebecca piped up. “He was with me all day. A-and night.”

“An’ she was with me,” Baloo concluded.

Inspector Deuseau threw up his hands. “Bah! That proves nothing. Both of you could be lying.”

Baloo crossed his heart, which was a difficult task due to his handcuffed wrists. “I swear on the Sea Duck’s pink slip that I didn’t steal those plans.”

Inspector Deuseau peered at Baloo, then turned away with a scoffing noise. “Alors, if you won’t tell us about the plans, then perhaps you can shed some light on this.” He slapped a scrap of paper down on the table before them.

The newlyweds looked at the crude, enigmatic symbols drawn on the crumpled paper. First was a bird with an oval over its head. Then there were three bells; each bell was encased in an individual square. Finally, the letters “I” and “Q”.

“I.Q.,” Baloo read aloud. “What’s that?”

Rebecca smirked. “Nothing you’ll ever have to worry about.”

“Very funny, Rebecca,” Baloo replied with a frown.

Rebecca shrugged. “Reflex.”

“Ya mean, like this?” Baloo playfully nudged her shoulder.

She smiled and nudged him back.

“We believe that I.Q. may be the initials of an associate of the thief or a secret code.” Inspector Deuseau stared suspiciously at Baloo. “Perhaps you know...monsieur.”

“How many times do I gotta tell ya that I’m innocent?”

The inspector replied coldly, “Until it is proven.”

“Here.” With difficulty, Baloo removed his wallet from his shirt pocket. “Look at my pilot’s license. This’ll prove once an’ for all who I am.”

“They provide you with such excellent ones these days,” Deuseau said with a sneer.

“Who do?” Baloo asked, dropping his wallet on the table.

“They do. The Swatzis.”

“Swatzis?” Rebecca yelped.

“Hold the mayo, Inspector! You’ve got it all wrong. We ain’t Swatzis. We’re tourists.”

The inspector gave Baloo a hard, calculating look before addressing the guard at the door. “I’ve heard enough. Lock him up.”

“What?” Baloo exclaimed.

The burly guard roughly yanked Baloo to his feet by the back of his shirt and shoved him towards the door.

“No!” Rebecca cried. She jumped up and hurried around the guard and Baloo to block the door with her slender body. Her imploring, tear-filled eyes turned towards the inspector. “You can’t do this! We’ve only been married two days. We have two children who need their father. A stupid pirate ruined our wedding. I won’t let you ruin our honeymoon!” She buried her face in her husband’s chest and sobbed.

Inspector Deuseau cocked an eyebrow. “Two children...and you are on your honeymoon?”

“They ain’t mine. I mean, they ain’t mine yet. Aw, forget it.” He crooned soothingly, “Easy, Becky, everything’s gonna be fine.”

The inspector started pacing the room, thinking hard. The faster he paced, the more furiously he twirled the tip of his moustache. Then, he stopped and studied the couple. Something about them had touched his heart. He didn't know if it was Rebecca's stormy tears or Baloo’s sad, scared face as he attempted to comfort his wife. Whatever it was, he felt sympathy for their predictament, something that he had never before felt for any criminal. If there was one thing he prided himself on, besides his moustaches, it was his ability to read people's characters. And he was getting the sense that they weren't acting. But then there was all the evidence against them... Truly torn, he sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. “Absurd!”

“Huh?” Baloo said.

Rebecca choked back a sob and turned her attention to the inspector.

Deuseau started to pace furiously. He muttered to himself, “After all, I am a hopeless romantic and there may be some truth in what you are saying...”

Baloo nodded. “Every word of it, honest engines.”

“Alors, I will give you the chance to clear your name.”

“Why, Inspector...” Rebecca said, wiping her eyes.

Baloo’s face brightened. “Say, that’s real decent of ya.”

Inspector curtly checked their thanks with a “But...”

“But?” Baloo and Rebecca echoed.

“You will be carefully overseen at all times. I will give you a warning now: if you try to escape, I will be merciless in my search for you. I will find you no matter where you hide. Comprendez-vous?”

Baloo muttered to Rebecca, “I understood everythin’ but that ‘vous’ part.”

After flashing an annoyed look at her husband, Rebecca said, “We understand, Inspector.”

He motioned to the guard to unlock their handcuffs. “We start now. This minute.”

“What are we gonna do?” Baloo rubbed at his sore wrists.

“Decipher this clue,” the inspector replied, frowning at the scrap of paper.

Pearee Police Station
Three Hours Later

Inspector Deuseau mechanically paced the perimeter of the room and twirled his moustache while listening to Baloo’s and Rebecca’s guesses about the clue.

Rebecca, who sat hunched over the scrap of paper on the table, was saying, “Could this bird be a turkey? A goose, maybe?”

Through a yawn, Baloo said, “Our goose’ll be cooked if we can’t figure this out.”

“Okay. Let’s forget about the bird and move onto the bells.”

“None of this is ringin’ any bells.” Baloo leaned back in his metal chair and propped his feet on the table.

Rebecca frowned and pushed his feet off the table. “Why are they surrounded by squares? And why do you think that there are three of them?”

“‘Cause that little birdy likes to eat three square meals a day?” Baloo said with a weak chuckle.

“Baloo...” Rebecca let out an exasperated sigh. “Stop kidding around.”

Baloo slumped in his chair and rubbed his eyes wearily. “Sorry, Becky. We’ve been workin’ on this for three hours. My brain’s fried.” To himself, he added, “All I wanted to do was scout out some trout...”

“Three hours?” Rebecca said, her eyes brightening with a thought. “Maybe the three bells is a code for a meeting time. Is that possible, Inspector?”

“Oui. Three o’clock.” As his thoughts sped up, so did his pacing. “C’est possible. If only we knew where...”

“This clue istelling us where.” Rebecca eagerly leaned over the paper. She traced the drawings with her forefinger. “The circle over the bird’s head could be a halo. Angel Bird? St. Bird? St. Bird...Square?”

Through a yawn that was bigger than his previous yawn, Baloo said, “There’s a St. Lark’s Square in Veniece.”

Inspector Deuseau stopped pacing to peer at him suspiciously. “How do you know that?”

“Look, I’m a cargo pilot,” Baloo snapped. He balefully stared at the inspector. “I’ve been to Veniece a time or three. Or is that a crime, too?”

“Inspector, do you think that the thief may have an appointment at St. Lark’s Square?”

“C’est possible, madame,” he replied, keeping his eyes trained on Baloo. “Or not. It may be a clever ruse to throw us off the scent.”

“What do I gotta do to prove that I’m innocent?” Baloo cried, completely exasperated.

“Prove it through this clue,” the inspector said with a shrug. He resumed his pacing.

“Okay, fine,” Baloo muttered grumpily as he turned his full attention to the clue.

“If the bird and the bells are a meeting place and time...” Rebecca began.

“Then I.Q. could be the initials of the guy he’s meetin’,” Baloo concluded.

Suddenly, Inspector Deuseau stopped pacing and dug piece of paper out of his pocket with a murmured, “I wonder...”

“What’s that?” Rebecca.

“A list Dr. Bonet, the man from whom the plans were stolen, gave me. The plans are so complicated that only a nuclear physicist would know what to do with them.”

“So the thief would hafta give ‘em to a pharmacist!” Baloo said triumphantly.

“That’s physicist,” Rebecca corrected with a smile.

“Exactly.” The inspector quickly scanned the list. “There are two names with the initials I.Q.”

Baloo groaned. “There would hafta be two.”

“Dr. Illian Quark and Dr.

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