Living With Red Daniel 3; A Mystery?

Red Daniel; So, here's my pitch! You and I reenact Secret Of Kells, with me as Brendan and you as Brother Aidan! And Pounce could be Pangur-Ban!

Acelegin; Okay, we both know if you were cast as Brendan, you'd try to seduce Aisling.

Red Daniel; Well, she's a fairy whose implied to be hundreds of years old, so she's technically legal. Probably...

Acelegin; So who would the hedgehog play?

Red Daniel; Wait, what hedgehog?

Acelegin; Oh, right, I have a hedgehog now. I call her Saki.

Red Daniel; D'aaaaw! Can I see her?

Acelegin; Sure, just keep an eye on the cat. I don't need my pets eating each other...

Acelegin retrieves Saki and shows her to Red Daniel

Red Daniel; Aw! Can I hold her?

Acelegin; Are you gonna intentionally stab yourself on her quills?

Red Daniel; What? No! Of course not...

Acelegin stares blankly at Red Daniel

Red Daniel; Maybe...

Acelegin; I'm putting her back in her cage now.

Red Daniel; Okay, fine. I need to get to work anyway...

Acelegin; What time are you getting off?

Red Daniel; Oh, I get off around 2 a.m. most nights.

Acelegin; Oh, okay.

Red Daniel winks and gives a thumbs up

Red Daniel; And I'm not talking about my job!

Acelegin facepalms

Acelegin; God damn it, Red...

Red Daniel; You walked right into that one, dude. I'll be back sometime after midnight. Don't wait up!

Later, at Sal's bar

Red Daniel; Yo Sal! What do you need me doing tonight?

Sal; Go take inventory. I'll come up with something else for you to do once you're finished with that.

Red Daniel; Got it, dude!

Sal; Don't call me that.

Red Daniel goes to take inventory, while a female coworker approaches Sal.

Sal; Hello, Alyssa. Is something wrong?

Alyssa; Another of my necklaces went missing earlier. You haven't seen it, have you?

Sal sighs

Sal; Again with this? This is the third time for you. And your not even the only one losing stuff. Katie and Gerard have both complained about their property disappearing while they're busy.

Alyssa; Well, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but..

Sal; But?

Alyssa; (whispering) I think the new guy's at fault.

Sal; Red Daniel is a lot of things, but I don't think he's the guilty party here.

Alyssa; Then who else could it be!?

Sal; I don't know, but we're not getting anywhere by sitting around pointing fingers.

Red Daniel returns to the room

Red Daniel; Alright, I think I got everything!

Sal; Let me see.

Red Daniel hands Sal the checklist.

Sal; Hm... We're missing a few sandwich buns. We should also have more cases of beer than this. And we're missing an entire pound of frozen venison...

Alyssa glares at Red Daniel

Alyssa; Gee, who could the culprit here be?

Red Daniel; Hey! What's with the accusing tone!

Sal sighs

Sal; Alyssa has it in her head that you may be somehow involved in some recent disappearances around the workplace.

Red Daniel; What!? Are you kidding! I barely got this job! You think I'd risk losing it over some petty larceny?

Alyssa continues glaring at him

Red Daniel; Okay, okay. Tell you what. How about I prove my innocence by catching the real culprit?

Sal; That won't be necessary. Whoever's responsible will slip up eventually, and I'll take care of them myself.

Red Daniel; But I could get Ace's help! And Scooby Doo! He owes me a favor!

Sal; Scooby Doo is a fictional character...

Red Daniel; So are we.

Sal; Point taken.

Red Daniel; Please! I know we can pull it off if you just give us a chance!

Sal; Fine. But if you and the creator can't solve this by the end of the month, I want you to stand down and leave this all to me.

Red Daniel; Sure thing, boss!

Sal; And don't cause any trouble...

Red Daniel; No promises!

Sal; Whatever. In the meantime, the beds in rooms 3 and 8 need to be made. Get on that, will you?

Red Daniel; Yes sir!

Red Daniel heads upstairs

Alyssa; I don't see how you can trust him.

Sal; I know more about Red Daniel than you. We share a creator. As much of an asshole as he is, he's more trustworthy than you give him credit for.

Later, at Acelegin's apartment

Acelegin; So, someone's been stealing shit at your work?

Red Daniel; Yep.

Acelegin raises an eyebrow

Acelegin; And it wasn't you?

Red Daniel; Of course not! I don't steal things just for the hell of it!

Acelegin. Yes. Yes you do.

Red Daniel; Okay, fine! But if it was me, it would be way  more obvious!

Acelegin; That is true. You're not very subtle when it comes to burglary...

Red Daniel; So will you help me?

Acelegin; Okay, fine. We can stake the place out and see if we can find anything. As long as it doesn't interfere with my Winter-Een-Mas plans...

Red Daniel; And we can get Scooby Doo's help!

Acelegin; Not without the licensing rights, we can't. But I can get one or two of my other characters to lend a hand.

Red Daniel; Sound good! Let's shows this mystery who's boss!