"Yes, thank you," the faerie Lutari replied, taking the slip of paper from the Scorchio's hand.

Without hesitating. she scribbled Poogle Three on the paper. She knew the Poogles' descriptions all too well and never bet on any other Poogle besides Poogle Three. It was by far her favorite; Poogle Three's only tiny flaw was that he was clumsy when jumping over hurdles, but his speed made up for it.

After returning the slip of paper to the Scorchio, Connie visited the Poogles' stalls. Many Neopets were milling around the place, but only three of them were feeding the Poogles of their choice.

She walked over to Poogle Three and stroked his head. Feeding him a few slices of Dipping Apples, she whispered to the Poogle, "You'd better win this race, okay? I've bet 300 Neopoints on you."

The Poogle looked hopefully at Connie, wagging its short tail. She fed him another slice, then headed for the stadium and waited for the race to start.

Just before the race was about to begin, the Scorchio rushed into the stadium, looking disheveled and worried.

"Everyone, the race has got to wait. Poogle Three is missing!" he announced, looking around at the bidders. "And the person who kidnapped him left a note...

"I can't really tell, a lot of it's smudged," the Scorchio answered.

The loud clamor of the crowd began to grow. It grew so loud that neither the Scorchio nor Connie could hear their own thoughts. Connie actually had to cover her ears.

"Who would do such a thing?"

"I placed my bets on him!"

"Why would anyone do that?"

"How dare they!"

One voice cut through the crowd, causing everyone to grow quiet fast after the voice spoke. "I know who did it."

Without much trouble, certainly less trouble than the crowd gave Connie, a green Wocky walked to the center of the crowd where Connie and the Scorchio were standing. He walked with this swagger in his step - if he had anymore of it, he would fall over. The look on his face showed Connie that he had something to say.

"Who are you?" the Scorchio asked.

"Name's Vince, but call me V," the Wocky answered. "Now would you like to know who took him or not?"

"Of course I would."

Vince's cold and confident gaze met Connie's. He pointed a finger at her accusing her, "It was her..."

"It was you!?"

"Return him immediately!"

"Why would you do such a thing!?"

The crowd was quickly becoming unruly. The Scorchio, acting fast, signaled the Skeith security guards hovering nearby. The guards managed to get to Connie before the crowd, and escorted her and the Scorchio to a nearby office. "V" had vanished as soon as the crowd had turned their attention to Connie.

The Scorchio and Connie went inside the office with just moments to spare before the angry crowd reached them. The guards stationed themselves outside, attempting to calm them.

The Scorchio sat himself behind a small wooden desk. "Please, sit." He gestured towards the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Connie sat. The panic from being the focus of the angry mob set her on edge and made it difficult to relax despite it being quite a comfortable chair.

The Scorchio considered her for a moment in silence. Then he said, "So. You have been accused of theft. Do you have an alibi for the time of the kidnapping?"

Connie, taking several deep breaths, tried to think. "Well," she began...

She rubbed her chin with a paw, trying to think about who might have been standing around her.

"I think there might have a been a young Meerca next to me, near the finish line. He looked like he was skipping Neoschool," she said at last.

The Scorchio frowned. "There's at least 100 Neopians out there. I guess I'll send out an announcement, see if anyone comes forward to say if they saw you."

He turned as if to leave the room. Connie, at the last moment, not being able to constrain herself, leapt forward and took him by the arm.

"Look, please, I come here every day, and always bet on Poogle Three! You must know me, you must recognise me!"

He looked at her for a few long moments.

"Nope, sorry lady, we get a lot of regulars around these parts," he said and walked out.

Connie deflated, letting out a long breath she hadn't realised she was holding. With the Scorchio gone, she was left alone in the small office. She tried the door, but seemingly, it had been locked when he'd exited. She paced for a moment, before sitting back on the chair and curling her tail around her for comfort.

She thought about Vince while she waited, her brow furrowed. Why would he have accused her, and been so sure about it? Who was he? Why would he lie?

"Oh!" she said suddenly, just as the door opened to let the Scorchio back in. She had just realised what small detail hadn't added up about that Wocky...

Before Connie could reply, he continued, "it seems you have an alibi. Two Neopets saw you at the stadium during the time of the kidnapping. You've been cleared."

"That's great!" Connie exclaimed, heaving a sigh of relief. "I may just know who the culprit is."

"Really? Who is it?" The Scorchio's face seemed eager yet sceptical.

"That Wocky, Vince."

"How are you so sure?" his voice was now full of suspicion.

"Because... he left the stadium without watching the race." Connie paused, careful of her choice of words. "Why would he bet and then leave when the race hasn't even started? He would be furious like all the other Neopets, waiting for some news, unless... he didn't spend any neopoints."

The Scorchio's eagerness waned. "I'm afraid I don't agree with you, lady. Neopets who don't bet aren't allowed into the stadium."

"But you allow Neopets with company through, isn't it?" Connie contradicted.

The Scorchio was left speechless.

After a few moments, another thought hit her. "The Meerca!"

Connie's thoughts were racing like the Poogles, trying to get her thoughts gathered. It hit her so suddenly that if she didn't take extra care in trying to explain it, she was afraid that it would't make any sense.

"What if... he was acting like the Meerca's guardian? He seemed way too young to get in without an adult around, right? So what if he pretended to be his caretaker so that both of them could get into the stadium!"

The Scorchio was still speechless, but he was rubbing his chin, trying to think back.

"That...could make sense." He said, "I wouldn't have given that a second thought."

"It would also explain why he was alone near the finish..." Connie said, trying to help her case.

"It's worth looking into, at least until we get some other leads." The Scorchio replied, "I'll put out a notice and see if we can find him."

Just as he was about to leave, a frantic looking Zafara rushed into the office.

"We have a problem!" He said, "Poogle one and two are missing too!"

"We need to find that pesky Wocky before it's too late!" she cried, startling the Scorchio.

"Miss, please, calm youself..." he ushered, but Connie was already through the door and on the summit of Poogle Race Hill.

Faerieland spread out before her, a vast utopia of beauty and freshness. She surveyed the prism-like crystalline pools, the ancient yet breath-taking structures that made up Faerie City.

Connie knew that somewhere, like an impure stain of Rotten Beetroot on her fur, V the Wocky was making a getaway with his infuriating swagger.

Little did she know that the Poogle Race Disappearances were just the beginning of her bad luck.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Have they caught him?”

The Scorchio shook his head. “It wasn’t me who called the Defenders. I think Vince did, and now they want to arrest, well, [i]you[/i].”

Connie’s mouth dropped open. She looked up at Judge Hog. “You think I kidnapped the Poogles? We’ve already sorted this out, Mr Hog sir - it wasn’t me, it was the Wocky we think might have called you.”

“I think you’re going to have to explain this situation to me,” Judge Hog said, frowning. “I’m not sure I quite now what I’m hear for, if it’s not to arrest you for Poogle pinching!"

“Come with me to my office, I’ll tell you what we know so far,” the Scorchio said.

Judge Hog nodded, though, and happily went with him. Connie trotted along behind them. Once they were inside, the two of Neopets quickly explained to the Defender what had happened over the course of the day.

Throughout all of this, the Judge rubbed his chin in concentration. It was only once they’d finished that he spoke.

"He was with a little Meerca boy, you said?” The other two pets nodded.

“You know,” said Connie. “The bit I don’t understand is how they managed to sneak back in and retrieve the other two Poogles without anyone spotting them!”

“Well…perhaps they haven’t left the stadium at all,” Hog said.

“What?!” Connie and the Scorchio frowned at the Defender.

“I’m thinking about it, and how would a schoolboy get away with wondering all over Neopia on a school day without getting caught by someone? There’s no way! And sneaking out, then back in would be far too risky!”

Connie nodded. “So that means…well, where in the stadium could they hide?”

“I think I know where,” said the Scorchio suddenly. "There’s a room underneath the Poogle’s stalls that we never really use. It mostly keeps the spare track blankets and some Christmas decorations. It would be the perfect place to hide, since we never lock it, and I would’nt've checked it!”

“Let’s go,” Judge Hog said, standing and leading the way out of the cramped office room. Connie and the Scorchio had to both jog to keep up with the long strides of the Moehog.

The Scorchio led them through to the back of the stalls. There, he lifted a door in the ground which opened up onto a stairwell. All three went down, Judge Hog first, and soon found themselves in a basement-like room, a few lamps turned in the corners.

“Oh dear,” came the voice of Vince, who was frozen to the spot in the middle of the room. In his hands was a paintbrush of yellow paint - not the magical kind, either. As Connie’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw he was painting none other than her favourite Poogle, number Three!

“Unhand that Poogle!” Judge Hog cried, and his voice echoed around the room.

Vince dropped the paintbrush, which splashed everywhere. He held his hands up, as did the Meerca who squeaked in fright next to him.

“You two are coming with me,” said the Judge.

He pulled out two pairs of handcuffs, and quickly apprehended the two. Vince was crying out in protest, telling the Judge that Barnaby the schoolboy was the mastermind behind it all - that he, poor Vince, had just gotten caught up in the genius criminal plan of the young Meerca. Judge Hog, of course, paid no attention, and began to lead them both up the stairs in front of him. The Scorchio followed behind.

Once they’d left, Connie released a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. She went over to her favourite Poogle, and stroked him on the nose to try and calm his shaking. She started to inspect the paint job Vince had been subjecting Three to. She frowned as she leaned closer.

A few minutes later, the Scorchio returned. “Judge Hog says he’s going to lock Vince away for his bad deeds. Barnaby, of course, they’re hoping to give a good telling off to before returning to his mother. I’m so glad this is all over and tomorrow can be a normal day at the races! The one thing I don’t understand, though, is why they wanted the Poogles in the first place. What were they going to with them?”

“If you come over here, and have a look - do you see those lines painted on his back legs there?” she said, and he nodded, leaning forward. “I think they were going to try and pass them off as Malevolent Sentient Plushie Poogles, so they could scam people out of Neopoints!”

“I’m so glad we caught them before they could get away with it!” he said. “And it’s all thanks to you! From now on, I want you to have the best seats in the house for the Races, and I’ll have Dipping Apples waiting for you to feed to Poogle Three every morning.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Connie said with a smile.