"So you're telling me, this small piece tells you that it's another of the Chesses?"

"It's most likely a ripped-off edge of clothing, but this aroma is definitely from the Cheeses, or someone close to them. We could take it to the labs and figure out what it's made of, or..."

"Or?"

"Analyse just based off of what they'd wear."

"Like, the clothing style, telling if this was intentional or not?"

"Exactly."

The bright yellow piece of cloth was sitting in front of the mother and son. Cashew was giving tips here and there, as it turned out to be not as simple as she thought.

For starters, Buttercream told her that the emerald was hidden in a bar of soap.

She'd thought that the richest family in the Main City would have better ways to hide things than a bar of soap.

"It's bright yellow, meaning that this was a disguise and the thief was in plain sight. Someone must've snuck in pretending to be another person, or..."

Almond turned to face the rich Cookie who was standing at the door, playing a game on his phone.

"Buttercream Choco, who visited this place in the past two weeks?"

"Huh?"

Buttercream looked up from his phone and started counting.

"There were a few business meetings with my mom, you two came, and I think that's it."

"Business meetings? Where exactly?"

"In the basement floors. Wait, we're not in the basement floors, they have separate washrooms. So that means..."

The two Cookies locked eyes and they knew who it was.

"It's Roguefort who stole it."

"Well, you cracked the case."

Cashew clapped her hands.

"It would be quite impossible to catch the culprit since their hideout is unknown and they've been on the run for as long as I can remember, but you've done well."

"Is it really? I don't think Roguefort would intentionally do such a thing." Buttercream Choco commented.

"Wait. On a call with Roguefort, his father did tell him to steal something..."

"Really?" 

"Yeah, his father said something along the lines of 'bring me something from that house' or something."

"That explains it. I knew someone my son chose to be friends with wouldn't do such a thing."

"Mom!"

"Hehe. Now, let's get home and eat some good Jellies as a celebration for your first cracked case, shall we?"

~♤~

A bolt of lightning streaks across the stormy sky. Rain comes pouring from the sky. The windshield wipers on Cashew's car are wiping at full speed, and yet Cashew could barely see the road.

The house is in sight, just a few blocks away, its painted roll cake wood gleaming in the distance.

"This storm is quite a big one, eh?" 

"Yeah, we're lucky we have a car. Everyone's all huddled up in shops and stuff."

Staring at the rain outside, he wondered if Roguefort was safe. The rain continued to pour as if a bucket of water was falling from the sky. Even Cookies with umbrellas started to retreat into nearby shops.

"Wow, rainstorm signals are sure to come with this amount of water pouring from the sky."

Cashew pulled into the house's garage, the door firmly closing before Almond hopped off and went to his room for a change of clothes.

"You heading to your room?"

"Yeah, I'm going to change my clothes before eating!"

He opened the door to his room and saw the unthinkable.

A half-soaked Roguefort was unconscious before him.

~♤~

Almond had immediately alerted his mom about the half-soaked Cookie in his room and Cashew thought of a plan, the two getting to work instantly to prevent more damage. After an hour of trying to wake Roguefort up and dry him, the family's efforts were to no avail as Roguefort was still unconscious, but his dough had dried up a bit.

The mother and son were sitting on the couch, with Cashew calling up a doctor to come to the mansion to see what could be done.

"So I'll come to your house now. We'll handle the patient there."

"Alright, thanks, Doctor."

Cashew hung up before sliding her mobile phone across the table. Roguefort was lying on the yoga mat in front of them, eyes still closed in peace.

"Will he be okay?" Almond asked Cashew, "I'm kind of scared how he ended up here..."

"I don't think he wanted to come. If he did, he wouldn't have chosen such a rainy day. We'll keep him here for now until he wakes up, I guess. Is that fine?"

"Of course. I can't risk losing him..."

Cashew took a look at her son's worried face.

"Now I see why Pecan said to treasure your friendship with Roguefort. Although it's probably not a good time to say this, it's kind of wholesome."

"Mom!"

"I'm just saying. Now, I think the doctor might be here soon."

~♤~

"You just let him go like that? Are you kidding me, Cheddar?!"

The Cheeses, one family member short, were in the living room, with an infuriated Mozzarella standing face to face with a towering Cheddar Cookie.

"I did not know he would burst like that. A good EQ is needed for a thief, right? Let him explore. He'll return soon enough."

"The storm, one of the largest in Cookie history. You were basically leaving him out to die, Cheddar!" Mozza continued, "There is no excuse for that!"

"I did not know that he had a pepper smoke bomb in his arsenal, nor did I know there was going to be a storm!"

"Enough, you two!"

Gouda finally stood up, facing the father and daughter.

"Unless we want to get caught by the millions of Cookies that are searching for us right now, all we can do is wait and hope that he'll come back."

"And let him run free in the wild? Mom, are you serious?"

"Very, Mozza," Gouda replied in a stern tone, "with your...rather recent victory, so many people will be searching for you, and me, and Cheddar right now. If they find us, they will be a hero. There has to be at least a small piece of information about your appearance. They get you, you're dead and the Nuts win this. However, Roguefort's existence is unknown to the public for now, since he hasn't done anything major. That is our only choice unless you want to risk it all."

The long speech from Gouda leaves the two Cookies completely speechless. the room is shrouded in silence before Mozza speaks up.

"She's got a point."

"Good."

The female Cookies perked up.

"He was a disgrace to this family anyway, with his stupid promises."

~♤~

[Originally published Jun 30, 2020]

Oh my god-

Roguefort landed in Almond's room because of plot convenience! Also because he didn't know where he was going! Almond cracks the case!

Yaaaaaaaaaaay!

I'm not crazy I promise.

Anyways, this was quite the crazy chapter. I hope you enjoyed it though-

What will happen next? Are the Cheeses really just gonna sit there and hope?

Find out in the next chapter of Nuts and Cheeses!

Or leave a comment with your guesses if you want to. XD

See you next week!

Next chapter:

"Wait. This was your house?!"

~♤~

"So...what do we do now?"

~♤~

"I pity her. Perhaps she'd be living a better life if it weren't for..."