Prompt: Class final assignment, I don't remember the exact prompt, but it had to do with squirrel's and them stealing things so :/

Hutchingson was sitting on the hard stone park bench. He was attempting to read the newspaper he had just purchased, but his mind kept wandering to the case he was working on. The police, who were unable to solve any of their own murders, had unsurprisingly hit a dead end with their latest murder case. Hutchingson had graciously accepted their invitation to provide assistance, but even he was struggling to find any clues that pointed towards the killer. He had been wanting to take a break and not think about the case. That was proving rather difficult as ever paper in the whole park had the case glaring at him from the front pages. Hutchingson glared back at the headline before tossing the paper aside with a sigh. Of course, the papers were taunting him now. He couldn't go anywhere without being reminded that he was failing miserably.

Hutchingson took at a pocket watch from his pocket. Technically, the pocket watch was evidence because it had belonged to the victim and even more technically, Hutchingson wasn't supposed to remove evidence from the police station. However, Hutchingson always felt that those sorts of rules applied to other people and not to him because he knew he was smarter than the average person. The fact that the victim had a pocket watch bugged Hutchingson because he thought that the victim wasn't the type of person to own such a thing. He set down the watch and glared at the trees as if it was their fault he was unable to figure out the clues of this case.

Squirrels were running around the park and Hutchingson watched them with an air of indifference until he noticed one of them scampering away with something that looked suspiciously like the pocket watch he had. He swore and ran after the squirrel. That pocket watch was evidence he wasn't even supposed to have. He could only imagine having to explain to the police department that he had let evidence get stolen by a squirrel. That would make him look like an idiot, especially on top of the fact that he couldn't solve this case. The squirrel ran through the park, Hutchingson right behind it. People stopped at stared, but Hutchingson was too concerned with losing the pocket watch to care. The squirrel ran up a tree and Hutchingson paused beneath the branches to catch his breath, looking for a way up.

"Give that back." He shouted at the squirrel. "That's not yours." The squirrel chattered at him. Hutchingson swore rather loudly and glared at the frustratingly tiny furry creature. Said creature was currently attempting to eat his evidence. Hutchingson wished he had his shotgun with him. That would make short work of this problem. The squirrel grabbed the chain and ran off down the branches. The pocket watch slipped off the chain and fell several feet to the ground. Hutchingson could see it break into several pieces on impact. He hoped he could glue it back together, maybe nobody would notice it was broken. When he picked up the pieces, he was surprised to find no gears. Instead, there was a concealed note. Hutchingson scooped the rest of the pieces into his pocket and, abandoning the squirrel, ran back to the police station with the new evidence. Maybe this would be what he needed to crack the case.

You will recognize Hutchingson from my steampunk story "Reign of Gears."