Leaving through the gate I was able to catch my first glimpse at Wonderland in thirty years; the result, It was a nightmare. All around the plants were either dead or dying. There was smoke in the distance in almost every direction. I didn't see any citizens either, just a large plain of death. There were bodies of card soldiers lying around as well. It was more than clear to me that something terrible had happened here.
Perhaps the queerest thing of all though was the fact that Wonderland itself seemed to be losing color. A lot of the world looked faded and grey. There was a single path laid out in front of me that lead toward one of the smoke clouds in the distance, I thought it would be best to follow it."
The detective sighed suddenly interrupting Alice.
Alice looked to him impatiently, expecting him to speak and sure enough he did.
"Miss Liddell, How do you expect me to believe all of this?" He urged her. Alice shook her head and pondered the question for a moment before answering.
"Detective I told you right from the beginning that you would not believe any of it. However I can assure you all of it is true, every word." Alice explained. She wasn't as nervous as she had been when she started her story, in fact she had built quite a bit of confidence in herself. The detective frowned for he was very displeased.
"Okay let's say it is true, I was hoping to hear more about your daughter." He went on. "After all she is the reason you are in this situation. She is missing and believed to be dead. The only suspect is you, her mother, a Miss Alice Liddell. The father is dead already so it can't be him. Your house is torn apart only furthering evidence against you. You do understand all of this correct?" He asked. Alice simply nodded and looked down to her feet, fearing the room around her again. The detective smiled at her discomfort and continued. "Answer me this Alice, How long until we get to the details of what happened in this room?"
Alice didn't respond to his question instead she just picked up where she had left off in her story.
"So I began walking along the path but didn't get far before I came to a lone tree on the side of the road. There was nothing all that strange about the tree except for a large grin that floated above one of the branches. To anyone new here It would have been a most curious sight but for me I knew exactly what and who it was.
"Mr. Cheshire Cat I presume." I said with a smile. I was relieved to see a familiar face at last, who might actually have some sense in telling me where Sophie was.
"The missing queen returns or did she ever leave at all? Perhaps it was the rest of us who had left and have now returned." The Cat said as his body appeared, putting a face to that grin.
"Queen? What are you talking about?" I urged him. The Cat disappeared and reappeared on my shoulders.
"I am talking about you. The third queen of Looking-Glass Land. Don't you remember Alice or have you gone mad?" The Cat again reappeared in the tree.
"But of course I remember it, but it was a silly game nothing more!" I stomped my foot getting fed up with his nonsense.
"A game... yes a game. I guess that is a way of looking at it but it is not what I see. Look around child, does this look like a game to you? If so it is a cruel game indeed." For the first time the Cat had no grin with his words. I looked around at the lifeless world around me.
"Are you saying all of this is my fault? Explain yourself Cat!" I demanded.
"Take a seat Alice, I do hope you are prepared for a story."