There's one more, aside of the hoof prints and the shield. On one of the fallen boards in the burned Inn, there is a tiny little badge of an officer. That quest starts out called "Lieutenant Paval Reethe"

I do wish there was more to this quest, but sadly, I haven't found anything.

When you hand in this quest go to the inn at 30, 48. In there you will see a shield on the wall, hoof prints at the entrance of the inn and a guards badge on one of the planks on the floor of the inn. Click on them to accept the quests then return to Captain Garran Vimes to hand them in. Follow those quests to their completion.

I think they may have taken the quest out :( I can't get it anymore.

hi

I collected all 3 quests perfectly easy and completed without problems, so none has been deleted in patch/update

I have done part 1: black shield, part 2: Mysterious foot prints part 3: the deserters part 4: searching for reethe. Well i found him myself (after hastil ran&nbsp off to find him) but what i am wondering is if you have to go find hastil somewhere in the marshes...because at this point after all the quests it seems to be the end...but proably isnt just..cant figured out what to do next.

Incase anyone was interested the quest title is an obscure reference to Jack the Ripper, who had the alternative name Smiling Jack. The song Blood Red Sandman by rock group Lordi which is about Jack the Ripper contains the line "They called me Smiling Jack"

not the "tower" captin is in the citadel

look for gaurd byron by the Inn in theramore to start this one.

this comment might be more newer than these following comments but you are saying if you do the James Hyjal quest than its like the same as doing Guard Byron except different locations leading to the same quest by Vimes giving you the clues?

By chance I found the next part of this quest, although it's not a 'chain'. If you go the burned out inn located right where Dusthollow March and The Barrens meet, you will find attached to the fireplace a shiled. Click it to start a quest called "The Black Shield". https://classicdb.ch/quest=1253&nbsp 

The odd thing about this one is the quest window is silver and not black like all the others.

what the hell is the point of this quest....

quest seems to lead to the same place James Hyal (from wetlands) does i did Hyal, and immediately lost the ability to take this quest

Okay, I've hopefully done all the quests to this "Shady Rest Inn" scene. Except i cant talk to Guard Byron, never could, is he the queststarter to the whole thing? I started this chain in Wetlands...

Correct me if I'm wrong ^^

Heres the layout for completing this quest which is a series:
1. Find Smiling Jim sitting on the ground outside the Inn in Theramore. Click him, he says a sad little rhyme.
2. The guard standing near Jim says to talk to Captain Vimes.
3. Captain Vimes refers to a burned-down Inn (Shady Rest Inn) on the border of Barrens and Dustwallow.
4. Seek the Inn, super-easy to find, just go to the end of the road to the west. You'll find a shield hanging on the wall. take it back to captain vimes...
5. Captain Vimes sends you with the shield to the blacksmith. Return to Captain Vimes..
6. He says you should look for more clues. so you go back and find some prints in the ground (gee the culprit appears to be bovine!)
7. Return to Vimes with the news. He will send another NPC to look at the prints. now go back to the Shady Rest Inn and locate Lieutenant Paval Reethe's Badge (which is very hard to see on one of the grey boards laying on the ground). Return (with the badge) to Captain Vimes.
9. He refers you to the clerk 2 feet away.
10. Clerk advises you to return to Captain Vimes who is 2 feet behind him. Nice exp there.. thanks clerk!
11. Vimes gives you a quest called THE DESERTERS which looks like you have to attack a guy named Jackan. this is a level 38 quest. Should probably look that up from this point as i haven't done it yet p

It's because you have already done the other pre-quest that send you to start this chain.

You either start it with:
'They Call Him Smiling Jim' in Theramore Isle
or
'James Hyal' in Stormwind City (Quest #1301) you can not get/complete both.

Both of them end up sending you to Captain Garran Vines that points you to the Shady Rest Inn, where you can get the following quests that follow this chain by 3 items at the burned inn:
- The Black Shield: (Quest #1253) Suspicious Hoofprints: (Quest #1284) Lieutenant Paval Reethe: (Quest #1252)

Previously detailed post was excellent, just a couple of clarifications.

Definitely get all three of the objects - hoofprints, shield, badge at the same time.

The shield and badge are inside the inn and the hoofprints are in front and to the left as you look at the inn from the road.

ctloc of shady rest in is 29,47

Well you dont even have to do the smiling Jim part for this series of quests.

Hey I am level 39 (Alliance) and I can't start the quest, I found the guard on the south west corner of the Inn standing on a small mound with Smiling Jim sitting close behind him but I can't talk to the guard and when I talk to Jim he sings about beer and crap. Is there another quest I need to finish first? I read on the Black Shield quest that you need this one done before you can do that one so I don't want to miss out on 2 quests.

I found all 3 items in the first trip but the badge is the hardest one to see. You see three grey boards on the floor inside the inn. The badge is a very very tiny white dot on the board that is the closest to the entrance of the inn. Move your mouse on the board and with luck you will see it =)

BTW You dont have to get the shield, badge and hoofprints seperatly. I got all three on one trip to the inn.

doesnt work on northdale