23:45 is still technically the same day so I did hold up to that daily update goal.
Many of you on noticed that there were some names missing. After looking into it, I realised that the sited doesn't accept dots in the middle of names and would just delete them if it saw any. For example, or would get removed and caus quite a bit of confusion. I have now gone and fixed that problem so if you didn't know what the shit happened in the last chapter you can go back and re-read it.
And now for today's chapter…
After last night's events, all the guests had been sent away to their respective bedrooms. There was a blizzard outside which made it impossible to contact the authorities due to the telephone line being brought down or even to go out and seek them. So instead they had chosen to isolate themselves in their bedroom and wait until the morning came and the storm died down.
And whilst the morning did come, the end of the storm never did.
Judy woke up with an early start like she usually did. The first rays of the sun peeked through the window of her assign bedroom. She walked to the closet to choose what to wear. It seemed that the butler had already furnished the closet with a selection of victorian styled dresses.
She opted for a red silk dress with a corset that she found complimented her very well. Satisfied with her clothing choice, she got out of her room and made her way for the dining hall.
Judy was about to go down the stairs leading to the main entrance when she heard the sound of two mammals whispering. Was somebody plotting? She kept a low profile and slowly inched her way towards the sound. She recognised the sound of the butler's voice and that of a mammal she didn't know yet. She hid behind the railings of the balcony that overlooked the entrance hall and looked down at the two mammals speaking in front of the door.
It was Clawhauser and… Lord Spots?
"Alright sweetie you have fun now. I'll pick you up in two weeks."
Lord Spots leaned in and kissed Clawhauser on the mouth.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
Judy's ears perked and reddened at the sight of the exchange. After the presumably dead cheetah left she decided to make her way down the stairs and act as if she had seen nothing. Apparently it didn't work because as soon as Clawhauser saw her expression, a large grin formed on his face.
"Good morning miss Hopps. Saw anything particular this morning?"
Judy's blush deepened as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"I, uhm… I… I'm sorry but I have to ask. You and…"
"Lewis, my boyfriend? Yes we're a thing."
"Oh… uh, great!"
"You didn't know I was gay did you?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaat? No of course I knew…"
"It's alright Judy I'm not going to hold it against you that you don't know everything about me."
"It's just that… Gazelle, you know…"
"I can worship her, like she deserves to be, and still be attracted to the same sex you know."
"I know, I know, it's just that I had assumed… well…"
"It's alright miss Hopps. Why don't you go to the dining area. The others shall be down for breakfast in no time now."
Judy took the cue to go back into character.
"Very well mister Clawhauser."
As he said, the other guests started to come down and slowly filled the dining table until only one was missing. the one she wanted to see the most.
"It seems that mister Wilde as yet to get out of bed. If you'll excuse me while I'll go fetch him, we'll then be able to begin breakfast."
Clawhauser excused himself from the gathered guests and went up the stairs. He walked to the front of the last closed door and raised his paw. He then brought it down in a gentle knock onto the door.
He heard a grunt and a whine.
"Five more minutes." Said a tired voice from the inside.
"Mister Wilde, if you would please gift us with your presence downstairs. The other guests are waiting for you for breakfast."
"mmh go away mom. I wanna sleep."
Clawhauser rolled his eyes and tried again.
"Miss Hopps said she had a surprise for you…"
He heard shuffling and then the door slightly opened to reveal the face of the sleepy fox. Clawhauser could see that he was still only in his sleeping boxers and his eyelids were still weighted down by sleep.
"I'm sorry what did you say?"
"Oh I simply wanted to inform you that the others were downstairs waiting for you to start breakfast. Seeing how you are up and awake, I'll inform the others that you will be down shortly.
Nick grunted and closed the door to get dressed. Clawhauser chuckled and walked away. Nick was so easy to play at times.
When Nick finally made it down stairs, He was greeted by a table full of talking guests. Since they were all of different size, they all had an assigned place with appropriately sized furniture and utensils. As he looked for his, he realised it was right next to Judy…
Judy…
He saw her talking with Fangmeyer, not noticing his arrival or him staring at her.
"At least you have a real job miss Hopps. Miss Lumpy and myself are merely housewife or house wife to be…"
Their conversation was cut short when all heads turned to Nick who had just arrived and they followed to see what everyone was looking at.
She was in a fabulous dress that made her curve stand out. He looked at her mouth agape, not believing how good she looked.
"If mister Wilde could please pick his jaw off the floor and sit down so we may proceed…"
The rest of the crowd chuckled at the butler's comment while Nick put his figurative mask back on. He gave a tentative high to Judy as he seated down. A high she returned shyly before looking away and blushing.
At that time, Clawhauser came back from the kitchen with a cart full of plates. He distributed one to each, proportioned once again according to their size, and sat himself at the table.
"Now as you all well know, what happened last night is a tragic event that will not go unpunished. However due to the ongoing storm outside and our incapability to contact the authorities, it falls on us to determine who is responsible for this act and to make sure they do not act again."
"If that is our goal…" spoke Coon "we must then look into how the victim was killed first. We know that lord Spots was poisoned but we are aware of little more than that."
"Maybe doctor McHorn could enlighten us more on the exact nature of the poison. Surely with symptoms as specific as spasm and foam formation you must be able to identify the toxin…" Miss Lumpy looked expectantly at McHorn, her eyes filled with a sort of smug that could rival that of Nick's.
"hum… yes well… you know there are a lot of toxins out there and… hum…"
"The exact nature of the toxin is not important in this case." Said general Bogo. "What we need to focus on right now is to discover how it was administered. You say that the last thing lord Spots did before he died was to drink from his champagne glass?"
"Yes indeed."
"And where did you get that glass? Was it ever out of your sight?"
"It was with the rest of the glasses you all had last night. There never was any particular glass meant for the lord, I simply brought the last one that was left."
"So the poisoned could have been meant for someone else?" Asked Judy.
"Unlikely…" answered Porkins. "If one of the glasses was poisoned before anyone took a glass, the chance of it being the last glass taken would be in the order of one out of ten."
All the mammals at the table looked at the pig as if wings had just grown on his back.
"What? Come on people it's basic math!"
"Okay then…" resumed Bogo. "So the poisoned was placed after we had all gotten our drinks."
"It would make sense. I did leave the single glass unattended while I went to fetch appetizers."
"Does anyone remember seeing someone approach the glass at that moment then?"
All slowly shook their head from left to right.
"All I remember was hearing a fox whining." Commented McHorn.
"Maybe then the poisoned wasn't introduced at that moment." Said MrsFangmeyer.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I meant that for all we know mister Clawhauser might have slipped it in while he took the glass upstairs."
"How dare you say such a thing!"
"Understand that I'm not accusing you mister Clawhauser. I am simply saying that we shouldn't discard the possibility. It would be a shame to go after each other only to realise in the end that the butler did it."
"And what reason would I possibly have to kill lord Spots?"
"Yes that's it!" interrupted Coon. "The next step after figuring out who had the occasion to kill the victim, in this case literally everyone, then we must find who had a motive."
"Why mister Coon you know an awful lot about murders… Care to explain?" Asked Nick.
"My brother and I read a lot of the short stories of sir Arfur Conan Doyle."
Another round of confused glares.
"No it's legit." Said Porkins. "His first Sheerlock and Woolson short story was published in 1887. The next one would be next year in 1894: the memoirs of Sheerlock."
The glares only intensified.
"Oh my God people read a book will you? You might learn a thing."
"Anyways..." said Fangmeyer to try to move away from the conversation. "I am sure you must have gotten sick of being ordered around all day by my brother sometimes. Am I right mister Clawhauser?…"
"Not at all. In fact I rather liked your brother. It is peculiar on the other paw however that I have not seen you sheer one tear for his death…"
"Are you accusing me mister Clawhauser?"
"Of course not. I am simply saying that we shouldn't discard the possibility…"
If you were paying enough attention, you could almost see the sparks flying in between the glare they exchanged each other.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Said Judy. "There is a more people that could have wanted lord Spots' death other than you two. However, without further evidences we can't safely identify the murderer. I suggest that we wait and see if the storm finally blows out. In the meantime we simply need to be careful and keep an eye out."
"I agree with miss Hopps." Said Wolford. "It is the only rational thing to do right now."
"Well, if we have nothing more to discuss… You'll excuse me but I must do the dishes."
With that Clawhauser sat up and began collecting everyone's dirty plates.
"Wait mister Clawhauser. Would you need someone to help you?" Judy asked.
"Oh it's quite alright dear. This mansion might be hold but it is well equipped for washing dishes."
Clawhauser the mouthed the word: "washing machines".
As the table broke out into multiple conversation, Nick turned to face Judy.
"I'm sorry miss, I'm afraid we didn't have the time to properly present ourselves with the events of last night. You are miss Hopps I believe?" Nick stretched a paw out for her.
"Yes and you must be be mister Wilde."
Judy grabbed Nick's paw. She expected a pawshake bot for him to lift it up and bring it to his muzzle.
"Please call me Nick." He said while pressing a gentle kiss on the top of it.
Judy could feel her ears stand erect and her cheeks flush red as he did do. Damn Nick, always enjoying putting her in uncomfortable situation or making her blush. She could tell he was enjoying this greatly from the large grin that stretched his muzzle.
"Only if you call me Judy." She replied trying to keep her reaction in check.
"Very well Judy. I must tell you your dress fits you perfectly. It is very beautiful on you indeed."
"Thank you. But to be honest, I must give all the credits to the host and his butler. They're the one who furnished the closets…"
Nick looked over Judy's shoulder to see Clawhauser mouthing the words: "You can thank me later." and then winking at him.
It is that day that Nick learned that Clawhauser was way more sneaky than what he looked like…
Nick was laying in bed staring at the ceiling. After breakfast, the day had gone rather smoothly apart from the fact that everyone was keeping an eye out on the other, expecting them to pull out a knife or something. But that's not what kept him awake.
Nick usually prided himself over being able to read mammals' reaction but has hard as he tried he was never sure what to make of Judy's. He had seen her blush, heard her giggles every time he would flirt with her but it still didn't know if it was because he was having an effect on her or if she was just embarrassed easily. It's not the first time these questions had kept him awake at night so he knew by now that he wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep until he had got his mind off the problem.
Nick stood up from his bed and decided to go get a glass of water from the kitchen. He walked down the stairs in the darkness, helped by his natural night vision, and made his way to the kitchen.
Only he was stopped by a scream.
It came from the living room, on the other side of the entrance hall. Entrance hall which he quickly crossed in order to see what was going on. When he arrived he saw miss Fangmeyer collapsed against the wall, clutching her side and with a knife on the floor.
He moved closer to see if she was still alive. As he feared, she was not. He grabbed the knife to examine it and at that moment the lights of the room turned on and blinded him.
After he blinked a few times he could see the silhouette of Wolford standing in the doorway looking at him.
"Wilde…"
Nick looked down at his paw that held the knife and then back at the wolf.
"This is not what it looks like."
The rest of the guests arrived and stood at the edge of the room looking in.
"What happened?" Asked miss Lumpy.
"I think I just caught Wilde red pawed…"
Here you go my pretties. I'll admit that this chapter was not nearly as good as the first one but that's the best I could do in such a short time. Next chapter should be better for those who likes the mystery though. I'm really not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the "one chapter a day" thing, especially during the weekends. I'll do my best but I can't promise you anything.
Otherwise, feel free to let me know what you think of the story so far by letting a comment below. Seriously you can't believe how comments boost the esteem of a writer.
Ps: Gay Clawhauser is so precious.