Chapter #3: Murder!

The guests, who were sleeping in their quarters, awoke to robotic screaming. Rouge covered her highly sensitive ears, and Amy, who was sleeping with her in the same room, held her pillow over her head in hopes to muffle the din.

Vector, who hated being awakened by loud noise, sat up in bed and shouted to the other boys, "Geez, all this screamin' could wake the dead! What's goin' on down there?!"

They climbed out of their beds and rushed down to the first floor to see what was happening. Eggman's two minions, Decoe and Bocoe, were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Vector yelled, "Shut up, you bucket brains!" at the top of his lungs, and the screaming ceased. "What the heck is goin' on?!"

"Dr. Eggman is…is…dead!" stammered the short one (I keep forgetting which is which).

"What?!" everyone exclaimed.

The two 'bots pointed down the basement, where the huge form of their host was lying facedown at the bottom of the steps.

Amy covered her eyes and turned away, feeling sick. Team Sonic just stood there in disbelief, and Rouge crossed her arms and shook her head.

Vector went down the steps to check for vital signs and clues. He took about a minute, and then he called up to them with a sigh, "He's dead all right." Then he walked back up the stairs and asked Decoe and Bocoe, "Hey, bolt heads, do you have any idea when this happened?"

"N-n-no, we just f-found him h-here," they stuttered.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," said a voice. Jenkins the butler appeared.

Vector raised an eyebrow and then asked, "Okay, Jenkins, when did you last see Eggman?"

The butler was precise in his reply. "A few minutes after he talked to the six of you, he went upstairs to his quarters, but then he came back down here at around 9:30. Master Eggman had a habit of getting a midnight snack and thinking of new plans in either the Study or the Library. I didn't see him again."

"Could this have been an accident?" wondered Amy.

Vector shook his head sadly. "I saw a deep wound in his chest; no fall down the stairs did that. This was no accident; this was homicide."

"Homicide?!" gasped Decoe. "You mean…murder?!"

"But…who would do such a thing?" Bocoe asked.

"I think we can rule out the robots in the mansion," said Jenkins. "We have no real motive for his murder." Then he turned to the Mobians with an accusing eye. "But, if I am quite right, the six of you do."

"Say what?!" Sonic yelled. "I wouldn't kill the Doc! Even if he was trying to take over the world!"

Vector shook his head. "No, hedgehog, Jenkins is right. One of us bumped off Egghead."

This horrible realization left the guests silent. They all cast their eyes down in thought, but every now and then one of them would suspiciously glance at the others. It was Rouge who started pointing fingers first.

"Well,Knucklehead here was the one who was hotheaded about stopping the doctor. He did it!"

"Didnot!" the echidna screamed at her. "For all I know, you could be the culprit!!!"

"What?! Not sweet little me!"

"Sweet little me my foot!"

"Well, why don't you prove it wasn't you?" the bat said with a smirk as though she had already won.

"Fine! I was in the Kitchen getting a midnight snack!"

"The butler said that Eggman did that at one time last night. You could've got him then."

That caught Knux off guard. "Yeah, well…he wasn't there when I went in! Beat that!"

"Will you two shut up?!" Amy yelled. "It could be anybody!"

Both of them turned on her. "Then that means it couldbe you, right?" Rouge said suspiciously.

"N-no, I was just saying that…I didn't do it! It was…it was Tails!"

The fox stared at the girl in shock. "What?! It wasn't me! Amy, how could you turn on me like that?!"

Sonic covered his ears and backed away from the shouting quartet with a grimace, not wanting to be a part of it. Vector rolled his eyes and then stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, and Tails stopped shouting and turned to him, and Sonic uncovered his ears with a relieved face.

"Guys, pointin' fingers at each other doesn't help a thing!" the crocodile told them. "Let's just hush up and cool off for a moment." The others knew he was right, so the quarreling ceased.

Jenkins saw the quiet moment as an opportunity to speak to the guests about something important. "I understand that the motive for killing the Doctor was that you would thwart his attempt at world conquest." The guests nodded. "Well, when the Master made this plan, he feared that this exact thing would happen, so he wrote in his will that no one is allowed to leave the mansion until the murderer is found and proven guilty by the robot servants."

The Mobians, even Vector, were taken aback. Then, in perfect unison, they shouted, "WHAT?!"

"I thought your reactions would be like that. I am afraid that there is nothing I can do about your predicament. I might not look like it, but I am a Robian, and I must follow the Doctor's orders without questioning them. All six of you must remain here until we discover who killed him, and the culprit will be punished for his…or her…actions. Now, your breakfast was prepared some time ago, and it might be cold now. Come into the Dining Room for your food."

At the mentioning of food, the guests put away the subject, all except for Vector, who held his chin in thought. Jenkins led them to the Dining Room, where a feast of bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, and every breakfast food you can imagine had been prepared for them. They sat in their chosen seats and started piling food on their plates. The butler left to do some of his daily chores.

After a minute or so of silent eating, Vector set down his fork and declared, "I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna try to find out whodunit!"

All eating ceased instantly. No one spoke for a moment, and then Rouge snapped, "Who says it wasn't you who did it?"

The croc rolled his eyes and added, "I don't hafta be the only one playin' detective." Rouge understood and turned back to her food.

Vector sat back in his chair and watches his companions' behavior. He noticed Rouge glaring at Knuckles (who sat across the table from her) with an accusing eye, and the echidna scowling back. Amy and Tails picked at their plates like they had lost their appetites, but on occasion they would glance at everyone with suspicious looks. Sonic, who finished before the rest, leaned back in his chair, making it stand on its hind legs. Then he put his feet on the table and closed his eyes for a short nap. But Vector observed that one eye was open slightly; the hedgehog was probably studying his friends as well.

Finally the croc stood up, pulled out his trusty notepad and pen, and said, "If we're gonna solve this case, we might as well start now." The pen clicked, and the hand began to write.

"Let's go back to the night of the murder…"