Murder in Bikini Bottom

By Christina Santos

Previously in Chapter 2…

After taking in the site of the murder scene, Lance asked LeOna for further details and what she knew about the case. LeOna came to reveal that after a short blackout, King Neptune had come stumbling out of the bathroom and fell face down on the ground dead. Now Lance is going to interrogate everyone, and Mr. Krabs is up first…

Chapter 3: Eugene Krabs

"Will you need us, detective?" a cop said from the doorway.

"No thank you, officer. I'll take it from here. Just keep an eye peeled on those suspects."

The cop nodded and closed the door behind him.

Lance seated himself behind Mr. Krabs desk and turned on the lamp. He turned it toward Mr. K.

"So…Eugene Krabs…correct?"

"Aye."

"My name is Lance Trout, but you can just call me Inspector Trout, or Detective Trout. It really doesn't matter. Whatever you are comfortable with."Lance looked at his notebook, "So…Mr. Krabs…can you please tell me why King Neptune was even here at the Krusty Krab?"

"I believe the king just stopped by for a bite. He always comes to me restaurant when he eats out."

"Why is that?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure what happened, but a while back me fry cook Spongebob somehow got into a competition with the king to see who could cook the best burgers. He fell in love with Spongebob's Krabby Patty, and since he couldn't have the boy cook in his palace, he just comes here from time to time."Mr. Krabs told him, "Glad to know the king has a good taste in food…and he knows where to spend his cash!"

Mr. Krabs burst into laughter over his "joke".

Lance was chewing on the inside of his cheek, sternly staring at Mr. Krabs. He could see that this little "money thing" Krabs had could leave him as a suspect, yet again, everyone that was there at the restaurant was a suspect…

Lance cleared his throat after Mr. Krabs was done laughing.

"How much do you care about money, Mr. K?"

"Money? Money? Why…money makes the world go 'round, detective! It's what keeps your suit clean! It's what got you that notebook! It's what manages me restaurant! Money is everything! I could sit here all day and tell you anything and everything you need to know about money!-"

Lance squinted as Mr. Krabs went on with his speech about how great money was.

"-Ahem-Um, thank you...Mr. Krabs. So, I'm guessing you don't have anything against King Neptune?"

"Of course not!" Mr. Krabs said nonchalantly, "-And I didn't kill the man if that's what yer thinkin'! I wouldn't kill one of me best customers! I'm hopin' ye find the lily-liver who killed him, though! Whoever they might be deserves to be locked up in the stony lonesome for life!"

Lance nodded and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Thank you, Mr. Krabs. That's all I needed. Let's go out into the other room so I can get my next person."

"No problem, Inspector Trout! Pleasure doin' business with ya!"

"Don't look at it as doing business, Mr. Krabs. Just look at it as fighting for what's right."

Mr. Krabs laughed, "I like that, boy. I'm gonna remember that!"

Lance laughed a little to himself and opened the door for Mr. Krabs. When they stepped out into the room, sirens began to go off.

"What's going on?" Lance shouted over the noise.

"It's the alarm! We have an intruder!" Spongebob shouted back.

"Plankton!" Mr. Krabs said.

He scuttled over to the kitchen and shut the alarm went off. When he came back, he had Plankton in his claw.

"What is that?" a police officer asked.

"I'm not an object you know…." Plankton murmured.

Mr. Krabs pulled out a jar and drop Plankton inside of it.

"This be me rival, Plankton." He said.

Lance walked up to the jar and tapped on it with his pen. The jar shook and Plankton's antennas picked up the vibrations, giving him a headache.

"AAAH! Stop it you infernal fool!" he said, holding his head.

"So, your name is Plankton, huh?"

"Sheldon Plankton; who wants to know?"

Lance unscrewed the jar and sat Plankton on the lid. He tucked away his notepad and pen.

"My name is Detective Lance Trout. I'm here to investigate a murder. Do you mind explaining why you are here with all the cops around?"

"A murder?" Plankton asked, "Who died? I was just here t-…uh…nevermind."

"To what?"

"-To steal me secret formula!" Mr. Krabs added, "He would be the fool to just come in ever so casual and steal the formula while the heat was around."

"Why would I steal the formula? I don't need it! I can run my restaurant without that stupid formula of yours…I went to college!" Plankton said, as if the college part mattered.

"Don't play dumb ya sneaky son of a paramecium! Ya try to do the same thing almost everyday, and you fail every time, too! Just like now!" Mr. Krabs shouted,"Unless you were the *plugger!"

*Plugger = Killer

"What? I don't even know who died! How in Neptune's name would I be the killer?"

"Coincidence you mention his name, Mr. Plankton…" Lance said.

"Wha-?"

"-because King Neptune is our victim…"

Plankton gulped. He knew he just put himself in a bad situation.