I smiled politely and gritted through my teeth, "What do I do here, Al?"
"Wait, Sam. This could… this could actually be a good thing."
"A good thing?" I said a little louder, the group obviously heard me.
"Good thing?" The man in the doorway repeated.
"It's a… it's a good thing you're here." I smiled.
"It is?" Mr. Green asked.
"It is." I repeated.
"Of course it is." He nodded.
"Right. It is a good thing you're here because… " I mumbled
"Because with a new person in the house, an innocent, trusting person. The murders would probably stop, right?" Al replied.
"really?"
Al shrugged, "I'll go check out with Ziggy about this situation. See if he was a part of the original history." He proceeded to phase out, leaving me to deal with this mess.
"Really what?" The man asked.
"Um, we're really in need of new eyes." I smiled, allowing the man inside. "We are having a disagreement at the moment and we'd really need someone to give a fresh take on it."
"Yeah, no problem. No problem at all. I'll help settle whatever, just after my phone call." The motorist explained.
"Phone call… phone. There's a phone in the…" I looked to the group for help.
"Lounge." Yvette helped.
"Lounge. Yes." I walked the group to a door with another key in it. I peered into the room and noticed a telephone in a space that I could only assume was the lounge.
"Lounge." I gestured to the door.
Al appeared suddenly as the man thanked me and entered the room.
"Sam! He dies too!" Al yelled.
I quickly locked the door behind him and hid the key in my pocket.
"For his protection." I sighed to the group.
"Now for our protection, throw away the key." Colonel Mustard crossed his arms.
I looked at Al who nodded, "throw away the key, Sam."
I took out both keys from the pocket. "They both look the same, Al."
"Which one is the key to the weapons?" The hologram asked.
"I don't know!" I exclaimed.
The group seemed puzzled.
"I don't know… which key is which."
"Some butler you are." Mrs. White huffed.
"Throw away both!" Professor Plum stated.
"I can't, we need to let the poor man out sometime. We can't just leave him in there forever." I told them.
"Why not? At least he's safe in there." Scarlet said.
I tilted my head, "Yeah, you'd think so."
"Here's what I'm going to do." I decided. I led the group back to the study. "I'm going to place both keys on the table in front of the bodies. Clear as day. Whoever grabs them, we'd know."
"Sam this isn't a smart idea." Al sighed.
"Anybody object?"
"Wadsworth this isn't a smart idea." Professor Plum shook his head.
"So, you object?" I asked.
"No…" He told us.
"There, then it's settled." I placed both keys neatly on the end table.
"Oh, no." Mr. Green let out a spark of realization.
"Oh no? What oh no?" Mrs. Peacock gasped.
"What if the motorist calls the police?" Green asked.
"I've already called the police." I informed them. Apparently, this was news to the group as they all seemed shocked.
"The police are coming and there's dead bodies in the study with five suspects?" Colonel Mustard bellowed.
"Don't forget the butler or the maid." Al reminded.
"Actually, all of us are suspects." I said.
"So eight. There are eight suspects." Mr. Green shook his head.
"Or maybe more. We don't know who else might be in this house, do we Wadsworth?" Mustard asked.
"Um… no?"
"No there are more people in this house?"
I looked at Al, he shrugged again. He's been a real big help so far.
"No… meaning yes?"
"No meaning yes? Are there other people in this house yes or no?"
"I don't know!"
He nodded, "Alright, there could be a stowaway. I suggest we handle this in proper military fashion, we split up and search the house."
"That's actually not a bad idea, Sam. You all could split up in pairs. I volunteer to go with Yvette." Al smiled.
"That could work." I smirked.
Plum interjected "If one of us is the murderer if we split up into pairs whichever one is left with the killer might be killed!"
"Then we would have found who the murderer is!" Mustard exclaimed
Peacock yelled "But the other half of the pair would be dead!"
"Calm down. Now I'm not one for putting innocent people in danger but we need to try something. We don't have a lot of choices here." I explained.
Mr. Green sighed, "I suppose you're right."
"How do we figure out the pairs?" I asked.
Yvette pranced to the fireplace and grabbed matchsticks. She handed them to me "zese could work."
"Thanks.." I ripped pairs of four to different lengths and placed it in my hand. "Now, two shortest are together and next two shortest. And what length you get signifies where you search, the shortest get the cellar and so on up."
There was a big commotion around the table in the study where I placed the matchsticks. I paid no attention to the keys or any of the dead bodies, I just focused on the lots.
Colonel Mustard and miss Scarlet are the first pair, searching the ground floor.
Yvette and Mr. Green are the next pair, in charge of the attic.
Professor Plum and Mrs. Peacock are the next pair, headed to the cellar.
I'm off to the upper level with… Mrs. White.
"She's hot too, good job Sam." Al winked.
"Thanks." I rolled my eyes.
"I'm gonna go get some more information on these people, maybe I can squeeze their actual names from the guy in the waiting room." Al waved bye to me.
"Bye Al."
"Bye Sam. Bye Mrs. White." He noticed the maid walk past him "Oh and bye Yvette." He began to follow her.
"Al." I sighed.
"Right, right. Going." He exited through the hologram door.
Mrs. White and I headed up the stairs.
"You know, Wadsworth. I trust you as far as I can throw you." She told me.
"Really? Well I don't blame you. I don't trust anyone."
"Yeah but you. The butler. You must know all the secrets of the house. Hidden doorways, secret passages. You are the most suspicious of the group."
I laughed, "Yeah, I guess. But I have no idea about this stuff. I'm as lost as the rest of you."
She stopped in her tracks. "really?"
"Really."
"I'm gonna check this room." She opened a door right in front of her and closed it behind her.
"I'll check… somewhere else." After a few seconds of walking, I reached for a doorknob.
It was then that the entire house was engulfed in complete darkness.