The Horror of Castle Bleck

Chapter Nine

Pennington could barely see Mimi he was squinting so hard, trying to intimidate her.

"Could you please stop that?" Mimi whimpered in annoyance.

Pennington drew himself up, puffing out his feathery chest and exhaled. Removing a pad of paper and a fountain pen from his bag he began,

"Please tell me everything you remember ma'am, from the night before up to the murder, and any suspicious details you've noticed amongst the others."

Mimi's face contorted, and her eyes watered as she focused on remembering the night.

"There…there was a knock on the door, which we all heard, and then…" She recounted all of the night up until she encountered Lisette's body in her bed. She began to cry when she arrived at the gruesome details of the fair woman's murder and Pennington had to console her.

"Well, thank you miss, you may return to the parlor and please call in that sour dame," Mimi looked taken aback at his description of Blythe, but followed his mandate. Summoning Blythe, Mimi took a seat next to Merloon and wept softly into his dirty coat. The old man frowned, as his coat got increasingly damp and proceeded to push the helpless chef off his shoulder and she slumped into the cushions.

"You rang?" Blythe laughed as she entered the drawing room.

"For such a grim circumstance, you seem to be in an awfully cheery mood," Pennington observed.

"Well you live and you die, and though it's a shame that lovely woman had to go before my wrinkled soul I can't change that. So go ahead and probe away, but you won't find anything!" Her temper increased as she talked, ending with a vehement snarl. Pennington, unfazed, continued.

"Now, did you hear anything in the night? Your room was positioned right next to Madam Lisette's was it not?"

"Yes it was, but as to you bumpty, I do remember hearing something in the night now that I think about it," her mood softened.

"Ah yes, yes, I couldn't sleep well that night on account of the strange knocking, but I do remember hearing the faintest sound emanating from Lisette's room, it sounded like, like a window opening. Mr. Pennington! I believe your assailant came from outside!" The old woman's eyes lit up with fire, in a mix of pride and reason.

Pennington shook his head, "But, the murder took place on the second floor. A very high up second floor mind you, I think your logic is flawed. For who could have scaled such a climb?"

At this, Blythe leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Mr. Pennington, outside of every window there is sort of a railing that runs along the perimeter of the castle, just enough to sidle if you walk with your feet inward. Scaling the walls was unnecessary, but if someone opened their window, walked along the railing and murdered Lisette, why they wouldn't even have to go out in the hall!"

A bashful look crept its way onto Pennington's face.

"Trumped! By a dame!" Blythe smacked him.

"Dame? I give you good and valuable information and you call me a dame!" Pennington opened his mouth to apologize.

"Apologies madam, I was simply shocked, you knowledge is infallible. Please, take your leave to the parlor and bring in the General."

General White coughed into his handkerchief and began discussing with Pennington. He reviewed basically everything Mimi and Blythe had mentioned, and most of the interviews went that way, until he got to Nastasia, the last one.

"I was not here in the night, but I noticed a few peculiar things I thought I should bring your attention to."

But then she paused, did she want to spill her secrets to this bumpty detective? She decided against, but thought she would tell Blumiere and instead substituted her former statement with this,

"On second thought, I think it was just Merloon's usual intoxication antics."

Hoping Pennington would buy it; she took her leave and ran off to find Blumiere. Her heels clicking against the floor like gunshots, she soon found Blumiere in the library. He was drinking a glass of red wine, or to put it more accurately, was just swishing the blood red liquid around in the glass.

Upon her entrance, Blumiere scowled, he did not want Nastasia here, and was only letting her stay because she promised her assistance in this troubling time.

"Blumiere..." she began but he waved her over.

"Sit Nastasia, we have much to catch up on."

Nastasia did not want to talk history, but discuss what she had observed throughout the day. Why would Merloon smell like glue? Why was White so tired? What was Blythe doing with that handkerchief? All these questions and more she had for Blumiere, but he persisted and so she began.

"Well after the whole Chaos Heart drama died down, I went to live in Toad Town and try to live a normal person's life, but that wasn't for me. I got a reading from the old fortune teller Merlon there, and he told me I needed to find the pale knight and send word to the forgotten castle. After about a month of interpretation I located General White and sent him here to you, in Castle Bleck."

Blumiere was shocked to learn that Nastasia had sent General White, but then asked her, "Do you have any idea as to who could have done this? I do not suspect you; you didn't arrive until after the murder and I think it's safe for you to assume I didn't kill my own sister. But that only leaves White, Mimi, Merloon and Blythe. Mimi discovered the body, Blythe and Merloon don't have the motive and White is one of my closest friends…I just don't get it."

Nastasia wanted to tell him about all the information she had collected, but decided that he had already had a rough day enough and would wait until tomorrow and arouse his suspicions of his friends and trustees. The pair rising to leave, Nastasia turned sharply on her heels when Blumiere clasped her hand.

"Nastasia…I'm glad you've returned," he mumbled.

"Me too…Blumiere."

The duo retraced their steps out of the library and walked towards the dining room together, as Mimi rung the dinner the bell. The chime pierced the still air, calling the residents back to the everyday routines of life, and how mundane everything seems. Except it wasn't mundane, for amongst them was a murderer, and despite the deals they've struck and the evidence they've proposed, it could be any one of them.