Chapter 10: Investigation II Part A
May 6th, 2:30 PM
Pidisque Carnival
Ticket Booth
Back again.
And the carnival was as quiet as the day before. Phoenix wasn't too surprised, though. After all, murders aren't always good for business.
...man, my thoughts have gotten morbid. I should probably get out of the office more often, he thought to himself, walking by the ticket booth, Maya faithfully by his side. He recalled the events of that morning's trial, with the new prosecutor as well as Gumshoe and Ron's testimonies.
Phoenix began to recall all the facts of the case: at about 6:30 PM, Sir Cameron Fearanst arrived with his daughter Ellie at the carnival, where they spent their time together for the last time. At about 7:00 PM, the Hall of Freaks began its act. An hour passes, and 8:00 comes around, the final hour. Ron, hungry after his act, uses the fifteen-minute intermission to head over towards the snacks. He arrives there at around 8:05 and retrieves a bag of peanuts, seeing Sir Cameron and Ellie board the carousel on his way over. Ron then begins his return to the Hall when suddenly, at 8:13 PM, a cut wire causes a blackout. At 8:14 PM, the murderer kills Sir Cameron, and at 8:15 PM, the lights come back on again, revealing Sir Cameron's dead body. In a panic, Ron flees from the scene, dropping his unopened bag of peanuts in the Hall of Mirrors.
Hmmm, it seems I've a few questions for a large group of people, he thought to himself. Who was this ARC that kept appearing around? Pierre mentioned the bike shop owner nearby may be involved. And who cut the wire? And now I'm wondering about the other performers. What were they up to at intermission?
"So Nick," Maya said, interrupting Phoenix's thoughts, "what're we gonna take care of now?"
"I was just mulling that over, actually," Phoenix replied. "Maybe we should find out where this bike shop is first, and we should check in with the other carnies. I have a feeling a few more stories should pop up aside from Ron's."
"Oooooh, like maybe someone witnessed the murder!" Maya squealed with unfound delight.
Sometimes I worry about her...
They headed back to the carousel, untouched since the night of the murder. Phoenix noted the white stallion again, although now it looked as though the beast were in some sort of agonizing pain. Maya also looked at the white stallion.
"It's sad to see it like this," Maya said, her head hanging low. "It almost looks like it's crying."
I suppose murder's bad enough to make even statues cry, Phoenix thought. Regardless, this was not their destination, and Phoenix continued to head towards the place he needed to go, leaving the tragic scene behind.
May 6
Pidisque Carnival
Hall of Freaks
Arriving again outside the open maw of the hall's tent, Phoenix and Maya looked around.
"What're we doing here?" Maya asked curiously.
"I could asssssk the ssssame question."
Right on cue, Phoenix thought as Ethelinda slithered up to the two again. The charming snake lady smiled at them as she approached, even flicking out her tongue a little.
"Perhaps you've come to ask a few more questions," she said, her ever-elegant tongue flicking in and out every now and again.
"Actually...yes," Phoenix replied, though he wasn't sure about-
"Don't let my tongue flicking bother you," Ethelinda cooed. "It is merely an act I practice every now and again. I am, after all, part snake."
As far as the audience knows...
"In any case, I'm certain that is not the reason you've returned to our humble hall," Ethelinda continued. "Ask your questions."
"How are you doing?" Phoenix began.
"I'm doing very well, thank you for asking," Ethelinda replied cheerfully. "Even despite the murder of Sir Cameron, I seem to be filled with some sort of cheer. Perhaps it is because I have faith that you'll find out who his murderer is."
"I certainly hope that I'll be able to," Phoenix responded.
"Don't let Pierre bother you too much," Ethelinda cooed.
"Pierre? The prosecutor?...wait, how did you know that?"
"Simple," Ethelinda replied. "I talked with him myself."
She knows that nutty prosecutor?
"You know the prosecutor?" Phoenix asked, failing to mask his surprise and astonishment.
"Certainly," Ethelinda answered.
"How's that?"
"Oh? Don't you know?"
"I know!" Maya exclaimed suddenly. "He's the world's most famous prosecutor! He mentioned it in court today."
Ethelinda chuckled. "True," she said, "he has certainly made a name for himself. But you see, that isn't the reason I know him."
She knows him for something else? But what could that...wait...
"You mean," Phoenix thought aloud, tracing his thought path, "that you know him because of...the incident?"
And out of nowhere, the surrounding area darkened, and the chains of three Psyche Locks appeared in front of Ethelinda.
"Perhaps I have already said too much," she said simply.
Again with the Psyche Locks? How many secrets can a snake lady hold?
"It is as I said before, Mr. Wright," Ethelinda cooed. "Not all things in the world are readily available to you. Even I can't let certain secrets out so easily."
"I see..."
"You seem disappointed," Ethelinda commented comfortingly.
"I thought I'd already broken through all the barriers," Phoenix remarked. "But in any case, I guess I'll be talking to you again later on."
"I will eagerly await your return," Ethelinda replied.
Phoenix looked through his Court Record for a brief moment and brought out the Carnival Map as well as the Initials that he recorded. "Do you know anything about this ARC fellow?" Phoenix asked. "I've seen a couple of his initials around the place."
"I'm afraid not," Ethelinda answered. "However, I do believe Diablo would be able to help you out."
"Diablo?" Maya asked. Phoenix noticed she appeared to be intimidated by the name.
Ethelinda chuckled; she seemed to notice as well. "Don't worry, he's a real sweetheart," Ethelinda said. "I would suppose that he would know the local area well enough. He's a bit of a walking encyclopedia, as we like to tell him backstage."
"Diablo...an interesting name," Phoenix noted.
"Indeed, but it seems appropriate for a flame eater," Ethelinda remarked.
"He can eat fire?" Maya asked, suddenly intrigued and with a twinkle in her eye.
"Indeed he can," Ethelinda replied. "He's also adept at swallowing swords."
Swords?
"He can swallow swords too?" Maya had an even bigger smile on her face.
"And sometimes," Ethelinda continued, "he'll even eat a sword on fire."
"He'll eat swords on fire?" Maya was squealing again. Oh no...
"Nick!" Maya said, a look of determination on her face. "We've got to find this Diablo guy! He's become crucial to the case!"
In a way, he has. But I think I still have something to ask Ethelinda.
"About intermission..." Phoenix began.
"Ah yes," Ethelinda replied. "I expected that you would ask me about the intermission. After all, I imagined it would help."
"It did," Phoenix said. "We managed to use the information to help the case."
"I'm glad I could help," Ethelinda smiled. "I imagine though you would like me to tell you what I did in intermission?"
"If you please," Phoenix asked.
"Certainly," Ethelinda said. "I decided to remain behind at the Hall here. You can understand the difficulty of slithering across the carnival grounds in a timely fashion."
I can see how that's an issue.
"Although that night, I was approached by a very enthusiastic young man."
"Wait, really? Who was he?"
"The man? I'm afraid I can't say," Ethelinda replied. "I didn't catch his name. He was very sweet though. Offered me some of his popcorn, which I took a couple of pieces kindly. He also asked me for an autograph. Curious, isn't it?"
"That is curious..."
"In any case, he gave me a hug before leaving again," Ethelinda continued. "By that point, Diablo had come back. And that's about when the lights went out."
"The blackout."
"Indeed. It affected even us who were so far away from the carousel. We simply waited for the lights to come on again, and then Diablo went inside to announce the delay of the show due to the blackout. An understandable thing, I'm sure you understand."
"Of course," Phoenix nodded.
"Yeah, the show must go on but at least with some lights," Maya added.
"Not long after that, Ron came running back," Ethelinda continued. "He was absolutely terrified, and we knew by that point that something bad had happened. We only heard later about the murder."
"I see...I think that takes care of my questions for now."
"I'm glad I could be of service," Ethelinda smiled before slithering away back into the Hall.
Well well, a year later, and here I am again! Sorry it's been so long. To be honest, I got caught up in school work, as well as some of my other stories I've been working on. It didn't help that I wasn't sure where to go with this, but such is how the middle part is sometimes. When you know point A and point B but not how to connect one to the other: Writer's Block.
In any case, I'm back to working on this, and hopefully I won't get stuck again along the way. I'm sure you have all been eagerly awaiting the return of this story, and I certainly hope I'll be able to complete it and bring it to its wonderful conclusion!
Oh, and don't worry, you'll find out who Diablo is soon enough!