Elphaba led the way in the direction the scream had come, and Fiyero trailed sullen and quiet. They found Nessa waiting by the door. "What happened?"

She'd composed herself, though the fright was still there on her face behind the damp tendrils of hair hiding it. "I was looking for Boq, and I thought I heard something in the closet, so I opened it only I didn't find Boq..." Fiyero tilted his head, striding to the closet curiously, and without hesitation he pulled the door open to reveal Dr. Dillamond.

"So much for him as a suspect."

Elphaba's jaw dropped, and she knelt by the body of her favorite professor. It seemed so unfair that his prestigious career should be ended so insignificantly. Fiyero said softly, "Looks like we found the knife," and she'd have appreciated his dark humor more if it hadn't been Dr. Dillamond lying there. She brushed the soft fur back from his eyes, and Fiyero put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. His touch spurred her to gather herself, standing up again. There would be time for fear and mourning later, not now in this continuously forced public.

The others were arriving now, and Nessa told them what happened, "I saw a man come in here, and I thought it was you, Boq, but I couldn't see for sure. Where were you anyway?"

Boq blushed, making some excuse that no one believed. Galinda spoke, "Well if it's a guy, we're running out of suspects. There's only Boq, Fiyero, and the butler left."

Elphaba said, "It's not as if they could easily be mistaken for each other. Sorry, Boq, but it's true. A foot and a half difference is pretty easy to see even from far away."

"I think I could tell if I had something to compare it to." They nodded, and eventually decided to do a quick experiment to see if the figure Nessa had seen was closer in height to Boq or Fiyero.

From down the hall, Nessa called, "No, definitely taller than Boq." Fiyero changed places with him at the door, and she called, "Yes, that's more like it."

Everyone stared at him, and he shrugged. "Don't look at me. Elphaba was with me the whole time." She confirmed his statement, and Galinda looked at her oddly.

"This whole time? Elphie, it's been nearly an hour." The subtle question there brought a blush, and Elphaba was suddenly glad that the kiss hadn't connected after all. She started to answer, but Boq interrupted them.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Look at the blood." Grateful for an excuse to get away from their questions, she moved to the body. The chest spouted the knife handle, speckled with dried blood. For a minute she just stared at it until she got his meaning. "It's dry. He's been dead awhile."

"Great. So it could be anyone again." She searched the body looking for anything else. Surely there was some sort of clue as to who might have done it. All she could focus on was the blood and his wide open eyes. Meanwhile the others were doing what they did best, accusing each other with baseless implications. She did her best to ignore them, even when her name popped up. It seemed she and Fiyero were the crowd favorites at the moment, and she smirked at the thought that they were probably the two least likely individuals in the entire place.

Don't get her wrong, she'd loved to have killed either Avaric or Shenshen, but if they thought for a minute they'd realize how unlikely it was for her to kill Dr. Dillamond. Her eyes gravitated to his body again, and she felt a little sick. The others had been such rare acquaintances, more obstacles than people, but Dr. Dillamond. Suddenly it was real. Fiyero turned to her, questioning softly, "Are you alright?"

She nodded, but she still leaned into him gratefully as he briefly slid a reassuring arm around her. He did have an odd way of making her feel safe, even though technically he still might be the killer. Oh, this was driving her mad. How hard was it to find a wolf in your own sheep? She knew these people. They were her friends. How could one of them be a killer, and no one have any idea who?

Her subtle shiver brought Fiyero's hands to her arms, rubbing them softly, but Elphaba pulled away guiltily at Galinda's glance. This was all too much to process in one sleepless night. Suddenly her eyes fell on the muddy tracks leading to the door. She stepped forward, using the footprints as an excuse for her movement, "Fiyero, he must have been the figure we saw outside."

Everyone turned to stare, and Fiyero explained, finishing with, "I wonder what he was doing out there."

"Maybe he was trying to run away from something?"

"Or to something?"

Galinda spoke up, "Or he was just clearing his head. He was pretty upset after the whole Shenshen thing."

"There's no way to know," Elphaba sighed in frustration. She must be missing something. Everything that happened always left a trail of some sort if one could just find the right pieces to figure out the puzzle. Actually, speaking of puzzle pieces, she caught the sight of a little scrap of paper. "It looks like he was holding something..." She pried the ripped corner from his fingers, but there was nothing to be read on it. "Nothing."

"Look! There's a fingerprint on his glasses." Galinda called, and Elphaba bent closer, but it was smudged in the mud too much to be distinct.

"It's too muddy to be useful."

Fiyero sighed, "Well, at least we know for sure you didn't do it." She looked at him for a moment. "If he was wet when the killer made that fingerprint, you'd have the burns to prove it."

Pfannee's gasp made everyone turn to face her. Her finger was pointed to Elphaba's wrapped hand. "You're the k…" Boq clamped his hand over her mouth quickly.

"That's from earlier, you nitwit. And it's the back of my hand, not my fingers." She shook her head, annoyed. She turned back to Fiyero. "You're right though. Of course, I already knew I didn't do it, so that doesn't help me too much."

He chuckled at her, and she couldn't help the small blush that hit her cheeks as he smiled at her. He really was much cleverer than he gave himself credit for, and it was perfectly understandable how anyone could have a crush on him, even someone as uninterested in such things as she was. However, the idea that he could return her affection was so ridiculous. She shook her head to focus on the life and death matters swirling around them, and her eyes landed on Boq's shoes. Boq's muddy shoes. She tugged Fiyero's arm, subtly pointing to Boq's shoes, and his eyes widened as he whispered,"Do you think?"

She addressed the group, whose attention had wandered. "Boq, how did you get your shoes muddy?"

He whirled around, a guilty look on his face. "I don't...um...why?" He flushed suspiciously, stuffing his hands conspicuously in his pockets, and she had a sudden certainty.

"Turn out your pockets, Boq." He glared, but the group stared back until he sighed. Pulling empty pockets out, he sighed.

"Satisfied?"

"One more," Fiyero said somberly. The munchkin pulled his pocket out, and a necklace dropped to the ground. A gaudy necklace with a broken clasp. Shenshen's missing necklace.