Chapter Seventeen - The Final Three

The camp was in a complete panic.

Robin's Call, Dovepool and the Dep AP's were trying to calm down the loudly talking warriors and wailing apprentices, but to no avail.

Leopardpaw wasn't even trying. She sat down hard on her haunches, quivering slightly, her wide amber eyes staring down at her paws. Her reaction made Hazelpaw more certain than ever that she was tied up in this mystery.

Meanwhile, the chaos continued. The StarClan rumour had come back to everyone's mind with a vengeance. No matter what Ashstar had said about it being an accident, all apprentices and even some warriors had decided that it had once again been a murder; just like Whistlesong.

Suddenly a flash of ginger near the dirt place tunnel caught Hazelpaw's eye.

What the…?

'I can't believe that Mousestripe's been murdered too," said Lilypaw, interrupting Hazelpaw's train of thought. "Just like Whistlesong. That's two in less than a quarter moon!"

"Now they're both going to be wandering around, haunting the camp," said Lilaicpaw loudly to frighten Beanpaw. "Just you wait!"

Beanpaw let out a whimper. "But I liked Mousestripe," she cried. "I don't want him to have been murdered."

"App-REN-te-z ays!" Yowled Robin's Call, her accent thicker than ever. "Mouse-ay stripes not en murdered! Go now e-mee-dee-ate ay to thee train-ay 'ollowz for combat wit Grassclaw; ay no more ay this!"

The den mates did as they were told, making their way to the training hollows. As they arrived Hazelpaw stared at Grassclaw nervously.

Is he displaying any new signs of guilt?

The grey she cat couldn't see any exactly, but the tom certainly looked troubled and his fur was spikier than ever.

Grassclaw yowled at them to stand to attention before going through combat training techniques vigorously. None of the apprentices could pay attention. Many made the simplest mistakes which only seemed to ignite Grassclaw's furious temper even more. He yowled at them even harder, fur spiked, eyes aflame, claws unsheathed and began to pace restlessly.

Eventually Beanpaw just fell onto the ground in dismay before bursting into shaky sobs and whimpers. Grassclaw glanced at the black she cat but didn't tell her to be quiet. Indeed all his flaming rage had abruptly disappeared; he almost looked like he wanted to sob himself.

"Grassclaw?" Lilypaw asked as she went over to comfort Beanpaw. "What happened to Mousestripe?"

The grey tom blinked before bowing his head, eyes closed. "I'm sorry, Lilypaw. I don't know." He said, his voice husky.

Hazelpaw realised she believed him.

Grassclaw, for all his raging, is truly upset about Mousestripe's death - not just upset but confused! He doesn't know any more about what happened than we do. And if that's true, it means Grassclaw is not the murderer.

The grey she cat tilted her head.

How am I going to prove this to Daisypaw though?

Glancing over to the cream she cat, Hazelpaw could tell she was thinking along the same lines and planning something.

"Get up young ones." Grassclaw continued in the same lost, husky voice. "You may go to sun-high break early."

Daisypaw immediately got up and stretched before wandering to one of the bushes which flanked the hollow.

"Oh!" She exclaimed loudly, making several apprentices jump.

"What is it Daisypaw?" Asked Grassclaw.

"I just found a flower accessory by the hollow. Is it yours?"

The tom snorted, barely glancing at it. "It's not mine, I never wear those sorts of things." There was a slight pause as he looked at it again more properly, his brow creased. "Although, it does look like the one Red-" He stopped mid-way through his sentence with a shake of his head. "Oh, never you mind. Off you go apprentices!"

"He didn't do it!" Hissed Daisypaw to Hazelpaw as soon as they were away from the hollow.

"I know." Replied Hazelpaw, relieved. "Thank goodness you proved it, I didn't know how. Oh! And did you hear what Grassclaw said when you showed the flower to him? He said Red. He could only have been referring to Redflame!"

Daisypaw nudged Hazelpaw excitedly. "Yes! Good work Hazelpaw, your detective work continues to amaze me."

Just then, Grassclaw strode past them heading straight to camp.

"Oh quick, follow him!" Yowled Daisypaw. "He might not be a suspect anymore, but I have a hunch that this is important!

…..

Daisypaw and Hazelpaw followed Grassclaw at breakneck pace, struggling to dodge all the gossiping, whispering and sometimes sobbing apprentices and warriors.

They followed the tom all the way to the warrior mentors den before he practically threw himself inside. Once again Hazelpaw caught a flash of dark red fur through the woven gorse.

Giving each other deeply significant looks, the two detectives positioned themselves on either side of the den entrance.

"This has gone far enough!" Hazelpaw heard Grassclaw yowling first.

There was a low growl from The Flame.

"No! I won't have it. This isn't a game anymore! Mousestripe is dead! Dead! Do you blame me for worrying about what's happened to Whistlesong?"

"I certainly blame you for being a FOXDUNG MAD BADGER!" Yowled The Flame.

Hazelpaw flinched and gasped while Daisypaw giggled with glee.

"Why won't you tell me where she is? You must know!" Said Grassclaw, sounding rather desperate now.

"Get out of the den now!" Snarled The Flame. "Before I do something I'll regret!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" Hissed back Grassclaw, before bursting out of the den, golden eyes flaming and fur spikier than ever.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He screeched to a small group of apprentices. Before stomping to the warrior's Grass Lay area.

"Arguing again," said one of them, a silver furred she cat 1st Seasoner, rolling her yellow eyes.

"What do you know about it?" Asked Daisypaw.

"Grassclaw's angry." Explained the silver she cat. Hazelpaw recognised her as Lilypaw's younger sister Tulippaw. "Because Rabbithop and The Flame are now mates and Grassclaw hates them both; you know why."

"They can't be mates!" Gasped Daisypaw. Hazelpaw was shocked.

I knew they were in league, but I never thought that things would have gone so far between them.

"Of course they are." Said Tulippaw. "That's why Rabbithop's been so pathetically happy. They're keeping it a secret though so Ashstar doesn't find out. You know, because of that tradition about warrior mentors not having mates. They would have to step down and lose their positions."

The silver she cat sighed.

"Isn't Rabbithop lucky though? He's ever so handsome."

Daisypaw's fur had gone as spiked as Grassclaw's and her blue eyes burned as she glared at the 1st seasoner.

"You're a foxdung liar Tulippaw!" She snapped. "Common Hazelpaw, we've got bigger mice to catch."

"I am NOT!" Tulippaw shrieked at the detectives as they marched away. "You're just JEALOUS!"

Tulippaw, of course, was right. Daisypaw hated to be outdone on PineClan knowledge. And missing something as important as becoming mates! Hazelpaw could tell the cream she cat was furious with herself.

The two found a quiet, safe space to talk in a corner of the apprentices Grass Lay area.

"I was wrong about Grassclaw blackmailing The Flame." Said Hazelpaw, trying to cheer her friend up. "All he was doing was asking him to tell him where Whistlesong was."

Daisypaw nodded. "When Whistlesong disappeared, Grassclaw figured The Flame had something to do with it. Of course, we know that Whistlesong didn't run away with Redflame because she's dead, but the fact the Grassclaw doesn't means we can rule him out once and for all."

Hazelpaw licked her chest fur thoughtfully before straightening up.

"What if Rabbithop and The Flame did do it together?" She asked. "If Whistlesong discovered they were mates - you how Ashstar especially hates it when the warrior mentors become mates, she thinks they've betrayed her, she would have demoted them on the spot - so perhaps they killed her to keep it a secret? After all, we've as good as heard Grassclaw say that the flower we found looks like one The Flame gave Rabbithop, which makes sense if they're together."

Hazelpaw then winced, remembering how her accusations of Rabbithop had caused their argument in the first place.

Daisypaw opened her mouth, most likely to yowl at the slate grey she cat, but the death of Mousestripe must have affected her more than Hazelpaw thought, because she soon closed it again; frowning thoughtfully.

"No you're right." She said at last with a sigh. "We can't discount Rabbithop anymore. I don't want her to have done it but, we must follows the clues where they take us."

Daisypaw tilted her head to the side. "My only question is why get Mousestripe involved? They two of them would have been more than strong enough to carry Whistlesong's body. I'm sure they're smart enough to come up with a murder plan as well."

"Perhaps they wanted to….to frame him? So if someone did discover the murder, they could blame Mousestripe for it. But then they started to worry he would tell someone the truth, so they decided to get rid of him."

"And run off to begin their new lives together!" Exclaimed Daisypaw.

"Good job Hazelpaw. I'm more than certain now that we're very close! We're down to the final three suspects; Mothfur, Rabbithop and The Flame."

Sup everyone! It looks like the detectives are getting closer to the truth but at the same time the danger is increasing! Two cats are already dead, will they catch the killer in time before the murderer adds another cat to its list of victims? Tune in this Fri/Thurs to find out!

-Fastbreeze37

Russetmoth – I really like those warrior name ideas, especially Hazelsight! I'll keep those in mind for when they become warriors but it won't be happening in this book I'm afraid. Thanks so much for reviewing every week btw! :.)