Chapter 11 Mr. Spiel's Spiel

Shellock examined the house where Mr. Spiel resided. It was of the more fancy variety. After all, it was located in Berrybark, one of the more prestigious cities to rest on Koopa Kingdom soil. The large, decked out home stood with its gorgeous, sparkling white paint job and breathtaking, raven black shutters. Shellock took a long drag of his bubble pipe. The bubbles flew into the air and burst upon making contact with the house's front wall.

"Well, Watson," Shellock said. "It looks like it is time to crack this case."

Watson nodded. His smile made Shellock's own confidence increase. Shellock carried himself in a strong, authoritative way as he walked up to the front door. He tapped on it, allowing the sound to echo down the walls of the house's interior. Within minutes, Mr. Spiel was standing before the two of them. He narrowed his eyes upon getting a glance at Watson.

"Mr. Koopa," he said. "What are you doing here?"

Watson cleared his throat and stepped a little closer to the silver haired gentleman. Shellock took notice of the fact that he was wiping his hands on the front of his cloak sporadically, as well as the fact that his breathing rate was a little too high.

"Mr. Spiel, we are here to discuss something with you. We saw your review of the performance in the newspaper."

Now Mr. Spiel's eyebrows sank over his eyes, curving at a sharp angle. Shellock felt a strong surge of fury upon seeing that gaze, but could not identify the reason why.

"Okay…" He glanced down at Shellock. "And that is my concern because…?"

Watson was about to speak up, but Shellock gently placed his hand on his back.

"Don't worry, dear chap, I can handle this," he said as he patted him. Shellock stepped toward the critic. "Mr. Spiel, my name is Shellock Holmes. The reason we are here is because we wish to discuss the disappearance of Lemmy Koopa."

"Who?" Mr. Spiel asked as he raised an eyebrow. Again, Shellock felt a surge of fury, but he did his best to keep it under wraps.

"Lemmy Koopa. He was the opening act for the symphony that Watson put on," Shellock said as he gestured toward his assistant. Mr. Spiel's face flashed with recognition.

"Oh." He looked down at the little Koopa with a strong dose of apathy. "I remember now. His act was quite the embarrassment."

Shellock's mouth gawked open. He stared up at the critic, shock claiming his heart.

"That's not true!" Lemmy cried. His voice was starting to revert back to normal. "It was a great act! One that he put a lot of effort into!"

Mr. Spiel snickered.

"Right. Of course, I must have been mistaking the act I wrote about in the newspaper for something good. Oh, wait." He leaned down toward Lemmy. His eyes glittered like melted steel. "It was atrocious. I don't care how much effort 'Lemmy' put into his act; that still doesn't change the fact that it is a pathetic excuse for entertainment."

Lemmy could feel tears building in his eyes. He did his best to hide them, but they were as hot as molten lava. They burned his cheeks.

"Why do you say that?" Lemmy asked. "Do you know how hard I worked to make it great? Do you know how much I wanted to make others happy when giving it? Why couldn't it do the same for you? Why was my act the act that made you so hateful?"

Mr. Spiel sighed and pinched his brow with his thumb and forefinger.

"My job is to point out what is good about a performance and what was bad. Believe it or not, Mr. Koopa, I tried to like your act. But there was nothing to like. It was overdone, cliche, and childish." He stared down at Lemmy, his eyes sharp and refined. "I can only hope that, someday, you'll put your time and effort into something more productive. Because, quite frankly, you have no place in the world of entertainment." Mr. Spiel sighed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I was right in the middle of eating lunch."

With that, he closed the door. Lemmy's heart sank like a stone, his shoulders started to slump. A darkness, so thick and tangible, was filling his mind. It clouded over him, choking him like a strong chain. His throat tightened up, his knees gave out from under him. He started to cry.

"Why?" he muttered. "Why?"

Ludwig leaned down and placed his hand on Lemmy's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Lemmy," he said. "You shouldn't have had to hear that."

Lemmy dried his nose and stood up. The tears in his eyes cleared as he stared back into Watson's face.

"It's all well and good," he said with his Shellock voice. He took a drag of his bubble pipe. "I am closer to solving the mystery than ever before."

A disappointment filled Watson's eyes. He stared down at Shellock with a specific type of horror.

"Seriously? Lemmy, come on! You can't keep doing this to yourself! It's not healthy!" He placed his hands on Shellock's shoulders. "Lemmy, please stop this!"

Shellock pulled away. He took another drag of his bubble pipe.

"Watson," he said sternly. "I will never stop taking my job seriously." His eyes narrowed. His genius mind started to go into overdrive. He stared up at Watson. "Watson, will you walk with me?"

Watson blinked in confusion, but ultimately nodded.

"Yes, of course, Lems."

…

The two Koopas walked in silence. Shellock kept sneaking glances at Watson. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his theory was plausible. He couldn't believe it took him so long to figure this out. He was thinking this just as they arrived at the police station. Watson looked up at the building in interest as Shellocm decided to come to a stop.

"What are we doing here?"

Shellock didn't answer. He just opened the door and allowed himself inside. Watson followed.

"Lemmy, what are you doing?"

Shellock walked up to the police koopa sitting at the desk. He whispered something into her ear. Once he had finished, the koopa nodded and got up from behind the desk. She put handcuffs around Watson's hands. Watson looked at her in horror.

"What's going on?" he asked in shock.

"Ludwig Vanessa Koopa, you are under arrest for the murder of Lemmy Koopa."

Watson blinked in shock, barely even reacting as the police woman threw him into the cell. He looked at Shellock in terror as the door closed.

"Lemmy, what are you doing?" he screeched. Shellock just puffed on his bubble pipe as glanced at the police woman.

"Thank you so much, darling," he said. He then turned back to Watson and pointed his finger at him. "Don't think I haven't noticed your body language, Watson! Every time you mentioned your brother, you began to act as if you knew something! I heard it in your voice!"

Watson shook his head.

"Lemmy…"

"On top of which, you also were one of the last people to interact with Lemmy. You admitted to being there in the dressing room!" He glared at his assistant. "It all makes sense to me now. You had the motive. You admitted that you promised Lemmy to split the profits between you two. However, I know enough about Koopa and human psychology to know how selfish they can be." He narrowed his eyes, practically squinting at Watson. "There is only one logical conclusion: you killed Lemmy and decided to frame Mr. Spiel."

Watson's eyes grew as wide as planets. His mouth hung open like a trapdoor.

"Lemmy, that's insane!"

"Of course it's insane; it's downright despicable. And yet, you did it, Watson! It was you all along." He sighed. "I can't believe I was so blind."

Watson looked at Shellock in terror, grasping the doors to the cell tightly.

"Lemmy, please! You know I would never kill someone! You can't leave me in here!"

"I can, Watson." He squinted his eyes at the blue haired Koopa. "And my name is Shellock."

With that, he left the station, happy that the case had finally been solved and a criminal had been put in their rightful place.