Chapter Twenty Five - Gorsestep's Grand Reveal

The two she cats positioned themselves at each end of the fern bush so that they had a good view into the clearing beyond.

There, Hazelpaw could see all the warrior mentors - Mothfur, Rabbithop, The Flame, Grassclaw and Robin's Call sitting together uncomfortably in a rough semi-circle. In front of them, like a mentor in front of his group of apprentices, was Gorsestep.

The senior, severe looking black tom from before - Blackstone - was backed up a few paces from the mentors, looking very official. Meanwhile, Ashstar was still being ushered in by Shrewtail, the young and awkward lean brown Guard. She looked rather irritated, her tail lashing angrily, and he looked frankly terrified of her.

I don't blame him. Thought Hazelpaw with a shiver, wincing at a twinge of pain from her sore side.

"Is this all really necessary?" Snapped Ashstar as she sat down with the other mentors. "I do have a clan to run, you know."

"I am quite aware of that," responded Gorsestep. "However, it could not be avoided. I do promise to take up as little of your time as possible."

The tabby tom sat up straight and began to address the assembly of cats.

"Now, I have called this meeting because of certain developments in my investigation of the death of Mousestripe. But I have been made aware that this is not the only unfortunate event PineClan has suffered recently. You are currently missing your previous deputy Whistlesong, are you not?"

Hazelpaw saw Grassclaw's shoulder's shake, tail flicking nervously. She felt a surge of pity for the grey and black tom.

He must be nearly frantic with worry about Whistlesong.

"I am not sure if missing is the right word." Ashstar spoke up acidly. "I received a White Rabbit in my den one morning some eight sun-ups ago. In PineClan culture it means she's left the clan and I wish her good luck." The tabby she cat flicked an ear. "Surely this has no bearing on Mousestripe's unfortunate suicide?"

Gorsestep let out a sigh, meeting the leader's cool gaze.

"I'm afraid that the whereabouts of Whistlesong have everything to do with this investigation. I'm also afraid those whereabouts are no longer in doubt." Said the tabby tom. "Whistlesong did not go White Rabbit that day at all, nor did she leave the territory by her own volition."

"What do you mean?!" Cried out Grassclaw, golden eyes wide with anguish.

"I mean," began the deputy Guard again. "That this afternoon, my Guards discovered a body in the swamp near the BrightClan border; a body which exactly matches the description of Whistlesong."

There was a stunned pause.

Grassclaw made a noise as if he was drowning. His jaw was open with shock, his unsheathed claws dug into the ground and he was shaking.

"This discovery now means this is a murder investigation, and you are the suspects." Announced Gorsestep.

Next to her, Hazelpaw heard Daisypaw make an appreciative noise. She could tell that the cream she cat was enjoying the deputy Guard's sense of theatre.

"I'm afraid that you must be mistaken." Said Ashstar, calmly.

"I'm afraid that I am not." Contradicted Gorsestep, just as calm.

Grassclaw's voice, when he spoke, came choking out in odd little out bursts. "No! She - she can't be - we argued." He sobbed. "I was going to - to tell her I was sorry - she can't be dead before I've told her how sorry I am!"

Oh, poor Grassclaw. Thought Hazelpaw.

Daisypaw sniffed. She did not sound sympathetic.

Gorsestep continued on. "The murder must have been some cat with enough skill to catch a rabbit and who had access to Ashstar's den - in short, it must have been one of the six of you."

"But this is preposterous!" Exclaimed Mothfur, swaying slightly as she sat up. "You have no evidence against any of us."

"On the contrary, I have plenty." Replied Gorsestep.

The dark brown tabby began to pace in front of the warriors.

"There is a blood stain on the ground of the abandoned training hollows and marks of blood were also found around the trunk of the neighbouring beech tree along with a ball of bloodied moss found next to it. There are paw prints and drag marks leading from the hollow to an abandoned badger set which also bears recent use, including paw prints inside matching Mousestripe's. A blood stain and seaweed from the swamp was also found in the tom's nest. I can say with great confidence that Mousestripe played a part in Whistlesong's death, but he did not do it alone."

Hazelpaw felt the atmosphere change instantly and despite herself, the grey she cat shivered.

The Guard paused in his pacing. He glanced at the gathered warriors, letting his deep amber gaze sweep over each of them. He spoke again.

"Mousestripe's death at first appeared to be a suicide, but certain details did not make sense. There were signs of struggle and the location of the body made it look like he was trying to run for help. Therefore I deduce that Mousestripe's accomplice returned and killed him."

Gorsestep padded closer to the group before sitting up straight on his haunches. His amber gaze bored into the warrior mentors.

"Someone, in this clearing, is the murderer of two warriors."

There was a slight pause.

In a brief moment of clarity, Mothfur spoke up.

"But why do you think one of us did? It could have been any one."

"Yes, exactly." Agreed Rabbithop, nodding her head. She twitched her tail loftily. "Besides, cats like us simply don't do that sort of thing."

The deputy Guard twitched his whiskers.

"All of you were at the camp at dusk when the murder happened and you all had a reason to want Whistlesong dead." Explained Gorsestep.

"Nonzen-SAY!" Cried Robin's Call suddenly. "Not E sur-lay! E have no hatred-ay 'Istlesong."

"Well, that may be true." Said Gorsestep. "But you do have a secret, don't you?"

"What-AY ver do you-ay mEEn ay?" Asked Robin's Call. Her voice had gone rather shrill and she gave her chest fur a couple of nervous licks.

In the fern bush Hazelpaw, felt Daisypaw nudge her in excitement.

Whatever does Gorsestep mean? Had we missed something else?

"This morning, I sent a messenger to CloudClan." Began the tabby tom. Hazelpaw noticed Robin's Call green eyes widen with unease.

"What he discovered when he got there was that the clan had never heard of you, nor do they have any warriors by your name. You aren't Robin's Call are you?"

Hazelpaw couldn't help gasping, before feeling Daisypaw nudging her roughly to be quiet.

All the other warriors looked at Robin's Call in shock. The russet furred she cat looked around at them in return before breaking into a purr of amusement.

"The things one cat will do to belong." She said in an accent quite different from her CloudClan one. She sighed. "It seemed like such a little deception compared to the reward."

"You aren't CloudClan?" Shrieked Rabbithop, her blue eyes wide in disbelief.

"Nope." Robin's Call replied. "Not even clan born. My mother was a rogue who raised me in an abandoned twoleg nest right next to CloudClan territory; that's how I picked up the accent and language. She named me Star if you must know. We were friendly with the clan, but they turned me away when I tried to join. I had heard of other clans living round the lake, but I knew I would have less of a chance joining, introducing myself as a rogue called Star, so I made some - alterations. I took my mother's name - Robin - turned it into a CloudClan name and then, in two flaps of a sparrow's wings, I became Robin's Call. A warrior of CloudClan who wanted to join PineCan to teach the culture here."

The she cat paused, before looking straight at Gorsestep, speaking sternly.

"But if you think that Whistlesong found out, and I killed her to shut her up, you're quite wrong. I had nothing to do with her death - or Mousestripe's."

The russet furred warrior flicked her tail.

"I might have changed my name to get into a clan, but I'd never kill anyone to stay. And if I'm exiled because of this - well, you're all mouse brained. You must admit, I'm good at what I do."

So that must have been what Owlpaw heard Robin's Call doing in the forest that evening. Thought Hazelpaw. Practicing her accent. It had been a small mystery but it's nice to have it solved.

"Great StarClan," said Rabbithop faintly.

"Well," snapped Ashstar glaring at Robin's Call. "We'll deal with this later."

Gorsestep nodded.

"Thank you for clearing that up," he said to Robin's Call, "for the time being I'll assume you're innocent – or that you're guilty of nothing more than identity fraud - and move on to the problem of who indeed killed Whistlesong."

Everyone went quiet again.

"I didn't do it." Spoke up Grassclaw at last. "I swear I didn't." He scraped his paw along the ground, ears drooping.

"Whistlesong and I argued horribly that dusk but that's all. I didn't want to tell any cat we'd had another row - I was embarrassed so I've been lying about when exactly I was around camp. But I swear I had nothing to do with her being murdered. And I thought Whistlesong was alive until just now."

The tom lifted his head swallowing. "Didn't I?" He asked The Flame, golden eyes pleading.

The red read tom gulped nervously before replying.

"Grassclaw is quite right." Redflame said at last, blinking at the grey and black tabby tom. "He's been asking me where Whistlesong is ever since we heard she had supposedly left. I found it impossible to make him believe that I had no idea, or that I had nothing to do with her going White Rabbit."

Gorsestep nodded. "I see. But why should Grassclaw think you had something to do with Whistlesong's disappearance?"

"Because Whistlesong told me that she was going back to him," growled Grassclaw, glaring furiously at The Flame.

The Flame's fur seemed to prick self-consciously and he gulped nervously again. At first Hazelpaw didn't think the tom was going to say anything at all, but then he seemed to make a decision. He swallowed once more before shifting closer to Rabbithop and curling his tail around her.

"Whistlesong," he began unsteadily, "did come and see me at early dusk but I couldn't possibly give her what she wanted. You see - I was with Rabbithop. She, er, surprised us together."

The tom ducked his head sheepishly before continuing. "You see, Rabbithop and I are now mates."

Hazelpaw heard Ashstar give a hiss of rage.

"After all I've done for you!" She said to Rabbithop, before glaring at Redflame. "To waste it on becoming mates!"

All Hazelpawcould think was; they deserve each other.

Rabbithop leaned closer to The Flame, gazing up at him raptly. "He asked me half a moon ago, but we knew we had to keep it a deadly secret." She explained with a nod to Ashstar.

"He gave me a beautiful violet flower, as a token of his love. Just like the one I'd seen Ashstar wearing which I admired. I was so excited that I slipped out of conditioning to pop down to camp to see him."

The Flame nodded.

"At one point there was a noise in camp and I put my head out to see who it was. Mousestripe was there as well as Rob - oh, Sta….Oh you remember seeing me there surely?" He asked Robin's Call. She nodded.

"You see?" Said Rabbithop. "We both had alibis. And anyway, there was no reason for us to want silly old Whistlesong dead, was there? Not once we were mates. She might have been upset about it but there was nothing she could do to us."

Gorsestep flicked an ear.

"Very well. I guess that leaves Mothfur and Ashstar." He said, turning to the two she cats expectantly.

Mothfur's pelt twitched and she shuffled her paws. "Ashstar and I," she began faintly. "Were in her den, discussing important clan matters. All evening."

Hazelpaw saw Ashstar look sideways at the dappled brown she cat.

What will she say?

"Yes," said the leader after the slightest pause. "Mothfur is quite right."

"How convenient." Said Gorsestep politely, not trying to be polite at all. The deputy Guard stood up. "Thank you. Well, taking all statements into account, shall I tell you what I believed happened that evening?"

The clearing went very still.

Hazelpaw felt Daisypaw silently bouncing up and down beside her with uncontained excitement. She could tell the cream she cat had her tail over her mouth to stop herself from squeaking.

Gorsestep began to pace in front of the warriors once more.

"As I said before," began the dark tabby tom, "I believe that whoever was responsible for Whistlesong's death was also responsible for Mousestripe's - to solve one murder is to solve the other. The crucial cat in all of this is Whistlesong. Why would some cat want to have killed her in the first place?"

Gorsestep stopped pacing to face the warriors.

"Rivalry for the deputy position seems the obvious motive - that would include you Mothfur, as well as Mousestripe. Then there is the rather knotty love life of Redflame" - Hazelpaw very nearly giggled at that - "which involves Redflame himself, as well as Grassclaw and Rabbithop."

Ashstar abruptly stood up, glaring at the deputy Guard frostily. "I see I'm not included in this little list," she said coolly. "Since I'm obviously not a suspect, may I be permitted to leave?"

"Certainly not!" Snapped Gorsestep, fur bristling angrily.

"Two of your warriors have died this past quarter moon! If nothing else, as clan leader you should take responsibility for their welfare."

"Come now, deputy Guard." Said Ashstar, cool blue eyes betraying nothing. "It is rather hard to run a clan with no warriors. I hardly think it would be in my best interests to kill my own clan mates."

"Indeed." Agreed Gorsestep. "For a clan leader to kill her own clan mates she would have to have a very good reason."

"Exactly." Said Ashstar, sitting back down on her haunches.

"Exactly." Echoed Gorsestep. "So; did you have a good reason for doing it?"

Suddenly the rest of the warriors began to catch on to what was happening. They all whipped their heads round to stare at Ashstar, eyes wide.

"Certainly not!" Retorted Ashstar. It was almost a shout.

"It seems to me," the Guard continued on smoothly, "that after being dumped by Redflame, the deputy position would have become more important than ever to Whistlesong. If she had known anything that could have swung the chances in her favour or given her more power in PineClan, I suspect she would have used it. So that begs the question, did she know something about your past that you might want to keep hidden?"

"Do not - be - ridiculous!" Hissed Ashstar through clenched teeth. "As I told you, I was with Mothfur in my den all evening."

"I think you'll find it was Mothfur who told me you were meeting in your den; a tale which I find suspiciously convenient and not particularly likely." Retorted Gorsestep.

"I suggest that after a very brief meeting in your den, Mothfur left - witnessed by several of your warriors and apprentices, I might add - and then spent much of the evening in another part of the camp, perhaps with some catnip - ravaged from poor Ravenwhisker's carefully cared for garden - to keep her company. Leaving you on your own."

Oh! Thought Hazelpaw. Of course that makes sense. If Mothfur was somewhere eating catnip, she wouldn't want any cat to know about. And stolen from Ravenwhisker's garden no less! That was why she made up that story about being with Ashstar, which of course suited Ashstar fine to play along with.

"It isn't true!" Yowled Mothfur. "I only had the smallest bit, the tiniest leaf. I resent your implications - resent them!"

"Oh do be quiet Mothfur!" Hissed Ashstar, blue eyes flashing.

Mothfur flinched, before shifting slightly away from the dark grey tabby.

Gorsestep, meanwhile, looked rather pleased with himself.

"Indeed," he said with a flick of his tail. "And with that, Ashstar, your alibi vanishes. Now. I believe that you met with Whistlesong on the ledge of High Cliff. During that meeting, Whistlesong threatened you with blackmail. You argued with her, and then pounced; pushing her over the side."

Dum, dum duuuuuuum! Gorsestep's grand reveal couldn't be going better! (Quite the cat for drama isn't he?) I hope you enjoyed it, we're actually so close to the end. But Ashstar's not caught yet! Tune in next Mon/Sun to see what else Gorsestep's got up his sleeve :.) PS: And don't forget to check out the pics in my profile of the different characters – let me know in the reviews if the links aren't working.

-Fatsbreeze37