Hmm... dunno what to say at the moment, except for thanks as always for the nice reviews, guys : ) I'm glad this story isn't dumb or lame or anything like that, you know. Anyway this chapter was very fun, even though it's so short it's one of the longest chapters yet. I could have probably gone on with it but I wanted to leave off where I did because... I did. It was a good place to end, I thought. So please enjoy my story!
Chapter Four: An Unexpected Guest
They stared for a moment in silence, and then six voices started at once, fingers pointing as they accused each other of the crime.
"It was Col. Mustard, I know it! He bashed Mr. Body in the head with the candlestick!"
"Nonsense! I'd say it was Prof. Plum with the wrench! Then he took off his glasses and used looking for them as a cover-up!"
"I wouldn't do that, sonny! Someone might have stepped on my specs, and those are the only pair I've got! It must've been Mr. Green with that big ol' hunk of piping!"
"M-me? I d-didn't do it! When the lights went out I... er, thought I'd stay out of the way in that corner."
"No, I saw him; he was cowering over there. Scared out of his wits I'd say; it wasn't him. Y'know it could've been Mrs.White; she could easily have hit him with the handle of her knife."
"Oh, good gracious no! Mr. Boddy may have been a psychopathic maniac fascinated with people killing eachother, but he was a good employer and I wouldn't want to kill him. In my opinion, the most likely suspect would be-"
"SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT!" Bootler shouted over the din. Everyone stopped babbling and turned to face him once more. He cleared his throat and continued calmly. "We'll never get anywhere arguing in this manner. We need to do this scientifically."
"Now you're talkin', sonny!" Prof. Gadd said enthusiastically.
"So we'll have to look for evidence as to who did this and with what weapon. Then w-" He was cut off by the sudden sound of a loud mournful sounding bell, which tolled loudly in the foyer. Luigi jumped, and everyone froze. There was a pause, then it sounded again, and was accentuated by a dazzling flash of lightening through the window and a loud thunderclap.
"The doorbell," Tayce T. said gravely.
"But it's not midnight yet!" Ms. Peacock said in alarm, glancing first at the watch on her right wrist, then at the one on her left, and then for good measure checking the one over the mantle.
"Well it can't be the cops then," Pauline said nervously. "Can it?"
"Only one way to find out, don't you know," Kolorado said decisively. He pushed past Pauline and Gadd, skirted around Mr. Boddy's feet, and opened the lounge door. "Come on, Bootler; you're the one with the keys, am I right?"
"Well, yes... I suppose if we make sure through the window first that it's not the police, then it should be all right..."
So they all filed out through the open door into the foyer and walked cautiously towards the front door, treating it like a dangerous animal that need to be tranqued. Finally they drew near enough to carefully peer through the small square window in the top of the door, and saw... nothing.
Luigi, who was closest the door and stood staring out into the gloom, said without turning "There's no one there!"
Just then there came a loud knock at the door, making everyone jump and causing Luigi to stumble, lose his balance, and fall backwards into everyone else, making them all tumble over eachother in a confused heap.
The knock came again; a sharp, persistant rapping on the heavy wooden door, accompanied by a voice, which called "Hello? HELLO! Anybody home? My car broke down so I followed this road to here! Can I come in? It's really wet out here! Hello? I know someone's in there! It's really mean to make me stand out here freezing you know!" The voice was a male's, but was rather high-pitched.
Everyone got off of each other and stood up, dusted themselves off, and turned to look at Luigi with eyebrows arched. He spread out his hands and said "There wasn't anyone there when I looked!"
"Oh, here, let me see! I bet I know..." Ms. Peacock said, stepping up the the window and peering down. She founde herself staring a round white thing with red spots and arms- a top view of a mushroom person, of course. "Look, it's just a mushroom guy! He's so short you looked right over his head," she explained.
"Well," Bootler said, floating forward and producing a large silver key. "I suppose we ought to let him in."
"Are you crazy?" Luigi said incredulously. "There's a- a-" he couldn't bring himself to say 'dead body', so instead he motioned back towards the lounge. "In there! Don't you think that whoever it is will notice?"
"Of course not," Bootler said matter-of-factly, sticking the key in the lock and turning it. "He'll be more comfortable in the library, I think. Ah, welcome, sir! Sorry to have kept you waiting," he said as the door swung open to reveal the little man who was standing there.
He wore white shorts and a blue vest with gold-colored trim, and large brown shoes. He stood with an annoyed look on his rounded face, his arms crossed over his bare chest as he dripped on the stoop. "It's about time," he said irritably. "I was starting to think no one was home. So, may I come in, please? I need to use the phone."
Three voices said 'yes' as three more said 'no', and the guests and the butler looked around at each other in surprise. "Um... please, excuse us for a minute," Bootler said, and before the little an could protest he had shut the door again and turned the bolt. "Well? Which is it? I don't see why we shouldn't let him in if we don't let on about... you know."
"We can't let the young feller in! Supposing he leaves the library and walks in on... us in the lounge?" Gadd said.
"Oh, the poor thing's sopping wet. We can't leave him out in that storm; it's just immoral," Miss Peacock said, gesturing out the window at the steadily worsening thunderstorm.
Luigi shook his head. "Don't you think it's worse in here? I mean, there's a killer on the loose in the mansion! If it was me I'd rather be in the rain."
"I agree with Mr. Green," Kolorado said, shaking his head. "He and the Prof. have very good points; supposing he finds us and the cadaver, and phones the police, wot? Or he could become the next murder victim. Leave him out, I say."
"Oh my goodness, you two are rediculous! The idea of leaving him out there in the cold; why it's preposterous! We should bring him in where it's warm, and then somehow keep him in the library. Oh, I know! We could just lock him in," Mrs. White said.
"Won't he get suspicious if we lock him in a room?" Kolorado countered. "Then he would call the police."
"Actually, he couldn't," Bootler interjected. "There's no telephone in the library."
"Brilliant!" Peacock said. "The library it is, then. Come now, open the door and let him in."
Bootler unbolted the door and pulled it open on a very disgrundled mushroomian. "Our humblest apologies, sir. We are having a party and had to discuss where you'd be most comfortable while at the same time not interfere with our get-together. We decided you should be all right in the library."
"Swell," he replied sourly shivering slightly as he stepped inside. Mrs. White made a face at the muddy water that puddled where he walked, forming a dirty wet trail. His shoes squeaked on the marble floor, as well as squishing from being wet, breaking the quiet of the foyer while he was led from the front door to the library.
"Here we are, sir," Bootler said, opening the library door. Around the doorjamb they could see shelves and shelves of books lining the walls, as well as large comfortable looking chairs and a desk with a light.
The mushroom man stepped in, looked around, and then turned back with a look of annoyance on his face. "Look, this really isn't funny. I need to use a pho-" he stopped when he had turned far enough to see that the door behind him was shut. "Um... hello?" he said timidly, taking a step towards the door as lightening flashed through the window behind him. "Hellooo?" He reached out and grabbed the handle, trying to turn it. It wouldn't budge.
"Hey!" The guests listened as their unexpected guest rattled the doorknob, pulling on the door and uttering a steady steam of mixed explatives. Bootler motioned for silence as they crept away from the door, the butler ghost tucking his Master Key safely away. "Dammit, let me out!" They heard the oddly high voice behind them shout, along with a loud thump which suggested he'd kicked the door.
"Well, now that that's taken care of we can see about this murder buisiness," Kolorado said in a soft voice.
"Yay," Luigi said with a sigh.
"We have under five hours left," Bootler said, indicating a clock above the doorway reading 7:45.
"I'm certain that will be enough time to gather the evidence," Gadd said, adjusting his specs. "But will we have time to analyze it?"
"Well, we'll have to try, anyway," Pauline said. She was closest the the door to the lounge, and stepped over to it now and turned the knob. They all piled in after her and looked around, when they realised that something was missing...
"Mr. Boddy's body is missing!" the young brunette cried, pointing at the floor where he had lain moments ago. Everyone peered around her and saw that it was true; the corpse, it seemed, had left the scene of the crime. THUMP! Alarmed, they all turned and looked around in surprise. Luigi had fainted.
Bwaha X3 I always like to write Toad as friendly and cheerful but really kinda psycho when he's ticked off, with the cussing and the kicking the door and all that : ) Hey, you'd freak out too if you were left standing out in a storm, and then when you were finally let in they locked you up XD Heh. I really wanted someone to faint in this story. Luigi seemed like a good choice, given his personality and the circumstances : ) Well, those are all the ANs for this chapter I guess, so with that being said, now that you've read it please review, m'kay? M'kay.