Chapter 18
MIDNIGHT! TIME'S UP!
Arthur and Hat Kid made it to the caboose just in time, and thankfully, none of the C.A.W. agents spotted them on their way back. When they got back, the Conductor was the first one to greet them.
"Ah, yer made it back! Great!" the strange owl said with a smile.
"Right back at y'all. And we know who murdered that owl," Arthur said, crossing his arms. Hat Kid nodded with a smug look.
At this moment, the group of C.A.W. agents entered the caboose and all of them had nervous expressions on their faces.
"So, who dun it?!" the Conductor asked the crows. The agents exchanged nervous glances between each others.
The lead C.A.W. agent sighed and said, "We don't know. We couldn't find any conclusive evidence. We have no idea who murdered this owl." The Conductor was very displeased to hear this.
"What! So you've done peck all to solve the case?!" the strange owl shouted angrily.
"Oh, they got comfortable alright. Sitting around, telling jokes... Very professional," Arthur said sarcastically as he and Hat Kid glared at the crows, causing them to exchange nervous glances.
"WHAT?! And you call yerselves agents?! What are ye peck necks even paid for?!" the Conductor shouted as he stomped his foot on the floor angrily. The C.A.W. agents looked down shamefully. "Who's the murderer? Which one of you did it?!" the strange owl asked, eyeing everyone suspiciously.
Arthur looked at Hat Kid and said, "You do the honors, and I'll tell the details." The small girl nodded.
Hat Kid put her hand on her chin and eyed everyone in the room. A long silence occured in the room as everyone waited nervously for the girl's response. Finally, after a few seconds, Hat Kid smirked and pointed her finger at someone...
This someone was... the Conductor! Everyone in the room gasped, while the strange owl took a step back in shock.
"... ME?!" he asked as nervousness began to gain him.
"That's right, Conductor. You," Arthur said seriously.
"B-but... I can't be the murderer, I'm the Conductor!" the strange owl said in his defence.
"Trust me, buddy, it all makes sense. The suspect file we found about you revealed you have anger issues and you are prone to violent outbursts. This Express Owl said or did something that made you mad, so you stabbed him out of frustration. Then you needed to frame someone else to get away with it, so you rigged the crime scene and pinned the murder on... 'Samantha'..." Arthur explained. Hat Kid nodded firmly in agreement.
He then sent a glare at the group of crows and continued, "But that's not all... we suspect you to have hired the C.A.W. agents to destroy all the evidence leading to you being the murderer. Then you sent us on this little errand in hope that they'd catch us and we'd be believed to be Samantha's accomplices trying to exonerate her, or the other way around." The Express Owls gasped, and the crows felt very nervous upon hearing this, which only seemed to confirm the duo's theory. The Conductor began to feel more stressed by the minute.
"That was a nice try... but you got really sloppy, Conductor. Or should I say... murderer?" Arthur said with smirk. Hat Kid crossed her arms and smirked as well.
The Express Owls were dumbfounded by this revelation. They looked at the Conductor and began to ask tons of questions.
"I-is that true?"
"Did you kill Robin?"
"What did you do that for?"
The Conductor was on edge right now. He felt like running out of his own train and hide in a hole somewhere far away from here.
"W-wha?! Come on! Y-yer can't seriously believe that, can yer?" he asked nervously.
Everyone kept staring at him accusingly.
"What? Seriously, what?" he asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
Everyone just continued to stare at him.
"It wasn't me!" he shouted, sweat starting to drip from his forehead.
They just continued to stare.
"Stop."
...
"Cut it out!"
...
"ALRIGHT, FINE!" the Conductor finally snapped as he threw his hands up. "It was me. I did it. There, yer happy?" he confessed with a huff. Everyone in the caboose gasped dramatically, while Arthur and Hat Kid smirked proudly. The two children were happy to have outsmarted and discovered the real murderer.
The Conductor sighed and said, "How'd you figure out it was me? I tried really hard to avoid being the villain in me own movie." Arthur and Hat Kid formed confused looks on their faces. 'Movie'? What was he talking about? "The Express Owl isn't even dead, I just gave him the rubber knife and asked him to play dead for a few hours," he explained.
"What?" Arthur asked dumbfounded. A 'rubber' knife?!
"Yeah, can I go now? I'm kinda sore from playing dead for so long," a voice that no one expected to hear said. Everyone except the Conductor turned their heads towards the 'victim' and their jaws dropped. The Express Owl was standing up... alive and well. He pulled out the rubber knife from his back and said, "This rubber knife is also a bit uncomfortable."
"He's... alive? But... what about all the blood?" Arthur asked in total confusion.
"Oh, it's just mercurochrome. The red color makes it look similar to blood," the Express Owl explained as he pulled out a red bottle with the word 'Mercurochrome' written on it. Arthur and Hat Kid couldn't believe it. All of this mess and the victim was still alive? The Conductor approached the two children.
"Well, thanks for solving the murder, kids. Not only did you reveal the murderer, you also revealed that the victim was never harmed," the strange owl thanked the duo. "...and you gave us intense footage for the movie!"
"'Movie'?!" Arthur asked with a shocked look. Hat Kid also formed a shocked expression on her face.
"What? You think I'd let a murder happen on MY Owl Express? Think again! It was all just a setup for my newest Owl Express movie: Murder on the Owl Express!" the Conductor explained with a proud smile.
"You think DJ Peck Neck will make a movie that's even remotely as good? I think not!" he added smugly. He then noticed that the two children were giving him death glares. "What?" he asked confused.
"If that was all a stage for your movie, wouldn't it have been convenient to let us know first? We really thought something bad happened here!" Arthur stated in an irritated tone.
"That was the point, laddie. You and the lass visibly have no experience in movie actin', so I had to make it look real so your reactions looked more natural," the Conductor explained.
"I... guess that makes sense," Arthur admitted with a shrug. It is true that if they had been aware that it was for the sake of the Conductor's movie, he would have probably let his anxiety get the best of him and he would have messed up a lot. So maybe that was for the best... Still, it didn't feel right to be tricked like that.
"Anyway. Here, take this thingamajig and get outta here!" the Conductor said, pulling out a Time Piece and tossing it at Hat Kid. The small girl caught it and smiled.
Even if the murder case was nothing more than an act for the Conductor's new movie. The Time Piece made it all worthy.
Later in the afternoon, owls, penguins, and birds alike gathered inside the movie theatre in Dead Bird Studio for the Conductor's movie premiere. The audience clapped and cheered as the credits rolled on the screen. Arthur and Hat Kid were back in their normal clothes and were sitting next to the Conductor as they watched the movie.
Arthur had to admit. The movie was fun to watch. It had a lot of suspense and his reactions in the movie felt very natural, due to the fact that neither him or Hat Kid knew that it was just a movie at the time. There were a few incoherences in some scenes, but they made good comic relief moments.
Not only that, but it was also western-themed. It also had an image filter that came with it, which made it even more exciting for Arthur since he was a big fan of western movies in all kinds. Although, during the credits, the two children felt offended because Hat Kid was starring as 'Detective Useless' and Arthur as 'Grumpy Sidekick'. Oh well, it was already up and running. No use changing it.
At the end of the credits, the reviews were revealed and they were fairly high. 720 points! The audience loved it!
"Ohohoho! That was great! I've never got such a high score before, even with the owls!" the Conductor said excitedly. He got up from his seat and looked at the two children. "Yer know what? You kids did great! How about we celebrate this with a drink, eh?" he said, motioning for them to follow him.
Arthur and Hat Kid were surprised by this. This strange owl who usually acted angry and self-centered was praising them and offering them a drink? Well, he was pretty happy with the reviews at the moment, so... it made sense. The two children looked at each other and shrugged. Their recording session with DJ Grooves was for later in the evening and they had nothing better to do at the moment, so that could allow them to kill some time.
They followed the Conductor through the studio, and the latter led them to his office. Their eyes widened in awe when they entered it. The room was filled with lots of trophies won from the previous annual bird movie awards! There had to be at least fifty of them! How did the Conductor keep winning them all? It made the children feel bad for DJ Grooves, as he was the main and only competitor against the Conductor. The disco penguin did say that he was on a terrible losing streak, therefore he must have lost all of the trophies to the strange owl. It must have been hard for him...
One could easily notice a lot of straw under the Conductor's fancy double bed - probably a bird thing - as well as different posters from his previous western movies pinned on the wall. Arthur couldn't help but stare at them in admiration. It was his favorite universe after all.
"So I take it ye kids like some wee bottles of juice, eh? I might have that," the Conductor said, walking up to a minibar behind his desk and opening it up. "So let's see what... ehhh..." he trailed off when he realized his minibar only contained alcoholic drinks.
"Errrm... You know what? Yer must not be that thirsty, eh?" the strange owl said with a nervous chuckle. Hat Kid was confused by this. Arthur, on the other hand, rolled his eyes, as he figured out what the problem was.
The Conductor picked a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the minibar, before going to sit on his chair behind his desk. The two children sat on the chairs in front of it.
"As I was sayin', that was quite a performance ye two pulled during the recording, even if yer didn't know it was one. Usually my Express Owls tend to peck it all up, but it's a good thing DJ Peck Neck's penguins are worst actors than them," the Conductor said, filling his glass with whiskey.
"Uh, sure..." Arthur said absently as he was taking nervous glances at the glass of whiskey in the strange owl's hand. He wasn't comfortable being around someone who drinks alcohol, because of what it turned his father into.
The Conductor seemed to notice Arthur's uneasiness and grew concerned. He then figured what the boy was looking at, so he decided to set the bottle of whiskey and the glass aside for the time being. This seemed to reassure the twelve-year-old boy slightly.
"So, err, I've been in the movie business for years, and despite how terrible my owl actors are, I was always able to beat that no-good DJ Grooves at the movie awards. Except for that one time, during the 42nd annual bird award, where I ended up 2nd place. That was quite the humiliation," the Conductor said, growling at the memory of him losing award 42 to his rival, DJ Grooves. He then shrugged and said, "But eh, I guess that was bad luck and all. Nothing beats a good ol' western movie, especially not some loud, noisy drivel that those moon penguins call a movie."
"Yeah, western movies are awesome. The Wild West, cowboys, horses, trains... all of it," Arthur said unintentionally, while he was looking back at the posters of the Conductor's movies. This statement catched the strange owl's interest.
"You like western movies too!?" the Conductor asked him in excitement. Arthur's eyes widened when he realized that the movie director heard him and he looked back at him.
"Uhh... yeah, I do. It's... actually my favorite universe. I've seen a lot of movies, books, and video games about it," the young boy answered with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh yeah? Mind sharin' some stories with an old passionated owl, laddie?" the Conductor asked eagerly with a huge grin.
Arthur smiled, relaxing a bit, and began to tell about one of his favorite movies, "Hmm, sure! So there's this one called 'True Grit'. Good movie. Came out a few years ago..."
For almost an hour, Arthur and the Conductor both talked about their favorite western-related movies and books, and the young boy talked about some of his video games too. The Conductor remained interested and attentive during the whole conversation, and Arthur started to grow more comfortable around the strange owl. He was even able to laugh once or twice when the Conductor brought up a few funny moments in the movies he watched or made.
Hat Kid stayed quiet and kept listening to the conversation between the two. She didn't understand a single thing they were saying, but nonetheless, she couldn't help but smile as she was listening to them. When it came to talking about their passion, Arthur and the Conductor were like two peas in a pod. And she was happy to see the boy smile for once. She always saw him looking sad and angry, but right now, it was a different side of him. A happy one.
Eventually, Arthur and the Conductor decided to call it a day. The movie director escorted the duo out of his room.
"Well, it was a lot of fun! I'll see ye two in the recording session for me next movie. It'll be in two days," the Conductor said with a smile. He looked at Arthur and pulled out a DVD movie box from his pocket.
"Oh, and laddy? Here's a copy of one of my previous movies. You'll tell me what yer think of it, eh?" he said, handing out the DVD box. Arthur took it and examined it. On the box's cover image was the Conductor, wearing a brown poncho and a black scarf around his neck, and he was holding a revolver in his hand. Beneath him was a small picture of his train. The title of the movie was 'Once Upon a Time on the Owl Express'.
"Will do. Thanks, Conductor," Arthur said with a smile, putting the DVD box in his pocket. The Conductor was not as bad as he thought he was. Despite his short temper, the strange owl had the same passion as him and he got along very well with him. It was definitely a big change from all the people who kept calling western stories old and boring.
"Ye and I, we should talk again after the next recording. Share some more good ol' western stories, yes?" the Conductor offered.
Arthur smiled and said, "Sounds good. See you soon!".
"Bye!" Hat Kid said as she waved the owl goodbye.
With that, the two children left and the Conductor walked back in his office to start thinking about the scenario for his next movie.
When Arthur and Hat Kid returned on the spaceship, they put the Time Piece they got from the Conductor back in the vault, and they also reconstituted the relic with the mountain set and the toy train on the other podium in the main room. Hat Kid decided to call it 'Tiny Train (And Birds?)'. In the description, she wondered if there were tiny birds making tiny 'movies', then she claimed she didn't have time to deal with tiny bird society, much to Arthur's amusement.
After that, they decided to watch the movie that the Conductor gave them. Arthur was really enjoying it, although they only watched half of it because it was almost time for their recording session with DJ Grooves. When it was evening, they landed in the parking lot of Dead Bird Studio and went in the reception.
"Oh... It's you two again," the receptionist stated in an annoyed tone. He was still upset over the fact that the duo caused a lot of mess inside the studio and were able to get away with it.
"Good to see you too, buddy," Arthur said sarcastically. The receptionist only rolled his eyes.
"I suppose you're here for the recording of DJ Grooves' movie?" he asked uninterested. The two children simply nodded. The receptionist shrugged and picked up the phone. He then dialed DJ Grooves' phone number and waited for his answer.
"Mr. Grooves? Your little actors have showed up at the reception," the tall owl said on the phone. He nodded as he got an answer. "Alright, I'll tell 'em," he said before hanging up.
"He'll be there in a minute," the receptionist said. He then sighed and said, "I honestly have no idea why he decided to let you star in his movies after all the trouble you lil' chirpers have caused. But that ain't my job to question my bosses' decisions, so whatever." Hat Kid looked at Arthur as to say 'We should apologize to him.' The young boy sighed and nodded.
"Look, buddy. We're sorry for trespassing and all the rest, we were just trying to retrieve what was ours. We didn't mean for things to go so far," Arthur apologized sincerely.
"Sorry," Hat Kid said to back up the boy's apology.
The receptionist stared at them for a moment, before he sighed and said, "You're forgiven. Just be careful around the studio's property next time, alright?" Arthur and Hat Kid nodded.
After waiting for a few more seconds, the two children saw DJ Grooves and a group of moon penguins emerge from the double doors leading to their part of the studio. The disco penguin noticed the duo and walked up to them.
"Good evening, darlings! Are you ready for your first day of recording?" he asked with a warm smile. Arthur and Hat Kid both nodded. "Excellent! Just so you know, we'll be shooting our movie on the moon."
"On the moon?" Arthur asked with a puzzled expression.
"Indeed, darling! We, Moon Penguins, have our own means of transport between the earth and the moon. Please follow me," DJ Grooves said, as he began to walk towards the exit with his fellow penguins. The two children looked at each other curiously, then they followed the moon penguins out of the studio.
The group walked a few meters away behind Dead Bird Studio, before stopping. DJ Grooves pulled out some sort of remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. Suddenly, the whole ground began shaking, startling both children. A part of the ground opened a few feet away from them and something slowly emerged from it.
After a few seconds, the earthquakes calmed down. When Arthur and Hat Kid recovered, their eyes widened in awe. It was a space rocket! A pecking space rocket! DJ Grooves chuckled at the children's reactions, before pressing another button. The door of the rocket opened and some stairs leading inside appeared.
"Well, damn... Talk about a first-class ride," Arthur said impressed, while Hat Kid jumped up and down in excitement. DJ Grooves chuckled at the boy's response.
"Alright, penguins! Time to get on board!" the disco penguin announced. The moon penguins nodded and walked up the stairs to the space rocket. "Interested in taking the first flight to the moon, darlings?" DJ Grooves asked with a smile, extending his flipper out towards the rocket.
Hat Kid grinned excitedly and ran up the stairs to get in the space rocket. Arthur was a bit more hesitant due to his fear of heights. But then again, he had been living on a spaceship for the past couple of days, so a trip to the moon on board of a space rocket probably won't kill him. Besides, he was also a bit curious about the moon. He had only seen pictures and videos of it on TV back in his world. Did it look the same or totally different in this universe? He will soon find out.
The young boy walked up the stairs and entered the space rocket, followed by DJ Grooves. Once inside, Arthur's jaw dropped as he looked around at all of the control panels and the technology present in there. It was very impressive!
"Alright, darlings! Take a seat! We'll be leaving for the moon in a few seconds," DJ Grooves said as he went to sit on the captain's chair.
Arthur did as he was told and took a seat next to Hat Kid. He noticed that the purple-hatted girl could barely contain her excitement and she was moving quite a lot in her seat. The young boy couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.
"Buckle up, darlings! We're ready to fly up!" the disco penguin announced. The two children and the moon penguins all buckled up and got themselves ready for the rocket launch.
The door of the rocket closed, and within a minute, the space rocket was launched up in space, heading straight for the moon.
A/N: Alright, guys! That wraps up 'Murder on the Owl Express' for this story! It took longer than expected, but I'm glad how it turned out. I also hope you liked this little interaction between Arthur and the Conductor in the middle of the chapter.
As you've all guessed, the next act is 'Picture Perfect' with DJ Grooves! And as you can see, I've written a small introduction to show how the Moon Penguins travel between the earth and the moon. Tell me what you think of it. ^^
So there's only been one review for the previous chapter. I'm gonna answer it.
To Mad King C: Thank you! And you're welcome. I know that not a lot of people know about depression and the effects it has on a person, which is why I felt the need to explain it. This story also explains a bit about it, but not completely. It's best to look on the Internet for it.
Alright, that's all for today, folks! See you all in the next chapter!