A/N- This story is supposed to be more fun than angst, so don't over-think it, folks. Occasional OOC is more than possible, but I'll try not to go too far with it.
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The Blame Game
Chapter 2:
The lobby falls silent, as the mentors take a minute to examine the scene in-front of them.
"Ok, so we got till sunrise to solve this thing," Haymitch says, turning around to take another sip of his liquor, "might as well get started."
Finnick folds his arms on his chest, impatient, "Figures," he mumbles, "Leave it to Snow to try and frame an innocent party." He shakes his head in disapproval.
"She was a total stranger," Cecilia says quietly.
Haymitch narrows his eyes, resting his glass on the glass table, "then I guess it's time we get acquainted."
"Where are you going?" Johanna huffs when he turns to leave.
Haymitch shrugs, "We may not have known her, but we have a couple of dozen of youngsters who did, so might as well get on with it."
They exchange worried looks, and soon enough, 24 confused children cross the hallway minutes after.
When noticing the body, some gasp in shock, which is kind of ironic, considering most of them will probably meet far worse fate then this, in a few hours.
Effie notices the little boy from district 4 turning a little green, and the small girl from 11, is her name Rue? Blinking rapidly, big Thresh squeezing her tiny hand, trying to hide her behind his back.
The somewhat strange looking, emotionless girl from 3 just stares, and Katniss visibly frowns. Peeta tilts his head, gaze mixed with worry and curiosity.
Haymitch offers the tributes a full, sarcastic smile, then says, "Well, since we're all here… I will try the easy way. Which one of you, geniuses, couldn't wait for the gong and had to finish this girl off now, hhm?"
Eyes start traveling around the room, as the tributes turn to gaze at each other, probably touring for the inner-detective they think they inhabit; Clove sent arrows with her eyes to all tributes, the career boy, Cato, folded his beefy arms on his chest, probably trying to look menacing, while the tall one, Marvel, just looked pissed.
"Well?"
Surprisingly enough, the only sound in the room was Haymitch's stomach, trying to digest the alcohol.
"Ok…." He turns around to look at the body, "Investigative Victors 101, my dear boys and girls," he clicks his knuckles dramatically, "first lesson," he points at the corpse, "look for clues."
"Mhhhm," Haymitch mumbles, behind him, Beetee removed his glasses to clean them, while Wiress just seems curious. "Interesting…"
"What?" the boy from 4, one of the youngest, is obviously both scared and fascinated.
"What do we see here?" Haymitch asks, gesturing around the body.
Next to Glimmer's right thigh is an electronic candle, and two more are lying, fallen, next to her shoulders.
Looking up, the candlesticks can be seen as part of the chandelier, "Now that's interesting," he says, "there are three candles on the floor," he blinks drunkenly, "but only two empty spaces on the chandelier…"
Katniss' forehead clear, "so…where did the third candle come from?" she asks quietly, and the tributes turn to look at her.
"Ah-Ha!" Haymitch's finger points the air, emphasizing the riddle, "first question unanswered."
"Hey, guys, check this out," The blonde tribute girl from district 7, who disappeared behind Blight a moment ago, re-appears, holding a leather bag, "I think that belonged to the girl, and it has all this stuff in, maybe it can help us."
She tosses the bag on the large wooden table and opens it, the others grouping around her.
"Where did she even get this bag?" Jason, one of the tributes, asks, "We're all supposed to come here with nothing but the clothes we have on us."
"And an occasional token, if we want," Beetee says usefully, the glasses again on his button nose.
Opening the bag, the girl from 7 starts pulling out the content, "Mhmm," she mumbles, "two large books," she puts them on the table, "two gold necklaces…" those join the books, "a box of condoms…. A box of condoms? Eww…" behind her, one of the girls giggles, "Geez, who did she even plan on… oh, never mind! And….one of these…" she twists her face as she pulls out a tiny fabric bag, "inside…" she turns it upside-down, reveling a bunch of tiny stones, "Stones? This girl was weird…" the rest have to agree. "And pretty much, that's it." She shrugs.
"Well, that was helpful," the girl from 9 says, "NOT."
Behind the group, Marvel rolls his eyes, "should have known…" he growls, and Cato turns to him, "Only a matter of time before this air-head did something stupid."
That takes Haymitch by surprise, "Don't tell me, kid…" he snorts humorlessly, "You knew eachother, right?"
Marvel then pauses, unsure of his next words. God knows, it's beneath him, to talk to one of 12 like an equal, but the idea of being punished for murder doesn't seem attractive, either- "Oh, I knew her," he says, "she was in my class, a crazy girl, suited perfectly for the Hunger Games," he says offhandedly, but then his eyes darken, as he adds, "A poster girl for our district, mind you," his eyes twitch, "like all of us, she was raised into luxury, being the best of the best. The sexiest, most successful. She wanted to "mark" herself in every way," all the tributes listen carefully, "There was this girl in our class, Riplet," he recalls, "She put an eye one of the boys Glimmer liked at the time, wouldn't back off. You know what she did?"
Haymitch is afraid to ask.
"She poisoned the girl's dog, and hanged its stinky copse on the school's fence."
The boy from 4 gasps. "Poor doggy!" he cries, and the tributes have to agree. Even Cato is surprised; he didn't know this chick had it in her. "Let's just say, it was one of her signature moves, she didn't like cats or dogs to begin with. And since every other kid in the district had a dog…well, you get the picture."
Ohh, yeah, they sure did.
"Who was the last one to leave this lobby?" Finnick asks, abruptly.
The three careers exchange meaningful looks as everyone turn to look at them. A frustrated sigh is heard, and then an angered, frustrated voice, "Alright, alright!" Clove admits, "It was me, I was the last one to walk out of here."
"Aha!" Chaff booms, "so you admit it!" he turns towards the body, "maybe you like those doggies a little too much…." He clenches his fists on his hips dramatically, "let me rephrase that…" he pauses for effect, "Glimmer here killed some pets, you got mad, now she's dead."
Haymitch raises an eyebrow at his friend, and Johanna rolls her eyes. Cecilia holds back a grin.
"Oh, C'mon, do I need to spell it out for you? Clove in the lobby with a knife!" Chaff insists, waving his arms in emphasis.
Clove growls, "Oh, get a clue!" she shoots back, "We're a pack! Do you really think I'd hurt one of the careers? You're delusional, plant-boy!" she's rude and mocking by now, "I didn't even know about it till Marvel told us the story now," she spits, "Besides, I don't even like dogs!"
"So you say…" Chaff insists.
"Alright, alright!" Haymitch hurries to back it up, slapping Chaff's chest, earning him an "Hey!", "No one's blaming anyone until we get some facts straight. Now let's take a breather for a couple of minutes, and think this through. Everyone, go rest for 5 minutes, let the adults here do some thinking, alright?"
As Cecilia and Finnick stay to examine the silent body again, maybe looking for some more answers, a voice calls from behind them, "Hey, look what I found!"
They turn around, to see the boy from 10 with a small package, the mentors and tributes surrounding him to have a look. Neither of them notices the uncomfortable, hand-in-the-cookie-jar look that appears on the face of a young 16 year old girl.
As the boy opens the package, they all inhale at the sight. Inside the fabric rest a small amount of tiny shining objects. 7 in number.
"Diamonds," Peeta blinks, confused.
"Not just any…." Katniss adds, "District 1 diamonds… token, maybe?"
"Yes, token…found in Finch's room… care to explain that, Finch?" the boy from 10 snaps.
The tall girl with the fox-like-face from district 5 looks around uncomfortably, saying nothing. Well, considering that Foxface is one of the smartest among them, it's kind of surprising she got caught stealing. Is she losing her edge? That's won't help her in the arena.
"Well, Finch is known for having the eye for expensive stuff," her partner in district comments usefully, and she shoots him an annoyed glare. "Ok, ok!" she finally says, "I admit it, I saw some of those diamonds, and…they called out to me, alright?" she fesses up, "But what does it matter, we have a killer among us, and I'm not talking about Hunger-Games killer!"
"People have killed for a lot less than diamonds, Finch," Beetee says in a calculated voice.
Foxface doesn't budge, "Yes, and in the arena, one of us is going to live, while the other dies, so each option given, me killing her would have been redundant. Besides, I'm not a cold blooded killer! otherwise, I would have been the part of the careers! Do you see a "ruthless murderer" written anywhere on my 5 points score rap-sheet?"
"Mhmmm…" district 6 boy says, "Professional thief… escape-artist extraordinaire… MASTERMIND OF DISGUISE!" the last part is says in a loud shout, and Finch blurts out "shutup!", obviously having enough of this.
The boy doesn't give up, "I bet you anything, that hair is a wig!" he pulls on her scalp forcefully.
"Awww!" Finch yelps, then punches the boy straight in the face. He falls backwards with a thud.
"Finch could have robbed her after she was dead," Cato shrugs, thinking, while District 6's girl kneels down, trying to slap her partner awake.
"After sh…. Now you listen here, buddy! I've got my standards!" Finch points at her threateningly, "And…"
"And she wasn't the only one to go through Glimmer's stuff," Katniss interjects indifferently.
"Whe…what do you mean," Thresh asks, blinking.
Katniss sighs, "In the bag there was an empty box," she says, "and since we've just learned Glimmer didn't just carry empty stuff in her bag, it's not a career thing to carry more than you need, anyway, then…"
"What was inside?"
Peeta shrugs, "A piece of paper," he says, "torn paper, Katniss and I were just talking about it, maybe someone took the other piece."
"Finch could have taken that, too!" The boy from 10 jumps and says.
"F'course I could have!" Finch replies sarcastically, but Haymitch brushes off the option, "No, it's obviously not her style," and Finch nods at that, "whoever did it was sloppy. And obviously was trying to throw us off."
Wiress blinks, "How can you tell?"
"I might be a drunken loser, but I do notice the little things, more than others," Haymitch says, "like the tiny fact that Glimmer hated lavender, or anything concerning it." He grabs the piece of torn paper, shoving it towards her, "smell it."
She takes a sniff, but there is no need to, the room leaks with the scent, "Smells lavender-ry, alright," Cecilia approves.
"Lavender perfume," Finnick concludes.
An uncomfortable snort is heard from behind him, "But that's….just ridiculous!" it's seeder giggling nervously, "the only one here who tends to love lavender here is…" she gulps.
Like in slow motion, 47 faces turn to their right, to the tribute standing at the other corner, like a deer caught in a crossfire.
"Me?" little Rue squeaks.