Chapter 6-Investigating the Murder
From outside, Mario had still heard the three gunshots. As soon as everyone had cleared out of the ballroom, Mario walked over to the open front door. He was a bit curious as to what happened inside, and despite the fact that there still could be a person wielding a gun in the ballroom, Mario still decided to check it out.
Mario had always been a curious person. Once he was eavesdropping on a few ladies for being 'mysterious', as he put it. He wound up misunderstanding what the ladies were talking about and came up with a crazy story that they were murders; in reality, they were talking about murderers. He then took several hours out of his day testifying to the police that these completely innocent ladies were cold-blooded killers! And that was all caused by Mario's curiosity! He surely wouldn't forget that time…
Once in the ballroom, he glanced around. Birthday banners and balloons were scattered on the ground, and tables and chairs were knocked over. The first thing Mario took note of was two dead bodies. The first was the Goomba bouncer who was positioned by the door. It looked as though the bullet hit him directly in the heart. As for the second, it was Toadario who was murdered, one of the Toads up on stage.
Mario heard mumbling and faint voices coming from a nearby room. Again Mario's curiosity was getting to him. For all he knew, the murderer and any of his accomplices could have been the ones talking, putting his life at risk again! Ah well, Mario was definitely adventurous, and can generally manage to make his way out of even the tightest situations.
Luckily, it was only Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Toadsworth, Toadiko, Toadbert, and Toadetta. They all had dreadful expressions on their faces, all of them reading 'this is scary'.
"Mario!" Peach yelled, "Where were you?!" It seemed as though her thoughts completely trailed off of the fact that someone was just shooting. If anyone would look at her, it would seem that she was madder at Mario than worried about the murders.
"I'm…sorry Peach…" Mario apologized. He braced himself for whatever Peach planned to do to him. Murder him? Make him apologize a million times?
Everyone else in the room still seemed completely horrified, however. It's not everyday that you're being shot at…not everyday at all. Everyone had wished that the classic 'pinch me, I think I'm dreaming' phrase would come into play right about then. It was so crazy to think that there was a murder in the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom was always filled with joy and happiness. A murder – two murders – wouldn't exactly be considered joyous…
"You're sorry?!" Peach yelled, "That's all you can say in a time like this?!"
Mario swallowed hard. Well, he wasn't very surprised that Peach was this angry. He had expected her to kill him by now, though. Either she didn't want him to die, or she just couldn't find a weapon. Ah well, he was alive, and that was good enough, "I do have a hopefully legitimate excuse…"
Peach didn't reply, but merely glared at him. Mario didn't like that look…not at all. The look she gave him was so powerful he might just drop dead right then and there. Now that wouldn't be good…
"I wasn't on the list…" Mario mumbled.
Peach looked like she was going to throw a fit, "Whaddaya mean you weren't on the list?! You were the first person on there! You did go by your real name, didn't you?"
Now it was Mario's turn to become angry, "What do you think I am…a secret agent?! I don't have some secret identity!" Generally this was how most fights of Mario's and Peach's would start…Peach would start screaming, and then Mario would join in. Any onlookers of the fight, and in this case there were many, would expect both of them to explode out of sheer anger. Well, if Peach exploded, it wouldn't be that bad; she did get quite annoying. As for Mario, though…he was the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom! If he died, the whole Mushroom Kingdom would die with him!
"We-well I don't get it!" Peach squealed, looking down at the ground in frustration. All she kept thinking was: Mario's name was on the top of list…by the time Mario arrives, Mario's name is not on the list? Ah, this is so confusing!
"Neither do I…" Mario confessed. It looked as though he were thinking hard about something…most likely the reason why he wasn't on the list. Did any of it make any sense? Well, since when does Mario's life actually make sense…?
"But wait a second…" Peach thought of something, "Why didn't you just walk right past him and just get my approval that you were aloud at the party?"
Mario shook his head, "I tried, but since I arrived late, he locked the doors as soon as I made my attempt…" Mario was hoping she wouldn't get too mad over the fact that he arrived late. He managed to side-step one thing…but not this. This time, it was his fault. Oh no…
Luckily, at least for Mario, Peach didn't pay the slightest attention to that. He was quite shocked, really. Well, maybe she did pay attention to that but didn't want to start another fight? Ah well, Mario just felt relieved that she didn't bite his head off, as he put it – yet…
"Well this really is quite a mystery…" Peach remarked. Now it was her turn to think hard about something, "You know what?"
Mario sighed. He hated it when people did that. They would take the time to say things like 'you know what' or 'wait a minute', but they would never actually say what was so interesting. It always drove him crazy, especially when people did it all the time…
"I think the killer was shooting at me…" Peach said. It looked as though she were about to break down and flood the whole room with tears. And, well…she did. This made Mario think of the time when one of her gerbils died and she locked herself in her room and used an entire box of Kleenex. She began to cry and her hands began to tremble almost as though they were vibrating; it looked as though you were playing a videogame and your controller began to shake…
"But that wouldn't explain why he had shot at the Goomba bouncer who was half way across the ballroom…" Mario pointed out, hoping this statement would relieve her stress. The last thing he wanted her to think was that it was her life the murderer wanted to take away…
"But…" Peach began, but didn't actually think of anything to say. It seemed as though she wanted to disagree, but, deep down, she really did agree, "Poor Toadario…"
"I know…" Mario agreed, sighing and shaking his head, "Why was it his life the murderer had to take?"