Chapter 11-Detective Goom's Investigation
"So…I'm confused…" Daisy said after a moment's silence. At this point, everyone was confused. It's not everyday that one of your friends lies about a murder case…not everyday at all…
"None of this is making sense…" Hamma muttered, looking down at the ground with a perplexed expression on his face. There were so many things that needed explaining, nobody knew where to start!
"I suppose you should investigate now?" Mario asked, pointing at Detective Goom. The Goomba blinked at him, but said nothing at that moment. By the expression on his face, one might establish that someone had just told him to jump off a bridge…
"I-I guess so…" Detective Goom stammered, getting up from his chair reluctantly. He moved slowly in the direction of the door, almost as though he feared that there was some monster outside. So what, was Mario going to have to coax this guy to move faster by luring him out the door with a hamburger?
Everyone's eyes were fastened on him as he made his way towards the door. It was painful to watch…Daisy thought she was going to have a fit if this guy wouldn't pick up the pace a little bit. Even Hamma looked at him awkwardly; apparently moving a tenth of a mile per hour wasn't his normal walking speed…
After a short while, the detective stopped, sighed, and then walked normally out the door, followed by the other five. Now that wasn't something you'd see everyday…
They reached the castle in only a few minutes. Throughout the entire walk, the detective seemed awfully jumpy. Something definitely was not right…
Toadbert welcomed the group by opening the front door for them. As soon as everyone was inside, Mario immediately summoned Toadiko into the sitting room.
"Would you two be kind enough to wait in here?" Mario pointed to Detective Goom and Hammer Bro as soon as he saw the Toadette coming down the stairs.
Both of them complied, and began looking around to 'make a tremendous breakthrough in the case', as Detective Goom put it. Mario doubted that entirely, though…
Mario led Peach, Luigi, Daisy, and the ever-so-confused Toadiko into the sitting room and shut the door behind them.
"What's this all about?" Toadiko asked curiously, glancing around from person to person. She felt as though she was in some interrogation, and, well, she was…
"Why did you lie and tell Detective Goom about a completely different case?" Mario questioned, looking Toadiko straight in the eye. To his surprise, she didn't look nervous in the slightest…if Mario had done such a thing, he would be shifting around uncomfortably and speak in a worried tone…
"I don't know what you're talking about," She said flatly, as though she truly had no idea about what they were speaking of. But Mario knew better than to believe what she had said, and most certainly wasn't going to take that as an answer.
"We know that you didn't tell him about the murder, so don't even try to deny to it,"
Toadiko shook her head, "Poor, poor Mario…you really don't have a clue about what you're talking about, do you?"
"Wh-What do you mean?"
"You know that I wouldn't lie about the case like how you think I am…" Toadiko smiled at him. It wasn't a friendly and generous smile, however. It was more like an unpleasant grin to express that 'you have no proof, and you know it'.
"I refuse to listen to you!" Mario said angrily, irritated with the Toadette's incompetent behavior. If he was alone in that room, he'd consider strangling that obnoxious girl…aw well, it would be better if Mario wasn't known as a killer…
Toadiko ignored him; she was certainly not going to accept his accusations…, "However, if I am involved with the case, like you think, the last thing you'd want to do is exactly what you are doing: getting in my way…"
Toadiko walked passed him and left the room. She had led Mario at a loss of words; by the sound of it, she was practically implying that she was involved…
"You think she's involved?" Peach asked, looking at the much-in-awe Mario.
He nodded, a look of complete certainty on his face, "Oh yes…she's definitely involved…"
Back in the ballroom, Detective Goom and Hamma were investigating. The detective glanced at Mario and spoke, "I was told by some helpful Toad that Mario wasn't present at the party. Is this true?
"Yes," Mario answered while entering the room, the other three behind him. Mario had hated it whenever someone would bring up that event…he wasn't entirely sure why, but that certain something made an awkward impact on his life…
"Interesting…" Detective Goom muttered, looking around the spacious room. By the looks of it, he had no clue what was going on. Well, at least he hadn't forgotten their names yet…
"So did you make some tremendous breakthrough in the case like you had promised?" Daisy asked, hoping that he found at least something that might lead them to the killer…
"Well…we're still working on that…" He mumbled miserably. Well, this detective was going to be useless…
"Will you guys please stand at the position when the shots were fired?" Hamma asked. Every complied; they weren't sure why they were doing this, but they might as well do something other than stand there and think about how not-so-useful this old guy was. If Detective Crazy-Goomba had asked them, they would have flung questions at him left and right, but it might be useful to listen to a sensible person…
Mario stood off to the side…he couldn't exactly find his spot when he wasn't even at the party. Well, he could stand his position…if they really wanted him to go out tramp all over Peach's rosemary bushes…
As everyone took their positions, the perplexed Hammer Bro shook his head and sighed, "This is getting us anywhere. Where was Mario supposed to stand?"
Peach pointed to a seemingly random place on the ground. Again no clues had turned up. This was getting them absolutely nowhere…and with the detective leaving the following day to go on vacation, they were never going to solve the case. Ah well, maybe it would be better if the old Goomba wasn't around. For all they knew, he could be slowing them down!
Everyone appeared to be completely stumped. It was as if they had just ran smack into a wall and realized that there was no way of getting around it. The only thing they'd be able to tell those nosey and obnoxious reporters now is 'I got nothin'…