Obviously my plan to write 2-3 chaptes in one week didn't turn out as nicely as I had hoped. Actually, I worte all of this from only last Sunday to today. One main reason for the lack of chapters would be the fact that my friend and I are starting a fan fiction of our own. I've been writing a lot to that, which cut down on the writing of this. But don't worry, there's no writer's block or anything, it's just unmotivation. Reviews for my fan fiction and votes for my poll, which is also about my fan fiction, may motivate me more to show that people actually are reading this...
So, enjoy this newest chapter! I'll get the next one written as soon as possible.
Murder in the mushroom kingdom
Chapter 13-Meeting at the Castle
"What's goin' on over there?!" Mario demanded, holding the phone with one hand and screaming into it. It looked like it would in a TV show when a girl is screaming at her boyfriend…hopefully Mario and Hamma weren't going out…
"Detective Goom…he…he…"
"He what?!" Mario almost lost it, causing several of the surrounding people to glance at him awkwardly. At this point, he didn't really care what other people thought of him. As long as he got to the bottom of this new revelation, he'd be happy.
"He…" Hamma said, pausing for a short moment to catch his breath. He was practically breathing as though he was running a marathon, "Well, I noticed that he wasn't at his home tonight…so I went over to his office…"
"Okay…" Mario said, pleased that Hamma was actually giving him some information instead of mumbling 'he' like a complete idiot.
"And I heard him talking to himself…he was in the bathroom, and he was looking into the mirror. He had left the door wide open, so all I had to do was hide behind a corner and spy on him to see what he was doing…I-I feared that something bad might happen if I interrupted him…"
"Okay…" Mario repeated. What the heck was going on here? This didn't sound good…no, not at all. At least the detective wasn't dead, though…
"He kept saying 'I have to tell them'…or, something like 'I need to confess', and then he said 'I've gotta do it tonight', and then he went on mumbling about that, and…and…I'm so…afraid…"
Mario didn't reply immediately. His mind was spinning so much that he didn't even know what to say. What did Detective Goom want to confess? Was he involved too? No! It couldn't be possible…could it? It was unthinkable! "This…doesn't sound good…"
Peach and the other glanced at Mario with horrified expressions. Yet they could not hear what was being said, they could tell that it wasn't a call to tell Mario that he won a million dollars…
Daisy mouthed 'what' to him, hoping he would tell them what was the matter. He merely held his finger up and turned his face away.
"I think…we should meet at the castle…" Hamma said, his voice trembling. Well, it certainly wasn't every day that your boss goes insane…if that's what was going on…
"Good idea!" Mario said, "We'll head over now!" And with that, the two exchanged their good-byes and hung up the phone, anxious as to what was coming their way…
Only a few minutes later, Mario and the others arrived at the castle. Hamma had been there for over three painful minutes, which practically seemed like an eternity.
Mario had explained the entire situation on the way back to the castle. Both Peach and Luigi could only stare at him in awe; this had to be the most complex mystery they had ever faced. So complex that it left them speechless…
"Good, you've finally arrived!" Hamma said anxiously. He looked so worried; they thought that he was going to burst right then and there. Ah well, who could blame him? He had actually witnessed the horrible scene that he had spoken of…was it really that bad?
"We tried to get here as fast as possible…," Mario said, "Knowing that the detective could be in some real trouble…" Although Mario claimed it to be fast, Peach could have gotten there in half the time that he had…mainly because he stopped at every stop sign and actually went the speed limit…he was one crazy guy…would there ever be a time when he broke some type of driving rule?
"I-I don't know what to do…" Hamma said nervously. He was glancing around back and forth as though he was bracing himself for some person who worked in a haunted house to jump out and scare him…
"Should we go over to the office?" Daisy suggested.
"Good idea…" Mario said, nodding at Daisy. For once he actually agreed with the flower-loving princess. He wasn't very fond of her, however. Well, it wasn't that he didn't like her, but he never got a chance to really know her…sure he knew her birthday and other miscellaneous things of the sort…but he never really got a good chance just to talk to her and find out what she was like…
"Hamma…" Peach started, "Do you wish to stay here at the castle?"
The Hammer Bro wasn't really sure what he wanted to do. He was curious about Detective Goom's condition, but he absolutely hated what he had witnessed earlier…and he did not want to view the agony yet again…, "I'll just stay here…"
Peach nodded, "Here, let me ask Toadiko to escort you to the sitting room…" With that, she disappeared into an adjacent room…the room that Toadiko was supposed to be cleaning. 'Supposed to be' were the key words there, because she made no appearance in the room…unless she was just playing a game of hide-and-seek or something…
"Why hello princess…is there anything I can help you with?" Toadbert, who was also in the room, asked. He most certainly was not supposed to be cleaning that room…what was going on here?! Did they mix up their rooms, or something?
"Uhh…yes, you can…" Peach stated, "Where is Toadiko? She is supposed to be cleaning this room…not you!"
"Ah, yes, Toadiko…she said that she was going to the store to pick up some groceries…so I opted to clean this room until she returned…"
"Oh…well…" Peach said, not really sure what to say, "Well, Hamma is in the ballroom now, and I would like you to lead him to the sitting room for me,"
"No problem…" Toadbert said, following the princess out the room after she politely said 'thank you' to him. Now that that was taken care of, they could go find out what was wrong with Detective Goom…oh, the anxiety was agonizing!
But that anxiety soon ended, as the group of four arrived at the doorstep of Detective Goom's office. Everyone was silent for the several seconds that they spend there, just staring down at the doorknob. They almost didn't want to turn it, but their curiosity was eating them from inside…
Mario nervously reached his hand out and turned the knob. He opened it slowly, peering inside to see if there was a crazy Goomba muttering weird phrases inside.
And there was…well, not entirely. The muttering of weird phrases part wasn't present in what they all saw, or in this case, heard, but something even more devastating…the detective laid motionless on the floor…dead…