Yay! New chapter update! I've been working on this one for the past couple of days, and now I've finally gotten it finished! So...enjoy!

NOTES: (Here are just a few things I felt like mentioning)

1. Thanks for the reviews, guys, especially those who write a review for every chapter (like Toyax and Eventryraven (sorry if I spelt that wrong)).

2. Also, when the story is completely over (don't get excited, there's still a bunch more chapters), feel free to ask me to e-mail the entire story to you (unless you've been saving it into Word or something after every chapter).

3. I'm aiming to get the story completely written by Christmas break (maybe anywhere from Dec. 15-Jan. 10). I'm estimating a total of 22-25 chapters, maybe more.

Chapter 15-Forming Plans

"Princess?" Hamma walked into the castle, in search of the cause of Peach's sudden outburst. It wasn't exactly hard to find her, considering she had only disappeared into the adjacent room…and for the sound of random sobs…

The Hammer Bro made his way into the room where he found Peach, who was sitting on a couch with a box on Kleenex in her hands. He really did feel quite bad for her; he wasn't entirely sure what the reporters had done to her, but they obviously did something…

"Wh…what do you want?" Peach asked softly, turning her head as though she didn't want to be bothered. Hamma wasn't entirely sure what to say to her. Should he try and comfort her? Should he leave her to her privacy? Those two, and several other, choices rattled around his brain, making him feel a bit dizzy, and a little confused.

"Ya know…" Hamma began, resting his hand on Peach's shoulder, "Those reporters are idiots…don't let them get to you…"

Peach glanced down at his hand, and then up at him, giving him a 'cut the crap' kind of stare. He could tell that she wasn't pleased, so he immediately removed his hand from her should and shifted farther down the couch, "Yeah, umm…that's what Detective Goom always told me…"

"What? Not to let reporters get to you?"

Hamma laughed slightly, "Well, no…not that…but…"

Peach looked at him, waiting for his response. She shifted around uncomfortably, yet still patiently waited for him to tell her what he wanted to say.

"Well…let me just put it like this: don't let anyone discourage you…especially if they have no idea what they're talking about…"

Peach smiled warmly and looked down at the ground. Well, at least her mood was growing a bit happier, even if she still did feel horrible inside. After a moment's silence, Peach looked back up at Hamma, and replied, "Detective Goom told you that?"

"Something along those lines…" Hamma answered, hoping he could continue to keep the princess pleased. He was actually quite surprised that she didn't think he was just telling her anything that came to his mind…Geez, even Mario couldn't cheer Peach up when she was sad! Somehow Hamma had this special characteristic for cheering people up…how odd…

"So…I guess that guy's not as crazy as we all thought…" Peach said, smiling at Hamma. He smiled back, but had no idea why he was doing so. He had never really got the sensation that Detective Goom was some crazy old dude, "And….umm…Hamma?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm just curious, but why are you here?"

Hamma was quite relieved that she was changing the subject. He didn't want to accidentally say something to ruin all of the progress he had made. Phew…, "I actually came to talk to you and the other three…but I'm guessing they're not here?"

"Well…it is kinda early…"

"Well…that's true," Hamma admitted, shifting back towards Peach a little bit. Gee, if any onlookers had been watching this, it would have looked like Hama was in love with Peach…even though he wasn't…, "Well…how 'bout I call you a little later? By then, the others might be over, and we can discuss our plans for the day…"

"Well…alright then…" Peach answered, watching Hamma get up from the couch. He waved to her as he left, and she did the same. Peach frowned, looking down at the ground in disappointment; she had actually enjoyed that time with Hamma. She hadn't expected she would it enjoy it, but he was really quite nice to be around…and he had certainly cheered up her not-so-happy mood…

RRRRRINNNG!

Hamma kept his word: he really did call. It was about two thirty in the afternoon, and as he had predicted, Mario, Luigi, and Daisy had all been at Peach's castle by then. When the phone had rung, they were currently eating a late lunch. They would have eaten two hours earlier, but Daisy had insisted on going to the Mushroom Mall with Peach to get a new purse. Gee, look at the things Daisy wants to do when a mystery is at hand…

"Can someone get that?" Peach asked loudly, not wanting to leave her meal for some phone call. For all she knew, it was probably just some relative of hers wanting to talk…

Peach wasn't entirely sure who got the phone, but apparently someone had, since the phone was cut off during the third ring. Finally someone listened to her…

"So…" Luigi said, breaking the short silence after everyone had quieted down when the phone had rung, "Do we still think…you know who…did it?"

Mario suspected that Luigi's 'you know who' meant 'Toadiko', so he promptly answered, "Yes,"

"Me too…" Peach agreed.

Something had reminded Mario about the conversation with Toadbert he had the previous night. Why would Toadiko disguise her voice like that? She just had to be hiding something, right? With this new information, Mario didn't think it was possible that Toadiko couldn't have done it…, "There's just one flaw in our whole surmise…"

"A flaw…?" Daisy asked, curiously looking at the other two, who were both thinking the same thing. Was there really some problem with Toadiko being the murderer? No, there couldn't have been! Right…?

"Well…unfortunately, yes…" Mario said, surprised that none of them had figured out what the 'flaw' was. Maybe he really was a good detective, as Peach had called him. If he were the only person to think of this, then maybe he was better at this than he thought…he still doubted that, though, "I can't believe you guys didn't think of this…,"

Peach gave him her death glare. It was like one of those instances in a sitcom where the wife is angry with her husband. Considering that Peach was playing the 'wife' role, there was no way this could have been a sitcom…

"But anyway…" Mario said, "Here's the problem: When Toadario and the Goomba bouncer had been murdered, Toadiko was on stage!"

"Oh…" Peach and Daisy said at the same time. They were each surprised that they really didn't think of that…maybe Mario didn't deserve the death glare after all…

But this was certainly true. Toadiko had been on stage; there was no question about that. So then…how could she have done it? Could they have been wrong all along? Ah, this new revelation was agonizing!

"I'm glad you said that, Mario…" Peach looked at him, thinking hard about what she had just been told, "Otherwise, we might have been stuck on Toadiko forever!"

Mario nodded in satisfaction; he had actually gotten a compliment from Peach! That wasn't something he had expected. On a serious note, however, he was faced with the same problem: he had no idea who the murderer could have been now…