Yes! The new chapter is FINALLY here! I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I'm glad to present that you will have to wait no longer. It was strange, writing this chapter...I mean, I knew exactly what I wanted to write, but, for some reason, had a really tough time putting it into words. But anyway, you are basically going to be revealed the answer to the mystery in this chapter, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd review on such an important chapter, and tell me how much you had figured out, and stuff. But anyway, after this chapter, there will only be 3 more (for a total of 26 chapters)! the next 2 will be adventure-action kind of chapters, and the last will basically be the finale and end of the story. But for now, enjoy!

Chapter 23-A Look to the Past

The rest of the night had gone by thankfully slowly. For once, something that they actually enjoyed doing didn't speed by like normal. This was quite a reprieve from the intense mystery that was always lurking in the back of their minds.

By eleven o'clock, they were back in their car, driving back to the princess's castle. They exchanged amusing stories of the night, and never once mentioned the mystery. The thought of the case never even entered their minds…

It was eleven thirty, and Peach was feeling awfully alone. Mario and Luigi left for their house on account of being tired, and Daisy said that she wanted to go back to her hotel and relax. But Peach was not in the mood for any of that. She was still quite energized, and wanted to put that energy to use.

"Princess, would you like me to make you a cup of warm tea?" Toadsworth asked as he entered Peach's extravagant bedroom. He found her sitting at one end of the room, looking at the huge fireplace with a roaring fire inside.

"Yes. Thank you…" she said quietly as Toadsworth disappeared out of the room. She heard him mumble a few words to Toadbert before he went downstairs.

Peach stood up from her cozy spot by the fireplace and crept out of her room in a suspicious manner. She wasn't entirely sure what she planned to do, but she knew that it involved spying on Toadiko…

Peach made her way down the stairs. She heard Toadsworth yell something to her from the kitchen, but she nonchalantly ignored him. It probably wasn't something important, anyway…

Toadiko was found in the dining room, dusting. She hadn't even felt the presence of another person in the room. It wasn't until she turned around and nearly screamed that she realized Peach was there.

"Peach…you scared me…what do you want…?"

But the princess did not reply. She merely stared at the Toadette as she looked back at her. Was Peach truly looking at a murderer? Or, at least, some kind of criminal? It was frightening…and probable…

"Peach! Peach! Look at this!" Mario burst through the front door of the castle. Peach was quite tired after spying around the previous night, and she had found it quite difficult to fall asleep, afterwards. This left her completely exhausted the following morning…especially after Toadsworth woke her up at seven in the morning…

"What?" She asked, startled, as Mario began waving some newspaper in her face. She backed away quickly, extending her hand to try and grab the newspaper from him, "Mario?! What's the matter with you?!"

"Look here, Peach! I-I think I've got it!"

"Got what?!" Peach snapped, a little impatient. By the way Mario was jumping about, one might suspect that he just got a check for a million dollars. Geez, did something in some newspaper truly make him this delighted?

"I think I've found the answer to the case!" Mario grabbed Peach's arm and sat her down on the couch, next to him. The princess felt a rush of excitement and anxiety spread throughout her. Did Mario truly find the answer to the mystery? Would it be all over in the next few minutes?

"And there's something in that newspaper? Today's newspaper?" Peach asked.

Mario shook his head, "No, no, this is a newspaper that I kept from last month, for reasons I'm sure you will understand…"

Peach looked at him awkwardly. Why in the world would Mario keep a newspaper from last month? And how did this newspaper hold the answer to a present mystery?

"Now, just look at the top story…" Mario said, looking at the newspaper and then back to Peach. He had a huge smile spread upon his face as the princess began to look at it. The 'I just solved the case' kind of feeling filled him with much pleasure.

"This…" Peach said, stopping, an entirely confused expression on her face, "Is the…the article about the robbery last month…but why?" The princess looked and read over the headline again and again, sighing deeply each time. It was her castle that had been robbed!

"Just read it, and refresh your memory," Mario said, still smiling. The grin on his face made him look like some doofus whose evil plans had just been successfully carried out.

The princess suspiciously looked down at the newspaper she held in her hands. Normally, Peach would probably slap Mario for brining up such a dreadful, and, slightly embarrassing, experience. But this was no time for Peach to unleash any bit of anger. No, if Mario was right, then they had basically solved the case…

The newspaper article read as follows:

Even Princesses Get Robbed

Princess Peach has just gone through a horrible experience: Some expensive items have somehow been stolen from the castle, and are still missing. The police investigated the crime thoroughly, and still, no clues were found. Even their suspect list consists of no one, leaving one vital and truly complex question: Who would rob the princess?

"It's unbelievable…" One policeman said, "How perfect this crime is".

As of yet, no information has been revealed. The police will continue to search for these items, as well as the criminal. If anyone has any vital information, please report to the police immediately.

Peach closed her eyes as she laid down the newspaper on the table in front of her. The frightening thoughts of that situation began returning into her mind. Could someone truly find a way into the castle and silently steal the items? It made her wonder how protected she truly was…

"Peach, reread the second paragraph again," Mario said, trying not to show any sorrow, and get straight to the point. They really didn't have any time to waste…

Peach looked at Mario awkwardly, but then followed his instructions. She quickly reread the mere quotes that comprised paragraph two and looked back up at Mario.

"Don't you find that…suspicious?" The red-capped plumber asked. Again, this confused Peach.

"No…what is so suspicious about it?" It was typical for Mario to find some kind of elaborate clue hidden within the words. But what? How could that little paragraph hide the answer to the mystery? If Mario was – somehow – right about whatever suspicion he had, then Peach could say that, without a doubt, they wouldn't have solved the case without Mario…

"Just think about this…and don't completely turn this solution down, okay? I mean, I managed to stumble upon this newspaper in one of my filing cabinets, and I'm thankful I had decided to save it. Because if I'm right, then it was that very newspaper that provided the answer for me…" Mario explained, while Peach merely look at him with a suddenly interested expression on her face. She nodded in understanding for him to continue, "So then, let's go through this mystery right from the beginning, okay?"

"The two murders…" Peach interrupted.

"No, even before the two murders…we need the motive. And that motive is hidden within the article you just read. Like I mentioned before, the second paragraph caught my eye, especially when the policeman said 'how perfect this crime is'. You may look upon that phrase as a mere, meaningless quote from a policeman, but I thought deeply into what he had said. The crime was so perfect that it seems almost impossible, am I right? And it even frightens you to think that some criminal had actually broken into your house, despite your security alarms? Well…to make that even worse, that very criminal has been living in your castle for several years now!"

Peach gave him a wild look, reading 'you're crazy'. She wanted to completely turn down his idea, but something told her that he would manage to convince her. But how? Was he implying that the criminal was…Toadiko? "I presume that you mean to tell me that Toadiko was that criminal?"

"Yes, she was. But, I think, she even had an accomplice. And it was that very accomplice that started this entire mystery! If you haven't guessed by now, then I am pleased to inform you that this accomplice we speak of is Toadario!"

Was this some kind of joke? Geez, this was more far-fetched than when Mario had once accused a dead guy of robbing a bank! Really, though, it was Toadario who started this entire mystery? So, by the sound of it, he bribed someone to shoot him? That's a new one…, "What are you talking about?!"

"What I'm saying is that Toadiko and Toadario robbed you. Who knows what they planned to do with the money? Probably wait a month and then leave this area entirely, or else we might get suspicious if they had left so suddenly and quickly. But anyway, I'm guessing that Toadario began feeling guilty and told Toadiko that they should turn themselves in. But, like any other true criminal, Toadiko didn't feel the same, and she knew what she had to do. She managed to hold off Toadario for a few days, until the night of the party, where he wound up getting shot. This gave her the perfect alibi and shined no suspicion, whatsoever, on her…"

Peach thought about it a moment, and eventually nodded. She felt as though she had just been told some crazy story that somehow made perfect sense. It began to scare her to think that Toadario was in on it from the beginning, too...until his unsuspected murder, of course...

"But, wait, Peach, I think I might know more..." Mario said, a triumphant look on his face. At this rate, they would have the solution to the case wrapped up in no time! It was like a miracle of sorts..., "So, after the murder, the next suspicious thing was Detective Goom. Now this puzzled me greatly, and it took me quite a while to devise this solution. Just listen to this: What if Detective Goom was the shooter?"

"What?!" Peach yelled, startled. She acted as though she had just been told some unbelievable news...which was, for the time being, exactly what she thought it was..., "That's absurd!"

"No, no it isn't. If Toadiko was the one behind this whole thing, then why would she offer to hire a detective? She must have had Detective Goom kill the to people, but she couldn't trust him. He planned to go on vacation, probably in order to get away from the crime, but Toadiko hired him at the last minute. Now, two nights ago, Toadbert had told me some interesting information that you may not have heard: he said that he had gone upstairs while Toadiko was on the phone, and heard her using a different voice. I'm guessing this was because that, if he had heard her voice, he would refuse whatever she told him to do. After all, he must have been feeling pretty guilty, since he wanted to confess that night. So, with her disguised voice, she told him anything so he would push off his vacation; even if the case she had told him about was a lie. With this extra time, Toadiko managed to kill him before he managed to confess to what they had done. With all of her assistants gone, then she was clear having one of them admit to the crime. Another side problem surfaced: Us. She must have figured that she could try and kill a few of us by lying about the file that Hamma had supposedly wanted. She knew that we wee her biggest threat in getting caught, so she figured that it would be best to kill some of us before she left the entire area..."

Peach merely sat there, and looked at him. Her eyes were wide with amazement. Mario had just explained and covered all of the details that had been left unsolved. And he made it so simple, too..., "How...did you figure all this out?"

"That newspaper..." He replied, looking and pointing to it, "I was looking through my filing cabinets this morning, and I happened to find it. I decided to reread it. I mean, what's the point of keeping stuff if your not going to use it? But anyway, that certain sentence that I had mentioned earlier caught my eye, and everything eventually seemed to fall into place. It amazed even me..."

The princess was left with no more words or questions. All she could do was think about how incredible it was, that, after all of those painful days of clue-searching, the mystery was finally solved...

"Oh...no..." A familiar voice said. Both Mario and Peach turned in the direction in which they had head the voice, surprised to see Toadetta there.

"What's wrong?" Peach asked, suddenly becoming a little nervous as to what the Toadette had to say. She suspected that she was going to say that something broke inside the castle that Peach loved, but she was surprised to hear Toadetta's response.

"Toadiko...I-I overheard what you guys were saying, and...well...Toadiko said that she had to run a few errands. But I hadn't realized until now that Toadiko wasn't running errands..."

"Oh no..." Mario repeated, understanding what Toadetta was trying to say; Toadiko was leaving the area for good, and would never be back...