Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I make any money from it.

A/N Thanks for all your love on the first part of the second adventure. We crossed 100 reviews for this story.

Here is Part 2 of 'The Space Mystery' and I am sure that the title has already given away what's about to happen. But I assume everyone saw that coming. A murder on the Orient Express. How was I supposed to resist?

Happy Reading!

The Space Mystery: A Murder

Suppertime rolled around. The Doctor beckoned his companions closer and quickly whispered his plan. They were all quite impressed by his idea. The Doctor had suggested that they would cover more ground if the four of them split up and sat with different people during supper. It made sense; they would be able to know which one of them was carrying something valuable that might be disguised as a segment of the Key to Time.

The Doctor had already scanned the dining room but the core remained silent, pointing back towards the luggage car. So, the Doctor joined Keira and her grandmother, Amy sat with Faber, Rory joined Janelle and Kramer Pollock and Rose joined Dr. Greenfield.

Janelle and Kramer were like a typical couple in love. Well, Janelle was. All she could talk about was their upcoming wedding. Apparently their trip to Applepond was to narrow down the venues for their prestigious high society wedding. Kramer was quiet throughout supper, interjecting occasionally to calm Janelle down when she got too excited about the wedding planning. His silence was suspicious but Janelle really didn't give him much of a chance to speak. Or Rory, for that matter.

On his right, Rory could hear Amy trying to talk to Faber. Faber was drinking heavily, and despite Amy's charming manner, he wasn't opening up much. He had hardly touched his food and Amy was steadily getting frustrated at the lack of info.

The Doctor was seated with Keira and Valerie Richmond at a table opposite Rory and from what he could tell, Keira was still flirting heavily with the Doctor. The Doctor was either oblivious or completely ignoring her. He made polite conversation about the political structure on Snowdell and it was surprising to see that Valerie was gradually losing her unpleasant attitude and was even smiling at the Doctor. Later when Rory asked him, he said that he knew someone very similar to her once. Then he and Rose exchanged their usual enigmatic smiles and Rory didn't ask further.

Rose was sitting with Dr. Greenfield and they were too far away from Rory to listen in to their conversation. But Tristan looked like he was telling one of the stories from his surgery room again and Rose was a wonderful audience, smiling and gasping at the right moments. A few times, Rory saw the Doctor tense and he guessed he could hear their conversation quite well. Maybe it was just Rory's imagination but Rose did not seem as interested in Dr. Greenfield as she had been when they had first met.

The supper was over and the only usable information that Rory had been able to learn from Janelle was the kind of caterer he should hire if he ever got married anywhere near Snowdell. All Amy knew that Hypervodka made Faber more and more gloomy. The Doctor had better luck when Valerie mentioned that she was carrying some of her old jewellery and jewels to be resized from the Richmond family jeweller on Applepond. Rose just shook her head when asked what she had learned from Dr. Greenfield. All that she had learned was that the man could talk for even longer than the Doctor.

In keeping up with the ruse, they bid everyone goodnight and retired to their respective compartments. The Doctor whispered to them that he would wake them up when he was sure that everyone else had gone to bed and then they would go exploring.

When Amy and Rory got to their compartment, Amy quickly closed the door. "What exactly are you doing?" Rory asked Amy as she picked up a glass and threw the water out of it.

She winked at him and placed the glass against the compartment's wall. "Eavesdropping," she said, utterly unashamed.

"On the Doctor and Rose?" asked Rory, strangely unbothered. "Why?"

"Oh come on, don't even pretend you aren't curious," she said. "We saw those two talking before supper. I just want to know what theories the Doctor has."

Rory stared at her for a moment before shrugging and joining her. The two pressed their ears to the glass and the sound was surprisingly clear through the thin walls that divided the compartments.

"...so you think it's one of Valerie's jewellery pieces?" Rose could be heard asking.

"It makes sense. The last time I assembled the Key to Time, one of the segments was disguised as a lump of Jethrik," said the Doctor.

"Jethrik? Is that the blue mineral that's very valuable?"

"You remembered! Yes, the very same."

There was a silence for a while and Amy and Rory exchanged a look, wondering if they had gone to sleep. But then Rose spoke in a low, hesitant voice.

"Do you think the Time Lords know that you are doing this again?"

There was a pause and they heard the Doctor sigh. "I should think so," he said. "I am surprised I haven't received a message from Romana about it."

"Do they remember what happened...before?" Amy and Rory could guess easily what she meant and were curious to know as well. In the hurry that everything that had happened, they had never quite discovered what the universe nearly ending had done to the other Time Lords. The Doctor had only said that the balance was restored and that the Time Lords and Gallifrey were back where they were supposed to be.

"It is not very likely that they do," he admitted slowly. He sounded very hesitant to answer and they had to wonder if there was some part of the story that he had left unsaid. "It is probably like a faint memory. Of a timeline that did not happen. Like a dream you can't quite remember in the morning."

"They're not gonna want to question me or something, are they?" Rose's tone was light but Rory could tell that she was genuinely terrified of the prospect.

"I won't let them." The Doctor's voice was quick, firm and stern. "You saved their lives and if they dare to think that I'm going to let them harm you, then I will be sure to remind them of a few facts myself."

Rory took away the glass, ignoring Amy's questioning look. This was too private. The Doctor had sounded fiercely passionate when he had said that. Rory did not doubt that the Doctor would hesitate even briefly to defend Rose, even against his own people.

But that admission was too heartfelt to be listened in on by them. Amy looked a bit disappointed but settled for reaching into her purse and pulling out a bottle. "Hypervodka?" she offered.

Rory raised an eyebrow before taking the bottle in his hand. The clear liquid in the bottle resembled regular vodka he remembered from Earth. At Amy's encouraging look, he took a cautious sip and spit it straight back out, coughing violently as he did.

Amy laughed as she took the bottle from him and took a long swig. To his growing embarrassment, she had no trouble keeping it down. "Don't worry," she said, when Rory turned red. "You get used to the kick after a while."

Rory sincerely doubted it but he did take the second sip. Now that he was expecting the strength of the alcohol, he did not spit it out nor did he break out into a coughing fit like before. He still had to clear his throat a few times after he swallowed the drink though.

There came a knock at their compartment door and he and Amy looked up in surprise. "Think the Doctor knew we were drinking?" Amy asked him in a whisper.

Rory handed her the bottle back and saw her slip it back into her purse. Taking a deep breath, and trying to ignore the slight buzzing in his head, he opened the door. It wasn't the Doctor, nor was it Rose. It was Faber Bonasera.

"Mr. Bonasera?" Rory looked surprised. "Is everything okay?"

Faber looked even more distraught than before. "You have to help me," he said in a hoarse voice. "Please. You have to help me." His body slumped as he grabbed Rory's arms in desperation, his eyes wide with terror.

"Amy, help," said Rory frantically as he tried to stop Faber from going into shock. Amy came up from behind him and helped him get Faber back on his feet. "Call the Doctor," Rory told her as they manoeuvred Faber into a sitting position on one of the beds in their compartment. He was rocking back and forth and the terrified look on his face unnerving.

Amy exchanged a look with Rory before going next door and knocking loudly. "Doctor? Rose?" she called.

"Amy, what's wrong?" the Doctor asked, opening the door at once. His coat and cravat were off and he appeared to be in the middle of unbuttoning his vest.

Amy hastily looked away from his quite smashing physique and focused on the matter at hand. "It's Faber. He's having some sort of a breakdown," she said quickly.

The Doctor's brow furrowed as he followed Amy to their compartment. Amy noticed Rose hurrying after them, the Doctor's coat slung over her arm. Before they could enter their compartment though, Faber burst out of there and ran down the hallway.

"Faber! Mr. Bonasera! Come back!" Rory yelled after him.

"Rory, what happened?" the Doctor asked as Rose helped him back into his coat.

"He just took off," said Rory, bewildered by the whole business. "I was trying to get him to talk but nothing he said was making sense."

The Doctor hurried after Faber, his companions right behind him. Faber had gone into his own compartment and shut the door. "Faber?" the Doctor tried gently.

There was no answer from the other end. The Doctor tried the door handle but it was locked.

"Faber," Rory called. "Just open the door. We are here to help."

They waited for an answer but there was none. "Use the sonic screwdriver," Rose suggested.

Before the Doctor could reach for it, Carter appeared in the corridor from the dining car. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Mr. Bonasera is not answering. He seemed to be having some sort of a mental breakdown," Amy said at once.

Carter looked a bit thrown off by the abrupt answer but knocked on Faber's door. "Mr. Bonasera? Sir? Is everything alright?" When there was no answer, he reached into his pocket to pull out a small gold card that had the words 'MASTER KEY' in black bolded letters on it.

He swiped it across the lock and the locked beeped open. Carter opened the door cautiously, calling for Faber as he went. It was dark in the compartment and Rose, who was the closest to the light switch, flicked it on.

As light flooded the compartment, they saw Faber Bonasera lying on the bed with his throat slashed from ear to ear. Rose clapped her hands to her mouth to muffle her scream, Amy gasped loudly but it was Carter who yelled loudly, shaking in terror as he took in the gory sight.

"Rory, get him to calm down," said the Doctor, his jaw clenched grimly as he gazed at Faber's corpse. Rory, who had been staring in horror at the macabre scene, shook himself and led Carter out of the compartment.

"What in the hell happened here?" asked Amy, wincing at how hoarse she sounded.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, through clenched teeth.

"What is that?" Rose asked, pointing to the other bed in the compartment. It had a red fabric of some sort thrown on it.

The Doctor walked towards it and lifted it up slowly. "It's a kimono," he said, sounding taken aback. "A woman's red kimono." He noticed Amy and Rose looking incredulous but he walked towards the body and observed it quickly. "Amy, Rose," he said, his voice sharp and focused. "Return to the dining room and get Carter to gather all of the first class passengers in there."

"What? Why?" asked Amy.

The Doctor reached into his pocket to pull out the psychic paper. "Tell them Inspector Smith from Applepond is in charge of investigating this poor man's death," he said, without taking his eyes off Faber. "And I want to question everybody."

"You sure we can't help here?" Rose asked.

"Rory will be more helpful here," said the Doctor. "I need you two to observe all the passengers discreetly. Rose, you are good with people and Amy, you are used to questioning people. Just watch them and see if any of them seem guilty."

Amy and Rose nodded and left quickly. Rory re-entered the compartment when the girls took Carter away with them to gather the rest of the passengers. The horrific sight made him wince quietly. The Doctor beckoned him in. "What do you think?" he asked.

It was pretty obvious to Rory. The single stroke of the blade had severed Faber's carotid artery and he had bled out very quickly. The blood staining the white sheets indicated that he had been lying down when he was killed. Everything else in the compartment was undisturbed. In fact, the only oddity was the red kimono on the other bed.

Faber had been travelling alone and considering the state he was in after his wife's death, Rory found it hard to believe that he would be with another woman. The Doctor seemed to agree with him on that, at least.

"How did they escape?" he asked when the Doctor had been quiet for a long moment after Rory's assessments. "We were right behind Faber. D-Do you think it was suicide?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not possible," he said.

"Why not?" asked Rory. "He looked pretty awful when he burst in on me and Amy. Plus, you saw how much he was drinking during supper. That stuff is potent. Believe me, I would know," he said, thinking of the drink that he had sampled briefly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the last part but then seemed to realise that there were bigger matters at hand. "It can't have been suicide," he said. "I am certain of it."

"What makes you so sure?" Rory persisted.

"If he did kill himself, where is the weapon he used to do it, hmm?" asked the Doctor, with an air of slight superiority.

Rory's brow furrowed. The Doctor was right; there was no sign of weapon. There was no blood on anything else that might indicate that it had been used to kill Faber. Rory weakly suggested that Faber might have thrown it out of the window, only to have the Doctor smile at him in amusement.

It only took Rory a moment to remember that they were in space and the ensuing embarrassment made him blush redder than the Doctor had ever seen him. He hastily changed the subject and suggested that the murderer might be still carrying it on their person. The Doctor's response was to point out that a murderer that escapes from a locked compartment is hardly likely to still carry the weapon.

"Well, what then?" Rory asked, slightly frustrated. "What do you think happened?"

The Doctor stared at him thoughtfully. "Mr. Bonasera comes to your compartment, passing all of the compartments on the way. He knocks and asks for your help. But before you can do that, he runs back and locks himself into his own compartment. We are right behind him and when we get the door open, we find him dead." He stroked his chin as he paced around the compartment. "The most logical explanation was that the murderer was waiting for him in his compartment."

"But how did they escape then?" asked Rory persistently.

"I am not sure yet, though I do have some ideas," said the Doctor. "We should see what Amy and Rose have deduced. Come along, Rory."

When Rose and Amy got to the dining car, they found Kramer still sitting at the same table that he, Janelle and Rory had eaten supper at. He was sipping a glass of whiskey, looking slightly melancholic.

"Evening ladies," he greeted politely when he saw them enter. "Good to see I'm not the only one burning the midnight oil." Then he caught sight of their grim expressions and raised his eyebrows. "Is everything alright?"

"There's been a murder," said Rose quietly.

Kramer's eyes widened as he stood up at once. "Who?" he demanded.

"Mr. Bonasera," said Amy. "Carter is waking the rest of the passengers."

"I must go to Janelle," said Kramer but Amy blocked his way.

"You are all to stay here until the Doctor can question everyone," she said firmly.

"And just who is the Doctor to do that?" Dr. Greenfield asked as he entered the dining car. He was wearing an expensive-looking silk dressing gown and a grumpy expression on his face.

"Inspector Smith from Applepond," said Rose, her initial fondness for the man starting to evaporate. "He's a galaxy-wide famous detective."

"How have I never heard of him then?" asked Dr. Greenfield, with a slight sneer.

"That's not our problem now, is it?" asked Amy, her tone final.

Dr. Greenfield scowled but said nothing. Janelle and Keira entered together, both of them still in their dinner clothes. "Carter said that Mr. Bonasera is dead. Is it true?" Keira asked.

"Yes," answered Amy. "Where's your grandmother?"

"She's just putting away something in the luggage car," said Keira. "She will be along shortly."

Janelle gave a sob and ran into Kramer's arms, who held her close and tried to shush her. Her sobs turned into wails and everyone looked uncomfortable at the scene. Valerie Richmond emerged into the dining car, dressed in a silk robe and wearing a glower that could have set any number of children crying.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "Why are we being held here?"

"I can answer that," said the Doctor as he and Rory came into the dining car. "A man was murdered, just mere minutes ago. As of now, you are all suspects."

A/N End of Part 2. Thanks for reading.

So, what do you think? Who is the murderer? And how did they escape?

The next part will see 'Inspector Smith' and his associates examining the evidence and questioning suspects. Bound to be fun.

It will be up on Tuesday. See you then!

~ Phoenix