It was as though time had frozen as everyone stared at the clothes designer. But she wasn't alone; Charlie, two other male mice and a bat with white fur were with her. Of course, Basil and his group knew who they were. She held her hand up for silence, indicating to them not to say anything.

''Regina Radcliffe is the culprit?''

''She's the Viper?''

''You mean the Viper is a woman?''

''I never would have guessed!''

''But how is that possible? I mean, the Viper's voice!''

''Yes, everyone,'' Basil said after the room had silenced, his arms folded and grinning in triumph at Regina. ''As I said, Mrs Radcliffe has been fooling us for all these many years with her voice imitation. Of course, 'Radcliffe' is not your actual last name is it, Aunt Ratigan?''

The audience gasped again. Now that it was mentioned, Regina was now wearing a very thin and loose but lovely sleeveless purple dress with white fur at the dress's bottom – identical to the royal robe that Ratigan had worn that night. Similar to how Ratigan's robe had been decorated with medals, Regina's dress was ornamented with pretty flowers, and she wore long black opera gloves hiding most of her greyish-brown fur.

''In other words, the Viper is Basil's aunt,'' Helen said.

''You mean Regina is Ratigan's wife?'' Victor asked slowly, stunned. ''So this 'Tim' she always talked about was actually – ?''

''My uncle. Affirmative, my dear Victor. That's why you didn't want me to see your gold watch, because you were afraid I would recognise it as the one your late husband had.''

''So Ratigan is definitely dead then, Basil?'' Marianne asked.

''Dead as a door nail. She really just wanted us to think he had returned with her decoy Armstrong.''

''Was everything Regina said to us a lie or not?'' Helen asked, puzzled.

''Yes and no, Helen,'' Basil replied. ''She told us lies, yet at the same time they contained elements of truth to them. That made her lies all of the more convincing. For example, her husband did die in an accident years ago, but it was not the result of her prosthetic tail as she claimed it was. I assume you know what was a lie and what was true.''

''This means that you and Charlie are adoptive cousins, right?'' Priscilla asked.

Basil bit his lip. ''Well, actually –''

''My lady, please remain calm!'' the older mouse cried, interrupting Basil, but Regina, who was shaking in fury, did not listen. She let out a cry and began to charge towards Basil like a bull, but was restrained by half-a-dozen Royal Guards.

''Get your hands off me, you imbeciles!'' she screamed, and everyone jumped to hear her talking in the Viper's deep snake voice, and more guards grabbed the older mouse, Charlie, the other mouse and the bat. ''Leave him alone!'' she yelled at the guards holding the older mouse.

''I remember you, 'Milo Jones','' one of the guards said to Butch in a low voice. ''And you,'' he added, looking at the older mouse. ''You've accompanied Mrs Radcliffe here once or twice, as an 'old family friend' named Martin Woods.''

Basil walked up to Regina's group and pulled off the faces of the skinny mouse and bat, revealing them to be Butch and Fidget!

The audience gasped once more. ''It's Fidget!''

''He's been alive all this time?''

Basil just smiled. ''Ratigan's rat-hand bat, now the Viper's, in the flesh.''

''Just to let you people know, my name is Butch Mitchell,'' said the lackey, but everyone ignored him, as though he was invisible.

''Search them,'' Edward told the guards, who obeyed and searched Regina and her group from head to toe. They found nothing on the old mouse, Charlie, Butch and Fidget, but confiscated from Regina a bottle of chloroform and a dagger.

''She's the Viper all right,'' said one of the guards, looking at the chloroform bottle in disdain.

''Can't do anything now, can you?'' Olivia said.

''I'm sorry for having so many guards, Regina,'' Edward added, ''and for them being so heavy, but you and your accomplices need to be restrained at all costs.''

''After all,'' Basil said with a large grin, ''rats are known for their brute strength, aren't they?''

''I AM NOT A RAT!'' Regina screamed.

Basil, Olivia and Hiram looked at each other in amusement.

''Talk about déjà vu,'' Hiram remarked.

''They were definitely made for each other,'' Olivia added.

''Elementary,'' Basil agreed. ''Sorry, Aunt Viper, but we have finally been one step ahead of you. I stand by what I said ages ago: that for criminals like Ratigan and the Viper, their confidence and arrogance is their downfall. And indeed, that was your biggest flaw, Mrs Viper.''

''Basil of Baker Street, how dare you make a mockery of the Viper!'' she shouted, now in her own posh accent. ''You weren't supposed to know anything until that old fool's will made me supreme ruler of Mousedom! You have ruined everything again!''

''Yes, I have a knack for that,'' Basil chuckled, ''just like I did with some of yours and your husband's other schemes, including that night at the orphanage.''

''Mr Basil,'' piped up a male mouse in the audience suddenly, ''there's a few things that don't make sense to me: at the party, wasn't Regina seen here when the Viper was on the balcony? And the Viper has four fingers, not five, so I always assumed she was a mouse?''

''Well, this is all rather complicated,'' Basil replied, ''so I will explain it in stages. I shall start with the party. Butch and her two bodyguards, Spike and Cliff, weren't the only henchmen she had with her that night; someone else was there.''

Basil was looking right at Charlie.

''So the Viper who appeared on the stage,'' a woman said slowly, ''was …?''

''Charlie,'' Olivia finished. ''He's been in on this all along.''

''I had always sensed strong untrustworthy vibes surrounding him,'' Basil said, scowling, ''and my instincts were right on the shilling. As soon as I confronted the Viper on the stage, something didn't feel right. At the time I thought it was simply because I was seeing my old adversary for the first time in so long, but in reality it was because it wasn't the real Viper. Charlie suddenly disappeared just before the Viper's show, and when he screamed the first time it was to signal they were ready. Regina left the room because she had to keep up with the worried aunt act, and when the Viper swung onto the balcony, she reappeared, timing it just right, so they would appear at the same time.''

''Well, I had to have an alibi, didn't I?'' Regina said arrogantly, shrugging. ''It was very lucky that Charlie is the same height as me. If he hadn't, you would've realised he was a fake. We rehearsed it like mad weeks beforehand, I taught Charlie all of the Viper's moves and mannerisms, so as to fool you, Basil.''

''And I loved it,'' Charlie said with relish, glaring at Basil. ''Beating you up and punching your jaw was the best thing ever, you have no idea how long I had wanted to do that.''

Basil inhaled. ''However,'' he continued, as though Charlie hadn't spoken, ''there was one thing Charlie could not do: imitate the Viper's distinct snake voice. After leaving this room, Regina hid herself behind the curtain and used her Viper voice so everyone would think it was Charlie talking. Yes, I should've noticed it when I was on the stage,'' he admitted with a small smile, ''but I was too consumed by rage over Olivia and Hiram being threatened, which was undoubtedly Regina's intention.''

Regina and Charlie didn't answer, which Basil took confirmation as a yes.

''After I chased the Viper, Mitchell appeared in front of me, as if he was trying to stall me, which he was – to give Regina and Charlie time to switch places, but it was in a hurry, hence why their clothes were all crumpled in the aftermath. When Charlie screamed the second time, it was another signal, to let Butch know the switch had occurred.''

''But, of course,'' Olivia said, ''Regina couldn't risk looking dubious, so she knocked herself out with her own chloroform to make it appear she had also been attacked by the Viper. Charlie, meanwhile, had found Gideon Richmond's coat, which they then used to throw our suspicions his way, just like Regina giving him one of her gold cigarette holders. She had to find someone she could falsely implicate, and Gideon was the perfect person.''

''Just like you said,'' Emmett piped up. ''And when she realised you had figured out the framing, she killed my brother before you could worm the truth out of him.''

''I was fooled, too,'' Butch said. ''I briefly believed it was one of the Richmonds when I spied you conversing with them at the party, and I had no idea the Viper on stage was a decoy.''

Again, everyone ignored Butch.

Basil stared at his aunt. Before revealing how they had found her out, and her big secret, he decided he wanted to humiliate her even further so he said: ''Aunt Ratigan, you are a genius, just like my uncle, but as I have learned with difficulty from the help of my loved ones, even the smartest of people make mistakes.''

''Mistakes?'' Regina scoffed. ''I never make mistakes.''

Basil chuckled. ''Oh, but you did, my dear Viper. One of them was at the Richmond manor when we announced Gideon's death to his family, you made a big slip-up …''


''I don't want you anywhere near him! He's dangerous! He murdered Gideon and one of his own henchmen and threw them in the river like rubbish!''


''We had never said that the other victim was the Viper's lackey,'' said Helen, ''so how could you have possibly known?''

Regina froze, glaring daggers at Basil.

''Oh, don't worry,'' Hiram said calmly, ''that wasn't what gave you away. You were already suspected by then.''

''And how is that?'' said the older mouse. ''My mistress has been fooling you for so long, Mr Basil, and she has always took every possible caution, so how could you have possibly suspected her?''

''It wasn't me,'' Basil admitted, and gestured to Olivia, beaming. ''It was my darling Livy. You sent Butch to hurt Hiram so Olivia and I would reunite as part of your revenge plan, but that was your first and perhaps biggest mistake. You completely underestimated her.''

''How?'' Regina said furiously, and looked at Olivia. ''My red herrings have been flawless. Because of them, as far as Mousedom was concerned, the Viper was a man and a rodent like you. No-one has ever given it a second thought, because they are all stupid and simple-minded, even your runt boyfriend was fooled. So how could you have seen through it?''

''Simple: we're both woman of equal intelligence, Regina. I think that's why William never figured it out; he's intelligent, but he's not had much experience with women's company besides Camilla Anderson and Mrs Judson due to the wall he created around his heart.''

Basil placed his arm around his girl.

''After our encounter at the party, something didn't feel right to me. I mean, if the Viper has always been careful not to reveal their true identity for all these years, why was Gideon looking too obvious? But when Butch lured us to the old Rodent Opera House, that's when I started to suspect you, Regina. I wrote down all of the evidence I had seen on a piece of paper and they just fitted you. I admit it was mostly gut instinct, but I was right to trust it. And given the Viper is as smart as Ratigan and thinks of everything, I figured it was plausible for you to have had a fake Viper to give you an alibi. When I saw the Viper swing onto the balcony, I could have sworn I saw a tail hiding inside the cloak. As we now know, it was Charlie so that answers that.

''One of my favourite clues was that you would have had the skills required to make the voodoo dolls, due to your profession as a clothes designer, and when I went to visit your employee Rebecca Thompson, she told me you made clothes yourself, confirming my suspicions. Speaking of which, I assume those two 'top secret' clothes you worked on nine years ago were yours and Ratigan's royal attire?''

Regina didn't answer but showed a deep scowl.

''In other words,'' Hiram said proudly, ''Olivia simply had the wisdom to look past the surface and see through your red herrings.''

Butch gulped. ''So she's smart as well as scary,'' he said, looking at Olivia as though she was going to eat him.

''At the party,'' Basil added, ''you joked Olivia and I both had blood on our hands. That wasn't a joke, was it, Aunt Ratigan? In your perspective, we do – your husband's. And at both the party and the Richmond manor, I sensed the Viper's presence. Oh, the Viper was there both times all right, as were Victor and Regina – but at the party, I had already sensed the Viper's presence long before Victor had even arrived!''

Basil dramatically pointed at Regina once more, and could sense the humiliation emanating from her. Regina looked at Basil as though she wanted nothing more than to scratch his eyes out.

There was moment of silence as everyone struggled to take in everything they had just seen and heard. Just how would the rest of Mousedom react they read about in the papers that the famous children's clothes designer Regina Radcliffe was the infamous Viper all along?

''By the way, Mr Basil,'' Edward said thoughtfully, ''just how did you figure out her plan for me? You never said.''

Basil and his group at one another. ''We can't answer that,'' Olivia said after a pause, ''without revealing the Viper's big secret, sir.''

Regina turned pale but kept composed. ''And what might that be?'' she asked, in a voice of forced calm.

Basil winked at her and the older mouse, making him flinch, before turning to Edward. ''Forgive me for not telling you before, Your Majesty, but I wanted to be absolutely sure.''

''Sure of what?'' the king asked, looking confused.

Basil turned back to face Regina. ''That 'Regina Radcliffe' isn't your real name. In fact, 'Regina Radcliffe' has never even existed! She has been nothing more than a false identity – your fictional cousin to be precise – that you've been using all these years when not donning your Viper alter ego, isn't that right ... Ruby?''

''Ruby?'' a man repeated. ''As in Ruby Mortimer, Ronald Mortimer's daughter?''

''The very same,'' said Hiram. ''Except, she's now Ruby Ratigan, widow of her university teacher.''

''Ronald really did have an estranged brother called Cedric who moved to Cornwall,'' Basil clarified. ''He never had a daughter, but Ruby used her uncle's existence to her advantage. After meeting with Nicholas Grant, I checked with the registry office and there was no birth certificate for 'Regina Radcliffe' or 'Regina Mortimer.' ''

''When Juliet, Marianne and I went to Cornwall,'' Helen piped up, ''we could also find no birth certificate for her.''

''We met up with a man who had known Cedric,'' Marianne said, while her father looked puzzled. ''He was called Mr Bates. Mr Bates told us that Cedric had moved to Cornwall after falling out with Ronald. He was jealous of Ronald's fame and attention, and had tried it on with Ronald's wife Diane; Cedric was a drunk with a nasty temper. He died when getting overly drunk and fell into the sea. When Helen asked about his family Mr Bates said that Cedric never married, never had any daughters.''

Regina and Charlie looked at each other, as though they were being swallowed alive.

''You can take that wig off now, Ruby, the game's up,'' said Basil, staring at the ring on her right hand, the one with the ruby red stone.

Everyone looked at the woman, who just stood there as though she had become a statue, her face expressionless. Slowly, she reached up for her short, curly black hair and pulled it off, revealing a curtain of long golden hair that fell down her back like a wild wave.


At Wigmore Street, in the home of the Dawsons, Pauline was sitting in a chair, knitting baby booties, humming to herself. Dawson was looking up at the clock anxiously, as though he was waiting for it to speak.

''Right now, they should be explaining the Viper's true nature to everyone,'' said the doctor, pacing. ''I just hope she doesn't have any more tricks up her sleeve. As we've seen in the past, she's very devious and always has backup plans, just like her husband.''

''Don't worry, David,'' Pauline said reassuringly. ''Basil and the others have deceived her due to her arrogance. She'll be carted off to jail very shortly.''

''You're right, darling, and I'll be glad when she is. I'm just –''

Dawson was interrupted when he heard a knock at the door. He motioned for his wife to stay where she was, grabbed a club and approached the door cautiously. He opened the door and looked up at the huge figure towering over him.


Back at Buckingham Palace, the whole audience chamber was in total silence, struggling to take in what they had just found out. It was as though they were looking at walking dead as they stared at the rat woman who they had all believed to be dead for the past eighteen years. Even Edward and George could not believe what they were seeing.

''But wasn't Ruby's body found along with her parents'?'' asked a female mouse.

''It was,'' Basil agreed, standing right in front of Ruby, ''but it wasn't hers. She faked her own death … with her doppelganger.''

''Mary Grant,'' Hiram revealed. ''Oh, poor Nicholas, I dread to think how this will affect him when he finds out.''

Ruby inhaled sharply, but the older mouse rubbed her shoulders. ''Lady Ruby,'' he said soothingly, and the woman forced herself to calm down.

''Very clever, Basil,'' she said slowly, in mock praise, but her voice had changed once again – it was no longer in Regina's posh upper-class voice, but much softer and silkier, yet possessed the same dangerous quality as the Viper's.

''You are wondering how did I figure it out? Once again, the credit goes entirely to my brilliant Olivia.'' He smiled at his girlfriend. ''It was her that nudged me in the right direction. As you know, Gideon had no tail like you, and when we went to interrogate him Olivia said … ''


''Tailless rodents can have problems such as heat exhaustion and poor bladder control.''


''As soon as she said that, you immediately entered my mind, Ruby. I remembered when Ratigan brought you over to visit the family that summer, you said you suffered from heat exhaustion, but it didn't occur very often. I suspect that day at the Richmonds, you and Charlie tampered with the boiler so it would be freezing? With the knowledge we had about the Viper looking to avenge Ratigan, you fit all the clues, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. Later, when Olivia asked me why you were bullied at school, you again crossed my mind. Why?''

Basil removed the opera glove on Ruby's left hand (Ruby grabbing her wedding ring as he did so, wincing from the pain) to reveal three real fingers and two prosthetic ones!

''This is how the Viper fooled everyone into thinking she was a mouse,'' Olivia said. ''Notice how she always wears gloves? When I went to visit Rebecca, I asked her about 'Regina's' gloves, she confirmed she never takes gloves off apart from when she was at the office alone.''

''For reasons unknown, Ruby was born with no tail and three fingers instead of five, hence why she endured bullying, and she used her lack of fingers to her advantage,'' Basil said.

Murmurs were then heard cornering the scars on Ruby's arm. ''Notice how 'Regina' always covered up her arms?'' Olivia asked. ''It was to hide her scars from that night at the orphanage – and I also noticed she never used her left arm if she could avoid it.''

''When Olivia and I reached a dead end with the Richmonds,'' said Basil, ''I finally asked her about her theory …''


''So come on, who do you think he is?''

Olivia gave him a sly smile. ''That's exactly the whole point of my theory. Him, he – who says it's a he? If no-one's ever seen the Viper's face, then how do you know the Viper is a man? Why does everyone think that? Where's the evidence?''

''Because of the Viper's deep snake voice.''

''Ah, but that's not the Viper's actual voice, is it? You said it yourself, William, that you have always believed that it is a disguise. She could have disguised her voice similar to what I did at the Rat Trap, only with much more conviction. Plus, if she fooled everyone into thinking the Viper was a man, no-one would look her way, not even you.''

Olivia showed Basil a piece of paper, and the couple read it together:

General demeanour

Fake deep snake voice

Affiliation with the colour blue

Dolls and opera

Designs clothes – and voodoo dolls?

Lost her husband in an accident when Charlie was my age (nine years ago) – the same year Ratigan died

Was at Mouse Cambridge University the same time as Ratigan

Has no real tail like the Viper

Smokes a cigarette holder

Present both times William sensed the Viper's presence

The Viper – Regina Radcliffe?

''Mrs Radcliffe?'' Basil asked, raising an eyebrow.

Olivia nodded. ''To me, it all points to Regina. I was confused when you said it was Ruby that Ratigan courted, but I have a theory as to how it's possible – perhaps Ratigan was seeing both cousins at the same time? She's definitely smarter than she lets on.''

''As mad as that sounds,'' Basil said slowly, ''I'm inclined to agree you could be onto something, Livy.''

Basil's smile then vanished as he let Olivia's words fully sink in and turned away from her. ''It would mean … all this time … William Michael Basil, you idiot!'' he shouted at himself, smacking his cheeks repeatedly. ''All those years, how could I never have thought of it?! You brainless, stupid –''

Olivia stopped him and reminded him that the Viper was very crafty and cunning, a true genius, and deceiving everyone like that was what she had undoubtedly intended.

Basil nodded in agreement, ashamed he hadn't realised it sooner, and Olivia watched as her detective started pacing, evidently mulling everything over in his head, as though his life depended on it.

''William?''

Basil stopped pacing and grinned at Olivia. ''I'm starting to put it together now. We're nearly there, Livy.''

''That's good to know. We are going to have to somehow find out if Regina can imitate voices without raising her suspicions and –''

''Hold it,'' Basil interrupted sharply, holding up his hand. ''Livy, could you please repeat that last part? The last sentence.''

Olivia didn't question it and obeyed.

''William?'' she asked, seeing Basil's mouth open wide, his face like ice cream, looking as if he had seen a ghost. ''William, what's wrong?''

Without warning, Basil resumed smacking his cheeks. ''I was right! How could I have been so blind?! The evidence was right in there in front of me all along!''

''What is it?'' Olivia exclaimed, removing Basil's face from his cheeks once more. ''Is my theory wrong after all?''

Basil placed his hands on Olivia's shoulders and shook his head. ''Yes and no. It is Regina, but she is not Regina Radcliffe.''

''Then who is she really?'' Olivia asked breathlessly.

Basil narrowed his eyes. ''Ruby. Somehow, she faked her death.''

Olivia stumbled backwards, clapping a hand over her forehead. ''Great Scott!''

''I know, this is heavy.''


''When Olivia mentioned it, I remembered that summer, Ruby, you boasted about your voice imitation talent to us and showed it off.''

The detective grinned at Ruby's humiliated expression, she was clearly struggling to take in the fact that her arrogance had unravelled her lies.

Basil coughed and turned to the audience. ''Now that the truth is out, in order to get a better understanding, I would like to tell you all a story: the love story between Ruby Mortimer and Padraic Ratigan.''

''Mr Basil, you have the audacity to reveal my mistress's private life?'' the older mouse asked in outrage.

''I do,'' Basil said happily. ''Sixteen-year-old Ruby Mortimer, the intelligent daughter of the famous aristocrat Ronald Mortimer, enrols in Mouse Cambridge University. An exceptionally gifted student, her intelligence attracts the attention of her maths teacher, Professor Ratigan. Shortly, they develop a mutual romantic attraction to one another and begin an illicit relationship. But after killing students who belittle him, and his sister's mugger, Ratigan flees from the university and begins his criminal career.

''Shorty afterwards, Ruby kills her parents for their money and dons her famous hood, adopting her alias 'the Viper', slaughters her doppelganger, Mary Grant, and places her body along with her parents' – and carefully removes Miss Grant's tail and two fingers – to make it look like she had also been killed by the Viper, and thus the beginning of her own criminal career. Of course, she didn't do this alone, she had help from her faithful butler, Angus Parker.''

Basil gestured to the older mouse, who reluctantly removed his mask to reveal the wrinkly face of an old mouse with a few spots. There were no gasps from the audience; apparently, nothing surprised them anymore.

''Ruby uses her talent for imitating voices and adopts her infamous deep snake-like voice; fooling everyone into thinking the Viper was a man, so that she would not be suspected. When not committing acts of depravity as the Viper, Ruby would go day-by-day as her fictional cousin, the clothes designer Regina Radcliffe. Two years into her criminal career, Ruby Maria 'the Viper' Mortimer crosses paths with Professor Padraic James Ratigan once more and they rekindle their romantic relationship, keeping it a secret from everyone, hence Ruby being Ratigan's 'important business'. Yes, Ratigan knew all along,'' Basil added. ''That's why he tried to kill me after I burnt her arm – and fooling his gang with his grieving act every time she was mentioned, a most fine performance on my uncle's part.

''Three years into their secret romance Ratigan proposes marriage to Ruby and she accepts. They marry the following year, three years before Ratigan's death, and Ruby retires her Viper alter ego. Eventually, they concoct a plan to become king and queen of Mousedom, and Ruby discovers she is pregnant but keeps it a surprise for Ratigan until their coronation. We foil their plan, with the result of the professor's demise. Ruby sadly suffers a miscarriage due to the stress, and spends the next nine years plotting her elaborate revenge on me and Olivia, seeking to avenge her beloved husband and finishing what he started.''

Everyone looked at Ruby once more, having a better understanding of her plan. Some of the woman, including Olivia, even had a look of pity and sympathy, no doubt due to her miscarriage.

''I would also like to ask something, if I may,'' said Juliet suddenly. ''Where would she get all of the materials from to make the dolls, and I presume all of her costumes?''

''My friend Harry Perkins, in disguise as Evelyn Bellwether.''

''And what about Daddy? What's he been doing?'' Marianne asked.

Basil nodded at Victor, indicating for him reveal his secret. ''I was gambling,'' he confessed in shame, while Priscilla looked stern. ''My friends and I played poker late into the night. Luckily, we are wealthy so I was never short on money, but I would often spend the night at my friend and fellow gambler John Campbell's house as I was too ashamed to face Priscilla.''

''The other day,'' Basil said, nodding, ''after checking the registry office, I paid John a visit and he told me everything. I had always suspected it was a gambling problem, either that or you were having an affair, as Priscilla feared. Thankfully, John confirmed it was the former. I suspect this is why you left your brothers after sorting out Gideon?''

Victor looked more ashamed. ''I didn't want to gamble any more money, so I was looking around the palace to see if there was anything of Father's I could use instead, to no avail.'' He looked at Edward. ''Forgive me, Your Majesty.''

Edward placed his hand on his shoulder and told Victor he bared no ill feelings.

''Victor told me all of this last night, after the girls rung up from Cornwall,'' Priscilla said, shaking her head.

''What about Charlie?'' Emmet asked, looking at the man he thought was his friend. ''There is no way he can be Ruby's nephew, so who is he really?''

''Ah, I'm glad you asked that, Emmett,'' Basil beamed with a large smile. ''Fidget Russell and Charlie Bennett have equally important roles to play in this case so it's time to hear their stories.'' He looked from Charlie and Fidget. ''Now, who wants to go first?''


So many revelations! ''Regina'' was actually Ruby, Ratigan's university sweetheart, all along! I did say there would be one more twist regarding the Viper. There were some hints for this, such as the ring, which was ruby red, and the way the Viper would always talk about Ratigan. And Angus was the Viper's father-figure. Now we know what happened to him.

As Basil said, this is a complicated case but hopefully you were able to follow it. That's why I have moved Charlie and Fidget's roles to the next chapter, to make it easier to read.

It was already obvious, but Ruby's other alias ''Evelyn Bellwether'' is a combination of two Disney Villains. I won't say who as I trust you can figure it out, detectives.

If you go back and read the party chapters, everything Basil said will make sense.

The ''dead as a door nail'' was a reference to the scene in Hercules when Hades learns Hercules has been alive all along. Poor Pain and Panic. Chuckles. Angus's false last name was a reference to James Woods, who voices Hades. I think I could watch Hades' scenes all day, James Woods' performance is just too fun.

Now we know Victor's secret. Seems Priscilla isn't too happy about him gambling, but hopefully she will forgive him.

If you're wondering where Spike and Cliff are, you'll find out next chapter, but I can reveal that snippet of Dawson and Pauline is significant.

Time to answer some reviews:

MillenniumPrincess: Glad this mystery has kept you in suspense. That's why mystery stories are fun, trying to find the clues and red herrings and guess the culprit. That's one of the reasons why Murder on the Orient Express is interesting regarding the handling of the culprit. Ah, so you suspected the Viper was a woman, well done. In that case, let's see if you can guess the truth about Charlie then?

ZabuzasGirl: Hello! You've come at the right time, at the reveal of the culprit, and I hope you had lot of fun trying to solve the mystery throughout the whole story. Let's see what happens going forward as Basil reveals everything about Charlie and Fidget.

Next time, the truth about Charlie's involvement will be revealed, and I think we all know how Ruby will react to Fidget's betrayal.

See you soon!