A/N: After a bit of a delay, the investigation continues! Now, we return to the Starry Skies carnival, to see who we can find and shake down for answers. Enjoy, my readers!
May 6th, 2029
Starry Skies Carnival
12:15 p.m.
Hugh decided that the first thing to do was to check out the teacup rides in person, and compare them to the photo that Ema had given them. Not that he didn't trust the detective, but there were some things that you needed to confirm with your own two eyes.
Arriving at the attraction, it was still blocked off with police tape. Thankfully, Hugh didn't need to cross the tape to see the important part of this crime scene. The star-shaped teacup that previously contained the dead body now had white rope marking an outline.
Looking closely, there appeared to be more of that soot that Hugh noted in the photo. While Hugh wouldn't be able to see what kind of soot it is, knowing it existed was good knowledge on it's own.
"Yup, this attraction is definitely broken!"
Hugh started at the voice, and had to look down to realize it was coming to Shelly. "Could you tell me more of what you mean by that?"
"I can tell even from this distance. The rotor is broken," Shelly said, pointing at something Hugh couldn't see. "Carny showed me how to recognize these things."
I'm not sure how I feel about a small girl having more mechanical knowledge than me.
"We already knew ahead of time that this ride was broken, but now we know what's broken," Juniper said. "So thank you for trying to help, Shelly!"
There didn't seem to be anything else that Hugh could gain from the broken attraction. This was where the true killer had decided to dump the body- given the cause of death, the real scene of the crime had to be somewhere else.
"Mr. O'Conner? Is that you?"
Hugh turned towards the sound of the voice, and recognized Nina Booth. "Hello there, Miss Booth. Were you interviewed by the police?"
"I was, and after listening to what I said, the police didn't think I had anything to do with anything," Miss Booth said. "But still, what a shock! I can't believe my boss died. Do you know what happened?"
"I was hoping that you had an idea of what happened, Miss Booth," said Hugh.
"Right, that's why the police questioned me! I forgot," Miss Booth said, scratching her head.
W-wait, how do you forget something like that?
"So then, were you at this carnival a few nights ago?" Hugh asked, while a part of him wondered if he was going to get any coherent testimony.
"I was here for a little while. Mostly to do some inventory check," Miss Booth said. "Counting critical equipment for the carnival."
"Wait, hold on. I thought you were in charge of the ticket booth. At least, I'm sure you gave us our tickets. But you do inventory too?" Juniper asked, confused.
"Yep! Miss Illusa always said that it's best if everyone pitches in wherever possible," Miss Booth said cheerfully.
The more I talk with her, the less I feel like I understand.
"Most of the inventory count went well! Except there was one thing that was missing," Miss Booth said. "A steel rod."
"Is there anything special about this steel rod? If say, something in this carnival couldn't function without it, for example," Hugh said.
"No, I'm pretty sure this rod was completely normal," Miss Booth said. "We have spares if a ride needs a replacement, so maybe it was for that."
This still seems like important information to keep in mind.
Miss Booth's Testimony added to the Court Record
Since Hugh had Miss Booth in front of him, he decided now was a good time to ask on some information he already possessed.
"Miss Booth, I have a photo of Miss Illusa's body, and there's something in the photo I need cleared up," Hugh said. "Is it okay if I show you the photo?"
"I will do my best to not let it get to me." Miss Booth said, grabbing her hat and tugging it nervously.
Hugh took out the photo and showed it to Miss Booth, who flinched at the sight of it.
"Apologies, but I do need you to look closely. Do you see this soot that's on the body? It would help if you could tell me where it's from."
Miss Booth leaned in so close to the photo that her nose was almost touching it. "Now that I get a close look at it, it looks like the soot from Harry's torches."
"And who is Harry?" Hugh asked, unable to keep from sounding excited at a potential new lead.
"Harry Scarlet, a performer at this carnival," Miss Booth said. "He's a flame eater."
"Ahhhh! You can eat flames? How does that even work?!" Juniper asked, terrified.
"You'll have to meet Harry yourself," Miss Booth answered. "He loves to show off his repertoire, so you could get a free show!"
"I'm not sure I would call it that, considering we're in the middle of a murder investigation," Hugh said dryly.
"So, Shelly. Have you met Harry before? Just to get an idea of what kind of person he is," Juniper said.
"He's mean. Whenever he talks with my sister, she gets really mad with him," Shelly said, pouting.
"From the mouth of babes, as they say," Hugh said, amused. "If I have more questions for you, Miss Booth, I'll find you."
"See you later, Mr. O'Conner!" Miss Booth said, waving at them.
"Nina certainly seemed pleasant," Juniper said, smiling as they went deeper into the carnival.
"My sister worries about Nina. She thinks that Nina is going to hurt herself," Shelly said.
Even if I weren't Carnila's defense attorney, I'd be inclined to agree with that assessment.
Hugh perused a map of the Starry Skies Carnival that he got from the entrance.
Given the carnival's star shape, there were only so many places they could visit. The teacup ride, along with a small rollercoaster, were in the lower left corner, left from the entrance. The concession stands were in the lower right corner, the boardwalk with the prize games were in the upper left corner, and a circus tent and management offices were in the upper right. In the center of the carnival was the Comet Shuffle ride.
Map of Starry Skies Carnival added to the Court Record.
"It looks like the area that we want is the upper right corner," Juniper said, studying the map over Hugh's shoulder.
"Mr. Scarlet is likely to be at the circus tent. Then there's also the matter of the mystery case that Robin was working on before," Hugh said thoughtfully. "We might find clues related to that at the management offices."
As the circus tent came into view, Hugh had a feeling he already knew who to talk to: in the tent, Hugh could see a man with bright orange hair that was styled upwards, bushy eyebrows, brownish-red eyes, and a wiry body that crackled with energy. The man was wearing no shirt, but a pair of tights that were orange and red.
Immediately Juniper covered her eyes with the brim of her hat. "Hugh, could you ask him to cover up?"
"I presume that you are Harry Scarlet," Hugh said as they approached the man. "Could you put on a shirt?"
"Covering myself gives more space for the fire to grasp onto, if I lose control of it," Mr. Scarlet said. "If you can't handle the heat, then any further conversation is a waste of time."
"...Oh, if you appear in court tomorrow, I'd love to see the judge dealing with you," Hugh said, already imagining how this could go.
"I hope the judge doesn't have to deal with this," Juniper said, still covering her eyes. "He's such a nice old man, and he deals with enough."
"Very well, Mr. Scarlet. For now, the interview will proceed as is," Hugh said. "What do you know about the death of Adelie Illusa?"
"The ringmaster of us all. Yes, Ms. Illusa did perish," Mr. Scarlet said. "And I was here when it happened."
"...! Then tell us everything you know," Hugh said urgently.
"Before I tell you anything, I need to make sure you can take what I have to say." Mr. Scarlet took a torch, and lit it on fire. "Can you revel in the fire and not quail?"
"Okay, this might be going too far. There's no need to set anything on fire," Hugh said, sweating but otherwise holding his ground.
"Your inner fire burns, but not too brightly. Then I'll only share this much," Mr. Scarlet said. "I'd stayed behind a little late to clean all my tools. While I did, I happen to see Carnila."
"You saw her? What was she doing?" Hugh asked. Their first interview, and Harry was already a witness.
"Carnila was heading that way." With his torch, Harry pointed towards the Comet Shuffle in the center of the carnival. "Your inner flame isn't strong enough to hear the rest."
Harry Scarlet's Testimony added to the Court Record
Speaking of fire, the torch that Harry was still holding dripped very familiar soot on the floor.
I'm not going to give him a chance to make stuff up. I'll shove that evidence in his face.
"Please take a look at this, Mr. Scarlet," Hugh said, showing Harry the photo of the body.
"That's Ms. Illusa, and…" For a moment, Harry narrowed his eyes. "And I see that her body was disrespected by someone."
"Are you claiming that you had nothing to do with this?" Hugh asked dubiously.
"If you want to know that, get the answer out of me yourself," Harry said, scoffing at Hugh. "Right now, you aren't able to handle my fire."
"What's that even supposed to-" But Harry didn't let Hugh finish, leaving the area instead.
"For once, I wish witnesses would tell us what they know, instead of making it so difficult," Juniper said quietly.
"Given that one of the witnesses usually ends up being the real killer, it makes sense that they're difficult," Hugh said. "But that doesn't make our job any easier."
Behind the circus tent were the administrative offices. The door was open, which Hugh figured was because the owner never returned to close it.
When Hugh found the office labeled as being Ms. Illusa's, he entered inside. Out of all the offices he's visited so far, this one was the most extravagant: The name tag was studded in diamonds, and the desk looked like it was gilded in gold.
Looking at the office, Juniper frowned, playing with her fingers nervously.
"You look like you have something on your mind, Miss Woods. What is it?" Shelly asked.
"When I first came to this carnival, I thought it was nice and homey," Juniper said. "But this office… it doesn't sit right with me. For it to be so… opulent, but there being a ride that's broken."
"And it's not the only one either," Hugh said, reading a paper that was laying on the desk. "This is a work order, from Ms. Illusa to Carnila. According to this, the Comet Shuffle is broken."
"My sis probably knows what's wrong, so you should ask her about later!" Shelly exclaimed.
Work Order added to the Court Record
Hugh looked around the office. "The state of this office might be worth remembering. The more we learn about Ms. Illusa, the closer we are to the reason she was investigated."
There was something else in the office as well. A scale model of the entire carnival, which was sitting on the desk.
"Oh! I know what this is," Shelly said, craning to study the model. Carny uses it in her work. This model can replicate how the rides work if you know which button to push."
"Maybe we could take it with us to the detention center." Hugh tried to pick it up- and quickly found that the model was too heavy. "Geez, does Carnila manage to carry this? Or does she come to this office to use the model?"
"I'm sure that my sis uses this somewhere else," Shelly said, putting a finger on her chin. "I dunno what it's doing here."
Scale Model of Carnival added to the Court Record
There didn't seem to be anything else in the office. After leaving the office, they walked by the circus tent, when they suddenly heard-
"Ladies and gentleman,if I may have your attention!"
The sound of the voice turned out to be from a clown, who was dressed in the expected rainbow jumper clothes. Fitting with the theme of the carnival, the man's face makeup was blue, with white spots to represent stars. His eyes were a warm brown, but his hair was covered by a large white helmet.
"You aren't going to leave here without being amazed, are you? If you need a reason to smile, that's a job for Jacob Tumble!"
"Hello there… is it okay if we call you Mr. Tumble?" Hugh asked.
"Call me Jacob! Because everyone is my friend," Jacob said cheerfully. Then he took out a couple of juggling sticks and juggled with them. "Now what can I do for my friends?"
"Very well, Jacob. Then tell us everything you know about this." Once again, Hugh showed the photo of the body.
"Oh no. Poor Ms. Illusa," Jacob said, frowning and hanging his head. "Yes, I did see something. I was in this very tent, practicing my act, when I saw Ms. Illusa entering her office."
"And when was this? Do you have an idea of what she was going in her office?" Hugh asked.
Jacob was now juggling the sticks behind his back. "It was at 10:30 at night, I think. But I couldn't tell you why. That would be an offense of office privacy."
"Oh, Jacob! I want to say something!" Shelly called out.
"Ah, if it isn't little Shelly," Jacob said, smiling gently. He put away the juggling sticks, and took out a star-shaped lollipop. "Want a candy?"
"Thank you very much!" Shelly took a lollipop. "If you think real hard, maybe you could help my sis!"
"Think real hard, huh? I'll rummage around the ol' noggin." Jacob scratched his head, before taking out a small bulb horn and honking it. "I got it!"
"Oh! It looks like Shelly's nudge did the trick!" Juniper exclaimed.
"Ms. Illusa had what looked like a piece of paper in her hand," Jacob said. "I felt a naughty little impulse in me, so I snuck closer to take a look. And the paper had Carnila's name on it."
Tumble's testimony added to the Court Record
"I see. Thank you for your testimony, Jacob." Hugh said, his face grim.
"You're welcome! And if you ever need a pick me up," Jacob lifted his left leg up. "Be sure to look up this clown!"
"Okay, it looks like our last destination for this phase of the investigation is the Comet Shuffle," Hugh said, gesturing for Juniper and Shelly to follow him.
"...Are you thinking what I am, Hugh? About that paper the victim had?" Juniper asked quietly.
"I believe whatever was on that paper could be used as a motive," Hugh said. "And given that the work order was still on her desk, I don't think it's that. It must be an important document that is currently unaccounted for."
"Then let's hope we find better clues at the Comet Shuffle!" At that location, Ema was already there, looking at the central pillar.
"Detective Skye, have you by chance caught you in a good enough mood to share your findings?" Hugh asked as the approached her.
"Oh, I'm going to share my findings. But I'm not so sure you're going to like them," Ema said, scratching her neck. "It's not too late to turn back."
"I doubt anything you could tell me could be worse than the previous cases I've worked on,: Hugh said confidently. "Lay it on me."
"It's your funeral." Ema stepped aside, revealed that on the pillar of the ride was a blood splatter. "Testing the blood revealed that it's the victim's. So our ongoing theory is that the victim died when they were pushed off of this."
Ema pointed upwards, and Hugh could see that there was a platform there.
"That's a maintenance platform. Carnila uses that to get into the workings of the Comet Shuffle," Shelly said. "But there's no way that she pushed anyone off of that!"
While this was happening, Hugh studied the central pillar of the ride more. There was another blood splatter on the right of it, and one on the left.
Blood splatters added to the Court Record
"I did get permission to use a cherry picker," Ema said, pointing to the machine in question. "I can use it to give a lift so you can see the platform for yourself."
I will take you up on that offer." Hugh stood on the platform of the cherry picker, and Ema signaled it's operator to take Hugh up.
At first, Hugh couldn't see what was so special about the maintenance platform. Then he saw the two sets of footprints. One set was from a pair of heeled shoes, while the other was erased by someone.
Footprints added to the Court Record
"The footprints we can see belong to the victim," Ema explained as Hugh was lowered. "We of course can't know who the other pair belong to, but the investigation is ongoing."
"So Ms. Illusa was definitely up there, at least." The Comet Shuffle had no more clues to offer. Which indicated that it was time to expand the net of the investigation.
"I'm going to go to Robin's office now. Who wants to come with me?" Hugh said, looking at Juniper and Shelly.
"I'm coming with you!" Juniper immediately exclaimed.
"I don't think it's good for you to keep dragging a small child to places," Ema said. "So I'll take Shelly off your hands for a bit."
"Oh? What are we going to do, Miss Detective?" Shelly asked.
"I'm going to show you the wonders of science!" Ema said, grinning.
Reassured that Shelly would be taken care of, Hugh walked out of the gates of the carnival with Juniper.
To be continued.
A/N: The end of the investigation will arrive next chapter. So make sure to keep your Court Records updated, because there will be one more chance to figure out the truth. See you next time! Please review.