LAST TIME ON THIS STORY: A death had just taken place at the circus! Oh no! Can Shuichi and Kokichi solve this crime? Or was it even a crime? Maybe it was an accident? Let's find out!
All Eyes on Me part 2
Immediately Shuichi was on his feet, rushing down to the stage as the audience stared in stunned silence. Kokichi hesitated a moment before dashing after him. They were both aware of shouting and the crowd was being ushered out.
Many of the circus performers were rushing out to the floor, surrounding the body. Tara was still up high on the platform and had not come down.
Before Shuichi could get through the crowd of performers, the ringmaster was shouting. "Everyone! Calm down! Please step away! Someone go get the doctor!"
"I don't think that's going to help," the small mousey guy from before, Dan, murmured. He was crouched beside Sara's body, a finger to her neck. "She's dead."
There were many gasps from the others, but one voice wrang out above the others. "NO! Not my Sara! How could this happen?"
One of the acrobats from the human pyramid broke from the group and rushed forward. The ringmaster tried to stop him, but he was ignored. The acrobat knelt by the body and started weeping loudly. His wails made Shuichi's heart tighten.
"Calm down, Maurice," Dan said, "It's not the end of the world."
"You're acting rather calm about this, Dan," one of the performers pointed out.
"It is the end of the world!" the acrobat, Maurice, cried before Dan could reply, "My beloved is dead! Deceased! Murdered!"
"Whoa! Whoa now!" the ringmaster interrupted, "It was clearly an accident! No one said anything about murder!"
"She was murdered!" Maurice declared, "And I know who killed her!" He turned his angry gaze to the trapeze tower, where the other trapeze artist was still high above the ground. "It was him! Tara! He murdered my beloved!"
Almost instantly, a rabble of fighting broke out amongst the performers. Shuichi took the opportunity to push forward.
"Excuse me," he said in a rather small voice, "Um, e-excuse me…"
"HEY! EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Kokichi shouted, startling everyone. They all turned to the two, suddenly noticing they were there.
"And who are you two?" the ringmaster asked, "I thought I had all the civilians cleared out of the tent!"
"Um, my name is Shuichi Saihara," Shuichi explained, "I'm a private detective. And this is my partner, Kokichi Oma."
"I'm his partner!" Kokichi said proudly.
"I don't know if there are any police stations near here, but I thought I could help out before they get here," Shuichi told them.
"Well, I don't know if we need a detective," the ringmaster muttered, "I'm sure this was an accident."
"We can't be sure of that," Dan countered, "Sara was a professional. She knew the routine forward and back. And even if something caused her to mistime her jump, we all know how to fall."
The ringmaster sighed. "That's true," he admitted, "I guess you can take a look, Mr. Detective."
Shuichi nodded in thanks, then went forward and crouched in front of the body. Blood was slowly pooling beneath it and was trickling from her mouth. Her head and neck were bent at and odd angle, but before a doctor could look at her, Shuichi wasn't quite sure what had caused her death. Still, she was rather pale, almost grey in skin tone. He looked up at the performers surrounding him. They all looked nervous.
"Do you guys have your own doctor?" he asked.
"Yes," the ringmaster replied, "He should be getting here soon. Our trailers and sleeping quarters are way behind the tents so the public doesn't see them."
Shuichi nodded. "Another thing," he said, "Was she always this pale?"
"Pale? She's usually rather tan!" the ringmaster said, "We all spend quite a bit of time outside. None of us are pale!"
"Well, look at her," Shuichi pointed out, "Her skin is almost grey. I'm not a doctor, but that's usually a sign of oxygen loss. I'm not certain, but she may have been poisoned."
"Poisoned?!" a new voice cried. It was Tara, finally having found the will to come down from the tower. "Why would anyone want to poison Sara? She was so nice and everyone loved her!"
"Why indeed?" Maurice growled, "Why did you poison her?"
Tara glared at him. "Why would I poison my own partner?" he hissed, "She was the greatest trapeze artist ever!"
"Exactly! You were jealous of how much better she was than you!" Maurice accused.
"Do you know how insane you sound right now?" Tara snapped. A fight broke out and everyone
started yelling at each other. Shuichi tried to get everyone to calm down, but it was no use. With a sigh, he and Kokichi walked away from the group.
"That Maurice guy sure was quick to put the blame on Tara," Kokichi observed, "They probably have some bad blood between them."
"You think?" Shuichi smirked. He stopped to think. "We need to find out what happened before the show. What she had to eat, what everyone else had. And we also have to talk to the doctor and see what he says."
"This'll be great for my story!" Kokichi grinned, holding up his camera. Shuichi gave him a side glance.
"We're trying to solve a murder, Kokichi," he sighed, "Can you put your story on hold for a bit?"
"But I want it to be all about you!" the thief whined. Shuichi sighed and shook his head.
As they left the main tent, they passed by an older man with fluffy white hair carrying a medical kit. Shuichi stopped him for a moment.
"Are you the doctor?" he asked.
"I am," the dumpy old man replied, "Dr. Shnifflewiffle at your service! I'm in charge of overseeing the health of all the circus people!"
"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Kokichi asked, a look of shocked disbelief on his face.
Shuichi ignored him. "I'm Shuichi Saihara, a private detective. I happened to be in the audience when the tragedy occurred. The ringmaster gave me permission to investigate. After you've finished your examination of the girl, would you mind sharing your findings with me?"
"Sure 'nuff!" the doctor replied, giving a thumbs up. Then he continued into the tent.
"That guy seemed awfully cheery considering someone just died," Kokichi noted.
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Shuichi said, staring after him, "I haven't dealt with a lot of murders, but generally in every case I've solved there always seems to be at least one person who doesn't seem to take the situation seriously."
"Sounds like my kind of people," Kokichi snickered. Though Shuichi hoped he was lying.
"Let's go check out their cafeteria. Hopefully, there will still be clues left," Shuichi said.
They found the circus's cafeteria tent rather easily. Mostly because it was labeled "cafeteria." The two slipped inside and found one heck of a disaster. There were six tables, and each of them was still a huge mess. None of the plates, eating utensils, or food had been cleared. It looked as if a bomb had gone off.
But Shuichi didn't complain. All the evidence was still there. He just needed to find what he was looking for.
Kokichi scoffed next to him. "Did they start eating and not realize what time it was so they all just dashed out the door?" he scowled, "This place is disgusting!"
"Yes, but it's great for us," Shuichi mused, rubbing his hands together, "If we can just figure out where Sara was sitting, we can also figure out what she ate."
"I can tell you that," a voice said behind them, startling them both. The small guy, Dan, was standing in the entrance. "I remember clearly. We always sit in the same place for every meal. Sara and Tara sit at the middle table there."
Nodding, Shuichi went over to the table. There were two plates with a bit of food remaining. Perfect. One appeared to be from a T-bone steak, and the other plate had the remnants of a turkey and gravy meal.
"Do you know who ate what?" Shuichi asked Dan.
"Well, normally Tara has the steak and Sara has the turkey. But for some reason they switched it this time," Dan explained with a shrug.
"'Switched this time.' Got it!" Kokichi exclaimed as he finished writing what Dan said in a notebook. Shuichi stared at him.
"How long have you had that?" he asked.
"I always keep a notebook with me when I'm working on a story!" Kokichi explained happily. Shuichi blinked at him.
He had sort of forgotten the initial reason they were even there in the first place.
Putting that thought aside, Shuichi leaned over and examined the plates more carefully. He dug into his pocket and brought out his pocket detective kit. It had many different components to help him do his detective work on the go. He never left home without it.
"Seriously, Shuichi?" Kokichi chuckled, "You're such a work-a-holic!"
"I am not," Shuichi muttered as he dug through his kit, "I just like to be prepared."
He found what he was looking for. It was a test strip he used for checking for poison. He used a cotton swab and swabbed the bone left from the steak. There was also a bit of juice left and he tested that as well.
"What's it say? What's it say?" Kokichi asked, excitedly hopping up and down.
"Give me a minute, it takes time," Shuichi shushed him. He stared as the strip changed colors. Hm… interesting.
"What? What is it? Tell me! Tell me!" Kokichi begged. Shuichi ignored him and turned to Dan.
"Do you guys have a place where you sleep?" he asked. Dan chuckled.
"I know it may seem strange, but circus freaks have to sleep too," he replied. Shuichi's face paled.
"O-Oh! I-I didn't… that is, I wasn't implying-"
"Calm down! Calm down!" Dan laughed. He patted Shuichi on the arm. "We have a tent out back where we sleep. It's the easiest to set up and take down. Come on, I'll show you."
He led them out of the makeshift cafeteria and into the makeshift sleeping tent. The first thing that was noticed was that each bed had a name carved into it. And each bed had a small wooden bedside table next to it.
"It makes it easier to find our beds when unloading," Dan explained without being asked, "That way we don't have to sort through them."
"Wouldn't it make more sense to label the tables?" Kokichi asked, "I mean the beds, well who cares who sleeps on what, but what if you left something specific in your bedside table? Now you have to find that specific one again."
As Dan stared at Kokichi in confusion, Shuichi started walking through the rows of beds, looking carefully at each name. He walked up to Sara's bed and started inspecting the table next to it. When he opened the drawer, tons of letters nearly burst out of it.
"Whoa!" Kokichi exclaimed, jumping back, "Someone was popular!"
"She was," Dan agreed with a nod, "At least five or six people at the circus had crushes on her. Including Tara. And as you plainly saw, Maurice."
"Wait, Tara and Sara aren't related?" Kokichi asked.
"No, in fact Tara and Sara aren't even their real names," Dan told him, "None of us use our real names. The ringmaster thought it would be better and less complicated that way."
"Huh," Kokichi nodded in thought.
Meanwhile, Shuichi was sorting through the letters, reading the sender's name. He let out a huff of air and stood up. While Kokichi and Dan were still talking, he moved onto the other beds. He found Tara's bed nearby as well as Maurice's. Tara's drawer was rather neat, with nothing on it, and nothing in it either, except for a lone letter. When he opened it to check it out, it clearly wasn't a love letter like the ones to Sara.
It was a death threat.
"Interesting," Shuichi muttered, looking at the name at the bottom.
He put it back and moved onto Maurice's desk. Nothing on top. In the drawer there were some meds. Shuichi didn't recognize any of them.
"Interesting," he repeated to himself. He stood up, holding one med bottle, that was filled with liquid, in his hand. "Hey, Kokichi."
"No, he literally had a beehive for hair. Yes, Shuichi?" Kokichi whipped around and smiled at his partner.
"Do you know what this is?" Shuichi held the bottle up for him to see. Kokichi squinted at it.
"Medication!" he announced happily.
Shuichi rolled his eyes. "I know that," he sighed, "Do you know what kind of medication it is?"
"How would I know?" Kokichi wondered.
"You're a thieving little weirdo," Shuichi answered, "I figured you might have some idea what it is because you've stolen something like this before."
"I don't steal people's medications, Shuichi," Kokichi pointed out, slightly offended, "I'm not a monster or anything."
"Excuse me," a new voice suddenly interrupted, startling them, "I know what those are." The three turned and saw the doctor, Shnifflewiffle, entering the tent.
"Don't scare us like that," Dan huffed.
The doctor ignored him. "That is an experimental new mood-altering drug that I prescribed to Maurice," he explained, "It helps with his temperamental outbursts."
"I don't think it's helping much," Kokichi noted to Shuichi.
"However, if taken by someone who doesn't need it, it can cause many problems," Shnifflewiffle continued, "Like stomachaches, blurred vision, death, toe cramps…"
"Wait, what? Death?" Kokichi stopped him, "Doesn't that seem irresponsible?"
"Hmm… maybe!" the doctor admitted.
"I know what happened," Shuichi declared suddenly, "We need to get everyone together."
"Yes, sir!" Kokichi saluted and he and Dan ran off to gather the others.
Five minutes later, all the circus people were back together at the Big Top. Sara's body had been covered by a sheet. It appeared the police still hadn't arrived yet. The circus performers all looked nervous and uncomfortable.
"Thank you for being patient with me," Shuichi told them, "I believe I know who murdered Sara."
"I'm still not entirely convinced she was murdered," the ringmaster muttered, "But show us what you've got."
"Yes! Tell us who killed my beloved!" Maurice exclaimed.
Shuichi looked right at him. "You," he said simply.
"What?!" Maurice snarled before anyone could react, "I would never hurt Sara! I loved her! You're insane! Is this how every detective behaves?"
Ignoring his outburst, Shuichi dug into his pockets, bringing out a few items he had gathered. "This medication was on your nightstand," he explained, "It's for mood, but when taken by someone who doesn't need it, it can cause death."
"Yes!" the doctor interrupted, "The throat may close, causing difficulty breathing, and the lack of oxygen can lead to death!"
"Doesn't lack of oxygen cause the skin to turn purplish-blue or grey?" Kokichi asked, "Like the victim?"
"Indeed," Shuichi replied with a nod, "Maurice poisoned her food, which caused her to basically choke to death."
"Sara did tell me she felt like she was having trouble breathing after dinner," Tara put in, "I told her to tell the ringmaster. I thought maybe our act should be cut out of the show if she wasn't feeling well."
At this revelation, the cast all turned to the ringmaster, who was fidgeting in his spot. "Er, well, she did come to me," he said sheepishly, "B-But I didn't think it was that bad. Sh-She looked fine to me, and she could still speak…"
"Wait a minute!" Maurice growled, "You've forgotten something, 'detective!' Why would I want to poison Sara? I'm the last one who would ever hurt her!"
"Because you weren't trying to poison Sara," Shuichi answered calmly, "You were trying to poison Tara."
The whole crowd when silent. Kokichi had to resist the urge to shout "Dun! Dun! Duuuuun!"
After a moment, a meek voice spoke. "H-He was trying to kill… me?" Tara said quietly, "Why?"
"Because Maurice is jealous of your relationship with Sara," Shuichi explained to him, "He was in love with her, but you two must've been very close. He sent her tons of love letters. And he sent you a death threat. I saw them in your nightstand drawers."
"Meddling detective," Maurice muttered under his breath.
"He poisoned your food during dinner at some point," Shuichi continued, "But for whatever reason, Sara asked to switch meals with you. So she had the poisoned meal instead of you." He showed everyone his test strip. "I used this strip to confirm that the food had been tampered with."
"It would make sense," Dan spoke up, "It seems like 'accidents' have been happening to Tara a lot recently. I wouldn't be surprised if Maurice were the one making them happen."
Everyone turned to Maurice as he glared back. Seething, he slowly moved his gaze to Tara. "It should've been you," he hissed, "None of this would've happened if you hadn't gotten between us! You're the one who should be dead right now, not her!"
With a furious cry, he leapt at Tara. But before he could reach him, Kokichi grabbed his leg, knocking him off balance. Maurice fell to the ground and in an instant, several people were on top of him, keeping him down.
…
"Hey Shuichi! Remember that time we went to the circus and you solved the murder of one of the performers?" Kokichi asked as the two sat down to breakfast.
"Yes, Kokichi, it happened yesterday," Shuichi pointed out.
Shortly after the reveal of the culprit, the police had finally shown up and arrested Maurice. He had tearfully confessed to everything. Unfortunately, this all meant that the circus would be shut down for a while.
And all of it had been in the story Kokichi had wrote for the paper he worked for.
"Man, I feel bad for all the reporters who had to get the story second hand!" Kokichi sneered as he leaned back in his chair, "Nothing compares to being there to witness everything as it happened!"
"Thanks for not naming me in your article, by the way," Shuichi said, sipping his coffee, "I really don't like getting a lot of attention."
"Of course, my love!" Kokichi replied happily, "Even though I think everyone should know how great you are, I would never do something you don't want me to do! Except steal. That I can't stop doing."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Shuichi sighed, rolling his eyes, "I feel sorry for the circus performers though. Especially Tara. Imagine someone hating you so badly for your relationship with someone else they'd be willing to try to kill you."
Kokichi nodded. "Must be hard," he acknowledged, "I'm glad no one has tried to murder me yet for being with you."
"No one's going to try to murder you for being with me," Shuichi pointed out.
"Nah, it's definitely going to happen," Kokichi said, matter-of-factly, "Just you wait. It happens to every couple at some point, you know."
Instead of trying to argue with him, Shuichi sighed and shook his head.
Ok, I'm REALLY sorry about how long this took me to finish. I have no good excuses. I do have excuses, but no good ones. And I know my other fics are taking forever to update. Just know, I'm not dead, I do plan to finish my stories. It may take a bit, but I am getting back into writing. This may be the kick in the pants I need to get into it again.
But tell me what you think! I'm not good at writing mysteries, I feel like make it too obvious, or not obvious at all. Mysterious are for me to write, but I love them, which is why I try to write them. Let me know what you thought about it. I could really use the feedback. Just don't be an ass about it.