It's three in the morning, but no one on the Gigantic is asleep. In fact, everyone except Carrie is gathered in the lounge talking excitedly.

Nutsy and Francine are having a serious conversation about Francine's earlier visit to check on Carrie.

"I don't know why I thought I should go to her room. We've never really gotten on, but call it female intuition, I guess."

"It's a good thing you did, Franny. You saved her life."

What Francine had encountered was a figure dressed in black holding a pillow tightly over Carrie's face. When Francine moved to intercept the would-be assassin, the figure had dived through the open porthole, but oddly enough, had created no splash below.

"It's so strange though. How could someone even get through a porthole, let alone enter the water without making a sound?"

"Maybe the sound was covered by the torpedo impact?" Nutsy offers.

Francine shakes her antlers. "The explosion came afterward. Besides it was on the starboard side. Carrie's sttateroom is port."

"It's fortunate Ermentine's quick repair job held. She's the heroine of the hour. Who would have thought one of Boreal's rivals would disguise a sub as a mock iceberg and torpedo that exact spot. Without the repair. we would all have been in big trouble. I'm not surprised the Captain decided to turn back."

"Oh, that reminds me! Aubrie loaned me Benjamin's photo album earlier and said we should be intrested in some of the photos, but I haven't had time to look." Francine hands the album to Nutsy, who peruses several pages before he gasps in surprise.

Francine leans over his shoulder to examine the two pages devoted to a performance of Cirque de Lune, with the next page showing candid backstage photos of the performers with their loved ones. As they peer closer, a note drops from the loose binding on the back cover.

It is unrelated to the performance pictures, but Nutsy and Francine now gasp together.

Nutsy leaps up. "I'm wiring Brie to meet us at the dock! We should be able to wrap this all up now!"

(OOC: You should now be able to solve this mystery, answering all the questions in the OOC thread for this chapter. Each team has five questions to ask of Nutsy and/or Francine. Other information or questions may be bought with clues.)

Sky slumped down in a chair beside Calie and groaned. “This is getting ridiculous! It started as a simple murder,” “Is murder ever simple?” Calie muttered. “Then there was poison, fires, acrobats, icebergs and torpedoes!” She scratched her head and moaned, “I need a drink.” Calie nodded in agreement and they both sighed.

“Okay,” Calie started. “We have several answers we need to figure out here.” She pulled out some paper and pencil, and with Sky’s help, they wrote out everything they knew.
“I have so many questions!” Sky exclaimed. Calie pointed over at Nutsy, who was in deep discussion with Francine. “Why don’t you go ask them?”

After a short time Sky came skipping back over waving a paper in the air. “Well, I have a couple of our questions answered.” “Let me see,” Calie said reaching for the paper. “Hmm... I think Mr. Peary started the fire." "Why?" "Because those guys were threatening to break someone's legs. And Lizabeth's a dancer!"

"Well I think those photos tell a big part of the story." "Why do you say that?" "There was that photo of Benjamin and Alexis together! And it looked like she was one of the performers. I think it was probably before she married Jels." "Do you think they were in a relationship?" "Oooh!"

"Oh! I think I know what's happening! I think this all has to do with the inheritance. I think this is all Benjamin." "What do you mean?" "I think Benjamin killed the steward and tried to poison Carrie all so he could inherit once Jels dies." "But why kill the steward and doesn't Aubrie have more knowledge about poisonous herbs than Benjamin?" "Remember that note that fell out of the photo album? I think the steward was an illigitamate heir! And I doubt Aubrie poisoned Carrie. It's true, she does know those herbs, but because she does, she would have done the job right the first time and killed Carrie instead of just poisoning her."

"But there's no way Benjamin could have tried to smother Carrie that second time. He wouldn't have fit through the porthole!" "I think that was Alexis. In those photos she was wearing a costume. And anyone working for Circe de Lune would have easily been able to fit through the porthole. She could have climbed a rope or jumped into one of the lifeboats hanging from the side quite easily."

And for the next hour, with many drinks to fortify their theories, Calie and Sky went back and forth trying to make sense of the chaos that had happened around them recently.

“I think that it’s obvious now who killed the Stewerd, who tried to kill Carrie, and what’s going on around here.” Calie said looking at all their notes. Sky looked a little skeptical. “I still think there’s something fishy about that one…” “Oh shush! It all makes sense. Now let’s go talk to Nutsy and Francine and get their opinion.” Calie said getting up and heading in their direction. Sky sighed and took the last of her drink in one gulp then following after.

[spoiler=A Long Night for the Travelers]Chook gazed out the porthole of Carrie's stateroom pondering on the who and why. There were many unanswered questions and the ones that had been answered gave no clue to answering them.She would have rather been in a fight than on a ship yet had several preposterous ideas she would present to the team when they met. None made any sense but one. "I'm going to the tavern, they'll probably be there" Chook looked around the bar and noticed a table down the back. Secluded and not very well lit. It seemed like a good place for an in depth conversation with her friends; a place to attempt to explain the happenings on the ship. Ordering another drink she made her way to the table.

Not wishing to talk in front of the passengers, Willow grabbed sustenance in the form of her favorite snack from the empty galley, then started to leave before suddenly turning around to grab more snacks for the team. Wondering where Chook was, she paused with a grin before mumbling to herself..

"Probably in the tavern."

Taking a little time to finally find the stately room which was impressively large for a ship, she searched and with a wide smile saw her goal. Walking to a table in the far corner where Chook was, Willow laid her snack offerings in the middle, removed her spare notebook from the rather large travel bag she let fall to the floor, then cleaned her glasses in anticipation of taking notes.

Leaning against the bar, deep in thought of all that had happened in such a short time, Emma thought she caught a glimpse of Chook out of the corner of her eye. After a quick double take, she realized it was her good friend and traveling companion headed her way. "Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes" she said to Chook. After a quick hug and pleasantries the conversation quickly turned to the death of the Steward, the attempted murder of Carrie and of course how strange everyone had been acting. Chook reached for a drink and with what seemed to be a small tip of her head she tossed back her drink in one gulp. Emma somewhat amazed with how easily she could do that. Emma quickly finished her drink, secretly wishing she could "gulp" down a drink like Chook could.

There were a lot of questions but no answers yet. Willow glanced over at Alma remaining quiet yet busy tasting one after another of the varied drinks the tavern offered. Alma interrupted her efforts only to give a nod or two to Chook.. then one to Emma when agreeing. At those times Willow put "Three agree" on one or two of the questions.

Making her way to the tavern also and seeing the assembled team, HeiYu sits quietly in a corner watching her companions. Despite her original excitement about this adventure, somehow she has been distracted for most of this voyage so far. "I'm glad to see they are doing a great job without us, Mee" she says to the golden dragon sitting at her feet in a voice too soft to be heard by anyone else. "I know they'll solve this mystery."

Finally seeing HeiYu almost hidden in the corner, Willow debated whether to go say something to her or not disturb since she appeared distracted when there was a loud shout from Chook.

"Well.. we know that one is not the murderer because.."

Then Emma chimes in "I agree.. and the reasoning is..."

The rest was spoken so fast Willow's hand was a blur trying to write it all down.. anything else immediately flew from her thoughts.

Jenna sees HeiYu sitting in the corner and joins her. "They have really done a great job trying to figure this whole thing out, don't you think?" HeiYu smiles and nods. "Yes, I just wish I could've done more to help them out. Funny how things happen that distract us." "I know what you mean! My husband really wanted me to enjoy my voyage and not be tangled up in this web of deceit and treachery. He says I've been working too hard lately. Perhaps he's right." Jenna watched the travelers discuss all the clues. She decided to join them and listen to the clues to see if anything made sense. Most of it didn't, but as they went round and round on a few things, it started to become clear what happened.

May looked out over the ocean, taking in the salty sea air and trying to remember how it made her feel. Calm, yet full of life and energy. The same couldn't be said for the poor steward who had lost his life on this journey. May was still stumped on that one, unable to see the faint lines that connected the steward's death to someone's gain. She would definitely need the help of her fellow Travelers for this one. Knowing her friends well, she decided to head toward the bar. Sure enough, she found most of them having a heated discussion at a table in the corner. May grabbed a lavender lemonade and joined them, listening to some crazy theories being spouted, evidence brought forth, theories rebuked, and the cycle would begin again. May just sat and listened for a bit, trying to absorb it all and thankful that Willow was furiously taking notes. May closed her eyes, sipped her lemonade, listened to her friends, and air-plucked a tune on her imaginary lute.

Willow gave Jenna a smile obviously happy to see her before pushing the perennial falling glasses up closer to her face then continuing her scribbling glad she didn't have to do this for a living. Briefly glancing toward May knowing she was already thinking of a tune... maybe even a duo for them...her expression of longing was only temporary before she went back to work.

Perry's name kept coming up in the conversation. Was he a killer? Or is he just a pawn? "I really don't think he did this" Jenna shook her head. "Remember when Lizabeth was crying? She said he was only trying to protect her. But what was he protecting her from? Did someone threaten them?" Chook countered. "But then who murdered the steward? If Perry was discovered by him, then it makes sense he did it." Jenna reasoned with Chook. "He was struck by an ornate cane. I think there are others who carry such an item on hand. I bet his hands were full with the flint anyway." Emma chimed in, "But he would look less suspicious if he was dressed like everyone else, including carrying a cane. What if it was one of those trick canes that has a hidden compartment and the flint was tucked inside?" Alma lifted her head and slurred, "How about we just put names in a hat and draw one out? I'm getting a headache just trying to think about it!" The travelers laughed. "We'll figure this out," Willow smiled. "We have all the clues here. We just need to put them all together and come up with the solution."

Emma chimed in. "Chook, I don't think Perry killed the steward." Chook turned, Emma had her attention, "I think Perry was chosen as the "patsy" to sink the ship by weakening the hull of the Gigantic. Remember that "chance encounter" he mentioned, I think the thugs from Aphros approached Perry and when he declined they forced him into their plan by threatening to break Lizabeth's legs. Being blackmailed, he had no other choice then to scurry off to book tickets on the Gigantic." Emma realized the other others were also listening. Willow continued to take notes, May seemed deep in thought as Emma asked, "what do you think?"

Jenna still did not seem convinced. Emma said, "About Liz crying. Lizabeth had found that Perry was being blackmailed and had been forced into sabotaging the Gigantic, so her comment "he was only trying to protect me", was just that. His way of protecting her from the thugs breaking her legs.". Jenna slowly nodded, not entirely convinced but she did admit it was a possibility.

Emma took another long drink and decided now was as good of time as any to bring the fact that she believed the steward and Alexis were related. Alma did a double take which made her head spin even more but somehow manged to ask "how can that be?" Emma reminded her of Alexis' name "Alexis Caribou Boreal" and the steward, "Thomas Caribou". Possibly brother and sister or what if they had been married? That really got a chuckle from the group. Emma thought this was a good time for another round of drinks but felt her stomach growling and suggested they get some snacks. "It may be a long night."

After a few snacks Emma started in again with a question, "could Alexis have been the one to go through Carrie's porthole?", to no one in particular. "After all, she would certainly know that in all cruise ships the life boats are hung several decks below the first class cabins. So it would stand to reason, she could make a quick escape through the port hole, landing in one of the life boats so there would be no splash. The quietly make her way back with no one being the wiser." Jenna jumped in, "I always thought there was two people that tried killing Carrie."

Chook chimed in "Do you think Ben killed the steward and Alexis tried to finish off Carrie because they both knew about Ben and Alexis's relationship?" Emma replied "I originally though Aubrie had poisoned Carrie since she was familiar with "herbs and spices native to her region" and she certainly had reason to, the way Carrie treated her would make her angry enough to want to poison her." Emma paused for a minute, letting it run threw her head one more time. "Do you think Alexis or Ben could have convinced Aubrie to kill Carrie and when that didn't work Alexis went to finish the job herself?" adding "I'm still not sure why Ben would kill the steward." Scratching her head and leaning back in her chair, Emma said with a sigh "I think we are still missing something."

Chook had had the answers all worked out in her head (Captain Drunk, with the walking stick, on portside) but Emma's comments made her go back to the drawing board and begin the process again. Thinking hurt her head so she ordered another round of drinks and some snacks to munch on. Finally she said, "I agree that the person who set fire to the hull was Perry. He did it save save lovely Liz's legs."

In the middle of the heated debate, Alma yawns and looks around. Her eyes lock on a dark figure in the corner and they narrow in suspicion. Suddenly she stands up, knocking her chair over backward. "A-ha!" She yells, so loud that everyone stops talking and turns to look at her. Alma then stumbles over to the corner and begins to shake her finger at the figure. She shouted in a drunken fashion, "Where were you last night, huh? Do you have an alibi? You look pretty darn sushpicious to me!" She could barely stand upright and was swaying as she spoke to the unknown figure in the corner. "Whatsha matta? Cat's got yer tongue?" Willow decided she had to intervene before her friend made a big scene. She nudged her glasses up to her face, gets up and walks over to the pair. The travelers then hear a giggle. Then a snort. "What's sho funny Willow?" Alma slurred. Willow tries to whisper in Alma's ear, but Alma keeps replying with "What? Huh? I can't undershtand you, shpeak up!" Frustrated, she gives up and offers her advice out loud. "This is a coat rack with a hat on top. There's no one here! Would you like to borrow my glasses?" The rest of the travelers burst out laughing. "You shure about that? He was making eyesh at me!" "Totally sure, hon. Let's get you another drink and sit you back down, okay?" Alma's eyes lit up at the sound of this. But before she toddled back, she turned once more to the coat rack and sternly shook her finger at it, "I've got my eye on you! Don't think you're getting away with it, Buster!" And with that, she swayed back to her seat and promptly passed out.

Still with her eyes closed, May heard Emma ask someone what they thought about various ideas. There was more heated discussion around the table. It seemed that there were more relationships on board the ship than the Travelers were previously aware of. It also seemed to May that perhaps Perry had some sort of gambling problem, got in a little too deep, some mobsters noticed, and the way to pay off his debts was to board this cruise to do a job. Bringing Lizabeth along was his insurance policy that he would get the job done. May wasn't totally convinced, so she kept her thoughts to herself for now, continued to listen to her teammates, and sipped some more of her lavender lemonade.

Chook glanced across to where May was sitting. Sure she had her eyes closed but she was listening to everything that was being said. Chook could tell by her demeanor that she was not buying some of their ideas and was biding her time waiting for an appropriate moment to put forward her suggestions. Chook glanced at Alma, snoring her head off. "Well if she can do it, so can I", she thought. Swallowing the last of her drink she placed her arms upon the table and lay her head on them, shut her eyes and attempted sleep. Just as she was about to doze off into the land off nod, she jolted upright and pronounced "Why was there no splash? – because there was a lifeboat below Carrie’s room. So when attempted murderer went thru the porthole they knew all first class passenger rooms were located above the the lifeboats. Therefore when they escaped thru the porthole they would land in the boat below. Now to work out who that was." Having said that she promptly put her head back down and fell asleep. Mumbling in her sleep her teams mates could make out the words "little bro, little bro. Is that referring to Alexis and the steward? Or is it Ben and his brother or sister?'

Chook woke with a start and looked carefully around. Making sure no-one was with in eavesdropping distance she said to her team mates. "I have just had a very strange dream. The answers to our questions were made known to me." She then took a serviette off the table and proceeded to write down what had been revealed in the dream. Making sure nobody could overhear.

1. Who killed the steward? - Perry
2. Why? - the steward saw him sabotaging the ship (setting the fire) and was going to turn him in. Perry whacked him on the head with his cane and tossed him overboard because he didn't want to risk Liz's legs being broken.
3. Who poisoned Carrie? - Aubrie
4. Why? - She was tired of the way Carrie treated her???
5. Who went through the porthole? Alexis
6. Why was there no splash? There was a lifeboat below Carrie’s room. So when Alexis went thru the porthole she knew all first class passenger rooms were located above the the lifeboats. So when she escaped throghu the porthole she would land in the boat below. Then be able to get back on the Gigantic with no one being the wiser.
7. Who started the fire below deck? Perry Peary
8. Why? He was being blackmailed by the thugs. If he didn't sabotage the ship they would break Liz's legs.
9. What is the secret relationship revealed in the photos? Ben and Alexis?

Alma woke up briefly from her almost stupor and started a detailed argument that Willow made an effort to scribble down.

1. Who killed the steward? - Carrie
2. Why? - the steward was her illegitimate brother and he was trying to muscle his way in (with his sister Alexis) to the family fortunes. He was the mysterious figure with the hat, and Ben & Alexis (or just Ben per Alexis' request) had been looking for proof of his connection to Jels.
3. Who poisoned Carrie? - Alexis
4. Why? - She guessed Carrie killed her brother and wanted revenge. She used poison to implicate Aubrie, who was known to be on bad terms with Carrie
5. Who went through the porthole? - Alexis
6. Why was there no splash? - Like Chook said, there was a lifeboat. Also, Alexis had been an acrobat/contorsionist in the circus before her marriage, so she was nimble enough to get through the small porthole.
7. Who started the fire below deck? - Perry Peary
8. Why? - He was being blackmailed by the thugs hired by Aphros. If he didn't sabotage the ship they would break Liz's legs.
9. What is the secret relationship revealed in the photos? - Ben and Alexis were an item, perhaps they still are. It has been suggested the steward's murder had nothing to do with the sabotage and we should look at who benefits. I guess this boils down to inheritance, and this is pretty much the only scenario that makes sense to me. Alexis and the steward share a mother but the brother's dad is Jels. Alexis gets married to Jels and the Caribous hatch a plan to legally confirm the steward's

The Leviathans gathered together to go over everything they knew thus far and contemplate the five questions to ask Nutsy or Francine in order to get to the bottom of this case. Suddenly the ship heaved to and fro, and three explosions went off followed by great plumes of smoke and fire. With this new development, the Leviathans switched gears. Nothing was more important than the safety of Nutsy and Francine. After a few minutes of frantic searching the group found the duo safely on shore with groups of other protectors with them. Joining them, they looked back to the quickly sinking ship and realized that none of the other passengers had escaped the ship. A small giggle escaped Nova earning her looks from her companions that she waved off.

They looked over to their trusty detective. The group could still ask questions, could try and find the murderer but with the ship and it’s passengers sunken no one could be arrested. The Leviathans labelled the case as ‘Unsolved’ and promptly closed it there but it would forever be known as “The Case of the [i[Gigantic:[/i] Sink or Swim.”

Kohkru paused and thought for a moment about this particular future, knowing who was responsible for that unpleasant affair. He found her quite easily and approached her whispering in her ear, “Stay your magicks witch.”

Nova looked at Kohkru innocently, with just a small hint of mischievousness, “What ever do you mean, my dear?”. He gave her a small look of disappointment and walked away. She was already thinking of it then.

Kohkru went back to traversing the different lines of time that extended from this path, the very many possibilities of the future that were provoked from the past. It was time to talk to his other teammates, the ones who didn’t mind being a part of such family affairs, as tedious as they were. Best to keep an eye on that witch though. He motioned Nova over to join him, Miu, Lyra, and Lalana to go over the current facts.

Miu cocked her head to the side and bit her bottom lip, a slow hiss started to reverberate through her teeth as she milled over the mystery at hand. Putting her hands on her hips and letting the rest of her breath out in a sigh she exclaimed in a high pitched whiny voice. “This is stupid, none of it makes any sense!” Exasperated she slumped to the floor and began stroking her tails.

Nova looked down to her companion as she stroked her tails, “I feel quite the same way Miu. I had a way of solving it all but it seems that one,” she pointed to Kohkru, “knew about it somehow. Quite peculiar.”

The Necromancer joined Miu on the floor. “If I am to think seriously about this sordid and tiresome affair I should believe that young Perry was blackmailed into starting the fire and that someone wanted young Benjamin to become the heir to all this.” Nova twirled her hand about, motioning to the ship and its significance to the Boreal fortune. She stood and smiled at Miu, taking her leave. “If only they hadn’t thrown the body overboard. Quite a lot of fun to be had there.” She smiled and made eye contact with Kohkru as she walked past.

Lyra was truly puzzled. What sort of fun was the necromancer talking about… oh! She decided it was probably best not to dwell on that thought, but to focus on the bigger mystery at hand. She thought about the photo album, the genealogy chart… who stands to gain from this horrendous tangle of affairs? The clues, or was it the lack of, were bewildering. But surely, the answers were right in front of their noses. If only they could just answer, who stands to gain?!

The photo album! Of course the obvious answer to one of the questions was there. Alexis was wearing a Cirque de Lune performers costume. That would surely indicate that she had some kind of acrobatic training. Those Cirque performers… breathtaking! So she went through the porthole did she… hm… Lyra offered this conclusion to her teammates, that acrobatic training would definitely explain why there was no splash. But this led to why did Alexis want to get rid of Carrie?

Lalana petted Kekipi, absentminded. The young water sprite had summoned her little green mer friend after the death of the steward who was tossed overboard and drowned. The friendly and caring half-Limnad had hoped Kekipi would have found the steward's body for more evidence of the murder and also to give the young man back to his family for a proper burial.They both were disappointed that their plan failed at all levels.

Being the daughter of a Limnad mother and a human father, Lalana knew about the tangles and jumbles such relationships could bring including the confusion finding your place in the family. The willingness to kill, not. For money, after all! How low can you go? she wondered.

“I think Alexis and Benjamin are half-siblings!“ she mused. They looked so near and comfortable in the picture Aubrie had just shown her. “Yet would Alexis murder Carrie to get her out of the way?“ Clever, she seems, and calculating. It was easily conceivable.

“Too bad we couldn't question Thomas!“ Lalana sighed, knowing only the mer king would have the power to make this vivid imagination come true.

“You know he could!“ Kekipi agreed, “but you know how he behaves when he grants a desire. Reciprocal duty would await you.“ he warned, waggling his webbings.

Lalana shuddered. Anything but that! So there was no option but to find the criminal masterminds on their own. Seeking help, she looked around for her new friends.

Kohkru took a seat, incredibly frustrated with all the going ons. In his mind, the watcher tried to piece whatever he could together before sighing dejectedly from the confusing mess. Turning to face his colleagues, Kohkru attempted to make a final assessment over what happened with his team.

“Who killed the steward and why? It is obviously Perry, and the steward was the blackmailer. Who poisoned Carrie and why? That would have to be Aubrie, perhaps getting revenge on the way Carrie has treated her. The girl can get quite angry. The next questions are quite easy; Alexis went through the porthole and with her past training and performances with Cirque La Lune she could have easily made her way to another porthole, thus no splash. The fire though, it had to have been Perry as a part of his blackmail. And finally the relationship of the photos; Alexis and Benjamin. Siblings of some sort.”

With his golden eyes gazing off into the distance over his teammates heads, Kohkru seemed somewhat content with what they pieced together. Snapping his attention back to reality instead of being lost in thought, he nodded. “I think we got this. FINALLY.”

The watcher brushed himself off as he got up out of his seat, then motioned to his colleagues “We should go tell Nutsy what we’ve figured out.”

Lady Frieda's Frieda and Weldon poured over their notes in the privacy of their stateroom. Weldon was and excellent observer with a true eidetic memory, but circumstances had conspired against him being able to get close enough to any of the suspects to bring any meaningful data to the case. "I feel that I have been engaged in a undomesticated Anatidae pursuit. There are forces involved here that have sent me from one end of this ship to another purposefully misguiding me and giving me fake leads to chase down."

Frieda looked over Weldon's sheaf of notes. "What about this lead here? What was the story here, the sous chef at the Starlight Lounge was seen in the vicinity of Carrie's suit in the hour prior to the discovery of her assault?"

Weldon shook his head, "Another fake lead. It is a common practice for the chefs and sous chefs to be present to assist in special catered presentations 'Dans La Suite' for extremely wealthy passengers willing to pay." He scratched his head, "I chased down that chef for half a day. When I finally got to speak to her she was incensed that I had the gall to question her. Ever since then, I've found all my food to be either raw, overcooked, under spiced or over-seasoned. Never question a sous chef, I guess they are a very fierce lot, and they stick together.."

"So, somebody has been hindering our investigation and burdening us with unnecessary and spurious leads because they know that we will feel compelled to bird-dog each clue. That's devious."

"It may be devious, but eventually, they are going to run out of people on this ship to stand in as their red herrings." Weldon looked at the server cart in their room, "Speaking of which, is there any more herring?"

Frieda brought Weldon more smoked kippers and toast and looked over his shoulder at his notepad. "What about this character in the slouch hat, was he ever apprehended?"

Weldon nibbled daintily on his toast. "Not yet, but he is suspected of being a collection's agent possibly working for Aphros Shipping. Nutsy suspects that it was he who coerced one of the crew to set fire below deck. Get some pasty to do the dirty work for him."

"Do you think that he got the steward to set the fire and then killed him?"

Weldon put his toast down and sipped his coffee. "No, that doesn't make sense, because the Steward then gave a tour of the lower decks to Ermintine. Why would he set fire, then take somebody down there and show it off? No, I don't think the Steward was the patsy."

Frieda sneaked a kipper from Weldon's plate and sat back down to rifle through her notes. "But the Steward saw or overheard something that got him killed. It was obvious that he was struck from behind, no cervidea falling overboard hits the back of their head on the railing. No quadruped or biped for that matter, it's just not medically possible unless they were dead already and were thrown."

Weldon smirked at Frieda for stealing a kipper, but smiled a knowing smile. Stealing food off one's plate was a sign of love and affection after all and was one of Frieda's endearing little quirks. "Honestly, I think the Steward just stumbled into trouble, was at the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed for it. It's unfortunate that our team never found a likely weapon in the search of the cabins." He turned to a sketch he had made of the wound as he remember seeing it before the body of the Steward had been 'buried at sea.' "It was a long and narrow wound, like the victim had been struck from behind by a crowbar, a tire-iron or a heavy cane of some sort."

Frieda just shook her head and flipped her notes closed. "Is there anybody on board who would have such a weapon? I mean, who in this world uses a tire iron on a ship? Do cervidea even drive automobiles? A tire iron would be a rare item if they don't." She slouched in her chair and blew out her breath. "The same thing could be said for a crowbar too. Aren't those used in the building trades to leverage timbers and remove nails? What is the practical use for a wrecking bar on a ship?"

Weldon wanted to laugh at his mate. When she blew out her breath, a little whisper of fur on the top of her head blew up and fell gently down. "Technically, you're right about the wrecking bar, but it's really a versatile tool, it would easily find it's way into any sort of trade-craft that needs to leverage materials. However, one would have to be pretty big and strong to wield it. A cane would be my best guess as a murder weapon."

"Except, that nobody ever found anything like a cane, especially one with blood stains on it." She scooted up, leaned over and took Weldon's sketch in her paws. "Were you cold or nervous when you made this sketch? The wound margins look jagged."

Weldon leaned closer and pointed with his paw, "No, I can see the wound in my mind's eye, the margins of the impact were jagged, in an almost symmetrical pattern. It's as iff the weapon was deeply knurled or had studs imbedded in it, though I couldn't make tell, there was still some blood, even though the sea water had cleansed the wound fairly well."

"Knurled? Like a carved pattern? Sounds like a cane could be caved, or studded with metal studs...or jewels." Frieda sat upright and took in a deep breath. "Welly?"

Weldon knew this game and formulated the correct response. "Ask your question Little One."

"Who on this ship would own a jeweled or studded cane and who would want the Steward dead?"

"Ah, that is a very good question my love."

Ebelle

All I know is that the person who tried to kill Carrie was a girl within Carries own age bracket. I know that there are only two people in that bracket: Alexis and Carrie (the other is not mentioned since she is with Nutsy when the murder takes place).

Secret could be (outside of illegitimate child who should inherit truck loads of money) that Benjamin Boreal cut a deal to take down Jels Forest Boreal III, who owns Boreal Lines (who also had an illegitimate heir to all his money). He worked with Alexis Caribou Boreal in order to accomplish the task. The fact that there are two suspects is why there are two distinct and different types of MO. Thus our suspects are: Benjamin Boreal, killing the steward who was probably someone who helped with the fire (I think the crewman set the fire) and knew too much -- motive: money. Benjamin probably stole stores of poisonous plants from his mistress for Alexis to use. And Alexis Caribou Boreal, who tried to kill Carrie in order to get rid of her competition from inheriting the family money -- motive: money. This plan had been in motion long before the ship set sail. The secret relationship of Carrie having a half sibling was what she'd figured out- perhaps Carrie was outraged.

It is also a known fact that children are more likely to die at the hands of step parents than parents; thus Alexis would be even more likely to be our suspect in that case

Tea Tea clutched a battle scarred purple cup in her hands, muttering to it throughout her teammates' theories on 'Whodunnit', finally she stands. "You're all being smoke screened here. The assassin is in this very room, trying to convince you that the real murderer is packing her bags and practicing what she's going to say to her employers about the failure to take Carrie Borealis out of the equation! Blowing smoke up your arses with that snooty accent and those hoighty-toity manners! Yep, the bejeweled walking stick that sent Thomas Caribou to his watery grave was thrown in the ocean and we all know who's MO that is. Good old Frenchie McStick Stealer himself. Why'd you do it, Frenchie?

Kat Kat looked around Kitten and Minx's tails twirled with much anxiety. This trip had been far from what they were expecting of a luxury craft. Needless to say with her group's help she believed that they had solved the heinous act of the murder.

Minx looked almost proud as her tail twitched back and forth. She acted as if she had known who did it all along while Kat had been lost most of the voyage if not for her team mates. She smiled, glad they were solving the crime and to get off the boat. She did hate water after all.

Lion "Who is to say, mes chers amis that the note writer was not a woman? Oui, one can presume that by using Bro the writer is a male, but it could well be an elder sister who is used to getting her own wayhe takes a hefty swig of port, picks up Noel and begins to pace the roomI believe that the person who made the attempts on Carrie's life wrote that note. I do not believe their motives had anything about hurt feelings from childhood or some decades old sibling rivalry, it is about greed. Borealis Shipping is a family owned company so if mssr Jels steps down as CEO it would go to a blood relative, but if something happened to Carrie and she was permanently removed from the picture, Ben would take the reigns, but Ben has already been propositioned by Athos-Borealis Shipping's competitor-with a generous offer if he sells and Ben, our failed inventor, very badly needs money, mais oui!

One wonders if Athos had a hoof in the polish debacle it may have been a decent enough polish but if the right people say enough damaging things about the product word will spread, non? A-how you say? Poisoned Tongue campaign. But this is, frankly, entirely beside the point. Perhaps our killer is not in the running to inherit the company, but will be amply rewarded if Borealis Shipping goes under or changes hooves thanks to a little diplomatic pressure applied to the new CEO. Alexis. We know little about Madame Borealis save for haughtiness, an eye for young bucks and a taste for Old Caribou-pauses a moment to stop snickering-this in itself suggests a less genteel upbringing than her step children and husband

Our assassin is a doe, a buck could not have been able to fit that magnificent rack of antlers through a porthole to escape capture. Further, Alexis is pictured with Ben at the Cirque de Lunes, but she is wearing a costume, though they did not appear chummy on the ship. An acrobat would certainly know how to rig safety wires to make their escape and at 3am on a dark night it would most certainly seem as though she flew, mais oui! A most clever set up, a veritable buffet of red herrings.

Young Mssr. Caribou's murder, his unceremonious burial at sea without benefit of autopsy or clergy. Why was he silenced? An engine room fire is not an uncommon occurrence on steamships, the Captain would want to make record time as would the owner so the crew may be overzealous in shoveling coal into the furnace, but perhaps young Thomas began to speculate about the fire being arson or some other type of sabotage. Perhaps our young Steward who was going to be reprimanded for spending too much time on the deck overheard a private conversation and was silenced before he could talk

Teislyn's Teislyn pondered each of her teammate's summaries and arguments of the case. There were still questions hanging over their heads like a rain cloud and no matter how many answers interviews and stateroom searches turned up, more questions arose, she thought. Lion had confided something to her when they were waiting to be seated at the Captain's Table, he had been a burglar, a cat burglar, she had thought nothing of it at the time except that her French friend didn't seem to be the type to have skeletons in his closet (too untidy, she thinks suppressing a giggle), but considering the picture of Ben and Alexis with her in an acrobat's costume. She cleared her throat and flushed, "Lion, do you remember the conversation we had before we were seated that first night? I was wondering if you had used wires?"

"Sometimes, ma amie, it depends largely on what the situation was, I'm a good climber but zip lines and grappling lines worked better, but this was in the 90's, but to our assassin almost 100 years before, it would be wires, I think"