Webby gathers with the rest of the Watsons, omg we made it to the end of another nutsy! Real life sure hurt us this year as we gathered to solve this mystery! Im so glad Heiyu was able to solve this! It sure stumped me for sure...

HeiYu tells the other Watson's his theory: "Well, Me, I'm sure that Albie Moore is the murderer. He had the chance to drug Ciaran's tea while Shannon was cutting lemons. We know she is innocent and also that none of the Boyles entered the vents so they couldn't have killed him. And the murderer was seen wandering the corridor trying to look like Mack, the handyman, so he is innocent as well. As soon as Mack, the handyman fixed the fuse, Albie knew he would be stuck at the desk, so he rushes to Ciaran's room to make sure he has drunk the drugged tea. He brings a knife to use to open the vent cover and the gas canister with him. Finding Ciaran smoking his pipe and not yet unconscious, he threatens Ciaran with the knife to keep him still until the tea finishes its job, the knife cut on the back of Ciaran's neck is made now. Once Ciaran is too overcome to interfere, Albie uses the knife to unscrew the vent and let the gas into Ciaran's room. Not yet quite unconscious, Ciaran rouses enough to write the note he push it through the hole. Seeing the note, Pack Boyle left their room to go to Ciaran's room. He thinks the note refers to Shannon, so when he found Ciaran dead, he fired the shot to cover up for her as best he could. The raspy yell heard in the Boyle's room is actually Pack, yelling when he finds the body. It sounds raspy because there is still a bit of gas in the room, not enough to kill him, but enough to affect his voice."

Private OutfitPrivate Outfit

"Alright! We know it was not Shannon, she is only guilty of attracting men to her like a flame attracts a moth. Then to my way of thinking it leaves only 2 people, as Ciaran wrote on the candy wrapper - Sha - . Seamus O'Malley and Albie Shawn Moore. Shannon called Albie by his middle name Shawn, so maybe he preferred to be known as that."

'Another thought ... Jack Boyle stated that Ciaran's voice sounded raspy and he put it down to alcohol but Shannon stated he did not drink. So was it Ciaran under the effects of the tranquilizer or the murderer that pounded on the wall?'

Before dinner Willow gently and with extreme care takes out the gown her grandma had loaned her still hearing her words "Willow, I saved up for years to finally buy this, your grandpa wasn't pleased I spent the money on a dress but I was so proud when I wore this to a dance! You enjoy it like I did" Willow smiled in the mirror nodding at her long gone grandma "I will, and thank you Nana!" She added the bracelet and stepped out to pick some flowers for her hair. Willow had slipped on her usual grungy shoes figuring no one would see them then tucking a pen and paper in her socks, she felt ready to go to the dinner. Turning toward the door, it may be possible to hear her stomach rumbling.

At the dinner, Willow watches the rest of the team but pays particular attention to Chook as she paces. When she begins to speak, Willow pushes her glasses up her nose, grabs the nearest pen and begins to write in her journal hoping to catch all the words. After the hasty scribbling and Chook stops talking, Willow gazes at the rest of the team waiting to copy their words also. Private Outfit

Emma pulled out a chair and sat down dropping her head to the table, with a slight thud as her head hit she tried to recall all the clues. Emma sat up straight, took a long drink of her Guiness. Chook, I think it was Albie. I think he put a sleeping pill in Ciarans' tea as Shannon was getting it ready to deliver it to him. As a leprechaun, Albie, was small enough to travel through the venting system into Ciaran's room, he was able to move around unnoticed but not before shutting off the venting system to Ciarans room, and in fact, he was actually the second man the Boyles brother saw in the hall, the one with the cap on as he was headed back downstairs. Ciaran still alive was able to scribble a quick note, "Help me, Sha ... but wasn't able to finish Shawn's name. The motive? .... Jealousy of course! He was in love with Shannon and thought Shannon was spending too much time doting on Ciaran. Private Outfit

Emma finished the beer and with a slight chuckle in her voice said "what do you think?"

Willow wrote so hastily, her scribbles even ran together. Yet she attempted to get every last word Emma said. The only pause was glancing at the Guinness longingly and holding her other hand up for the waiter then pointing to the Guinness while licking her lips.

"But Emma", said Chook, it could have been Seamus after all. His name is pronounced Shamus and he had had a fight with Ciaran earlier which was broken up. Maybe he wanted to finish it".

Violet.... trying to sort out what has been layed before us all..i sit nursing a beer with my team going over the facts and letting ideas flow and i listen intently. in my head nothing was flowing and i cant set the ideas into any feasible outcome yet. "its nice to have one SHA...shannon off the list!" "willow i know your scribbling notes but i am excellent at reading scribble due to all the doctors i have worked with. when you are done may i read them it helps me to use a tangible when solving any issues! know we are probably past this long ago but i STILL ...how is it his pipe was warm so many hours later...it wouldnt have been mentioned if it was a mute point guys"(big sigh n shaking head back n forth)i take a couple of large gulps off my beer and look with troubled hopeful eyes at my team. Outfit Not Found

Willow smiles and quickly nods at Violet then moves near while allowing her see the scribbles and occasional musical notes written.

Chook stops her pacing to look at Willow's scribbled notes. "Thank goodness", she thinks, "that Violet is able to decipher the writing. It looks like something a 2 year old might produce."

As most gargoyles tended to be known for, the beast simply sat in observational stone silence, listening to each in turn as they spoke aloud their thoughts and theories. When there seemed a bit of a lull, he spoke up with a curious scritch under his chin. "It's still sounding awfully incriminating to me that Albie even knew that the ice pick was in play with this murder, when no one had even spoken of it possibly being a murder weapon, yet he didn't hesitate to point out that Mack had it. The motive is the real mystery to me. Is jealousy too obvious of a reason?" An ear quirked with a thoughtful click of his fangs, "Perhaps the Boyle brother that left the room was curious about the second shot that was fired, considering the first was the ceiling of their room. Maybe he heard the post-mortem round that was fired in the next room?" Shoulders were raised and hands splayed out to suggest that he was no more certain than the others, but had added what input he could. Private Outfit

Chook sat at the bar needing a drink. A large strong one. She thought she had the murderer - done and dusted. Seamus was guilty - or so she thought. Listening to the others she began to have doubts about her theory. Yes, Albie was also known as Shawn ... Sha ... as on the candy paper. He has access to all the rooms as well as the vents and every thing else as he was the manager of the establishment. But where did the Boyles fit into the picture?

She decided to attempt to have another go at this puzzle tomorrow. Her friends were seeming having a good time over at their table so she went to join them, determined to join in the fun.

Bo helpfully brings drinks and food to the table listening to all the conversation and finally when asked, speaks in a soft voice while laying a few cookies to accompany the rest. "All of Albie's responses make him look guilty. Though looks like he did it...how?" Glancing around, she speaks the mind of most on the team...

"I'm lost" ......before sitting down to take advantage of the meal. Outfit Not Found

"Ow issen', says Chook talking with her mouth full. "iz onlee a 'atter od ducshone". Proceeding after finishing her gob full, she went on to explain to the others. "We know it was not Shannon. So to my mind that leaves 2 suspects if Ciaran's note was correct ... Sha. Albie SHAwn Moore, and Seamus (SHAmus). Stretching it ... we also have Paddy O'Shamus." Putting another delicious mouthful of food in her mouth that Bo thoughtfully provided, she raises her arm ordering a round of drinks for the table.

Violet..."oh dear more clues and i am more confused i would have to go back to find out who PACK even is."

 Violet kept wagging one finger in the airas she spoke.  .swirling it around a to keep her mind rolling instead of stopping and getting stuck.  it has been doing that more often then desired of late! She slowy get out her thoughts ..

 "the only thing i wondered about beside the warm pipe so many hours later.. is the shooting of the ceiling..and the raspy voice..now noone from boyles room went into the vents right? maybe the shot in the ceiling went through the vent above their room that someone was climbing in..causing them to inhale alot of smoke and dust and get a raspy voice as they went into the other room..."((shrugs))

 Of course for every one idea Violet had three more questions came forth.  "what does anyone make out of the NEW clues?? remind me who pack is and how/why did jack think pack {{needed protecting}} unless he KNEW something bad had happened? which one of the boyles liked shannon so much?..." ((another huge sigh))

Chook replied at Violet to help.. her drink seeming to briefly wear off. "Violet, Pack and Jack are two of the Boyle brothers," Chook reminded her. "I am finding the clue confusing as well", but we all are doing the best we can to find the murderer".

Emma doesn't seem to be replying as much as just mumbling to herself.

Pack was one of the Boyle brothers. Pack -- "he loves Shannon, claiming she is the prettiest leprechaun he's ever seen"

In regards to Jack - It's weird that he would have grabbed a gun to go protect Pack. She only said Pack heard Shannon gasp ... Jack heard Pack leave so why would he be so quick to grab his gun thinking Pack needed protecting. Hmmm

Still don't have a clue or a guess on the pipe.

Good thought on the Raspy Voice - if Albie was traveling through the vents to get to Ciaran's room. And maybe that's why Albie was really so mad about the whole in the ceiling ... could have been that he almost got hit my the blunderbuss bullet or that it almost ruined his plan on getting to Ciaran.

"All of the Boyles know how to use firearms (sometimes not wisely,) but none of them climbed in or out of a vent." - Also makes me wonder if it was one of their stray bullets that went through the wall and into Ciaran (similar to the real life mystery) and not JUST the one she mentioned that went into the ceiling.

Chook leans back in her chair, stretched then yawned. "It is nearly time for me to call it a night. I will ponder on this some more, but at the moment I say that Albie Shawn Moore is guilty of Ciaran's murder. The reason escapes me but I can put forward some ideas".

Setting her elbows on the table and cupping her hands under her chin, she looked at her friends.

"Perhaps Ciaran was a critic for a magazine that wrote up hotels. You know 'a great place to stay and excellent food', type of thing. He may have found a few things that were to the detriment of the hotel. He happened to mention these to Moore, who was very upset and so decided to murder Ciaran before the review could be published".

"Or maybe Albie was head over heals in love with Shannon and was jealous of the friendship she and Ciaran had, thought there was more to the relationship than just friends, and thought if Ciaran was dead he could supply a shoulder to cry on, and hopefully more".

Emma leaned forward listening closely to Chook as gave her version of the murder. After she was finished, Emma spoke up, it sounds like we all agree it was Albie! Re-emphasizing the note, we now know it was not Shannon so I think we can all agree it was Albie "Shawn" Moore that Ciaran tried to share before his untimely death.

The Raspy voice was actually Pack's as he yelled out in vain trying to get to Shannon, the love of his life. It was Jack who ran after Pack, trying to protect his brother who actually fired the second shot that entered Ciaran's body. But ultimately it was Albie who took Ciaran's life.

Hand becoming very tired with even the scribbling, Willow starts to stack all the empty plates with Bo's help then stands with the rest of the team. She circles one word of Emma's "Albie" before folding up the papers and surreptitiously sliding them in her socks. Starting to leave, she began to hum a different tune wishing her lute was here...

"Dream" Willow whispered hoping her tune would help the rest...

Chook woke up the next morning feeling tired rather than refreshed. She had dreamed all night of the murder and who the suspect was. The suspect was always the same ... Albie, but as to the details, she was at a loss. Part of her dreams were still in her mind. She approached the table where her mates were having breakfast. Her stomach turned at the sight and smell of the bacon and eggs in front of Willow. She beckoned to a waiter and ordered a large, extra hot coffee.

After the coffee had arrived and she had drunk about 1/2 of it, she cleared her throat and addressed the others. "I had some odd visions last night, all about this murder. Some parts are still vivid and I'd like to share them with you."

All wanted to hear what she had to say, so they sat upright, paying attention. "Here goes, some parts are weird."

Dream One was "Albie climbed into a vent using a ladder to get to Ciaran's room. Mack came along and seeing the ladder removed it and put it back where it belonged. No one heard him as he was able to carry the ladder quite easily".

Dream Two "Ciaran not only rang his home each night to hear his dead wife's voice on the answering machine he also carried around some of her clothing, dressing in them if he felt the need. This included a pair of high heeled shoes. When Albie descended into Ciaran's room to ensure he was dead, he saw the high heels on the floor, put them on and proceeded out the door, hoping that if anyone saw him they would take him for a woman".

Dream Three 'As Albie was crawling through the vent, over the Boyle's room, a gun was fired from there. It passed through the the plaster in the roof, narrowly missing Ciaran's vitals, not his organs but rather his vital and private parts. This made him furious for what good would he be to Shannon, if he was a eunuch."

Dream Four "This one was about the raspy voice the Boyle's heard from Ciaran's room. This dream is all mixed up and confusing but I will try to explain it to you all."

"In one part of the dream Ciaran was yelling out to the Boyles and thumping on their wall. They thought it was to get them to quieten things down and that he had had too much too drink and that is why he sounded odd".

"In the same dream it was not Ciaran but Albie pretending to sound like him, so that the Boyles could say Ciaran was alive at the time, therefore giving him an alibi".

At the conclusion of her narrative, Chook, not too prettily or gently, slumped into her chair, leaned to the left, and fell onto the floor snoring deeply.

The team attempted to catch their friend before she hit the floor then Willow managed to fold up a table cloth laying it under her head as a pillow.

Violet sudden reflects her dream quickly while staring at Chook.

"My dream was that the dent hole in the wall was where the gas was turned on into his rooms direction through the air conditioner. Which is why the air conditioner was turned off. Then the gas was turned off and the hole/dent was filled in hastily. Mack handyman knew where the gas spickets were! He may have entered with door locked behind him and laddered it up into vent pulling the ladder with him. No idea if that would work cause Albie did it...not the bullet, not the gas..right?"

Violet then turns to each team member with some confusion on her face.

"I know.. a strange dream, was it the stab to the neck that killed him, or the blow by a blunt force object? "

After relaying her dream, Violet then simply sits in the nearest chair.

Sadly the rest of the team stare at each other and Bo blurts......

"I didn't dream!"

....as if assuring the team she was at least fine.

Appearing guilty with an extreme blush highlighting the freckles on her face, Willow clears her throat.

"I apologize, I hummed a special bard tune of dreaming last night while we were all leaving for bed."

With a sigh, Lyra said, “So, this is what we know happened.

During the evening of St Patrick's Day, CIaran MacPherson had a bit of a kerfuffle with Seamus O’Malley. They were pulled apart by other people. Ciaran retired to his room around 11pm with his pipe and sacks of sweets. Next door there was a raucous party involving the Boyle brothers. About that time, Shannon was preparing to Ciaran’s bedtime toddy of tea and milk. Just before she takes it upstairs, she leaves it covered on the front desk while she goes to cut fresh lemon. At this point, somebody slips a sedative into the tea. Albie is on the front desk so he would have seen if anybody had gotten to it. 11.15pm - Ciaran calls his wife to say goodnight, Shannon takes his tea upstairs and leaves it by the bed. Between 11.15pm and 11.28pm, Ciaran is microwaving popcorn and watching tv while the air con is on, so he can have the room nice and cold. He blows the power out in his room. Mack the repairman comes and fixes the power quickly. He is seen by Zack. The party is still going strong next door! 11.30pm-12 midnight, Assumption here: now that the power is back on, Ciaran is drinking his drugged tea, he’s turned his vent back on, something is blowing through the vent. 12 midnight - Mack Boyle was so drunk, he shoots a big hole in the ceiling of their room, a hole that connects to the duct system for their building. Pack Boyle is so drunk, he is crying about his unrequited love for Shannon. Jack and Zack are comforting him. Ciaran pounds on the wall between their rooms, telling them to shut up. Nobody comes up to inspect the hole in the Boyles’ room. Not long after midnight, Zack thinks he sees Mack the repairman again in the hallway. Around 1am, the Boyles hear Ciaran yelling again, but he sounds more raspy.

Morning - Pack hears Shannon gasp, sob and run from Ciaran’s room. He goes to see what happened. Jack wakes up, grabs his gun and goes after Pack to protect him. Ciaran is dead, body staged to look like the murder scene from the Fleniken case, but he had actually been killed by a gas through the vents. He was also stabbed in the back of the next post-mortem.

But there are so many gaps!” Lyra throws her hands up in despair!

What do we think happened? Albie Moore the hotel manager is in love with Shannon. However, she does not return his affections and keeps going on and on about what a perfect man Ciaran is. Albie becomes jealous. Like every evening, Shannon prepares the tea for Ciaran and since she forgot the lemons, she left the cup some minutes on the reception desk where Albie is sitting, too. Albie puts some sedative into the tea and Shannon brings the tea up to Ciaran. Albie also left some rainbow popcorn in Ciaran’s room, well knowing him and his sweet tooth. Since he is the manager, he certainly would know about a fragile electric system which would put the power down when the microwave works full power or he even sabotaged the microwave or electric system. Mack repaired the vent and advised that it can be turned on again when Ciaran likes it and left the room. Ciaran noticed the tea Shannon had lovingly prepared and took some sips to take it justice, keeping in mind he turning on the vent in between. The sedative worked quickly so he fell asleep, his trusty pipe still in his hand. Meanwhile, Albie climbed the ladder Mack had posted in his room after being asked to repair a lamp, then was quickly dismissed by Albie with another repair task Albie had prepared in another room before when he said he had to run a personal errand. Albie put a tube from his vent connection to Ciaran’s and shortly after, blew a deadly gas into the system which Ciaran inhaled deeply during his forced slumber after drinking the sedative. Shortly before dying, Ciaran somehow established to wake up and cried with a raspy voice for help. When that lead to nothing, he wrote a note for Shannon asking for help and pushed it through the hole in the wall which was made an hour before by a ricochet out of Mack Boyle’s blunderbuss. Getting no answer from Shannon or the Boyles, he tried to reach the door, putting the pipe from his right hand to the left, then suffocated for good and collapsed on the floor and died. The vent had to be shut off quickly to stop the deadly gas spreading to other rooms so Albie had to hurry now.

After the victim suffocated around 1am, Albie, using the ratchet screwdriver that he had earlier pilfered from Mack’s work bag unscrewed the vent cover in his vent and climbed through the vent again and locked the door from the inside before implementing his deadly plan. He inflicted the wounds like he read it in the Fleniken book and afterwards climbed back to his room. He knew that Seamus and Ciaran had had a fight earlier over an ice pick. To further implicate Seamus, Albie stabs Ciaran with an ice pick. Back in his managers room, Mack comes back to report about the repairs, which have been done and still have to. He notices the ladder in the wrong place and puts it back to the lamp area, making a mental note to repair it first thing in the morning.

A man with a cap was seen not long after midnight by Jack. Seamus wanted to apologize and totally drunk, staggered to Ciaran’s room for this. He pounded on the door which Ciaran couldn’t hear anymore and attracted the attention of Jack who was looking out for repairman Mack to do the repair of the ceiling. He only saw Seamus leave, though.

“Let’s go with this,” agreed Lyra, as she and Lalana headed to the dining room to present their solution.

The reavers finally had some time to come together to share their thoughts and the clues they had gathered. “Well, let’s get to it” Sashi said. “Let’s get to what exactly” Esme replied. “I’m clueless, have suspected everyone up until this point. Even believed he had done it himself at one point”. “I know, right” Sashi said. “It was a hard case to crack”. “Indeed” Rox replied, “but I’m sure we’ve found enough clues to the only suspect that could have done it”.

“Alright, so the first one I suspected was Shannon” Esme said. “Yeah, she was my first suspect as well” Sashi said. “She seemed to be the one with the best motive and she had access tot he tea cup”.
“But then we found out that the tea cup had been standing at the front desk and anyone could have added something in” Esme pointed out. “That’s the reason I believe she’s innocent” Rox added. “All of the other clues don’t fit with her being the suspect”.

“Did anyone suspect Seamus to have done it” Sashi pointed out. “No, never” Rox replied. “He seemed to be the most obvious one” Esme said “which the manager gladly pointed out for us as well, but we couldn’t find any real evidence linking him to it”.

“We have those brothers that were in the room next door” Rox went on tot he next suspects on their list. “Well, the only thing I think they’re guilty of is drinking to much” Esme replied. “And the hole in the ceiling” Sashi asked. “Well, yes they did that as well” Rox replied with a laugh. “And they did try to help us” Esme said. “Yeah, and they were great at helping too” Sashi said with a grin. “I mean, they saw someone strange, but weren’t sure. They thought it was a woman, but weren’t sure”. “But they really did help with that” Rox said. “Even though they couldn’t tell who they had seen, we now know that there has been someone wandering around”. “But we can definitely say that none of the brothers is the murderer” Sashi said.

“Well, we have two suspects left on our list” Esme said. “Mack the handyman or the manager”. “No” Rox said. “Mack would be too obvious”. Sashi and Esme both looked at her, wanting to hear more of her thoughts. “I mean the tools lead to him, as well as the sleeping pills and him being the last one to see the victim. Would he really have been that stupid to have all to clues leading to him if he was able to come up with a plan like this that threw us around suspecting everyone?” she asked. “Probably not” Sashi agreed. Esme nodded in agreement. “I think someone wants him to look guilty” she added.

“Well, then we have gotten through everything. We’ve read all the information again, we shared all of our thoughts and clues and there seems to be only one suspect left” Esme said, pointing out the list with just one name left that hasn’t been crossed out with a pen.

“Well, I believe this is what happened” Rox said. “That night, Ciaran went up to his hotel room, he called his wife on the phone wanting to hear her voice again. After that he realized that the ac wasn’t working, for which he called Mack. That was the reason Mack had been up at his room”.
Esme and Sashi nodded, they both agreed to what had happened so far. Rox continued “The next person to enter the room was Shannon with his drinks. Shannon and Ciaran both didn’t know that while the tea cup had been left unattended at the front desk, someone had added a dose of sleeping pills to it. After Ciaran had been sedated enough, the killer came in. He used the screwdriver from handyman Mack, which Mack said he missed to open the vent and used it to introduce a toxic gas inside the room, probably had a mask on himself”. “So, you think someone has been inside his room?” Esme asked. “I agree, there must have been someone there” Sashi said.

“Did someone climb through the vent?” Esme said. “I believed from the start that someone might have gotten through it from the brothers side”. “No, no one went through the vent” Rox said. “The person that entered the room was the one with the master key that can open up any room inside the hotel”. “And that brings us back to the manager” Sashi said, pointing to their list with only the name Albie left”.

“Indeed it does” Rox said. “Albie went in with his master key, used the vent to kill Ciaran. Then realized that he had to cover his tracks. So he wiped the tea cup, cleaned the pipe and then placed it in the wrong hand and because he wore as mask and gloves left no DNA. He tried to frame Mack the handyman, but he also realized that sending him to another place in the hotel gave him an alibi, so he needed another suspect. The person he then tried to frame was Seamus. He told us about the fight and while he was in the room he made it seem like there had been a fight”.

“But what about the woman the brothers saw?” Esme asked.

“There was never a woman” Rox replied. “While Albie was in Ciaran’s room cleaning up, one of the brothers decided to blow a hole in the ceiling, which could expose him. “He knocked on the wall, told them with his best interpretation of Ciaran’s voice to be quiet. Then he used whatever he could find in the room, which were the clothes that belonged to Ciaran’s wife. He then left the room to get downstairs. One of the brothers, Jack I believe it was, left the room to get downstairs to tell Mack about the hole, asking hi mto fix it. He then saw Albie disguised”.

“But why?” Sashi asked. “Because he loved Shannon” Esme replied. “That’s the only reason I can think of”.
“I agree” Rox said. “Shannon would also be fond of Ciaran and the only way for Albie to have a chance was to get rid of Ciaran”.

The door to the Pepper’s suite creaked open, revealing nothing short of a disaster. The last time everyone had been in the room at once had been the first hour they arrived at the hotel, and from that point on it had been a scene of craziness every moment since.

“I’m not even sure where everyone is anymore!” Flyingkat said to Spring who was standing at the door looking with dismay at the mess. “And I’m pretty sure it was not messy last time I was in here! Do you think someone’s sneaked in and is trying to mess with us?” Ambition (Ebele) peered over Kat’s shoulder and Spring looked at the papers on the floor and groaned. They were covered with doodles and sketches and scrawling “LOOK OVER HERE!” with random arrows pointing to various places on a badly drawn floor plan of the hotel. There were also a trail of skittles on the bed and evidence of a dance party.

“No”, Spring sighed. “Well, yes. But not like you think. What you are looking at is what Tea_Roll gets up to when she’s left unsupervised. She said she wasn’t going to come on this adventure but apparently she can’t stay away from Leprechauns and pots of gold, even if she doesn’t help us out one iota. I bet she’s off trying to break Lovecraft out of jail to see if she’ll burn something down for the excitement of it.”

Witchy floated through the door on her broom. “I’m sorry I’ve not been here much! There’s just so much rainbow in this part of the country that I keep getting distracted and...my, my, would you look at this mess? Don’t you people know how to pick up after yourselves?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a magic stick and tossed it into the air with a few secret, magic words and POOF, the room was as good as new.” “THERE. No one wanted to clean that up anyway, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t want Tea in here dancing and singing when we’re solving important crimes anyway.”

Ebele, Flyingkat and Spring agreed, relieved that they didn’t have to. There is nothing less helpful than Tea_Roll in vacation mode! Well, unless it’s Lovecraft burning down the place.

“Well, let’s get to it.” Flyingkat, pulled up a chair to the table and started to sort through the notes that the three of them had been taking. Witchy floated in and out, bringing tea and refreshments. “I have no idea, so I’m not even going to try to mess you up, darlings.” She said. “I’ll just keep you refreshed and maybe go look at some more pretty rainbows!”

“Well, what do you think?” Spring asked, pulling her sketch pad out. She rolled her eyes at Tea’s stick figure drawing of the Peppers eating sandwiches and turned to the sketch that she’d made of the crime scene.

Ebele found the sketches rather amusing and wanted to add flying unicorns amidst all the rainbows. Instead she focused on all the details of the crime scene and tried to help make sense of it all.

“We know that every red blooded male leprechaun within 100 miles is in love with Shannon. But Shannon has high standards - and no one matches up. At first, she was our prime suspect. She had all the access it seemed and her teacup toddy was what sedated the victim after all. But the motive? Unrequited love? In the end, the rest of the evidence does not line up.”

Ebele picked up the closest pen and fiddled with it. “So Shannon is innocent, Seamus is in jail. The remaining suspects?” She muses out loud while penning the details in a neat looking list.

Flyingkat tossed her stack of papers down. “Well there’s the brothers. Jack, Mack and Pack. Let’s just say that they had a few too many bottles, blew a hole in the ceiling and maybe saw a strange person who sort of looked like a woman but they aren’t sure. Not entirely helpful, but not entirely UNhelpful. But nothing added up for any of them to be the murderer(s). This wasn’t an “accidental” death. We all agree it was premeditated.”

“So...that leaves Handyman Mack and the owner, Albie aka Shawn.” Spring, Flyingkat and Ebele pause to eat the cookies that Witchy flew in with and insisted would make them think more clearly.

Ebele can’t quite get her fill of cookies and roots around for more, spilling some tea on the edge of her spreadsheet in the process. “Sorry, about that!” she mutters while cleaning up the dripping mess. At least we can still read it.” She flashes one of her winning smiles, which always shows her right dimple bigger than her left on her cheeks.

Smiling Spring continues, “Mack seems obvious. He had the tools. He was the last person to see the victim alive. He knew what went on in the hotel and it could have been easy for him to get access to anyone’s room if he really wanted to. But, we don’t think it’s him, do we?” Spring and Flyingkat nodded in agreement.

Ebele pulls her lips into a thoughtful grimace. “Nah, it’s too easy - he makes a really good patsy though.” Ebele makes notes on the side of her paper to enlist Mack in some of her future scheming for an easy gullible patsy.

But before they could even stand, the door burst open and in danced Tea_Roll. “HEY! I’M HERE! Did you see the clues I left you guys?! And LOOOOK! I sneaked Lovecraft out of detention or whatever it was she was hiding in. She says she can burn the hotel down if you guys didn’t figure it out so that no one has to ever worry about it again!”

Reaper stood behind them looking half amused half chagrined and mouthing to them that she didn’t have anything to do with this at all.

“Yes, your sketches of the sandwiches were particularly helpful.” Spring said. “Now, we have things to do. See you after?” “Yes, we will. I’ll keep an eye on them. NO, TEA. DO NOT BURN THE HOTEL!” Reaper practically yelled as the door closed behind them.

In the room, the team waited. “Think we got it?” Flyinkat was a little bit anxious. “We weeded through all this information the best we could.” Ebele said as she took the notes and turned to start the presentation.

“The pepperettes have investigated the murder of Ciaran and we would like to present our findings.” Ebele spoke in a loud clear voice.

“Shannon is the love of everyone’s life, and rightfully so. The Pepperettes have determined that Shannon was not involved. The brothers? They were drunk and having a great time. They did some crazy stuff and saw some things that didn’t make sense. However, they too were not involved.

Mack, the Handyman, on the other hand present an entirely full can of worms. There was a lot of evidence that seemed to point directly to Mack and made him look mighty suspicious. He was in the room that night the victim perished. He had access to any type of tool required for the job. He even used sleeping pills. No one would have questioned him walking around carrying anything heavy or awkward; but the Pepperettes do not think Mack is the killer.

The real killer had a premeditated plan. This is what the Peppers believe happened.” Ebele grinned mischievously as she continued giving the report of their findings.

“Ciaran retired to his room. He called his voicemail to hear his dead wife’s voice before bed. He realized his AC was not working. Mack came to fix it, and as he was leaving, Shannon came to give him his preferred non alcoholic beverage. What Shannon didn’t know and Ciaran didn’t know was that the toddy was spiked...with a high dose of sleeping pills. Enough to sedate the victim and make him unable to call for help or to move quickly to escape.

The killer waited until Ciaran was unable to fight back, ensuring that his plan could not fail. He blocked the ducts off and introduced a toxic gas through the vent. Ciaran did not have a chance to reach the door. He fell short, desperately trying to get help from the men in the room next door but unable to speak. The killer made sure Mack was busy and out of the way so that he wouldn’t be accidentally discovered.

The perpetrator sneaked through the venting system to make sure the job was done in secret and that his tracks were well hidden. He wiped the cup clean, the pipe clean, and left no DNA or trace evidence at the crime scene. This shows he had a preconceived plan that he was carrying out to success. Realizing that Mack would have an alibi, he decided to also make it appear as if there had been some sort of fight, potentially to frame Seamus. However, he did didn’t get everything right. The pipe was in the wrong hand when he replaced it and the wounds were superficial at best.

While the suspected murderer was cleaning up after himself, one of the brothers in the adjoining room to Ciaran, blew a hole in the ceiling in his drunkenness. This exposed the vent--and his entry point and escape route. He had to improvise. He knocked on the wall, trying to disguise his voice and to tell the men to “Quiet down” so that they would help give him a stronger alibi. He couldn’t leave through the vent, so he used whatever he could find in the room to disguise himself and slipped out of the room. He did not realize that Jack had left the adjoining room to find Mack in order to tell him about the hole they had blasted into the ceiling. While Jack was out he caught a glimpse of the killer hurrying away in his ill-fitting disguise.

The killer is sitting right in this very room, directly over there.” Eblee says with a flourish of her arm and body as she aligns her view with that of the suspected murderer to hold his gaze for a long tense moment.

“His name is Albie, AKA Shawn. He was the one who knew Ciaran’s schedule. He knew how the venting system worked. It was easy for him to “inspect” Mack’s work and slip in the lethal dose of the gas, knowing Ciaran would crank up the air. He borrowed Mack’s ladder to access the vents from within his private office. He unwittingly left the ladder in his office claiming to help Mack with his job after the fact. On top of that, being alone in his office is his only alibi for the night of the murder.

Albie knew of Mack’s sleeping pill use and used some of them to spike the drink before Shannon took it up. He also took Mack’s screwdriver, which he used to unfasten the vent’s openings to get in and out of the room. He quickly blamed Seamus and tried to keep investigators out of the rooms, no doubt because the exposed vent in the brother’s room made him fear extra questions should anyone catch onto the fact that there was a ladder in his office. Albie also had a photograph of Shannon on his desk. We presume he was a secret admirer.

He perhaps hoped with her ideal man out of the way, Shannon would turn to him for comfort and would finally see that HE was her true love. No doubt he is realizing that he is very mistaken at this moment.” Ebele smirked and cast a sideways glance over to Shannon to see the impact of her words on the poor girl.

“These are our findings; we believe that Albie is, in fact, the killer.”

Ebele steps down and the peppers all take a deep breath and try to relax as they await anxiously to see what happens next.

Gish perches on the back of a nearby chair and looks thoughtful. "Too many people were in love with Shannon," she says. "One of them's got to be the killer."

"How exactly do we know she wasn't guilty? It's kind of suspicious that someone would just tell us that," Dhara said with a shrug. "It's like all these people we're talking to aren't really asking us to solve this, they're testing us instead." She ran a hand through her hair. "If they know for sure who isn't guilty, why do they not know who is, and what do they need us for?"

"We have to guess which one did do it, and one of them seems like the expert at chemicals and things? So that's probably the one?" Nicsy seems distracted as she says this, like she's tired of worrying about it. None of this is going to bring back the dead guy. It's exhausting thinking in circles the way they've been doing.

"That seems logical to me," said Dhara, stroking the ears of the sleepy thylacine who had decided to sack out in her lap.

Galaxia blinks at Nicsy thoughtfully, then looks at Dhara. "Too many people in love with Shannon...maybe they need us because they need the outsiders, someone who isn't involved?" She hazards a guess, connecting thoughts from both parties. "I'm still not sure who," Galaxia adds with a wry grin. "But maybe then the key is who has the most to lose, or the most power, that would frighten or intimidate the people closest to the situation into not acting against them unless they have an airtight and impartial case. Doesn't H. Mack have a lot of access to the facilities, knowing the vents and taking care of everything? Maybe people are afraid of crossing him since he can be everywhere."

"It would seem like it was Mack, except that Mack wouldn't have needed to drag the ladder. Who would have?" Gish mused as she flickered her head from looking at Galaxia and at Nicsy.

Nicsy fluffed her wings. She tried to think who was too weak to lift a ladder and also a suspect.

Dhara contemplated this. "Who is in charge of the person who cleans the rooms? Somebody cleaned that room. I couldn't even smell gunpowder. No chemical smells, no herbs, no dirt. Just pheromonal residue, so faint that I couldn't even identify the person who was scared. How useful is that, someone in a room where somebody died has been scared or angry?"

She sighed. "This is ridiculous. If they need an outsider's point of view, Galaxia, why not let us freely interview the subjects, ask open-ended questions, and let us examine the room before it was cleaned? My advisor at university, Dr Pines--thinks this is some kind of test, and that I shouldn't resist getting pulled into it, but so far all that's been tested is my patience for putting up with weird abotaru spoor--a willingness to put together costumes, and successfully manage to comply with alien dress codes, and thinking of yes/no questions, and trying to find clues in rooms that have already been cleaned."

Nicsy fluttered around Dhara and landed on the floor near the thylacine. Very carefully studying Kaz, she transformed into a near twin, a bit darker and redder in color than Kaz but the same size and of almost the same physiology.

She tried to take a step and tripped herself, unused to the difference in thylacine and fox locomotion. Gingerly scrambling to her feet, the shapeshifter tried again.

Gish watched, making a clicking sound with her beak. "It's a job? Let's just get it done, okay? And worry about the whys and wherefores later." She added, "And worry about the new animal forms later too, Nicsy."

Trying to follow her own guidelines, Gish said, "What if it's Seamus, I mean he did stab the guy. Just because that isn't what killed him, doesn't mean he didn't kill him, right? He knew the guy's wife was dead, he admitted it... or so we've been told. So he knew Ciaran might actually be a competitor for Shannon and no one else did."

Dhara rolled her eyes at Gish. "I'm allowed to have an opinion, but you're right that the sooner we get it finished, the sooner it's done. I'd like to spend time with you all someday when we're not chasing shadows!"

She sighed. "I guess what I'm getting at is that Mack would be the one who would be able to order a room cleaned and nobody told about it?"

Working her lower lip with one fang, she thought. "Who's unlikely to wear heeled shoes? Zack said he saw someone who looked like a woman walking in heels, but not like they were used to wearing heels. We don't wear flat shoes, except for slippers because our heels aren't supposed to be on the ground, but Farrat does and I guess only Terran women wear heels? Is that true here?" "I can't remember all the clothing things," Gish said wistfully. "I think maybe Shannon was wearing them? So maybe someone was trying to disguise themself as Shannon?"

She looked over at Kylo, who had not spoken. Kylo was in a terrible mood, Gish could tell, and it seemed like a bad idea to disturb her.

She turned her gaze to Galaxia. "Maybe you remember? You wear that kind of shoes sometimes, right? Who else might have?"

Dhara nodded. "Is it weird for a man to wear heeled shoes, Galaxia? Because I think that only Shannon wears them. And you and I do, but we're women."

She grinned at Nicsy. "You made a cute Kaz."

The thylacine snorted, but was content to munch on bacon.

"Do you think the reason that they told us it wasn't Shannon flat out is that someone's trying to frame her? That's very mean, but...the men of some species get awfully mean when women say no to mating. Patriarchy is so weird."

Galaxia hmms. "I haven't seen very men wear them, but then again I don't pay attention to men much and could have missed it. Some politicians wore them to seem taller, regardless of gender, and to shape their calves, but it doesn't sound like this person was trying for either, and so I support the idea that it's a disguise. Maybe for this Seamus person, as you say. I can believe that."

"Maybe Pack was trying to look like her so she'd be in trouble and he could rescue her and finally get her attention? I remember a story my uncle told once about an elf who did that. He didn't kill anyone, but he dosed them with something that made them sick, while disguised as this other elf he was in love with." Gish thought about this. "So maybe he thought the gas or whatever he put in the vent would just make Ciaran sick? And it killed him because of something else."

She isn't sure of any of this but she's hopeful that their discussion will help Albie solve the conundrum.

"Mack, I thought, not Pack. Kylo thought it was him because he's the handyman, and very jealous; Mack put the poison in the air vents. Pack did the stabbing though? and that seems very odd, since he couldn't rescue Shannon without incriminating himself. Mack might have had such a rescue plot though..." Dhara shook her head.

"It seems like maybe it could have been that way, but then why would Jack back up the story? If he wasn't in on it?" Gish was starting to confuse all the brothers with rhyming names anyway.

"Well, Jack seemed rather confused about the outfit. But I've gathered that leprechaun men and leprechaun women don't dress alike. He may be one of those people that's just confused a lot, anyway. Like Lungaana, Farrat's best friend, but I won't admit I said so."

Dhara took a deep breath.

"Kylo thought there was gas in the vents. Mack would have known how to put it there. Mack has the staff all under his thumb as well, which means he could have got the room cleaned, and it has to have been cleaned. I couldn't detect any gas in the room but it would have dissipated anyway."

She frowned.

"A stabber is angry. Gas is for eliminating inconveniences; unless it's painful, it's not a weapon of anger and hatred. Pack was angry, but Seamus was so angry that he had to be arrested for whatever they call an antisocial behaviour citation here. And the icepick would've made a good stabbing device."

After a moment, she wrote all the names on pieces of paper and floated them on top of a bowl of water.

Kassiri, the thylacine, watched with interest as she took out her pendulum and set it to swinging.

It went back and forth between the names of Mack and Pack, and Seamus.

Dhara frowned, frustrated.

Nicsy scrabbled up onto a chair and sat down, nodding her head at Dhara. It was the best she could do without being able to talk.

Finally Kaz got tired of watching and snapped at the pendulum. It fell into the bowl and all three names splashed out, but the ink on the piece of paper with Pack's name on it had washed away.

"It was definitely both Mack with gas and Seamus with stabbing, and neither of them knew what the other was doing. I bet Seamus was the one who was dressed as a woman, because he's the one who knew that he'd be suspected."

She frowned. "Good enough?"