witchy hands Fresh a larger slice of cake, whispers to him..."I can't uncuff you, but i'll make sure that you have all the cake you want...you just have to solve this puzzle...and all the other ones we come across. I know you can do it fresh, quit looking at yourself in the mirror..yes you're cute, but we have work to do now.

, you're lucky the inspector didn't arrest you for harassment. Just cause he thinks you're cute, you may want to hold off on the 'disappearing' him. He might come in useful later.

Aislynn was lees than enthused to have access to the suspects denied,but couldn't contain a smile when the Inspector described his task to them. "I love these kinds of puzzles!" she exclaimed and hurried to a nearby coffee table to begin filling in her grid. Hours later and 3 copies of the grid crumpled beside her, she flopped back against the sofa and mumbled to herself about missing pieces of information and blasted times not adding up the way they should. Looking around the room, she saw her teammates bent over their copies of the grid as well and didn't feel quite as bad as she had originally.
She decided it was time for a smoke break. And maybe scrounge up a Pepsi while she was at it. Nicotine and caffeine. ..that's what she needed before diving back in.

A bit later, with a hard to find Pepsi in hand, Aislynn returned to find Willow smiling and waving her grid in the air. "You figured it out?!" Aislynn sputtered. "I'll look at what you got in a bit. I want to see if I can grind through this on my own and then we can compare." So back to the coffee table it was... Several more hours later (and we don't want to talk about how many more grids) Aislynn handed her final solution to Jill, noticed everyone else had apparently already done so, rubbed her eyes, cracked her back and wandered back to the couch where she promptly fell into a lovely doze.

I already promised a SLIVER of cake. Not a big piece. Come now, we can't be using the good bribes right off the bat. And seriously we need to move that mirror away from him. HE is getting no work done at all. Help me move it grabs Witchy by the arm that isn't holding the rainbow and drags her to the mirror If you can shrink it you may keep it.

Jean gathered up the crumpled pages she'd scattered about her work area as she puzzled over the side case. Cin hadn't been much help, and now appeared to be snoozing on a chair while the ladies tried to crack this confusing case. "I think we've got it," she said to the other two, "and we really need to get to work on questioning the suspects for our main case. So let's go give our answer to the Inspector." She threw a wadded paper at Cin's head, and got to her feet.

It wasn’t Cin's fault the inspector's tangent case had been so challenging, or that the sitting room chair had been so comfortably inviting. Especially after the five plates of finger food that he had eagerly shoveled into his mouth. Choking on a snore Cin awoke as the wadded up ball of paper bounced from his face onto the floor. “Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench!” He shouted into the room at large, his mind still clinging to the dream he had been having. At least his heart was in the right place. Yawning toothily he pushed himself from the chair, wiped the drool from his chin, and retrieved the wadded up paper at his feet before wandering back over to his respective group. “I uh… I’m guna grab some coffee.” He grinned sheepishly half expecting one of them to box his ears.

Frieda looked at Wilhelmina's prostrate form draped across the leather sofa where she had been pouring over the 'test,' she was completely passed out…severe migraine with all of it's attending symptoms, throbbing, dizziness, light sensitivity, nausea, sound sensitivity, bloating, gas, numb lips, fake heart attack, exploding bladder, 'Buddy's Disease.' Frieda shook her head, patted her cousin's shoulder gently, lest she hurf, took the solution from Wilhelmina's outstretched paw and prepared to give it to Roquefort G. Brie. " It seemed to her that the 'test' was more torture to Wilhelmina then she thought it was going to be.

Frieda didn't feel all that good either, she had quite a meal of crow in the last few hours, she had crow served to her every which way as she had tried in vain to solve this puzzle. She had crow roasted, toasted, wasted, basted, boiled, poached, baked, scrambled, frizzled, frazzled, frittered and fried. She owed Inspector Brie more then an apology, she owed him her respect, honor and support. He had every right to test their skills and she had been wrong about him. But crow left a bad taste in her mouth.

She caught sight of herself in the parlor mirror and appraised what she saw. Her dress was rumpled in front and it made her small bosom look like two strawberries squashed on an ironing board. She gently smoothed out the fabric, preened her hair to get it out of her eyes and into some semblance of order, touched up her lipstick and put on her business face. If she was going to make her apology to Inspector Brie, he deserved to get it from somebody who looked like she gave a damn and meant it.

Frieda never used the word 'damn,' she didn't even think the word 'damn' in her own mind, she usually thought the word 'care' or 'thought' but never the word 'damn.' She once had said out loud, "I don't give a fig…" but her mother had swatted her tail and washed out her mouth with soap weed. She looked at herself again…damn, she looked good. She suddenly had an urge to go to the bathroom and put a bar of Lifeboy in her mouth.

Instead, she strolled up to Detective Brie, handed him the solution to the 'test' and bowed. "Detective Brie, I humbly offer you our solution. I hope that you would please accept my sincere apologies for my rude remarks, I am truly sorry for my behavior toward you and for my unkind remarks. Please forgive me. You sir, have my deepest respect and admiration." as she bowed low again, she barfed on his shiny shoes. She'd had a lot of crow that day.

Quercus ate little. She was still very aware of how Caudata had been killed and was reluctant to eat while the murderer was still free. Instead she picked up Tipper to make sure she didn't get stepped on and tried to help with the problem presented by the Inspector. The list of possible items in the puzzle reminded her of the murder they were trying to solve. (What was in that glass aside from the drug? More over what was used to kill her? What weapon? Did the police find it?) The questions ran around in Quercus' head as the puzzle progressed. Jean's announcement brought Quercus back to the situation at hand. They needed to find the killer and that would need a lot of work. Cin's out burst as he woke up confused her slightly but she opted to let it go. The last thing they needed right now were more suspects. As Cin went to get his coffee Quercus turned to Jean. "Who should we talk to first?"

Inspector Brie, reluctantly removing himself from giving lovecraft side glances and patting Frieda on the head, settles into his armchair.

"That case I gave you happened a while back, and, I must confess, drove all of us in the department a bit mad. We were confronted with three difficulties right away: the fact that one suspect wasn't admitting to even carrying a weapon, the lack of sufficient clock times, and the fact that, if the victim was already dead, why did no one notice or report it?

"It was extremely frustrating, and we spun our collective wheels for nearly a whole weekend, but in the end, we were able to correctly accuse Ms. Cheesy. She confessed after some more questioning, thus taking the suspicion off of poor Sir Squeaker, whom we almost arrested.

"So, how did we arrive at this conclusion? Well, we were misled by the lack of a fifth weapon and clue, until we realized Mr. Ratso was simply anxious to blame someone else, and since we determined he was the one without a weapon as well as the first to enter at 9:05, we saw that our ??? in those positions worked very well. Of course, we later found the dagger and the note, but we didn't need that piece of information.

"Once we had aligned the others with their weapons, motives, and clues left, we were faced with the real problem: those times. No matter what we did, we kept coming up with several scenarios that would have been possible. Combining all our pieces gave us two standouts as the murderer: Ms. Cheesy and Sir Squeaker. Ms. Cheesy's declaration of innocence, along with Sir Squeaker's admission of a heated argument almost led to his arrest! Temper can do odd things to people."

He winks at Frieda.

"Of course, spirited behavior can also add to attractiveness."

He is now smiling directly at lovecraft.

"But I digress. Once we cobbled together the most likely timelines and compared the two, we examined the other statements carefully. Ms. Scratchy, with her emphatic admission of carrying in a revolver, and Lord Buckteeth, who confessed to being in a rage, the third problem of the victim being dead actually resolved into the solution. He was, in a real sense, after Ms Cheesy's short fifteen minute visit, but he didn't know it yet, and he was able to argue with Lord Buckteeth. It was to be his last altercation, as the slow acting poison Ms. Cheesy administered finally did its work.

"We then settled on this solution:

Mr. Ratso, ??? (Dagger), Blackmail, ??? (Note), 9:05 Ms. Cheesy, Poison, Jealousy, Hair, 10:30 Sir Squeaker, Lead pole, Revenge, Blood, 10:45 Ms. Scratchy, Revolver, Greed, Footprint, 11:25 Lord Buckteeth, Rope, Rage, Fingerprint, 11:55

which made all the pieces lock together and explained all the 'missing' evidence securely. A final examination of the body revealed a small pinprick behind the victim's ear, which Ms. Cheesy claimed was her earring caught in her hair as she 'kissed Uncle goodnight.' It was instead, a point of a very small pin concealed in her hair fur that created the 'kiss of death.'

"So why give all of you this particularly difficult and maddening conundrum? Simply because I see a number of similarities in these cases. You have too little information, and too much; too many suspects and too few; and a confusion of relationships as well as secrets. After this, though, I believe you are ALL more capable than you can imagine. Good luck with your questioning!"

(( Aw crud, we got it wrong. =/ I took Squeaker's argument to mean the uncle was still alive...crud crud crud.))

(OOC: Since you all seem to be struggling with those suspect questions, I decided to release the deputy's report early. You now have only to question, compile your solution, and dress for the Denouement Dinner.)

Inspector Brie's deputy is an unassuming ground squirrel named Kandace. However, the firm set of her jaw indicates that she is very competent and thorough.

She is carrying quite a large box of additional evidence. She accepts the Inspector's nod and moves over to a portable screen.

"Good evening," she says with a smile. "I know it's nearly midnight, and you all have your questioning and concluding to do before the 'denouement dinner,' but I think you'll find this information useful. I've compiled it all for easy review. Oh and, please don't call me Candy."

Wow! It looks like Please-don't-call-me-Candy Kandace has hunted down a lot of info, which she now proceeds to divulge to you:

"During interviews on campus, I encountered a student who filmed this little exchange on her phone last month, just before the holiday break.

The video shows Caudata and Utah engaged in conversation. He looks weary; she's anxious:

Caudata: Utah, tell me what you think!

Utah: I can't think right now. You know how I feel about you, but this is a travesty! Besides, you're talking to the wrong guy. I'm not the jerk that's your current squeeze. It's not black and white, and it's not me. We're too young for this, all of us! Still, you know I won't desert you. Oh, hell with it!

Utah storms off. As soon as he's out of sight, Caudata starts sobbing.

"We consulted the coroner about the obvious implications of this, but he assures us that Ms. Marmota was not pregnant," Kandace says firmly, "nor had she been. If that idea was involved, it seems to have been a false alarm."

We also found a sealed dossier in the personnel office of the college."

This report contains a faded newspaper clipping showing Professor Eichhorn. The investigation concerning it reveals that he was prosecuted for beating a student who had disproved one of his theories. He was found guilty but the sentence was suspended.

"There was no sign of a struggle or any contusions on Ms. Marmota's body, though. More interesting is the fact that Ms. Marmota went to the Professor for several tutoring sessions, paid for my her father, so she could receive credit for making up a failed science course from another instructor. Evidently, the Professor visited here for those sessions.

Moving on, we have another video taken by one of the maids during a heated argument Ms. Marmota has with her sister:"

Caudata: You're here again? Layana: I have more studying to do. Caudata: It's the weekend. Layana: Well, I have two workloads remember? Caudata: You mean you haven't done mine yet? I have to hand that in on Monday! Honestly! Are you waiting for him? I can't stand him? I'll vomit if I stay and watch you slobber over that wrinkly old man again. I'm going out!

A single tear slides down Layana's cheek. Caudata puts a hand on her sister's shoulder, but Layana winces and turns away.

Caudata: Again? He's done it again?! You have to do something. Tell Father! Layana: No, no! I can't! He didn't mean it! Get out, Caudi, just get OUT!

"There is another piece from the security camera in the chemistry laboratory:"

The Professor is seen in a distressed mood, talking to Layana:

Eichhorn: So how much does she know? Everything? Because this is a very serious situation! I am a well-respected man. It looks bad enough that I made advances to a student but I've got a wife!

Layana: She won't tell anyone. She's only using it as an excuse for me to do her work for her. She's not interested in the scandal, she's got enough of that in her own life. Please, Eichhorn, don't overreact!

Eichhorn: How can you be sure? How can you be so sure she won't tell anyone? She hates you! You told me she hates you! It would only take one loose tongue in this place and the whole world will know about it! I can't believe I let this happen. No, no, not me, YOU let it happen! I won't stand for it!

He pushes Layana towards the door roughly and you hear several punches and sobbing in the corridor.

"On a happier note," Kandace concludes. "we have security footage of Woodrow Woodchuck landing his shuttle craft at the airport exactly as he said. Utah came to meet him and they both laughed about how roughly the plane landed. Mr. Woodchuck explained that he brought Ms. Bacina's luggage for her visit. Evidently, she planned for an extended stay, and didn't travel light. The two friends had a good laugh about this and they proceeded to the library together, just as Utah said."

Kandace smiles at the Inspector's approval and folds up the screen.

(ooc) And Questions are due to you by Wednesday 11:59pm Subeta time or was it Tuesday 11:59 Subeta time? I am sorry I have forgotten. I think I have been near the rainbow smoker to long.

(ooc) Wednesday. Rainbows....so deceptive.

Wilhemena struggles to open her eyes and winces at . She had been nearly useless on this case, but she feared i was due to the obvious food poisoning she was suffering.

"I shouldn't have eaten that mouse steak! I KNEW it was undercooked." She moans and sits up, taking a cup of water from Frieda and rubbing her paws over her face. "Dear Frieda, I am so very sorry I've been lax in my duties. Let me go wash my face and freshen up and then I will help you with our investigation!"

Wilhemena grabs her satchel and heads to a bathroom, hoping to awaken her body and mind with a splash of water and a change of clothes.

As you are readying your outfits for inspection by January 30th at 11:59 Subeta time, you hear gasps from downstairs and you can't resist peering over the railing.

What meets your eyes is an appalling sight. Inspector Brie can be glimpsed outside of the front door, conferring with a strange rabbit attired in a three piece suit and carrying a briefcase. On the sofa below you, Kandace is securing handcuffs on a cowering Layana.

You hear Kandace intoning,"Layana Marmota, you are under arrest for the premeditated murder of Caudata Marmota!"

Suddenly, a small figure rushes past you and runs down the stairs. It's Sibrica. "Stop!" she orders, in a commanding voice you have trouble imagining could have come from her. "She's innocent! Release her immediately!"

Kandace turns calmly. "Pardon me, miss, but you have no authority for a protest."

"Yes, I do! I'm Sibrica Marmota, and this is my home as well. Whatever Layana thinks of me, she's now my sister, and I know she didn't do it." With great determination, Sibrica walks over and sits next to Layana, taking one of her paws in hers.

"Layana, tell them you're innocent! I've already called Hoppy."

Layana simply shakes her head and says nothing. She keeps her eyes firmly downcast.

At that moment, Inspector Brie returns accompanied by the well-dressed rabbit. He looks upward at all of you. "Visiting detectives, may I present Hoppy Thumper, the Marmota family attorney. He informs me that Ms. Sibrica was adopted two weeks ago by Mr. Marmota and is indeed his new daughter."

Woodrow laughs, Utah gasps, Eichhorn sputters, and Bacina drops her wineglass.

"Once you've all dress and been approved," Inspector Brie continues, "why don't we all calm down and look at things logically. That was we can all look forward to your solutions at the Denouement Dinner. This will be held on February 4 before 11:59 Subeta time, so you all have a chance to think everything through. Right now, I could use another Scotch and Soda."

While everyone reels, you begin to think through these points:

1. Layana is handcuffed. Is she really guilty?
2. Why is Woodrow laughing?
3. Just what is going on with all these people?
4. Why isn't Layana talking?

Yes, it's time for your heads to go together while you decide who, what, why, how, and all that other stuff. You will spill it all, and spill it with style! Yes, you will!

(OOC: Your questions are being answered as quickly as possible and in order received. Please post your team solutions right here on this thread ON February 4th. You will then be given the "official" Inspector Brie solution, and the event will be over except for final scoring, standings, and the prize shop. Prizes will be more modest than WS, but there will be prizes. If anyone has anything in "desirable but not lavish" range that you would like to throw into the pot, you're welcome to send it over. :D Good luck, detectives!)

Do we need to include role playing into our solutions?

(OOC)

The final solution must include RP from each team member, yes. It should be compiled into one solution and submitted that way, but each of you will need to contribute a part.

Thank you, I will pass this along to the rest of the Madam's. :)

Abigail reels from the scene unfolding downstairs. She comes to her senses quickly and writes down every detail she sees in her notebook. She sighs heavily as this now puts her in a serious conundrum.

Turning to walk away, to discuss things with her team, all she can hear is the steady call of justice begging to be answered with the pronouncement of the true perpetrator.

"Our work is cut out for us," Abigail mutters,while casting one last sideways glance downstairs.

"I know how you feel..."Jill murmured to Hazel as she massaged her temple with her free hand. She felt like her head was about to explode. She was still trying to piece the puzzles together with her fellow detectives after interviewing the guests when everything went into an uproar. Layana getting arrested, the reactions at Sibrica's adoption... How does it all fit in? "My gut tells me that it wasn't Layana. But her silence tells me she knows something about it that we don't." Jill sighs and flips through her notes impatiently. "The answer is somewhere in here... I'm just not seeing it yet. There must be something that I missed."

So the person who is guilty is definitely someone that has been in contact with us at some point, right?