C'mon!  You can make it to the top!

I love this ski lodge! You're amazing, keep going!

Also, me and Strawberri got the carriages ready....but maybe that's just a red herrring.  

Part Twenty-Nine

~

Slowly, Jubilee opened their eyes, wincing at the bright light. They blinked, confused. Where…? It looked like they were in the infirmary. Groggily, they sat up, trying to remember how they got there. Something to do with carriages? Right, they had been racing carriages, then one collapsed, and they hadn’t been able to stop in time. The last thing they remembered was flying through the air and a sharp pain behind their ear. That pain was still there, only now dull and throbbing.

“It’s good to see you awake!” a voice said. Jubilee looked to see Hollyshock sitting beside the bed.

“How long was I unconscious?” Jubi asked.

Holly shrugged. “About a half hour or so. We’ve been taking turns sitting with you.”

As they thought about the collapsed carriage, Jubilee felt a surge of panic. “Is everyone else okay? Is anyone hurt? Or…”

Holly seemed to guess the rest of the sentence. “Everyone’s fine, they’re all alive. Strawberri took a hit to the head, but she’s okay. She went to the banquet hall to eat something.”

Jubilee sighed with relief. “Good. Do we have any idea what happened?”

“We’re pretty sure it was sabotage.”

Jubi leaned closer to Holly. “Between you and me, who do you think the murderer is?”

Holly blanched at the question. “Oh, I- I’m not sure. I don’t think we should be throwing out accusations- I mean, it could be anyone.”

“Well, I think it’s Agent Winter.”

“Why?” Holly seemed surprised by the accusation.

“Think about it. She’s taken on the leader role, so she could be doing anything to throw us off the trail.”

“I mean… I guess you’re right,” Holly said hesitantly.

Jubilee nodded decisively. “Yeah. Before, I kind of thought it was Evergreen, but she was in the carriage that collapsed, so it wouldn’t make sense.”

Holly nodded, looking uncomfortable. “I see what you mean, but I don’t think we should accuse one another. We have to work together.” Jubi sighed, but nodded. “Let’s talk about something else. How’s your head?”

Dusk looked curiously at the sign hanging on the wooden door. “Goldie’s bedffice? What does that mean?”

Gracia, standing next to her, shrugged. “Let’s find out.” She knocked on the door, and they both waited.

Dusk and Gracia had decided they needed to tell Goldie what had happened with the carriages, so they’d trekked up to Goldie’s room, following Holly’s directions. Dusk felt a little hesitant, since they hadn’t told Goldie about the carriage racing in the first place. She didn’t think the Palace Keeper would be angry, but you never know.

The door opened, and there stood Goldie, looking decidedly frazzled. “Oh! It’s you two. Uh, what’s up?”

Dusk cleared her throat. “Well, um, can we come in?”

Goldie immediately shook her head. She leaned against the doorframe, feigning casualness and effectively blocking the CBers from seeing inside the room. “Sorry, but now is… not really the best time. What do you need?”

“We had a bit of a mishap this morning,” Gracia said, taking the lead. “We were… well, we were racing carriages around the palace-”

“Really?” Goldie interrupted. She grinned, some of her usual upbeat attitude showing through. “Sorry, continue.”

Dusk picked up the story. “We were racing, and one of the carriages just collapsed.”

Shock played across Goldie’s face. “What do you mean, collapsed? Is everyone alright?”

“Everyone’s fine,” Gracia assured her. “Jubilee was unconscious in the infirmary last I saw, but we’re all alive.”

“Good, good, that’s good.” Goldie nodded several times, a far-off look in her eyes. Not for the first time, Dusk wondered at the Palace Keeper’s odd behavior. Goldie lapsed into silence, staring at nothing.

Dusk coughed. “Goldie? You there?”

Goldie started, then looked guiltily at the two CBers. “Oh, yeah, sorry. Well, um, thanks for telling me, tell Jubi I hope they’re feeling better, and, um, I’ll see you at dinner!” With that, she retreated into the bedffice and slammed the door shut. Gracia and Dusk exchanged a look.

“What is up with her?” Dusk asked as they walked away.

Gracia shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“But you do agree she’s acting stranger than usual?”

“Definitely. I wonder why she wouldn’t let us in…” Gracia ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I don’t know. I’m going to head back to the infirmary to see if Jubi’s awake. Are you coming with?”

Dusk shook her head. She hadn’t yet eaten anything due to that morning’s morbid scavenger hunt (had it really only been that morning?). “No, I think I’ll head down to the banquet hall. I’ll see you later.”

After parting ways with Dusk, Gracia walked in the direction of the infirmary, thinking. It had been quite the day. Between the murderer’s game, the portrait, the locked door, the earthquake, and the sabotaged carriage racing, there was a lot to mull over. She decided to focus on the immediate problem- the murderer.

She assembled the clues in her mind. It had to be a CBer, they’d determined that ages ago. Someone with knowledge of the palace, probably, although she couldn’t see how that applied to any of them. All of the guests had arrived at the same time.

The last attempted murder had been the carriage sabotage. She thought about the events leading up to it, and she frowned. Jubilee and Strawberri had gotten the carriages ready beforehand, which cast immediate suspicion on both of them. But only one of them would be the murderer, unless they were working together? And would they have even had enough time to sabotage one of the carriages?

Gracia shook her head to clear it, and realized she had reached the infirmary. Dismissing her musings, she entered. She saw that Jubilee was conscious and sitting up in their bed, which brought a smile to her face. “You’re awake!”

Jubi winced and nodded. “Yep, and I’ve got a killer headache.”

Holly was sitting by the bed, and she shot Gracia a smile. Gracia’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as her mind went back into detective mode. Could Holly be the murderer? She’d sat out the carriage racing and looked nervous the whole time- did she sabotage the carriage and not want to risk getting hurt?

Almost immediately she dismissed the notion. It was perfectly reasonable for Holly to have been nervous about racing the carriages. The activity had been fairly dangerous, sabotage or no.

“Hey, Holly,” she greeted, sitting down on the other side of Jubilee’s bed. “I’ll hang around here for a while, so you can go get food or relax or something.”

Holly nodded gratefully and stood. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a bit, then. I hope your headache feels better, Jubi!” She left the room.

Gracia leaned back in her chair. “So, want to hear how weird Goldie was being just now?”

In the banquet hall, Strawberri was finishing up her (very late) breakfast. She’d had a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a mug of hot cocoa. She took a final sip of the latter and stood, picking up her dishes. After depositing them in the kitchen sink, she left the banquet hall.

She was feeling melancholy, not at all her usual cheery self. She supposed that’s what murder attempts do to you. Strawberri gingerly touched her bandaged forehead. It felt sore and tender. Thinking maybe she would head up to her room and take a nap, she turned toward the main staircase. A loud crashing noise from a nearby hallway made her pause, however. She redirected her steps toward the noise.

As she turned a corner, Strawberri saw the source of the crashing. There on the floor sat Goldie, looking slightly dazed, next to the scattered pieces of a suit of armor. It looked like she had knocked it over.

“Goldie!” Berri exclaimed. “Are you alright?” She hurried over and helped the Palace Keeper up.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Goldie assured her. “Thanks. I just knocked over that suit of armor, whoops!” She laughed, almost hysterically.

Strawberri hesitantly joined her in laughing, then stopped when Goldie did abruptly. “Right. So did you hear what happened this morning?”

Goldie nodded sympathetically. “Yes, Dusk and Gracia told me. I’m sorry, how are you feeling?” She indicated the bandage around the CBer’s head.

“A little sore, but okay.”

Goldie nodded, suddenly looking absentminded. She crouched to the floor and started poking around in the pile of broken armor. “Well, that’s good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business to attend to, so you can run along!”

Strawberri stared at her, confused. “What?”

“I’ve got things to do, so please skedaddle!”

“Things to do that involve sitting on the ground next to a suit of armor?”

“Yep.”

Still confused, Strawberri watched Goldie root through the pieces of metal. It almost looked like she was… searching for something.

“What are you looking for?” Berri asked.

“Ack!” Goldie jumped. “Oh, it’s still you. Uh, what makes you think I’m looking for something? Hm?”

“What else could you be doing?”

“Fair enough. I’m just looking for… something. That I’ve lost. Of no real importance.” She stared at Strawberri for a moment, then said hurriedly, “You know what, this has been nice, I’m going to go look elsewhere, I’ll see you later!” Goldie walked quickly away, leaving Strawberri wondering what in the world had just happened.

In the Amethyst Room, Evergreen was pacing. She’d been doing so ever since leaving the infirmary, trying to get herself to calm down. Everything was moving too fast…

She forced herself to stop and took a seat on the edge of her bed. After a few deep breaths, she could think clearly again.

The murders would keep coming. There was nothing she could do about that. She could leave, but would that help? Would anything help?

She buried her head in her hands and mumbled something to herself, but her words were muffled. She sat like that for a long time, until eventually, exhausted, she lay back and fell asleep.

After leaving the infirmary, Hollyshock made her way outside. The weather was as nice as it had been all day, but it couldn’t lift her spirits. She was tired; tired of the murders, tired of being afraid, tired of missing people. Almost unconsciously, she began to walk, until she found herself at the base of the tall oak tree where so many of her friends were buried. There were seven stones, seven graves, though eight of their number were missing. Holly realized, for the first time, that they had never found Emekittycon’s body. They had nothing to bury.

Walking over to a nearby flowerbed, she picked up a large, smooth stone. In afterthought, she also picked eight daffodils. She placed the stone by the others, and laid a flower on each grave.

She sat cross-legged in front of the stones, gazing at them sadly. She felt maybe she should say something for her impromptu funeral. “I- I miss you all,” she started. It felt a little strange to be talking to a bunch of rocks, but she forged on. “It’s been a while. We’re all okay here up at the palace. There was an incident this morning, but everyone’s fine. It’s been a bit lonely without you all. I’m- I’m so sorry.” Tears began to fall, and suddenly it didn’t feel that strange anymore. She felt like her friends were there with her, like they could hear her. It was comforting to think they were listening. “I’m sorry this happened, I’m sorry we couldn’t save you, I’m sorry it’s still happening. I wish you all could come back. I wish we could stop the murderer. I wish...” She wiped tears away from her cheek. “I guess I wish a lot of things.” She lapsed into silence, having said all she could.

And somehow, she felt a little better.

Agent Winter sat on the bottom step of a spiral staircase, staring at the floor. Normally, she would want to see where the staircase led- a secret room? A turret? But she was too angry to care.

She was startled when she heard hurried footsteps from around the corner. She stood, and a moment later came face to face with Goldie. Looking surprised, the Palace Keeper skidded to a halt.

“Win!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, why do you ask?”

Goldie’s gaze flicked uneasily to the stairs behind Winter, then back. “No reason. Just wondering. Shouldn’t, uh, shouldn’t you be with the others?”

Win shook her head. “I needed to think. Be alone for a bit, you know?”

“Yes, I do know,” Goldie said. “That’s what I’m doing, too! Alone time, to think. Yeah, that’s what I’m doing. Thinking. Alone.” She finished her ramble with an uncertain nod.

Win gave her a look. “Sure,” she said, not convinced. “I suppose you heard what happened this morning?”

Goldie nodded quickly. “Yes, I did. Terrible. Now, if you’d excuse me?” She made a shooing motion at Agent Winter, who frowned.

“Why are you acting strange? What are you hiding?”

“Me? Hiding? I’m not hiding anything!” Goldie’s voice rose in pitch with each word.

“Yes, you are,” Win said, feeling hot anger blossom in her chest. “You’re hiding something from everyone. You’re acting weird. Do you even care that people are dying?”

“Of course I do!” Goldie protested, but Winter wasn’t finished.

“There’s a murderer, and what are you doing to keep us safe? Nothing! You’re just lurking around, being suspicious, and telling us not to bother you! You know something, something important, and you’re refusing to tell us!” By the end of this tirade, Win was shouting, but she didn’t care. It felt good to unleash her pent-up frustration from the stressful days at the Golden Palace Hotel.

Goldie waited until the CBer was finished, then responded, the calmest she had been all day. “I’m sorry to hear you feel that way, Winter. I do care, and I promise I’m doing my best to keep you all safe, even if you don’t realize it.”

Agent Winter glared at her for a moment, then turned on her heel and strode away.

Bluebell gasped as the ladder she was standing on tilted precariously. She grabbed the edge of the bookshelf to steady it, then reached again for the enormous book a few feet away.

She was in the library, attempting to research the palace. She thought maybe if she knew more about it, she could start figuring out answers to some of her questions. At first, she hadn’t known where to start- the library was very large. Fortunately, there was a helpful card catalogue that showed her where all the books she wanted were located. Unfortunately, most of them were located up on the top shelves, which led her to her current situation.

Bluebell managed to grasp the spine of the large book and pull it off the shelf. She very nearly dropped it- the cover was about the size of her torso. The catalogue had described it as containing the palace’s blueprints, which she figured would be helpful.

She managed to get the massive book down the ladder, where she added it to her growing pile. Checking the index card where she’d written all the titles she wanted to find, she saw that there was only one book left: A Long, Well-worded, and Thoroughly Detailed History of This Castle. She had determined that this book would also be located on a top shelf, so she rolled the ladder over to the correct section and began once again to climb, counting shelves as she went. She soon reached the eleventh shelf and scanned the numbers on the books’ spines.

“Eight-ninety-four, eight-ninety-five, eight-ninety-six,” she counted under her breath. “Eight-ninety-seven, eight-ninety-eight, eight-” Bluebell stopped abruptly. Where eight-ninety-nine should have been was an empty space on the shelf.  She double checked her index card for the number. Yes, the history book she was looking for was number eight-ninety-nine. She glanced around to see if perhaps the books were out of order, but everything else seemed to be correct. With a shrug, she climbed back down the ladder. The book was missing, there was nothing she could do about that. Maybe she’d ask Goldie about it later.

Upon reaching the ground, she heaved her stack of books over to a table and pulled up an armchair. Opening the book of blueprints to the first page, she settled back to read.

Much later that night, when most of the CBers were asleep, Goldie frantically paced her bedffice, her hands clutching the sides of her head. The room was in shambles- the comforter had been stripped off the bed and lay in a heap on the floor, drawers were pulled out and their contents scattered, the desk chair was overturned, and papers were everywhere.

The Palace Keeper didn’t know what to do. How could she have let this happen? She had to keep them all safe, but she didn’t know how anymore.

She righted the desk chair and sat down, letting out a shaky breath. “Where, where, where?” she muttered, her eyes darting around the room. Inevitably, they landed on the small pile of shattered glass sitting in the middle of her desk. She didn’t know how long she stared at it, but she knew that eventually, she couldn’t anymore. She folded her arms and put her head down, eventually falling into an uneasy sleep.

While Goldie was in her bedffice, someone else was roaming the palace in the dark. The murderer was making their way down to the dungeon room where they had kept Em, and where they were keeping their latest acquisition. They slipped into the dark, quiet room, producing and lighting a candle so they could see. There were no windows down in the dungeon.

Quickly, they crossed the room and crouched in the back corner, the candlelight illuminating their face. They reached out and felt around the wall until they found a loose stone. Gripping it tightly, they worked it free. The stone fell onto the ground with a thud, making the murderer wince. Logically, they knew no one could hear the sound, but it never hurt to be careful.

With one hand, they reached into the crevice in the wall. Their fingers closed around something small and cold, and they pulled it out. A smile touched their face, and they felt almost giddy. They had it at last, the most important piece of the puzzle. It had taken them this long, but everything was falling into place.

The candlelight danced in the murderer’s eyes as they stared down at the gleaming silver key in their palm.

~~~

Happy belated Thanksgiving! This was a pretty long part, and quite a lot happened! I love reading all your thoughts and encouragements, thank you for topping the thread!

Part Thirty

~

Gracia sat up in bed, stretching. She put her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the early morning sun and looked around. It didn’t seem like anyone else in the Amethyst Room was awake. As her drowsiness began to fade, her eyebrows furrowed. She recounted the empty beds. Three. Someone was missing.

“Wake up!” she shouted, throwing off her blankets. “Guys, get up!”

“Hm?” Holly said sleepily. She had been having a nice dream, something about clouds.

Gracia poked her in the arm, and Holly clumsily tried to swat her hand away. “Someone’s missing.” This got everyone up and out of bed almost immediately.

“Who?” Strawberri asked frantically.

“Bluebell. Come on, let’s get the others.”

They entered the Tanzanite Room to find its three occupants already awake.

“We heard you yell, what’s wrong?” Dusk asked.

“Bluebell’s missing!” Evergreen responded. She looked terrified.

Agent Winter started for the door. “We have to go look for her!” She led the CBers out into the hallway. “Does anyone know where she was last seen?”

Gracia thought back to the night before, but she couldn’t remember if Bluebell had been in the Amethyst Room when she’d fallen asleep. She shrugged, frustrated. “I don’t know, I went to bed early last night.”

“We could check the library!” Holly piped up. “That’s where she said she was going when I took over watching Jubilee.” With no better plan, they set off for the library.

Gracia pushed the large doors open and let her eyes quickly scan the room. Her breath caught when she saw the still form of Bluebell, slumped over a table.

Dusk gasped. “Is she-?”

Jubilee ran over to their friend. The closer they got, the more relieved they felt. They could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed. “She’s okay!” Jubi called in a softer voice. “She’s just asleep.”

The other CBers approached the table to see for themselves, and were soon satisfied that their friend was alive.

Gracia leaned forward and gently shook her shoulder. “Bluebell, wake up.”

Bluebell’s head shot up, and she looked around wildly before realizing who was surrounding her. She relaxed. “Oh, it’s you. What are you guys doing here?” She frowned. “Come to think of it, what am I doing here? What time is it?”

“It’s morning,” Dusk told her. “Did you sleep here?”

Bluebell nodded ruefully. “I guess so.”

“What were you thinking?” Winter asked. “You were here alone all night, you could have died!”

“Well, she didn’t,” Jubilee said helpfully.

“I’m really sorry,” Bluebell said. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I was just reading.”

“It’s okay, we’re just glad you’re safe,” Strawberri said. She peered at the book Bluebell had been using as a pillow. “What were you reading?”

Bluebell’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I’m glad you asked.” She pulled the large book closer and started flipping through the pages. “I was researching the palace yesterday, to try and figure out some answers. You know, like why Goldie’s acting so strange? And I found some interesting stuff. I’ll show you now, since you’re all here.” She found the page she wanted and smoothed it out.

Evergreen looked at it. “Is that a blueprint?”

“Yes!” Bluebell said. “It’s one of the original blueprints, from when the palace was first built! When I was looking at it, I noticed something. On this blueprint, one of the turrets isn’t there.” When she said ‘one of the turrets’, she shot meaningful looks at Gracia and Dusk.

“Really?” Dusk asked, intrigued.

“Really. So I looked at some of the later blueprints, and I found one of the turret itself. It’s dated about ten years ago.”

“Fascinating, but what does it mean?” Win asked. “Does that have anything to do with the murderer?”

“I don’t know. But I was looking at something that we know had to do with the murderer.” Bluebell pulled a piece of paper out from under the book. “Look, these are the diagrams we got from the coin game. I think the rigged explosives are how they destroyed the Sapphire Room, but I’m not sure what they used this trap for.”

The CBers were all confused by this new information. It was like they were being given one puzzle piece at a time, but they couldn’t figure out how to fit them together. The result was frustrating.

“Let’s go down to breakfast,” Holly suggested. “Maybe stepping away will make things make more sense.” Everyone agreed (they were all hungry). Leaving the book of blueprints on the table, they made their way out of the library and down to the banquet hall.

Upon arriving, they found that although there was food on the tables, the banquet hall was empty. Goldie was usually up and waiting for them at breakfast, and not seeing her was concerning, to say the least.

“Maybe she’ll come down later?” Strawberri said hesitantly, sitting down at the wooden table.

Win sat down next to her. “I guess so.” She felt bad for yelling at the host the day before. It had been a stressful day, and Goldie’s strange behavior hadn’t helped. Win had hoped to apologize at breakfast, but it seemed that she wouldn’t be able to.

The CBers ate their breakfast in relative silence. As persistent- alright, annoying- as the Palace Keeper could be, they found themselves wishing Goldie was there to try and cheer them up.

After they finished eating, the CBers returned to the Amethyst Room. They hoped to work out some kind of plan for the day, something to distract them. As they brainstormed, however, no one could get the mystery of the murderer out of their head.

“Maybe we could… take a hike?” Ever suggested weakly. They had been sitting for nearly ten minutes, throwing out suggestions of activities no one was really interested in.

Jubilee sighed. “Look, this is pointless. None of us are in any mood to have fun right now, and I don’t think we could even if we tried. Why don’t we just go back to the library and do more research?”

Bluebell nodded. “That sounds good to me. Maybe you guys can help me find this book I was looking for yesterday, I think it’s in the wrong place.”

Win nodded decisively. “Alright, it’s settled. Let’s go.”

Following Win, the CBers left the Amethyst Room. All except Strawberri, who was kneeling to tie her shoe. She looked up as someone reentered the room.

“Oh, hey! I’m coming, don’t worry. My shoe was untied.” The other person didn’t answer. Strawberri’s eyes darted to their hand. “What- what’s that?” She saw the gleam of silver, and realized suddenly what it was. Her face turned pale. Backing away, she opened her mouth and let out an ear-piercing scream.

Out in the hallway, the CBers heard the scream and froze in their tracks. Gracia was the first to snap into action. She sprinted back toward the room and wrenched the door open. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene before her.

Backed into the corner of the room was Strawberri, her eyes glazed with terror. Standing in front of her, looking back towards the door, was a dark-haired figure looking equally as scared.

It was Evergreen, and she was holding a knife.

Part Thirty-One

~

“Stop!” Agent Winter shouted from the doorway.

Evergreen looked at her, then at Strawberri. She slowly backed away from the other CBer. With a squeak, Strawberri ran over to the others. Gracia put an arm protectively around her.

“Evergreen?” Holly said in a quiet, heartbroken voice. “But- but why?”

Evergreen shook her head frantically. The knife fell out of her numb fingers, and she winced as it hit the floor with a clatter. “No! No, no, please. I- I can explain! It’s not- I’m not-” She buried her face in her hands, and the CBers could hear muffled sobs. They looked at one another, baffled and scared.

“What should we do?” Dusk asked. “She’s… she’s the murderer, we can’t just leave her on the loose.”

Bluebell looked at her distraught friend- or who she thought was her friend. “I don’t know. I guess lock her up? But I don’t know where.”

“How about the Tanzanite Room?” Winter suggested. “We can see if Goldie can install a lock, and we can post guards.”

“But where will the three of us sleep?” Jubilee asked, gesturing to themself, Winter, and Dusk.

“You can stay in Amethyst,” Gracia said. “We’ll have three empty beds with… with Evergreen locked up.” It hurt to acknowledge what was happening. Although they all had known for a while that one of their own was the murderer, it was a different story entirely to see it play out.

“Well, if that’s settled, who wants to go tell Goldie?” Winter asked.

“I’ll go,” Bluebell volunteered. She was more than eager to get away from the madness.

“And while you’re doing that, why don’t I take Strawberri down to the kitchen for some ice cream or something?” Dusk suggested quietly. “I’ll see if I can get her to calm down.” Strawberri was still in hysterics, which was understandable, given that she had very nearly been killed.

Bluebell, Dusk, and Strawberri left, and the other CBers began the task of turning the Tanzanite Room into a cell. They left Evergreen in the Amethyst Room, since she was still crying and didn’t seem up to going anywhere, but had Jubilee keep watch outside in case.

They started by moving Jubi, Win, and Dusk’s belongings out into the hallway. While they did so, they sent Holly off in search of some kind of table.

“So we can interrogate her,” Winter explained.

The bunk beds were all pushed against the back wall, and the locks on all the windows were double checked. Agent Winter did a sweep of the room, satisfying herself that there was no way for someone to escape. As she did so, she heard a slow scraping sound from the hallway.

“A little help, please?” It was Holly, struggling to drag a large wooden table down the hallway. Jubilee ran to pick up the other end, and together they carried it to the Tanzanite Room. It took a bit of maneuvering to get it through the doorway, but they managed it.

“Looks pretty good to me,” Gracia said, nodding approvingly at the new cell/interrogation room. She sighed, suddenly remembering who it was for. “Should we bring her in, then?”

The CBers escorted Evergreen from the Amethyst Room to the Tanzanite Room. She didn’t protest, just walked in with her head down.

Bluebell knocked loudly on the door to Goldie’s bedffice. She waited a moment, but there was no answer. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Goldie! This is urgent, are you in there?” Still nothing. Growing nervous, Bluebell tried the doorknob and found it to be unlocked. Hesitantly, she opened the door. “Goldie?”

The room was a mess- overturned drawers and papers strewn everywhere. The Palace Keeper was curled up in her desk chair, resting her cheek on the desk and snoring lightly.

Bluebell walked over to her, carefully avoiding things on the floor. She reached out and shook Goldie’s shoulder. “Goldie? Goldie, wake up.”

In an instant, Goldie’s head snapped up. The desk chair started to roll backwards, and she flailed her arms wildly to regain control. “I’m awake what’s going on what happened who-” She saw Bluebell. “Oh! It’s you. Thank goodness, for a moment I thought- well, nevermind. What is it?”

Goldie looked almost as bad as her room. Her hair was frizzy and sticking every which way, her dress was wrinkled, and her eyes were red and bloodshot.

Bluebell paused for a moment to look concernedly at the host. “Goldie, are you alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine! Um, ignore the room. Now what did you need?”

“Well, see, the thing is…” She shifted her weight nervously. “We kind of caught the murderer.”

Back at the rooms, Goldie and Bluebell found the other CBers waiting, including Dusk and Strawberri, who looked a little calmer. They were grouped outside of the Tanzanite Room.

Goldie hurried up to them. “I heard what happened! Strawberri, are you okay?” Berri nodded timidly. “I can’t believe it. Evergreen?”

“We can’t believe it either,” Holly said sadly.

“So can you put a lock on the door?” Win asked.

Goldie nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll send someone up right away.” She left, presumably to find a staff member to install a lock.

“She looks like a mess,” Jubilee commented after she was out of earshot.

“Be nice,” Holly admonished half-heartedly.

“What should be do now?” Dusk asked. “Just… leave her in there?”

“We’ll interrogate her,” Win said. “Find out what she knows, why she’s been doing this.”

“Who should do it?” Bluebell asked. “It shouldn’t be all of us.”

“I think Win should,” Gracia said. “After all, she’s the Lead Detective.” She gave a half-smile.

Winter nodded. “Alright. Clue Master, care to join me?”

Gracia nodded. “Is everyone okay with that?” There was a chorus of assent from the CBers.

“Good,” Win said, “because I want answers.”

About an hour later, after the lock was installed on the door, Agent Winter and Gracia entered the makeshift interrogation room. The others had gone down to the library, planning on doing research with Bluebell like they’d originally intended. Winter was eager to begin the questioning, but Gracia had her doubts. If Evergreen was the murderer, she didn’t look forward to facing her, but… was there a chance she wasn’t?

When they walked in, Evergreen was sitting on one of the beds, staring listlessly at the floor. She looked up when the door opened, and her face filled with cautious hope.

“What- what’s going on?” she asked.

“Take a seat,” Gracia instructed, gesturing to a chair on the other side of the table. She did do, and the two detectives sat across from her. “This is an interrogation,” Gracia explained. “We have some questions for you.”

“You have to listen to me, I-”

“We ask the questions,” Win cut her off sharply. “You answer. Got it?”

Ever nodded helplessly.

“First question,” Gracia said. “Are you the murderer?”

“No!” Evergreen said, nearly shouting. “No, I’m not, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! I’m not the murderer!”

“Then how do you explain what happened with Strawberri?” Win asked angrily. “That looked pretty murderous to me.”

Gracia put a hand on Win’s shoulder to calm her down. “Okay, then. Second question. Ever, were you trying to kill Strawberri?”

Evergreen hung her head. She mumbled something they couldn’t hear.

“What?”

She looked up to meet their eyes. “Yes. I was trying to kill her.”

“So you are the murderer!” Win exploded.

“No! No, I’m not!”

Win took a breath. “You aren’t making any sense.”

”You really aren’t,” Gracia said. “Evergreen, can you please explain? Why would you kill her if you aren’t the murderer?”

Evergreen sighed, then began to speak. “I’m not the murderer, but I’ve been helping them.”

Gracia leaned forward. “Helping them? For how long?”

“Since the beginning.”

“But why?” Win’s face was a mask of anger, confusion, and concern.

“They- they told me what was going to happen. They told me they were a murderer, and if I didn’t help them… they would kill me.”

“So, what, you just helped them kill everyone else? Was that the deal?” Anger was definitely outweighing the other emotions on Win’s face.

“So what have you actually done?” Gracia asked. “How did you help them?”

Ever took a breath. “Well, when Pancake was in the infirmary… I was the one who poisoned her. I stayed behind and put it in her glass while you and Dolphin were gone and Em was crying.”

“So you’re still a murderer,” Winter said darkly.

Ever nodded dejectedly. “Yes. But I’m not the murderer- you have to understand, there’s a difference.”

“Is that it until now?” Gracia pressed.

“No. The night Em went missing, I set up the trap. I didn’t know who it was for at the time, but I figured it out when she went missing.”

Gracia opened her mouth to ask if there was anything else, but Evergreen kept speaking.

“And a couple days ago, they told me that they had sabotaged one of the carriages. I was supposed to suggest that we all go carriage racing, and… you saw how that turned out. But no one died!”

Win frowned. “But wait, weren’t you in the carriage that collapsed?”

Ever nodded. “To draw suspicion away from myself.”

“Clever, I’ll give them that,” Gracia muttered. “So, since Pancake, this is the first actual murder you’ve tried to commit?”

Ever nodded again.

Winter’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know if we should believe you or not. Even if you are telling the truth, you still helped the murderer kill people.”

“I didn’t want to!” Evergreen burst out. “You have to believe me when I say I never wanted anyone to die. I was just- I was scared!”

“I believe you, Ever,” Gracia said. Winter didn’t look so sure, but let her continue. “Can you tell us who the murderer is?”

Ever shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Can you at least tell us why they’re doing this?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. They never told me.”

Gracia sighed. “Then I think that concludes the interrogation.” Winter nodded in agreement, and the two stood.

Evergreen cautiously rose as well. “Are- are you going to let me out?”

Win glared at her. “Not a chance.”

“We need to discuss what you told us,” Gracia said in a kinder tone. “I’m sorry Ever.”

Ever collapsed back in the chair. “So am I.”

The two CBers left, locking the door behind them.

~~~

@Silver Crystal, thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it. That was a really good theory, I didn't think of that!

@Nightfall, hey! Great theory, looks like you might have been right. :)

@Cynthia, thank you! I really appreciate you sticking with the story, your nice comments always motivate me to keep writing.