WHAT THE BUTLER SAW ......
LET'S ALL GO TO THE LOBBY
THE BLUE ONE NEXT TO THE RED HERRING
"I came for the barbecue. KennyC called me up today. He said beppe was going to whip up something extra special tonight -- some sort of chicken delight, or chicken dear .... I have trouble sometimes understanding that beppe fellow. Real nice .... but .... he has his own way of putting things. But boy can he cook! So I packed up my ABBA CD's and came right over."
Noticing the sea of strained faces staring at her, dg asked "Say Jeeves, why is everyone staring at me?"
*cough*
"I was compelled under duress to divulge a description of your altercation with Pshrynk earlier this evening. I'm afraid they have placed a rather sinister interpretation upon the events and your remarks." replied Jeeves in a hushed tone, as he handed the walking stick to her.
Zelda jumped in quickly, before Jeeves could continue, and demanded: "Jeeves overheard you threaten Pshrynk tonight over a book. Why did you have to kill him? Was it worth it? What had he done to you?"
Desertgrandma's mouth fell open in shocked surprise, then she held her sides and began to laugh loud and long. "Shucks honey, I never laid a hand on old Pshrynk. We were just talking about that old pulp mystery we were both reading. He had got ahead of me and was threatening to tell me the identity of the murderer, so I yelled 'No you don't' at him to make him stop. He saw I was irritated so he kept on pretending to give away the ending. I yelled back 'It's not gonna happen' and told him if he didn't stop 'I'd make you sorry.' When I picked up my big stick he got the message and shut his trap. That storm was kicking up so loud I had to shout to make him hear me. You do know he's deaf in one ear, but won't admit it. He was alive and kicking when I left here to find KennyC and tonight's dinner."
"Encore une théorie qui tombe à l'eau ! Il nous reste qui comme suspect ?"
"Say," she continued, "where is that book anyway? I wanted to finish it tonight after dinner. Have you seen it?"
Zelda looked at filip who looked at Rock Lobster, who asked "Is there enough barbecue for all of us?"
Before Zelda could regain control of the conversation, dg replied "Sure enough! There's home-made biscuits too."
She sniffed the air in the hallway and exclaimed "It's done! Beppe must have found the sauce. Let's go and snare a drumstick before Kenny hogs it all! Lead the way Jeeves!"
"Very good madam. This way if you please." With this, Jeeves swanned down the hallway, closely followed by desertgrandma, and then, after the briefest of pauses, by Rock Lobster.
"Et tu Rock?" whispered Zelda.
"Hey dollface, I'm not getting any reward for all my work tonight so I might as well get a free meal!"
Filip slunk off too, muttering "They only served us stale peanuts on the plane. And that imbecile Lobster stole and ate my packet. I'm starving. You coming Zelda?"
Zelda was left behind, alone in the now darkened library, still fitfully lit by the occasional flash of lightning as the storm finally began to wane. Well, technically not alone -- Pshrynk's body was still lying on the hearth. At least it had stopped changing rooms. For now. It was like being the last audience member sitting in the theater after the movie is over, watching all the credits for a clue as to what you've just seen -- but failed to understand.
Tonight's events swirled through Zelda's head -- it seemed she had been trapped in this forsaken building for weeks! Nothing made any sense any more. First Pshrynk was dead, maybe, than alive, sort of, then dead again. How could these things happen? Had she fallen while climbing into the building and hit her head? Did she drink too much wine with ravenne on an empty stomach? Were nekokami's donuts spiked with drugs? What was in the ice cream? Had listening to Rock Lobster finally snapped her slender hold on reality? Did filip really care for her? Would they save her any white meat?
All the suspects had proffered plausible explanations for their violent scenes with Pshrynk. All the MR members had reasons to be present here tonight, except her! All the Jeeves had borne a red spot, but what did they mean? Why did everyone but Zelda not notice the changing face(s) of Jeeves? Could she make any sense from the tattered text in the continuously destroyed paperback? Zelda's head bowed slowly into her waiting hands, her shoulders shook with fear and fatigue.
"C'est forcément la fin ! ça ne peut quand même pas continuer ! ...non ?"
A strangled sob escaped from her trembling lips as the full enormity of the situation fell upon her. She had failed! Utterly and completely failed! She had no idea ... no clue .... no inkling as to who the murderer or murderers really were.
DO YOU?
[Will Zelda confess to murder to get this story over with?]
[Will they save any chicken for her?]
[Can anyone help solve this impenetrable mystery?]
[Hmmmmm...... it's a toughie!]