Star Trek: Starbase 777

Father goose led his gooslings into the hallway. As soon as they arrived to the middle of it, Sy stopped to take a good look-around, curious to see if there were any indicators of which way should be selected first - or not! He wasn't an expert in these sort of puzzles and not even that smart, but hopefully his enthusiasm and willingness to teamwork will be enough. Unless he gets murked, of course. Which, hey - part of the game...

4

Lapan had to resist the urge to honk at the goose parade, completely unaware of an older joke pertaining to ducks. Instead, he chittered quietly as he followed after Syrax; it never hurt to walk behind tall people who knew what they were doing! And, if needed, he could help decrypt any clues. He was a communications officer after all, that was kind of what he did best.

3

Tally heard the distinct whooshing of a fire being put out in another room. Who was over there? Consumed with a sudden curiosity, they broke the line made their way to the #┊-lounge (edited)

Unfortunately, Kaylee did not have any detective skills, as an Engineer. Not in this context anyways. She looked to each room in turn. She had no clue where to start. She noticed Tally walking off to the lounge and followed them into the lounge, not wanting anyone to be left alone.

They marched along, towering over everyone. Or maybe not. Some people's characters were incredibly tall... But were they taller than someone almost seven feet? Who knows. "This reminds me of a game my son plays: Detective Picturu." He knew it was called Detective Pikachu. "Should someone be a scribe to write down all the clues?"

3

Looking around as they walked down the hallway, Sodor couldn’t help but continue to take pictures ever so often. Not only was it fun, but they’d also figured documenting a totally real and not at all fake crime scene could be potentially helpful.

2

Rakim couldn't help but chuckle at the miss pronunciation of 'Detective Pikachu.' as it was uttered. It just..happened to be perfectly the sort of thing that finally broke through his emotional control and revealed that he happened to have a sense of humour. Just one tamped down normally, for more than a good few reasons. "..I imagine that'd be good, to have a scribe though I'd propose having more than one person do it, just in case the first proposed scribe happens to be well...the Murderer." Rakim commented as he continued to do his best to avoid the camera.

The 'doors' were four open archways, revealing the rooms inside, intricately designed. The #╰-ballroom had the largest of them all, displaying its grandeur.

Thol nodded and then made his way into the hallway. As he entered his head would be on a swivel. He wanted to find every minor clue around and appreciate the beauty of all of the design. It was also just amazing that this was all in one holodeck. The only question was where he needed to turn. “So Eiheu where do you want to start?”

"I shall be going to the #╰-ballroom , if anyone would like to join me," Liaxaho proclaimed as she looked through her choices and made a decision.

Well obviously the biggest arch was the coolest one, and he was kinda tempted to go there. Instead he turned to the rest of the people first, noting that they were missing two people already - ruh roh... "So, how are we splitting up?" he paused, listening to people talk, before quickly switching his plan: "Personally I'm going to the kitchen, so I might need a little team with me!"

"Ballroom!" Lapan said, mimicking Liaxaho's voice, sounding remarkably close. It was an accident, honest, but it did sound like a good plan. "I'll go to the ballroom as well," he continued in his own voice, before crowing like... well. Like a crow.

3

'Oooh knives' Rakim silently thought to himself before he then proceeded to head off to the kitchen without much comment other than. "Sounds like a good place to head, the kitchen." As he departed.

"I'll go to the library, I think," Maggie chirped. They probably weren't going to be much help, but they didn't look this cute for nothing!

"Books! How archaic. Like me!" Zero said, following Maggie. There might be something to write on in there.

Soon after he (with Allan tailing him, as requested by his puppeteer) followed Rakim to the #┊-kitchen - time to find whatever clues there were...

2

Eiheu peeked through every doorway, wondering which one would be best to go to first. She began to think. If she was a murderer, where would she go...? "Thol, let's go to the kitchen! The kitchen is where the knives are, and hopefully there are snacks too! Unless you think another that another room would have better clues?"

Thol nodded in agreement. “Works for me! In the end we are probably going to need to check all the rooms anyway so we aren’t in any rush” He decided to let Eihue guide the way to the kitchen. Thol was still looking around the hallway and wanted an extra few seconds to see if he had missed anything. “Please lead the way.”

Zooming past Zero into the hallway, Maggie sat themself on the floor with their legs crossed. "Helloooo, detective meeting!" they called out to the rooms, hoping somebody would hear.

Tally waved excitedly as they entered the hallway. “Ahoy! We’re completely lost!”

"Take your time investigating, though!" they decided to tack onto the end, waving to the newcomers. "Hey, that room looked cozy, what did you find?"

"Hey Maggie! We don't know... what's happening in our room... I uh-....had an experience." Kaylee said, in the understatement of the year. Yes. An experience alright. Almost framed yourself. "I found a blood-covered sword...and got called the murderer."

“Woo! It was really weird!”

"I dunno, did you do something stupid like swing it around?" Maggie leant their chin in the palm of their hand, leaning forward a little. "That would be a good assumption to make, in that case."

1

“I did find a keyhole in a fireplace that did absolutely nothing! Really, it sucked. I wish I was more like Velma…”

"Uhh....possibly?" Kaylee said, uncertainty evident in her voice. No, she definitely swung it around a bit. In fear, yes, but that sword was going around. "You did good though, Tal. You found something I wouldn't have seen!"

Tal smiled at that, and poked the side of their head. “Perks of enhanced hearing! I hope it’s not a red herring. Perhaps the answer is simply in another room.” (edited)

"I assume there's a key in one of the other rooms we need to find. In our room, we found clues, but no solution just yet. There was a backwards sentence and morse code. The backwards sentence said: 'even a kiss amounts to death | by any other name would be just as deadly'. And the morse code said, 'on the other side of the looking glass'. We found the morse code in a book, and the two notes on a vase, which was rotating like a music box and playing a strange piano tune, stuttering in two places."

Maggie slowly walked into the hallway in her white and gold tux. “Hellooooo? Any murderers out there?” She stopped to look at the other people there. “Oh hey! You guys seem like the not murdering types!”

They thought about the information, putting it together. “Perhaps it was a murder of passion. By any other name… through the looking glass… a common fantasy trope, as well as perhaps a reference to a different perspective. an unrequited lover? I don’t know how that helps us though…”

"Oh no, I'm doing so much stabbing," chirped magic Maggie, rocking back and forth in their seat. They offered science Maggie a polite wave, though.

"Tal, you think its a crime of passion? That's pretty cool. Well, unfortunately for anyone who's suspicious of me, I'm very happily promised!" She flicks her hand up to proudly show off her promise ring. "But yeah, it does appear that way, hopefully someone will have the answer to that hole..."

“Hi!!! No, I’m not, last time I checked!” Tally smiled. (◍•ᴗ•◍)

Maggie returned the wave to Magic Maggie as she stepped into the hallway. “I mean, you can be promised and still commit crimes of passion.”

4

3

"Oh, congratulations! When's the wedding?" He had no idea what a promise ring was, so he just assumed Kaylee was married.

5

3

4

They turned to Maggie Roode. “Trust me… It’s not Kaylee. Most likely, heh! I think she’s just nervous cause of the whole sword thing… long story. But she probably could’ve killed me and Niwayiva already if she wanted to, so, I trust her.”

2

"Oh, there's no wedding yet! Its.....like the precursor to engagement though, so hopefully soon!" Kaylee tried to explain promise rings to Zero, without acting like he's stupid, which he isn't. "It's an earthen tradition in some places, where if you can't marry someone yet, for whatever reason, you promise to them instead."

“Sick.” They already knew about promise rings. They’re still sick.

2

Maggie blinked. “Oh! I wasn’t trying to be accusatory! I was just saying it’s not impossible to commit crimes of passion if you’re already romantically linked!” She said with an awkward breath, feeling lightly bad for accidentally accusing Kaylee of murder.

3

2

"Oh, okay!" They had heard of people being promised to one another... Usually in the context of arranged marriages, though. It wasn't a thing where they were from, and not even in any of the knowledge they'd absorbed from other people's brains when they were in the Borg, so it must be a niche thing even on earth. "El-Aurians take absolutely ages to get married. We can be engaged for over ten years and nobody bats an eye." Call that a slow burn romance. It did make relationships with other species difficult, though - he had to go a little faster than he was used to. "Did anyone see a mirror?"

2

“Juicy stuff, murder and all that!” ＿〆(。。) “Nah, no mirror…”

Liaxaho arrived from the ballroom, brushing her dress down to smooth out any wrinkles that might have appeared. "The ballroom was... enlightening. To say the least."

”Oh uh! Would anyone mind giving me a recap? I’m a bit late!” She said as she awkwardly stood there in the hallway. (edited)

“Bloody Sword in the lounge, as well as a keyhole we can’t open. We came out here to regroup.” Tal saw Liaxaho, happily waving. “Hai!! How was it!!”

Ten leaned up on a nearby wall listening intently and pretending to smoke the unlit cigarette.

'yes? How did that have to do with how things went?' she thought to herself as a puzzled expression crossed her face, "But, we found a few clues of our own -- and something that might help with this keyhole conundrum of yours," she looked for Lapan, as she knew he had picked up the key.

None of the rooms had had a mirror yet.

"And they found a note and deciphered some morse code," Maggie reminded Tally, gesturing to Zero. Those seemed like important clues that probably shouldn't be forgotten.

Kitchen group's arrival was signalled by Sy's height suddenly appearing in the crowd. He waved awkwardly, before urging Allan to step out and show what they had found: "So, uh, we have this?"

3

"Yeah! It's either a bomb or a rat or a glass rat, there's definitely something glass inside, though.." he held the box in front of him, taking care to keep it pretty still. "It wants us to put three numbers into it, though."

Tally turned to Magic Maggie. Good point! “My bad, I just meant the room I was in.” There were a lot of new people in the room. A glass rat? Keyhole conundrum? Too much new info to process at once. They’d have to think on this before being able to come up with any solutions. (edited)

"Or a bomb glass rat..." he whispered, awestruck, intrusive thoughts clearly winning that round in his head.

4

"Oh fuck... didn't even think about that one.." Allan whispered, completely shocked by this revelation, looking straight down at the box and then up at Syrax again. "Is that even possible...? Wait, we're Starfleet, of course it's possible..."

"Yes! I have a key! It fell when she played the piano!" Lapan exclaimed, his words interspersed with excited chirps... or rather, he was chirping while talking. Both at the same time. And to make matters even more unclear, he barely explained half of what had happened.

2

“A bomb rat???” Tally was utterly gobsmacked. Befuddled, even. “What even is this game!?” (edited)

"Im not Starfleet, Im a grizzled Investigator." Ten said with a very gruff clearly forced voice.

"Clearly you haven't watched Ratatouille," might as well keep escalating the joke, huh? "Anyways, anyone found any fun combination of three numbers?"

2

Maggie gave a groovy little wave to Allan as she stood there. “Oh! Are we role playing? I’m a uh, train conductor!”

“Hello Grizzled Investigator, I’m dad!” The joke didn’t even work. Didn’t stop them from trying.

!! "No fair, I wanted to be a train conductor," Maggie shot back, though shook their head. "No numbers from our end, just a creepy vase. We should probably clean up those books, though...*

Tally zoomed towards Lapan. “Key?? You have a key??”

"Yeah, only numbers we had on our end were uhh, 9, 8, and ... 4? Was that it?" He asked, looking at the rest of the kitchen crew for confirmation. "I dunno what order we'd put them in though..."

Maggie stuck out her tongue at her personal Shadow The Hedgehog. “Too bad! I run all of the best trains and do them the best.”

"Hi dad, I'm dad!" Oh no! They were caught in a loop!

7

5

3

"Yeah, those are our clue numbers!" he nodded encouragingly. "No idea if they are supposed to be put in or what sequence it would be, though..."

Tally insistently tugged on Lapan’s arm. “Key! Key! We have a keyhole in the lounge! I so knew I was onto something! Loving the chirps, by the way, really adds.” They grinned.

"You have a key? We need a key!" Kaylee affirmed as Tally went over to Lapan.

"Yeah... it's not as obvious as 2, 0, 4, or something like that..." he sighed and looked down at the box again, fiddling with the switches to put a 9 into the last switch.

No beans, unfortunately.

They thought about the writing Zero found in the library. They thought they had an answer, but something was missing… What could it possibly mean?

"Wait, did someone say something about glass? I have a cryptic note that says something about a looking glass. Also, I think 'by any other name would be just as deadly' might have something to do with roses? Did anyone see a rose?" He looked around at the Detective Crew, hoping for input. (edited)

Lapan squawked like a surprised parrot as the android was suddenly hanging off of his arm. "Careful, careful, I have to carry my son with these arms!" He joked lightheartedly, hoping to get the overly excited android to back off a little. He was fine with physical touch, really! Couldn't not be with a four year old. But, uh, only when his consent was asked first, when he wasn't familiar with the other person.

6

“There was some vases with flowers in them in the lounge. Don’t know what kind, but you could check!”

Wow, grabbing people like that without their consent? Cringe. Anyways, Sy waved over to Zero: "Yea, by the sounds of it, our box has glass in it! We would need to open it somehow, though."

2

She hummed lightly as she listened. “I mean is there a way to open one of these without damage?”

"Aha! That seems like it has potential. If everyone doesn't mind, I'm going to go fetch those flowers." And without waiting for anyone to follow them, off they went!

"We found a great deal of rose petals around the edge of the ballroom, though they appeared to lead to a pile on the piano near some white bird feathers," she answered, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

Tally backed off, reading the tone of his voice. They winced. “Sorry! But yeah, key!! Keyhole! Or something!” In their concern over their mistake, they had lost their train of thought completely. Lovely.

"Bird feathers?" Maggie tilted their head a little. "Sounds like our murderer took to the skies, huh?"

"Could it have to do with an aspect of our murderer," Her head tilted to the side as she tried to think about what that clue might mean. There needed to be some connection to the murderer in there somewhere.

"To the skies? Huh, funny thought!" said the helmsman. Then he tilted his head curiously: "Wait, what did you say about the books some time ago? Something about cleaning them up?"

3

"Take to the skies..." She repeated a few times to herself as she tried to think of what it might mean, not to mention Syrax's quick deflection. Could it be some mark of suspicion? Could it be the mark of... a murderer? Nevertheless, she shook her head and kept her suspicions to herself, it could just be a red herring after all, it all could be.

2

"So I put the tulip in the vase, and the music it was playing stuttered one time less. Maybe we need to find another flower?" He wasn't sure.

"Perhaps, maybe we take the other flowers in the vase from the lounge and put them in the vase in the library? Though... I am curious as to what the Rose would do." She mused with a low hum.

"I just did that; I described what happened afterwards. There was only the one tulip in the vase, and there were only rose petals in the other room." He dug out a handful of rose petals from his pockets.

"You deciphered the text before, what was the clue on the vase say again?" She said, trying to remember back. "Did it need two flowers? Have you tried putting the rose petals in too?"

Zero repeated the text he'd read out earlier because I'm not writing all that out again. "It mentions something about a looking glass. I thought that was a mirror, but someone else brought that glass object in a box, so we might need to get it out of the box before we can proceed further."

"What music was it playing...?" Allan asked, looking down at the box still, trying to put in different numbers. Maybe an 8 first? He tried that.

Still no dice, unfortunately. The number on the box might even seem mocking now, stubbornly stuck next to the engraving of the knife and the chef hat.

01:44

The music had been an original piece. Music box, by the sound of it.

"I think the clue on the vase might be separate to the one about the looking glass... Shall we go try a rose as the second flower? It fits the second half of the riddle, 'by any other name would be just as deadly.' " She said, as she motioned back towards the library. "Can't hurt to try, right?"

"I already went to the library and the ballroom. There were no roses - just petals. The others already investigated that area and solved the puzzle inside - you might want to ask them if they found anything like a rose, but, honestly, I think there might be a glass flower inside that box." It would make sense as the only kind of thing you could fit into the vase next to the real flower. Then again, maybe there was a glass rat in there and they were supposed to just drop that in, who knows!

One would think in so few rooms someone wouldn't get lost, but never underestimate Lama's poor direction. He soon appeared in the hall way after nearly tripping over the round tables and snagging his trousers on the candle bras or whatever they were called. "Uh, jolan tru, here for the clues and to assist with finding stuff out, I'm a professional!" Said the man who was late.

1

She walked into the hallway, still mostly looking around at the style of the room. It was very pretty, and she was entranced by it. It was like she forgot it was a murder mystery program.

2

Rakim stepped put into the hallway and moved off in the direction of the #╰-ballroom . As he headed there he quietly hummed a half remembered tune to himself.

Maggie waved happily to the newcomers, thinking over Zero's clues. Both the flower and the morse code. "A glass flower would make sense, I guess. Miss Cadieux did say that there would be plenty of puzzles alongside clues, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more," they mused thoughtfully. "What number clues do we have so far? Number two and number seven were in the library."

Finally realising what she was supposed to be doing after all this time, she approached the small group a bit sheepishly. Out of all of them, she recognised the top hatted figure. "Ah, Maggie right?" She muttered softly, standing somewhere behind the vibrant magician.

"I'd say the one and only if I didn't know there was another one," Maggie grinned. "We've got a murder scene on our hands, you're welcome to go check out the clues in the other rooms to catch up or just hang around while we try to piece together what we've got right now."

The whole time, Snake was remaining silent, just taking in the information, trying to make sense of it all. Instead of being boisterous and loud, he'd be able to observe more and understand what was going on. Nodding slightly to himself as he listened, Snake decided to follow just whoever was around. He didn't really have an aim, per se, other than solving the mystery, so he was much more observant than usual. (edited)

"There might be a glass flower, yeah..." Allan slid the box to the side very carefully, but that really did not help him determine what the shape of the glass inside was. Why would it. "I mean, there were three in the kitchen, so maybe it's just those and I'm overthinking it?" He decided to put in 4, 8, and 9.

Still nothing.

"Is there anything else that could be a clue in the room? Or on the box?" The magician offered, brows furrowed. "Maybe it's not the evidence numbers...?"

"Maybe the box holds clues to the numbers, like the amounts of different things..." she mused to herself and others. "If you would like we could go back to the kitchen and take a look."

"I mean, there's the knife and the chef's hat, which like - it gives you Ratatouille vibes, right? Right?" He sighed and then looked over at Liaxaho when she mentioned the amounts. "Ooo, good idea, yeah... maybe like, how many chef's hats there were and shit..." he went back to go to the #┊-kitchen .

Lapan watched everyone scatter as they tried to make sure nobody had missed anything. Time to go finish stuff up then, huh? "Where did we say the keyhole was?" he asked the people who were still around.

"The keyhole was in the lounge," she answered as she watched Allan run off towards the kitchen, not following in order to save herself from more walking.

"Okay, so we've got some numbers from uh, counting the knives and hats and all.." As he walked back into the hallway, Allan started putting numbers into the box again: 1, 3, and 5... to see if that was the correct order.

Click! The box was unlocked!

5

4

Unfortunately, there was no rat, or rose inside. Within the box was a cracked magnifying glass (not Allan's fault, it was already like that), which zoomed in on a message in the box.. Time to f a c e the music.

3

"Heyyy, so, uh, no rat..." he said, looking directly at Syrax when he said that with a little frown as he also definitely thought that he cracked the magnifying glass inside. But, it still zoomed in on the message just fine! "There's a message, though, uh.. 'time to face the music', but the... oh, the word face is spaced out! Maybe that's the notes we need to play or something?" On what, though..?

2

1

Ten stood to the side listening and watching what was happening continuing to fake smoke the unlit cigarette. "Is there a piano or something in one of these rooms? or any musical instruments?" (edited)

"Somebody mentioned a piano in the ballroom, did they not? Are any of us musically inclined?" She said with a smile.

"I cant play anything, Except my own feelings." He said with a forced grudge in his voice. Trying to sound as edgy as possible.

3

"Yeah, there's a piano in the ballroom!" Lapan told Allan and Vialara, before walking resolutely into the lounge to go find the keyhole for his key. It looked a little silly, but he was a man on a mission!

Liaxaho decided to go to the lounge, wanting to keep Lapan company, as well as help investigate, that was what she was best at after all.

"Oh! I know piano!" Allan said and he excitedly went to the #╰-ballroom . "I mean, I know keyboard, I've never actually played a classic piano, but - it's the same keys! Should be easy enough."

"Cool beans." Ten said before following Allen.

He walked into the hallway carrying the glass case with the rose inside. "Soooo, we got a cool sexy rose, not a rat, but.. yeah! It's something!" Sure was something. Very specific observation.

“Maybe it’s a gift or something. Oh, or something in specific is in the rose?” She pondered aloud, looking again as the rose in the case. It was pretty, very pretty, but it had to have a meaning. Perhaps a call back to an old film?

"A rose by any other name?" Ten questioned "Wasn't that something I heard someone say?"

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Shakespeare, I think…” Her antennae wiggled a bit as she thought. “Where did you hear that? I hope you didn’t just decide to pull out a random quote.”

Thol walked into the hallway still with his head still in the notebook. He had been distracted but now finally had made it back tot he main event. Once he overheard the talk he decided to ask a question. "What color rose is it? I'm pretty sure that each color rose has a unique meaning to it."

Ten shruged. "I don't know just a random thought, I just swear I heard someone say that but I can be wrong."

Allan held the case up in case Thol couldn't see the rose inside. "White. Dipped in scarlet, though. Very pretty."

“Yeah, very.” She nodded in agreement, her antennae still wiggling in thought. “What if this is just a red herring? Something to distract us?”

Thol shrugged as he heard that and looked at the rose inside. It took him a few seconds to recall the meaning of everything. "Hm so I think that would be like purity dipped in sacrifice but that could be overthinking it." He recognized the phrase from one of his literature classes at the academy but was not sure where exactly it was from. "Rose by another name, that's the old Human play I think. Rome and Jewels or something."

1

“Romeo and Juliet, but I don’t think we’re looking at romance here.” She paused for a moment. “The phrase means something along the lines of… “the names of things do not affect what they are in reality”, I think. If that’s the case what object could it be referring to?”

Thol looked back into the booklet that he had been taking all of his notes on to see if it gave him any ideas. He came up with something but doubted it meant much. "Scarlet dipped white rose, right? If the scarlet stuff is supposed to be blood then maybe the comment is on the rapier that someone found early?"

“Hey uh, could I take a quick glance at your book?” She asked Thol. Yaveru wasn’t completely familiar with most of the evidence, so any assistance at all would help her. That was assuming the booklet had a list of what they had found before.

He had spent the most of his time simply wandering around and gathering the different clues and he was more than willing to share his discoveries. Thol had mostly just written down the items and notes all over the margins but it was largely legible. "Sure, here." He handed it to Yaveru

“Thanks!” She smiled, taking the book for a brief moment. The Trill-Andorian had always been a quick reader, and so it wasn’t too long until she handed the book back. It was really handy, maybe she should get her own.

She moved over to the other group, sticking her head in to join the conversation. "Did I overhear you guys found a rose?"

"It's pretty, too! I want one!" The magician gushed, leaning forward with their hands on their knees.

Thol realized that he had no clue who anyone's name was anymore. He had met Eiheu but they had since dissapeared so now it was just him in a room of strangers. All that he could do was motion towards people. "Yeah they have it." He pointed towards Allen.

"Well, it wasn't a glass flower, but I was close! May I take it to the library?" And presuming Allan said yes, he took the rose in the glass case. "We need to get it out first, though, actually." Was there an easy way to open it?

Yeah, could slide it right off. The case was just for dramatics.

"Hmmm... Alright then, off to the library we go." They turned and started heading toward said room.

Maggie sprung to their feet to follow after. The music was pretty, they wanted to hear it again.

Liaxaho waited for the others to join them, humming the tune from the piano earlier.

Zero's back! Back again! Tell a friend! "Solved a puzzle, found a little red key." They held it up to show everyone.

1

Kaylee had been quietly following along. Learning her lesson from the lounge, she didn't really speak much and listened more, trying to figure stuff out.

Lapan held the music box with care as he walked back into the hallway. The tiny lock was at the front, so it would immediately be clear for everyone to see what the problem was. "Well, we got one compartment opened, but we need another key," he said, before immediately lighting up when Zero walked in, carefully lifting the box. "Try this one!"

"Littlest key I've ever seen," cooed the magician, clasping their hands together with a delighted giggle. "Just a baby."

She quickly followed the increasing growing group into the library, trying not to get left behind. Hopefully they’d find something soon, right? Before there were more of these fictional murders. Just as they entered, they left again into the hallway. Seems like they were going back and forwards, maybe she shouldn’t have used heels.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing to the box, then holding it with one hand and then putting in and turning the key with the other.

Syrax was definitely also here, and definitely paying attention to the clues and what was going on - his tiny pang of disappointment that there, indeed, was no cool rat, quickly dissipating as the puzzles were being solved: "So smart!" he put up double thumbs up to Allan and Zero and pretty much everyone else in the groups, "We're really doing this, I'm so glad there are brainy people with me in this room!"

The music box creaked open to reveal a small replica of the vase from the library where a dancer or a fairy or something would be, slowly spinning and playing the same tune. The two flowers were still dipped in scarlet, shining almost like blood in the flickering candlelight of the hallway. In the yellow silk of the inside compartment lay a note, reading one word : 'annoying'. There were some burned parts of that and the evidence card -- #5--, almost like someone had tried to get rid of it in the fireplace..

Maggie was transfixed by the music box for a long moment, oohing quietly as they watched the top spin. They wished they could keep it.. Blinking from their daze, they looked back up to the group. "So," they chirped (not literally), "now what?"

"Ooh, pretty," he also was transfixed by the speen, before looking at the burnt card... "Could this be a pointer towards the fireplace? I can offer to go and check!"

"I think we have everything we need to solve this mystery, we just have to come to a conclusion on who our murderer is" She added as she looked at the piece of paper and the evidence card, "Though I'm not sure if there is another clue..."

"I am so ready to find out!" Kaylee exclaimed from where she was standing. She was...right outside of the lounge, still staring at the rapier. It wasn't being taken if she had anything to say about it.

"You think the music box itself is a clue?.. Honestly yeah, could be..." he nodded along as Liaxaho spoke, choosing to trust the people who Knew What They Were Talking About. Though, if anything needed to be checked, he was quite prepared to do just that. "If so, we're good to assemble the clues and stuff."

"The music box does seem to hold some sort of answer, and I would not put it past this party to give multiple meanings to things," she said with a smile as she looked over the outside if the music box again.

"Gooot it!" Maggie scooted right on into the lounge and picked up the rapier with ease. They had gloves on, so it was fine, right?

"She said put them on stage, didn't she?" they queried, wondering if they'd remembered properly. "Aren't there too many clues for that...?"

"I think it is just the clues with the evidence cards, as loathe as I am to move evidence from its context, I suppose it must be done," she sighed before she looked towards where the stage was, wondering whether she should just go there and take a seat for a moment.

"Still, there's more clues than things on stage. Nine clues, seven pillars." Maggie was a little bit annoyed that they'd been dismissed so quickly as being wrong about something so obvious, but they didn't let it show.

"Perhaps it means that two of the clues aren't really clues at all, our red herrings -- so to say," She offered.

"I want to agree with that," he piped in, nodding his head towards Liaxaho. "I think it would make sense, right? That we need to, um, filter out clues that are not clues, because just having all nine of them pointing at one guy... feels too easy, no?"

"Hmm.." Their attention shifted from the red and grey music box to the feathers Zero held. Cautiously, they tipped their head to Sy. "Hey, you're a helmsman, right.?"

Syrax turned towards them, outright beaming that this question was asked: "Oh, yeah, I am! Skilled at piloting both ships and smaller fighting crafts! But, uh, why are you askin'?.."

"What if the looking glass is the cockpit of a ship..." Liaxaho mused out loud, finger coming up to her chin, "Not to mention that black tail coat..."

They shrugged, absentmindedly twirling a lock of pink hair around their finger. "I dunno, feathers, birds, flight. Just made sense to me, I guess?"

He blanked for a moment, a full beat of silence... "Oh. Oh, you think it's me! Uh--" he grabbed onto the ends of his tailcoat almost protectively, because holy shit, "I have a feeling we have a misunderstanding here, one that I feel confident in sorting out when we overlook the rest of the clues, so, maybe we should do just that?.. But it is not me, promise." (edited)

3

"Then, let us settle the clues, I am sure that will help greatly," Liaxaho responded with a nod of her own. She had more things to say, of course, but evidence was always king in her profession.

"Oh, wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you nervous.. It's just a game, nobody's mad at you if it is you, you know?" They smiled a little, trying to ease the little surge of panic. "I'm not much help, so I'll just trust whatever you guys say!"

Niwa had definitely been here all along. "I thought that the fingerprint dusting kit was already here because there had been a murder, but it was actually a clue?" She mused from behind the group, trying to piece things together. "And if the clues point to the murderer, then do we need to think about who would have a fingerprint kit normally? Outside of a murder mystery on the holodeck?"

"There's also a magnifying glass, and a detective book, right? Those all connect pretty nicely." Lapan had really put his thinking cap on now, he wanted to be right, dangit!

Having heard that immediately Snake's eyes went to Niwa and Lapan. "Something like that could typically be in the hands of a Security officer, if outside the holodeck. But inside? It sounds like everything a detective themself would have!"

They looked around at the group of people intently trying to figure this dang puzzle out. “Yeah, but what about the rapier? It’s such an odd, archaic weapon to kill with! Who here would even know how to use the thing successfully?”

Now it seemed like the shoe was on the other foot, as one of the only detectives there, but... it all just seemed too obvious, which is why she chose to say something, "It seems a little too obvious for everything to be pointing to a detective, however..."

"I use a rapier for showbusiness, sometimes," quipped the magician unhelpfully. "I've done a box of death many times!"

"Yeah, rapier is a strange weapon. I hadn't even seen one in person before today." Kaylee admitted, still trying to piece the things she'd heard and seen together.

“Sometimes it seems like you’re purposely incriminating yourself, Maggie.” Tally laughed.

"The rapier could just be a... what do you guys keep calling it? Red heron? Like a clue that's not actually a clue. There's also knives. I personally still don't get the feathers." What could feathers even mean? Like, sure, he made bird noises sometimes... he chirped as if on cue. But he wasn't the murderer!

True - it was all too obvious for everything to be pointing to a detective, plus the rapier added complications to that. "Someone who uses a rapier would likely have to know how to use it." Snake's head slowly turned to Maggie. "Maggie?"

"Maybe someone who has an interest in them in general? Or, if this is about a Security officer, then maybe they've solved a case involving one before?" She gave a short shrug, still pondering. "Maybe not everything points towards it being a detective. Things might be - that's the one! A red heron."

1

"Are we really that sure that this rapier was a murder weapon though?" he voiced his concerns. "Like sure it had blood on it, but..."

"I heard you were swinging it around with ease, Lieutenant Junior Grade Vallkyrie, so perhaps it does not take a master to weild it," She added with a hum, thinking further on the clues at hand, "You are correct that it might also be a red herring, a false clue."

3

“Herring, guys. Herring.” Tally shook their head, displaying an image of the titular fish. “And yeah, maybe… both rapier and kitchen knives is odd. Perhaps the blood was meant to lead us on the wrong trail?”

5

4

"That's what I'm saying!" Chirp. "The knives in the kitchen were also a clue, right? Those seem far more logical, in most cases." Lapan had turned to Syrax gratefully.

"Why is it red? Wouldn't it be a green-- wait blood is red for a lot of humanoids, carry on," Lama sipped his wine , clearly had been doing some great detective work this whole time. "Yeah when you do a lil stabby stabby, often a lot of things get messy. And uh, yea maybe it'S false," He agreed with the crowd, putting on hand on his hip like a sassy teenage girl.

3

Snake quickly turned to Lama. "How would you know unless you've actually done the stabby stabby yourself, eh? Heh. Self-incrimination here much?" Snake did have a little of his sarcastic tone to it, though. So Lama to him was much in the clear.

2

“Blood is so cool…” Tally stared at their hands wistfully, clearly getting distracted. So many colors of blood!

"I don't mean to play stereotypes, but I'm a Romulan detective, my dude," Lama gave Alan the most deadpan look he could manage and then shook his head. "But that is a good shot. I have never stabbed anyone though, but it is my job to identify people who have been," Lama rubbed his chin, now seriously considering Alan's words, was he the murderer? He didn't think so, he would never murder anyone, not even in a game, he was Betazoid.

1

"The easiest clue was the piece of cloth we found, I think. Right? The murderer wears black. That rules out enough people to be useful, but isn't specific enough to be a wrong... false lead." Lapan wasn't going to bother with herons anymore, except maybe to call like one. He wasn't sure anymore what the phrasing was. And, conveniently, he wasn't wearing any black.

"Typically, you'd think a bloody rapier would indicate it was used as the murder weapon... Unless the blood is of course, not fresh. Let me see it for a second..." She said, moving over towards the rapier to inspect it.

Pretty fresh, yeah.

4

Snake could barely keep himself from facepalming. "Jeez, how does Essen even watch horror movies with this much blood in it?" Oh, Snake... he had no idea. No idea. But anyway. "If the blood is fresh, Commander," Snake said. "Then someone did a horrible job hiding that. Wouldn't they want to clean it off after to hide that evidence? Makes no sense to leave it out and about."

"The kitchen was also, like, super clean-- I dunno if that means anything, but it was..." an odd little detail that stubbornly got stuck in his skull. Syrax then scratched his neck: "There is a lot lot clues that point at some sort of a detective... but also, sharp things..." Suddenly he turned to look at Lama: "Lieutenant, you're half-Romulan, right?.."

"If we can presume it's a Security officer, then do we want to ask the Security officers if they have any interest in rapiers or uhm... Old books, or fashion?" Again, any of those could be red herons. But it was worth a try, right? Also ironic that she was talking about 'asking the security officers' like they weren't all right there in the same room and could hear what she was saying, but alas.

"Yeah, this is the murder weapon, 100%. I've seen enough fresh blood for one lifetime..." She said, with a gentle chuckle. Looking back to the others. "So, whoever's the most skilled with a blade of this size is most likely our suspect."

“But what if it’s fake blood? Well, I guess it’s all fake, but like… double fake…” Was it possible to distinguish fake blood and real blood in a holosuite?

Lama grimaced and looked at Vialara, Niwa, and then Sy as he was the one who asked the question. "Uh, yeah," Lama nervously sipped his wine that somehow had not spilt and still had liquid inside the glass. Seriously, this guy had been drinking this whole time.

"This is a simulated event, to be fair. Nobody hid anything, somebody just got tagged a murderer and is now hiding it," Maggie chimed in once again to correct Alan, then shrugged. "I can shove myself in a box and skewer the box with them and not die, but that's about it.."

Perhaps suspiciously late, Rakim finally joined the group. The El-Aurian quiet as he proceeded to make his way toward where the others had congregated in the hallway. Utterly quiet as the others continued to talk, interested in what happened to be going on.

When Vialara said that, Alan somehow turned to Kaylee. "Didn't someone say Kaylee was able to wield that thing with relative ease?" With a shrug.

Where the hell did he even get the wine, is the question?

"I'm asking because I saw knives in the kitchen, detective," he gave Lama a little smile, foxish eyes squinting at him. "You know, something not just my brother is known for wielding, but Rihannsu in general. Just a thought, though!"

"But then, knives do normally go in a kitchen," she mused, and stood with Vialara to inspect the weapon. Alan's comment about how someone had mentioned Kaylee holding it made her think. "This sort of sword isn't for cutting, it's for piercing. So whoever used it would have to know that and be skilled enough at using it to kill someone with it, right?" Ah, the benefit of having worked on a good number of medical cases where people had been assaulted - or in some cases, near-murdered. "Who said that it wouldn't take a master to use it?"

"There was no blood on any of the knives though, right? It's only on this suspiciously large rapier, something that requires skill and practice to use, it's not like a knife where it's small and easily wieldable." She said, trying to focus attention on the actual murder weapon.

"I don't know anyone well enough to actually accuse them... Does anyone here like fashion?" Best to try to go down the list, right? Maybe not specifically in order, but close enough.

"I know a little about fashion, though I do have some thoughts about the rapier and the knives as well. Perhaps the knives were cleaned, and the blood on the rapier is the red herring." She tried to speak, hoping that it might help move the case forward.

"Exactly!" Lama snapped his fingers and pointed to Niwa. "Knives in the kitchen is normal, and I think yea definitly needs a master. I don't have any sword training, no, I failed out of the Academy because of my very of-this-earth combat," Lama shrugged his shoulders, thinking that Kaylee was a better lead. The fashion thing was curious, but there were lots of people who liked fashion.

"This is making my head hurt," Maggie mumbled in complaint, brows furrowing as they tried to piece everything together. "Anybody can use a knife. A rapier takes skill and precision, and would be a better clue because of the few people who know how to use it...."

Fashion. Heh. Snake didn't fit the bill. "Welp. It ain't me. Heh. No fashion sense around me at all."

“I do not suffer from the elements, so why be into clothes?” Tally tugged on their somehow too loose and too tight tuxedo jacket. They just wanted to fit the theme…

"I can tell that much." They glanced not-so-subtly at his polo shirt.

4

"You said you knew how to weild a rapier! And you look very fashionable, Maggie..." She said, looking back in their direction with suspicion.

"I like fashion, I'm an influencer, but the rapier thing, definitely not me. I couldn't fight my way out of a paper bag," Lama was downplaying his combat abilities, but he was pretty terrible. Even in drills, he routinely did much worse than even his human peers. He was improving though!

Vialara's comment made sense to Snake, who turned to Maggie. "And you know how to stick it into a box with you inside it and come out unharmed afterwards, Maggie."

"I have a mullet, I feel like it's safe to say I know shit about fashion!" he helpfully let Lapan know, before shifting his gaze to the two medical officers. "Okay, if we're assuming that the rapier is the murder weapon, then... what are our conclusions? There is still six other evidences and two fake ones, we can't be focusing on this one thing, right?"

3

Sodor, whom had also been here the entire time, genuinely couldn’t wrap their head around who it was, but had been rather intently listening to what everyone else had been theorising in the hopes of connecting the dots. What good was being a reporter if you couldn’t at least theorise about something worth reporting on? “Fashion on Ferenginar is a sign of wealth. We dress to impress, the more colourful and vibrant the better! I like to think I’m stylish, but I’ve never used a sword… thing my life.”

3

Maggie giggled, flattered by all the attention. "You think I could be a detective, doc? I'm honored," they mused, playful sarcasm spilling on their tongue easily as the metal tang of blood.

"True, Maggie is a magician so.... Seems right to me," Lama, the professional detective offered. He then looked at Sy. "Ey, Sy, you're fashionable to me. I love the mullet, what a statement," He did a little finger gun in Sy's direction with sound effects, 'pew pew'.

Something clicked in Snake's mind. "And magicians never reveal their tricks... just like Maggie isn't explaining how they can escape from a box unharmed with a rapier being stabbed through it. Are you not explaining other things to us, Maggie?" Snake was getting playfully competitive!

"Right, but the murderer wouldn't tell us if they were good with a rapier, right? So that's no good." Lapan sucked air in through his teeth, sounding exactly like a scared rattlesnake as he thought. The detective things all connected well, so those had to be it. Either a knife or the rapier was the murder weapon, making the other a false lead. The he still didn't know how annoying fit into anything, or how the feathers fit into it. Were the feathers just supposed to draw attention to the piano? Maybe someone who played piano. The cloth was most likely a real clue, so the murderer was wearing black... aaaagh, someone take him back to engineering so he could work on improving the UT!

"I would agree, The Mullet can be quite fashionable, and yours looks rather nice I would say," she said with a smile towards Sy, a genuine one.

1

"So we're going with the person who--- hmm.. you know, they do say, the one who denied it, supplied it," Lama, the very professional detective , quoted a fart joke during a very serious investigation. Of course he would. "Who has been the most defensive?" His eyes went to Sy and then Alan.

1

She turned back to the stage, before looking back to the group. "Two of the clues are fake however. The detective memorabilia could just be related to the murder mystery in general... Our detectives might be innocent."

Oh. He was prepared to get pretend murdered just fine, but compliments? He needed a moment to reboot...

4

They rolled their eyes. "Are you ignoring seven whole clues to accuse me? Literally nothing else points to me besides the black, and it could be a different texture to the suit I have on."

"I'm wearing all light colours," Lama said, pointing to his beige suit and his llama bow tie. "And yeah, free the detectives, they did nothing wrong, right Liaxaho?" Lama looked at his fellow Betazoid detective and gave her a wink.

"There's three things related to detectives, though. They can't all three be incorrect, then the numbers wouldn't match up. They have to connect to detectives." Lapan was getting frustrated. Was he the only one paying attention?

5

She nodded, agreeing with Lama "Yes, perhaps the clues that relate to other things, as was previously suggested."

"Okay ummm, which detective reads - someone said there was a book, right? What was it...? Lama, do you read books? Asking because I most certainly do not." He said, mostly because he wanted to think that the crocs-wearing Lama was not the murderer.

He thought about the clues. “Didn’t the book have burn marks on it? That’s probably relevant, right?”

"Burn marks? The book wasn't found in the fireplace, right? I'm a bit rusty on that detail, but if so then yeah, it could mean something," he nodded along. Not the smartest person in the room, but hey, he could try his best to support, right?

3

"Ah, just a joke, Maggie," Snake said. "You're right, the other clues don't necessarily point to you. You don't play the piano, same with me. Plus I'd not necessarily associate feathers with you. No offense! Just not your thing." Snake considered for a minute after hearing Lapan and Liaxaho. "Feathers can be used as quills for the music that was suspiciously scratched out on the title. So someone who knew how to write music? And that points to--- me. Well, shit. But it's not me though!"

"Bold of you to assume I can read," Lama looked at Allan with a deadpan expression before bursting out laughing. "Yeah, I do read, but no more than the average person I think. I'm a detective so naturally I do a lot of reading," He shrugged again, not quite sure if the evidence really stacked against him. "I will say.... Black doesn't have to refer to what someone is wearing or their favourite colour. It could be representative of something else. Eye colour, hair colour, ya know," He offered, feeling bad to incriminate his fellow Betazoids, but they needed to consider all the options!

"Okay, so, things we know for sure." They ticked off on their fingers. "Three detective clues means it's definitely a detective, or a security officer of some kind. The weapon was prooobably the rapier.." Jeez, these Starfleet types sure know how to run in circles, don't they?... (edited)

Music? He got confused for a second, then perking up: "The music was a puzzle, no? The fabric, I think, was the actual clue item? I don't think we should be focusing on the music here..."

"... Sir, there was blood on the cloth- red blood, that is. It's probably clothing." Lapan turned to Lama, since he like the idea, but also, that would complicate things So Much.

"We need to narrow it down. Let'S go with security officers, everyone else is out. Who is left?" Lama said and then sipped his wine again.

Allan also laughed when Lama made that reference. "Riiight so like, not a huge uhh, novel reader though? Was it a novel? Or could you not tell cause it was burned or something?" He asked the people who had more knowledge of the book. "And yeah, music was another theme in this, uh.. who here played the piano before I did? There were like, other clues around it right? Or something?"

Snake looked at the remaining security officers he could see. "I think that narrows it down to just Liaxaho and you, Lama!"

"Sherlock Holmes," chirped the magician, "A point for Team Security."

"Oookay, I dunno who that guy is, does anyone else?" Allan asked. Yes, he had no idea about Sherlock Holmes. It sounded British to him and that was about all he knew.

"I'll come clean with you guys. I've only been a detective for a couple years. Before I was a field agent with the Navy," Lama waved his hand as he spoke. "That would leave...." He looked to Liaxaho and frowned. "I think we have the culprit. How could you betray us, Liaxaho?" Lama made sure to sound overly dramatic with his delivery.

"Was it not one of the two security officers who had commented on Lieutenant Valkyrie holding the rapier, too? They said that it wouldn't take a master..." Lama spoke at the same time, and she turned to Liaxaho when he did. "...But it would at least take an understanding of how the weapon worked to do it right."

"But Liaxaho has been so helpful! We found a bunch of clues together!" Lapan exclaimed, chirping all the while. He didn't Want it to be Liaxaho!

Snake heard both Lama and Niwa - and right away it didn't seem like Liaxaho would be guilty. But then, Lapan spoke up and Snake felt even more lost. "Yeah, why would a murderer want others to figure it out? They'd want to hide their guilt, not lead others to it!"

And they were back at suspecting the detectives. Hmm. "I mean, pretty much everyone were helpful to some extent, so..." Honestly, if the murderer won this against a bunch of people? Good for them. "It would make for a convenient cover-up story, no?"

5

6

"Liaxaho was in fencing club, also has been a detective her whole career. I've only been a detective for a couple years and I mean, do I look like a criminal mastermind?" Lama pointed to himself, with his dark eyes and furry eyebrows. "And yep, Sy is right, I've sen it in a lot of cases where the murderer will assist the investigation."

"Well, I mean, it would kinda suck if a detective didn't act like a detective just to not be sus, 'cause then you would be more sus, you know?" Allan said in response to the guy who was one letter off in name from him.

3

"Well there we have it folks, seems we only have one clear suspect..." She said turning to Liaxaho. "The jig is up! Confess!" She said, with an overly dramtic point.

3

Maggie hummed as she sat there, she got here late and was….so so lost. So she just sat there and watched with imagination popcorn. “You know, I feel like I’m the only innocent one. Since I was late.”

3

“Er… What about the ‘annoying’ note?” This was making their processors whir. It was a bit dizzying. “Same, bro. Same.” Tally nodded at Maggie.

"However, what if the Fingerprint duster and the Book are the red herrings, then there is another explanation for many things, wouldn't you say. For one, the outside of the music box is dressed up in command colors, along with the feathers and the black, which would lead to Syrax -- I apologise for not using your full title." She offered, keeping her calm even in this situation.

"Maybe that's a heron," came a reply to Tally, obviously not having heard their previous correction of 'heron' to 'herring.' "Because writing that someone's 'annoying' would be rude, regardless of if it's a clue written in a holodeck programme or not."

"I still think it's Liaxaho. Having a Romulan murderer is too obvious," Lama remembered they needed to make the final accusation there. He was pretty sure they had it and honestly he was sad about it. It was all fake but still, his homie G, Liaxaho? He wanted to say something telepathically to his colleague, but realised that would probably be against the rules. Unfair advantage and all, also if Liaxaho was the murderer, she would probably not even let him into her mind.

2

Tally bit back saying herring again. “That’s true, it felt very out of place to me…”

"Hey I'm innocent too, I was on shift, um I mean I was buying smokes." He forced a grunge voice with the last part.

3

"But what about the magnifying glass?" Oh no, it really was Liaxaho, wasn't it? That defense wasn't even good!

"Liaxhao isn't annoying... Though I don't know who is." They were rarely annoyed by anyone. "We could always give Lama and Liaxhao a turn having a stab at a space where nobody is standing and see whoever is best at handling the rapier. Speaking as someone who's learned many things -" Way to big himself up - "Muscle memory is hard to shake, and I'm very perceptive -" Doing it again, too? "- so I think I'll be able to tell if they're deliberately trying to look bad."

“I mean, surely it’s a matter of perspective on the annoying bit.” She said with a hum.

"I feel like you're using me as a... what's the word..." he started to rapidly snap his fingers, oh fuck... "Making me a goat. Murdering me. Murder goat?.. ah, you get it!"

3

"Scapegoat?" they offered.

"No no, it's cape goat. A goat in a cape," Lama interjected, waving a hand.

"Escape goat, yeah!" he nodded.

1

"A looking glass can mean many things, my friend, I did think it meant the cockpit of a craft earlier," She offered in defense.

“It’s scapegoat, yeah.” Tally hummed.

"No, it's called landscaping someone, actually." It was not.

3

Maggie hummed. “What was the murder weapon again? Do we know anyone who uses that weapon a lot?”

"Landscaping someone, I've seen that happen once. This dude had a shitty lawn and some neighbours came over and cut his grass," It was not landscaping, that was a totally different verb!

"I thought it was Scrapegoat? Because you're using them as a sort of punching bag?" She said, throwing another joke onto the pile.

"The murder weapon was the rapier and we've been told that Lieutenant Vex used to be in a fencing club. I know there are different types, but I think that means the sport instead of building fences." Not that she knew much about either. She only knew about fencing from the Federation Olympics...

Snake considered more of the evidence as it was brought up. The magnifying glass indeed sealed Liaxaho's fate, it seemed, but then Snake remembered something. "Did we go over what was in the library? The coded message, 'Even a kiss amounts to death | by any other name would be just as deadly'? Does that point to the rapier or something else? And 'on the other side of the looking glass' in morse code? Someone here has to know morse code, or even more generically, how to hide those sorts of messages like that."

Zero shook their head. "I know morse code, but I think that was just to make the puzzle a little more interesting."

"Liaxaho was captain of the fencing team, yeah," Lama told them, very sure it was Liaxaho! He sipped his wine once more.

“I… It’s… it’s scapegoat. It’s scapegoat.” Tally pleaded, desperate. “We’re getting off track! I want to see Lama and Liaxaho use a rapier to test their skills…”

"The note was a clue to what flowers to put in the vase," Maggie chirped in response. "A rose, by any other name would be just as sweet. A kiss amounts to death, like a kiss, like...two lips. Tulip." (edited)

She hummed. “Maybe 2 murderers then? Since the two lips?”

"You will be horribly underwhelmed, I have never handled a rapier. Just because I'm Romulan doesn't mean I am some kung fu master," Lama saw no point in doing the rapier test because he was telling the truth when he said he was unskilled!

"It's a clue to the puzzle. To the puzzle," Maggie stressed. Was the magician the smarter of the two or something?

"Ha i was right someone was quoting Romeo and Juliet!"

3

How did a magnifying glass relate to a cockpit? Lapan was getting confused again. When was the last time he was in a cockpit, anyway? If he was anywhere on a ship at all it was usually in engineering, or one of the labs. "The puzzles aren't the answer. The puzzles are the puzzles, the evidence has the answers. Stop confusing me with talking about the puzzles," he begged, horrifically confused. Honestly, at this point, he wanted to go and eat something. Maybe talk to Liaxaho some more once the game was over, she seemed pretty cool. Even if she was probably the murderer.

".... wait the magnifying glass... Okay I'll tell you guys I've stolen a couple ships in my time. Not a pilot but I have done that," Lama froze when he thought about the clue again. The rapier was definitely not him, but the cockpit thing? Yeah, maybe.

01:28

Also now that he thought about, he was pretty annoying too.

"Okay. Why don't we all take a break, go collect the clues up, and start putting them together? Let's give ourselves a break, yeah?" Maggie offered, returning to their usual cheerful disposition, if not a bit forced.

"I think the kids call it noscoping these days." He smiled innocently. "While I want to be clear that I don't think they're annoying and it's possible we've misinterpreted that clue somewhat, the fencing clue seems very specific to me; combined with the other evidence my vote is on Liaxhao so far. There's no second murderer. I think we need to..." He paused, rubbing one of his temples. This was all getting a bit cyclical. "What's the phrase for the simplest explanation being the likeliest?"

Maggie glanced at Magic Maggie. “Right.” She said as she refocused. “So wait is the annoying bit about the victim or the murderer? Because then everyone in this room is a suspect.” She joked.

5

"Perhaps the killer is a lover?"

"Oh yeah Ox Lime Razor. Something Romulans don't know, apparently," Lama said, referring to the fact that Romulans always thought there was a conspiracy in everything.

"Ah, the old curse of mine for taking things literally," Snake said. "Annoying sometimes. Ah well. Anyway, why would it be a quote from Romeo and Juliet? Maybe that can give us some insight into the motive which in turn could pin down the suspect?" Then Lama brought up the ships. Alan's head sloooooowly turned towards Lama. The cockpit definitely would be connected to Lama.

He snapped his fingers. "Cockham's razor, that's it!"

"I would cock that... Oh wait no not in public. I'll PADD you later Zero," Lama looked at Zero and gave him a lil finger gun 'pew pew'.

4

2

"I was the captain of the fencing team, yes, but not everything in fencing is rapiers. I can tell just by looking at it that I would struggle with it. I did foil. It is much lighter," Liaxaho offered in defence of herself after a moment.

Tally just looked at Zero. In pain.

1

Maggie’s eye twitched at the again getting things wrong. “Romeo and Juliet does end in at least one of the characters dead because of their forbidden love and family strife, so that could apply.” She said with a hum. “Anyone got any romantic partners their families don’t like in this room?”

In that moment, hearing what The Magical Maggie had said, Sy chose to put his two fingers in his mouth and do a bit of an attention whistle: "Let's stop for a moment! We're loopin', so... let's do something new. Like the rapier test."

They were equal parts flattered and confused, seeing as they had no idea how Lama was going to finish that sentence. 'I'd cock that razor'? What did that even mean? You should never combine those two things in any situation. "I have a conspirator my son thinks is very cringe, if that counts?"

3

Snake considered that. Huh! Maybe that would help, a test of the rapier. "I mean, I'm always down to see a good sword fight. Sooooo how should that work?"

"Oh elements, I'm drinking wine," Lama was not one to get drunk easily, but he did not want to put his glass down to show everyone what an absolute failure he was with weapns.

They sighed, grateful that someone and listened to them. Thanks, Syrax. "In the meantime, anyone wanna go clue gathering with me?"

"As in, gather them for the pedestals? I can help out!" he raised his hand a little bit.

"'kay, let's go then!" They needed a second away from all the noise, anyway...

"Romeo and Juliet is about two lovers. They are from rival business empires. But love each other non the less. And it ends with them both ending there lives, killed via poison just as our victim was. Right she was poisoned?"

Maggie glanced at Magic Maggie as they left, good. “Well then. Do we know of anyone the victim was close to?”

1

"Can I come?" He'd been hanging out with Maggie all night anyway, and Syrax seemed cool too.

"It was a puzzle, drop it," he waved at Ten, meanwhile following Maggie to whichever room they chose first, "Focus on the nine clues! Also sure, come along, Zero!" (edited)

"Hey hey I wanna come too, you know, for science," Lama said as he skipped over to Maggie , Zero, and Sy with a big smile on his face.

They returned Maggie's stare with a calm smile. "Aren't you literally under fire for possible murdering? I don't wanna get stabbed," they muttered to Lama, a little playfully. Off we go team! (edited)

Maggie rolled her eyes from the smile as she turned away. “Rightttt.”

Ten gave a thumbs up before continuing to mime smoking the unlit cigerete.

1

Lama frowned and let out a loud sigh, realising that they were right and maybe he shouldn't leave. Still, he was not the murderer! He knew he wasn't! He was just an innocent llama. "Okay....... I still think it's Liaxaho. Are we gonna make people wave the sword?"

“I don’t know how realistically useful it would be, but it would definitely be funny…” Tal snickered to himself. (edited)

Snake could only chuckle at that. "Yeah! Why not get to see a sword fight just for the hell of it and it is able to tell us who the murderer is? It would be entertaining."

"I'm sipping wine so someone else can go," Lama said as he took a sip of wine to show that he was, still drinking wine. It was almost empty though, sadly.

01:53

"Oh, Liaxaho left, wait I'll go chat with them," Lama, just like a murderer would do, quickly slipped away.

1

Evidence collected, the three made their way to the banquet hall!

Rakim, having noted that lots of other people had departed elsewhere, headed to #holodeck-two. The finger print stuff still clasped carefully.