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The J.Harlequin Debacle: A RP Stage Short
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Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Nov-24-2009 20:42

(Everyone's a suspect!)

There was a quite noticeable scuff on the floor.

The creme de la creme of the world's crime-fighting society were at a formal dinner at her modest country residence that evening, and there was a scuff on the floor.

Molly Maltese sighed in tones of great irritation and wondered how she hadn't noticed the mark BEFORE all her guests had arrived. They were in the dining room now, chattering happily and dining on the delicious meal she had hired a cook specifically for. Many of her friends and associates were then, including some new faces. One new face in particular; a Mr. John Harlequin. He was a new politician in the area, determined to take on Joe Hollis for mayor. His past was basically unknown; his favorability extreme. Citizens either loved him or hated him.

Just as she had this thought, someone shrieked.

"He's choking!"

Raising a brow, she hurried from the parlor to look in. All the guests seated at the long table were either standing or sitting with shocked expressions; and John Harlequin was quite shockingly purple.

Even as she rushed into the room and neared him, Harlequin gave one final gasp and died. Silence descended as she grabbed his glass and sniffed at the rim delicately. She turned, and countless eyes bored into her.

"Alright, which one of you poisoned my guest?" she snarled.

Whispers and titters danced along the table, before a very familiar man stood. "We should call the police." he said.

Another raised a brow. "There's a room full of detectives here. I'm sure that's not necessary."

"It is when one of those detectives may be a murderer!"

"We can't send for the police anyway; can't you see its been snowing all this time? We can't go anywhere!" another shouted. Molly went to the window and looked out. Sure enough, snow blanketed everything in sight. The cars parked out front were completely obscured by white.

"Nobody is leaving! If you try, I'll shoot every last one of you!" Molly yelled, pulling out a pistol.

Replies

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Nov-24-2009 20:49

"I am SERIOUSLY irritated with you all!" she raved, waving her pistol around expressively. "How DARE you kill someone in MY house? Not to mention its terrible a detective would kill someone, but IN MY HOUSE? REALLY?!"

"How do we know it wasn't you?" a voice piped up. Molly paused.

"Oh please." Molly said. "Don't be ridiculous."

"It's true, though." another voice said. "how do WE know you didn't kill him?"

"You can't be serious." she said doubtfully, lowering her gun. But she knew they were right. ANYONE in the room could have orchestrated the death. She had no credible way to prove her innocence...yet.

M. Lacrimosa
M. Lacrimosa
Thespian

Nov-24-2009 20:56

Marc was seated five seats away from Mr. John Harlequin. Paying no attention to the politician for the disliking of politics himself, Marc was consentrating on his food when he heard the sound.

He looked down the table to see Harlequin choking. Everyone got up and Marc rushed to help him but someone else had beaten him to it. Harlequin gave one final breath before he died.

Molly's voice rang out from behind Marc. "Alright, which one of you poinsoned my gues?" She snarled

"We should call the police," Said the woman next to Marc.

Marc raised his eyebrow. "Ther's a room full of detectives, lady. I'm sure that's not necessary."

"It is when one of those detectives may be a murderer!" Someone shouted.

"we cant' send for the police anyway; can't you see it's been snowing all this time? We can't go anywhere!" The lady next Marc yelled. He opened his mouth to calm her down when Molly spoke first.

"Nobody is leaving! If you try, I'll shoot every last one of you!" She said pulling out her gun.

Marc stood up and pulled out his pipe. He didn't light but it helped him think.

"So, let's begin this investigation shall we?"

Heimlich VonVictor
Heimlich VonVictor
Vigilante

Nov-24-2009 21:32

"The question right now," came the voice from the corner, "isn't who done, but rather what did it." The guests spun around to see Heimlich VonVictor standing with a stoic look upon his face.

Molly pointed her pistol at him, "You have ten seconds to explain yourself old man."

Heimlich chuckled and began pacing. "At ease Miss Maltese," he replied, "and you'll soon find out." Heimlich picked up the glass Harlequin had been drinking out of. "Mr. Harlequin," he began, "in addition to being a charismatic politician was a lover of the drink. He was drinking before many of us even arrived." Heimlich walked over to Marc and lifted the glass up to his face, "Smell the middle of this, what is that odor?"

Marc took a deep whiff. "Bourbon," he replied, "Kentucky Bourbon without a doubt."

Heimlich nodded, "Fine work my dear boy! Fine work indeed. Now we must ascertain was it the glass itself that was poisoned, or if the bourbon itself is the culprit! With the right concentration, someone who knew how much Mr. Harlequin would drink could know that he would be overcome after so many drinks."

Molly kept her pistol trained on Heimlich. "A nice theory Mr. VonVictor, but a little too exact for my taste. You're still #1 on my suspect list. What pray tell are you drinking tonight?" she inquired.

Heimlich sighed, "Vodka, straight up."

Molly nodded, "Alright. Who here has been drinking the bourbon? And who knows how many drinks my guest had?"

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Nov-24-2009 21:54

With an irritated sigh, Molly put the pistol down on the table and started for the kitchen.

"If any of you drop dead while I'm gone, I will be very displeased." Molly said archly, and then turned. But a voice stopped her.

"Actually, Miss Maltese, since you are a suspect you shouldn't be going anywhere alone. You might tamper with the evidence." Heimlich said, and Molly put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, honestly!" she said, but Marc nodded.

"It's true, Molly. Here, I'll go with you." he said and stood.

"I'm only fetching the bourbon!" she said hotly, but he advanced nonetheless. She shook her head but allowed him to follow her to the kitchen, where she grabbed the bourbon and turned to the cook.

"Has anyone else served themselves out of this?" she asked, but the cook said he hadn't been paying attention. Bottle in hand, they went back out to the dining room.

Joseph Zeo
Joseph Zeo
Tale Spinner

Nov-24-2009 23:24

Zeo looked at the group of detectives in the dining room as Molly returned from the kitchen holding a bottle of bourbon. Anyone could have killed J. Harlequin, but why? He decided to look further into everyone's background when the opportunity arises.

Molly poured a small amount of the drink and sniffed it, but was unable to determine if the drink was poisoned. "Use this." Zeo offered his neck chain which was of pure silver.

"Are you sure?" Molly raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing is more important then finding the murderer at this moment, besides, this necklace holds no sentimental value." Zeo repled. Molly nodded and dipped the chain into the wine. Moments later, the necklace turned black.

"Ah ha!" Heimlich exclaimed. "It is the wine."

"The question is, how was being able to poison the wine?" Zeo mused.

"The cook said that he hadn't been paying attention, so anyone could've done it." Marc replied.

"Can we dust for fingerprints?" Zeo offered. I do have some Haddonite White with me at all times. "Of course, we would need to exempt Ms. Maltese since she has touched the bottle just now."

Zeo took the bottle with a handkerchief and began to dust. Beside Molly and the cook, there were 3 more sets of prints on the bottle. "Give me sometimes for the analysis, as well as some privacy... I know we should not be going off alone. Just put me in a corner and make sure no one disturbs me." Zeo then went in a corner and started to work.

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Nov-24-2009 23:55

Molly went to the window and looked out. Some of the eyes in the room followed her, a fact which made her boil with anger. She thought about proclaiming her innocence, but as a detective herself she knew it would be no use.

"Who stood to gain by his death?" she wondered, and then the city factions popped into her head. The Order of Socrates? could be. Joseph Hollis wanted to maintain his position so that they could do their work. The Brotherhood? A maybe. Harlequin was a notorious liberal, even low-brow at times. That hardly ever sat well with the folks at the church. La Cosa Nostra? They offed people whenever they felt like it, sometimes it seemed like they didnt even need a proper motive. She looked over all the people in the room, wondering where their allegiances lay. She even looked at Zeo suspiciously. Why, he could be destroying evidence right now under the guise of "detecting" it.

"Oh, this is maddening!" she cried, and stormed out of the room.

Elizabeth March
Elizabeth March
Sleuth About Town

Nov-25-2009 00:05

Elizabeth was quiet on her seat, trying not to pay attention to the looks on her. It was clear that people suspected her. Some because of her well known past - her book, "Reformed burglars never rest", was a best seller -, and some who knew she had had some problems with Mr. Harlequin some time ago.

The woman decided to stand up for herself and stood from her chair, her hands straightening her light blue skirt. She let out a sigh.

"Very well. Since some people are looking at me, let's clear somethings out. I was a burglar, not a killer. And even if I was, I wouldn't be stupid enough to kill someone in the middle of a bunch of detectives. Anyway...

She turned around to Zeo, who had worked for her on the case during which she had met Molly.

"Mr. Zeo, I request you do me the favor of searching my purse and taking my fingerprints, after you're done with this bottle. Will you be kind enough to do it? I have particular reasons to want this to be done.", she declared, calmly.

Molly Maltese
Molly Maltese
Old Shoe

Nov-25-2009 00:20

The guests all listened in astonishment as the sounds of Molly stomping through the parlor reverberated through the room.

"ELSIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she shouted. "MAKE UP EVERY EXTRA BED WE HAVE IN THIS GODFORSAKEN HOUSE. THERES BEEN A SLIGHT CHANGE OF PLANS!"

There was a slight pause as everyone looked at each other and raised their eyebrows before the obviously irritable hostess came back in. Molly hiked up her skirts slightly and settled on the floor beside the body and gingerly began rummaging through his pockets. She pulled out a small card and peered at it.

"Mr Von Victor, do you have any idea why Mr Harlequin had your business card in his pocket?" she demanded suspiciously, and all eyes turned on him.

She pulled out another piece of paper, and a guest said loudly, "why, that's your address!"

Molly glared around. "May I remind you that you are in my place of residence. You all didn't feel your way here with blindfolds on, did you?"

Marc raised an eyebrow. "But it's on the back of a picture."

Molly turned it over and flushed bright red at the picture of Harlequin and her looking QUITE chummy together. His face was peering out from behind her as she balanced on his lap and smiled quite drunkenly at the camera.

"Oh jeebus. I told him to get rid of that!" she said, covering her face with her hands as the picture was snatched up and passed around the table as "important evidence". More than a few giggles sounded in the room.

Elizabeth March
Elizabeth March
Sleuth About Town

Nov-25-2009 00:45

As the picture reached Elizabeth, she refused to pass it on.

"Let us stop this. We're all civilized grown ups, and this is not funny. We all have our little secrets, don't we?"

She sighed and handed the photograph back to Molly.

"There you go. Keep it safe."

She let out a sigh.

"At least, this time I'm not the one in the spotlight. At least until someone decides do dish out something with my name", she added, rolling her eyes.

"Someone ALWAYS does."

Charlie Cain
Charlie Cain
Thespian

Nov-25-2009 03:45

" Look people we need to stay focused." Charlie Cain said out of the back of the room placing a cigarette in his mouth. "Molly you dont mind if I smoke do you?" He asked knowing full well Molly's wrath if he did something she didnt approve of.

" Ok so Molly is a close friend of the departed. We are all suspects in this. We could all be linked to him in one way or the other. And not all of us here liked the guy." said Charlie looking around at his friends and fellow detectives.

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