Chapter 35

When Miss Eloise had left, Sarah swung around to Betsy giving her a panicked look. "Wedding dress!?" she mouthed, "and who in heavens name and I getting married to?" Betsy shrugged while Miss Marple rolled her eyes. Miss Eloise stumbled back into the front room balancing several tea trays on her arms. "I've never had quite a unique set of guests here for a wedding dress search.""Don't mind them," Miss Marple replied, "they're just along for the fun of it."Sarah was the one to roll her eyes this time. Miss Eloise prodded Sarah measured her up and down and walked into the back room to pick a selection of dresses. "I don't have anyone to marry!" Sarah whispered frantically to Betsy, "I don't even want to get married yet!""It's just to get to the bottom of the case," Betsy whispered back, "Calm down.""Don't tell me to calm down!" Sarah hissed a little louder than she meant, "You calm down! Why can't it be you pretending to get married though? I HATE shopping!" She wasn't so angry though when she saw the selection that Miss Eloise brought back though. "Now," said Miss Marple, "While those are all very lovely; Do you think that you could sew a custom gown?" "Of course," replied Miss Eloise a little indignantly, "I can sew anything you can dream up" (Miss Eloise is French so all of that was in a french accent). "Oh wonderful," sighed Miss Marple, "I was hoping you would say that. And you really mean anything?" "Yes!" Miss Eloise pushed, "I can make skinny women look fat and fat women look skinny. I can make yards of fabric vanish and stretch a couple of yards into a ball gown fit for a queen!" Betsy was wide eyed and Miss Marple was beaming. "I think she has just fit the final pieces together," muttered Betsy to herself.

Chapter 34

The shop truly was a very quaint little thing, with a sitting room in front for a nice tea if you were a little tired after shopping and the proprietress was a rather plump, kindly middle-aged woman named Eloise. Eloise was very confused to see the group of a dozen people tramp into her shop. Upon seeing the butler in shackles she grew even more confused and a little worried, it was common knowledge in town that they rather fancied each other. "Welcome!" said Miss Eloise trying to be a good hostess despite her surprise. "I'm a bit baffled at you all here today. What is the occasion?" "Oh, dear," said Miss Marple. "I do suppose that we look quite a sight with all these people; a beaver, the Sultry Scot back from the dead, a strange woodsman, and the poor butler in shackles. But do not fear my dear! We have simply come for a spot of tea and to look for a new dress for dearest Sarah. You do sell wedding dresses don't you?" and with that Miss Marple sat down on the nearest overstuffed couch, took out her knitting and stared blithely around. Miss Eloise tried to regain her composure, invited everyone to take a seat and bustled off to the kitchen to get some tea.

Chapter 33

So they set off for the high street, and walked towards the dress shop where Sarah and Betsy bought those really sweet dresses for tea a Simon's. "Excuse me, Jane," said Sarah tentatively because she was still in awe that her hero was here before her eyes, "I simply don't understand how the dresses have anything to do with this whole matter." "Ah... Yes," replied Jane, "I could see how this would be a bit confusing. But you see my dear, this is what brings us all together and explains everything. It's not simply a dress shop, you have to look past the exterior. From Betsy's notes I could tell that this was where everything began," and with that Jane walked very purposefully into Miss Eloise's Dress Emporium. Still thoroughly baffled, the rest of the group (the apothecary man, the butler in shackles, Euphemiana, Simon, Sarah, Betsy, Poppy, Dodo (the-dead-or-very-soon-to-be-dead-beaver-that-they-had-thought-was-dead-but-now-wasn't-a-all), Mrs. Forester, Peter, the Sultry Scot, and the Chief Popo) followed after her.

Chapter 32

Betsy had to pull her journal out of her skirts to make sure that they weren't missing anything. She flipped it open, "Lets see," muttered Betsy, running her finger down the page, "the sun set about 4 minutes early today. Observe moon tonight so as to make sure it isn't out of alignment as well... No. Observed girl twirling on the moor today, remember to question about excessive giddiness... Nope. Here it is!" She shoved the journal into Miss Marple's lap gesturing wildly at the page. "Read it!" she said with wide eyes and an overly eager smile."I take copious notes." she said in a self satisfied manner. Miss Marple, with a bit of a shocked face at Betsy's over-eagerness, grasped the book in her hands and began to read. She made sighs and grunts and flipped back and forth between pages comparing different events. Betsy was watching over Marple's shoulder anxiously and Sarah was taking deep breaths and trying to remain calm a few feet away. Simon was patting her hand in a concerned manner. He didn't know what else to do and was very confused as to why the girls were making such a hullabaloo about his dear Aunt Jane."Well," sighed Miss Marple, "this is quite the case. It’s a good thing you took such good notes young lady because there are a few key clues here in your journal. I'm sure of it. I would like to take a walk around town and talk to a few people. I have a good idea of what went on here but one can never be too careful when it comes to murder."

Chapter 31

"Simon?" queried Jane, "You didn't tell these lovely young ladies that I was coming to visit? I would think that a common courtesy to tell someone that there would be an addition to the party. But what would I know? Young people these days," she said as an aside. "Well, my dearest Aunt, we were caught up in too much of a hullabaloo to do much of anything except try to sort this whole mess out. Actually, you've come just at the right moment to help us wrap this whole murder business up." Jane looked startled, "Well, why didn't you say something dear? Give me all the facts you know." Simon paused, then turned to Sarah and Betsy. "You two know this case better than anyone, why don't you tell Aunt Jane what we know." Sarah got all giddy again and Betsy searched for her smelling salts. They gained their composure as quickly as possible and began to recount everything that had happened since their first day in Kilwinning, Scotland.

Chapter 30

Betsy let out a squeal and Sarah nearly fainted. Their hero! The inspiration for their life's work, there, in front of their own eyes! It was too good to be true! Betsy managed to compose herself somewhat while Poppy licked Sarah's face trying to wake her from her daze. "I'm so glad you could make it out, Aunt Jane," Simon said to Miss Marple. "Oh you know, anything for a nephew of mine. I do so love the Scottish countryside. "M-m-miss Marple is your AUNT!?" stuttered Sarah, a look of awe crossing her face.

Chapter 29

B-"Whoa there! Don't think about going anywhere," said Betsy while the men approached trying to stop his escape. But the Butler had flung dear little Poppy from his leg and was now sprinting down the lane. "Stop him!" yelled the Chief Popo. With that they were all chasing him down the little cobblestone street, but thankfully there was a savior up ahead. A little old lady who had been knitting outside the Killwinning inn. She saw the hubub and being as clever as she was she grabbed the nearest thing and ran out into the path of the Butler. As soon as he was in range, she threw a pot of Begonia's at his head. He crumpled to the ground covered in pottery shards, begonias, and dirt. Meanwhile, the chasing party was beginning to catch up. "Oh my dear aunt," said Simon, "How did you manage to react so quickly and come to our aide." "I've had experience with murders many times before and saw the opportunity to help," she sweetly replied, "I was aware of the fact that the police, with other help, were trying to catch a murderer in this town and with the way this man, who I must say reminds me a little of what I thought Jack the Ripper would look like, was fleeing I put two and two together. Let me introduce myself, I'm Jane Marple."

Chapter 28

S-"So she started plotting," mused Sarah. "Quite," responded the Butler, "for years she hatched the perfect plan. She would murder all of the Scot's father's family, one by one, until he would be forced to return from Brazil and PAY!" "The perfect plan indeed," responded Sarah, "perfect except for the fact that she never planned anything of the sort!" Betsy tapped on the floor with her toe and a trap door popped open. "In fact," a deep melodious voice sang out from the floor, "I don't have a father at all!" and with that the Sultry-Scot popped out. "Well not that I can remember at least. He died when I was a wee lad. He is buried over by the church if you would like to see." "Z-z-z-OMBIES!!!" shrieked Mrs. Forester as she started doing a strange dance around her chair that could either have been a nervous tic or an ancient zombie warding ritual that had been passed down in her family for generations. "Fear not madame!" the chief Popo declared in an unsure voice, "I will take care of him...?" "Oh calm down," Betsy said pushing the Popo and Mrs. Forrester back down into their seats, "there will be no need to do any taking care of quite yet." "I'm not a zombie at all," interrupted the Scot matter-of-factly. "I can see that now," countered Mrs. Forester whose feet were still moving under her skirts in a series of complicated steps, "but you can't just go popping out of the ground and surprising people like that! Its not very gentlemanly." "Indeed," remarked Sarah, "but if we would all like to turn our attention back to the real matter at hand." "Yes!" exclaimed Betsy, "after all of these dramatics I nearly forgot all about the murders!" "You see, Euph isn't the murderer at all! Its the Butler!" By this time the butler was trying to sneak out the back door but Poppy had a firm hold of his pant cuff and was making it very difficult for him to slip out unnoticed.

Chapter 27

S-"Many years ago,” he began, “there was more than one beaver poacher in Killiwinning. In fact, there were three. Three beaver poachers in one region is quite a lot as you can imagine and they couldn’t help but step on each other’s toes a little bit.” “Who were the other poachers?” Sarah inquired warily. “They were Euphemiana, the Sultry Scot’s father and me,” he replied. “Of course!” Betsy exclaimed with wide eyes, “Why couldn’t we see it sooner? She enslaved you and murdered the Scot’s father so that she could have the beavers all to herself!” “Well, almost. It was a warm summer many years ago that our feud over the beavers really heated up,” the butler continued, “you see, there was a very rare and beautiful beaver frolicking around the woods near Killiwinning. It was a Golden Delicious.” “Like the apple?” inquired the chief popo excitedly. “”No, like the beaver,” responded the Butler dryly, “A golden delicious beaver is the rarest of all beavers; it has a coat that is the color of pure honey. I would give my right eye just to hold one in my hands. As you might imagine we had all heard the golden delicious beaver’s mournful song at night and were ripping the woods apart looking for it. The Sultry Scot’s father got to her first skinned her expertly and had sold the pelt on the black market for thousands of pounds and ran off to Brazil to live out his days before Euphemiana even had time to blink. The jealousy of the Sultry Scot’s father’s conquest was far too much for Euph to bear and she swore that she would have her revenge.”

Chapter 26

B- "Oh Simon!" Sarah exclaimed, "I think I could just kiss you! But I won't..." then there was sort of an awkward pause before Betsy cut in to save the moment. "Well... that conversation can be continued later. Right now, Euphemiana I have a few questions for you. Namely, can you explain how you have a halberd that looks exactly like the murder weapon? Or why you carry a small vial of deathly nightgrip liquid around with you? And can you tell me of your whereabouts on the days of the crimes?" Sarah cut in now after recovering from her little outburst. "Those are all very valid questions Bets, but I think the real ringer is why would you do it Euph? That's still what I'm muddled about." Then, out of the blue the butler decided that he wanted to say something, "I can tell you that." Betsy who always got a little nervous around the butler because he still reminded her of Jack the Ripper, let Sarah talk to the butler. "If you wouldn't mind sir, would you please explain yourself?"

Chapter 25

S- “This is a knitted tea-cozy as you can see. A knitted tea-cozy that was knitted by none other than the killer herself! It’s a special tea-cozy isn’t it Euphemiana?” Betsy reached into the stitches wiggled her hand around a bit. “While it acts as an excellent disguise while creeping through the forest it also serves several other purposes.” Betsy was still struggling with the tea-cozy and people were starting to wonder if she had gone yumpy. “It is an excellent muffling tool for poor puppies about to be abandoned in the forest, wiping blood off of halberds, keeping mist off of one’s ears, and keeping tea warm too I suppose. But the most unique thing about this tea-cozy is the secret compartment knitted right into the fluff!” Just as the knittery was about to be shredded to pieces by Betsy’s persistent efforts, it there was a click and a small object rolled out from among the fluff. “Its so fluffy you see that to the ordinary person the compartment would go unnoticed. A bottle of nightgrip liquid is just about the perfect size to fit and that’s what I imagine this is.” Sarah remarked picking up the unlabeled bottle. “The first night we were here and on our way to the forest we heard some shuffling in the forest. We attributed it to a squirrel but it was really Euph. All old people shuffle you know.” The revelation session was interrupted by the slamming open of the pub door. Streaks of blinding sunlight penetrated the smokey darkness. Simon came in lugging two halberds behind him. One matching the murder weapon almost exactly except for this one didn’t have the dent in the handle and wasn’t covered in blood. The second was a great deal older but still looked venomous. “This one is Winkey and the other is Roberto--her favorites.” Simon stated matter-of-factly gesturing to the ancient weapons, “I always thought it was strange that grandmother had such a large collection of these. She told me she had a fascination with the occult which confused me because halberds don’t really have anything to do with the occult.”

.

Chapter 24

B-Simon mysteriously ran out of the room after Sarah said something about the halberd, but no one paid him much attention because he always did strange things at strange times. “I know plenty of people with halberds,” said Euph. “Oh really?” asked Betsy. “Name three!” she exclaimed. “Okay,” said Euph calmly. “Charles the Bold was killed by one…” she paused, thinking placidly. “Never mind,” said Sarah who could see that this was getting them nowhere. “We have other very incriminating evidence Euphemiana, if that even is your real name.” “Dear Euphy,” said Betsy, “it was the tea cozy that really got us going though. Do you remember?” Sarah took over now (the girls shared the revealing of the clues, it’s one of the best parts!) “When you went to the apothecary to steal the Deathly Nightgrip Liquid,you wore a tea-cozy over your head so you wouldn’t be spotted. But as you passed us on the lane you dropped it.” It was Betsy’s turn now, “That made us wonder, why in the world would a little old granny be carrying around a tea-cozy in her handbag? That’s very odd indeed.”

.

Chapter 23

B-"Well, in my younger days I was rather..." Euph trailed off. "Mrs. Kahn, I'm sorry to tell you, but we have one of your recent victims that you didn't quite finish off waiting outside the door," said Sarah. "Do you possibly recognize this little Bloodhound?" asked Betsy. Euphemiana glanced over at Poppy and seemed to really see her for the first time. A flickering of recognition passed over her face but she wiped it off before anyone but Sarah or Betsy could notice. It was enough though. "And what about this poor beaver?" asked Betsy (because as it turns out the Beaver was not dead after all! The girls found out about this shortly before the interview but didn't to mention it to the rest of the group. They thought it would be best, and more entertaining to catch Euphie off guard.) The Chief Popo carried little Dodo, the beaver, (short for Dorothea Opal) into the room and Euphie got a look of terror in her eyes. "Dagnabit..." she muttered, "I just knew these beavers would be the ruin of me!" Simon who had been sitting like a very fine gentleman during this whole exchange was just starting to realize that his grandmother was a beaver nabber (which was illegal in the greater part of Scotland) and mostly likely the Killer of Killwinning...
S-“Grandmother, what is the meaning of all this?” he inquired as surreptitiously as possible but everyone’s attention was fixed on the exchange. Euph sat resolutely with lips clenched shut. “How could you do this to us? Our family is surely ruined! All that we have worked for; all that Grandfather worked for. Gone. We will never be respectable ever again.” With that Simon slumped down in his chair head buried in his hands. “And with that all over with,” Betsy--with eyes twinkling excitedly--whispered in a very Dorcas-Lane-when-she-is-up-to-mischief kind of whisper, “we shall get back to business.” (I hope you know that I’m jealous that you get to be Dorcas Lane-esque) “Now,” Sarah said, her eyes shooting daggers at Euph for breaking poor Simon’s heart, “we know who the murderer of Killwinning is even if you won’t admit it. Please allow us to present our evidence. Firstly, the murder weapon of the Sultry Scot’s sister was a halbert. Who in the world owns a halbert? People who live in manor houses and hunt beavers do.”



and

Chapter 22

S-“We were wondering if a few of you would come in for a few questions so we can clear up a bit of fogginess surrounding some of the circumstances surrounding the recent events. No need to fret, this is purely routine,” added Betsy. The girls promptly hopped off the beaver statue and started towards the lovely pub on the corner where they were planning on conducting the interview. Sarah remembered they should probably ask the people they wanted to talk to to come too. The girls then walked resolutely towards the pub not knowing exactly what to expect from the group following behind them. As the settled around the fire in a large circle Poppy went around and sniffed everyone’s boots, letting them know that she was keeping a close eye on things, so don’t try any sneaky business. Mrs. Forrester (who the girls hadn’t met before but looked to be a lovely person), Simon’s grandmother, mother, and two sisters, the butler, the apothecary man--who had the beaver that was the dead-or-very-soon-to-be-dead-that-was-dead-and-then-wasn’t-dead-anymore-(unbeknownst-to-Betsy-and-Sarah) whose tail was flopping merrily, the chief popo, Peter, and Simon all exchanged wary glances. “You may or may not have realized this, but this is not a routine bit of questioning. It is rather a serious bit of questioning and I think that you should all know that we have a murderer in our midst. We just didn’t want to announce that before we had you all trapped in here.” announced Sarah very seriously, nodding towards the door where Poppy stood guard.
S- “As we started into the investigation of the murder of Lulu, things in this town started to get more and more muddled,” started Betsy “The clues weren’t adding up,” added Sarah, “people’s accounts of their doings and characters weren’t matching up.” “Basically,” Betsy interjected, “for most of the investigation nothing added up. Then we had a break--the beaver. Thats when everything started to come together. Poppy, the begonias, the tea cozy, the beaver, shuffling in the woods, disturbances in the dust, the fire in the cottage that nearly cost my sister and me our lives. They’re all connected! Our murderer was very sneaky and worked hard to push the notice from themselves to others. They tried especially hard to push attention onto one particular person, her grandson. Isn’t that right Euphemiana?” Euphemiana who had previously appeared to be dozing in the corner jolted up, very awake, “How would I know?” After a meaningful look from Sarah, Euphemiana’s eyes widened. “Are you insane?” she demanded, “Why would I of all people be the murderer? I can barely walk, let alone stab a young lass with a Halberd.” “Or thats what you’ve wanted people to think. In reality you are quite an accomplished beaver hunter, aren’t you Mrs. Kahn,” replied Sarah.



and

Chapter 21

S-"We MUST find out who this murderer is before anyone else gets picked off," declared Betsy resolutely as she marched off in the southerly direction. "Where are you going?" Peter asked her. "To town to solve this mystery once and for all," Betsy remarked over her shoulder. "Well it might be better if you turned approximately 145 degrees to your left because town is north-east of here" Peter informed her. "Well why didn't you say so earlier?" Betsy cried in exasperation and the whole crew set off towards town. On their way into town Betsy and Sarah started to review all of the evidence to see if they could piece any of it together. They were still thoroughly baffled but felt like they were getting to the cusp of a major revelation. This cusp was marching towards them much sooner than they thought. On the outskirts of town they came across quite a scene...
B- While they were all away trying to solve a murder and wandering around the forest and trying (but failing) to save a beaver’s life the town had decided that a fox hunt was just what everyone needed for a bit of cheering up. So everyone gussied up their horses, rounded up the hounds, and all met in the town square. Now the problem is, how does one go about having a fox hunt? But that is a question for another time. The question is now, how was Betsy going to solve this hole pickle? She didn’t have a clue either until she saw the begonia bushes that had their heads chopped off in front of the inn that she and Sarah were staying in. Then she had an idea! She should go read her journal that she kept insanely good notes in. I bet that if they read over what she had written since they had gotten to Scotland they might be able to piece this whole thing together.
S-Sadly, Betsy's notes were far too detailed for either her or Sarah to make any headway. Entries such as "seven grains of rice left on the plate of the man who ate next to us" and "twenty-three dead ants on the way up the stairs today" appeared to be a little bit excessive in hind sight. Luckily just at that moment Poppy decided it was getting a bit chilly and tugged her pink tea cozy out from under the bed and nudged Sarah's hand to let her know she needed an extra layer put on. Betsy's eyes widened when she saw the fluffy bit of knittery. "Tea cozy, begonias, dead beaver..." she muttered scrunching up her face so that she could think better. She flipped her journal to their first day in the town. "How could we have been so blind!" she cried in distress. It was right under our noses the whole time! Sarah and Betsy ran to the town square to settle this mess once and for all.
B-First the girls had to find the Popo, Simon, and Peter so they could help get everyone paying attention and also to make sure the murderer didn’t escape. “Simon,” Sarah said “I need you to make sure that no one leaves at all. Not even the head Popo!” (eyeing him suspiciously) “Of course madam,” Simon said sarcastically. (But in a good sarcastic way, not a bad sarcastic way) The girls then ran to the lovely fountain of a beaver situated in the center of the town square and clambered to the top of it, Poppy whimpered at the bottom asking with her eyes if she could pretty please come up? “Oh all right dearest,” said Betsy, “But don’t make a fuss.” The Popo, Simon, and Peter were doing their best weaving in and out of horses, hounds, children, and other various objects telling everyone to hush up and pay attention. Sarah mustered up her courage and said, but mostly yelled...“Excuse me everyone! Excuse me! I have a rather important announcement to make. For the past fortnight Betsy, Poppy, and I have been trying to solve these murderings that have been going on in your lovely little town of Kilwinning.”



and

Chapter 20

S-Poppy, being the clever sleuth she is, noticed upon entering the room a rather large leg of mutton lying on the ground next to the unconscious Apothecary Man. She immediately pounced on his sternum, gave it a few pushes and VOILA! a piece of not nearly chewed enough mutton shot out of the Apothecary Man's mouth and landed across the room in what appeared to be belladonna plant that was turning a violent shade of purple. The Apothecary Man sputtered, sat up and looked around. "What happened?" he asked dazedly. Suddenly he shot to his feet and ran to the fire shouting something about how his concoction (which was the source of the wretched smell and dastardly fog) was completely ruined."This is no time to be fussing over your dumb soup!" Betsy shouted, "We have a dead or very soon to be dead beaver here!"
B-"Oh!" exclaimed the Apothecary man (who's name turned out to be Leslie) "Let me examine the patient..." he took the dead or very soon to be dead beaver gently in his arms cradling it like a baby and laid it carefully down on the counter. He poked and prodded and mumbled something that sounded like "Mashed potatoes with salt are disgraceful." He then bustled off to his shelves of herbs and remedies, selected a small round pot and hurried back to the poor animal's side. "Those mashed potatoes..." Leslie mumbled again as he poured some of the liquid inside of the pot down the beavers throat. The group watched with baited breath for what seemed like an eternity... Then suddenly the Apothecary man said in a very loud voice, "Well that's that! He's not a very soon to be dead beaver. He's just plum darn dead." "What a shame," everyone muttered. "I suppose he's in a better place," said Betsy who had grown rather fond of the poor creature. Simon who was rather level headed because he hadn't formed any sort of attachment whatsoever to the Beaver said, "Leslie, would you be so kind as to dispose of the body for us? We would be much obliged to you," and with that he took the girls arms and marched them from the shop. But they hadn't gotten far when they heard a strange strained noise that sounded as though something was in pain. They all looked around but it was Betsy who spotted the source first. It was not anything in pain, well unless you include emotional pain, it was the Sultry Scott and he was singing. This was not any sort of song, this was a song sung for a specific purpose to a specific person. Betsy. Crap.
S-The girls couldn't understand anything the Scot was saying because it was in some ancient Gaelic dialect but Simon informed the girls that the Scot was singing of his undying love for Betsy. Betsy moaned and veered towards the left hoping that they could walk by unnoticed. The Scot was so taken up with his song that he almost didn't notice the party's brisk passing. "Hark, my love!" cried the Scot hopping from his perch atop a branch in a rather tall tree, "I have something I need to show thee!" Too bad 2.5 seconds later the Scot was convulsing on the ground, eyes wild and bile leaking out his ears. Another 3.7 seconds later the Scot was quite dead.
B-Betsy couldn't quite comprehend the situation. One second there was the Scot professing his undying love for her, at least according to Simon, and now he was unmistakably dead. She had already had quite a day, and started to cry right then and there because she couldn't think of anything else she could do. But then Poppy, sensing her distress, went and licked Betsy's hand and cuddled with her. It made Betsy feel a lot better. Sarah and Simon, seeing that Betsy was quite well attended to, were approaching the now still Scot. "I wonder what killed the poor dear," said Sarah. They inspected the whole body trying to find some sign of poisoning, but none could be found. Betsy had regained some of her strength and she started to look over by where the Scot had been singing. On the ground beneath the tree was a bouquet of her flowers. Begonia's.
S-"Begonias!" Betsy cried in surprise, "my favorite." She ran over to where they were lying in the dewy grass. Just as her fingers were about to touch them a flying torpedo of human flesh blind-sided her! Don't worry though, her ninja instincts kicked in. Instead of allowing herself to he hurled to the ground she used the momentum from the fleshy torpedo and channeled it into an epic ninja move sequence that doesn't even have a name--yes, it was that epic. After approximately 3.6 seconds the fleshy torpedo's head was in a death grip and sputtering for breath. Simon and Sarah were so enamored by the sunset that they wouldn't have even noticed the exchange if it weren't for Poppy tugging desperately at Sarah skirts. They turned around just in time to see the last 1.3 seconds of the exchange. Betsy was so enraged at her attacker that she didn't even think to see who it was. Good thing Sarah called out his name in confusion before Betsy had time to snap his neck.
B-"Peter!" cried Sarah. Betsy who was distracted by Sarah's call looked down at whose neck she was just about to break and found that it was the rather attractive man from the forest. She had no clue how Sarah knew his name, but she did. Betsy decided to still keep in in a vice-like headlock just incase he turned out to really be trying to kill her. "Excuse me Peter," said Betsy in a fairly calm voice, "but may I ask as to why you just tried to kill me? It made me feel a little uncomfortable..." Peter tried to say something but it came out more like "muffins are delectable" and that certainly is not a very good reason to try to kill someone. Betsy loosened her hold on him ever so slightly and he tried again. "Begonias.... are... poisoned....*gasp*" Well that took everyone by surprise. "What!" exclaimed Simon, "That must be how the Scot died. I wonder who was trying to kill him." "Well," said Sarah, "I would hazard a guess at whoever killed the rest of the people and the poor beaver." "Oh no! Those flowers were meant for me I think! Whoever is trying to kill off the rest of the town put us next on the list!" (Dun dun dun! To be continued...)




and

Chapter 19

B-The girls decided that they didn't even want to fight with the Butler by pounding on the door again so they decided that maybe there was someone in town that could help the poor dead or very soon to be dead beaver. So they set off at a very quick pace down the hill towards the town. About a minute or two into their journey Poppy started sniffy interestedly in the air. "What is it girl?" asked Sarah. "What do you smell?" Betsy was peering ahead because she thought she saw someone coming up the lane. "Sarah!" she exclaimed, "I think someone's coming!" "I do believe you are right sister," said Sarah. "Maybe that's what Poppy was sniffing." The figure very soon came into focus and it was just who the girls were wanting to see! "Simon!" Betsy shrieked, "We have just been to your house and your Butler was quite rude to us. We even told him that we had a dead or very soon to be dead beaver on our hands." He was quite close to where the were now, and he was not smiling. Betsy, who had almost completely forgotten that he was a suspect in the murder investigation became a little nervous, and she could tell that the other's were too. "What if he really is the murderer and he's coming to finish us off," she thought to herself. "At least I'm a trained ninja..."
S-She had totally forgotten that several summers prior she had gone to Korea to learn the ways of the warriors. Good thing she just remembered. She was just about to reach for her ankle dagger when Simon's expression changed to one of shock. "Sarah, Betsy? You're alive?" he gasped. I've just gone to town to tell everyone the dreadful news of what happened that day in the shack. "Yes, I'm so sorry we thwarted your plans to MURDER us!" shrieked Betsy, her inner warrior was beginning to emerge. Wait, what do you mean I tried to kill you?" asked Simon, "I never did
 anything of the sort. I think there has been a little bit of confusion. You tried to kill me. Don't think I didn't see that deathly night-grip flower so cleverly placed right in my line of stepping. So yes, I did lock you down in the cellar so that... I could figure out what to do about the fact that two supposed detectives tried to kill me. I went to talk to my grandmother about it because she is so clever you see. When I got back to the house however she was indisposed and didn't want to see anyone. I walked back to the shack only to see it in ashes." "Well then who tried to kill us?" inquired Sarah. "They'd better fess up quick or they'll get whats coming to 'em" said Betsy savagely
B-"Well I didn't notice anything around the shack when I was there," said Simon. "But then again I was distraught with grief and confusion." "Alright! How about we continue this lovely conversation later, because we have a dead or very soon to be dead beaver here!" said Betsy in as calm a voice as she could muster because this whole thing was very stressful and she just wanted a bit of breakfast. Sarah and Simon agreed that for the sake of the poor beaver, the conversation could be postponed for a minute or two, and the five started briskly down the lane. "I think we should take him to the Apothecary," said Sarah. " I bet that he would know something to cure this poor sweet creature." So they altered their course in the direction of said Apothecary...
S-Meanwhile, Poppy was looking up at Simon with adoring eyes and playfully nipping at his heels as if to say she had missed him. "Poppy," Sarah whispered exasperatedly, "That is no way to treat a suspect. You must stop immediately. We have no idea what he is capable of!" Poppy slinked to the other side of the party and they proceeded onward. The beaver's breathing began to be laborious. "I think he is holding on to his last strings of life!" cried Betsy in severe distress, "we must hasten!" They awkward group finally reached the steps of the Apothecary only to 
find the door quite locked, rather than just locked, for you see several different kinds of bolts and fasteners seemed to be engaged in the task of preventing the salvation of an innocent creature! "What to do, what to do!" Betsy fretted, "Oh wait, I have ninja skills. I forgot that several moons ago I visited the ancient land and learned the ways of master Jaedong this is fortunate indeed for if I had not traveled..." "Just get on with it!" cried Sarah in distress. "Oh, yes,
of course." said Betsy and in one swift movement the door had been cloven in two.
B-The room smelled even more peculiar than it had the first time the girls had visited, and the haze seemed to have grown thicker. "Where the devil is the Apothecary man!" shouted Betsy, who's only concern now was whether the beaver lived or died. Sarah on the other hand was rather composed as she said, "Simon, if you would be so kind as to check the back room for the Apothecary man. If he is not brought directly I think dearest Betsy will have a hernia, or some other medical disaster." Simon ran to the back room but he was not gone long before there was a loud yell. The girls quickly ran to the back room where the smell was even worse and the haze even more dense. As they looked around they spotted Simon crouched over a mass of cloth on the floor. "Oh my heavens!" exclaimed Betsy. "This is not the time for another death! We need his skills to help save the poor dead or very soon to be dead beaver!" "Curses," muttered Sarah under her breath. "Wait!" said Simon, "I think I've found a pulse! We need to get help!" but Poppy was already two steps ahead...




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Chapter 18

S-a filthy murdering liar! Thats what he turned out to be. Sarah grabbed Betsy's hand and stomped away into the forest (this time they were careful to avoid the deadly night grip). Poppy gave the forest man a sympathetic look and sauntered after the girls. Sarah ranted on for a while about talking to strange men. Betsy was already embarrassed enough without Sarah's lecturing and soon enough sniffling sounds were emanating from her dainty nose and wetness was falling out of her radiant eyes. "Oh poo," Sarah muttered. She was about to comfort Betsy when she saw something in the dirt, a crushed bouquet begonias! “I think our murderer might be close!” she exclaimed with wide eyes, “Or at least the Begonia murderer is somewhere close.”
B-"Oh the poor dears!" said Betsy, who really rather liked flowers and was feeling especially emotional at the moment. "I don't think we can save them, but maybe we can catch the evil-doer!" But Sarah had been thinking, and the only other person they'd seen in the forest recently was the strange, yet very attractive, forest-man and what was stopping him from being the Begonia murderer! And while she was thinking about it, how did they know that he wasn't the other murderer? Because they'd already figured out that Simon was that murderer... But now she was beginning to doubt her hasty decision. "Bets, do you think that there is anyway possible for Simon not be the real murderer? I mean, what if he was just framed for it?" asked Sarah. "Well, we didn't actually see him start the fire, and he was behind both of us..." said Betsy. "We need to find Simon and the strange, but really quite attractive, forest-man! Stat!" They hurried off the way that they had come.
S-"Strange Forest-Man!" Betsy called out, "We need to speak with you for a moment if you wouldn't mind. Its awfully important." The girls went on with Betsy saying things like this for quite some time. When ever a squirrel jumped from tree to tree or a lark burst into flight she would whip around searching hopefully. "I don't think he is here anymore," Sarah finally remarked. "I guess you're right" Betsy replied in a mournful resigned tone. "We should hurry over to Simon's house to get to the bottom of this whole mess," declared Sarah. "I don't know, maybe we should keep on looking for Forest-man," said Betsy. "Well if you feel like thats the best plan of action how about you stay here and Poppy and I go to Simon's house," said Sarah.
B-"Oh goodness me no!" exclaimed Betsy. "That would be far to frightening. What if I was abducted by the Strange Forest-Man, or some other sinister thing. You wouldn't know that I was missing for a very long time and it would be quite a mess. I suppose I'll come along with you. I want to see Simon anyways." "Why do you want to see him?" inquired Sarah. "I'm not entirely sure, but I have the feeling that he knows something that will really get us to the bottom of this case!" said Betsy. "Well why didn't you say so before, Silly!" said Sarah. "Let's go!" And off they trotted in the direction of Simon's house which wasn't very far at all, only a couple of miles and the walk was pleasant. They soon reached the edge of the park and got an entirely different view of it than the first time they had approached the House on the Hill because they were coming from the back. It seemed a lot more natural with a lovely little stream and pond. But what was this? Something strange was on the ground a little ways off...
S-a dead beaver. "Oh my heavens!" cried Betsy. Who would ever do such a thing to a poor innocent creature? Sarah went over to see if it was really dead. The animal was still warm so that meant that it was either very recently dead or only barely alive. "Quick, lets take it up to Simon's house" said Sarah, "he might have the instruments we need to revive the little dear." The girls made haste towards the house, Sarah cradling the beaver in her arms and Poppy following along at their heels. When the reached the front door of the house they banged on the front door and after a moment the butler answered. "Is Simon here?" inquired Betsy in a panicky voice (which was panicky for more than one reason. One being that the beaver was dead or very soon to be dead, another that Simon, they believed, had tried to kill them, and also the Butler bore a very close resemblance to what she had always imagined Jack the Ripper would look like.) "I'm sorry" he replied in an stone-y voice, "but Simon is out for the afternoon. He had some business in town." "Well that’s not very helpful, is it?" spat Betsy, "we need to come in this instant because we have a dead or very soon to be dead beaver on our hands." "Oh, I see, well that changes things doesn't it?" remarked the Butler. He coolly turned around and shut the door in the girls faces. “That wasn’t very Christian of him,” said Sarah.



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Chapter 17

B-As the girls were sleeping Poppy was taking the watch. She pretty much just loved to poke her nose out the window and smell the fresh air. And there was just something about that big moon in the sky that she just loved to look at. Howling, she thought, was overrated. It was just so much more enjoyable to look at it and contemplate life. But a noise burst her bubble of wonder, it wasn’t a large noise but very noticeable to Poppy’s sharp ears. A tiny clipping noise, like that of possibly flowers. Poppy searched the nearby hedges and found the culprit. Two figures stood by the hedgerows cutting of flowers and acting very suspicious. Poppy thought this warranted waking up the girls and whined. Both Sarah and Betsy stumbled out of bed and to the window. “What is it girl?” asked Betsy. Poppy pointed with her nose towards the figures. “Well now, that is odd,” said Sarah. “What would two people be doing cutting off flowers from hedgerows and acting very suspicious.” “Too bad we can’t see their faces,” mumbled Betsy, who was still very sleepy and not really wanting to figure it out. But after the girls had gone to bed, Sarah was troubled by the thought that both of the figures seemed very familiar, she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
S-The next morning the girls went out to investigate. All of the tops of the Begonias had been chopped off. "Well this is a bad sign" sighed Betsy. "Indeed" Sarah replied, "It appears that someone has it out for us. Perhaps we're getting a little too close for comfort to the murderer!" "Perfect!" gleamed Betsy. Poppy began sniffing intently at the mangled begonias, her ears perked up. "I think she may have the scent!" exclaimed Betsy. Poppy took off rather quickly along the path the girls had taken the other day. She veered into the forest and stopped at the base of a tree. "A clue!" exclaimed Betsy. "I don't see why we have to go through all of this trouble. We already know that Simon is the murderer. Lets go tell the Popo already," sighed Sarah leaning against a tree gazing into the sky. There was a muffled shriek. Sarah whipped around and saw a very tall man with his hand over Betsy's mouth dragging her into the forest! Poppy was crying and frantically trying to bite the man's legs off, but to no avail. Sarah would have to do some quick thinking to get themselves out of this terrible mess!
B-But Betsy was sick a tired of being the gosh dang damsel in distress! She didn't need Sarah's help, although it was always welcome, because she knew self defense perfectly well! Well, she more or less knew the gist of it. So as she was biting and kicking and screaming and punching she thought of a better idea, why not try talking her way out of it. So she wiggled her way around so that she had a better view of her captor (it always is more intimidating to people when you're looking at them) and she found that he was really quite attractive! But that was beside the point, because he was trying to kidnap her. "Excuse me," she said authoritatively, "but can you tell me why you're trying to kidnap me?" "Oh," replied her captor. "Is that what this looks like? This isn't how I wanted to start things off at all! Why do I always mess things up!?" And then he got this really quite adorable disgruntled look on his face. (C'mon! Can't I have one cute person like me? PS This is not part of the story) "So, what are you going to do with me? Or do you always kidnap girls when you like them? Or do you not like me?" asked Betsy who was quite put out with the idea of him not liking her.
S-"Well you see," he replied, "that tree that you were inspecting just so happened to have some of deathly nightgrip mushrooms at the bottom. If you had even just so slightly stepped on one of them a toxic gas would have been released and you would have been dead in minutes. You were getting awfully close to stepping on one." "Oh, I see." replied Betsy, a little disappointed, "Why didn't you just say so?" "I panicked! Dead people are so messy!" he exclaimed, "and actually we need to be really careful throughout this whole area. This is where the largest colony of the night grip resides." Betsy glanced around nervously and saw some violently purple mushrooms scattered about. She wondered how she had missed them. They seemed so dreadfully ominous now.
B-"I thank you kind sir, but I fear that I have nothing to offer you as thanks for your kind deed!" exclaimed Betsy. "Well, a kiss from a fair maiden would be thanks enough for a lowly forest-man like me," stated the man. As he stooped down, because you see, he was rather tall, Sarah burst forth from the tree's (she had been watching the whole exchange from a conveniently placed bush) and cried "Stop you fiend! Back! Do you know what you are doing!? Betsy, get away from him! You haven't even known him for more than five minutes and during three of those you thought he was kidnapping you! What about 'Don't talk to strangers'? I'm pretty sure that 'Don't kiss strangers' is an obvious one." Betsy was blushing by now because all of what Sarah has said was true, but there was just something about him that seemed like you could trust him. But look what Simon turned out to be...




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Chapter 16

B-"Where do you think we are?" asked Betsy. "Hmm... I'm not sure," said Sarah while moving over towards the windows. She moved back the curtain and saw a rather familiar sight. It was the rose garden at the House on the Hill. “Oh my heavens! We're at Simon's house!" exclaimed Sarah. "And he just tried to kill us!" "What?! We need to get out of here!" shouted Betsy. "Well, maybe we should try to keep out voices down to not alert anyone of our presence. We need sneak out of one of these windows and try to act as nonchalant as possible while we run away as fast as we can," suggested Sarah. "I think that is a fine idea!" exclaimed Betsy, "Now, since the windows don't open we might have to throw a chair through one of them. Who wants to do the honors?"
S-Sarah picked up an old chair from the corner and heaved it out the window. There was a rather large crashing noise. The girls hoped no one would notice. The chipped off the more jagged pieces with a vase from a near by table. First Betsy jumped through and landed gracefully on the ground amidst some blooming lilies, Sarah then gently lifted Poppy through and handed her to Betsy. A sudden hollering pierced the tense silence. Sarah couldn't quite make out what all the commotion was about but she wasn't going to stay to find out. She had one leg out the window when the door burst open. There was Simon, yelling something about a terrible fire. His eyes grew very large when they saw Sarah, dress hitched to her thighs, clambering out of the widow. Sarah swung her other leg over, saluted Simon facetiously and hopped out. The girls raced across the park and into the nearby forest. They didn't stop to listen to the voices calling after them.
B-They ran towards the tree's and back to the town. They soon reached the main road and slowed to a walk, so as to not draw attention to themselves. But they were quite a sight and attracted many people gazes even without running. Betsy was covered in dirt from fainting, they both smelled like smoke, their dresses were ruined, and they were all panting rather hard. They decided that the best plan of action was to go back to the inn and change and wash up, they used the back roads just in case Simon came looking for them (he surely didn't want them spreading the news that he had just tried to kill them) They got back to the inn and lo and behold, there was someone waiting outside for them. But it wasn't Simon...
S-It was Sultry Scot! He was sitting at one of the tables outside the pub looking very worried indeed. When he saw Betsy he stood up very abruptly knocking over his mug of er... water. Betsy rushed inside and upstairs as quickly as she could in order to avoid anymore awkward situations. The Scot's shoulders drooped a bit, he heaved a manly sigh and sat back down staring at the mess he had created. Sarah couldn't help but give the poor chap a sympathetic look before collecting Poppy and ascending the stairs to the room. "You don't have to be so rude," Sarah reprimanded Betsy. "If I remember correctly you were the one that bonked his schnoz earlier this afternoon," Betsy countered. "Touche. I still have no idea what is even going on in this town though," Sarah remarked. "That makes the two of us. Maybe it will be more clear in the morning," yawned Betsy. The girls made sure that all the windows and doors were securely locked. After all you can never be too careful with ones safety. Especially in a village where a crazed madman is running loose setting fire to what ever strikes his fancy.



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