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A Time for Clues is the third episode of season 8, Mice & Murder.
Recap[]
"Last we left off, our animal investigators were rushing into the drawing room on the first floor entrance wing of Loam Hall to discover that Squire Badger had indeed been murdered! After a contentious beginning to the squire's 60th birthday, with confrontations between the Vicar Ian Prescott and Squire Badger concerning his continuation as vicar in Tufting Meadows, or perhaps a transfer after a hefty tithe to the Anglican Church. A quick bandying of sharp words at the bar with Sylvester Cross, concerning Sylvester's showing up of Lord Brockhollow with the return of his detective's fee, and, indeed a shouting, rage-filled confrontation following Buckster's very genteel blackmailing in the billiards room of the leisure wing. After all of this had been said and done, dinner had commenced, and a letter had been given to Buckster indicating that Squire Badger was going to sell his 50% share in Buckster's oil business to one of Buckster's chief competitors: Jackrabbit!
We also saw a continuation of Gangie's relationship with the wonderful Mrs. Molesly, the beast who's been at Loam Hall the longest of any creature, and a mysterious request from Mr. Ambrose Harding to meet on the second floor landing after dinner. Those plans, however, have been, shall we say, a bit disrupted. We also saw Lars and Daisy confront one another outside of the séance room, where Daisy discovered a number of key details about a portrait hanging in the back of the... behind the table with the crystal ball. A portrait of an ancient badger lord of Loam Hall. We have rushed into the drawing room to see Mrs. Molesly, her hands covered in blood, over the prostrate body of Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow with a bloody wound in his chest, as she cries out, moments after lightning struck and Sylvester saw the pale, translucent figure of Fletcher Cottonbottom."
Synopsis[]
We begin, once again, in the past, where a much less injured Sylvester Cross stands within a castle at Reichenbunny Falls. Fletcher Cottonbottom, Sylvester's arch-nemesis, appears from the shadows to greet him, as we learn that this is a castle belonging to the Cottonbottoms. The two trade barbs before Fletcher comments upon Sylvester having informed the local Bavarian guard about his plan to move munitions out of the castle, which has been serving as his munitions depot. He reaches out a paw, and a manacle closes around Sylvester's wrist and then his own, chaining the two together. He calls Sylvester a betrayer condemned to the seventh circle of Hell for betraying the Cottonbottom family (he used to work for Lord Ignatius Cottonbottom, Fletcher's father). As the German military begin to enter the castle, Fletcher grabs Sylvester and leaps over the side. They fall for what feels like forever, with Sylvester managing to reach back for his lock-pick just as they hit the water's surface. His last memory of this day is of Fletcher disappearing deep into the water, as he rises to the frothy surface.
We cut back to October 4th of 1905, to the drawing room of Loam Hall, and all eyes fall to Sylvester. Upon hearing his bon mot (that ended the previous episode), Lucretia Brockhollow faints.
Vicar Ian Prescott, having just entered the scene with a flock of people from the dining room, observes, through the open door from the drawing room into the study, the bloody scene in front of him. Ian attempts to use his clerical status to imply that, if people tell him what they know, he will not be able to speak on it due to the seal of confession. He begins by heading over to Gangie Green, because of the suspicious interaction that he had with him previously in the graveyard. Gangie intuits that Ian and the former Squire Badger had been at odds this evening, and that, as a result, Ian is likely not coming over to pin the murder on him, but, more likely, to help.
Brennan reveals that, throughout the campaign, a DC 15 will earn the player bronze medal information, a DC 20 will earn them silver medal information, and a DC 25 will earn them gold medal information. Daisy D'umpstaire decides that she wants to attempt to find a secret door within the study, as she thinks it is unlikely that there is only the one door in the room. She decides to see if she can find anything by looking into the study from outside, but is unable to notice anything, as Sylvester's presence is distracting her from her investigation. She does, however, realise that doors, by definition, must be in two rooms, meaning that she could look for other entrances into the study from outside it, rather than looking for exits within it. We learn that Gangie worked for the Cottonbottom family as a young man, and that Daisy has also done some work for them in the past, although she does not have a particular allegiance to them. As a result, although it seems unlikely on the surface due to their differing statuses, Gangie and Daisy have crossed paths before in their lines of work. Daisy, with a look to Gangie, asks him whether there are any other entrances into the room. Gangie, however, doesn't know of a secret door into the study.
We cut to Buckster $ Boyd, who has his ear against the door to the drawing room, attempting to listen to what is going on inside. He hears gasps and whispers, and sees Dr. Corbin Magpie heading over to the recently fainted Lucretia. As he reaches down to peer around the side of the door, his hand grazes his ankle, and he notices that his ankle knife is missing.
Lars Vandenchomp heads over to stand next to Sylvester in the study. They attempt to communicate with any of the ghosts that Lucretia claims to have seen around Loam Hall. Although they are not able to communicate with any ghosts, they begin putting things together in their head: the only two people in the study were the former Squire Badger and his ancient, motherly, not very strong housekeeper; the objects in the room have been scattered around, obviously not by hand; Matilda Molesly is saying that the former Squire Badger stabbed himself to death; Lars knows that ghosts are real, as they saw Fletcher Cottonbottom mere moments ago on the dock. They conclude that there is no explanation for this other than the supernatural.
All eyes are still fixed on Sylvester, who begins by asking Lars to secure the entrances and exits. As Lars goes to do this, they see Buckster crouched behind the door. Thomas Gifloyle walks over to stand next to Ambrose Harding, and asks Sylvester what is going on. Sylvester reminds the crowd that there is no such thing as ghosts, resulting in Lars apologising to the ghosts. Sylvester realises that half of the room thinks that Matilda is right, and that something possessed the former Squire Badger, causing him to kill himself, and that the other half of the room thinks that Matilda just killed the former Squire Badger. Sylvester goes about investigating Matilda, helped by Lars. On a nat 20 roll from Grant (Sylvester), Brennan texts him a secret clue that he can choose whether and when to reveal to the rest of the group and the audience. The text begins: "Directly behind Squire Badger's desk..." but the rest of it is blocked out.
Upon a cursory glance at the study, Sylvester realises a number of things. He realises that, although the crowd thinks that either the supernatural or Matilda is the cause of the former Squire Badger's death, neither of these is to blame. He knows, as a matter of character, that Matilda could not have done this. As he observes the knife, he sees precision in the grip, even though the wound in the former Squire Badger's chest is messy. He realises that the sharpness of the blade, which he can tell has never been used, also does not match up to the messiness of the wound. He sees that it is a hunting knife, with a prairie pronghorn bone handle, the pronghorn not being a common animal in the English countryside. On the desk, facing the chair, he sees a piece of paper, upon which are the words, in the former Squire Badger's handwriting: "Sylvester Cross, I am afraid." He also sees that items are scattered away from the desk, but that the way they are scattered is not uniform; instead, he sees that the items have been scattered in a concentric circle. He sees that the items on the shelves in the room have not been scattered, hence ruling out thunder or an earthquake as the cause. He observes that the items that are scattered around the room are all items from the desk that have been spread away from it, and out into the room. He notices a stone bust of Roman emperor Barkus Aurelius that remains on the desk. Whilst the bust not moving does not surprise him, due to it being made of stone, his attention is drawn to it, as everything else on the desk has a layer of dust on it, a slight tinge of charcoal from the ash that comes in from the fireplace when the door to the study is left open. Brennan then texts Grant (Sylvester) some extra information about the quality of the dust on the bust. The text reads: "Slightly yellow. Parchment dust from books and tomes, the only dust of that kind on an object in the room." He also clocks that the desk has been bolted to the floor and only has a small space carved out for a chair, meaning that most of it is flush to the floor and that you would not be able to see underneath it in most places. He smells a faint smell of ozone in the air. The objects that are on the desk that are not scattered are books, the bust, and papers. The items on the ground that are scattered include a fountain pen, a magnifying glass, and a series of small metallic bindings. He pauses for a moment on a silver picture frame, and notices that its iron fixings are scattered on the ground. As he looks at Matilda, he sees that her pupils are rapidly dilating. Brennan then sends Grant (Sylvester) another two texts, beginning "Mrs. Molesly has..." and "You suspect there may be more to discern within..." but the rest of the messages are blocked out.
Thomas approaches Sylvester and asks if he should send Templeton Padhop to alert the constabulary about the murder. Sylvester replies that he should not, telling everyone in the room that they must not leave Loam Hall. Lars grabs a stack of chairs, and begins handing them out to the guests. Thomas nods and says that he will make a call to the local constabulary to ask if they can arrive to help ensure the safety of the rest of the guests.
At this point, Constance Brockhollow, who is being held by Jeremy Brockhollow, screams and heads over to the former Squire Badger's body, crying: "My father! Who could have done this?" Jeremy turns to Matilda, saying: "What on earth have you done?" Colonel James Hawkins asks Ambrose to tell him who was in the room. Ambrose responds that he was standing outside the door to allow the former Squire Badger to have a private conversation with Matilda, and that they were the only two people in the room. Matilda professes her innocence. Ambrose asks her what her and the former Squire Badger's discussion was about, and she says that the former Squire Badger had told her that she was to be let go from the staff at Loam Hall, and had promised her a small sum of money to live off in her old age. A gasp goes up from the room, and James narrows his eyes, casting doubt upon Matilda's version of events.
Lars, having found Buckster crouching outside the door, drags him into the study to speak with Sylvester. Jeremy asks them about Buckster, and Lars tells him that they found Buckster outside the door, sneaking about. James asks Buckster why he was waiting outside of the door instead of coming in. Buckster responds that he was scared when he heard a scream, so he hid. This explanation appears to satisfy the gathered guests. Ambrose declares that, as he was standing by the door to the study, it could only have been Matilda and the former Squire Badger that were in the room. James says that he and Professor Simon Shellcrest had been by the fireplace, discussing matters, when the death must have occurred. Lady Tabitha and Lady Calliope Fawnbrook say that they were sitting on the sofa at the time, and can attest to James and Simon having been by the fireplace. Upon a nat 1 roll from Sam, Buckster looks over at Ambrose and believes him to be trustworthy, observing that he appears to be pliable, and a bit of a stooge.
Approaching the study from the drawing room, Daisy is able to see the name "Sylvester Cross" on the piece of paper on the desk, and knows that Sylvester did not write it, although she is unable to see the rest of the note from this distance. Gangie enters the study and approaches Matilda, who weeps: "Mr. Green, what have I done?" Gangie says that he doesn't think Matilda did it. Thomas returns from ringing the constabulary to reply that Gangie saying this does not surprise him. When Gangie questions him about what this comment means, he just replies: "I think you know." Gangie returns his gaze to Matilda and sees that she is confused. He gives her a hug. He can tell that she believes that something haunted happened here, and that she saw the former Squire Badger stabbing himself in the chest. He can also tell that Matilda is frightened about the fact that people are accusing her in a way that others wouldn't be: he intuits that missing little patches of time perhaps isn't uncommon for Matilda.
Jeremy speaks up and echoes Sylvester's instructions about nobody leaving Loam Hall, and asks for Lars to have assistance in securing the premises. At this point, Thomas refers to Jeremy as "Your Lordship," and the gathered guests realise that Jeremy is now the new Lord of Loam Hall. We learn that it is not that Constance could not have inherited this title, but that, in fact, she has made a point of disavowing her title due to her progressive political leanings. Jeremy says that they have a world class detective here to solve the case, but that it does not take a world class detective to figure out what has happened here. At this, he gives Sylvester a look that implies that they both think Matilda must have killed the former Squire Badger.
Ian enters the study and blesses Sylvester (casts Bless) in his quest to solve this mystery. Sylvester expresses his gratitude for Ian's presence as somebody that he can trust, but declares that Ian is included in the instruction for nobody to leave Loam Hall, as there is not a person present that would not have had a motive to see the former Squire Badger dead. At this, a gasp rings out from the room.
At this point, Brennan texts Raph (Ian): "The date on the bust of Barkus Aurelius is wrong." after he rolls a high history check, and texts Katie (Gangie) some extra information that Gangie gained from his earlier insight check, which begins: "Part of your insight check: Earlier tonight when..." but the rest of the text is blocked out.
Sylvester declares that he understands why Matilda appears guilty to many of the gathered guests, as she is the only one that was in what was a sealed room with the murder victim, and has bloody hands. He then calls for Corbin and Lawrence Longfoot to join him in the study. He asks Lawrence if he would take a photograph of him and Matilda right now. As Lawrence takes the photograph and the bulb goes off, Matilda's eyes go wide and she wobbles in place for about thirty seconds. Sylvester asks Corbin if he would be able to illuminate the room about the symptoms of epilepsy, and Corbin shares that epilepsy is especially common with moles. Corbin asks Matilda if he can remove her glasses, and it takes about twenty seconds for her to respond, as she wobbles on the spot. When she finally removes her glasses, she asks if Lawrence is going to take the photograph or not. Sylvester declares this to be temporary memory loss, saying that he also noticed the dilation of Matilda's eyes earlier in the night, when Lawrence was taking the photograph of him returning his fee to the former Squire Badger. He tells Matilda that she has suffered attacks of epilepsy several times tonight.
Simon questions what could have caused Matilda to have an epileptic fit, and asserts that Matilda was still the only person In the room with the former Squire Badger. Sylvester says those present do not know that Matilda was the only person in the room with the former Squire Badger, merely that she was the only person in there when they entered. Ambrose says that anyone else who would have entered the room would have had to walk past him, and Calliope says that they also would've had to walk past herself, Tabitha, Simon, and James in the drawing room.
Sylvester takes a moment to tell Gangie that he will have a conversation with him later, before addressing the crowd and asking them to gather in the study. At this point, Rekha (Daisy) texts Brennan and asks him whether she can try to steal the piece of paper on the desk, which he agrees to, asking her to roll a sleight of hand check. She succeeds, and is able to nab the piece of paper. Sylvester mentions that there may, indeed, have been another person in the room, and asks James to take a look around the study with his military precision. Sylvester notices a sabre hanging above the door that has scraped into the wall, cutting into it in a way that looks like a ghost has picked it up and slashed the wall. He goes on to ask James who in the room he imagines would have the best nose, and James replies that this would be either Lars or Milo Snout. Sylvester asks Milo to sniff around the room rather than Lars, who the crowd could believe would lie to make him look better. The group notices the loose papers, sitting in a neat stack on the desk, whilst fountain pens, a footstool, and other items are strewn about on the floor. Milo begins to reply that he can smell a metallic smell from the blood, before he is cut off.
Daisy cuts Milo off by frustratedly asking whether the desk is a trapdoor to somewhere, telling Sylvester to investigate this whilst he blathers on. Sylvester declares her "100% wrong" about the desk. She says that she has only ever been wrong about one thing: a man. Tabitha is titillated by this fresh piece of gossip. Sylvester goes on to say that the metallic scent that Milo could smell could not be just the smell from the blood, as it is too strong. Instead, he says that he can smell ozone, frequently created by electromagnetic fields. He notes that everything strewn about is made of or contains metal.
James interrupts to declare that, despite all of this, the killer must have been Matilda, as nobody else could have entered the study without passing the guests in the drawing room. Sylvester asks James if he knows when Loam Hall was electrified, and he replies that it was modernised no more than seven or eight years ago. Sylvester then asks James to head over to the electrical light on the wall next to the bookcase, and James does so, saying that this is one of the lights that would have been put in seven or eight years ago, when the lights and the elevator were installed at Loam Hall, and the desk was taken out of storage. As he touches the light, it pulls away from the wall, and a bookcase swings open into the hallway, revealing a secret door.
A gasp rings out in the room. Sylvester notices, in this new doorway, a glitter of extremely fine, crushed glass. He declares, triumphantly, that, as a result of this secret door, they do not know who else was in the room. Constance says that Matilda would surely have seen who was there, and Corbin replies that, even if she had seen, she may not have remembered.
Sylvester suddenly sees that the page, that was previously on the desk, is gone. Thomas asks Matilda whether she is certain that she saw the former Squire Badger stabbing himself in the heart. She replies that she did, and that she tried to wrest the knife from his grip, but he was much stronger than her. She also says that things were flying around the room and shaking against the wall, but ends by wondering if she is misremembering things. Constance asks Corbin whether there is any way that Matilda's epilepsy could have fabricated a memory, or made her susceptible to a fantasy. Corbin looks to Sylvester to see if he should say something that would calm the room down or not. At this point, Rekha (Daisy) sends Sam (Buckster) a text, revealing that she is the one that swiped the page from the desk. Sylvester knows that the fabrication of memories is not a common feature of this type of epilepsy that many moles have, but is not able to entirely rule it out, and announces this to the group.
Corbin asks everyone to return to the drawing room, leaving him and Sylvester to examine the former Squire Badger's body. Sylvester instructs Gangie to stay in his sight at all times. Thomas declares this wise, and says that it is important to ascertain where everyone was at the time of the murder. Buckster says that he doesn't deem this necessary, but Ambrose pipes up to agree with Thomas. Lars asks Thomas where he was at the time of the murder, and Thomas says that he and the rest of the kitchen staff were clearing up after dinner. A number of the maids and cleaning staff confirm this to be true, saying that they were cleaning up between the dining hall and the kitchen with Thomas. The investigators realise that a lot of the staff of Loam Hall are accounted for, and that a lot of the guests are as well: pretty much everyone was in the drawing room talking, or in the ballroom, where Ollie Banks, the bartender, was as well.
Thomas announces to the group that Gangie's service at Loam Hall only began very recently, and that, far from being a mere grave digger, Gangie is also a convicted grave robber, and was working for years in the employ of the dastardly Fletcher Cottonbottom. This causes a gasp to rise up from the group. Matilda asks Gangie whether it is true that he was a criminal before he started working at Loam Hall, and Gangie replies, unbothered, that he is still a criminal. Matilda appears un-phased by this, and remains supportive of Gangie.
Lucretia announces to the group that there is one person that she knows was left alone during the time of the murder: Ian. She had left him unattended as she went to retrieve her séance apparatus. James brings up Ian's questioning of the former Squire Badger's motives in donating to the Church, and his receiving of the news of his potential relocation to Siberia, suggesting to the group that he had a motive to murder the former Squire Badger. Ian protests against this, saying that he has a good reputation within the community, and that everyone present knows that he wouldn't hurt a fly, although Daisy, Lars, Buckster, Gangie, and Sylvester all say that they don't really know him very well at all. He does, however, let slip that he does see the former Squire Badger as his "enemy," and that it is just lucky for him that he stands to "benefit" from his death, shocking the gathered guests.
Osmond Sheffield, the barrister, speaks up to say that, whilst it is true that Gangie and Ian were unaccounted for at the time of the murder, it is also true that Buckster and Daisy were unaccounted for. Ambrose then asks Buckster to enlighten the group as to the contents of the letter from the former Squire Badger that was delivered to him earlier that night. Buckster holds the letter casually in front of him, and says that the former Squire Badger was merely informing him of a change in their working relationship, and that the former Squire Badger's equity in his company would be being transferred to others, resulting in nothing gained and nothing lost for him personally. Osmond questions this, asking who this equity was to be transferred to, and Buckster replies that it was to be transferred to Hazel Hogswallop, omitting the important fact of Josiah Jackrabbit's role in all of this. He is, however, successfully able to allay suspicions for the moment, although he knows that he will be caught out in a lie of omission if anyone is able to find the full contract somewhere in the manor.
Buckster, in cahoots with Daisy, suggests that someone should check the former Squire Badger's body for a pulse, whilst Daisy, pretending to do so, heads over to the body to attempt to find the full contract on the former Squire Badger's person. Sylvester, however, is able to spot what she is really doing. Daisy does not find the contract, but she does find a single key attached to a piece of red silk in the former Squire Badger's inner pocket, which is unusual, as keys would usually be handled by his valet. She swipes it, and Sylvester spots her do so.
Calliope then says that, whilst Daisy, Buckster, Ian, and Gangie are, indeed, unaccounted for, Sylvester and Lars are also. Daisy mentions the performance that Sylvester put on earlier in returning his fee to the former Squire Badger. Sylvester agrees that it is possible that he is the murderer, as this cannot yet be ruled out by evidence. James suggests that Lars should not be posted up at the exit to Loam Hall, as they are one of the suspects. Calliope suggests that several people should be posted up at the door, before asking Thomas if the front door is the only way into and out of the manor. Thomas replies that there is a servants' entrance and exit by the elevator in the kitchen, and also a number of towers that poke up above ground that one could scale in order to exit, but adds that this would be unlikely in the rain. He says that the doors to the towers can be locked and the keys kept in a central location, and that the elevator can be disabled, although the front door will just have to be watched.
Everyone files out apart from the main suspects, Matilda, Constance, and Corbin. Thomas says that he does not see fit to keep them under lock and key for now, but reminds them that they are all being watched. Daisy decides that she wants to ask Constance to check whether this is really the former Squire Badger's body, and not a decoy or something of the sort. Lars decides that they want to head to hang out with the kitchen staff and Thomas, although they notice, before doing so, that Thomas is actually already heading to seal off the exits. Before Lars leaves, Sylvester mentions their sighting of Fletcher earlier. Lars confirms that they also saw Fletcher, and they see that Sylvester looks terrified at his return. Gangie approaches and asks Sylvester and Lars when they saw Fletcher. Sylvester implies that Gangie already knows, but Gangie says that he doesn't. Sylvester looks at Gangie, who he has years of history with, and realises that Gangie is telling the truth, and does not know anything about what Fletcher might be doing in Tufting Meadows. Sylvester wonders if he is losing it, and if maybe he did see a ghost when he saw Fletcher in the flash of lightning earlier. Lars knows that they saw a ghost, as they believe in them. They notice that Sylvester appears to be losing his nerve.
Locations[]
- The study
- The drawing room
- Reichenbunny Falls (flashback)
Characters[]
The Sylvan Sleuths[]
- Gangie Green
- Vicar Ian Prescott
- Lars Vandenchomp
- Detective Sylvester Cross
- Buckster $ Boyd
- Daisy D'umpstaire
New[]
- Barkus Aurelius (†) (bust)
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
- Templeton Padhop
- Tufting Meadows Constabulary
- Ollie Banks
- The Cardinal
- Hazel Hogswollop