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Outfoxed is the eighth episode of season 8, Mice & Murder.
Recap[]
"Last week began with the entrance of Catherine McCabbage, the widow of the slain Connor McCabbage, arriving at Loam Hall. Shepherded aside by Daisy D'umpstaire, the widow was cordoned off and questioned by Daisy, who revealed that she had seen the ghost of her dead husband. This was confirmed by Daisy, and the belief that, indeed, something occult was afoot, and ghosts were wandering Loam Hall. Could the deceased Connor McCabbage have come back from beyond the grave?
Going to the upper room, where we found out a whole bunch of information from our friends that were in Mrs. Molesly's room: we found out that the elevator really does go to the cellar; we found out that we needed to get the key back from Mr. Gilfoyle; there was a big discussion of sharing of information. Daisy D'umpstaire arrived very briefly to speak with everyone up there, and the widow McCabbage about the existence, perhaps, of ghosts, or not, and ended up going to the downstairs bathroom, where she discovered, not only some secrets within the ledger books from Squire Brockhollow's private study, but also discovered the electrical system at work, and threw a breaker switch, at which point Sylvester Cross saw the ghost of Daisy D'umpstaire appear at the docks at the foot of the hill, for, indeed, a projected series of illusions, using the innate electricity of Loam Hall that had been installed here, connected to the lightning tower up above, and some mysterious power source far beneath the manor house, we saw, indeed, that some ability to project these images existed, which means that the ghostly image of Fletcher Cottonbottom that Sylvester Cross saw at the beginning of the party means that, perhaps, Fletcher Cottonbottom is alive and in Loam Hall.
However, that theory was quickly thrown out, as an investigation into the master switch room in Squire Badger's study revealed, not only a connection between the downstairs water closet, the séance room, and also a room simply labeled "T", but the widow McCabbage discovered letters, letters threatening Squire Badger, telling him that dark forces were at work, and that he should never have crossed him, signed by Sylvester Cross. These horrifying letters were discovered alongside a secret doorway in-between two chimneys, and Ambrose Harding's hidden book of names and dates, dates connecting the names that Gangie Green was required to go and dig up.
Daisy D'umpstaire's mind racing over these names, that now have these dates associated with them, Daisy adjourned to the billiards room, where we saw the gruesome murder of Lady Brockhollow and her husband, Dr. Magpie, with scrawling blood writing on the walls threatening, once more, a horrible occult end to the entire Brockhollow family. Sylvester Cross, observing this, simply stated that, as a detective, he would investigate, and declared the writing, with the simple words, "A perfect match." Taken by hand by Mr. Gilfoyle, screamed at by Jeremy Brockhollow, Sylvester Cross: the obvious murderer of Lady Brockhollow, her husband, and the original Squire Brockhollow. And Lady Lucretia accused him of being an occultist all along. This providing the perfect cover for Gangie Green to slip through the air ducts of Loam Hall, and snatch the key to the elevator.
Our various investigators now rush to meet secretly in the dark of the séance room, as the constables have arrived, just in time to collect the incriminating evidence about Ambrose Harding, and to throw Sylvester Cross into an oubliette in the bottom of the wine cellar of Loam Hall: there to await the conclusion of the police's investigation, and to be dragged off to rot in the Tower of London. We return to the séance room, as Lars Vandenchomp, the Vicar Ian Prescott, Daisy D'umpstaire, Buckster $ Boyd, and Gangie Green all gather together here in darkness."
Synopsis[]
We return to the sylvan sleuths, minus the imprisoned Detective Sylvester Cross, in the séance room. Buckster $ Boyd is feeling elated that he no longer appears to be the prime-suspect due to Sylvester's arrest, but is also rattled by the fact that Sylvester being thrown into the oubliette may be just another part of someone else's sinister plan. Gangie Green is feeling strangely calm, glad that he appears to be off the hook. Vicar Ian Prescott is feeling bad about his last interaction with Constance Brockhollow, and concerned about Lars Vandenchomp now that Sylvester has been arrested. He thinks that Sylvester would likely be a better murderer than he is being accused of being. Lars hopes that Sylvester has a plan in letting himself be locked up. Daisy D'umpstaire also hopes that Sylvester has something up his sleeve, but, at the same time, is unsure of what to think, and ruminates upon the fact that you can never truly know or trust someone, even someone you have once lived with, as Daisy used to with Sylvester.
Daisy brings up some information that she gained earlier that she has, until this point, only told Buckster: that she found Gangie Green's London address, in Fletcher Cottonbottom's handwriting, in Squire William Thornwall Brockhollow's bedroom. Katie (Gangie) rolls an 11 on her deception check, so the group, some of whom scored higher in their insight checks, learn the truth: that Gangie doesn't know why his address is there, or whose handwriting it is written in. As the group collectively shares information, Daisy chooses to keep the ledgers that she stole from the secret study hidden.
Daisy brings up Ambrose Harding's little black book of names and dates that she found in the former Squire Brockhollow's closet. The group discuss the dates that the twelve bodies were dug up, and the animal types of the dead, with Gangie providing extra information as the grave-digger. They speculate that perhaps those that are being 'killed' are actually having their bodies swapped out with these cadavers. They discuss the fact that the first two bodies, that Gangie was required to dig up in July, were mice: Rufus Roundear and Claude Fromage. Raph (Ian), on his high insight check, receives a text from Brennan that begins: "Connor McCbabbage..." but the rest of the text is blacked out. Ian reveals to the group that Connor died back in July, meaning that his supposed dead body, that was found at the textile mill, could have actually been one of the mice bodies that Gangie was ordered to dig up.
Buckster decides to offer Gangie money to do some tasks for him: he offers him a small fortune to hand over the elevator key that he stole, he offers to double this fortune if he is able to get the contract incriminating Buckster from Colonel James Hawkins, and he offers to triple that fortune if he is able to get Buckster's knife back from the mouse maids, whom Lars saw holding it wrapped up in a napkin earlier. Gangie is initially reluctant to agree to this offer, as he had planned to use his free time to take a holiday, but Buckster convinces him to accept the deal by suggesting that he could have an even better holiday with the three small fortunes that he could earn. Gangie immediately hands the elevator key over to Buckster, and, just before he is about to head off to attempt to retrieve the contract from James, Brennan sends Katie (Gangie) two texts. The first one reads: "Before you get to Colonel Hawkins, you realise that you recognise..." but the rest of the message is blacked out, and the second text message is entirely blacked out. As a result of this, Gangie decides to change his plans.
Buckster suggests that the group goes and shows face amongst the guests, and they agree. Before this, though, Daisy takes this moment to tell Buckster that it is the end of the road for their business relationship. She reveals the ledgers that she had hidden on her body, saying that she was planning on using them to make money, but that she can't live this way anymore: she has nothing but her work, so she has never had the opportunity to find something else, something, perhaps, better. Buckster, who is rarely emotional, feels like this is a bit of a break-up, and is sad to hear Daisy say that she wants to end their business partnership. Buckster takes a quick moment to take a look at the ledgers, which detail the former Squire Badger's personal finances. In them, he sees a tremendous amount of debt. He knows that, if he were to take a closer look at the ledgers, he would be able to piece together the entire story of the former Squire Badger's last ten years.
Gangie reveals to the group some new information. He says that, even though he was not in the Cottonbottoms' inner-circle when he worked for them, he did know that members of the inner-circle were disappearing, which is part of what motivated him leaving London and coming to work at Loam Hall. He says that, in Loam Hall tonight, he has recognised five former Cottonbottom criminals that were previously presumed missing. He reveals these five Cottonbottom loyalists to be the recently arrived police officers from the Tufting Meadows Constabulary, whose real names are: Ronnie Socks, Jiminy Jellicle, Paul Rover, Fido McFang, and Roger Barksdale.
We cut to Sylvester, alone in the oubliette. He has been in tougher spots than this before, and is confident that he will be able to find his way out. He investigates the oubliette, and notices a small amount of fungus in it. He looks through the accoutrements that were thrown into the oubliette with him to try to find something to release him from the manacles. He notices that, in the outer pocket of the overcoat that Lars packed for him, there is the deerstalker hat that was left on his doorstep as a parting gift from Daisy many years ago. As he smells it, he finds a part of the gift that he had somehow previously missed: a tiny, curved thieves' pick. He uses it to partially release his manacles: they are still attached to his left wrist, but both of his hands are now free for him to use.
He decides to use a nature check to try to figure out whether the mushrooms, that are in the oubliette with him, can be used to build a contraption to get him out of there. Whilst he is unable to do so, he is able to use a puddle from the mushrooms, alongside some other items in the room, to create a conductor conduit, allowing for an image of him to be displayed on the crystal ball in the séance room, where the rest of the sylvan sleuths are. Upon seeing the image of Sylvester pop up in the crystal ball, Daisy and Lars smile quietly to themselves, knowing that it was their planning that allowed for Sylvester to partially release himself from the manacles. Sylvester is unable to see the others, but can hear them, and they can both see and hear him. They share their new information with Sylvester, and Buckster also tells him that, upon the revelation that the officers from the Tufting Meadows Constabulary work for Fletcher, they now believe that Sylvester is innocent. Sylvester makes fun of them for ever believing that he would have been so stupid as to implicate himself so clearly in a murder that he had committed. We then see some texts that Brennan sent to Grant (Sylvester) in the previous episode, when he was investigating the bodies of Constance and Dr. Corbin Magpie, revealed. They read: "The two dead bodies... to the best of your knowledge, on a 26... It's Constance and Corbin. And... the blood on the wall looks like your chalkboard writing. It's a perfect forgery. It's a perfect, perfect forgery. The ONLY thing is... their expressions, mouths open, are masques of horror... but the eyes... the eyes stare straight ahead... trying to see something. Just like Connor McCabbage. Their eyes look just like Connor McCabbage."
They all hear another scream ring out. The sylvan sleuths, minus Sylvester, all rush to the source of the scream to find Lady Lucretia Brockhollow dead on the dais, with people gathered around, shocked. Scrawled in blood above the body is a message reading: "Do you think these walls can contain me? I do not need my hands or body to call upon the power of the grave. I have taken the daughter. I have taken the sister. I will take the son as my final offering to the serpent." Underneath this is another picture of a fox's head. It appears to a number of the gathered guests that Sylvester is an occultist, and is using his powers to murder whilst remaining imprisoned. There is a tremendous flash of lightning, and ghostly wailing can be heard across Loam Hall.
Buckster checks the pocket-watch that his father gave him, and sees that it has just turned 2AM. He realises that, when Matilda Molesely told Gangie that the elevator "only goes down to the cellar at three o'clock," she meant that the elevator key has to be placed into the slot and turned to the three o'clock position, rather than that it can only be used to access the cellar at 3AM. He reveals this to the group. Lars looks around the room and realises that four of the five policemen that arrived at Loam Hall are there, meaning that there can only be one guarding Sylvester in the oubliette.
The group decides that they need to head to the elevator and take it to the cellar immediately. Daisy calls to Rosalind, and she flashes her whole butt to the room, granting everyone advantage on their stealth checks. Daisy, Gangie, and Lars successfully sneak out of the ballroom; the police officers in the ballroom are completely clueless to the fact that they have left. Sylvester uses his turn to make a lewd remark about the moaning that can be heard in the manor, which falls flat in the empty oubliette. Ian and Buckster, with the elevator key, also stealthily rush out of the ballroom. As Ian leaves, he grants bardic inspiration to Buckster. With a nat 20 on his stealth check, Buckster knows that there is still one police officer in the kitchen by the door going down to the wine cellar. Daisy and Gangie rush into the elevator. Lars rushes into the kitchen, seeing the cellar door in the corner being weighed down by sacks of flour. The policeman guarding the door greets Lars, and Lars claims to want to pick his brains about joining the force so that they are able to get close enough to attack him. They miss on the first attack, but succeed upon an action surge, dealing thirteen points of damage. Sylvester, hearing steps up above, decides to continue investigating the mushrooms in the oubliette. He is able to use them to short circuit the stove in the kitchen, electrocuting the police officer, who had fallen onto the stove after Lars's attack, dealing three points of damage, and rendering him unconscious. Lars immediately removes the bags of flour from the cellar door, releasing Sylvester, whom they hug really hard. Buckster and Ian rush into the elevator. Buckster inserts the elevator key, and turns it to exactly three o'clock, causing the up and down buttons to light up. He presses the down button, and the group decides into the final, unexplored wing of Loam Hall.
Locations[]
- The séance room
- The basement
- The entrance hall
- The elevator
Characters[]
The Sylvan Sleuths[]
- Gangie Green
- Vicar Ian Prescott
- Lars Vandenchomp
- Detective Sylvester Cross
- Buckster $ Boyd
- Daisy D'umpstaire
New[]
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
- Ambrose Harding
- Fletcher Cottonbottom
- Gangie's List of Names (†)
- Dr. Corbin Magpie (†)
- Lord Eoighan McCrae
- Connor McCabbage
- William Thornwall Brockhollow (†)
- Eel Musk