Welcome to the Show [Odie, Open]

[Shor]

Lachlan, reclining precariously, twirled his cane in a paw idly. "Or 'e's just bonkers." He glanced up at Odie. "That's certainly a possibility."

The flame overhead flickered dimly.

The big sea otter furrowed his brow. "I mean, he obviously 'as no problem stabbin' innocent beasts repeatedly. An' Dad worked wi' lots o' beasts, made lots of enemies, but Ah didn't even know all of 'em. On top of it all, Ah got no 'visions' tae help me figure it oot, so it's impossible tae narrow it down tae jus' one disgruntled acquaintance. . ."

Lachlan absentmindedly tapped the table with his cane. Rullo blinked distractedly at the noise. After a short moment, the seer continued. "Ah think. . . Ah think it'd be best to focus on Bragg."


Bragg laughed warmly. "Aye, that-- that would be wise. . . So, how's the investigation goin'?"

Lachie coughed, startled by the question, though in all honesty, it was a completely normal question. But with this new suspicion of Bragg, Lachie couldn't help but feel put-off by the inquiry. He cleared his throat. "Uh, well, Ah d'nnae think it was Rullo. Nae, not at all. It was somebeast else, but. . . but Ah can-- can't seem tae fin' a reas'nable motive. There's. . . There's def'nitely somethin' bigger goin' on here."


"He's our best lead an' our only other hunch. If'n 'e is the murderer, then we've got this thing half solved. . . If'n 'e isn't, then we've one less suspect. . ."


Bragg nodded thoughtfully. ". . . Sounds int'resting. Well, let me know how it goes -- I've business t'take care of down south. Somebeast named Derlaw wants t'meet with me. Says 'e's my brother, but the name don't ring any bells. Anyway, great talking with ye, Lachie!" And with that, Bragg had disappeared into the forest.


". . . Ah mean, whoever it is can't be too far away -- they've gotta be somewhere nearby. We shoold hae seen 'im by now, sae the question is 'Which one is it?' "

Rullo scratched his head. "Um, it isn't me, is it? . ."

Lachlan looked up at the hedgehog and chuckled silently.

---

((Heh, it's almost like Bragg's having a conversation with Lachie in this one. ))

[greek101]

Lachlan, reclining precariously, twirled his cane in a paw idly. "Or 'e's just bonkers." He glanced up at Odie. "That's certainly a possibility."

"Yes." Odysseus quit rubbing his eyes and put his paws on the table. "Although that is not one of our preferable reasonings, that is still an option."

The big sea otter furrowed his brow. "I mean, he obviously 'as no problem stabbin' innocent beasts repeatedly. An' Dad worked wi' lots o' beasts, made lots of enemies, but Ah didn't even know all of 'em. On top of it all, Ah got no 'visions' tae help me figure it oot, so it's impossible tae narrow it down tae jus' one disgruntled acquaintance. . ."

Tilting his chair back onto only two legs instead of four, Odie almost put his footpaws on the table. Almost. His striving to be polite and the memory of his mother's ladle smacking his paws many a time kept him from his old habit. Instead he leaned back and looked up at the shifting shadows caused by the swinging lantern as he replied. "So, basically we are back to where we started with an even larger pool of suspects. Our murderer is still a generic beast who is unafraid of killing that for some unknown reason picked out you as the focal point of their little 'game'."

Odie stared at the shifting shadows on the ceiling for quite some time in the silent room until Lachlan tapped his cane on the table causing him to flinch.

After a short moment, the seer continued. "Ah think. . . Ah think it'd be best to focus on Bragg."

Odysseus looked back at Lachlan and slowly sat his chair down. Lachlan deciding to focus on Bragg? Now this was interesting and Odie wanted to know why all of a sudden Lachlan wanted to change the focus of the case.

"He's our best lead an' our only other hunch. If'n 'e is the murderer, then we've got this thing half solved. . . If'n 'e isn't, then we've one less suspect. . ."

Odie nodded.

". . . Ah mean, whoever it is can't be too far away -- they've gotta be somewhere nearby. We shoold hae seen 'im by now, sae the question is 'Which one is it?' "

Rullo scratched his head. "Um, it isn't me, is it? . ."

He shook his head with a quiet laugh. "I agree." Odie replied as he put his hat back on. "Bragg's probably a safe bet right now. Not only has he been suspiciously close to all of our crime scene's but he also is the only one that I am aware of that mentioned he was leaving. And leaving only a few hours after the second murder raises suspicion." Looking into Lachlan eyes he continued."I'm all for it, we just need to find him."

[Shor]

Lachlan scratched his shoulder. "Well, 'e said 'e was goin' south, but. . . but I think that part was our 'int. Mebbe. He said, 'I've business t'take care of down south. Somebeast named Derlaw wants t'meet with me.' "--Lachie's imitation was impressive-- " 'Says 'e's my brother, but the name don't ring any bells. Anyway, great talking with ye.' An' then 'e left. Ah think that's s'posed t'be our clue, but if'n it is, wooldn't that make him just another victim lak Shide? Ah mean, assumin' Shide really was tellin' the truth. . ."

Thus ensued a long and ominous discussion, one that brought no real comfort to either Odie or Lachie. In fact, the hopelessness of the situation began to creep through the living shadows as they spoke. Whatever the outcome of this conversation, they knew, somebeast would die. And they could do nothing but watch.

[greek101]

Lachlan scratched his shoulder. "Well, 'e said 'e was goin' south, but. . . but I think that part was our 'int. Mebbe. He said, 'I've business t'take care of down south. Somebeast named Derlaw wants t'meet with me.' "--Lachie's imitation was impressive-- " 'Says 'e's my brother, but the name don't ring any bells. Anyway, great talking with ye.' An' then 'e left. Ah think that's s'posed t'be our clue, but if'n it is, wooldn't that make him just another victim lak Shide? Ah mean, assumin' Shide really was tellin' the truth. . ."

"Huuummmm..." Odysseus thought out loud to himself as he reached for his bag that he had placed on the floor when the trio had first arrived. "As far as I recall, the name Derlaw doesn't seem familiar. He may not be a victim, nor a real creature even but of course, that may be the point."

Pulling out his map from his pack and spreading it on the table, Odie continued to voice his thoughts aloud. "He may be referencing lost memory and relatives that you didn't realize you had...." Odie faded off his thought, as he looked back up at Lachlan. "If Bragg his being hypothetical...which he may or may not be...You think he is referencing your sister?"

Odysseus paused, looking down at his map, giving Lachlan time to mull over his thoughts. It was only a thought after all, however, if it was truth, they could have a problem...

But, not wanting to dwell on the possible subject much longer, Odie continued thinking out loud. He pointed at a dot on his map. "This is us, and this,"--he pointed again---"is Shide's house. That circled dot was where Bragg claimed his house was, and"-- pointing to the entire southern part of the map---"all this is where Bragg claimed he may be, if even his is headed that way."

He shook his head. There was too many variables. Lachlan and himself could talk all night and never get anywhere. They probably would, but the more time they talked, the farther Bragg could be getting and at even worse measures, the more he could be killing....