Kingdoms and Courtrooms: CASTLE KITCHEN

[nascent]

CASTLE KITCHEN

Pots and pans, meat and fish, forks and knives... and dinner promptly at seven -- barring interruption by theft, of course.

This, then, was reportedly where the thief had gained entrance to the castle. Card soldiers stood positioned at both the interior and exterior entrances, making sure no one disturbed this location. Near the exterior entrance a cabal of chefs stood under the shade of a large white canopy-tent; some were frying, some sauteing, some baking, some slicing, some dicing... but mostly, everyone was bickering. It seemed that one gigantic argument was being belted out amongst the cooks even as they worked busily at preparing the Queen's lunch.

Inside the kitchen itself was eerie silence. By the Queen's orders nothing had been touched since the break-in of the Royal Vault -- except for the stove and oven, which had to be turned off for safety reasons. A thin layer of white powder covered most of the room, leaving the outlines of bodies and footprints clearly visible on the floor.

"If you're going in there," One of the card soldiers gestures to the kitchen. "Step lightly, and don't disturb the powder. Last thing we need is one of you guys conking out and falling onto the evidence, right?"

OPTIONS:

• INTERVIEW the kitchen guards
• INTERVIEW the kitchen staff
• SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE at the outside entrance
• SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE inside the kitchen

[Dante]

Guards were loaded at each entrance and exit, leaving no room to sneak around. They were as lifeless as he was when he was thinking back in the previous room. It wasn't like it bothered Dante in any way, it was a mere observation of the people he could question. He already had his questions on hand, ready to spit them out at the first second he could. He wasn't even through the threshold yet and he could still see the powder.

Moving in, a guard motioned around the room, talking about light steps and disturbing evidence. It was a bunch of bull if you ask him. It was hard to move around the floor anyways, what with the powder being caked all over the floor. Imprints left in the mass of grit showed signs of workers sleeping on the job. A glance around the room showed nothing of dire importance. The big tent covering the kitchen staff stood out, though.

The teen stealthily slid across the floor as slowly as possible to meet with the bickering cooks. He had a specific question he wanted to ask these people. "Hey, uh... guys? Not to barge in and get in your conversation, but I would like to ask you fine workers a few questions." Smile and show pride at the same time! Get your info! This was all spoken while Dante made his way to the covered area, so they probably didn't quite catch anything he said, but, nevertheless, he was going to ask anyways.

"Yeah, so... Do you have any idea on what the Queen was going to be fed on the day of the robbery?"

INTERVIEW the kitchen staff

[nascent]

"Vell of COURSE ve DO!" One of the chefs, with an almost comical French accent, turned and answered Dante as he stirred something in a large pot. "Ve ARE Her Majesty's cooks -- no v'one except VE are permitted to make Her Majesty's vittles!"

"She vas 'aving duck a l'orange." Another chef, this one working at a cutting board, replied. He was slicing up vegetables at a rather impressive speed. "Oi, eet ees a true shame we ne'er 'ad ze opportunity to finish eet... what with zat thief and all!"

"Yes indeed!" Another cook, this one frying something in a pan over an open flame, added. "Ze thief who knocked me out, zen sent ze rest of ze kitchen to ze slumberlands!"

"For ze last time!" The stirring chef turned towards the frying chef, anger clearly evidenced in his voice. "Eet vas ME ze thief attacked!" The stirring chef turned to Dante. "I vas out in ze greenhouse getting ze tomatoes --"

"Eet vas NOT you!" The frying chef decried, gesturing threateningly at his fellow cook with a spatula. "I vas ze one ze thief abducted! He vas hiding in ze supply room and heet me on ze back of ze head!"

"Ze BOTH of you are mistaken!" A forth chef, carrying a basket of assorted ingredients, walked into the tent. "Eet vas me who vas assailed!"

"How could eet be you? You 'ardly recognize yer own face in ze mirror! Eet would 'ave been EASY for ze thief to sneak past you!"

"Vell, vhy you? Alls you do is make ze sauce!"

"And alls you do is make ze orderves!"

"You are both incompetent fools!"

"You are a vorthless pig!"

"Your mother vas a 'ampster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"

It was clear that things were getting out of control here... As the chefs continued to argue, the only thing that became clear was that each of the six men believed themselves to have been the victim of assault by the thief, while the others, they suspect) were simply put to sleep with the powder. Needless to say, there was something VERY suspicious about all this...

[Dante]

Well, this certainly didn't help much. He got one good answer and then they started at their argument again. Duck a l'orange, eh? Better remember that. For a few minutes, Dante merely stood in his place and continued to examine the bickering between the chefs. It was clear that whoever was knocked out was more important than the others. Seemed sensible enough, though Dante wouldn't have cared if he were in this position.

Powder, bickering chefs, Duck a l'orange... No connection. Yet." The teen wondered... Did that meal consist of anything with powder? The answer would make, or break part of this case. First, though, he needed a testimony from the chefs. All of them. "Say, guys... Could you testify on the day of the robbery?" Here we go. Lets see what messed up testimony we get this time.

INTERVIEW the Staff

[nascent]

"We we, monseiur investigator." The stirring chef replied as the others bickered in the background.

"As we 'ave already told you, we were very busy on ze day zat it 'appened. Duck a l'orange requires a good deal of preparation, you ze, and so we 'ad much to do. Ze duck must roast in ze oven with ze proper seasonings, ze sauce must be made, ze side dishes assembled... our work eez zat of culinary art, you know. Eet cannot be rushed."

"We do not know exactly when ze thief entered ze kitchen. He did so in stealth, you zee, with a very clever disguise. We know zis because we found ze several spare uniforms he left behind in ze broom closet just outside ze kitchen. I suspect he found zem in ze garbage out in ze back; we 'ad thrown away 'alf a dozen stained ones earlier in ze week. You ze how clever?"

"Ah, but more cleverness still! Ze thief, he must 'ave realized we would figure out zere vas one extra person in ze kitchen, eh? So, he picks one of us -- ze smartest, handsomest, most important man in ze kitchen -- and he waits to take him unawares! Zen, with ze greatest threat to his plans out of ze way, he can sneak through ze kitchen unnoticed!"

"Ah, but perhaps all does not go as he plans, eh? Someone zees his face? Or he leaves behind a clue? One way or ze other, he realizes his disguise alone vill not suffice and zen... ze sleepy powder!"

"With ze entire kitchen out of ze way he throws away ze disguises and leaves. Zat is ze only possible way eet could 'ave 'appened, no?"

"And being zat I vas attacked in ze greenhouse, I am surely ze one he saw as ze threat. Ze rest of zees bumble-'eads are just making eet up, I assure you."

"Zat ees ridiculousity!" The frying chef bellowed. "I vas ze one attacked!"

"You are BOTH making eet up!" Another chef butted in. "Eet vas ME!"

And thus the arguing continued...

[Dante]

Wow. That was pretty easy, Dante thought, surprised at the way things had gone. That was a very clear testimony, to be honest, but Dante still felt as though something didn't fit. Well, nothing fit at this point, but there were so many things contradicting each testimony. This case produced nothing but headaches for the aggrivated teen, forced to deal with people like the Queen and these bickering chefs. Only one question remained, but it was barely anything more. He needed to search for evidence in the kitchen that would support his theory on the powder being a hoax.

It could've been a well placed trick by the real thief, or it could've been a simple mistake. Whichever it was, there was only one way to figure it out. "Thank you, gentleman. You guys take care, alright?" Dante waved to the staff as he stealthily stepped out from under the canopy and into the brighter room. No matter which way you looked at this case, you wouldn't find an answer to who the real thief was. Kassom was innocent for sure and Dante had to stick to that statement.

The floor was still drowned in powder, so investigating was pretty tough. The defense attorney slid around the mess and continued his pursuit for evidence, looking under everything he could find and searching in between the corners. He made sure not to step to fast, which dragged the search for longer than it should had been. If nothing was found, Dante would ask the guard to allow the teen a small sample of the powder. If anything, he could test it on something.

• SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE inside the kitchen.

[nascent]

(OOC:

Your investigation of the kitchen gives you the following...

• White Powder

Several samples of the assumed-to-be sleeping powder from the kitchen, carefully sealed up in airtight plastic sandwich bags. The exact nature of their contents has yet to be verified.

• Kitchen Photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

These are wide-angle photographs of the powder-covered kitchen floor, taken from several angles and positions to ensure the scene is completely documented. The body outlines are all to be found in the center of the kitchen floor. Footprints can be seen leading away from the outlines.

• Kitchen Photos 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

These mid-range shots show the individual outlines of eight bodies on the floor. Some show signs of overlap, suggesting the bodies may have collapsed onto each other. There are eight chefs in the castle's kitchen. There are no signs of any spilled food substances where the chefs apparently collapsed.

• Kitchen Photos 11, 12

These close-up shots are of the footprints made visible by the white powder on the floor. The markings are relatively small and narrow, their pattern consistent with rugged work shoes or boots.

• Kitchen Photo 13

This close-up photo is of the footprints. In this shot can be seen a side-by-side comparison of the tracks in high detail, making it clear that there are two different shoe patterns.

• Discarded Uniforms

In a broom closet just outside the kitchen you find eight chef uniforms. These were supposedly used as a disguise by the thief.

You also take note of a large garbage can sitting near the door leading from the kitchen into the rest of the castle. A cursory inspection reveals...

• Ripped Bag of Flour

"Unbleached All-Purpose Flour". One edge of the bag appears to have been torn open. A layer of white powder covers most of the bag, especially so around the opening. There is still some flour in the bottom of the bag.

[Dante]

Just what he was looking for! The bag of flour would prove to be most important in this case. Dante took a sample of the flour still left in the bottom of the bag and stuffed it into one of the remaining sandwhich bags. Now it was time to ask another question. Did Duck a l'orange include flour? If so, then it would just be icing on the cake... The Cake of Justice! Even if it didn't, he'd still have the evidence to prove his theory of fake sleeping powder.

Once again, Dante slipped through the powdered floor and into the canopy. That whole process was tiring itself and was pretty unnecessary. Returning to the matter at hand, Dante had just slipped under the makeshift roof and was ready to question the kitchen staff once more. "Hello again. I forgot to ask you all a question about the Duck a l'orange." The teen gained some sort of composure before proceeding. His mind was racing and some sort of adrenaline rush was occuring through his body.

Well, it would stop soon enough. "Did your meal, Duck a l'orange contain flour?

[nascent]

"Flour? Ha! No no no, zer ees no flour in zat recepie. 'Ere, let me show eet to you."

The stirring chef, abandoning his pot for a moment, quickly retrieved a cookbook and brought it back to Dante. The page he flipped to had the following contents:

INGREDIENTS

For duck

* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 (5- to 6-lb) duck
* 1 juice orange, halved
* 4 fresh thyme sprigs
* 4 fresh marjoram sprigs
* 2 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
* 1 small onion, cut into 8 wedges
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1/2 cup duck stock, duck and veal stock, chicken stock, or chicken broth
* 1/2 carrot
* 1/2 celery rib


For sauce

* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 to 2 oranges)
* 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 2 to 4 tablespoons duck or chicken stock or chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
* 1 tablespoon fine julienne of fresh orange zest, removed with a vegetable peeler

[/color]

"So, why would you vant to ask such a silly thing?" The chef inquired.

[Dante]

No dice with the recipe. Still, he had raw evidence about the powder. "Well, it's funny how there's a bag of flour, ripped, in the trash over there. I just assumed that you might have used it for the meal." Dante looked over to the right and gave a smile, a chuckle escaping. "Care to explain why there's a bag of opened flour in the trash, or would you like me to do it for you, because I have a pretty good idea why it's in there." In Dante's eyes, something shined. It was the sparkle of youth.

Ah, his youth. Just like the scent of fresh lemons, it was.

[OOC: I'm taking a long-shot, so bear with me and my crazy, burned-out, teenaged brain.]

[nascent]

(OOC: Nice reference there! xD)


The chef gave a shrug. "We keep ze flour in ze baking cabinet over ze stove, along with extra bags in ze supply room. Eet would not surprise me eef someone just threw it away because eet went bad." The man raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Why? What ees your theory, mister investigator?"

[Dante]

Bag of flour overhead - Ruckus below - Powder on floor - Ripped bag of flour

The game was set and it was in his favor! That bag of flour must have been on the counter before the incident occured, so it fell, due to extreme movement around it. The bag fell onto the floor and burst open! The powder covered the floor and the victims, which is what probably started the wholoe sleeping powder mess. The real culprit must've simply thrown that bag away when he had the chance.

"Here's my theory; The day started normally, with you doing whatever it is you do. That's when the real culprit must've taken those suits you threw out the other day. Using their disguise, they knocked out the chef in the greenhouse. That's when they arrived here. The bag of flour mentioned before was sitting on the cabinet while the lunch was being prepared, leading me to my next idea. The culprit didn't use any sleeping powder at all, but knocked you all out manually!"

"This is why you argue over who was knocked out! It's because you all remember being assaulted by the culprit! As for the mess on the ground, the harsh movement below the cabinet must've knocked the bag over! When it hit the ground, it burst open, spilling what was inside over everyone on the ground! The thief threw the bag away afterwards, trying to conceal the evidence as if it were just a normal procedure you chefs go through!"

He had found the truth! There was no sleeping powder involved in this case! Dante had just struck down an assumption!