And Then There Was One (2019)

Chapter 24 - Murder #9

Orlando, Florida

July 2, 2019

Roughly 11:30pm EST

They remain standing in place for a little bit of time, staring at the exit, before Brendan finally turns back to glance at the carnage created by the lion. The other lion that had been peacefully lounging under the rock has joined in the fun.

The only thing left over from Jo, is a hand, which is soon quickly devoured by the second lion.

"Let's--let's get out of here..." Ross states, forcing himself to look away and cupping a hand at the side of his face as a shield. "That's grossing me out."

"I agree," Boris grumbles, hugging Alex close to him.

"Well, how foolish is everyone feelin' right about now?" Roope questions. "First we set perimeters about splittin' up, then we are dead set on Alex Barre-Boulet bein' the next vic and we chase Drouin to his death because we thought he was the bad guy!"

"Don't rub it in, Roope. We're going to go track down Mesky and Jonne and I mean it! Starting now, NO ONE splits from the group," Brendan snaps.

"So, isn't it a little odd that the only one who seemed to pay attention to the poem letter got killed?" Ross suggests, looking at everyone as they begin to walk back through the zoo, heading for the exit that would take them to the walkway (and back to the scene of the brutal murder crime of Vladdy).

As soon as they all burst from the vined entrance, they find Jonne is missing and Ville Meskanen is lying in the entryway to the northwest hall of the castle. Blood is trickling out of his slashed throat. And some dried blood cakes the wound as well.

"Son of a--" Brendan growls, upon seeing the scene. "This is why no one should be left alone..."

"Jonne was with him! Where is he? Is he the killer!?" Alex asks, looking at Boris.

Boris grunts. "Better not be that asshole Finn, I'll gut him."

Brendan shakes his head. "C'mon, let's go find him! We'll head back to the World Show'scapade Lagoon and look there."

"That's a good plan," Roope points out. "If I were that pesky Finn, I'd have run and hid."

Brendan leads them into the tunnel, passing by the recently deceased body of Ville Meskanen.

Timo nuzzles Ville, while Colby spots a piece of paper sticking out of Ville's post-moredom clenched fist. The young tiger cub gently clenches his canines on the paper and tugs it from his grip.

"Whacha got there, Coco?" TT sing-songs, skipping up to his tiger cub friend. He scoops Colby up and takes the paper from his mouth. "Oh! The next line of the poem! Right! Coco found Ville's paper!"

Ross rolls his eyes. "Read the line for everyone. Maybe it might jog someone's memory, the closer to the end we get so we can figure out WHO the killer is and if it's Jonne or not, we can prepare as we search for him!"

TT passes the paper to Boris to read:

"Ten professional hockey players attempted to flee,

One was slashed across the neck with a quick time and then there were nine."

Brendan halts just inside of the tunnel's entrance. "We need to find Jonne and fast! If he's the killer, he's not finished! He won't stop until he's killed each and every one of us. And if he's not the killer, then he could be the next victim." 

****

Did anyone guess Ville Meskanen as the potential killer in the end? If so, sorry, he is not the killer either... :)

Time to make another guess (and feel free to comment guesses below) as we will soon move onto the next murder here!!