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duke o' york
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Chapter Four – What goes on four legs in the morning?
Er, Rasputin, if his recent heroic displays of drinking have been anything to go by. After a particularly restless wait while the decision that Sherlock deserved an early bath was made, the killings had still not stopped and all those aboard the Apolyton were becoming more nervous by the day, and reading far more into potential clues than might have been expected at the start of their voyage. Even those who would never rush to point the finger of blame without careful deliberation were becoming jumpy and joining block votes to ensure their own safety. Of course, this meant that they were safe from being thrown off the boat into the river, but they could never be entirely at ease while the killer stalked the deck. 
The proud comical sight of the Apolyton making its slow progress up the Nile to Luxor was often greeted with derision (and occasionally rotten foodstuffs) from the banks of the river. When he was in a good mood then Geomodder would make Zopperoni moon those foolish enough to belittle his craft, but the atmosphere aboard the Apolyton was not one suited to much jollity.
Yet again the gong called all of those aboard into the dining room and Nuclear Master asked that they cast their votes to decide who they thought was responsible for all of the grisly deaths. Having already been resuced by a mysteriously powerful duck while out swimming in the river, Rasputin was already too suspicious for many aboard and the vote went his way. While protesting his innocence, Rasputin was met with a resounding rejoinder in the form of a mighty brown handbag. His protests did not go any further, and after the now traditional whirl of The Dashing White Sergeant, Zopperoni was despatched to dispose of the ersatz dancefloor.
With the cruel killer now safely in the drink, the passengers felt they could relax a little more. Derrick and Charlie Chan were snoozing in deckchairs and the Earl of Octavian was asleep in his cabin yet again  . Jim Rockford and Tubbs were talking about the upcoming football season on the sun deck, but Pimp Daddy had retired to his cabin claiming to have a headache. Everybody knew the real cause of his absence, but were not going to say anything in case he remembered and his “associates” didn’t take too kindly to it. Jonny was at a bit of a loss for what to do now, so Skanky was training him in the art of barmanry, with the aid of some paper cups and a tray. HongHu, glad that she had been relieved of the attentions of the lecherous Russian, was again engaged at cards, this time confused by the none-too-taxing game of Pairs. Theben was delighted by his progress and happily agreed when the Chinese lady asked him if he would like to make a small wager on the next hand. He was less delighted with the speed with which his money disappeared into her purse, but it was only the principle of the thing at stake. He really didn’t need the money. He drifted away, and Inspector Morse took his place for his daily lesson in how to play bezique. He was still puzzling over the probability of getting double bezique, and a marriage in spades when the quiet of the games room was shattered by a cry from outside. Miss Marple had been strolling along the deck, as was her custom to take a little gentle exercise before her meals, and she had had a rather nasty shock.
The body of Joncha was hanging over the rail of the Apolyton outside his cabin, trailing in the water as the ship slowly travelled downriver. There were no signs that he had been thrashing about, so Theben suggested to his fellow passengers that he had probably been throttled by the rope before he could drown in the waters of the Nile. This seemed to make as much sense as anything they were likely to come up with, and so they accepted the explanation. Unfortunately, with the death of Dr Watson, no-one was able to come up with a time of death. When Zopperoni brought the body up over the side to retrieve his valuable rope, something fell out of the dead man’s pocket onto the deck. It was a very damp piece of card. When Zopp turned it over, he saw that it was a faded Queen of Spades, with “to Peg” written in the top corner. He had no idea what this could mean, so for want of anything better to do, he gave the card to Geomodder, in the hope that this might spare him yet more verbal abuse and the most filthy tasks.
When the Captain was informed of the latest death aboard his ship, he sighed and again asked that the votes to be submitted at the usual time and place so that they could finally weed out the killer.
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Apolyton Time is 00:36. |
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25-05-2004 08:08
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